Legislation guides

Current guides

• Health and Care Act 2022
  The Health and Care Act 2022 provides a new legislative framework to facilitate greater collaboration within the NHS and between the NHS, local government and other partners, and to support the recovery from the pandemic. Alongside an introduction to the Act and how it will impact local government, provisions in the Act come into force at different times and so a timeline of what is known so far is included in this document.

• The Environment Act 2022
  The Environment Act 2022 operates as the UK’s new framework of environmental protection. Given that the UK has left the EU, new laws that relate to nature protection, water quality, clean air, as well as additional environmental protections that originally came from Brussels, needed to be established. The Environment Act allows the UK to enshrine some environmental protection into law and offers new powers to set new binding targets, including for air quality, water, biodiversity, and waste reduction.

• Domestic Abuse Act 2021
  The measures in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 seek to raise awareness of domestic abuse, including by legislating for the first time for a statutory definition of domestic abuse. The Act also includes a new statutory duty on local authorities to deliver accommodation-based support to victims of domestic abuse, creates the Domestic Abuse Commissioner role and aims to protect and support victims by introducing a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order (DAPO).

• Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018 
  The Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018 (the Act) makes provision, where two or more hereditaments (or properties) occupied or owned by the same person meet certain conditions as to contiguity (are clearly linked or adjoining in some way), for those properties to be treated for business rates purposes as one single hereditament.
• Children and Social Work Act 2017
  The Children and Social Work Act 2017 (the Act) is intended to improve support for looked after children and care leavers, promote the welfare and safeguarding of children, and make provisions about the regulation of social workers.
• Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
  The Homelessness Reduction Bill (the Bill) was introduced in the House of Commons on 29 June 2016. The legislation completed its passage through Parliament on 23 March 2017 and received Royal Assent on 27 April. This guide aims to provide an introduction to the Act and summarises the positive changes secured by the LGA.
• Digital Economy Act 2017
  The Digital Economy Act 2017 makes provision about electronic communications infrastructure and services. The Digital Economy Act 2017 (the Act) makes provision about electronic communications infrastructure and services, including the creation of a broadband Universal Service Order (USO), to give all premises in the UK a legal right to request a minimum standard of broadband connectivity, expected to be 10 megabits per second (Mbps).
• Bus Services Act 2017 
  The Bus Services Act provides Mayoral Combined Authorities with significant London-style powers to franchise local services. As with the system in London, franchising will provide local authorities with the ability to determine and specify the bus services to be provided in an area, with bus operators bidding to provide the services.
• Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017
  The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 is intended to strengthen neighbourhood planning by ensuring that planning decision- makers take account of well-advanced neighbourhood development plans and by giving these plans full legal effect at an earlier stage.
• Policing and Crime Act 2017
  The purpose of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 is to enhance the democratic accountability of police forces and fire and rescue services, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency services through closer collaboration and build public confidence in  policing.
• Housing and Planning Act 2016
  The Housing and Planning Act 2016 contains provisions on new homes (including starter homes), landlords and property agents, abandoned premises, social housing (including extending the Right to Buy to housing association tenants, sale of local authority assets, ‘pay-to-stay', and secure tenancies), planning, compulsory purchase and public land (duty to dispose).
• Psychoactive Substances Act 2016
  The Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 creates a blanket ban on the production, distribution, sale and supply of psychoactive substances in the United Kingdom. It is a short piece of legislation that contains 63 sections and five schedules.
• Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016
  The Welfare Reform and Work Act takes forward government commitments to introduce a duty to report to Parliament on progress made towards achieving full employment and the three million apprenticeships target in England. The Act also ensures reports on the effect of certain support for troubled families and provision for social mobility, the benefit cap, social security and tax credits, loans for mortgage interest, and social housing rents.
• Childcare Act 2016
  The Childcare Act 2016 takes forward government commitments to secure an additional entitlement of childcare support for working parents. The Act extends the entitlement to 30 hours free childcare over 38 weeks of the year for three- and four-year-olds in families where all parents are working.
• Education and Adoption Act 2016
  The Education and Adoption Act 2016 takes forward government commitments intended to improve education and adoption services. It will enable the Government to intervene in schools deemed to be coasting, as well as in failing schools. Measures in the Act allow the Government to require local authorities to make arrangements for their adoption functions to be carried out by another adoption agency, allowing for regional approaches.
• Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016
  The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 provides the legal framework for the implementation of devolution deals with combined authorities and other areas. It is an enabling piece of legislation, with further details for different areas to be set out in regulations that will be put before Parliament.
• Deregulation Act 2015
  The Deregulation Act 2015 (the Act) provides for the removal or reduction of burdens on businesses, civil society, individuals, public sector bodies and the taxpayer. These include measures relating to general and specific areas of business, companies and insolvency, the use of land, housing, transport, communications, the environment, education and training, entertainment and alcohol, public authorities and the administration of justice.
• Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015
  The Act brings forward government commitments to improve access to finance and contracts, and to reduce regulation for small businesses and entrepreneurs. During the passage of the Act through Parliament, LGA worked with parliamentarians to make amendments to Section 39—to uphold the principle that decisions should be devolved to the most local level possible.
• Serious Crime Act 2015
  The Local Government Association (LGA) worked with members of both Houses of Parliament, Government officials and stakeholders during the passage of the legislation raising issues of concern to local government. In particular, we were successful in securing an amendment to the legislation on the offence of participating in the activities of an organised crime gang. This publication aims to provide readers with an introduction to the Act and summarises the main principles of relevance to local government. 
• Infrastructure Act 2015 
  The Act covers transport, housing, regeneration, infrastructure and energy. A number of the provisions in the legislation are of importance to, and will affect, local government. These include: the creation of strategic highways companies to replace strategic highways authorities; government investment in cycling and walking; the discharge of certain types of planning conditions; the transfer of publicly held land; the local land charges service; and shale gas extraction. 
• Children and Families Act 2014
  The Children and Families Act 2014 (the Act) covers adoption and contact, family justice, children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN), child care and child welfare. The Local Government Association (LGA) was heavily involved in making representations to members of both Houses of Parliament during the passage of the legislation and was successful in securing amendments to the legislation on issues of concern to local government.