him after the fact. Thus, the Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the Sovereign; the role passed to a committee of the Council, now known as the Cabinet. With the creation of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801, a single Privy Council was created for Great Britain and Ireland, although the Irish Privy Council continued to exist until 1922. Functions The sovereign exercises executive authority by making Orders in Council upon the advice of the Privy Council. Orders-in-Council, which are drafted by the government rather than by the sovereign, are secondary legislation and are used to make government regulations and to make government appointments. Furthermore, Orders-in-Council are used to grant royal assent for laws passed by the legislatures of British Crown Dependencies, and were used to grant royal assent for Measures of the National Assembly for Wales. Orders of Council, distinct from Orders-in-Council, are issued by members of the Privy Council without requiring the approval of the sovereign. They are issued under the specific authority of Acts of Parliament, and most commonly are used for the regulation of public institutions. The sovereign also grants royal charters on the advice of the Privy Council. Charters bestow special status to incorporated bodies; they are used to grant "chartered" status to certain professional, educational or charitable bodies, and sometimes also city and borough status to towns. The Privy Council therefore deals with a wide range of matters, which also includes university and livery company statutes, churchyards, coinage and the dates of bank holidays. The Privy Council formerly had sole power to grant academic degree-awarding powers and the title of university, but following the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 these powers have been transferred to the Office for Students for educational institutions in England. Notable orders The Civil Service is formally governed by Privy Council Orders, as an exercise of the Royal Prerogative. One such order implemented HM Government's ban of GCHQ staff from joining a trade union. Another, the Civil Service (Amendment) Order in Council 1997, permitted the Prime Minister to grant up to three political advisers management authority over some Civil Servants. In the 1960s, the Privy Council made an order to evict the 2,000 inhabitants of the 65-island Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for the establishment of a joint United States–United Kingdom military base on the largest