Download or read book House of Commons Business Innovation and Skills Committee Draft Consumer Rights Bill HC 697 I written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-23 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government's draft Consumer Rights Bill has the potential to consolidate, simplify and modernise consumer law however issues and inconsistencies must be resolved. The current proposals would apply a statutory right that services under a contract must be provided with reasonable care and skill [a fault-based standard]. This does not provide sufficient consumer protection. The Draft Bill should require that services must achieve the stated result, or one which could be reasonably expected [an outcomes-based standard]. As the Bank of Ireland case demonstrated, the right to terminate a contract does not necessarily protect consumers from detriment. This report recommends an addition to the grey list - the indicative list of contract terms which may be regarded as unfair. The Government's proposals for enhanced consumer measures, which would require traders that have breached consumer law to compensate consumers, are welcome. However, private enforcers should also be able to use them. The collective proceedings regime has the potential to improve access to redress for victims of competition law breaches but the Government must clarify the certification requirements for such proceedings. The creation of rights and remedies for digital content is welcome, but the Government must do more to communicate how the proposals will work in practice. Under the draft Bill, the remedies available to consumers of digital content would depend on whether the content is intangible (such as a music download) or tangible (such as a CD). In appropriate circumstances, consumers should have the right to reject and obtain a refund irrespective of whether they purchase intangible or tangible digital content
Download or read book House of Commons Business Innovation and Skills Committee Draft Consumer Rights Bill HC 697 II written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-23 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government's draft Consumer Rights Bill has the potential to consolidate, simplify and modernise consumer law however issues and inconsistencies must be resolved. The current proposals would apply a statutory right that services under a contract must be provided with reasonable care and skill [a fault-based standard]. This does not provide sufficient consumer protection. The Draft Bill should require that services must achieve the stated result, or one which could be reasonably expected [an outcomes-based standard]. As the Bank of Ireland case demonstrated, the right to terminate a contract does not necessarily protect consumers from detriment. This report recommends an addition to the grey list - the indicative list of contract terms which may be regarded as unfair. The Government's proposals for enhanced consumer measures, which would require traders that have breached consumer law to compensate consumers, are welcome. However, private enforcers should also be able to use them. The collective proceedings regime has the potential to improve access to redress for victims of competition law breaches but the Government must clarify the certification requirements for such proceedings. The creation of rights and remedies for digital content is welcome, but the Government must do more to communicate how the proposals will work in practice. Under the draft Bill, the remedies available to consumers of digital content would depend on whether the content is intangible (such as a music download) or tangible (such as a CD). In appropriate circumstances, consumers should have the right to reject and obtain a refund irrespective of whether they purchase intangible or tangible digital content
Download or read book Consumer Rights Bill written by Great Britain: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and published by Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-01-23 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consumer law sets out what consumers should expect from what they buy, and what rights and responsibilities consumers and traders have if things do not go to plan. The UK's consumer law has developed over many years: currently eight separate pieces of legislation cover key consumer rights whilst some 60 pieces of legislation cover the investigatory powers of consumer law enforcers. Confusion is exacerbated by unnecessary complexity and ambiguity in parts of the law. The draft Consumer Rights Bill to reform this situation was published in June 2013 (Cm. 8657, ISBN 9780101865722) following extensive consultation with consumers, businesses and enforcers, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. Views on the Bill were invited and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee also carried out a pre-legislative scrutiny (sixth report of session 2013-14, HC 697-I, ISBN 9780215065933). The Bill now presented to Parliament (Bill 161, session 2013-14, ISBN 9780215067210) is the result of the consultation process. This document explains how consumer rights are being reformed by the Bill, in particular how it will: streamline key consumer rights covering contracts for good, services, digital content and the law relating to unfair terms in consumer contracts into one place; clarify the law where it is confusing or written in legal jargon; modernise the framework for the digital age; deregulate to reduce business burdens and costs; and enhance measures to protect consumers. The problems with the current law and how the Bill will address them are outlined.
