b'The impact assessment which accompanied the Act, reminds local councillors (in case the public law constraints mentioned above are not themselves enough to discourage such conduct) that the general power of competence: will not enable local councillors to wage thermo-nuclear war due to existing preventative legislation including: the Nuclear Material (Offences) Act 1983, the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/675). This, no doubt, will come as a great relief to the general public. Local authorities need to abide by all relevant regulatory regimessuch as, for example, those governed by the Financial Conduct Authority if they were seeking to engage in financial servicesas well as the specific rules applied to local government in relation to audit and related financial regimes mentioned above and, where trading is involved, company law. Under the general competence powers, trading and charging activities are governed by very similar requirements to that which already exist under subsections 93 and 95 of the 2003 Act (dealt with elsewhere). Existing charging and trading powers contained in the 2003 Act will remain in force and will sit alongside the new powers. An individual of full capacity6.4 The new power has (in a sense) elevated local authorities to the status of individuals with full capacity, ie not a child, a prisoner or a person with mental incapacityin terms of the things that local authorities are authorised to do. The general power of competence also effectively removes geographical boundaries to local authority activity so that it is no longer constrained, for example, by acting for the benefit of its residents. Instead, the new powers will enable local authorities to do things: anywhere in the UK or elsewhere; for a commercial purpose or otherwise for a charge or without charge; for, or otherwise than for, the benefit of the authority, its area or persons resident or present in its area. The general competence power goes well beyond any existing powers, including the well-being power introduced in the 2000 Act. Well-being was the precursor to a general power of competence but was not nearly as extensive or permissive. The well-being power has been repealed in England (but not in Wales). Charging under the general competence powers 6.5 The charging provisions contained in the 2011 Act follow, pretty much (but not exactly), the requirements of section 93 of the 2003 Act. These provisions will continue side by side rather than the new replace the old. Under the 2011 Act, local authorities can charge up to full cost recovery for discretionary services, ie those services which they are not required by law to provide, unless specific charging powers exist elsewhere (as to which see Part B). 69'