Browse regulations

The Dormant Assets (Distribution of Money) (England) Order 2023 restricts the distribution of dormant assets money to four categories: (1) services for young people, (2) financial literacy and access to financial services, (3) social investment wholesalers, and (4) community wealth funds. It defines key terms including 'social investment wholesaler' and 'third sector organisation'.

While dormant assets represent a special case of state-held funds, this Order nonetheless restricts capital allocation to four government-favoured categories, effectively picking winners and distorting how these resources could otherwise flow. Social investment wholesalers and community wealth funds represent particularly problematic interventions — the former layers intermediation while the latter creates politically-directed local capital rather than allowing market processes to direct resources. Deletion would not harm Britons because dormant assets money would still reach worthy causes through alternative mechanisms, freed from artificial categorical constraints that produce unintended consequences such as over-supply of certain third-sector intermediaries and under-funding of innovative solutions outside the four approved categories.

The African Swine Fever (Import Controls) (Amendment) (England) Order 2023 amends the 2022 Order to designate the District Council of Dover as the enforcement authority for porcine product import controls at the Channel Tunnel, using the existing Dover Port Health Authority structure. It extends to England and Wales, applies to England only, and came into force on 14th December 2023.

This amendment is purely an administrative delegation of enforcement authority—it does not create new import restrictions or substantive regulatory burdens. It simply designates the Dover District Council (already established as the Dover Port Health Authority) to enforce existing African Swine Fever controls at the Channel Tunnel. Deleting it would create an enforcement gap without reducing any substantive requirements, since the underlying import controls in the 2022 Order would remain in force. Biosecurity controls addressing genuine externalities (preventing devastating animal disease) differ from typical interventionist regulations, and this amendment merely clarifies which existing authority handles enforcement at a specific border crossing.

This Order amends the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014 to add the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as a prescribed person for receiving protected disclosures relating to the regulation of regulated services under the Online Safety Act 2023. It comes into force on 27th December 2023.

This amendment extends the whistleblowing framework to support the Online Safety Act 2023, a highly regulatory regime that imposes significant compliance burdens on online platforms and services. While whistleblowing protections can serve legitimate purposes, this Order facilitates regulatory enforcement of a law that chills free expression, imposes compliance costs on digital businesses, and risks driving tech investment to less-regulated jurisdictions. The Online Safety Act itself represents the kind of state overreach that Adam Smith and the classical economists would have cautioned against — a blunt instrument that will reduce competition, innovation, and choice in digital markets. Deleting this amendment removes one pillar supporting a flawed regulatory architecture.

This Order designates coastal margin land between Gretna and Allonby (Cumbria) for public access under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, following approval by the Secretary of State in October 2021. It sets 23rd November 2023 as the date when the access preparation period ends, formally opening the coastal path for public use.

While this regulation restricts landowner rights, deletion would harm Britons who would lose formally designated coastal access that was properly approved by Parliament. The path's designation serves legitimate recreational and tourism purposes, and the access rights were already democratically sanctioned through the section 52 approval process. Removing this Order would not restore property rights but would instead arbitrarily eliminate established public access without compensation or alternative arrangement.

This Order amends the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions Designation (No. 2) (West Sussex) (Chichester and Crawley) Order 2010 by modifying the designation of the A27 Oving crossroads area. It replaces an 'except' clause with an 'including' clause for a specific Ordnance Survey grid reference segment (SU8780404983 to SU8775004985), thereby expanding civil and special enforcement area designation to this particular crossroads location. The Order extends to England and came into force on 19th December 2023.

This is a retained EU law designating specific street-level areas for civil parking enforcement — a function that should be devolved to local authorities without central designation orders. The amendment merely shifts an 'except' to 'including' for a 500-meter stretch of road, demonstrating the granular bureaucratic specificity that characterises these designations. Such micro-management of enforcement boundaries creates compliance uncertainty, adds administrative overhead for local authorities, and contributes to the cumulative burden of parking regulation that suppresses private parking market alternatives. The unseen costs include discouraging parking provision and distorting road usage decisions.

