Since 6 April 2022, couples in England and Wales have been able to divorce without blaming each other. Under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, they no longer cite adultery or unreasonable behavior. They state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
The Ministry of Justice said the reform “removes unnecessary finger-pointing and acrimony.”
In May 2016, the Financial Conduct Authority invited firms to apply for the first group in its regulatory sandbox. The deadline was 8 July 2016. The sandbox lets firms test innovative products, services or business models “in a live user environment.”
The FCA described the sandbox as “a first for regulators worldwide.”
In the 2017/18 season, the Football Association piloted sin bins for dissent in grassroots football. Across the participating leagues, dissent fell by 38 percent.
From the start of the 2019/20 season, sin bins were introduced across grassroots football.
In 2022, the Welsh Government began a pilot that pays young people leaving care a basic income of £1,600 a month before tax. They receive it for 24 months from their 18th birthday.
The evaluation runs until 2027 and reports every year. Some young people said the money had eased or helped them manage anxieties. Several reported continued struggles to find work.
On 1 May 2018, Scotland set a minimum price for alcohol of 50p per unit. The law came with an expiry date. Under the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012, “the minimum pricing provisions expire at the end of the 6 year period,” unless an order continues them.
The Scottish Government published a report on how the policy had worked from 2018 to 2023. In April 2024, before the deadline, the Scottish Parliament voted to keep it. From 30 September 2024, the minimum price rose to 65p per unit.
When HM Coastguard needs a lifeboat, it contacts the Lifeboat Operations Manager or Launch Authority at the local station. The decision is made there. In the words of the RNLI, “No boat can be launched on a shout or exercise without a launch authority’s agreement.”
Under section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, in its present form since 2006, “a person other than a constable may arrest without a warrant.” The power covers indictable offenses.
It applies only when it appears to the person making the arrest that it is “not reasonably practicable for a constable” to make it instead. One accepted reason is to stop the suspect “making off before a constable can assume responsibility for him.”
Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 gives local authorities in England the “power to do anything that individuals generally may do.”
The explanatory notes say that the power gives a council “the same power to act that an individual generally has.” They add that it “may be used in innovative ways.”
Communications between London and the colonies were slow. A study of colonial Australia concluded that, for this reason, “the governor was really ‘the man on the spot.'”
Historians of the British Empire use the phrase widely. Roger D. Long’s collection of essays The Man on the Spot argues that the man on the spot “was a factor in imperial expansion as much as, or sometimes more than, imperial or company policy.”
In England and Wales, a person in trouble in the mountains dials 999, asks for the police, and then asks for mountain rescue. The police call out the nearest team.
The teams are independent charities, staffed by highly trained volunteers. Once the police have called, the team leader alerts the members by text or pager.