Government Response to the Committee's First Special Report of Session 2005-06 PDF Download

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Regulatory Reform Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215028082
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description
The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (HCB 111, session 2005-06; ISBN 0215706676) contains provisions to increase the scope of regulatory reform powers to give Ministers a wide and general power to amend, repeal and replace primary and secondary legislation, including that recently approved, as well as to change the common law by Order. This document sets out the Government's response to the Committee's report (HCP 878, session 2005-06, ISBN 0215027361) which highlighted concerns that the proposed safeguards in the Bill are unlikely to provide a sufficient counterbalance to the increased Ministerial powers.

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Welsh Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215542991
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Work of the Committee 2008-09 : Third report of session 2009-10, report, together with formal Minutes

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Welsh Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215034341
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
Although the National Assembly of Wales has limited law-making powers, they can be enhanced, given Parliamentary consent, by a new procedure known as Legislative Competence Order in Council. This sits alongside a procedure where Acts of Parliament may prescribe matters on which the National Assembly may legislate within areas (known as "Fields") for which it has responsibility. In this report the Committee examine the new procedure. Although it welcomes the chance to be involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Orders, it is worried about the potential work load and think there could be merit in ad hoc committees set up to examine each proposed Legislative Competence Order. There is also a concern that Matters added by provisions in Bills of a general nature will not have the same degree of scrutiny as legislative Competence Orders.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215033536
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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For Vol. 1, see (ISBN 9780215033512)

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215521941
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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This is the 8th report from the Transport Committee (HCP 249, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215521941) and focuses on freight transport. The Committee has set out 29 recommendations, including: that the Government needs to adopt a more proactive freight strategy, given there are significant economic and transport benefits to be gained; the Department of Transport should produce a national freight plan, setting out aspirations for the reduction in congestion and transport emissions, freight infrastructure and job opportunities and the development of future technologies that maybe beneficial for the freight business; that rail and water freight must be able to compete on a an equal footing with road transport; that the Government could do more to encourage waterborne freight transport; that Network Rail must recognise the importance of freight instead of treating it as the poor relation of passenger services; that the Government needs to engage with European freight schemes to ensure that UK business is not disadvantaged and further, highlight the importance of the UK air freight operators' competiveness with continental operators; the Government needs to discuss a way forward with the UK haulier industry, which the Committee sees as being unfairly treated through subsidising their continental competitors through high levels of taxation on fuel.