Download or read book House of Commons Business Innovation and Skills Committee Payday Loans HC 789 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-20 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rapid expansion of the payday loan sector has been accompanied by a significant increase in the number of people experiencing serious debt problems which suggests people should think carefully before taking out such loans. Furthermore the number of payday loan adverts seen by 4-15 year olds has increased from 3 million in 2008 to 596 million in 2012. The Committee's recommendations include: all payday loan companies should be required to resubmit their affordability tests to the FCA for approval before they can continue in the sector and the FCA should make clear that if real-time data sharing has not been established by July 2014 it will mandate its use as a condition of trading in the sector; a limit should be set of one roll-over per payday loan; Payday lenders should be required to give 3 working days notice before using a continuous payment authority [CPA] and each notice should set out the right of a customer to cancel the CPA; the FCA should discuss with the Information Commissioners Office how texts on payday loans could be disaggregated to identify the extent of bad practice and if this evidence base demonstrates inappropriate targeting or marketing, the FCA should move to ban all brokering of payday loans through email, texts and other personal mobile devices; when payday loans come under the authority of the FCA, they will be subject to a levy which should be ring fenced by the Money Advice Service solely for the funding of front-line debt advice services
Download or read book House of Commons Business Innovation and Skills Committee The Retail Sector Volume I HC 168 I written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee calls for a wholesale review that goes beyond the administration of business rates to examine whether retail taxes should be based on sales rather than the rateable value of a property; whether retail needs its own system of business taxation; and how frequently revaluations should take place. In the interim, the Committee calls for a six months business rates amnesty for businesses occupying empty properties. This would go further than the 50% reduction announced in the Autumn Statement and would encourage new businesses to the High Street. The Committee also recommends that in the interim the Government review whether business rates are more appropriately linked to CPI or RPI and calls for annual increases to be linked to a 12 month average of either RPI or CPI, with a cap at 2%. This would replace the current link to a monthly snapshot of RPI. The Government should provide information on how and how much of the money allocated to the Portas Pilots is being spent. This follows concerns that much of the money allocated to the pilots has not been spent. The Government is also urged to outline the results of its latest STEM skills analysis and outline the action it will take to tackle any skills shortages. The retail sector also needs to encourage more staff to be trained at Apprenticeship Level 3 and above, and consider developing language skills to enhance the international consumers' experience
Download or read book HC 928 Impact of the Closure of City Link on Employment written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committees on Impact of the closure of City Link on Employment and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There will always be those who lose out when a company goes into administration and cannot cover all of its debts. However, the current system does not represent the appropriate balance, since those who have given secure credit to a company are cushioned from the full impact of an insolvency, because the losses are borne by those who work for a company on a self-employed basis, or as contractors or suppliers. Under the current rules it is clearly in the financial interest of a company to break the law, and ignore the statutory redundancy consultation period, if the fine for doing so is less than the cost of continuing to trade, especially since this fine will anyway be paid by the taxpayer. However, while the financial calculation is simple, ignoring the consultation period has a high human cost that appears not to have featured in the decision making process at City Link. Employees were denied a reasonable notice period in which to seek alternative employment and instead, at a time of financial uncertainty, have to pursue a court claim for lack of consultation if they wish to be compensated. While there were differences of opinion as to whether or not City Link could be made viable, and the desired level of return could be achieved, the Committees regret that Better Capital felt its investors' interests could only be protected at the expense of the future of City Link and continued employment for its workers
Download or read book HC 804 Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is an ambitious attempt by the European Union and the United States to deliver a comprehensive trade and investment treaty. Negotiations between the two are currently underway and the Government hopes that an agreement can be reached by the end of 2015. The trade deal may be beneficial to the UK and EU economies but TTIP is not universally supported and the level of financial benefit to the UK is open to question. The lack of detail available on the negotiations means that it is difficult to assess which is the more accurate argument. However, this should not excuse the quality of debate which we have, on occasion, observed by campaigners and lobbyists on both sides of the argument. Everyone involved in the debate on TTIP - campaigners,lobbyists, the UK Government and the European Commission - must ensure that an evidence-based approach is at the heart of any TTIP debate. One of the key concerns about TTIP is the proposal to include Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions. These provisions - common in bilateral trade agreements - aim to protect foreign investors from illegal interference by the host government. However, campaigners have argued that such clauses could allow US healthcare investors to force the permanent privatisation of the NHS. Although this view has been rebutted repeatedly by the European Commission and the UK Government, until draft clauses are published, it will be difficult for them to convince those with concerns.
