Browse regulations

This Order amends three statutory instruments concerning exotic animal disease control in England. It extends the definition of 'disease' under the Animal Health Act 1981 to include African swine fever and transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, and significantly expands the Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (England) (No.2) Order 2006 by adding new measures for mammals, including kept mammals, expanding surveillance powers, introducing Schedule 9 measures specifically for mammals, and replacing the term 'border inspection post' with 'border control post' to reflect post-Brexit terminology. The Order also makes numerous definitional updates, adds new restrictions on mammals suspected of or confirmed with influenza of avian origin, and creates an avian influenza (restrictions on mammals) zone mechanism.

This Order inherits the fundamental flaw of retained EU law — adopted wholesale with no democratic scrutiny. While it purports to improve biosecurity, it actually expands regulatory burden by extending controls to mammals (a significant expansion of scope), creating new mandatory schedules (Schedule 9), and adding layers of surveillance and movement restrictions that will impose compliance costs on farmers and food businesses. The definitional substitutions and insertions throughout (65+ individual amendments) suggest cumulative gold-plating rather than targeted reform. Britain's farmers and food businesses deserve a clean break from the EU's disease control framework, not an expanded version of it. A new, leaner animal health framework designed for post-Brexit Britain would better serve both biosecurity and economic interests.

Amendment Regulations 2023 that modify the Register of Overseas Entities (Verification and Provision of Information) Regulations 2022. They exempt pension schemes from being treated as registrable beneficial owners for transitional cases under Schedule 6 of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, and add a new 'relevant activity' category for complying with Schedule 6 duties alongside associated information requirements.

These regulations provide targeted exemptions for pension schemes (which already face extensive regulatory oversight through pension legislation) and clarify compliance pathways for entities undergoing transitional cases. The expansion of 'relevant activity' to include Schedule 6 duties is a narrow, procedural clarification rather than a new regulatory burden. The underlying Register of Overseas Entities serves legitimate anti-money laundering purposes that protect the integrity of UK property markets — deleting this amendment would create confusion rather than reduce burden, as the parent 2022 Regulations and ECTEA would remain in force.

Amendment to UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 that narrows the definition of 'fundamental rights or fundamental freedoms' to specifically mean 'Convention rights' under the Human Rights Act 1998, removes certain phrases like 'respect the essence of the right to data protection' from Articles 9(2)(g), 9(2)(j), and trims minor wording from Articles 50, 85, and 86.

While this amendment makes minor textual refinements, it leaves the underlying GDPR regime intact — one of the most burdensome regulatory frameworks on British businesses. The UK GDPR imposes enormous compliance costs on enterprises of all sizes, creates legal uncertainty, and drives data processing activities abroad. These changes merely tinker with definitional language without addressing the fundamental problem: a prescriptive, prescriptive micro-managed data protection regime that was never democratically scrutinised in the UK. The regulation fails to reduce the compliance burden, simplify the framework, or restore the flexible, common-law approach to data protection that served Britain well before the EU's GDPR was imposed. This is cosmetic surgery on a broken regulatory system.

These Regulations are a commencement order bringing into force on 20th December 2023 specific provisions of the Public Order Act 2023 relating to stop and search powers, including powers to stop and search without suspicion (sections 10-14). Extends to England and Wales only.

These provisions grant stop and search powers without individualised suspicion, enabling state interference with person and property based on blanket authorisations. Such powers create chilling effects on lawful movement, assembly, and economic activity. They impose enforcement costs and risks of discriminatory application that fall disproportionately on certain communities. The original Public Order Act provisions were enacted without adequate sunset or review mechanisms, and a commencement order that activates these sweeping powers without parliamentary reconsideration perpetuates an overbroad government mandate that Britons would be better without. Deleting this commencement prevents these problematic provisions from taking effect until Parliament expressly deliberates and affirms them.

These Regulations establish the framework for hydrogen production revenue support contracts under section 66 of the Energy Act 2023. They define 'eligible low carbon hydrogen producers' based on compliance with the UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard, set out procedures for Secretary of State directions to hydrogen production counterparties (including mandatory terms, timelines, and publication requirements), establish registers of contracts, and provide for infrastructure cost estimates for hydrogen storage and transport. The regime provides subsidies to low carbon hydrogen producers through government-directed contracts.

This regulation establishes a Soviet-style industrial targeting regime — the Secretary of State picks winning hydrogen producers and directs counterparties to contract with them on prescribed terms. It distorts market signals by channelling capital to politically-favoured recipients rather than allowing genuine commercial competition. The eligibility criteria and mandatory standard compliance create barriers to entry, while the extensive administrative requirements (registers, publications, notifications, approvals) impose compliance costs that favour incumbents. Government revenue support schemes dependent on political direction create uncertainty and dependency rather than genuine market-based incentives for clean energy investment.

