Browse regulations

This order reconstitutes the Goole and Airmyn Internal Drainage Board, confirming a scheme submitted by the Environment Agency with modifications. It establishes the board's structure and operations for internal drainage management in England.

Internal drainage boards are essential for managing water levels and flood risk in specific areas. Removing this would leave Goole and Airmyn without proper drainage governance, potentially leading to flooding, agricultural damage, and infrastructure problems that would be costly to fix.

Revokes EU-era regulations (2010 and 2013) that governed authorization of frequency use for mobile satellite services, removing retained EU law and enabling the UK to establish its own post-Brexit regulatory framework for satellite spectrum management.

Deletion would perpetuate the EU's prescriptive frequency authorization regime, imposing rigid licensing requirements, administrative burdens, and gold-plated standards that increase costs for satellite operators, reduce competitive entry, and hinder the UK's ability to implement a flexible, pro-innovation spectrum policy that could attract investment and improve connectivity outcomes.

This regulation establishes a £44.7m annual levy and extensive fee schedule for the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to be paid by petroleum and carbon dioxide storage licensees. It creates two main levies: a production levy on operating licences and a non-production levy on exploration/non-producing licences, with discounts for micro-enterprises. It also sets fees for hundreds of consent applications (drilling, testing, amendments) and introduces carbon dioxide storage activities into the regime. The OGA must notify licensees of liability by May 2026, and unpaid amounts incur 5% interest above Bank Rate. If total levy exceeds actual costs, excess is credited back.

The regulation institutionalises costly regulatory interference in the energy sector. The £44.7m levy and consent fees increase barriers to entry, distort market calculations, and fund the OGA's unnecessary permission-based regime. Britain should eliminate such bureaucratic burdens post-Brexit to unleash competition, reduce energy costs, and match the dynamism of free-trading nations. The OGA's licensing system replaces voluntary market coordination with state control, harming the UK's competitiveness versus jurisdictions with lighter-touch regulation.

Reconstitutes the Ouse and Derwent Internal Drainage Board by confirming a modified scheme from the Environment Agency, updating its governance and powers to ensure effective drainage and flood risk management in its district.

Deleting this order would leave the board's constitution outdated, impairing its ability to coordinate drainage works and levy rates effectively, which would increase flood risk and property damage in low-lying agricultural areas. A statutory board with compulsory powers overcomes free-rider problems that would defeat voluntary arrangements, ensuring all beneficiaries contribute to essential infrastructure.

This statutory instrument substantially increases fees across the UK's intellectual property system—patents, trademarks, designs, and related services—with many fees rising 10-50%. It revokes temporary COVID-19 fee reductions and adjusts numerous fee tables throughout the IP framework, applying uniformly from April 2026.

Higher IP fees erect financial barriers that disproportionately harm small businesses and startups, stifling innovation and competition. The increases function as a regressive tax on entrepreneurship, distorting incentives away from creative risk-taking. The underlying IP bureaucracy is already excessive; inflating fees merely extends this burden without delivering commensurate public value. Market mechanisms or reduced state involvement would better serve Britain's dynamism.

This Order amends the 2013 Order to explicitly extend offshore health and safety regulations to installations engaged in hydrogen production, ensuring such facilities are subject to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Keeping this amendment imposes compliance costs on emerging hydrogen production, contributes to regulatory accumulation that reduces UK competitiveness, and perpetuates the flawed principle that the state must micro-manage safety protocols rather than allowing market-determined risk allocation through contracts, insurance, and liability. The unseen cost is regulatory uncertainty that deters investment in Britain's nascent hydrogen sector relative to freer jurisdictions.

These regulations amend existing offshore safety and management regulations to incorporate carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and offshore hydrogen production into the regulatory framework, extending existing petroleum licensing and safety regimes to these new energy technologies.

This regulation expands government oversight of emerging energy technologies without demonstrating that market-based solutions cannot achieve the same safety and environmental outcomes. The carbon capture and hydrogen production sectors can develop under existing safety frameworks without the additional bureaucratic burden, which will increase costs and slow innovation in Britain's energy transition.

These regulations establish the procedural framework for local planning, minerals and waste planning, and supplementary planning in England, including consultation requirements, timelines, and publication standards.

Creates bureaucratic complexity that delays housing supply, increases development costs, and empowers planners over property owners - all of which restrict economic freedom and drive up housing prices through artificial supply constraints.

These Regulations prescribe a standard daily fee of £993 for independent examiners and advisors in England's town and country planning system, revoking the 2006 Regulations and setting maximum remuneration, travel allowances, and saving provisions for ongoing examinations.

Keeping this regulation imposes costs by fixing prices at a government-determined rate that likely deviates from market equilibrium, creating deadweight loss. It adds to the bureaucratic burden of the planning system, suppresses competition among examiners, and contributes to the rigidity that makes Britain's planning regime the worst in the developed world. The unseen cost is the cumulative effect of such micro-regulations in stifling housing supply and economic dynamism.

This regulation prescribes public bodies that must assist with plan-making under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, covering England and Wales with application to England only.

Deleting this would prevent coordinated infrastructure planning across essential public bodies (transport, utilities, environment, health), creating chaos in development processes and blocking necessary projects.

Amends PAYE regulations to remove authorization ability for tax years 2027-28 and beyond, and clarifies that certain tax information requirements don't apply to employers who have ceased business operations.

Maintaining these provisions ensures continued tax compliance and prevents administrative chaos for employers and HMRC. Removing authorization would create uncertainty for payroll systems and potentially allow tax evasion through unregulated payroll arrangements.

Amendment to Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 allowing employers to choose how to file Class 1A contribution returns when ceasing business: either electronically per existing rules or by direct submission to HMRC.

Britons would be worse off without this choice: deleted flexibility would force all employers into a single electronic filing method, increasing compliance costs and removing option to file returns directly. The regulation achieves simpler administration through minimal procedural choice, requiring no new bureaucracy.

Establishes a national ministry register for lay ministers in the Church of England, requiring registration and reporting of ministry authorities, suspensions, terminations, and variations to the Archbishops' Council

This regulation ensures accountability and transparency in church ministry by maintaining a central registry of lay ministers, their authorities, and any changes to their status, which is essential for proper governance of religious institutions

International Safety Management (ISM) Code regulations for UK merchant shipping, establishing safety management systems, verification processes, and certification requirements for ship operators to ensure maritime safety and pollution prevention.

Imposes costly bureaucratic burden on shipping industry with extensive verification requirements, documentation mandates, and certification processes that drive up operational costs without clear evidence of superior safety outcomes compared to market-based alternatives.

The REACH (Amendment) Regulations 2026 restrict lead in ammunition, banning lead shot (≥1% lead) and other lead projectiles (≥3% lead) in most civilian use after April 2029, with phased restrictions for outdoor ranges. Exemptions cover elite athletes, certain calibres, indoor shooting, government/military uses, and ranges with documented risk mitigation. It imposes notification, record-keeping, labeling, and enforcement registers.

This retained EU regulation imposes heavy compliance costs and bureaucratic burdens on shooters, suppliers, and ranges while creating arbitrary exemptions. It restricts property rights and consumer choice, likely reduces supply and increases prices, and may drive activity underground. Environmental externalities can be more efficiently addressed through tort law and market mechanisms. The democratic deficit and regulatory overreach conflict with Britain's free-trading traditions.