The Regulatory Reform Act 2001 (c.6) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It replaced the

Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 The Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (c. 40) is an Act of Parliament. It introduced wide-ranging measures with aims including reducing burdern on people in trade created by previous Acts such as the Shops Act 1950, changes in transport leg ...

. It removed some of the constraints on Deregulation Orders under the 1994 Act, by providing wider powers for government ministers to make a Regulatory Reform Order by

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

. The Act was introduced to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

on 7 December 2000, and passed to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

on 19 March 2001. It passed its Report Stage and

Third Reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

on 4 April 2001. Under the 2001 Act, a government minister can make a Regulatory Reform Order to " eformlegislation which has the effect of imposing burdens", with a view to removing or reducing the regulatory burdens. The Act can only be used to reform existing legislation, so cannot be used to codify the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

, and can only be used where burdens are removed (although, unlike the 1994 Act, new burdens can also be imposed where proportional). An Order cannot be used to remove "necessary protections". The draft Order must be opened to public consultation, reviewed by Committees from both Houses of Parliament, and then approved by both Houses of Parliament. However, they are not debated on the floor of either chamber, unlike a Bill. The Act provided for four Deregulation Orders that were moving through the approval process to be completed. Between enactment in April 2001 and July 2005, the Act was used to pass 27 Regulatory Reform Orders. For example, to make orders to remove restrictions on business tenancies; to liberalise rules on gaming machines; to extend licensing hours for

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

2001; and, for the Queen's

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, to remove the 20-partner limit on partnerships, and to rationalise legislation on fire safety. The Act has been largely replaced by the

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c51) (LRRA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted to replace the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 (RRA). The Act was and remains very controversial, because of a perception ...

. The Act expands the range of ministerial order-making powers, allowing orders to be made in a wider range of circumstances, more quickly and efficiently, with less consultation and scrutiny.

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Measur ...

. Fourth Edition. 2008 Reissue. Volume 41. Page 1088.

External links

Text of the Act
from the

Office of Public Sector Information The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

.
Explanatory notes
to the Act, from

.
Developments since enactment
from the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

.

{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2001 Economics of regulation Law reform in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links