Section 80 — Duty to issue codes of practice
This version in force from 2016-11-21
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) The relevant Minister must issue a code or codes of practice for the purposes of section 77.
(2) A code of practice must include provision about the following matters—
(a) the standard of spoken English to be met by a person working for a public authority to which the code applies in a customer-facing role;
(b) the action available to such a public authority where such a person does not meet that standard;
(c) the procedure to be operated by such a public authority for enabling complaints to be made to the authority about breaches by the authority of section 77(1) and for the consideration of such complaints;
(d) how the public authority is to comply with its other legal obligations as well as complying with the duty in section 77(1).
(3) A code of practice may make such other provision as the relevant Minister considers appropriate for securing that a person who works for a public authority to which the code applies in a customer-facing role speaks fluent English.
(4) A code of practice may make provision in relation to—
(a) all public authorities,
(b) particular descriptions of public authority, or
(c) particular public authorities.
(5) But the relevant Minister must ensure that there is at all times a code of practice in force which applies to each public authority.
(6) A code of practice may make different provision for different purposes, including different provision for different public authorities or descriptions of public authority.