Browse regulations

Emergency COVID-19 regulation amending Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 to extend SSP eligibility to individuals advised by public health authorities to self-isolate due to contact with a coronavirus-infected person, requiring 14-day home isolation. Defines 'relevant notification' broadly across UK health bodies and government departments.

This emergency COVID-19 legislation from 2020 has no ongoing justification. The pandemic emergency has passed, and maintaining this regulation permanently represents inappropriate permanent expansion of statutory sick pay mandates into new categories. The contact-tracing self-isolation provision was a time-limited emergency measure, not a permanent feature of labor market regulation. Keeping it imposes ongoing costs on employers who must pay SSP to employees self-isolating due to contact (not illness), distorts employment decisions, and creates perverse incentives for indefinite self-isolation notifications. The public health objective can be achieved through voluntary employer policies, private insurance, or time-limited emergency frameworks rather than permanent statutory mandate.

Amendment to Schools Forums (England) Regulations 2012 to permit remote attendance at schools forum meetings during coronavirus. Defines 'remote means' to include telephone/video conferencing, webcasts, and live streaming. Specifies that remote attendees must be able to hear, be heard, see, and be seen by other members and the public where practicable.

This regulation imposes minimal burden and is essentially enabling rather than restrictive. Schools forums are advisory bodies on school funding, not commercial enterprises. The amendment reduces compliance costs by allowing remote participation, increases accessibility, and creates no market distortions. Unlike EU-derived regulations that impose bureaucratic burdens or gold-plated requirements, this is a domestic procedural flexibility measure with negligible economic impact. Deleting it would marginally inconvenience schools forums with no corresponding economic benefit.

Amends the Food Information Regulations 2014 by inserting Part 4 into Schedule 5, adding enforcement provisions for Article 26(3) of the Food Information for Consumers (FIC) Regulation, which requires mandatory country of origin or place of provenance indication for the primary ingredient of a food in certain cases.

This regulation imposes mandatory country of origin labeling requirements on food businesses, adding compliance costs and administrative burdens. Such labeling mandates distort supply chains, create barriers for smaller businesses, and presume to dictate what information consumers should receive rather than allowing voluntary market mechanisms to determine optimal disclosure. The regulation perpetuates the EU-derived regulatory approach of mandating disclosure rather than letting competition and consumer demand drive transparency.

Amendment to Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 modifying criminal record check requirements for independent school staff and proprietors. Adds definition of 'registered person', revises paragraphs 20(3), 20(5), 20(6)(c), 20(7) and 20(8) to streamline enhanced criminal record check processes, including allowing electronic transmission and removing some countersignature requirements. Made under coronavirus emergency procedures.

This regulation exemplifies the problem of EU-derived legislation being retained without democratic scrutiny — rushed through under coronavirus emergency procedures without proper parliamentary debate. The enhanced criminal record check regime creates significant compliance burdens for independent schools, acting as a barrier to entry that reduces competition in education provision. While protecting children is a legitimate goal, the specific mechanism of requiring Secretary of State involvement in every check via countersignature or transmission creates unnecessary bureaucratic friction. The regulatory burden on independent schools — already one of the most heavily regulated sectors — suppresses supply and limits parental choice. Market mechanisms and alternative verification systems could achieve child safety objectives with less state intervention and lower compliance costs.

Temporary amendment to School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (England) Regulations 2012, enacted to address COVID-19 disruption between June-September 2020. Allows school discipline meetings to be held via remote access (video/audio) when in-person meetings are not reasonably practicable due to coronavirus. Extends time limits for exclusions reviews by 10 school days and extends the deadline to apply for review from 15 to 25 school days for 'relevant exclusions' (those occurring during the June-September 2020 window). Includes conditions requiring participant agreement, technical capability, and meeting transparency.

This regulation was explicitly time-limited to the June-September 2020 COVID-19 window and has become inoperative dead law. All 'relevant exclusions' defined by the regulation involve dates that have long passed (exclusions occurring on/after 1st June 2020 but before 25th September 2020). The mandatory review period of effectiveness (June-September 2020) has concluded. The underlying 2012 Regulations remain intact to govern pupil exclusions and reviews generally. This amendment serves no current function and adds unnecessary regulatory complexity to the statute book.

