Agenda item

Statutory Instruments

Date in Force

Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Extension of the Relevant Period) Regulations 2020 No. 1031

These Regulations extend the temporary measures of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, which aim to mitigate the financial impact of the Coronavirus and which were due to expire on 30th September. The Regulations extend until 31 December 2020 a suspension on serving statutory demands and restrictions on filing petitions to wind up companies. They also extend until 30 March 2021 the temporary moratorium rules, which allow a company subject to a winding-up petition to access a moratorium simply by filing the relevant documents in court, rather than having to make an application to court. The regulations also disapply the rule that prevents a company from entering a moratorium if it has been subject to a company voluntary arrangement, been in administration, or been in a previous moratorium within the past 12 months. Further, the Regulations extend until 30 March 2021 the Act’s small supplier exemption from termination clause provisions. Subsequent SI No. 1033 provides that some of the provisions relating to the temporary moratorium rules cease to have effect on 1st October 2020, but this does not apply in relation to a moratorium which came into force, or for which an application was made to the court, before 1^st October 2020.

29 September 2020

The Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020 No. 1095

These regulations make it an offence to supply less than two cubic metres of wood for the purposes of combustion in domestic premises in England, unless the wood is authorised by an “approved wood certification body”. They also make it an offence to supply wood in units of two cubic metres or more without an accompanying notice that it is not suitable for burning until it has a moisture content of 20% or less. Further offences are created for the supply a manufactured solid fuel that is not an authorised fuel under these Regulations, and the supply of coal that is not exempted. A person who commits any of these offences may be issued with a fixed penalty of £300. These Regulations are to be enforced by the relevant local authority, which may include the Common Council depending on the circumstances of the supply of the fuel. The local authority may recover the expenses reasonably incurred by it in enforcing these Regulations from a person in respect of whom it has taken any action under these Regulations.

1 May 2021

The Value Added Tax (Refund of Tax to Museums and Galleries) (Amendment) Order 2020 No. 1167

Section 33A of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 entitles bodies to claim a refund of the VAT incurred by them that is attributable to the provision of free admission to specified museums and galleries which they operate. The Museum of London is one such specified museum. This Order amends the postcode for “Museum of London, London Wall London”, to “EC2Y 5HN” from “EC2Y 5NH”. It also omits “Museum of London Archaeological Service Mortimer Wheeler House, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1”, as a relevant museum, and inserts “Museum of London, Site bound by Charterhouse Street, East Poultry Avenue, Smithfield Street, Snowhill, Farringdon, London EC1*.

17 November 2020

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 No. 1200

These Regulations impose restrictions on the occasions on which a person can leave or be outside of the place where they are living and on both indoor and outdoor gatherings. There are a number of exceptions, for example with respect to people from the same or linked households. The Regulations also require the closure of businesses such as bars and pubs, and impose restrictions on businesses, such as prohibiting the sale of food or drink for consumption on premises. The regulations expire on 2 December 2020.

5 November 2020

The Local Authorities (Collection Fund: Surplus and Deficit)

(Coronavirus) (England) Regulations 2020 No. 1202

These Regulations amend existing provisions for the discharge by a billing authority of liabilities to meet any estimated surplus or deficit in that billing authority’s collection fund, and provide that liabilities for a negative exceptional balance for the financial year beginning on 1^st April 2021 can be met over a period of three years. The Regulations amend the way in which billing authorities calculate their estimated surplus or deficit on their collection fund in respect of non-domestic rating income for the relevant years beginning on 1st April 2021 and 1st April 2022. In calculating its exceptional balance, the Regulations require a billing authority to estimate the amount of rates relief it awarded in the preceding year in accordance with guidance issued by the MHCLG and the Treasury. The Regulations apply to the City of London as is a billing authority.

1 December 2020

The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 No. 1212

These Regulations amend existing provisions concerning the accounting practices to be followed by local authorities, including (in particular) with respect to the charging of expenditure to revenue accounts. The Regulations provide that, where a local authority has a deficit on its school budget, the authority must not charge any such deficit to its revenue account, but rather to a separate account, established and usable solely for that purpose. The Regulations apply to accounts prepared for the financial years beginning in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and provides formulae for calculating whether a local authority has a schools budget deficit in relation to each such financial year.

29 November 2020

The Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction and Taking Control of Goods) (England) Regulations 2020 No. 1290

These Regulations prevent attendance at a dwelling house for the

purpose of executing a writ or warrant of possession or restitution or delivering a notice of eviction, except where the court is satisfied that the claim is against trespassers who are persons unknown or where it was made wholly or partly on the grounds of anti-social behaviour, nuisance, false statements, substantial rent arrears that predate 23^rd March 2020 or, in cases where the person attending is satisfied that the dwelling house is unoccupied at the time of attendance, death of the occupant. This provision expires on 11th January 2021. The Regulations also prevent use of the procedure set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to take control of goods located inside a dwelling house, until the expiry of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020.

17 November 2020