PM’s anti-terror statement
On July 25th 2007, the
Prime
Minister made a statement in the House of Commons, outlining plans to
increase anti-terrorism capabilities in the UK.
Governance: reviewing the Attorney General’s role
and Public Petitions
In its Green Paper
'The
Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170), the Government set out proposals for
radical constitutional reform to rebalance power between the executive,
legislature and the people.
Among the proposals to improve the
engagement between Parliament and the people were:
- A commitment to
reforming the role of the Attorney General
- Changes to the system of
Public Petitions and Early Day Motions.
Homes for the future
This Green Paper
'Homes
for the Future: More Affordable, More Sustainable’ (Cm. 7191) sets out the
Government's strategy for housing based on three key objectives:
- More homes to meet growing demand
- Better designed and greener
homes, linked to good schools, transport, and healthcare
- More
affordable homes to buy or rent.
Sustainable railways
This White Paper
'Delivering
a Sustainable Railway' (Cm. 7176) from the Department for Transport is the
first plan for major growth of the British railways since the 1950s.
Detention of naval personnel by Iran
In March 2007, eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal
Marines were seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Shatt al-Arab
waterway.
This Report
‘Foreign
policy aspects of the detention of naval personnel by the Islamic Republic of
Iran’ (HC 880) examines the UK Government's diplomatic handling of the
incident.
Closing the UK "skills gap"
This document
‘World
Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England’ (Cm.
7181), produced by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills,
sets out the Government's policy direction to build world class employment
skills in England by 2020.
This publication aims to explain how the
Government will provide the right supporting framework to act as a catalyst for
a skills revolution.
Next steps to full employment
This Green Paper
‘In
Work, Better Off: Next steps to full employment’ (Cm. 7130) sets out to
deliver a step change in the employment and skills support offered by the
Government to those who are most disadvantaged in the labour market.
Empowering women: Ministers for Women set out
priorities
This statement
‘Priorities
for the Ministers for Women’ (Cm 7183) sets out the Ministers’
priorities for policies designed to empower and support women in Britain.
George Galloway investigated
'Conduct
of Mr George Galloway' (HC 909-I) examines the memorandum produced by the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on the outcome of his investigation of
complaints against the conduct of Mr George Galloway MP (the text of the
memorandum is included as an appendix to the report).
The Commissioner's
investigation focused on allegations published in a series of articles in the
Daily Telegraph in April 2003 that Mr Galloway had received substantial
undeclared personal financial benefits from the former Iraqi regime ran by
Saddam Hussein by way of the UN Oil for Food programme, and that in doing so he
had breached the Commons' rules on registration of interests and the Commons'
Code of Conduct.
Deployment of UK forces in Afghanistan
'UK
Operations in Afghanistan’ (HC 408) examines the effectiveness of UK
operations in Afghanistan.
At present UK forces are deployed in the
Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan as part of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) mission, which comprises in total a 37-nation
coalition. There are now approximately 7,700 UK troops stationed in the region.
The aim of ISAF and the international community is to establish stability in
the country and so deny the Taliban and Al-Qaeda the environment to operate.
Local refuse collections examined
Responsibility for household refuse collection and disposal
belongs to around 400 local authorities in England and the historical
development of such a disparate system means practice varies widely on timing
and frequency and the types of materials collected and recycled.
EU
landfill restrictions, designed to combat climate change, have driven a shift
towards greater recycling as councils seek to avoid paying substantial fines.
Government announces draft legislative
programme
This Command Paper
'The
Governance of Britain - The Government's Draft Legislative Programme' (Cm.
7175) is the first annual statement setting out a draft legislative
programme to be laid before the next Parliament.
Where previously the
legislative programme was not divulged in advance of the Queen's Speech at the
State Opening of Parliament, this new annual statement allows Parliament and
the public advance notice of the legislation that the Government plans to bring
forward.
Encouraging responsible letting
In this Consultation Paper
‘Encouraging
Responsible Letting: A Consultation Paper ’ (CP 181), the Law Commission
reaches the third stage of its programme on the reform of housing law.
This Paper addresses issues raised by ‘Renting Homes’ (Cm. 6781),
published by in May 2006 and by the Housing Disputes project ‘Housing:
Proportionate Dispute Resolution - The role of tribunals' (CP 180) published in
June 2007.
Personal data security lapses identified
This Report
‘Information
Commissioner's Office: Annual Report 2006/07’ (HC 646) highlights the
various issues that surround freedom of information and personal data security.
Press Complaints Commission Kate Middleton response
“inadequate”
This Report
‘Self-Regulation
of the Press’ (HC 375) from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has
been prompted by recent events including the conviction of Clive Goodman, the
royal editor of the News of the World, for interception of communications
without lawful authority and the press pursuit of Kate Middleton, the former
girlfriend of HRH Prince William.
Tax assessment correct in 95% cases
'Accuracy
in Processing Income Tax' (HC 605) examines the accuracy of HM Revenue and
Customs (HMRC) in processing Self Assessment Tax forms and the 'Pay As You
Earn' (PAYE) scheme for Income Tax.
In 2006-07, HMRC collected £149
billion in Income Tax, dealing with the tax affairs of some 36 million
taxpayers. In total, £125 billion was collected via employers through the PAYE
scheme, and £24 billion from self-employed people and others with additional
income through the Tax Self Assessment. The HMRC needs to spend about £1.7
billion per year in administering Income Tax, with the processing taking place
across 300 offices.
Dementia services “not delivering value for
money”
Dementia is a term for a range of progressive, terminal
organic brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
Some 560,000 people in
England are estimated to have dementia, with a steeply rising trend expected
over the coming years. Some 476,000 people are unpaid carers of people with
dementia. Direct costs to the NHS and social care are currently at least £3.3
billion a year, but the overall annual economic burden is estimated at £14.3
billion.
Draft Climate Change Bill examined
The Report from the House of Commons Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs Committee,'Draft
Climate Change Bill' (HC 534-I), examines the proposed Climate Change Bill
which published in March 2007 as a draft,
'Draft
Climate Change Bill' (Cm. 7040).
Child support reforms: implementation reviewed
Since it was established in 1993, the Child Support Agency
has consistently underperformed, plagued by enormous backlogs of unprocessed
cases and uncollected maintenance.
Where it works well, the Agency has
secured regular contributions from non-resident parents and helped lift an
estimated 100,000 children out of poverty. It has to administer complex
assessment, collection and enforcement processes and deal with complicated
emotional, financial and legal issues to bring about a degree of financial
stability for children and parents.
Wide constitutional reform proposed
Aimed at restoring public trust in politics, this Green
Paper
'The
Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170) sets out the Government's vision and
proposals for constitutional renewal. Plans focus particularly on modernising
the role of the Executive in the UK system of governance.
The four main
themes are:
- Limiting the power of the executive
- Making the
executive more accountable
- Re-invigorating democracy
- Improving
the relationship between the citizen and the state.