This Statutory Instrumentcommences provisions of the Online Safety Act 2023 on 10th January 2024 and 1st April 2024. It brings into force the Act's extensive duties of care regime for user-to-user services and search services, children's access assessments, fraudulent advertising rules, transparency reporting, OFCOM enforcement powers, and related provisions. The Act creates a comprehensive regulatory framework imposing content moderation duties, record-keeping requirements, and significant penalties on online service providers.

This regulation imposes substantial compliance burdens on Britain's tech sector at precisely the moment when post-Brexit regulatory independence should be used to attract, not repel, digital investment. The duties of care create liability for third-party user content, incentivising over-removal of lawful speech and gold-plating beyond what individual platforms would choose. OFCOM's extensive investigative and enforcement powers represent regulatory overreach that will drive innovative companies to competitor jurisdictions in New York, Singapore, and Dubai. The framework substitutes government-mandated content moderation for private contractual arrangements between platforms and users, distorting the market for online services. No evidence demonstrates that market mechanisms, platform terms of service, or existing law cannot address legitimate concerns about illegal content more efficiently than this costly bureaucratic regime.

This Order brings into force revised codes of practice under PACE 1984 governing police powers: Code A (stop and search), Code B (premises searches and seizure), Code C (detention and questioning), Code D (identification), Code H (terrorism detention), and new Code I (national security detention). The codes establish procedural requirements for police officers exercising powers of detention, search, questioning, and identification.

This Order merely operationalizes updated procedural codes for existing statutory powers. While the underlying PACE 1984 framework warrants review, deleting this administrative Order would create a procedural vacuum. Without codified codes, police actions would lack standardized safeguards, potentially leading to arbitrary exercises of power, evidence improperly obtained and inadmissible in court, and reduced public confidence in police legitimacy. The civil liberty protections embedded in these codes (recording requirements, detention procedures, rights of the accused) serve as essential safeguards against overreach. Far from being burdensome regulation, these codes provide legal certainty that protects both citizens and police officers.

Consequential amendment regulations in force from 1 January 2024 that amend primary legislation in consequence of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. These are machinery provisions contained in a Schedule that make technical amendments to ensure other Acts remain coherent following changes to retained EU law status.

These are purely technical consequential amendments required to maintain legal coherence in the statute book following the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. Deleting them would create gaps, contradictions, and uncertainty in other legislation without actually reducing regulatory burden. The substance of what should be deleted lies in the underlying retained EU law itself, not in the machinery that corrects references to it. Without these amendments, Britons would face greater legal confusion and compliance costs from inconsistent legislation.

The Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 amend the Equality Act 2010 in several significant ways: (1) expanding pregnancy and maternity discrimination protections by adding 'maternity' to protected characteristics and creating definitions for 'equivalent maternity leave'; (2) inserting new section 19A creating a cause of action for indirect discrimination where a person not sharing a protected characteristic suffers 'substantively the same disadvantage'; (3) creating new section 60A prohibiting 'discriminatory statements' in connection with recruitment and appointment decisions, including statements by third parties attributed to employers; (4) expanding employment comparator provisions for pay claims; and (5) adding disability provisions about participation in working life.

These amendments impose significant costs on employers and the economy through: (1) New section 19A's 'substantively the same disadvantage' test is impermissibly vague, creating expansive litigation risk for neutral policies that incidentally affect protected and non-protected persons similarly; (2) Section 60A's prohibition on 'discriminatory statements' amounts to prior restraint on speech, with subsection 4 attributing third-party statements to employers based on public perception—creating chilling effects and compliance uncertainty; (3) The expanded comparator provisions under s.79(4A/4B) will increase pay discrimination litigation against employers; (4) Together these provisions add compliance complexity without clear evidence the original 2010 Act was inadequate. The benefits claimed are already achievable through existing direct and indirect discrimination provisions—the amendments primarily shift costs to employers and tribunal system while expanding state control over employment decisions.

These Regulations amend the Working Time Regulations 1998 to create special leave entitlements for 'irregular hours workers' and 'part-year workers.' Key changes include: new definitions for these worker categories (regulation 15F); a 12.07% hourly accrual formula for annual leave (regulation 15B); provisions for leave accrual during sick/statutory leave (regulation 15C); expanded carry-forward rights when employers fail to inform workers of leave loss (regulations 15D, 13-13A); and modified holiday pay calculations including additional payments like commission and overtime (regulation 16 with new paragraphs 3ZA-3ZG). The Regulations take effect for leave years beginning on or after 1st April 2024.

