Legislation / Legal
CHAC: The Commons Home Affairs Committee recently published a report on firearms control in which it urges the Government to codify & simplify the law. The committee concludes that interpreting & applying the current 34 pieces of legislation governing the control of firearms places an ‘onerous burden’ on the police and on members of the public who wish to abide by the law, because it is ‘so complex and confused’.
ippr: Responding to the publication of the Localism Bill, ippr welcomes the decentralisation of key powers to councils & communities, but says that ‘the Bill represents a cosmetic commitment to localism as it does not deliver new funding streams that give local people more control over how their taxes are spent’. ippr north published Five Foundations for Real Localism in November 2010, which set out a series of foundations against which the Localism Bill can be assessed.
WO: Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan, announced last week that the Organ Donation LCO will proceed to pre-legislative scrutiny in Parliament. The Welsh Assembly Government has also submitted the proposed LCO for pre-legislative scrutiny in the National Assembly. The Welsh Assembly Government is seeking powers to be able to bring in a system of presumed consent on organ donation in Wales.
ScotGov: A new disclosure scheme to improve the protection of Scotland's most vulnerable groups is to go live on 28 February 2011, Children's Minister Adam Ingram has announced. The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme had been due to commence at the end of November 2010, but Ministers took the decision to postpone its introduction to ensure the new IT system which supports it is fully fit for purpose and as robust as it can be.
Newswire – HoLLG: The House of Lords Leader's Group on Members Leaving the House has recommended that ‘leave of absence' arrangements should be strengthened to encourage Members unable to play a full part in the work of the House, to step down from active membership. The report also recommends that Members should be able to take permanent voluntary retirement from the House of Lords.
DWP: The Pensions Bill, which was published last week, is the ‘next step in helping millions save for their retirement in a workplace pension’. At present employers do not have to contribute into a pension scheme for their employees and many choose not to. The Pensions Bill will implement measures in the Making Automatic Enrolment Work review and the Command Paper ‘A sustainable State Pension: when the State Pension age will increase to 66’. It builds on reforms set out in the Pensions Act 2008 and Pensions Act 2007.
The Pensions Bill will bring forward the rise in the State Pension age for men and women to 66 by 2020 so that the State Pension remains sustainable and fair for the future, given rising rates of longevity.