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Legislation / Legal
NE: Natural England has lodged an appeal against the judgment in the Easton Bavents High Court case brought last month by Mr Peter Boggis. Shaun Thomas, Regional Director of Natural England, said: “The High Court’s judgment has unintended consequences that go far beyond the specifics of the case. It threatens to stifle the ways in which advice and expert opinion can be used to inform planning and development decisions and poses a real risk of unnecessary bureaucracy”.
OFT: The Office of Fair Trading has secured an agreement from a major builder of UK retirement apartments to amend its leases, especially in relation to the re-sale of properties. McCarthy & Stone plc has agreed to remove from future contracts (and not enforce in existing contracts) a term in its leases that involved charging consumers a 'transfer' fee of 1% of the sale price when the property was subsequently sold.
The OFT considered this term was likely to be in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (the UTCCRs). The company said that it did not agree with the OFT's view but co-operated with discussions and agreed to the changes. The company has also agreed to amend various other terms.
The OFT has raised the issue of 'transfer' fees with the proposed body that will be responsible for delivering a code of conduct & redress scheme in the homebuilding industry, which has agreed to consider the matter and facilitate discussions with the industry. This body is being formed in response to the OFT's Homebuilding market study.
Press release ~ OFT's Homebuilding market study ~ Unfair Standard Terms ~ Guidance on unfair terms in tenancy agreements
MoJ: Modernisation of the coroners system and better protection for witnesses during criminal investigations were amongst the new measures announced by Justice Secretary Jack Straw in Parliament when he published the Coroners and Justice Bill.
Currently bereaved families have to apply for judicial review of a coroner's decision. Under new proposals announced in a Charter and the Bill, families will have a right of appeal to the new position of Chief Coroner on a range of issues, including if they think there should be a post-mortem examination and if they are unhappy with the verdict of the inquest.
Press release ~ Coroners and Justice Bill ~ Murder, manslaughter and infanticide: proposals for reform of the law ~ Making sure that crime doesn't pay ~ Charter for bereaved people ~ Sensitive reporting in coroners' courts
HO: A bill intended to make newcomers to the UK earn the right to stay here, strengthen the border, and ensure we have a ‘firm but fair immigration system’ has been published in Parliament. The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill will lay down a new approach to British citizenship that will require all migrants to speak English & obey the law if they want to gain citizenship and stay permanently in Britain - while speeding up the path to citizenship for those who contribute to the community by being active citizens.
Under the new system full access to benefits and social housing will be reserved for citizens and permanent residents - which means, if you are not a citizen, full access to benefits will not be allowed. In addition, foreign nationals sent to prison will face removal and even those committing minor offences will normally need to wait until their conviction is ‘spent’ before they can become citizens.
Press release ~ Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill ~ Its progress can be tracked here ~ Govt. plans for the reform of the Common Travel Area in Strengthening the Common Travel Area ~ The Path to Citizenship ~ Keeping Children Safe
BERR: Last summer the Department for Business launched a consultation on unlawful Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing and its impact on the British arts and entertainment industries. The consultation called for evidence on the issues involved and invited views from rights holders, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), consumer organisations and the wider public on a range of options to tackle the problem.
A summary of the responses has been published highlighting that there was no across-the-board support for the Government's preferred co-regulatory proposal, which would give legal footing to an industry code of conduct agreed by the rights holders and ISPs.
DH: New measures that will permit direct payments for healthcare to patients have been published in the Health Bill, which sets out proposals that intended to give patients more choice, greater control over the care they receive and improve the quality of health services.
It will also place a legal duty on the NHS and its providers to have regard to the NHS Constitution, which will hopefully safeguard the principles & values of the NHS for the future and sets out the rights & responsibilities of patients and staff.
Press release ~ Health Bill 2008-09 ~ NHS Constitution ~ High Quality Care for All, the NHS Next Stage Review Final Report ~ The regime for unsustainable NHS providers: response to consultation ~ Removing or suspending chairs & non-executives of Health Bodies: Feedback on the consultation to introduce powers of suspension ~ Consultation on the Future of Tobacco Control ~ Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths - delivering the future - proposals for legislative change: consultation summary report
DWP/PCS: The Government's new Welfare Reform Bill has been introduced. It is intended to build on the White Paper published in December 2008 and contains a new ‘right to control’ for disabled people, which recognises that they are the experts in their own lives – See ‘In the News’ section for more information.