The Electronic Communications (Universal Service) (Costs) Regulations 2020 implement a scheme administered by OFCOM to compensate universal service providers (e.g., BT, KCOM) for alleged unfair financial burdens in providing mandated universal service obligations (basic phone lines, payphones, directory services). The regulations establish: the process for determining unfair burdens; a fund mechanism for collecting contributions from other communications providers; OFCOM's powers to set contribution thresholds, proportions, and categories; consultation requirements; invoice and collection procedures; and provisions for additional contributions when payments are outstanding. The scheme requires communications providers to cross-subsidize universal service providers based on regulatory determinations of 'fairness' and 'unfair financial burden'.

This regulation perpetuates a forced cross-subsidization scheme that distorts market competition, creates administrative burdens, and uses bureaucratic allocation rather than market processes. Universal service obligations themselves create the 'unfair' burden by mandating that certain providers serve unprofitable areas — the solution to government-imposed costs should not be more government-mandated transfers. The extensive discretionary powers granted to OFCOM (determining 'fairness,' contribution proportions, categories, and additional contributions) create regulatory capture opportunities and compliance uncertainty. Post-Brexit, Britain should not retain this bureaucratic mechanism for redistributing costs between private actors based on regulatory conceptions of fairness; rather, universal service obligations should be reconsidered entirely or replaced with competitive market mechanisms or targeted, transparent public subsidies.

Police (Amendment) Regulations 2020 amend the Police Regulations 2003 to insert a minimum age requirement of 17 years for appointment to a police force, and clarify that the existing 18 years age requirement and other qualifications in paragraph (ea) must be met before being appointed to a police force.

This regulation simply clarifies qualification timing and modestly lowers the minimum recruitment age to 17. Deleting it would create ambiguity in police recruitment standards and potentially restrict forces from appointing qualified candidates who meet requirements. These are basic, reasonable staffing standards that do not impose economic burdens or restrict market activity.

The Cleve Hill Solar Park Order 2020 grants development consent for a 350-500MW solar farm and battery storage facility in Kent, authorising compulsory acquisition of land, street works, temporary use of land, and deemed marine licences for offshore works. It establishes the undertaker's rights and obligations, environmental requirements, ecological management plans, and provisions for transferring or granting the benefit of the Order to another person.

This Order exemplifies government picking winners in energy markets through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime, which distorts investment signals and entrenches large corporate interests at the expense of consumer choice. It grants compulsory acquisition powers for private commercial benefit—a solar energy developer—without which the free market would allocate land use according to genuine demand. The renewable energy subsidy framework underlying this project is itself a regulatory intervention that misdirects capital. Furthermore, the requirement for 'outline skills, supply chain and employment plan' and similar bureaucratic conditions represent social engineering rather than neutral governance. A genuinely free Britain would let energy markets determine optimal mix without Treasury-backed contracts for difference, mandated environmental assessments, or state-compelled land assembly for commercial renewable projects.

Amendment to Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007, updating Traffic Signs Regulations references from 2002 to 2016, and explicitly including mandatory cycle lanes (marked under specific diagrams in Schedule 7) among locations where civil enforcement officers may issue parking penalty charge notices. Also provides updated definitions for bus lane, bus stop/stand clearway, red route, and adds a definition for mandatory cycle lane.

Without this amendment, enforcement of parking restrictions in mandatory cycle lanes would lack clear legal basis, potentially allowing drivers to block cycle lanes with impunity. This undermines cyclist safety and the infrastructure investment in protected lanes. While parking regulation generally deserves skepticism, this amendment is primarily a technical clarification that updates outdated references and ensures consistent enforcement mechanisms already present in the 2007 regulations continue functioning properly under the 2016 Traffic Signs Regulations.

These Regulations implement official controls on plant protection products (pesticides) in Great Britain, designating competent authorities (Secretary of State, Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers), requiring operators to notify authorities of their activities within 15-24 months, granting authorized persons powers of entry, inspection, sampling and seizure, creating enforcement notices and offences for non-compliance, and requiring periodic regulatory reviews.

This is a retained EU law establishing costly bureaucratic controls on plant protection products with no post-Brexit democratic scrutiny. The notification requirements, enforcement powers (including entry without warrant, computer seizure, compelled testimony), and requirement that operators pay for official controls impose significant compliance costs that raise barriers to entry for smaller businesses. While genuine safety concerns exist, less onerous alternatives (industry self-regulation, private certification, tort liability for harm) could achieve equivalent safety outcomes without constraining trade. The regulation also grants sweeping coercive powers to authorities with inadequate safeguards against abuse.

