Consultation outcome

UK internal market: the continuity of exclusions from the principles of mutual recognition and non-discrimination for services

From:: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Published: 25 February 2021
Last updated: 28 July 2022 — See all updates

Read the full outcome

UK internal market: government response

PDF, 178 KB, 14 pages

Detail of outcome

The responses to this consultation largely express the view that Schedule 2 of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 (UKIMA) should be amended to ensure the scope of application better reflects how services are currently regulated in the UK. We plan to make the majority of suggested changes, which will have the effect of amending the services exclusions currently listed in Schedule 2 of UKIMA.

The amendments to the UKIMA Schedule 2 will be implemented through secondary legislation (a statutory instrument), using the powers contained in section 18(2) of the Act. The timing is still to be confirmed and will be dependent on the Parliamentary timetable.

Detail of feedback received

We received 17 responses to the consultation:

service regulators (11)
service providers (2)
professional bodies (4)

The responses fall into the following categories:

make technical changes to services exclusions
add services exclusions
remove services exclusions
retain current services exclusions

In addition to the consultation we held explanatory webinars for stakeholders, including services regulators, businesses, and local authorities.

Original consultation

Consultation description

We have extended the consultation period until 7 May 2021.

The purpose of the UK Internal Market (UKIM) Act 2020 is to allow people and businesses to work and trade freely across the whole of the UK after leaving the European Union (EU).

It establishes 2 UK market access principles to protect the flow of goods and services in our home market:

the principle of mutual recognition
the principle of non-discrimination

This consultation seeks information and views on:

any current cases in which the requirement to recognise authorisations issued by a regulator in another part of the UK is disapplied under the Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (‘the 2009 Regulations’)
why it may be appropriate to formalise such instances under the UKIM Act in the form of specific exclusions from the mutual recognition principle under Schedule 2. If there are no reasons for these instances to be formalised, they will not be included in the list of exclusions under the UKIM Act
why any current derogation under the 2009 Regulations should not be added to the exclusions lists
how the exclusions list at Schedule 2, derived from the 2009 Regulations, could be amended to reflect the fact that the UK has now left the European Union
any other ways that the UK’s internal market for services could be further enhanced

We will use the evidence you provide when developing the list of the relevant services, authorisation requirements and regulatory requirements excluded from the mutual recognition and non-discrimination principles.

See the BEIS consultation privacy notice.

Please do not send responses by post to the department at the moment as we may not be able to access them.

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