Regulatory Reform Act 2001
| Year | 2001 |
Regulatory Reform Act 2001
2001 CHAPTER 6
An Act to enable provision to be made for the purpose of reforming legislation which has the effect of imposing burdens affecting persons in the carrying on of any activity and to enable codes of practice to be made with respect to the enforcement of restrictions, requirements or conditions.
[10th April 2001]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Power to make provision reforming law which imposes burdens
1 Power by order to make provision reforming law which imposes burdens
1 Power by order to make provision reforming law which imposes burdens
(1) Subject to subsections (3) to (5) and to sections 3 to 8, a Minister of the Crown may by order make provision for the purpose of reforming legislation which has the effect of imposing burdens affecting persons in the carrying on of any activity, with a view to one or more of the following objects—
(a) the removal or reduction of any of those burdens,
(b) the re-enacting of provision having the effect of imposing any of those burdens, in cases where the burden is proportionate to the benefit which is expected to result from the re-enactment,
(c) the making of new provision having the effect of imposing a burden which—
(i) affects any person in the carrying on of the activity, but
(ii) is proportionate to the benefit which is expected to result from its creation, and
(d) the removal of inconsistencies and anomalies.
(2) In subsection (1) ‘legislation’ means the law contained in any provision of—
(a) any Act (whether or not in force) which was passed at least two years before the day on which the order is made, or
(b) an order under this section or under section 1 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (c. 40) (in this Act referred to as ‘the 1994 Act’),
but does not include the law contained in any such provision in its application to Scotland where that provision would, if contained in an Act of the Scottish Parliament, be within the legislative competence of that Parliament.
(3) An order under this section must include provision made by virtue of subsection (1)(a).
(4) No order under this section may be made for the purpose of reforming the law contained in any provision of an Act if that provision has been amended, otherwise than merely for consequential or incidental purposes—
(a) by an Act passed not more than two years before the day on which the order is made, or
(b) by any subordinate legislation made not more than two years before that day,
but this subsection does not prevent an order under this section from re-enacting without substantive amendment any provision which has been so amended.
(5) An order under this section which removes or modifies any function of the National Assembly for Wales may be made only with the agreement of the Assembly.
(6) The provision that may be made by order under this section includes—
(a) provision amending or repealing any enactment,
(b) provision creating or imposing, or authorising or requiring the creation or imposition of, anything which would be a burden but for the fact that it affects only a Minister of the Crown or government department, and
(c) such incidental, consequential, transitional or supplemental provision as the Minister thinks appropriate.
(7) An order under this section may make different provision for different areas.
2 Meaning of ‘burden’ and related expressions
(1) In this Act ‘burden’ includes—
(a) a restriction, requirement or condition (including one requiring the payment of fees or preventing the incurring of expenditure) or any sanction (whether criminal or otherwise) for failure to observe a restriction or to comply with a requirement or condition, and
(b) any limit on the statutory powers of any person (including a limit preventing the charging of fees or the incurring of expenditure),
but does not include any burden which affects only a Minister of the Crown or government department.
(2) In this Act—
(a) any reference to creating or imposing a burden includes a reference to authorising or requiring a burden to be created or imposed,
(b) any reference to removing a burden includes a reference to removing the authorisation or requirement by virtue of which a burden may be imposed, and
(c) any reference to reducing a burden includes a reference to reducing the authorisation or requirement by virtue of which a burden may be imposed (for example, by restricting the circumstances in which it is authorised or required to be imposed).
3 Limitations on order-making power
(1) An order under section 1 may be made only if the Minister making the order is of the opinion that the order does not—
(a) remove any necessary protection, or
(b) prevent any person from continuing to exercise any right or freedom which he might reasonably expect to continue to exercise.
(2) An order under section 1 may create a burden affecting any person in the carrying on of an activity only if the Minister is of the opinion—
(a) that the provisions of the order, taken as a whole, strike a fair balance between the public interest and the interests of the persons affected by the burden being created, and
(b) that the extent to which the order removes or reduces one or more burdens, or has other beneficial effects for persons affected by the burdens imposed by the existing law, makes it desirable for the order to be made.
(3) If an order under section 1 creates a new criminal offence, then, subject to subsection (4), that offence shall not be punishable—
(a) on indictment with imprisonment for a term exceeding two years, or
(b) on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term exceeding six months or a fine exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(4) In the case of an offence which, if committed by an adult, is triable either on indictment or summarily and is not an offence triable on indictment only by virtue of—
(a) Part V of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (c. 33), or
(b) section 292(6) and (7) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 46),
the reference in subsection (3)(b) to level 5 on the standard scale is to be construed as a reference to the statutory maximum.
(5) An order under section 1 shall not contain any provision—
(a) providing for any forcible entry, search or seizure, or
(b) compelling the giving of evidence,
unless a provision to that effect is contained in an enactment repealed by the order and the powers conferred by the provision to that effect contained in the order are exercisable for the same purposes as the powers conferred by the repealed enactment or for purposes of a like nature.
4 Statutory instrument procedure
(1) An order under section 1 shall be made by statutory instrument.
(2) Subject to subsection (7), no such order shall be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
(3) An order under section 1 may designate specified...
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