This House of Lords Library Briefing provides a summary of the emergency powers available to the Government in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Civil Contingencies, Emergency Powers and No-Deal Brexit (255KB PDF)
In recent months, questions have been asked in Parliament about the Government’s civil contingencies planning in the event of the UK leaving the EU without having ratified a negotiated withdrawal agreement (ie a ‘no-deal’ Brexit).
The use of emergency powers (ie the creation of temporary legislation) is set out in part 2 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004). The Act provides the Government with powers to create emergency regulations to deal with emergencies that threaten “serious damage to human welfare”, or that threaten damage to the environment or the security of the UK. Damage to human welfare is defined in the Act to include disruption to transport networks or to the supply of food, money, energy, or health services.
The CCA 2004 provides powers for the monarch or a senior Minister of the Crown to make emergency regulations, under certain circumstances, to deal with the most serious emergencies. In practice, such regulations are drafted and their substance determined by the Government. The powers are wide-ranging, providing the Government with the power to make any provision that could be made by an Act of Parliament or through the use of the royal prerogative. The regulations must be laid before Parliament as soon as is practicable, and they would lapse after seven days if not approved by both Houses of Parliament.
This briefing summarises the circumstances in which emergency powers can be used, the procedure for creating emergency regulations, and the provisions for parliamentary scrutiny of the regulations.
Civil Contingencies, Emergency Powers and No-Deal Brexit (255KB PDF)
The Local Plans (Burial Space) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (Liberal Democrat). The bill would establish a duty for local planning authorities in England to ensure adequate burial ground space is provided in their local area. It would also require them to set out plans for how they intend to address any shortfall in burial ground capacity.
![Local Plans (Burial Space) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 8 of session 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Communities-1-568x426.png)
In January 2026, the government announced a new scheme to support urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship. Called the ‘Places of worship renewal fund for England’, it replaced the ‘Listed places of worship grant scheme’ which had run since 2001. This briefing provides an overview of both schemes, the government’s reasoning for the change and the reaction of stakeholders.
There have been big differences in expenditure across different forms of healthcare for a number of years. In 2024/25, spending on acute care was £74.7bn, compared to £14.5bn on primary care and £13.8bn on community services. Both the 2024 Labour Party manifesto and the subsequent 10 year health plan for England contained an emphasis on shifting towards more care being delivered in local communities rather than in acute settings, dubbed a ‘neighbourhood health service’.