These regulations impose significant compliance burdens on employers, particularly small businesses, through complex accrual formulas (12.07%), 52-week averaging periods, and intricate carry-forward rules for multiple leave categories. The rigid 28-day cap and detailed definition of 'irregular hours worker' (hours that are 'wholly or mostly variable') creates perverse incentives that may reduce genuine flexible working arrangements as employers restructure contracts to avoid regulatory categorization. The expanded definitions of 'week's pay' to include commission, overtime, and seniority-based payments substantially increase labor costs without evidence of corresponding productivity gains. While intended to protect vulnerable workers, the regulation restricts voluntary contractual arrangements between employers and workers, including gig economy arrangements that many workers prefer. The compliance costs—detailed record-keeping, complex calculations, and termination payment obligations—disproportionately burden smaller operators and may discourage hiring of part-year or variable-hours workers, ultimately harming the very workers it seeks to protect.

These Regulations establish a post-Brexit 'delinked payment' system for English farmers, replacing the EU Basic Payment Scheme. Payments are calculated based on a 'reference amount' derived from historical farm payments during 2020-2022, decoupled from current production. The Regulations set eligibility conditions, transfer mechanisms for reference amounts, payment timelines (within 13 months), overpayment recovery procedures with interest, and appeals processes. The Basic Payment Scheme formally ceases to exist under these Regulations.

This regulation perpetuates agricultural subsidy dependency that distorts farming decisions and inflates land values. While delinking from production is theoretically more market-friendly than the old EU BPS, the underlying problem remains: paying farmers for historical entitlements rather than market-valued output creates moral hazard, misallocates resources, and props up inefficient holdings at consumers' and taxpayers' expense. The complex bureaucracy of reference amounts, transfer mechanisms, and eligibility monitoring imposes compliance costs that would be better eliminated. Post-Brexit Britain should allow its agricultural sector to compete freely rather than administering bespoke entitlement schemes transferred from the EU framework.

Commencement order for the Health and Care Act 2022, bringing into force provisions on patient choice (s.78-80), procurement regulations, and NHS service reconfiguration intervention powers (s.46, Sch.6, Sch.11). Contains transitional savings preserving 2012 Act requirements and 2013 Regulations for ongoing procurement processes commenced before 1 January 2024. Extends to England and Wales.

These regulations perpetuate a complex, layer upon layer, procurement regime inherited from the 2012 Act that distorts NHS commissioning incentives. The saved provisions of the 2012 Act and 2013 Regulations impose costly procedural requirements on procurement that benefit established providers by raising barriers to entry for new market participants. The transitional savings mechanism ensures that even newly enacted provisions cannot take full effect, creating legal uncertainty and administrative burden. Competition and choice in healthcare is better achieved through genuine market mechanisms rather than regulatory mandates that inevitably drive compliance costs and reduce the flexibility of integrated care boards to secure best value for patients and taxpayers.

The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Order 2023 establishes a combined authority for York and North Yorkshire with a directly elected mayor. It transfers numerous functions from constituent councils including housing/regeneration (from HCA), town and country planning, transport, highway authorities, traffic regulation, civil enforcement, and fire and rescue services. The Order confers powers on the Combined Authority to exercise these functions concurrently or exclusively within the Area, establishes governance structures including the Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, and a Police, Fire and Crime Panel.

Creates unnecessary bureaucratic layer concentrating power in a regional authority with a directly elected mayor, reducing local accountability. The transfer of housing, planning, and transport functions to another tier of government adds regulatory complexity without clear benefit — these functions were already being performed by accountable local councils. The establishment of a Corporation (similar to Mayoral Development Corporations) and the concentration of traffic, highway, and enforcement functions in a single body creates potential for politicised decision-making and reduces the competitive dynamics between local authorities that can drive efficiency. Such regional consolidation typically increases costs and reduces responsiveness to local needs.

Amends the Customs Tariff (Preferential Trade Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 to update Schedule 1 with corrected agreement names and updated origin reference documents (EU Origin Reference Document v1.2 and Turkey Origin Reference Document v1.4, both dated 20th December 2023) for preferential trade arrangements with the EU and Turkey.

This is a technical amendment that merely updates reference document versions and corrects agreement naming. It facilitates preferential trade by ensuring businesses have clear, current rules of origin documentation. Deleting it would create regulatory uncertainty about which origin rules apply to EU and Turkish trade, harming exporters who rely on these preferential arrangements to compete internationally.

This Order specifies the non-domestic rating multiplier B=320.2 for England for the financial year beginning 1st April 2023, acting under paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It came into force after Commons approval and before the local government finance report approval for that year. The Order applies only to England.

This Order is entirely historical - it set the business rates multiplier for the 2023-24 financial year which has now concluded. No present benefit exists from retaining it. While non-domestic rating (business rates) generally represents a distortionary tax on business property that merits fundamental reform, deleting this spent SI would impose no actual cost since the relevant period has passed. The broader case for reforming business rates through primary legislation remains valid, but this instrument itself serves no ongoing function.