Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008

Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008[a]
Act of Parliament
coat of arms
Long titleAn Act to make provision for the establishment of the Local Better Regulation Office; for the co-ordination of regulatory enforcement by local authorities; for the creation of civil sanctions in relation to regulatory offences; for the reduction and removal of regulatory burdens; and for connected purposes.
Citation2008 c. 13
Introduced byLord Bach on behalf of Lord Jones
Territorial extent [b]
Dates
Royal assent21 July 2008
Commencement1 October 2008[c]
Other legislation
Amended by
Status: Amended
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (c. 13) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which is designed to provide for more consistent enforcement of regulations across local authority boundaries, better co-ordination between local authorities and central government, and more effective enforcement of regulations. It also requires regulators to conform to certain principles. The act was passed in response to the Hampton report, commissioned in the 2004 budget.

The act has four parts:

  • Part 1 re-establishes Local Better Regulation Office, already established in May 2007 as a government-owned company, as a statutory corporation with statutory powers.[1]
  • Part 2 established a Primary Authority scheme, whereby businesses which operate in more than one local authority area can choose to nominate one authority as the primary one for regulatory purposes.
  • Part 3 introduces four new civil penalties that regulatory authorities will be able to impose on businesses.[2]
  • Part 4 imposes a duty on regulators to keep their regulatory activity under review and remove unnecessary burdens, and to keep their regulatory activities to a necessary minimum.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Section 77.
  2. ↑ Section 75.
  3. ↑ Section 76.

References

  1. ↑ "Yesterday in parliament". The Guardian. 9 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Government cuts red tape for businesses". Local Government Chronicle. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)