Public service law in the United Kingdom

Public service law in the United Kingdom concerns the ownership

Ownership

Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...

, regulation

Regulation

Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...

and potentially competition

Competition

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

in the provision of public services

Public services

Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...

in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

Nationalisation and competition

Monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

, cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
Market failure
Market failure
Market failure is a concept within economic theory wherein the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not efficient. That is, there exists another conceivable outcome where a market participant may be made better-off without making someone else worse-off...
Public economics
Nationalisation
Taxation

Privatisation
Regulatory economics
Regulatory economics
Regulatory economics is the economics of regulation, in the sense of the application of law by government that is used for various purposes, such as centrally-planning an economy, remedying market failure, enriching well-connected firms, or benefiting politicians...
UK company law and UK insolvency law
UK insolvency law
United Kingdom insolvency law deals with the insolvency of firms and individuals in the United Kingdom. The important statutes are the Insolvency Act 1986, as amended by the Enterprise Act 2002, as well as the Company Director Disqualification Act 1986 and the Companies Act 2006.Insolvency is a...
English contract law
English contract law
English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...
UK labour law
English tort law
English tort law
English tort law concerns civil wrongs, as distinguished from criminal wrongs, in the law of England and Wales. Some wrongs are the concern of the state, and so the police can enforce the law on the wrongdoers in court – in a criminal case...

Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994
Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994
The Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced wide ranging measures aiming to cut government expenditure and bureaucracy...
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006
Regulatory Reform Act 2001
Regulatory Reform Act 2001
The Regulatory Reform Act 2001 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994...

European Community regulation
European Community regulation
European Union regulation refers to the body of European Union law involved in the regulation of state support to commercial industries, and of certain industry sectors and public services. The industries currently subject to regulation and liberalisation are, for the time being, postal services,...
Public procurement
State aid

Constitutional and administrative law

UK constitutional law
Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

and local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
Municipal Corporations Act 1882
Municipal Corporations Act 1882
The Municipal Corporations Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced existing legislation governing municipal boroughs in England and Wales, and gave the corporations powers to make byelaws and to acquire land and buildings. Municipal boroughs continued to be...

, allowed establishment of elected councils

Civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

and bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
UK administrative law

Courts in England and Wales
Judicial review
Judicial review
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...

Public safety

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

Fire

Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...

1666
Fire service in the United Kingdom
Fire service in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

Police

Metropolitan Police Act of 1829
Metropolitan Police Act 1839
Metropolitan Police Act 1839
The Metropolitan Police Act 1839 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act enlarged the district of, and gave greatly increased powers to the Metropolitan Police established by the Metropolitan Police Act 1829.Section 2 of the Act allowed for the enlargement...
County Police Acts
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom and History of law enforcement in the United Kingdom
History of law enforcement in the United Kingdom
The history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom charts the development of law enforcement in the United Kingdom from the creation of the United Kingdom up to the present day.-18th century:...
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. Part VI of PACE required the Home Secretary...

and Police Act 1996
Police Act 1996
The Police Act 1996 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the current police areas, constituted the current police authorities and set out the relationship between the Home Secretary and the territorial police forces. It replaced the Police and Magistrates Courts Act...
Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...

est 2004

Prisons

Panopticon
Panopticon
The Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...

1775
West Indian Prisons Act 1838
West Indian Prisons Act 1838
The West Indian Prisons Act 1838 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 4, 1838.The Act empowered the Queen in Council and the governor and council of any colony to make rules for the government of the prisons of each colony in the West Indies. These were to be...
Prison Act 1877
Prison Act 1877
The Prison Act of 1877 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that aimed to alter the way in which British prisons were operated.-Detail:...
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution
Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution
Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution is a type of British prison intended for offenders aged between 18 and 20, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders...
List of prisons in the United Kingdom

Income insurance

Pensions

Old Age Pensions Act 1908
NEST
NEST
NEST is an abbreviation for one of the following:*The Nuclear Emergency Support Team, a team "prepared to respond immediately to any type of radiological accident or incident anywhere in the world"....

Unemployment insurance

National Insurance Act 1911
National Insurance Act 1911
The National Insurance Act 1911 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act is often regarded as one of the foundations of modern social welfare in the United Kingdom and forms part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal Government of 1906-1914...
Jobseekers' Act 1995

Education

Governance in higher education
Governance in higher education
Governance in higher education refers to the means by which higher educational institutions are formally organized and managed, though often there is a distinction between definitions of management and governance. Simply, university governance is the way in which universities are operated...