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215521262
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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This report examines the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (contained in Cm. 7342-I,II,III, ISBN 9780101734226) to see how far its provisions put into effect the recommendations of its predecessor Committee's 5th report on the constitutional role of the Attorney General (HC 306, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780215035462). The draft Bill makes no substantial change to the current situation. The Attorney General remains both chief legal adviser to the Government and a Government minister. There is no justification for giving the Attorney General power to halt investigations by the Serious Fraud Office. The Committee favours a statutory duty being placed on ministers to observe the rule of law. The accountability of the post remains limited. Public confidence in the post could be enhanced if it were to become the practice to publish all or most of the Attorney General's advice where it is referred to in support of a political case being put forward by the Government. The problem of being both legal adviser and a minister is difficult to resolve, but the Committee believes that transparency require s separating the political functions from the legal functions. The Draft Bill fails to achieve the purpose given to constitutional reform by the Prime Minister: it gives greater power to the Executive; and it does not add to transparency.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215030974
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
In 2005, traffic collisions killed 3,201 people with almost 29,000 seriously injured on British roads. Although the level of road crash fatalities and injuries has fallen over successive decades and Britain has one of the safest road environments in the world, the numbers still remain far too high and many of these casualties might have been avoided if there was a higher level of compliance with traffic law. The Committee's report examines the road casualty problem, focusing on the role of roads policing and the contribution which enforcement can make to casualty reduction. It considers how technology is influencing the policing and enforcement of particular offences, relating to speeding, drink and drug driving, driving whilst using a mobile phone and driving while impaired by fatigue. The report finds that, despite progress made by the Department for Transport against its 2010 casualty reduction targets, the Home Office has continued to deny traffic law enforcement issues the priority it requires and must explicitly adopt the targets as a key part of its future national policing plans. Investment and research into new technological equipment, such as roadside breath testing equipment and time-distance cameras, and a higher profile and more visible traffic enforcement effort would bring important casualty reductions. However, the efficiencies which technology can bring should not be seen as a opportunity to cut the number of roads police officers, as technology alone cannot carry out the multitude of functions undertaken by roads police officers.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Scottish Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215521170
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Defence and aerospace industries in Scotland generate nearly £2.31 billion in sales and together with the MoD support almost 50,000 jobs and a record number of apprentices. As well as a recognised expertise in naval ship building, Scotland also has a strong defence electronics industry and a strong aerospace industry based around Prestwick. This report examines the delay in the signing of the contract for two new aircraft carriers: the Committee is concerned that similar delays during the construction phase could lead to job losses and damage the ship-building skills base the UK needs to support if it wishes to retain sovereign capability in key areas. The Committee also comments on the Government's decision to treat the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) vessels as commercial rather than naval vessels, making them subject to EU competition law. There is confusion over the status of these vessels. The report also looks at the supply of skilled, semi-skilled and graduate workers, the Modern Apprenticeship programme, and the funding for adult apprentices. It is vital for Scottish industry to look at upskilling throughout the workforce, including mature workers who were not able to access apprenticeships as school leavers. The issue of constitutional change also affects the future sustainability of the Scottish defence industry. In the long term it is unclear what naval requirement an independent Scotland would have and whether this would make up for the potential loss of UK MoD orders. Government and industry need to work effectively together to ensure that Scotland's engineering and manufacturing base continues to be world class.

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Scottish Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215520463
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
On 3 May 2007, combined elections were held in Scotland, electing members to the Scottish Parliament and all 32 of Scotland's local councils. The number of spoilt ballots cast in these elections was unusually high, and difficulties with the electronic counting machines led to the count being suspended in some constituencies. The Electoral Commission engaged Ron Gould CM to conduct an independent assessment of the elections. This report examines the findings of the Gould Report and its recommendations, some of which have already been accepted in principle by the Scotland Office and by the Scottish Executive, including holding the Scottish Parliament and local government elections at different times and producing separate regional and constituency ballot papers for the Scottish Parliament elections. Evidence strongly suggests that there are deep problems with the way elections are administered, both in Scotland and across the UK, which, if left unaddressed, could again create difficulties in the future. Any changes to the way in which elections are carried out must be accompanied by rigorous research and testing; the absence of such research and testing was a major failing that led to the problems of 3 May. There were failings on the part of the Scotland Office, where lengthy delays disrupted election planning and led to weak contingency arrangements. The Electoral Commission did not do enough to warn of potential problems with the ballot. The use of e-counting has been subject to particular criticism. Although electronic counting may have the potential to produce results more quickly, in these elections it did not operate efficiently or transparently. Any future proposals must place the needs of the voter and the interests of transparency far above the limitations of any given technology.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215523402
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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In April 2008, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published a Draft Heritage Bill and the Government has indicated that the Bill will be in next year's legislative programme. The Bill is designed to unify heritage protection regimes, allow greater public involvement in decisions, and place heritage at the heart of the planning system. The Committee has undertaken pre-legislative scrutiny of the bill but this was undermined by the incomplete nature of the legislation. The Committee also felt that the Government must prioritise the revision of Planning policy guidelines (PPGs) 15 & 16 to ensure that the new guidance on planning policy can be implemented at the same time as the Bill. Further serious issues of concern included the accuracy of current cost estimates & impact assessment and sufficient staffing with the necessary skills, in particular conservation officers. The Committee was also not convinced that Heritage Partnership Agreements (HPAs), a new system of management agreements for owners of large estates, were a robust business option. Nor could any evidence be found that either DCMS or English Heritage had considered any amendments to the legislation which would improve the operation or effectiveness of the enforcement powers for local authorities.