These Regulations establish civil penalty mechanisms for enforcing CO2 emissions performance standards for cars, vans, and heavy-duty vehicles. They set out procedural requirements for the Secretary of State to impose administrative fines and excess CO2 emissions premiums on manufacturers, including notice requirements, payment periods (28 days), and appeal rights to the First-tier Tribunal. The Regulations also provide for recovery of unpaid fines through county courts and direct payment of receipts to the Consolidated Fund. Additionally, they amend two retained EU regulations to remove a date restriction and update a numeric parameter value.

These Regulations impose costs on vehicle manufacturers that are ultimately passed to British consumers through higher vehicle prices, restricting choice and reducing living standards. The civil penalty framework adds bureaucratic compliance burdens without demonstrable benefit—the environmental aims can be achieved through market mechanisms, taxation, or voluntary agreements. Post-Brexit, this Regulation perpetuates EU-derived regulatory approaches rather than seizing independence to reduce the burden on manufacturers, risking competitiveness against US and Asian vehicle markets. The penalty mechanism also creates barriers to entry for smaller manufacturers and may drive investment to less regulated jurisdictions, harming Britain's industrial base.

These Regulations amend Article 5(2) of EU Regulation 236/2012 (the EU Short Selling Regulation retained in UK law post-Brexit) to increase the notification threshold for net short positions from 0.1% to 0.2% of issued share capital. The change reduces the frequency with which short sellers must report their positions to the Financial Conduct Authority, decreasing compliance costs for smaller market participants.

Deleting this regulation would revert the threshold to 0.1%, imposing stricter reporting requirements and higher compliance costs on a greater number of short sellers. Britons are better off with the higher 0.2% threshold, which reduces regulatory burden while maintaining oversight mechanisms for significant short positions. Removing this amendment would make market participants worse off by increasing their administrative obligations without providing countervailing benefits.

Amends the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 and Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005. Changes 'individual' to 'person' in provisions governing who qualifies as an adoption support agency, removes a partnership exception, and clarifies that providing adoption counselling to adults (18+) does not by itself make an undertaking an adoption support agency.

This is a minor, technical amendment that liberalises entry into adoption counselling services by expanding who can provide such services without being classified as a regulated adoption support agency. The original 2005 Regulations already sufficiently regulate agencies handling vulnerable populations. The change to 'person' from 'individual' removes a restriction that excluded partnerships and corporate entities from inadvertently falling within scope. Clarifying that adult counselling is not adoption support work is a sensible narrowing of regulatory scope. The net effect reduces regulatory burden without eliminating meaningful protections for children or vulnerable parties involved in adoption.

Commencement regulations bringing into force specified provisions of the Animals (Penalty Notices) Act 2022 on 1st January 2024. The regulations activate sections relating to enforcement powers for authorities and constables, penalty notice procedures, matters to be considered, proceeds usage, and reporting requirements.

These are purely procedural commencement regulations that activate provisions Parliament has already enacted. Deleting them would simply prevent the Animals (Penalty Notices) Act 2022 from taking effect, creating legal uncertainty. Unlike substantive regulations, commencement SIs do not independently impose regulatory burdens — they merely bring into operation a statutory framework that has already passed democratic scrutiny. The underlying Act creates a penalty notice mechanism for animal welfare offences, which represents a proportionate enforcement tool rather than a supply-restricting regulation.

These Regulations amend Schedule 2 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, excluding numerous service sectors from the Act's mutual recognition (Section 19) and non-discrimination (Sections 20-21) principles. Excluded sectors include audiovisual, debt collection, gambling, healthcare, legal, notarial, private security, energy networks, public sector services, social care, transport, waste, and water services.

