Draft Deregulation Bill Cm 8642 £31.50 Draft Deregulation Bill Presented to Parliament by the Minister for Government Policy and the Minister without Portfolio by Command of Her Majesty July 2013 Cm 8642 £31.50 © Crown copyright 2013 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http:// www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or e-mail: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at David Howarth Bill Manager, Deregulation Bill Cabinet Office 4th Floor (Blue Zone) 1 Horse Guards Road London, SW1A 2HQ Email: [email protected] You can download this publication from www.cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk ISBN: 9780101864220 Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID 2568494 31113 07/13 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. Draft Deregulation Bill Index Foreword 3 Draft Deregulation Bill 5 Explanatory Notes 133 Summary of Impact 239 Draft Deregulation Bill Draft Deregulation Bill 3 Foreword We are pleased to publish a draft Deregulation Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of both Houses. Publication of the draft Bill is the latest step in the Government’s ongoing drive to remove unnecessary bureaucracy that costs British businesses millions, slows down public services like schools and hospitals, and hinders millions of individuals in their daily lives. The Government’s Red Tape Challenge has already brought in reforms that have saved business over £212m a year, not all of which needed legislation passed by Parliament to achieve. A significant number of further measures will be implemented by the end of 2013, including an overhaul of employment tribunals to save business around £40m per year. Overall, ministers have already decided that 1,910 substantive regulations will be scrapped or reduced. The Chancellor announced in the Budget that a second phase of the Red Tape Challenge will start in summer 2013. The key measures in the Bill remove unnecessary burdens on three main groups: Freeing business from red tape including by: • scrapping health & safety rules for self-employed workers in low risk occupations, formally exempting 800,000 people from health & safety regulation and saving business an estimated £300,000 a year; • putting a deregulatory ‘growth duty’ on non-economic regulators, bringing the huge resource of 50 regulators with a budget of £4bn to bear on the crucial task of promoting growth and stopping pointless red tape; and • making the system of apprenticeships more flexible and responsive to the needs of employers and the economy, as recommended by the Richard Review. The Deregulation Bill will remove a lot of prescriptive detail in the current legislation and clarify the employment status of apprentices. Making life easier for individuals and civil society including through: • reducing the period for which someone has to live in their social housing to qualify for Right to Buy and Right to Acquire from five to three years, expanding their availability to a further 200,000 households; • scrapping heavy-handed fines for people who make mistakes putting out their bins; • deregulating the showing of “not-for-profit” film in village halls and community centres, making it easier for small charities and community groups to hold “film nights”; and 4 Draft Deregulation Bill • devolving decisions on public rights of way to a local level, which will cut the time for recording a right of way by several years and save almost £20m a year through needless bureaucracy. Reducing bureaucratic requirements on public bodies including: • removing prescriptive requirements on local authorities to consult and produce strategies; and • freeing schools from pointless paperwork and prescriptive central Government requirements. We look forward to assisting the Committee with its scrutiny of the draft Deregulation Bill and to receiving its subsequent report in due course. KENNETH CLARKE OLIVER LETWIN Draft Deregulation Bill 5 Deregulation Bill CONTENTS Measures affecting business: general 1 Health and safety at work: general duty of self-employed persons 2 Removal of employment tribunals’ power to make wider recommendations 3 English apprenticeships: simplification Measures affecting business: particular areas 4Driving instructors 5 Motor insurers 6 Shippers etc of gas 7 Suppliers of fuel and fireplaces 8 Sellers of knitting yarn Companies and insolvency 9 Authorisation of insolvency practitioners 10 Auditors ceasing to hold office 11 Insolvency and company law: miscellaneous Use of land 12 Recorded rights of way: additional protection 13 Unrecorded rights of way: protection from