The Northern Ireland Assembly, often referred to by the metonym Stormont, is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
The Higher Education Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that 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 affects England and Wales. University funding is a devolved matter for Northern Ireland and Scotland. After complex and controversial debates, the Higher Education Bill received royal assent on 1 July 2004.
In many states with political systems derived from the Westminster system, a consolidated fund or consolidated revenue fund is the main bank account of the government. General taxation is taxation paid into the consolidated fund, and general spending is paid out of the consolidated fund.
Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite-sex couples in 2019.
In public policy, a sunset provision or sunset clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides for the law to cease to be effective after a specified date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend it. Unlike most laws that remain in force indefinitely unless they are amended or repealed, sunset provisions have a specified expiration date. This is not applicable in legal systems where the concept of desuetude applies.
In the Westminster system, a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending, as opposed to changes in public law.
In law, coming into force or entry into force is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this transition. The point at which such instrument comes into effect may be set out in the instrument itself, or after the lapse of a certain period, or upon the happening of a certain event, such as a proclamation or an objective event, such as the birth, marriage, reaching a particular age or death of a certain person. On rare occasions, the effective date of a law may be backdated to a date before the enactment.
In the United Kingdom, devolved matters are the areas of public policy where the Parliament of the United Kingdom has devolved its legislative power to the national legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while reserved matters and excepted matters are the areas where the UK Parliament retains exclusive power to legislate.
Citation of United Kingdom legislation includes the systems used for legislation passed by devolved parliaments and assemblies, for secondary legislation, and for prerogative instruments. It is relatively complex both due to the different sources of legislation in the United Kingdom, and because of the different histories of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences have developed between these systems since devolution.
The Interpretation Act 1978 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision for the interpretation of Acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Assembly, subordinate legislation, "deeds and other instruments and documents", Acts of the Scottish Parliament and instruments made thereunder, and Measures and Acts of the National Assembly for Wales and instruments made thereunder. The Act makes provision in relation to: the construction of certain words and phrases, words of enactment, amendment or repeal of Acts in the Session they were passed, judicial notice, commencement, statutory powers and duties, the effect of repeals, and duplicated offences.
The Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which entitles all people resident in England who are either disabled or over the age of 60 to free travel on local buses at off-peak times anywhere within England ; previously, free travel had only been available within the recipient's local authority area.
An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, London.
A cross-community vote or cross-community support is a form of voting used in the Northern Ireland Assembly according to the provisions of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It requires the support of both main communities in Northern Ireland, in other words majority of unionists and the majority of nationalist members of the Assembly. Among other reasons, it arises when the petition of concern procedure is invoked.
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Initially proposed as the Great Repeal Bill, its passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.
Tampon tax is a popular term used to call attention to tampons, and other feminine hygiene products, being subject to value-added tax (VAT) or sales tax, unlike the tax exemption status granted to other products considered basic necessities. Proponents of tax exemption argue that tampons, menstrual pads, menstrual cups and comparable products constitute basic, unavoidable necessities for women, and any additional taxes constitute a pink tax.
In the United Kingdom, various NHS hospitals charge patients and staff for parking. In Scotland and Wales car parking fees were largely abolished in 2008. As of April 2022, NHS organisations in England may optionally charge patients, visitors or staff for parking, the temporary suspension of fees during COVID-19 having been lifted. The cost of hospital parking is a controversial topic, with opponents in England criticising the charges.
The Period Products (Scotland) Act 2021 was a Private member's bill in the Scottish Parliament which received Royal assent on 12 January 2021. It is the world's first legislation to make it mandatory for all public institutions to provide free sanitary products for menstruation including tampons and pads.
