Legislation / Legal
HO: Fixed penalty notices for failing to wear a seatbelt or putting illegal plates on a vehicle increase from £30 to £60 as from last week. The increase follows a public consultation seeking views on how to tackle the fact that many motorists persist in failing to comply with seatbelt laws, despite repeated warnings that they are risking serious injury or death to themselves and others.
Whilst educational campaigns & publicity have made considerable differences in behaviour, some drivers and passengers are still ignoring the fact that seat belts reduce the risk of dying in a 30mph crash by 60%.
Press release ~ HO – What happens if I get stopped ~ Think! Road safety - Driving ~ Directgov - Endorsements and penalty points
DfT: The roads that will form the Olympic Route Network (ORN) have been designated by the Department for Transport following a public consultation. The ORN is a series of existing roads on which a range of traffic management measures will be applied where needed to ensure over 70,000 athletes, officials, media and sponsors can move safely, quickly & reliably between the competition venues, their accommodation and other key locations during the 2012 Games.
The ORN measures will include permanent improvements that will help reduce congestion, such as upgraded traffic signals, the creation of a new Traffic Control Centre for London, and new CCTV and junction upgrades. A range of temporary measures to be applied during the Games are also included.
The Olympic Delivery Authority will now engage & consult with businesses, residents & others in order to determine specifically how those roads will be affected by those measures. The implementation stages include:
* January 2011 - July 2012: rolling programme of implementation, including any testing
* 13 July -10 Sept 2012: operation
Press release ~ Olympic Delivery Authority’s Olympic Transport Plan ~ London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 ~ DfT – Designation of the Olympic Route Network
DECC: A new Energy Bill has been proposed for the forthcoming session of Parliament as part of the Government’s plans to lead the world in breakthrough clean coal technology. The Bill would enable the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to introduce a financial mechanism to fund up to 4 commercial-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) demonstration plants.
This follows the recent publication the Government’s consultation (closes on 9 September 2009) document ‘A framework for the development of clean coal’ which sets out how the Government proposes to reconcile the need to curb emissions of carbon from future coal fired power stations with the need to maintain a secure diverse energy mix.
Press release ~ A framework for the development of clean coal ~ The Road to Copenhagen ~ Government’s Draft Legislative Programme 2009/10
GEO: At the moment, people may only bring separate discrimination claims relating to one protected characteristic; such as their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. But some people still have stereotyped attitudes about certain groups with a combination of protected characteristics, such as Asian men or black women.
The new ‘dual discrimination’ clause, which the Government wants to insert in the Equality Bill, would allow people to make a claim if they were directly discriminated against because of a combination of 2 relevant protected characteristics.
This would mean, for example, that a black woman who is discriminated against because her employer has particular stereotyped attitudes towards black women - as opposed to black men or white women - could bring a single claim for combined race & sex discrimination.
The Equality Bill will cover England, Scotland & Wales. Northern Ireland has its own equality legislation. See also 'In the News' section for related item.
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