Children and Families Act 2014

Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

• the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
• lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
• confers power and blanket amendment details
• all formats of all associated documents
• correction slips
• links to related legislation and further information resources

Impact Assessments

Impact Assessments generally accompany all UK Government interventions of a regulatory nature that affect the private sector, civil society organisations and public services. They apply regardless of whether the regulation originates from a domestic or international source and can accompany primary (Acts etc) and secondary legislation (SIs). An Impact Assessment allows those with an interest in the policy area to understand:

• Why the government is proposing to intervene;
• The main options the government is considering, and which one is preferred;
• How and to what extent new policies may impact on them; and,
• The estimated costs and benefits of proposed measures.

Impact Assessments are published at different stages of the legislation making process. These different versions can be viewed on legislation.gov.uk where available:

Consultation:

This version/stage refers to when a formal public consultation is published and focuses on the cost and benefits of each option under consideration.

Final:

When a preferred option has been decided upon following the consultation stage, a ‘Final’ version is published. This is the version that accompanied the proposed legislation when it was introduced to Parliament. It is the version that accompanies any Draft Statutory Instrument which requires and Impact Assessment.

Enactment:

Published when the legislation is enacted, (sometimes this may be the same as the Final version depending whether changes have been introduced to the final proposal during the Parliamentary process);

Post Implementaion Review:

This stage captures the impact of the implemented policy, and assesses any modifications to the policy objectives or its implementation recommended as a result of the review.