Browse regulations

The Value Added Tax (Drugs and Medicines) Order 2020 modifies Schedule 8 of the VAT Act 1994 to extend zero-rating eligibility for drugs and medicines to supplies prescribed by EEA health professionals (before Brexit) and approved country health professionals (after Brexit). It coordinates VAT treatment timing with IP completion day, ensuring continuity of zero-rating for prescription medicines across different regulatory frameworks.

This regulation extends VAT zero-rating to medicines prescribed by additional categories of health professionals, reducing costs for consumers and increasing access to healthcare. Removing it would raise prices for life-saving medicines and create arbitrary restrictions based on where a health professional qualified. Zero-rating is a pro-competitive policy that benefits lower-income patients most, and the expanded definitions simply ensure prescribers are appropriately qualified without creating monopolies or restricting supply.

The Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 (Estimates and Accounts) Order 2020 designates bodies listed in its Schedule as 'designated bodies' for the purposes of section 4A of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, linking them to named departments for the financial year ending 31 March 2021. It is an administrative order that determines which public bodies fall under the government's resource accounting and estimates framework.

This is a narrow administrative instrument that ensures proper parliamentary oversight and control of public finances by designating which bodies are covered under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 framework. Without such designation, parliamentary control of public expenditure would be unclear for these bodies, undermining democratic accountability for government spending. The costs of maintaining this minimal machinery are negligible, while the benefit is ensuring orderly and transparent public finance management.

These regulations extend Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) to persons abroad and mariners. They treat certain employees in EEA states subject to UK social security legislation as employees for SPBP purposes, grant SPBP to mariners on home-trade ships with UK employers while denying it to mariners on foreign-going ships or home-trade ships with non-UK employers, and extend SPBP to workers in prescribed continental shelf employment.

These regulations expand the scope of a mandated employer cost (SPBP) to additional categories of workers—mariners and offshore workers—without evidence that market mechanisms cannot provide appropriate bereavement support. The differential treatment of mariners based on ship type and employer location creates perverse incentives and compliance complexity. Mariners and continental shelf workers operate in well-remunerated industries capable of negotiating contractual benefits. The underlying SPBP mandate distorts labor costs; extending it to more workers increases this distortion without corresponding benefits that markets could not achieve.

Amends the Addition of Vitamins, Minerals and Other Substances (England) Regulations 2007 to update references to the EC Regulation, add offences for adding substances listed in Annex III Parts A and B to foods (including trans fats), and provide a transitional exemption for trans fat containing foods placed on market before April 2021.

This regulation restricts what substances can be added to foods, limiting both consumer choice and producer freedom. Such prohibitions are better addressed through mandatory labeling requirements and private certification, allowing informed consumers to make their own choices rather than government dictating what's permissible. The trans fat prohibition specifically prevents producers from using an ingredient some consumers may deliberately seek. Additionally, as a retained EU regulation, it represents the exact bureaucratic burden that post-Brexit regulatory independence should address — it was inherited wholesale without democratic scrutiny and merely adds compliance costs that disproportionately burden smaller producers while large incumbents adapt more easily.

Amendment to the Branded Health Service Medicines (Costs) Regulations 2018, modifying payment percentages that manufacturers/suppliers of branded NHS medicines must pay to the NHS. For April-Dec 2020, the standard rate is 7.4% (or 5.0% for those who had 14.7% in Q1 2020); from 2021 onward, the rate is 10.9%. The amendment also references these new paragraphs in enforcement provisions.

This regulation imposes a regulatory levy on pharmaceutical manufacturers supplying the NHS, functioning as a hidden tax that increases costs for medicine suppliers. The tiered payment structure (5.0%/7.4%/10.9%) based on temporal conditions and prior rates creates compliance complexity without clear benefit. Such cost recovery mechanisms reduce pharmaceutical companies' resources available for R&D and investment, potentially diverting capital to jurisdictions with lighter regulatory burdens. While the NHS faces legitimate cost concerns, this price control mechanism distorts market incentives, reduces supply dynamism in the pharmaceutical sector — an area where Britain historically led the world — and treats symptoms rather than addressing the underlying cost drivers in the NHS structure itself.

Amends Capital Allowances Act 2001 Section 45K to extend the deadline for capital allowances claims on plant and machinery in designated assisted areas from a fixed 8-year period to whichever is later: the eighth anniversary or 31st March 2021. Takes effect 1st April 2020.

This is a retrospective deadline extension for a targeted regional tax incentive, serving as a band-aid for poor policy management. Such perpetual modifications to capital allowance rules create uncertainty, distort investment decisions, and unfairly favor certain businesses and regions over others. The underlying problem is the system itself: using tax policy to micromanage regional investment decisions rather than allowing markets to allocate capital efficiently. The constant need for deadline extensions (evidenced by the specific reference to 31st March 2021, likely COVID-related) demonstrates the instability this creates for businesses trying to plan investments. A dynamic free-trading nation would not need such interventions.

Amends the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998 to increase the annual subscription limit for junior ISAs from £4,368 to £9,000, effective 6th April 2020.

This regulation perpetuates a distortionary tax-advantaged savings regime that picks winners and losers in the financial services industry. While it raises an arbitrary cap rather than lowering one, the underlying ISA structure itself creates market distortions by conferring tax advantages on specific approved savings vehicles, benefiting ISA providers at the expense of alternative financial institutions. Removing this regulation would be consistent with a genuine free-market approach where individuals decide how to allocate their savings without government-dictated limits or tax incentives steering their choices. The unseen costs include reduced competition between savings products and the administrative burden of compliance with ISA regime restrictions.

