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Legislation / Legal
Newswire – LSC: Five Crown Courts were last week the first in England & Wales to introduce a new scheme that will hopefully ensure people convicted of a crime contribute to their defence costs, where they have the means to do so.
The Crown Courts in Blackfriars, Bradford, Norwich, Preston and Swansea will introduce Crown Court Means Testing. It is estimated that the scheme will deliver savings of £50m in legal aid every year, which will enable the limited resources available to be targeted at those who need them most. Other courts will continue with existing arrangements until the national roll-out of the scheme, scheduled to start in April 2010.
Press release ~ Your Defence in the Courts ~
NE: Natural England recognises the severe problems faced by livestock farmers as a result of freezing weather conditions and has announced steps to make it easier for them to feed their animals. Farmers in agri-environment schemes which normally impose restrictions on supplementary feeding will now be able to give their livestock additional feed to help maintain animal welfare during the cold period. This is a temporary relaxation and takes immediate effect for the duration of the severe cold weather.
The derogation relates only to agri-environment schemes operated by Natural England: Countryside Stewardship, Environmentally Sensitive Areas and the newer Environmental Stewardship, which encompasses ELS, HLS and OELS. Supplementary feeding may continue for 4 days after the snow has cleared if the ground remains frozen. It should cease once the ground thaws.
BIS: 38 agencies in the teaching & childcare sectors have been issued with warnings by the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate (EAS) for failing to comply with the law. 11 agencies were not following the correct processes when carrying out identity & qualification checks on people they planned to supply for work.
Inspectors visited 50 agencies in total as part of a targeted national exercise called Operation Hazard. Towns & cities visited include London, Birmingham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Between these 50 agencies, inspectors found 140 breaches.
Press release ~ Responsibilities as employment agency ~ Employment Agency Standards inspectorate (EAS) ~ Fairer Deal for Agency Workers
ScotGov: New council house & housing association tenants will no longer have the Right to Buy (RTB) their homes it was confirmed in proposals unveiled to MSPs last week. RTB for new-build social housing in Scotland will also be scrapped. The reforms are part of the Housing Bill, a legislative package of measures to improve the supply and quality of housing in Scotland.
An amendment to the Bill will allow ex-forces veterans to establish 'local connections' that improve their chances of accessing social housing in their area. In addition, the creation of a new Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR), and the introduction of a charter for social housing, aims to improve value for tenants & taxpayers by assessing landlords' performance.
MoJ: Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, has thanked Sir Rupert Jackson for his comprehensive report on costs in civil litigation. He will ‘look at Sir Rupert’s package of recommendations in depth and will set out the way forward in due course’.
