August 2026 Legal Briefing

This blog provides a brief overview August’s Legal Updates, which are relevant to Quality, Environmental, Info Sec and Health & Safety to help your organisation stay aligned with the latest legal requirements.  

How to use this Update:

• You should review these updates and decide whether they apply to your company.
• Add all relevant items to your legal register and document your compliance.
• Ensure all policies and procedures align with the new governance and compliance requirements.
• Provide information and training to all relevant personnel to ensure you remain compliant
• Please note that ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and other standards require you to conduct a compliance evaluation.

The standards and industry information is provided as a guide to help organisations assess relevance. Organisations should review each update in the context of their own activities, locations and legal obligations to determine whether the legislation applies to them.

Where an update is applicable, organisations should consider whether their legal register, policies, procedures, risk assessments, controls, training or other compliance arrangements need to be reviewed or updated.

Need assistance with these updates? We are here to help: Contact us

The Tobacco and Vapes (2026 Act) (Commencement No.1) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026
Date	3rd August 2026
Country	Northern Ireland
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 45001, ISO 9001
Industries/sectors	Retail, hospitality, leisure, healthcare, organisations selling tobacco, vaping or nicotine products
Status	Pending – 29 Oct 2026
Summary: This Order brings into operation on 29 October 2026 section 87 of, and Schedule 10 to, the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026. This extends certain provisions relating to the registration of tobacco retailers so that they also apply to retailers of vaping products and nicotine products.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2026/152/note

The Occupational Pension Schemes (Collective Money Purchase Schemes) (Extension to Unconnected Multiple Employer Schemes and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
Date	4th August 2026
Country	Northern Ireland
Category	Employment
Standards	ISO 9001
Industries/sectors	Employers in Northern Ireland, organisations operating occupational pension schemes, pension providers and administrators
Status	Active
Summary: The Pension Schemes Act 2021 introduced the legislative framework for collective money purchase pension schemes. However, it limited them to single or connected employers. These Regulations remove that exclusion to enable schemes that can be used by unconnected employers. It will put in place a new authorisation and supervision regime for them.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2026/151/contents

The Criminal Justice (Sentencing) (Licence Conditions) (Amendment and Revocation) Order 2026
Date	10th August 2026
Country	UK
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 9001
Industries/sectors	Employers of individuals subject to licence conditions, public sector, justice and probation services and relevant regulated organisations
Status	Active
Summary: This Instrument amends the Criminal Justice (Sentencing) (Licence Conditions) Order 2015 to: • simplify and restructure the existing standard licence conditions to improve clarity and accessibility; and • introduce a new standard licence condition relating to passport disclosure and control.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/911/contents/made

The Victims and Courts Act 2026 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2026
Date	12th August 2026
Country	UK
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 9001, ISO 45001
Industries/sectors	Public sector, justice and probation services, organisations supporting victims and organisations working with vulnerable people
Status	Active
SummaryRegulation 2 brings into force certain provisions of the 2026 Act. Those provisions both introduce sections 44M (power to disclose information to victims etc) and 44O (saving for other powers of provider of probation services) into the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (c. 28) (“the 2004 Act”) and other provisions of the 2026 Act necessary to bring those sections of the 2004 Act into force.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/918/contents/made

The Crime and Policing (2026 Act) (Commencement No. 1) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026
Date	13th August 2026
Country	Northern Ireland
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001
Industries/sectors	Education, childcare, healthcare, social care, charities, organisations working with children or vulnerable adults
Status	Pending
Summary: This Order brings into operation section 140 of the Crime and Policing Act for the purpose of removing the supervision exemption from regulated activity.Regulated activity, broadly speaking, includes work (paid or unpaid) which involves close interaction with children or vulnerable adults.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2026/153/contents

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3) (England) Regulations 2026
Date	20th August 2026
Country	England
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 9001, ISO 45001
Industries/sectors	Schools, education providers, pupil referral units and organisations providing services to schools
Status	Active
Summary: These Regulations bring into force the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (c. 21) (“the Act”). They are the third commencement regulations to be made under the Act which bring into force provisions of the Act in relation to England only. Regulation 2 brings section 34 of the Act (allergy safety policy for pupils at schools) fully into force on 1st September 2026. Section 34 amends the Children and Families Act 2014 (c. 6), the Education Act 1996 (c. 56), and the Education and Skills Act 2008 (c. 25) with the effect of requiring schools in England to have, review and publish an allergy safety policy, having regard to statutory guidance, and enabling the Secretary of State to make regulations imposing duties on specified persons in connection with allergies affecting pupils at schools.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/933/contents/made

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 2) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
Date	27th August 2026
Country	England
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 9001, ISO 45001
Industries/sectors	Pupil referral units and education providers
Status	Active
Summary: These Regulations amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 2) (England) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/803 (C. 67)) (“the Principal Regulations”).Regulation 2 amends paragraph (e) of regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations to provide that section 67 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (c. 21) is only commenced on 1st September 2026 in so far as it applies to pupil referral units in England.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/941/contents/made

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2026
Date	27th August 2026
Country	UK
Category	Other
Standards	ISO 45001, ISO 9001
Industries/sectors	Education, childcare, youth services, healthcare, social care, charities and organisations working with children
Status	Active
Summary: Regulation 2 brings into force section 139 (safeguarding vulnerable groups: regulated activity) of the 2026 Act. Section 139 removes the provisions within Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (c. 47) which take supervised roles out of regulated activity in the child workforce. This means that those who work closely and frequently with children in England and Wales are in regulated activity, whether they are supervised or not. Being in regulated activity means that these roles can be subject to, and eligible for, the highest-level DBS check (enhanced with check of the children’s barred list) in line with the high level of risk to children involved in the role, and subject to the requirements attendant to individuals and employers in regulated activity.
Legislation:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/939/contents/made

ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and other standards require you to conduct a compliance evaluation. If you haven’t done this, we can help.