Committee asks: Could 7/7 Have Been Prevented?
On Monday 30 April 2007, five men were convicted of terrorist offences relating to a plot to detonate a fertiliser bomb in the UK in 2004. The arrests were the result of a police and MI5 operation codenamed CREVICE.
Following the trial, the media reported that at the time MI5 had been investigating CREVICE, the bomb plotters had been in contact with two unidentified men - now known to be Mohammed Siddique Kahn and Shazad Tanweer - two of the four men who, on 7 July 2005, detonated bombs on the London transport system, killing 52 people and injuring several hundred others.
This Report, 'Could 7/7 Have Been Prevented? Review of the Intelligence on the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005' (Cm. 7617), investigates why MI5, knowing of Khan and Tanweer, did not prevent the 2005 bombings.
More power for local government, says Committee
The balance of power between central and local government matters because it affects the responsibility and accountability for delivery of services and improvements to local people and communities.
This Report, 'The Balance of Power: Central and Local Government' (HC 33-I), looks at the current role of local government, assessing where it could be more proactive in making best use of existing structures.
Defence contribution to UK safety and security examined
In March 2008 the Government published 'The National Security Strategy of the United Kingdom: Security in an Interdependent World' (Cm. 7291). Part of that paper dealt with the contribution of the armed forces to the overarching security policy of the UK.
This Defence Committee Report, 'The Defence Contribution to UK National Security and Resilience' (HC 121), looks at the developing area of Parliamentary scrutiny of national security.
Provision of end of life care scrutinized
In England, approximately half a million people die each year. Around three quarters of deaths follow a period of chronic illness, such as cancer or heart disease, where people may need access to end of life care.
This Report, 'End of Life Care' (HC 99), examines: the scale and quality of end of life care; the current and future approach to commissioning and funding of services; and the capability and capacity of NHS and social care staff to provide such care.
Tied estate pub lease system examined
This Report, 'Pub Companies' (HC 26-I), deals with the relationship between pub companies and their lessees.
It is interested, specifically, in those companies that operate a tied estate, whose operations have frequently been criticised on the grounds that they are unfair to lessees who not only have to pay rent but are also forced to buy beer at higher prices than those they could obtain elsewhere.
Committee warns against 'two-tier' health system
In June 2008, the Secretary of State for Health appointed Professor Mike Richards - National Clinical Director for Cancer - to examine the availability of NHS medicines and to provide guidance on the circumstances where patients should be able to purchase additional drugs not funded by the NHS.
Professor Richards' Report, 'Improving Access to Medicines for NHS Patients', was published in November 2008.
This Report, 'Top-up Fees' (HC 194-I), examines the issue of top-up fees in relation to NHS patients wishing to buy additional drugs privately.
Action plan to improve child protection
This document, 'The Protection of Children in England: Action Plan - The Government's Response to Lord Laming' (Cm. 7589), sets out the Government's detailed response to Lord Laming's March 2009 Report, 'The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report' (HC 330).
It also presents the Government's action plan to achieve the step change in the arrangements to protect children from harm that Lord Laming recommended.
Government response to Equitable Life examined
In July 2008 the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman presented a Report concerning the prudential regulation of the Equitable Life Assurance Society.
That Report, 'Equitable Life: A Decade of Regulatory Failure' (HC 815), made ten findings of maladministration, determined that this maladministration had led to injustice, and made two recommendations.
This Report, 'Injustice Unremedied: the Government's Response on Equitable Life' (HC 435), presents the Ombudsman's assessment of the Government's response to that Report.
Law Commission reports on trust law
Trusts are important to the national economy and provide a range of benefits to individuals and charitable purposes. This project affects charitable and private trusts that are set up in a way which distinguishes capital and the income it produces.
The project was referred to the Law Commission as a result of concerns about current trust law raised during the passage of the most recent piece of trust legislation - the Trustee Act 2000 - through Parliament.