Browse regulations

Amendment to the Income Tax (Care Leaver's Apprenticeship Bursary Payment) Regulations 2020, effective 1 August 2023. Applies to English statutory apprenticeships beginning on or after that date. Increases the bursary payment cap to £3,000 for care leavers who are apprentices, and clarifies that instalment payments cannot exceed £3,000 in aggregate.

While care leavers are a deserving group, this regulation represents a government-mandated spending programme rather than a necessary regulatory intervention. The £3,000 cap artificially constrains market wages and creates a distortion in the apprenticeship market. If society wishes to support care leavers, direct welfare payments or charitable schemes — not regulatory wage controls — are the appropriate vehicles. The underlying scheme was inherited from EU-era social policy frameworks and reflects a bureaucratic, top-down approach to helping vulnerable individuals rather than freeing markets to create genuine opportunity.

These Regulations (2023 Amendment) modify retained EU plant health regulations to establish restrictions on moving 'high-risk oak trees' (Quercus L. ≥8cm girth) within demarcated areas for Oak Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea processionea L.). They prohibit movement of such trees out of or within demarcated areas unless professional operators comply with the Plant Health Management Standard, maintain detailed records for 3 years, apply phytosanitary treatments, and follow zone-specific restrictions. The amendment also creates a derogation mechanism for scientific/educational purposes and updates seed potato RNQP thresholds.

This regulation restricts the movement of oak trees based on geographic zones, imposing compliance costs through mandatory Plant Health Management Standard certification, detailed record-keeping (3-year retention), and phytosanitary treatment requirements. These restrictions effectively prohibit trade in high-risk oak trees within demarcated areas, creating a near-complete ban on a legal commercial activity without adequate evidence that the benefits justify the economic costs to forestry operators, nurseries, and landowners. The regulation inherited EU-style plant health bureaucracy post-Brexit without democratic review of whether these specific restrictions are proportionate or effective.

Temporary Order extending licensing hours during the Coronation celebration period (5-8 May 2023), allowing premises with existing licenses to remain open an additional 2 hours starting at 11pm on three evenings, subject to conditions on alcohol sales and late-night refreshment.

The regulation is entirely spent — the Coronation celebration period (May 2023) has passed and this Order serves no ongoing purpose. As a one-off temporal relaxation for a specific historic event, it has no remaining effect. Keeping obsolete regulations on the books creates unnecessary statutory clutter and sets a precedent for临时 interventions that persist beyond their useful life, contributing to regulatory bloat.

Commencement regulations bringing into force provisions of the Public Order Act 2023, including offences of 'locking on', being 'equipped for locking on', interference with 'key national infrastructure', and definitions of 'serious disruption'. Extends to England and Wales (with limited Scotland provisions).

This SI activates provisions of the Public Order Act 2023 that introduce vague, overly-broad criminal offences. Terms like 'serious disruption' and 'key national infrastructure' are undefined with sufficient precision, creating chilling effects on legitimate protest and economic activity. Section 2 criminalises being 'equipped' for locking on—punishing preparation and intent rather than actual conduct, a hallmark of regulatory excess. These are retained EU-era protest restrictions that should have been repealed post-Brexit, not commenced. Keeping this SI brings these costly restrictions into effect, harming both civil liberties and economic freedom.

These regulations, made under the Building Safety Act 2022, remove exemptions for public bodies from building control requirements when undertaking 'higher-risk building work' in England. They require public bodies to cancel their own notices if work becomes higher-risk, impose a £7,500 penalty for failure to notify, transfer building control authority to the regulator for uncertified work, and establish tribunal appeal procedures for cancellation decisions.

These regulations compound Britain's planning and building control regime, already identified as among the most restrictive in the developed world. By removing exemptions and adding notification requirements, penalties, and appeal procedures for public bodies, they add layers of bureaucracy that increase costs and delays for construction. The £7,500 penalty creates a chilling effect on public bodies undertaking building work and incentivizes risk-averse behavior. The regulations do not address the fundamental problem: the over-regulation of building itself. Rather than freeing up construction, they tighten control over a subset of higher-risk work, with no evidence the benefits justify the compliance burden imposed on public bodies, private developers, and ultimately building users.

The Tonnage Tax (Further Opportunity for Election) Order 2023 provides a second extended window (June 2023 to November 2024) for shipping companies to elect into the tonnage tax regime under Schedule 22 of the Finance Act 2000. It modifies paragraph 12 of that Schedule to allow elections made during this period to take effect from 1st January 2023 rather than the original 1st January 2000 reference date, effectively backdating the election window.

The UK's shipping industry faces intense international competition from jurisdictions offering tonnage tax regimes (e.g., Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands). Deleting this Order would place UK shipping companies at a competitive disadvantage, risking job losses and capital flight to more favourable tax jurisdictions. While tonnage tax represents a sector-specific tax relief that would ideally be abolished in a pure free-market system, its removal without corresponding changes in competitor nations would harm Britons by reducing shipping employment, economic activity in port communities, and the UK's maritime capability. The regulation addresses genuine competitive dynamics in a global industry where tax treatment is a major locational factor.

This Order amends the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and the 2022 Amendment Order. It clarifies the definition of 'B&B accommodation' to specify that it means accommodation in which cooking facilities are not provided, and extends a deadline from 2023 to 2024.

This regulation contains only minor definitional clarification and a deadline extension for existing homelessness accommodation rules. Deleting it would leave the 2003 Order with an unclear B&B definition and create a statutory gap. These amendments are administrative in nature and do not impose new regulatory burdens or restrict supply — they merely clarify existing requirements and provide additional time for compliance. The regulation serves a humanitarian function for vulnerable populations without materially constraining market activity.