Download or read book HC 188 The Extractive Industries HC 188 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extractive companies contribute directly to the UK in a number of ways. Both domestic companies and global companies listed in London contribute through taxes, dividends, licenses and the employment of British workers. The size of the UK's domestic extractive sector is well below its historical peak. However, the Government has expressed support for the enlargement of the UK's domestic extractive and the United Kingdom Trade and Investment is doing good work to promote the United Kingdom as a base for extractive companies to do business with the rest of the world. However, the extractive sector is not without controversy, particularly when one considers reports of poor practice around the world. The UK is at risk of being associated with some of the negative practices often reported alongside the sector. To counter this, more needs to be done to improve to social and environmental performance, transparency and reputations of the companies it hosts and both industry educational institutions and Government must promote and excite the next generation of extractive workers. This should be done by encouraging more British students to study STEM-related subjects, engage with industry to encourage and promote mining as a rewarding and exciting career and encourage large mining companies to support the UK as a base for mining through funding and resources.
Download or read book HC 249 Business University Collaboration written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government must commit to a 3 per cent target of GDP of research and development (R&D) spending by 2020 to ensure the UK doesn't lag behind international competitors. The BIS Committee finds that more than 30 years of under-investment in R&D has left the UK trailing countries such as the USA, Germany and France in science and innovation spending, threatening the opportunities for economic growth offered by the research excellence of the UK's world class university system. The Committee found the Catapult network has played a valuable role in harnessing the commercial benefits of science and innovation research. The Committee calls on the Government to back the recommendations of the recent Hauser Catapult review and expand the Catapult Network from the seven current centres to 20 by 2020 and 30 by 2030 and increase funding to Innovate UK. The Government needs to do more to bring businesses and universities together to realise the benefits of the cutting-edge research taking place across the country. The Committee recommends that the Government establish a respected and impartial way to measure and evaluate the success of its initiatives to increase R&D activity, such as by reintroduction of the R&D scoreboard. These measures, alongside an ambitious long-term vision for the innovation system, should be built into the forthcoming Science and Innovation strategy.
Download or read book HC 504 The Implications of Scottish Independence on Business Higher Education and Research and Postal Services written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-08-08 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 'Yes' vote for independence will break up the UK single market and in the short-term could leave Scottish businesses uncertain of their position in Europe, says the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee in this report. A protracted Scottish negotiation over EU membership, and the uncertain investment environment arising from a 'Yes' vote, will have a damaging impact on businesses in Scotland, as well as other parts of the UK. The Committee raises serious concerns that a 'Yes' vote may also leave Scotland facing a currency 'limbo' and in the short term unable to join a sterling currency union and without the prospect of adopting the Euro. Also, the Scottish Government's stated intention to renationalise the Royal Mail upon achieving independence is an un-costed aspiration, bereft of any detail of how it is to be paid for or how it would be done. The Committee also fears for the future of the Universal Postal Obligation in an independent Scotland with its continued survival likely to be secured only at significant additional cost. On higher education, the Committee explored the topics of student fees and UK research collaboration. The central plank of the Scottish Government's HE policy, to charge tuition fees to students from other parts of the UK, was likely to be illegal under EU law. The Committee also expressed concerns this policy would result in Scottish universities facing a financial shortfall, given the significant income currently received for non-domiciled UK students.
Download or read book Parliamentary Debates Hansard written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 820 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue written by Stationery Office (Great Britain) and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 574 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-04-26 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Incorporating HC 1030-i to iii.
Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Medical Research Education and Practice written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-09-16 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collaborations of physicians and researchers with industry can provide valuable benefits to society, particularly in the translation of basic scientific discoveries to new therapies and products. Recent reports and news stories have, however, documented disturbing examples of relationships and practices that put at risk the integrity of medical research, the objectivity of professional education, the quality of patient care, the soundness of clinical practice guidelines, and the public's trust in medicine. Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice provides a comprehensive look at conflict of interest in medicine. It offers principles to inform the design of policies to identify, limit, and manage conflicts of interest without damaging constructive collaboration with industry. It calls for both short-term actions and long-term commitments by institutions and individuals, including leaders of academic medical centers, professional societies, patient advocacy groups, government agencies, and drug, device, and pharmaceutical companies. Failure of the medical community to take convincing action on conflicts of interest invites additional legislative or regulatory measures that may be overly broad or unduly burdensome. Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice makes several recommendations for strengthening conflict of interest policies and curbing relationships that create risks with little benefit. The book will serve as an invaluable resource for individuals and organizations committed to high ethical standards in all realms of medicine.
Download or read book Preparing for Future Products of Biotechnology written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-07-28 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1973 and 2016, the ways to manipulate DNA to endow new characteristics in an organism (that is, biotechnology) have advanced, enabling the development of products that were not previously possible. What will the likely future products of biotechnology be over the next 5â€"10 years? What scientific capabilities, tools, and/or expertise may be needed by the regulatory agencies to ensure they make efficient and sound evaluations of the likely future products of biotechnology? Preparing for Future Products of Biotechnology analyzes the future landscape of biotechnology products and seeks to inform forthcoming policy making. This report identifies potential new risks and frameworks for risk assessment and areas in which the risks or lack of risks relating to the products of biotechnology are well understood.
Download or read book Higher Standards Better Schools for All written by Great Britain: Department for Education and Skills and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-10-25 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The White Paper sets out the Government's proposals to further reform the management of schools in England, with the aim of creating a system shaped by parental choice where schools have greater autonomy in admissions policy. Proposals include: i) the role of local education authorities confined to being a local commissioner of services rather than an education provider, with a focus on raising standards through spreading best practice and championing parental choice; ii) each school able to acquire a self-governing trust status (similar to the network of Academies) or become a self-governing foundation school; iii) an increased role for new providers and the creation of a national Schools Commissioner to drive change and to promote the development of trust schools; iv) an expansion in the number of Academies to 200 by the year 2010 and easier provision for independent schools to enter the state system; v) the weakest schools to be given one year to improve standards or face closure, whilst high performing schools will have reduced bureaucracy and a lighter touch inspection regime; vi) increased provision for free school transport for poorer pupils; and vii) the introduction of a right for teachers to discipline pupils.
Download or read book Draft Consumer Rights Bill written by Great Britain. Parliament and published by Stationery Office/Tso. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Measures to enhance consumer rights and make them easier to understand, which will also boost the economy by £4 billion over the next decade, are outlined in this draft Consumer Rights Bill. The proposals streamline overlapping and complicated areas from eight pieces of legislation into one consumer Bill. They also introduce new rights for consumers and businesses. Currently consumers spend more than 59 million hours a year dealing with goods and services problems. The Bill provides clarity in areas such as digital content, services and goods. Under the draft Bill consumers will have the right to: get some money back after one failed repair of faulty goods (or one faulty replacement); demand that substandard services are redone or failing that get a price reduction; get a repair or a replacement of faulty digital content such as film and music downloads, online games and e-books. The draft Bill also proposes a set 30 day time period for when consumers can return faulty goods and get a full refund. New measures in the draft Bill that will benefit businesses include: a new requirement for enforcers such as Trading Standards Officers to give reasonable notice to businesses when carrying out routine inspections, reducing costs to business; faster and lower cost remedies for businesses who have been disadvantaged from breaches in competition law; a reduction in on going training costs - businesses will spend less time understanding their obligations or considering different scenarios when training staff.