extinguishment 14 Conversion of public rights of way to private rights of way 15 Applications by owners etc for public path orders 16 Extension of powers to authorise erection of stiles at request of owner etc 17 Applications for certain orders under Highways Act 1980: cost recovery 18 Ascertainment of public rights of way: procedure 19 Erection of public statues (London): removal of consent requirement Housing 20 Reduction of qualifying period for right to buy 21 Removal of power to require preparation of housing strategies Transport 22 Removal of restrictions on provision of passenger rail services 6 Draft Deregulation Bill ii Deregulation Bill 23 Reduction of burdens relating to the use of roads and railways 24 Reduction of burdens relating to enforcement of transport legislation 25 Removal of duty to order re-hearing of marine accident investigations Communications 26 Repeal of power to make provision for blocking injunctions The environment etc 27 Reduction of duties relating to energy and climate change 28 Model clauses in petroleum licences: procedural simplification 29 Household waste: de-criminalisation 30 Other measures relating to animals, food and the environment Education and training 31 Abolition of office of Chief Executive of Skills Funding 32 Further and higher education sectors: reduction of burdens 33 Schools: reduction of burdens Entertainment 34 Exhibition of films in community premises Administration of justice 35 Repeal of Senior President of Tribunals’ duty to report on standards 36 Criminal procedure: written witness statements 37 Criminal procedure: written guilty pleas 38 Criminal procedure: powers to make Criminal Procedure Rules 39 “MAPPA” arrangements to cease to apply to certain offenders Other measures to reduce burdens on public authorities 40 Repeal of powers to provide accommodation to persons temporarily admitted to the UK etc 41 Removal of restriction on persons who may manage child trust funds 42 London street trading appeals: removal of role of Secretary of State in appeals 43 Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004: enforcement 44 Repeal of duty to prepare sustainable community strategy 45 Repeal of duties relating to local area agreements 46 Repeal of provisions relating to multi-area agreements 47 Repeal of duties relating to consultation or involvement Legislative reform 48 Ambulatory references to international shipping instruments 49 Power to spell out dates described in legislation Legislation no longer of practical use 50 Legislation no longer of practical use 51 Orders disapplying legislation no longer of practical use Draft Deregulation Bill 7 Deregulation Bill iii 52 Devolution 53 Procedure: introductory 54 Procedure: consultation 55 Procedure: draft order and explanatory statement 56 Making of orders 57 Supplemental Exercise of regulatory functions 58 Exercise of regulatory functions: economic growth 59 Functions to which section 58 applies 60 Guidance on duty under section 58 61 Sections 58 to 60: interpretation General 62 Consequential amendments, repeals and revocations 63 Extent 64 Commencement 65 Short title Schedule 1 — Approved English apprenticeships Part 1 — Main amendments Part 2 — Consequential amendments Schedule 2 — Driving instructors Part 1 — Amendments of Part 5 RTA 1988 (as amended by RSA 2006) Part 2— Transitory amendments of Part 5 RTA 1988 (before amendment by RSA 2006) Part 3 — Consequential and related amendments Schedule 3 — Motor insurance industry: certificates of insurance Schedule 4 — Auditors ceasing to hold office Part 1 — Notification requirements Part 2 — Miscellaneous Schedule 5 — Insolvency and company law Part 1 — Deeds of arrangement Part 2 — Administration of companies Part 3 — Winding up of companies Part 4 — Disqualification of unfit directors of insolvent companies Part 5 — Bankruptcy Part 6 — Authorisation of insolvency practitioners Part 7 — Liabilities of administrators and administrative receivers of companies and preferential debts of companies and individuals Part 8 — Requirements of company law: proxies Schedule 6 — Ascertainment of rights of way Part 1 — Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Part 2 — Highways Act 1980 Schedule 7 — Provision of passenger rail services Schedule 8 — Regulation of the use of roads and railways Part 1 — Permit schemes: removal of requirement for Secretary of State approval 8 Draft Deregulation Bill iv Deregulation Bill Part 2 — Road humps Part 3— Pedestrian crossings: removal of requirement to inform Secretary of State Part 4 — Off-road motoring events Part 5 — Testing of vehicles Part 6 — Rail vehicle