Amends the Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 to change the Prince of Wales birthday flag-flying date from 14th November to 21st June, and makes other amendments to the schedule of flag-flying days at full mast for public buildings in Northern Ireland.

This regulation imposes negligible cost on anyone. It is simply an administrative schedule for flag-flying at public buildings in Northern Ireland, affecting only a small number of government buildings. Deletion would create ambiguity where clear guidance currently exists. The regulation does not restrict trade, impose significant compliance burdens, or distort market incentives. Its removal would leave public authorities without clear guidance on official flag days, potentially causing inconsistency. The benefits of standardized public ceremonial practice outweigh the trivial costs of listing specific dates in secondary legislation.

Amends the Power to Award Degrees etc. (NCG) Order of Council 2016 to substitute article 2, granting NCG (Northern Cinema Guild) competence to award degrees under section 76(2)(a) of the relevant Act for an indefinite period, rather than a limited term. Comes into force 1st June 2023.

This amendment liberalises degree-awarding authority by removing time limits, reducing regulatory renewal burdens and enhancing institutional certainty. Deleting it would revert to a time-limited degree-awarding power, forcing NCG into costly reapplication processes and reducing competition in higher education provision. Britons benefit from the expanded competition and reduced bureaucratic uncertainty that indefinite authority provides.

This Order designates coastal margin land between Cleveleys and Pier Head (Liverpool) for public access under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. It appoints May 9th 2023 as the end of the access preparation period, following Secretary of State approval of Natural England's reports on coastal access.

Britons would be worse off if deleted because this regulation expands public access to coastal areas, providing recreational and health benefits that markets alone would not secure. Without it, coastal access rights would be uncertain, harming tourism and public welfare. The regulation achieves its goal through a legitimate statutory framework that balances property rights with public interest, and no viable alternative mechanism exists to preserve this access.

Amendment to NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 updating Schedule 2 to add Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Pitcairn/Henderson/Ducie/Oeno Islands; and updating St Helena's name to include Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. These changes reflect updated territory names and add overseas territories to the list of countries/territories for NHS overseas visitor charging purposes.

These amendments are purely technical housekeeping to reflect accurate territory names and add overseas territories to the NHS overseas visitor charging framework. Without these updates, the regulations would contain outdated references and miss territories that should be covered. While the underlying policy of NHS overseas visitor charging could be debated on policy grounds, this specific instrument merely corrects and updates the existing framework with no new regulatory burden. Deletion would create administrative confusion and potential revenue loss from incomplete coverage of overseas territories.

This Order designates coastal margin land between Easington and Filey Brigg for public access under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, specifying 9th May 2023 as the end date of the access preparation period. It implements a specific approval made by the Secretary of State on 18th August 2020 following Natural England's coastal access report.

This Order does not impose new regulatory burdens but merely implements a specific pre-approved decision under legislation predating EU membership (the 1949 Act). The coastal access provisions represent established public rights with genuine public goods characteristics including health, recreation, and tourism benefits. While I am generally sceptical of regulatory restrictions on property rights, wholesale deletion would create legal uncertainty around access arrangements already open and relied upon by the public, without achieving clear economic benefit.

This Order (2023) amends the Schedule to the Spring Traps Approval (England) Order 2018 by adding seven new approved trap models (Aurotrap, Quill Trap, Smart Catch, Smart Catch Mini, and four Smart Pipe variants) and removing one (WiseTrap series). All approved traps are restricted to specific pest control purposes (rats, mice, stoats, weasels) with prescribed usage conditions including tunnel specifications. The Order applies England-only and came into force June 2023.

This regulation exemplifies government micro-management of the pest control marketplace. The mandatory approval scheme creates barriers to entry, restricts consumer choice, and picked winners (Anticimex, Quill Productions, AUROCON) through bureaucratic designation. Prescriptive conditions such as mandated tunnel designs and specific materials requirements stifle innovation and prevent competitors from offering alternative solutions. If welfare or safety concerns exist with spring traps, general product safety and animal welfare standards could address these without a government-approved products list that insulates dominant manufacturers from market competition. The WiseTrap removal demonstrates arbitrary exclusion that deprives a manufacturer of market access without transparent criteria.

Amends Community Investment Tax Relief scheme by raising investment thresholds: increases maximum investment qualifying for relief from £10M to £25M (individual) and £20M to £100M (overall) under ITA 2007 and CTA 2010; raises de minimis thresholds from £100K/£250K to £250K/£375K in the 2003 Accreditation Regulations; updates an outdated EU URL reference to the current EC competition policy page.

Community Investment Tax Relief is a distorting tax expenditure that misallocates capital by directing it toward politically-favoured community development finance institutions rather than allowing market forces to determine investment allocation. While this amendment merely raises numerical limits (making the scheme more generous), it perpetuates the underlying problem: a mechanism that distorts economic decision-making, creates administrative compliance costs, and picks winners and losers among investment types. The scheme's fundamental interventionism cannot be fixed through parameter adjustments. The updated URL reference is administrative housekeeping with no实质性 impact.

Amendment to the Building Regulations 2010 that updates materials classification references, inserts new provisions for target primary energy rates and fabric energy efficiency rate calculations for new buildings, and revises transitional provisions. Primarily concerns energy efficiency standards in building construction in England.

These regulations add prescriptive energy efficiency requirements (target primary energy rates, fabric energy efficiency rates) that increase construction costs at a time when Britain's housing supply is critically restricted. Such mandates distort the housing market by requiring specific performance standards rather than allowing builders and buyers to make their own cost-benefit decisions. The regulations compound Britain's existing planning restrictions, making it harder to build affordable housing. Energy efficiency improvements are better achieved through information disclosure (energy performance certificates) and market incentives rather than mandates that raise costs and suppress supply. The transitional provisions also show this creates complex grandfathering regimes that add legal uncertainty.