The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2026, made on 26 October 2026, bring a further part of the parent Act into force on 29 October 2026. Signed by Transport minister Justin Madders, the instrument is a tightly drawn commencement measure rather than a new policy scheme in its own right. Its practical effect is to change who approves certain street works charging powers in England. For authorities operating within the mayoral devolution framework, the decision-maker will in some cases move from the Secretary of State to the relevant mayor.
According to the text published on legislation.gov.uk, regulation 2 brings into force paragraph 2 of Schedule 9 to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. It also commences section 26, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 9, only so far as those provisions are needed for paragraph 2 to operate. The explanatory note states that paragraph 2 of Schedule 9 amends sections 74A and 74B of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. In street works legislation, an "undertaker" is the statutory term used for the body carrying out works in the highway.
Before this change, the Secretary of State held the approval role covered by these provisions. From 29 October 2026, that approval power is devolved to the Mayor of a Mayoral Combined Authority and the Mayor of a Mayoral Combined County Authority, who may approve, by order, a highway authority to charge an undertaker for street works. That is a limited but clear transfer of control. It places part of the street works charging approval process closer to devolved transport and local growth structures, rather than leaving every decision with central government.
The transfer does not apply across the whole of England. The explanatory note makes clear that, where a highway authority is not part of a Mayoral Combined Authority or a Mayoral Combined County Authority, the Secretary of State remains the appropriate authority for approvals under sections 74A and 74B of the 1991 Act. There is also a timing qualification. If an application for approval is submitted before the first mayor of the relevant authority has taken office, the Secretary of State continues to act as the approving authority. For councils, combined authorities and undertakers, the governance status of the area and the date of submission will therefore matter as much as the substance of the application.
The regulations do not commence paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 9. That means only part of the 2026 Act's street works package is being switched on at this stage, and readers should not treat this instrument as a full commencement of all Schedule 9 changes. For legal and policy teams, that distinction is important. The commencement order activates a specific transfer of approval powers, but it leaves other elements of Schedule 9 for a later decision. Any operational review will need to be read against the exact paragraphs now in force, rather than against the schedule as a whole.
The explanatory note says no separate impact assessment has been prepared for these regulations because no, or no significant, effect on the private, voluntary or public sector is expected from the commencement instrument itself. It also points readers to the impact assessment prepared for the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 as the broader source document. In practical terms, the immediate task is administrative rather than structural. Highway authorities considering street works charging arrangements, and undertakers that may be subject to those charges, now need to identify the correct approving authority from 29 October 2026. In mayoral areas, that may be the relevant mayor; elsewhere, and in specified transitional cases, the function stays with the Secretary of State.