Consultations
ScotGov: A consultation seeking views on setting limits for a new drug driving offence in Scotland has been published. The UK Government has launched a consultation paper in relation to England and Wales but has agreed to extend the consultation to Scotland. The consultation seeks views on 3 approaches on setting a drug driving limit. The consultation closes on 17 September 2013.
EU News: The European Commission is gathering views on how to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings. Buildings use a large amount of resources when they are designed, built, used & demolished, and their impact on the environment, energy consumption & climate change is significant. Improving construction techniques is therefore important to help Europe become a more sustainable economy.
The consultation asks citizens, businesses, NGOs and public authorities for ideas on how to reduce the impacts of the construction sector, make buildings more sustainable and create green opportunities for businesses. The consultation closes on 1 October 2013.
Ofcom: Telephone & broadband customers could see lower prices as a result of changes to wholesale charges proposed by Ofcom last week. The proposals relate to prices that Openreach, BT’s network access division, can charge other telecoms providers for some of its main wholesale services.
The proposed new prices are designed to provide incentives to invest in networks while also ensuring that broadband and landline prices are affordable for consumers. The consultations on the Wholesale Broadband Access Review and Approach to Setting LLU & WLR Charge Controls both close on 25 September 2013. Ofcom aims to publish a statement on its final decisions in spring next year.
DECC: Proposals for new energy saving assessments for larger firms in the UK have been published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). These assessments, required by the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), will enable companies to identify opportunities to save money on energy bills through improved energy efficiency and could benefit the UK by £1.9bn.
Under the scheme, which is being developed as part of the UK’s implementation of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, large enterprises will be required to undertake ESOS assessments to identify cost-effective ways to invest in energy efficiency, helping reduce energy bills and increase competitiveness. The consultation on ESOS proposals will run until 3 October 2013.
EU News: The European Commission invites comments on a proposal to revise its guidance notice for assessing when minor agreements between companies are not caught by the general prohibition of anticompetitive agreements under EU competition law.
The proposal aims at updating the present Notice, in particular taking into account recent developments in the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Comments can be submitted until 3 October 2013. In light of these comments, the Commission will then adopt a new notice in 2014.
ScotGov: Education Secretary Michael Russell has recently launched a consultation in response to the Report of the Commission of the Delivery of Rural Education. The Commission put forward proposals to improve the delivery of education, a number of which require changes to the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. The consultation closes on 2 September 2013.
HMT: The government is taking the next step in the reform to the way it pays for schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure, setting out how it will invest public funds into new public private partnerships. The consultation closes on 21 August 2013.
The first scheme to implement the reforms will be the privately financed element of the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP). 46 schools in 5 batches will be rebuilt using PF2, with a total funding requirement of approximately £700m. Procurement for the first batch of schools was launched by the Education Funding Authority in June 2013 and the remaining batches will follow over the next 12 months.
Additional Consultations: Readers should be aware that many consultations are never publicised with a press release, so do not appear in either the email alerts or Wired - GOV Plus. Many of these consultations can be found at the following links:
.gif)