The A63 (Castle Street Improvement, Hull) Development Consent Order 2020 grants development consent for a major road improvement scheme in Hull, authorising Highways England to construct, maintain and operate improvements to the A63 Castle Street including new carriageways, cycle tracks, footways, and associated development. The Order establishes the legal framework for land acquisition, street alterations, traffic management measures, and the classification of new roads, incorporating extensive definitions, procedural requirements, and provisions for statutory undertakers (BT, KCOM, Northern Gas, Northern Powergrid, Yorkshire Water) to undertake apparatus works.

This Development Consent Order is project-specific infrastructure authorisation rather than a regulatory burden — it facilitates economic activity by improving a key urban route. Deletion would eliminate essential statutory authority for a critical transport improvement that will reduce congestion costs, enhance the strategic road network, and support Hull's port and trade operations. Unlike EU-derived regulations that impose blanket rules, this Order is a targeted consent mechanism necessary for coordinating complex infrastructure delivery involving multiple stakeholders, statutory undertakers, and affected parties — its removal would create legal uncertainty and hinder rather than promote free trade.

Amends the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 to add a specific CBD-based liquid formulation (cannabis extract with ≤0.1mg/ml THC and 95-105mg/ml CBD, approved by EU Commission on 19 Sep 2019) to Schedule 5 exceptions. Modifies definitions to include this product under 'cannabis-based product for medicinal use'.

This regulation creates a targeted exemption for a single, precisely-specified pharmaceutical product rather than establishing general policy principles. The extremely specific parameters (exact CBD concentration ranges, EU approval date of 19 Sep 2019) suggest this is regulatory capture of one branded product rather than legitimate health policy. Post-Brexit, reliance on European Commission approval as the defining criterion is anomalous. More fundamentally, this is a symptomatic treatment for a prohibition regime problem — rather than reforming the underlying failed policy of cannabis prohibition, it carves out one product for political reasons. Such ad-hoc exemptions maintain the distorted market structure where only politically-favoured formulations can reach patients, suppressing supply and competition. A free society would allow patients and doctors to choose appropriate cannabis products through market mechanisms, not parliamentary schedules.

These Regulations establish the operational framework for conducting the 2021 Census in England, including appointment of census officials (area operations managers, census co-ordinators, communal establishment officers), questionnaire distribution and collection procedures (both online and paper), requirements for completing and submitting census returns, tracking systems for managing census materials, and provisions for follow-up with non-responding households. The Regulations implement the Census Order 2020 and work within the framework of the Census Act 1920 and Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Without these procedural regulations, the statutory census mandated by the Census Act 1920 could not be conducted in an orderly manner. While the regulations are detailed, they concern government statistical operations rather than restrictions on commercial activity or private enterprise. Deletion would create administrative chaos and leave no mechanism for collecting essential demographic data used in government planning, resource allocation, and policy formation. The operational nature of these regulations means they do not impose the typical regulatory burdens on economic actors that Better Britain would seek to remove.

This Order amends the Schedule to the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Specified Proceedings) Order 1999 by adding paragraphs 16B and 16C, which specify that offences under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 and Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020 are 'specified proceedings' under CPS jurisdiction.

This amendment is obsolete — the underlying Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 have been repealed and COVID-19 restrictions lifted across the UK. Specifying these proceedings conferred Crown Prosecution Service jurisdiction over emergency public health restrictions that no longer exist. The amendment served to criminalise administrative violations of movement and gathering restrictions at significant cost to the justice system, with disproportionate impact on ordinary citizens. Retaining this amendment serves no current purpose while maintaining on the statute book an instrument designed for an emergency regime that has ended.

These Regulations (2020/598) amended the Energy Efficiency (Building Renovation and Reporting) Regulations 2014 by inserting provisions requiring the Secretary of State to establish a long-term renovation strategy for decarbonising building stock by 2050, link financial measures to energy savings, and provide information via advisory tools. The regulations explicitly ceased to have effect immediately before IP completion day (31 December 2020), rendering them obsolete retained EU law from the Brexit transition period. They required submission to the European Commission as part of the EU's Governance of the Energy Union framework.

These regulations have already ceased to have effect at IP completion day by their own terms. They were a transitional amendment designed to operate only during the Brexit transition period, inserting EU-derived requirements into domestic law that became moot upon leaving the EU. The regulations required submission to the European Commission, referenced EU directives and regulations (Directive 2010/31/EU, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999), and mandated adherence to Eurostat and European Investment Bank guidance — obligations that no longer apply post-Brexit. The long-term renovation strategy obligations were EU-derived and never democratically scrutinised by Parliament; they imposed advisory tool requirements and financial mechanism facilitation that added regulatory burden without clear domestic benefit now that we are outside the EU's Energy Union framework.