Laws of the Land

The Bill is the second part of the package of reforms to the UK pensions system set out in the May 2006 Pensions White Paper, Security in retirement: towards a new pension system. The first part of the reforms, taken forward by Pensions Act 2007, included reform of the state pension. Key areas Proposes a duty on employers to automatically enrol jobholders…

In his Budget speech on 21 March 2007 the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced a series of changes to the personal tax system. One of these measures was to ‘align the income tax system with the national insurance system’ from April 2009, ‘thereby creating a tax system for income that has just two rates and two thresh…

The Bill looks at important areas of public transport like local bus services and sets out proposals for a more consistent approach to local transport planning. It plans to reform the existing laws on road pricing schemes for local authorities who wish to have schemes in their areas. It was published in draft form in the 2006-07 session of Parliament. The…

The Bill provides for revised and updated legislation on assisted reproduction and for changes to the regulation and licensing of embryo use in research and therapy. A draft Bill, the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, was scrutinised by a joint committee of both Houses. Proposed changes to the Human Tissue Act 2004, such as the establishment of a new body ca…

The Bill contains provisions to merge the housing investment and regeneration functions of the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships in a new Homes and Communities Agency. The Agency would, by bringing together land and housing, and shifting from grant funding social housing to investing in infrastructure, support the regeneration and delivery of n…

The Bill seeks to enhance professional regulation and create a new integrated regulator, the Care Quality Commission, for health and adult social care, with focus on providing assurance about the safety and quality of care for patients and service users. Key areas Assures the safety and quality of care and creates a new regulator, the Care Quality Commiss…

This Bill would amend Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, to raise the maximum penalties available to the courts in respect of certain health and safety offences. Key areas Raises the maximum fine which may be imposed by the lower courts to £20,000 for most offences Makes a prison sentence an option for most health and safety o…

The Bill contains proposals to reform existing law covering industrial relations and employment protection. Key areas Repeals the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 which were intended to reduce employment litigation, but had unintended consequences in practice The statutory dispute resolution procedures will be replaced by a new no…

The Bill introduces a requirement to remain in education or training beyond the current statutory leaving age, and implements the recommendations of the Leitch Review on adult skills. The Bill contains measures to encourage more young people to participate in learning post-16 and to achieve higher levels of skill and qualification. The Government proposal…

This Bill provides the legal and administrative framework for distributing assets from dormant cash accounts. Dormant is defined in the Bill as a period of 15 years during which the customer has not initiated any activity on an account. Assets will be distributed by the Big Lottery Fund on a national basis. Key areas In England, the assets will be spent w…

The Bill sets out new powers to deal with anti-social and violent behaviour, make sentencing decisions clearer and introduces a new community sentence for young offenders. The Government set out its commitment to delivering an effective criminal justice system in ‘Rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the law-abiding majority’,…

The Bill contains a number of provisions which the Government states are designed to enhance counter-terrorism powers. The main elements of the Bill are: a provision to allow the pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects to be extended from 28 days to 42 days in certain circumstances changes to enable the post-charge questioning of terrorist suspects and…

The Bill enables UK-incorporated banks and building societies to be taken into public ownership. It is drafted to ensure that a bank can be acquired only in certain defined circumstances and that this power will last for only 12 months. The Bill provides the framework within which an independent valuer must decide on appropriate compensation to shareholde…

The Bill proposes to reform the statutory framework for the care system, to ensure that children and young people receive high quality care and support and to drive improvements in the delivery of services focused on the needs of the child. It aims to enable those children and young people who enter the care system to be able to achieve the same aspiratio…

The Bill provides Parliamentary authority for funds requested by the Government. It is part of what is called the ‘supply procedure’. This is how Parliament grants the Government’s requests for resources. A Consolidated Fund Bill is passed every year. The Bill is one of three pieces of legislation in each financial year which provide aut…

The Bill provides parliamentary authority for funds requested by the Government. It is part of what is known as supply procedure. This is how Parliament grants the Government’s requests for resources. Two Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bills are passed each year, in March and July. They are sometimes referred to simply as ‘Appropriation Bil…

The Bill provides Parliamentary authority for funds requested by the Government. It is part of the ‘Supply Procedure’, which is how Parliament grants the Government’s requests for resources. There are usually two Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bills per year. Normally, Parliamentary approval for Government spending would next be given…

The Bill would give effect in UK law to the decisions on the financing of the EU Budget taken at the European Council meeting in December 2005. The resources (revenue) and expenditure of the EU are governed by two separate agreements; the revenue side is covered by the Own Resources Decision (ORD). This sets out how Member States contribute towards the EU…

This Bill would abolish the common law rules relating to anonymity orders for witnesses in criminal trials and replace them with statutory powers. This is in response to the judgment of the House of Lords, on 18 June 2008, in R v Davis, in which it was held that the measures ordered by the court to ensure the anonymity of some witnesses had been beyond it…

The Bill is part of the Government's ‘Better Regulation’ policy agenda which aims to improve and simplify the way legislation (on any subject) is made and enforced. One aspect of this policy is a general principle that enforcement should focus on where the risks are greatest. This was the main proposal of the Hampton review in 2005. The creati…