Schools

Education Act 1833
Public Schools Act 1868
Public Schools Act 1868
The Public Schools Act 1868 was enacted by the British Parliament to reform and regulate nine of the leading English boys' schools. They were described as "public schools" as admission was open to boys from anywhere and was not limited to those living in a particular locality...

, following the Clarendon Commission
Clarendon Commission
Following complaints about the finances, buildings and management of Eton College the Clarendon Commission, a Royal Commission, was set up in 1861 to investigate the state of nine leading schools in England at the time. The Clarendon Report was published in 1864 with general recommendations on the...

removed charity schools from government or education department oversight, and now the main "UK private schools
Elementary Education Act 1870
Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between ages 5 and 12 in England and Wales...

, five to twelve year olds, school boards providing universal primary education
Education Act 1902
Education Act 1902
The Education Act 1902 , also known as Balfour's Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting education in England and Wales. At the time of passage of the Act, the Conservative Party was in power...

abolished 2568 school boards and instituted 328 local education authorities in their place, following the Cockerton judgment
Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906
Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906
The Education Act 1906 is an Act of the Parliament of the United KingdomMargaret McMillan and Fred Jowett were members of the School Board which introduced free school meals in Bradford. This was actually illegal and the School Board could have been forced to end this service...

, introduced free school meals
Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907
Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907
The 1907 Education Act was an Act of Parliament passed by the Liberal government as part of their Liberal reforms package of welfare reforms. The Act set up school medical services run by local government....

, medical services
Education Act 1918
Education Act 1918
Education Act 1918 , often known as the Fisher Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was drawn up by Herbert Fisher. Note that the "Education Act 1918" applied to England and Wales, whereas a separate "Education Act 1918" applied for Scotland.This raised the school leaving age...

, school leaving age raised to 14, maximum class size of 30
Education Act 1944
Education Act 1944
The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A...

, attempted foundation of tripartite secondary school system, every child got free school meals, until 1949 when it was 2.5 pence
Education Reform Act 1988
Education Reform Act 1988
The Education Reform Act 1988 is widely regarded as the most important single piece of education legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since the 'Butler' Education Act 1944...

, schools could remove themselves from LEA oversight and become "grant maintained" by central government, headteachers getting financial control, academic tenure abolished, national curriculum with key stages, league tables
Education Act 1996, teacher training, and opt out from student union
School Standards and Framework Act 1998
School Standards and Framework Act 1998
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government of Tony Blair.This Act:* imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes....

, 30 infant pupil class size limit, replaced "grant maintained schools" with "foundation status" meaning money is channelled from central government through the LEA, restrictions on selection
Learning and Skills Act 2000
Learning and Skills Act 2000
The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made changes in the funding and administration of further education, and of work-based learning for young people, within England and Wales....

and Education Act 2002
Education Act 2002
The Education Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Main provisions:The act significantly amended legislation relating to academies, publicly-funded schools operating outside of local government control and with a significant degree of autonomy areas such as wages and...

and Academies Act 2010 allowed for academies outside national curriculum and autonomy over teacher pay
Education Act 2005
Education Act 2005
The Education Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted in order to simplify the process of school improvement, strengthening the accountability framework for schools, in particular by amending the approach used by Ofsted when inspecting schools in England...

, Ofsted inspections
Education and Inspections Act 2006
Education and Inspections Act 2006
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. According to the government the Act "is intended to represent a major step forward in the Government’s aim of ensuring that all children in all schools get the education they need to enable them to fulfil...

, trust schools

Higher education

Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
Universities Tests Act 1871, nonconformist entry to university
University of London Act 1898
Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998
Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998
The Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 was enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament on 16 July 1998, in order to improve the standards of teaching in the UK through the establishment of statutory General Teaching Councils for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the modification the remit...

, fees of up to £1000, General Teaching Council
General Teaching Council
There are 4 General Teaching Councils within the United Kingdom:* General Teaching Council for England* General Teaching Council for Scotland* *...

s and code
Higher Education Act 2004
Higher Education Act 2004
The Higher Education Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced several changes to the higher education system in the United Kingdom, the most important and controversial being a major change to the funding of universities, and the operation of tuition fees, which...

up to £3000 in fees

Libraries

Chetham's Library
Chetham's Library
Chetham's Library in Manchester, England is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Chetham's Hospital, which contains both the library and Chetham's School of Music, was established in 1653 under the will of Humphrey Chetham , for the education of "the sons of honest,...

