Consultations
DCMS: A public consultation (closes on 5 March 2010) on free-to-air listed events has been published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which seeks views & evidence in relation to:
* the principles of retaining a list
* what constitutes a major event and how this should be assessed
* which sporting events pass the ‘Major Event Test’
* the economic & wider impact of listing and how this should be measured
* which events should be listed, taking all these factors into consideration
DCMS: Licensing Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has unveiled a range of proposals designed to cut licensing red tape, which could result in savings of up to £24m per year. DCMS has launched a consultation (closes on 9 February 2009) on the measures, which would make it easier for people to put on temporary events if they are rescheduled at short notice. The plans would also lighten the workload for councils and give relatives & business partners of licensees who have died more leeway in applying for an interim licence.
Under the plans, the police would be given a new power to accept a late Temporary Event Notice where there are no crime & disorder issues. This would particularly benefit village halls, schools & voluntary organisations who may have to cancel & rearrange events at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances or bad weather. In addition, relatives & business partners would be given 28 days to apply for a licence to be reinstated if the licensee dies, is incapable or becomes insolvent.
Press release ~ Consultation on a proposal to amend the Licensing Act 2003 to simplify the procedures for Licensing Statements; Interim Authority Notices; and Temporary Event Notices
ScotGov: Minister for Parliamentary Business Bruce Crawford has confirmed the Scottish Government will consult on whether to extend the Freedom of Information Act to cover a wider range of bodies who deliver public services in Scotland, such as contractors who build & maintain schools, hospitals and roads
The coverage of the Act can be extended to bodies which appear to the Scottish Ministers to be exercising functions of a public nature and to contractors who provide services that are a function of a public authority. This is done by an order made under powers in section 5 of the Act. Before making any such order Scottish Ministers must consult with the proposed bodies themselves. The consultation process will commence in spring 2010.
In addition, Mr Crawford announced the launch of a consultation (closes on 5 March 2010) on a Code of Practice which provides guidance to public authorities in meeting their duties under FOI. This specifies ScotGovt's clear expectations about disclosing contractual information and proactively publishing documents.
DCSF: Schools will receive extra help to crackdown on bullying, following the announcement of a new duty to record & report incidents of bullying. The new duty being consulted on (closes on 4 March 2010) will mean that schools will have to record & report serious or recurring incidents of bullying to their local authority. This will include incidents of bullying & racism between pupils and abuse or bullying of school staff. It will come into force in September 2010.
New guidance also announced on sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying is the final guidance in the ‘Safe to Learn’ set of guidance for schools. The guidance provides advice on how schools can help prevent & respond to gender related bullying.
In addition, 2 consultations (also closing on 4 March 2010) were also announced to help support schools tackle bad behaviour head on:
* The consultation on alternative provision looks at new powers for governing bodies to use off-site alternative provision to tackle bad behaviour before it escalates to a point where exclusion is necessary
* A further consultation is on draft guidance to transform the quality of alternative provision
Press release ~ Recording and Reporting Incidents of Bullying Between Pupils, and Incidents of Abuse against School Staff ~ Consultation on Regulations and Guidance on School Governing Bodies' Power to Refer Pupils to Off-site Provision to Receive Education or Training to Improve their Behaviour ~ Statutory guidance for local authorities and schools on Information Passports, Personal Learning Plans and the Core Entitlement for all pupils in Pupil Referral Units and other Alternative Provision ~ Guidance for schools on preventing and responding to sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying - Safe to Learn: Embedding anti-bullying work in schools ~
FSA: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has strengthened its stress testing regime by requiring firms to improve their stress testing capability, enhance their capital planning stress testing and by introducing a reverse stress testing requirement for firms.
Alongside its policy statement, the FSA published a short consultation paper (closes on 31 March 2010) clarifying its approach to capital planning buffers (CPB). The CPB is the amount of capital that a firm should hold now so that it is available to absorb losses and meet higher capital requirements in adverse external circumstances such as an economic downturn.
Press release ~ Consultation paper 09/30 ~ Policy Statement 09/20 ~ FSA Statement on Capital Approach Utilised in UK Bank Recapitalisation Package ~ FSA Statement on regulatory approach to bank capital
DH: A consultation (closes on19 February 2010) on strengthening the existing arrangements for National Commissioning in England – which commissions services for extremely rare conditions on a national level – has been launched by the Department of Health.
The proposals also include adapting the scope to allow the National Commissioning system to consider a very small number of additional specialised technologies against strict criteria. The changes to the system are intended to create a more robust process for nationally commissioned services and ensure consistency in accessing & prescribing services for very rare conditions across the country.
Press release ~ Strengthening national commissioning: a consultation document ~ National Commissioning Advisory Group ~ National-level specialised commissioning agents ~ NHS Specialised Services Commissioning ~ Carter Review
DfT: A consultation (closes on 19 March 2010) proposing the removal of a number of exemptions from the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) roadworthiness testing scheme has been published by Transport Minister, Paul Clark. The consultation proposes the removal of annual testing exemptions covering 10 categories of vehicle.
The DfT is reviewing the list of exemptions because the number of exempt vehicles is growing. This raises concerns about road safety as well as questions of fairness between operators. The UK also has to ensure compatibility between the list of exempt vehicle classes and EU law on testing.
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