An amending statutory instrument made on 21 October 2026 has pushed back part of the Crime and Policing Act 2026. According to legislation.gov.uk, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 remove the planned 26 October 2026 commencement for section 6 and Schedule 3 in England and Wales. The instrument was signed by Sarah Jones, Minister of State at the Home Office. Its effect is narrow but important: the relevant provisions do not start on the date previously set by the earlier commencement regulations.
The earlier Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, listed as S.I. 2026/960 on legislation.gov.uk, had provided that section 6 and Schedule 3 would come into force on 26 October 2026. The new amendment achieves the delay by omitting regulation 4(f) and regulation 4(i) from that earlier instrument. In legislative terms, the policy has not been withdrawn and the primary legislation has not been altered. The provisions remain on the statute book, but they now require a fresh commencement decision before they can take legal effect.
The explanatory note on legislation.gov.uk states that section 6 creates a new process for further review of anti-social behaviour case reviews carried out by relevant bodies under section 104 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Policing and Crime Act 2014. Schedule 3 provides the supporting detail for how that new process is meant to operate. That detail is material for delivery. Schedule 3 was due to set out procedure, consultation requirements and other supplementary rules for those further reviews. Because commencement has been removed, those operational requirements are also postponed.
For public authorities and local practitioners, the immediate position is continuity. Relevant bodies already handling anti-social behaviour case reviews under the 2014 Act do not move to the new section 6 process on 26 October 2026. In practical terms, there is no immediate switch to the revised statutory procedure and no immediate duty to apply the Schedule 3 arrangements. Any implementation work linked specifically to those provisions will now need to wait for a later commencement instrument.
For residents and complainants, the change is straightforward in plain English. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 contains a new route for further review after an anti-social behaviour case review, but that route is not beginning on 26 October 2026. Existing routes therefore remain the live routes for now. The amendment does not remove the future reform; it postpones the point at which people could rely on it in practice.
The explanatory note also states that no separate full impact assessment has been produced for this amending instrument. A broader assessment was prepared for the wider Crime and Policing Act 2026 package, and the Government does not expect this amendment on its own to have a significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sectors. The next step is procedural rather than substantive. Before section 6 and Schedule 3 can take effect, ministers will need to bring them into force on a later date through a further commencement measure. Until that happens, the 26 October 2026 start date has been removed from the legal timetable.