Section 21 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006559 (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.