These exclusions create fragmentation in the UK's internal market by arbitrarily shielding entire sectors from mutual recognition and non-discrimination principles. The regulations substitute Parliament's judgment for market participants' decisions about which services to offer across regions. Healthcare and social care exclusions protect incumbent providers from competition rather than consumers; the energy, transport, waste, and water exclusions prevent competitive discipline that would reduce costs. The Act's own framework is undermined by this patchwork of carve-outs, which represent regulatory choice rather than principled distinction.

A commencement order that brings Section 8 of the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2020 (regarding parochial registers) into force on the day after the Order is made. This is a procedural instrument that activates specific Church of England administrative provisions.

This is a narrow ecclesiastical procedural instrument relating solely to the internal administration of the Church of England's parochial registers. It has no bearing on trade, economic competition, market freedom, or the regulatory burden on businesses. The underlying Measure concerns church record-keeping administration, not matters affecting the general public's economic liberty or market competition. While the commencement mechanism is procedurally necessary, the substance of Section 8 could be commenced through alternative legislative means, and the Church of England's established status means this represents religious institution administration rather than general regulatory governance affecting Britons' economic wellbeing.

The Occupational Pensions (Revaluation) Order 2023 sets statutory revaluation percentages for accrued occupational pension benefits under the final salary method, specifying both higher and lower percentage rates for each revaluation period. It applies to England, Wales, and Scotland and comes into force on 1st January 2024.

This regulation imposes government-mandated revaluation percentages that override private contractual arrangements between pension schemes and their members. Competitive market forces already discipline pension providers—schemes offering inadequate revaluation would lose members and face reputational damage. The state has no legitimate role in dictating the terms of private pension contracts. Deletion would allow schemes and members to freely contract on revaluation terms appropriate to their specific circumstances, reducing compliance burden on pension providers and restoring freedom of contract.

Consequential amendments to subordinate legislation required by the National Security Act 2023, extending to all UK jurisdictions and coming into force on 20th December 2023. The Schedule contains the substantive amendments to existing subordinate legislation.

Consequential amendments to subordinate legislation are necessary machinery to ensure legal coherence when primary legislation is enacted. Without these amendments, conflicts and inconsistencies between the National Security Act 2023 and existing subordinate legislation would create legal uncertainty, enforcement gaps, and potential harm to national security functions. While the National Security Act 2023 itself may warrant separate scrutiny, the consequential amendments that maintain legal consistency are essential and do not independently impose new regulatory burdens.

These Regulations bring into effect revised Prevent duty guidance issued under section 29(6) of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, effective 31st December 2023. The guidance imposes obligations on 'specified authorities' (schools, universities, NHS trusts, local authorities, and other public bodies in England and Wales) to have due regard to preventing people from being drawn into terrorism. It requires these institutions to implement screening, training, reporting mechanisms, and risk assessments related to potential radicalisation.

The Prevent duty guidance imposes significant compliance burdens on educational institutions, healthcare providers, and public bodies with unclear effectiveness. It creates perverse incentives for over-reporting and surveillance of students and patients. It has a chilling effect on free speech and academic inquiry in universities. Evidence from years of operation shows disproportionate targeting of Muslim communities, discriminatory outcomes, and the creation of a surveillance culture in settings that should prioritse education and healthcare over security. The compliance costs borne by cash-strapped universities and NHS trusts are substantial with no demonstrated countervailing security benefit commensurate with the burden. This represents state overreach into civil society institutions.

This Order sets the revaluation percentage (31.7%) for transitional state pensions under the Pensions Act 2014, as required by section 148AC of the Social Security Administration Act 1992. It determines the increase in the general level of prices during the review period for revaluing transitional pensions, with different commencement dates for advance claims and other purposes.

Deletion would create legal uncertainty and administrative breakdown for an estimated 1.5 million people on transitional state pensions, who rely on this statutory revaluation mechanism to maintain their purchasing power. This Order does not create new policy but merely applies the revaluation formula mandated by Parliament; without specifying the percentage, there would be no lawful basis for revaluing these pensions, potentially causing significant detriment to pensioners who reached pensionable age during the transition period.