Chapter 2: Other Provision Street names Section 81: Alteration of street names: England Effect
Regulations under this section will be used to set minimum requirements that a proposal for a street name change must meet, in order for a local authority to be able to make that change. The government will set a procedure which specifies whose consent must be sought, how to go about doing so and how consent may be given or withheld.
	Section 81 requires local authorities in England to obtain necessary support before altering a street name. It provides power for the Secretary of State to set out in regulations how this necessary support can be established.
	Subsection (1) defines the local authorities who are given replacement or modified powers in relation to street name alterations.
	Subsections (2) and (5) introduce the requirement that a street name alteration can only be made by a local authority with necessary support. Subsection (2) does this by conferring a replacement power on local authorities outside of Greater London. Subsection (5) does this by modifying the existing power conferred on local authorities in Greater London by the 1939 Act.
	Subsections (3) and (4) replicate the offence (with associated provision in relation to painting / marking) in section 21 of the 1907 Act and apply it to local authorities outside of Greater London. Level 1 on the standard scale is £200 as set by section 122 of the Sentencing Act 2020. The equivalent offence in section 10 of the 1939 Act, which applies to local authorities in Greater London, will continue to apply.
	Subsection (6) establishes the requirement of sufficient local support, as well as other support for alterations of a specified kind, before a street name alteration can be made by a local authority.
	Subsection (7) confers a power on the Secretary of State to make regulations providing for the ways in which sufficient local support, and other support for alterations of a specified kind, can be established before a street name alteration can be made by a local authority.
	Subsection (8) provides a non-exhaustive list of those matters which the regulations may provide for in establishing sufficient local support. A referendum is specifically provided for as this may be one of the principal methods by which sufficient local support is established, but there may be alternative ways. For example, in the case of public squares there might be no, or only a negligible, "electorate" for the square, meaning a referendum might not be practical. The regulations are intended to deal with other procedural matters for establishing sufficient local support, like the timing and conduct of any referendum.
	Subsection (9) requires local authorities to have regard to guidance published by the Secretary of State, which deals with the ways in which necessary support can be established and other associated functions of local authorities in relation to street name alterations.
	Subsection (10) overrides any provision of a local Act which would conflict with section 81. An example of a local Act which is intended to be overridden is section 13 of the Oxfordshire Act 1985, which deals with street name alterations.
	Subsection (11) defines ‘street’ by reference to the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, so that a consistent definition applies to the powers of local authorities relating to street name alterations.
	Subsection (12) and Schedule 5 make consequential amendments to existing legislation so that the new requirements in section 81 apply throughout England, and so that the provisions relation to street name alterations in the 1907 Act, 1925 Act and 1972 Act continue to apply to Wales. Currently, the legislation governing the changing of street names is spread out over four acts: the 1907 Act, the 1925 Act, the 1939 Act and the 1972 Act. The Act provides for a single legislative framework across England.