Member

As part of its consideration of these regulations, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee raised concerns that after June 2026, when the powers available in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 expire, the Government would not have powers to amend the drivers’ hours rules by secondary legislation. The Department for Transport is disproportionately impacted by this issue, due to the extent to which transport legislation fell within EU competence. In many historic cases, we relied on Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 to legislate. In addition, the EU also implemented international agreements automatically on our behalf via directly effective legislation. The department is actively looking at solutions to close or mitigate these gaps at the earliest opportunity to maintain a functioning statute book, including via introducing primary legislation where needed, as soon as parliamentary time allows. This will include looking at potential legislative vehicles among future DfT Bills, as well as those of other departments.