The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 38th report of session 2024–26. One instrument was drawn to the special attention of the House: the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1000. The regulations prohibit the burning of heather and other vegetation on peat over 30 cm in depth on upland areas in England. The SLSC raised concerns about the potential for increased wildfire risk due to the prohibition of precautionary burning without a licence, particularly given that the new rules came into effect shortly before the start of the burning season. The SLSC also noted that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) amended a licensing ground to focus on reducing the impact, rather than the risk, of wildfire without prior consultation. In addition, the SLSC criticised the implementation timeline and questioned why Defra had not begun the policy making process earlier.

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 39th report of session 2024–26. Two instruments were drawn to the special attention of the House: the Draft Infrastructure Planning (Business or Commercial Projects) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and the Online Safety (CSEA Content Reporting by Regulated User-to-User Service Providers) (Revocation) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1066. The Draft Infrastructure Planning (Business or Commercial Projects) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, laid on 15 October 2025, would allow applications for large data centre projects in England to be considered under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime. The SLSC noted the absence of a draft National Policy Statement, stating that, without it, Parliament and the public may find it difficult to fully assess how such applications will be evaluated under the NSIP regime.  SI 2025/1066, laid on 10 October 2025, pauses implementation of the new system requiring online service providers to report child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) content to the National Crime Agency (NCA) under the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023), due to delays in launching the Designated Reporting Body (DRB) portal. The Committee sought further information on whether inadequate resourcing at the NCA may have contributed to the delay.

The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 41st Report of 2024–26, drawing special attention to the Draft Enterprise Act 2002 (Mergers Involving Newspaper Enterprises and Foreign Powers) (No. 2) Regulations 2025. The regulations amend the Foreign State Influence regime to cap aggregate holdings by state-owned investors (SOIs) from any country at 15%, addressing the risk of multiple SOIs collectively acquiring significant stakes in UK newspapers. A 5% carve-out for small holdings in publicly traded companies applies only in multi-state investment scenarios. The SLSC notes concerns about potential misuse of the carve-out and calls for close monitoring.

The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 46th Report of Session 2024–26, drawing the Criminal Legal Aid (General and Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 to the special attention of the House on the ground that they are politically or legally important and give rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House. The regulations introduce further reforms and fee increases for criminal legal aid, at an estimated cost of around £82m per year. The SLSC highlights concern that, despite these costs, the Explanatory Memorandum states that the Regulations have ‘no, or no significant, impact on the public sector’, and also notes the absence of any commitment to regular future fee reviews, warning that this may undermine the long-term sustainability of the system.

The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 47th report of session 2024–26, which examines a wide range of draft and made statutory instruments, including proposals relating to cryptoasset regulation, devolution arrangements, emissions trading, business rates, maritime safety and major planning developments. The report considers, among other matters, the Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025, setting out the UK’s full regulatory framework for cryptoassets, and highlights concerns about regulatory capacity, costs to firms and implementation timetables.

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its eleventh Report of Session 2023–2024. Instruments drawn to special attention of the House include the Official Controls (Extension of Transitional Periods) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/20 and the Ship’s Report, Importation and Exportation by Sea (Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/9. Additional instruments of interest include the Public Lending Right Scheme 1982 (Commencement of Variation) Order 2024, SI 2024/30, Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024, SI 2024/45, Biodiversity Gain Requirements (Exemptions) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/47, Biodiversity Gain Requirements (Irreplaceable Habitat) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/48, Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Modifications and Amendments) (England) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/50, SI 2024/45, SI 2024/47, SI 2024/48 and SI 2024/50.

The Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its fifth report of session 2024–2025. The following instruments have been identified as being of interest to the House: draft Terrorism Act 2000 (Alterations to the Search Powers Code for Northern Ireland) Order 2024; draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) Regulations 2024; Parole Board (Amendment) Rules 2024, SI 2024/1011; Sea Fisheries (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1028; and School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (England) Order 2024, SI 2024/1037.

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its first Report of Session 2024–2025, which contains the SLSC’s scrutiny of instruments of interest and instruments excluded from being drawn to the special interest of the House. In this report, the SLSC has drawn to the special attention of the house the Building (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/645 on the ground that they are politically or legally important and give rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House.

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its fourth report of session 2023–24, scrutinising proposed negative statutory instruments (SIs) to be made under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL(RR)A 2023). Instruments drawn to special attention of the House include the draft Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Amendment of List of Safe States) Regulations 2024, on the ground that the explanatory material laid in support does not provide sufficient information to gain a clear understanding about the instrument’s policy objective and intended implementation.

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its seventh Report of Session 2022–2023. Instruments drawn to special attention of the House include Draft Data Reporting Services Regulations 2023, Draft Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2023, Draft Securitisation Regulations 2023, Draft Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2024, Draft Wine (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024, Branded Health Service Medicines (Costs) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1307, Code of Practice (Reasonable Steps for Trade Unions) Order 2023, SI 2023/1333, Misuse of Drugs (England and Wales and Scotland) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1345, Insurance and Reinsurance Undertakings (Prudential Requirements) (Risk Margin) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1346 and Insurance and Reinsurance Undertakings (Prudential Requirements) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1347. The report has also drawn attention to the committee’s dissatisfaction as to the revised explanatory memorandum laid in support of the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/949.

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its third Report of Session 2024–2025. The SLSC has drawn following instruments to the special attention of the House on the ground that they are politically or legally important and give rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House: Draft Franchising Schemes (Franchising Authorities) (England) Regulations 2024; Draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2024; and Windsor Framework (Retail Movement Scheme: Plant and Animal Health) (Amendment etc) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/853). The SLSC also provided  additional information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No 4) Regulations, SI 2024/900.

The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its twentieth report of session 2024-2025. The following instrument was drawn to the special attention of the House: Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2025. The report scrutinises the new regulatory framework for precision bred organisms (PBOs), including the absence of mandatory labelling requirements, lack of detection methods and potential impacts on UK internal market and EU trade. The Committee draws particular attention to implications for organic producers and questions the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' approach to impact assessments and consumer research. At its meeting on 20 March 2024, the SLSC scrutinised a number of instruments in accordance with Standing Orders. It was agreed that the special attention of both Houses should be drawn to one of those considered.