In March 2022, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) changed its name and is now known as the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). For the avoidance of doubt, this Practice Note refers to the NSTA, even if at the relevant time it was known as the OGA. References to the NSTA include in its historic capacity as the OGA. Similarly, this Practice Note refers to any published documents or strategies using NSTA as the authority’s name, even if officially published under the name of the OGA. For example, what was formerly known as the ‘OGA Strategy’ is referred to in this Practice Note as the NSTA Strategy. The NSTA is still referred to in legislation by its historic name, the OGA; however, these functions are carried out by the NSTA. Statutory references found in legislation outside of this Practice Note also, therefore, refer to the NSTA in practice since March 2022. What is the NSTA Strategy? The Petroleum Act 1998 (PA 1998), as amended by the Infrastructure Act 2015, places a duty, initially, on the Secretary

In this Practice Note, references to the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) Order are to the National Employment Savings Trust Order 2010, SI 2010/917 applicable from 29 April 2026. References to the NEST Rules are to the Rules of the National Employment Savings Trust applicable from 5 August 2024. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) is a low-cost, trust-based occupational pension scheme which was set up as part of the government’s workplace pension reforms for any employer to use to meet their duties under the auto-enrolment regime. It was designed for a target market of workers in the UK, new to pension saving, who did not previously have access to a high-quality, low-cost pension scheme at work. NEST falls into the definition of a ‘Master Trust scheme’, as defined by the sections 1–2 of the Pension Schemes Act 2017. As a result, NEST is subject to the authorisation and supervisory regime applicable to Master Trust schemes since 1 October 2018. It was consequently

Note that additional commentary on the issues discussed in this Practice Note in the context of the regulation, consenting and incentivisation of the net zero energy transition is available in the following textbook that we have published: Collinson and Hockman on Energy Law: Regulating, Consenting and Incentivising the Energy Transition. What is the National Energy System Operator (NESO)? The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is an independent public corporation established pursuant to the Energy Act 2023 (EnA 2023) with responsibility for planning Great Britain (GB)’s electricity and gas networks and operating the electricity system. NESO’s roles and responsibilities centre around delivering a net zero energy system for GB while balancing the requirements of sustainability, affordability, flexibility and security of supply. After delays to its initial proposed launch date in summer 2024, NESO became fully operational on 1 October 2024 (referred to in this Practice Note as ‘day 1’). For more information, see: LNB News 02/10/2024 19. NESO has previously been referred to in consultation and legislation as the Future System Operator (FSO) and the Independent

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note covers the role of the National Health Service (NHS) as a regulator of professionals it engages, to provide medical services as part of the NHS provision. It explains the function of performance lists for General Practice Medicine, Dentistry and Optometry on behalf of the NHS as means of ensuring that appropriately qualified professionals are available to work in the NHS. It covers the process for inclusion on the performance lists which is a prerequisite for any professional working in the NHS. It also covers the conditions of inclusion on the operating list, the duties imposed upon those on the performance lists together with the powers of regulation to investigate potential breaches of conditions of inclusion including hearings, appeals and sanctions if breaches are found to have occurred. Commissioning services in the NHS The structure of the NHS is not uniform throughout the UK. The NHS is initially

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Role of the National Infrastructure Commission The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) was set up on an interim basis on 5 October 2015 to 'look at the UK’s future needs for nationally significant infrastructure, help to maintain UK’s competitiveness amongst the G20 nations and provide greater certainty for investors by taking a long term approach to the major investment decisions facing the country'. See News Analysis: Trains, planes and automobiles—the birth of the National Infrastructure Commission. The NIC is a permanent body which provides the government with impartial, expert advice on major long-term infrastructure challenges. In October 2021, the government published a Charter for the NIC, which was updated from the original 2016 version, alongside an updated NIC Framework (see: The National Infrastructure Commission [Archived]—Status and operation of the NIC below) and remit letter. The Charter states that the objectives of the NIC are to: • (i) support sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK • (ii) improve competitiveness • (iii) improve quality of life,

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. The National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016–2021 ('NIDP') was published by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority ('IPA') on 23 March 2016. It outlined details of investment in infrastructure projects and programmes across the UK to 2020–2021 and beyond. It also provided information on the government's approach to financing, procurement, delivery and monitoring of those projects and programmes. The NIDP replaced the National Infrastructure Plan ('NIP'), which was first published in October 2010 and updated subsequently. For more information on the NIP, see Practice Note: The National Infrastructure Plan [Archived]. Unlike the NIP, the NIDP set out investment in social infrastructure and housing and regeneration, in addition to investment in 'economic infrastructure'. On 23 March 2016, the IPA also published the Government Construction Strategy 2016–2020. For more information, see Practice Note: Government Construction Strategy 2016–2020