1653
Public libraries
Museums Act 1845
Museums Act 1845
The Museums Act 1845 was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which gave the town councils of larger municipal boroughs the power to establish museums.-Historical background:...
Public Libraries Act 1850
Public Libraries Act 1850
The Public Libraries Act 1850 was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which first gave local boroughs the power to establish free public libraries...
British Library Act 1972

Health

Bethlem Royal Hospital
Bethlem Royal Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in London, United Kingdom and part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Although no longer based at its original location, it is recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in mental illnesses....
National Insurance Act 1911
National Insurance Act 1911
The National Insurance Act 1911 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act is often regarded as one of the foundations of modern social welfare in the United Kingdom and forms part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal Government of 1906-1914...

National Health Service Act 1946
National Health Service Act 1946
The National Health Service Act 1946 came into effect on 5 July 1948 and created the National Health Service in England and Wales. Though the title 'National Health Service' implies one health service for the United Kingdom, in reality a separate NHS was created for England and Wales accountable to...
National Health Service Act 1977 (c 49)
National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990
National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990
The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 is a piece of legislation which governs health care and social care in the United Kingdom...

(c 19)
National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997 (c 46)
National Health Service (Private Finance) Act 1997 (c 56) section 1, on private finance
National Health Service Act 1966 (c 8) section 10, on GP remuneration
NHS Redress Act 2006
NHS Redress Act 2006
The NHS Redress Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The title of the Act establishes tort based liability as the necessary condition for obtaining redress....

Housing

Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890
Housing Act 1919, homes fit for heroes
Housing Act 1930
New Towns Act 1946
New Towns Act 1946
The New Towns Act 1946 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed the government to designate areas as new towns, and passing development control functions to a Development Corporation. Several new towns were created in the years following its passing...
Town and Country Planning Act 1947
Town and Country Planning Act 1947
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom passed by the post-war Labour government...
Housing Act 1980
Housing Act 1980
The Housing Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave five million council house tenants in England and Wales the Right to Buy their house from their local authority. The Act came into force on the 3 October 1980 and is seen as a defining policy of...

right to buy scheme
Right to buy scheme
The Right to buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom which gives tenants of council housing the right to buy the home they are living in. Currently, there is also a right to acquire for the tenants of housing associations...

copied Horace Cutler
Horace Cutler
Sir Horace Walter Cutler OBE was a British politician and Leader of the Greater London Council from 1977 to 1981. He was noted for his showmanship and flair for publicity, although sceptical of the merits of the authority he was in charge of.-Origin:Cutler was born in Stoke Newington, London into...

's policy in the GLC, see also Estmanco Ltd v GLC
Housing Act 1996

Affordability of housing in the United Kingdom
Affordability of housing in the United Kingdom
The affordability of housing in the United Kingdom deteriorated significantly from the late 1990s onwards, with house prices rising faster than earnings and the average age of first-time homebuyers increasing...
Town and country planning in the United Kingdom
Town and country planning in the United Kingdom
Town and Country Planning is the land use planning system governments use to balance economic development and environmental quality. Each country of the United Kingdom has its own planning system that is responsible for town and country planning devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the...
Directive on the energy performance of buildings
Directive on the energy performance of buildings
The Directive on the energy performance of buildings is the Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on energy efficiency of buildings. The Directive came into force on 4 January 2003 and had to be implemented by the EU Member States at the latest on 4 January 2006...

(Directive 2002/91/EC)

Transport

Roads

Highways Act 1555
Highways Act 1555
The Highways Act 1555 , sometimes the First Statute of Highways, was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1555...
Highways Act 1562
Highways Act 1562
The Highways Act 1562 , sometimes the Second Statute of Highways, was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1563...
Turnpike Act 1707 and Turnpike trust
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...

, establishing county and borough councils, gave them powers to maintain roads
Highways Act 1980
Highways Act 1980
The Highways Act 1980 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom dealing with the management and operation of the road network in England and Wales. It consolidated with amendments several earlier pieces of legislation. Many amendments relate only to changes of highway authority, to include...

Buses

Privatisation of London bus services
Privatisation of London bus services
The privatisation of London bus services was the progressive process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies....
Transport Act 1985
Transport Act 1985
The Transport Act 1985 was a Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced deregulation of bus services throughout Great Britain, although a different system of franchised routes was applied in Greater London. It was introduced by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.Bus...

