5.27. Under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (opens in new tab), any person exercising a specified regulatory function has a legal duty to have regard to the statutory principles of good regulation in the exercise of the function (Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (opens in new tab), section 21). These 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. The Commission has regard to these principles in relation to its responsibilities and also has regard to the requirements of the Regulators’ Code (previously the Regulators’ Compliance Code), Department of Business, Innovation and Skills⁵, 2014, issued under section 23 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (opens in new tab). The purpose of the Code is to promote efficient and effective approaches to regulatory inspection and enforcement which improve regulatory outcomes without imposing unnecessary burdens on business.

5.28. The statutory principles of good regulation and the Code also apply to local authorities, who are under a statutory duty to have regard to them when fulfilling their regulatory functions under the Act. The Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) Order 2007 (opens in new tab), was amended by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) (Amendment) Order 2009 (opens in new tab), which, amongst other things, extended the application of the 2007 Order to local authorities in Wales and Scotland exercising regulatory functions under the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in new tab) - see Part 3 of this guidance and Part 7 of this guidance.

5.29. Guidance produced by Regulatory Delivery now replaced by the Office of Product Safety and Standards seeks to assist local authorities in interpreting the requirements of the Regulator’s Code for example in delivering risk-based regulation in relation to age restrictions.

Age-restricted products and services framework⁶ sets out an agreed set of shared responsibilities and reasonable expectations for young people, their parents and carers, businesses, employees and regulators with regards to access to age restricted products and services. The document forms the foundations of the Age-restricted products and services: a code of practice for regulatory delivery⁷.

References

⁵ Now the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

⁶ Age-restricted products and services framework (opens in new tab)

⁷ Age-restricted products and services: a code of practice for regulatory delivery (opens in new tab)

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Last updated: 7 December 2023

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