United KingdomStatement on Progress Towards Regulations Restricting Children's Access to Internet Services
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, c. 21, s. 71
In force since .
An education rule binding government bodies.
- Criminal exposure
- No
- Private right of action
- No
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- This section binds the Secretary of State and places no duty on an online service: it sets a reporting and timing duty for making the first regulations under section 214A(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023 (section 71).
- Lay before Parliament, before the end of the period of three months beginning with the day the Act was passed, a statement of what progress has been made towards the first regulations under section 214A(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023 and a timeline for making them, unless the first regulations were made before the end of that period (subsections (1) and (3)).
- Provide in the timeline for a draft of the first regulations to be laid before Parliament before the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day the statement is laid (subsections (2) and (5)).
- If the first regulations have not been laid by then, lay a statement explaining why and lay the first regulations before Parliament before the end of the period of six months beginning with the day that statement is laid (subsection (4)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
None stated. The section names no regulator, creates no enforcement power and sets no penalty; the Secretary of State reports to Parliament.
What it reaches
Covered services
None directly: the duties run to the Secretary of State. The regulations the statement concerns would reach providers of specified internet services, as section 214A(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023 describes.
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
What record it asks for
Logging duty
The section requires a statement to Parliament and requires no age check, no log and no retention period.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 71 requires the Secretary of State, before the end of the period of three months beginning with the day the Act is passed, to lay before Parliament a statement setting out what progress has been made towards making the first regulations under section 214A(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023 and a timeline for making them. The timeline must provide for the first regulations to be laid before Parliament before the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day the statement is laid.
If the first regulations have not been laid by then, the Secretary of State must lay a statement explaining why and must lay the first regulations before Parliament within six months of that statement. The Act was passed on , and section 71 came into force on the day it was passed.
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