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Last updated April 2016 This archived Practice Note provides an introduction to the government’s National Infrastructure Plan (NIP), looking at what it was, the sectors it covered and what its objectives were. On 23 March 2016 the Infrastructure and Projects Authority published the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016–2021, which updated and replaced the NIP. For more information see Practice Note: National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016—2021. What was the National Infrastructure Plan? The NIP was first published in October 2010. The fifth, and final, version of the NIP was published in December 2014. Each edition developed and refined the original NIP. The NIP set out the government’s long term strategy for the future of the UK’s infrastructure, through both development and renewal, and its plans as to how it would achieve that vision through investment up to 2020 and beyond. It was developed by Infrastructure UK, which was a unit within HM Treasury responsible for advising the government on the UK’s infrastructure requirements

Versions of the National Planning Policy Framework The original version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into force in England on 27 March 2012, replacing all Planning Policy Statements and Planning Policy Guidance Notes with immediate effect. It aimed to make the planning system less complex and more accessible, to protect the environment and to promote sustainable growth. Revisions to the NPPF followed in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024, see Practice Note: The National Planning Policy Framework [Archived]. On 17 August 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published a substantially restructured and revised NPPF. The 2026 NPPF replaces the 2024 version. The 2026 NPPF follows a government consultation, launched in December 2025, on a proposed fuller overhaul of national planning policy. The government described the objectives of the exercise as making national policy easier to use, providing a comprehensive suite of policies applying across England and making policy more rules-based and certain. The August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework The NPPF, published in August 2026, represents a significant structural

On 17 August 2026, a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published which made significant amendments to national planning policy. This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer being maintained. For guidance on the NPPF now in force, see Practice Note: The National Planning Policy Framework. Versions of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) The original version of NPPF came into force in England on 27 March 2012, replacing all Planning Policy Statements and Planning Policy Guidance Notes (with the exception of PPS10 (Planning for Sustainable Waste Management, which was subsequently superseded by the National planning policy for waste)) with immediate effect. It aimed to make the planning system less complex and more accessible, to protect the environment and to promote sustainable growth. Wholesale changes to the NPPF were made in a new version published in July 2018. It was recognised almost immediately that some further changes were required to the 2018 NPPF and these were reflected in a revised version published in February 2019. In February 2021, the

Scope of the regime The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA 2021) came fully into force on 4 January 2022. Since that date, the British Government has been able to review and intervene in a wide range of investments in entities that are active in the UK, or acquisitions of related assets, with the ultimate objective of preventing transactions that could harm the UK’s national security. The NSIA 2021 is administered by the Investment Security Unit (ISU), which currently sits within the Cabinet Office, with the formal decision maker being the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (referred to in the Act, and in this note, as the ‘Secretary of State’). As well as processing notifications and related proceedings, the ISU is able to provide guidance on the regime and its application to specific transactions. Under the NSIA 2021, certain investments in business entities that are active in 17 specific sectors in the UK have to be notified to the ISU by the investor and

The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) came fully into force on 4 January 2022. The NSI Act allows the UK government to review and intervene in a wide range of acquisitions in certain business entities and assets (referred to as ‘qualifying entities’ and ‘qualifying assets’ under the NSI Act regime) in 17 defined ‘sensitive areas’, with the ultimate objective of preventing transactions that could harm the UK’s national security. Under the NSI Act, acquisitions in qualifying entities are subject to mandatory notification requirements and must be cleared by the government before completion. The government also has powers to ‘call in’ a transaction in a qualifying entity or qualifying asset for an in-depth review where it has identified a national security concern (regardless of whether the mandatory notification requirements apply). The government can impose certain conditions on an acquisition and could unwind or block an acquisition completely. Civil penalties (subject to a maximum amount, being the higher of (i) 5% of global turnover of the business involved or (ii)

This Practice Note summarises the key provisions of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA 2021) before explaining the implications of the Act for finance transactions. The NSIA 2021 requires mandatory notification to be made to the Secretary of State prior to acquisitions of control over an entity in certain circumstances, and provides the government with the power to scrutinise proposed or completed acquisitions where there is a national security concern (known as the call-in power). The implications of the regime will need to be considered on certain finance transactions, in particular when funding the purchase of, or taking security over, assets or shares in certain sectors—see Mandatory notification below, or where there are possible national security sensitivities around the asset or entity. The substantive provisions of the Act came into force on 4 January 2022. Note that the call-in power has retrospective effect—see What is the call-in power? below. In addition, note that the NSIA 2021 extends and applies to the whole of the UK. The