, councils transfer buses to companies

Rail

Privatisation of British Rail
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
EU Directive 91/440
EU Directive 91/440
The EU Directive 91/440 is European Union legislation that sets out a framework and requirements for railways in the EU to allow open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure...

required member states to separate 'the management of railway operation and infrastructure from the provision of railway transport services, separation of accounts being compulsory and organisational or institutional separation being optional'
Railways Act 1993
Railways Act 1993
The Railways Act 1993 was introduced by John Major's Conservative government and passed on 5 November 1993. It provided for the restructuring of the British Railways Board , the public corporation that owned and operated the national railway system...
Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
The Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament-Purposes of the Act:The purposes of the Act include:-*the creation of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch...
Ofrail

Airports

Airport Authority Act 1966, established the British Airports Authority, privatised in Airports Act 1986, and then wholly bought by a Spanish group, now BAA Limited
British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

or British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

, combining the private British Airways Ltd. and the state owned Imperial Airways in 1939

Waterways

Canals, ferries

Energy and water

Gas and electricity

Gas Act 1986
Electricity Act 1989
Utilities Act 2000
Utilities Act 2000
The Utilities Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that deals with the gas and electrical markets in the UK. It mainly modified the Gas Act 1995 and Electricity Act 1989. One of the greatest changes was that integrated electricity companies were required to have separate...
Energy Act 2004
Energy Act 2004
The Energy Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Section 198 - Short title, commencement and extent:The following orders have been made under this section:* *...
Ofgem

Water

Water Act 2003
Ofwat
Local authority water supply undertakings in England and Wales 1973

Communications

Post

Postal Services Act 2000
Postal Services Act 2000
The Postal Services Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relating to the postal industry. It established an industry regulator, Postcomm , a consumer watchdog, Postwatch , required a "universal service" of post to be provided and set up rules for licensing postal services...
PostComm
Postal Services Act 2011

Broadcasting

Communications Act 2003
Communications Act 2003
The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gave regulation body Ofcom its full powers. Among other measures, it introduced legal recognition of Community Radio and paved the way for full-time Community Radio services in the UK; as well as controversially...
Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...

Telegraph

Telegraph Act 1868
Telegraph Act 1868
The Telegraph Act 1868 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
Attorney General v Edison Telephone Co of London Ltd (1880–81) LR 6 QBD 244

Telephones

National Telephone Company
National Telephone Company
The National Telephone Company was a British telephone company from 1881 until 1911 which brought together smaller local companies in the early years of the telephone...

, a monopoly nationalised in 1911
British Telecommunications Act 1981, splitting telephony from the post office
Telecommunications Act 1984, privatising British telecom and establishing a regulator

Banking

Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
Bank Charter Act 1844
Bank Charter Act 1844
The Bank Charter Act 1844 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed under the government of Robert Peel, which restricted the powers of British banks and gave exclusive note-issuing powers to the central Bank of England....

, monopoly of Bank of England on issuing notes

Girobank
Girobank
Girobank was a British public sector financial institution founded in 1968 by the General Post Office. Itstarted life as the National Giro but went through several name changes, becoming National Girobank, then Girobank Plc , before merging into Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank...

1968
Northern Rock
Northern Rock
Northern Rock plc is a British bank, best known for becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run after having had to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility, to replace money market funding, during the credit crisis in 2007. Having failed to find a commercial buyer for...

, Bradford & Bingley
Bradford & Bingley
Bradford & Bingley plc is a British bank with headquarters in the West Yorkshire town of Bingley. In 2008, partly due to the credit crunch, the bank was nationalised and in effect split into two parts; the mortgage book remained with the now publicly owned Bradford & Bingley plc, and the deposits...

and the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...

, and the newly merged HBOS-Lloyds TSB in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis

Waste and environment

Sanitation

John Snow (physician)
John Snow (physician)
John Snow was an English physician and a leader in the adoption of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered to be one of the fathers of epidemiology, because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, England, in 1854.-Early life and education:Snow was born 15 March...

and Broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854
Great Stink of 1858, Joseph Bazalgette
Joseph Bazalgette
Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB was an English civil engineer of the 19th century. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works his major achievement was the creation of a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while...

and the London sewerage system
London sewerage system
The London sewerage system is part of the water infrastructure serving London. The modern system was developed during the late 19th century, and as London has grown the system has been expanded.-History:...
Public Health Act 1866
Public Health Act 1866
The Public Health Act 1866 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The Act allowed the formation of drainage districts and enabled the provision of better house drainage. The second part of the Act dealt with nuisances and stated that it was the duty of councils to locate nuisances and...

