General News
Home Office: Young people aged 16 or 17 will be able to apply for a passport without parental consent, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has announced. The new measure will bring passports in line with modern legal practice for 16 and 17 year olds. Parental consent will still be needed where a court order requires it or the young person has a mental disability.
The conclusions of a review of policy on passports for children also agreed that all passport renewals for children under 11 will require a counter signatory. IPS will no longer require parental views before issuing passports to 16 and 17 year olds who have changed name. The measures will come into force on 10 December 2007.
Yorkshire Forward: A new major awards scheme celebrating businesses, community organisations and public sector bodies working towards social inclusion within Yorkshire and Humber is to be launched at the Building Better Businesses and Communities Conference on 7 November 2007.
The Creating Better Futures Awards will recognise commitment to transforming the regions communities by working towards inclusion for all and will be based on factors identified as key in project success; Ambition, Diversity, Leadership, Involvement, Creating a culture of change, Partnership working and Measuring effectiveness.
The awards coincide with the arrival of ‘Promise’ the region’s inclusion strategy, which marks a new phase in how the region will work together to address this issue, building on work that the region has already carried out.
Press release ~ Yorkshire Forward ~ Building Better Businesses and Communities Conference 2007 ~ Y&H IDB Ltd - Delivering Business Link in Yorkshire and Humber from April 2008
OFT: UK consumers will continue to be protected when purchasing goods overseas on their credit cards following a landmark ruling by the House of Lords. The Lords confirmed that section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 applies to overseas as well as domestic transactions, and this ruling brings to an end a legal process initiated by the OFT in 2004.
This applies to overseas purchases where the price is above £100 but no more than £30,000. As a result, cardholders are able to make a claim against the credit card issuer as well as, or instead of, the supplier.
Section 75 covers foreign transactions including where:
* a consumer uses a UK credit card to buy goods or services while abroad
* a consumer orders goods or services from a foreign supplier while abroad for delivery into the UK
* a consumer in the UK buys goods or services from overseas by telephone, mail order or over the internet which are delivered to a UK address, or
* there are face-to-face pre-contract dealings with a foreign supplier temporarily in the UK, or with a UK agent of a foreign supplier, but the contract is not completed in the UK
Defra: Most people claimed that being 'green' is now the socially acceptable norm, a survey into public attitudes & behaviours has found, rather than being an alternative lifestyle, and the main motivation for an environmentally friendly lifestyle is guilt about harming the environment.
The 2007 Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviour toward the Environment is the sixth in a series of surveys that Defra and its predecessors have conducted since 1986.