This Order combines four existing coroner areas (Central Hampshire, North East Hampshire, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire, and Southampton and New Forest) into a single new coroner area called Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, effective 1st April 2020.

Deleting this Order would prevent the administrative efficiency of combining four smaller coroner areas into a single integrated area, which reduces bureaucratic duplication, streamlines judicial administration, and likely lowers overhead costs for the coroner service. The function of coroners is a necessary public service; this reorganization simply improves its operational structure.

Amends the Extradition Act 2003 designation orders to move Iceland and Norway from Part 2 (non-EU/EEA extradition) to Part 1 (faster EU/EEA procedures), add Kuwait and Morocco to Part 2 territories, and includes transitional provisions for cases already initiated before the Order comes into force.

While extradition inherently restricts liberty, this Order primarily reorganises existing procedural frameworks rather than expanding state power. Removing Iceland and Norway from Part 2 actually simplifies extradition with those countries. Deleting this would create legal uncertainty about which extradition procedures apply to these countries, potentially obstructing legitimate law enforcement cooperation. The additions of Kuwait and Morocco are limited in scope and reflect established international agreements.

These Regulations amend the Healthy Start Scheme and Welfare Food Regulations 2005, extending to England and Wales (with some provisions applying UK-wide or England-only). They modify eligibility criteria, replace paper vouchers with a credit system, remove the 'food outlet' registration requirement, update definitions, add information-gathering powers for the Secretary of State, and coordinate with Scotland's Best Start Foods scheme. The Regulations also make consequential amendments to related legislation and provide transitional provisions for legacy cases.

These regulations perpetuate a welfare-state apparatus that distorts market signals and creates dependency. The Healthy Start scheme, while well-intentioned, uses government vouchers and bureaucratic administration to direct nutritional choices rather than allowing families to allocate resources according to their own preferences and circumstances. The extensive regulatory framework—including eligibility tests, administrative requirements, voucher cancellation rules, information-gathering powers, and supplier approvals—imposes compliance costs on government, retailers, and beneficiaries alike. A dynamic free-trading Britain would trust families to make their own nutritional decisions, supplemented if necessary by direct cash transfers rather than in-kind benefits that constrain choice and distort the food retail market.

This Order amends the Thames Water Utilities Limited (Thames Tideway Tunnel) Order 2014 by: (1) updating the definition of 'book of reference' to include a January 2020 addendum; (2) adding Work No. 24aa (a new North East Storm Relief connection tunnel between King Edward Memorial Park CSO drop shaft and the main tunnel); (3) amending Schedule 2 provisions according to a substitution table; and (4) establishing certification procedures for submitted plans and documents.

This amendment expands the scope of a £4.2bn government-approved infrastructure project by adding new tunnel works, extending compulsory purchase and land restriction powers to additional areas. Such state-directed infrastructure spending distorts market allocation of capital, and the procedural certification requirements represent ongoing bureaucratic oversight. The original 2014 Order was a significant exercise of compulsory purchase powers over private land - each amendment extends these encumbrances. Without the amendment, alternative solutions (private negotiation, smaller-scale infrastructure) could emerge. The infrastructure itself (sewage overflow handling) could potentially be delivered more efficiently through competitive private contracts rather than a single designated undertaker with extensive statutory powers.

Amends the Child Trust Funds Regulations 2004 to increase the annual subscription limit from £4,368 to £9,000, effective 6 April 2020.

Child Trust Funds represent government paternalism in family financial planning — a legacy of New Labour's attempt to engineer savings behavior through state-mandated accounts. This amendment merely increases an arbitrary cap on another person's money. The original CTF scheme was already wound down after 2011 when the coalition government recognised its fundamental flaw: forcing savings through a single state-preferred vehicle distorts markets, creates administrative burden, and presumes politicians know better than families how to plan for their children's future. Since CTFs have been superseded by Junior ISAs for new accounts, keeping these regulations perpetuates a closed scheme with no compelling rationale — adding compliance costs for providers and limiting parental freedom to save as they see fit.

This Order designates the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) as an approved regulator under the Legal Services Act 2007, specifically in relation to the administration of oaths, effective 6th April 2020.

This Order does not impose regulatory burden—it expands competition in legal services by allowing ICAEW members to administer oaths, increasing choice for businesses and individuals. Deleting it would restrict who can perform this routine administrative function, harming consumers through reduced competition and convenience without any corresponding benefit.

Amends the National Insurance Contributions Act 2014 to increase the Employment Allowance (a tax relief reducing employer NICs liability) from £3,000 to £4,000 per eligible employer, effective 6th April 2020. The Employment Allowance is a subsidy to employers intended to reduce employment costs and encourage hiring.

While framed as a tax reduction, the Employment Allowance is a distortive intervention that picks winners among employers. It creates artificial incentives for employment while imposing additional burden on workers in non-subsidized sectors or those outside employment. Any jobs 'created' through this subsidy represent misallocated labor rather than genuine market demand. A truly dynamic free-trading nation would not distort labor markets through targeted tax reliefs, regardless of their direction. The £1,000 increase compounds this distortion without addressing underlying structural issues in the labor market.

Extends provisions of the Communications Act 2003 (as amended by the Digital Economy Act 2017) to the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with a modification requiring consultation with the Policy and Resources Committee of the States of Guernsey in addition to other persons deemed appropriate.

Extends UK regulatory framework to Guernsey without democratic scrutiny by Guernsey's legislature, adding compliance costs with no corresponding benefit to Guernsey residents. The consultation modification, while seemingly localized, still embeds Guernsey into a UK regulatory structure that may not suit its distinct needs as a Crown dependency.