, duty on councils to deal with nuisances and drainage

Air

Smoke Nuisance Abatement (Metropolis) Act 1853 and 1856
Public Health (London) Act 1891
Public Health (London) Act 1891
The Public Health Act 1891 was a British Act of Parliament which extended access to Metropolitan Asylums Board hospitals to those who were not eligible for poor relief.-External links:*...
City of London (Various Powers) Act of 1954 and Clean Air Act 1968
Great Smog of 1952
Great Smog of 1952
The Great Smog of '52 or Big Smoke was a severe air pollution event that affected London, England, during December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants mostly from the use of coal to form a thick layer of smog over the...
Clean Air Act 1956
Clean Air Act 1956
The Clean Air Act 1956 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in response to London's Great Smog of 1952. It was in effect until 1964, and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Department of Health for Scotland.The Act introduced a number of...

Waste

Environmental Protection Act 1990 establishes waste disposal authorities, e.g. Waste disposal authorities in London
Recycling in the United Kingdom
Recycling in the United Kingdom
The majority of recycling undertaken in the United Kingdom is undertaken by statutory authorities. Local Authorities are responsible for the collection of municipal waste and operate contracts which are usually kerbside collection schemes...

and UK Domestic Recycling Policy
UK Domestic Recycling Policy
A recycling policy is a strategy implemented by an organisation, company or government which covers everything related to recycling, including the methods to be used, the recycling targets that are to be met and other issues including transport and processing costs....
Household Waste Recycling Act 2003, at least 2 kinds of collection each week by 2010
Landfill Directive
Landfill Directive
The Landfill Directive, more formally Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, is a European Union directive issued by the European Union to be implemented by its member states....

1999, reduce amounts going to landfill
Waste Framework Directive
Waste framework directive
The Waste Framework Directive is an European Union Directive of 17 June 2008 . The first Waste Framework Directive dates back to 1975 and was substantially amended in 1991.The aim of the WFD was to lay the basis to turn the EU into a recycling society....

, must have 50% of waste recycled by 2020

Land management

Common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
Erection of Cottages Act 1588
Inclosure Acts
Commons Registration Act 1965 (and The common land and commoners of Ashdown Forest
The common land and commoners of Ashdown Forest
The common land of Ashdown Forest, a former royal hunting forest created soon after the Norman conquest of England, covers some 6,400 acres . The map of the common land today largely dates back to 1693, when more than half the medieval Forest was taken into private hands, with the remainder being...

)
Agricultural Holdings Act 1948
Agricultural Holdings Act 1948
The Agricultural Holdings Act 1948 was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Clement Attlee. It provided tenant farmers with security of tenure for life....

and Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c 5)

Industry and manufacturing

National Enterprise Board
National Enterprise Board
-History:The National Enterprise Board was set up in the United Kingdom in 1975 to implement the Wilson Labour government's objective of extending public ownership of industry...

1975, a State holding company for full or partial ownership of industrial undertakings

British Petroleum 1974, the combination of a 50% stake bought by Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty after World War I with around a 25% stake acquired by the Bank of England from Burmah Oil made the UK Government directly or indirectly BP's majority shareholder, though commercial independence was maintained
Coal Commission
Coal Commission
The Coal Commission was a United Kingdom government agency, created to own and manage coal reserves. It was set up in 1938 and ceased to operate on 1 January 1947.- History :...

1933, National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

then British Coal
British Coal
thumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...

British Steel
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...

1967
British Leyland Motor Corporation
British Leyland Motor Corporation
British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd in 1978...

1976 became British Leyland upon nationalisation. Privatised in 1986 to British Aerospace.
British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...

1977, combining the major aircraft companies British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley and others. British Shipbuilders - combining the major shipbuilding companies including Cammell Laird, Govan Shipbuilders, Swan Hunter, Yarrow Shipbuilders
Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd

Private sector standards

Consumer cooperative
Worker cooperative
Worker cooperative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically managed by its worker-owners. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which...
Consumer Protection Act 1989
Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
Environmental Protection Act 1990
UK labour law
Charities Act 2006
Charities Act 2006
The Charities Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to alter the regulatory framework in which charities operate, partly by amending the Charities Act 1993.-Provisions:...
Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates contracts by restricting the operation and legality of some contract terms. It extends to nearly all forms of contract and one of its most important functions is limiting the applicability of...
Sale of Goods Act 1979
Sale of Goods Act 1979
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates English contract law and UK commercial law in respect of goods that are sold and bought. The Act consolidates the original Sale of Goods Act 1893 and subsequent legislation, which in turn had codified and...
Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999
Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 is a UK statutory instrument, which implements the EU Unfair Consumer Contract Terms Directive into domestic law.Implemented under the European Communities Act 1972. See also, L95 OJ 29...