This Order, made under the power in sections 95 and 96 of the Local Government Act 2003 (“the Act”), provides that all best value local authorities in England, and fire and rescue authorities in England, are authorised to trade in any of their ordinary functions subject to certain conditions.

Regulation 2 sets out those conditions, which require the prior preparation and approval of a business case, and the recovery of any costs incurred by the authority in anything it supplies, including accommodation, goods, services or staff, to a company through which the trading power is exercised. Under section 95(4) of the Act, the power to trade must be exercised through a company.

The Order revokes the Local Government (Best Value Authorities) (Power to Trade) (England) Order 2004 (“the 2004 Order”) and all Orders that amended the 2004 Order. Prior to its revocation, the 2004 Order authorised only those English local authorities which had achieved a certain level of categorisation and named fire and rescue authorities in England to trade. The named fire and rescue authorities were only allowed to trade in specified services.

Two impact assessments of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business may be accessed at http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/publications/impact-assessments/ or available from: Communities and Local Government, Fire & Resilience Directorate, 3^rd Floor Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU and are annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website at www.opsi.gov.uk.