The Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) Order 2007

Made: 18th December 2007

Coming into force: 6th April 2008

In accordance with section 24(9) of that Act, a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) Order 2007 and comes into force on 6th April 2008.

• (2) In this Order—

• “local authority” means—a county or district council in England;a London borough council;the Common Council of the City of London;the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple;the Council of the Isles of Scilly;a port health authority in England (not being an authority specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to (e)); ...an authority established under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1985² (waste disposal authorities for Greater London and metropolitan counties); a county or county borough council in Wales; a fire and rescue authority in Wales (not being a county or county borough council); anda port health authority in Wales (not being a county or county borough council);

• “local authority in Scotland” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “local authority in Northern Ireland” means a district council constituted under section 1 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972;

• “private sector bodies” means bodies or persons other than the following bodies or persons—any Minister of the Crown, Government department or other emanation of the Crown;any local authority;the Greater London Authority;any body corporate whose members are appointed by a Minister of the Crown, a Government department, a local authority, the Greater London Authority, or by a body corporate whose members are so appointed;a company—a majority of whose issued shares are held by or on behalf of any of the bodies or persons falling within paragraphs (a) to (d) above;in which the majority of the voting rights are held by or on behalf of any of those bodies or persons;a majority of whose board of directors can be appointed or removed by any of those bodies or persons; orin which the majority of the voting rights are controlled by any of those bodies or persons, pursuant to an agreement with other persons;a subsidiary of a company falling within paragraph (e) above;

• “third sector bodies” means any organisations that exist wholly or mainly to provide benefits for society or the environment.

Regulatory functions

2

Subject to articles 3 and 4, any regulatory function specified in the Schedule to this Order is a function to which sections 21 and 22 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 apply.

3

Article 2 shall not apply to any regulatory function exercisable by Order in Council, order, rules, regulations, scheme, warrant, byelaw or other subordinate instrument under a public general Act or local Act.

4

Article 2 shall not apply to any regulatory function—

• (a) so far as exercisable in Scotland, if or to the extent that the function relates to matters which are not reserved matters;

• (b) so far as exercisable in Northern Ireland, if or to the extent that the function relates to matters which are transferred matters; or

• (c) exercisable only in or as regards Wales.

SCHEDULE

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

All the regulatory functions so far as exercisable by local authorities conferred by secondary legislation made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972⁴⁷¹ in relation to food hygiene, food standards and animal feed.

Signed

Phil Hope — Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office — and Minister for the Third Sector — 2007-12-18

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Section 21 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006⁴⁷² (the “Act”) imposes a duty on any person exercising a specified regulatory function to have regard to the five principles of good regulation. The principles provide that regulatory activities should be carried out in a way which is transparent, accountable, proportionate and consistent and should be targeted only at cases in which action is needed.

Section 22 of the Act enables a Minister of the Crown to issue a Code of Practice relating to the exercise of regulatory functions (the “Regulators’ Compliance Code”). This section imposes a duty on any person exercising a specified regulatory function to have regard to the Regulators’ Compliance Code when determining general policies or principles by reference to which that person exercises those functions.

Under section 22(3) of the Act, where a person exercises a regulatory function of setting standards or giving general guidance about the exercise of other regulatory functions, the duty to have regard to the Regulators’ Compliance Code applies directly to the exercise of that function of setting standards or giving general guidance.

This Order specifies the regulatory functions to which the duties in section 21 and 22 apply. Part 1 of the Schedule specifies the regulatory functions exercisable by relevant statutory regulators. Part 2 specifies the relevant regulatory functions exercisable by a Minister of the Crown. Parts 3 and 4 specify the relevant regulatory functions exercisable by local authorities.

A copy of the Regulators’ Compliance Code and a full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector are available from the Better Regulation Executive, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET. The full impact assessment is also annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

Footnotes