Download or read book Responses to the Committee s Second Report of Session 2004 05 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-04-11 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication sets out responses to the Committee's report on the credit card market (HCP 274, session 2004-05; ISBN 0215021711) published in February 2004, received from the Department for Trade and Industry, the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Services Authority. Issues discussed include: transparency in charging practices; data sharing and responsible lending; and regulation of payment protection insurance.

Download or read book Government Support for Beagle 2 Twelfth Report of Session 2003 04 Report Together with Formal Minutes Oral and Written Evidence written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The focus of this inquiry, by the Science and Technology Committee, was the support by the UK Government for the Beagle 2 project developed as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express mission. The Committee found the Government showed enthusiasm for this project, but was unable to provide a guaranteed financial backing for the development of a lander, resulting in a failure to secure sufficient sponsorship income, which was subsequently seen to have a detrimental impact on the project's success. The Committee feels, that Government needs to put in place a system that can deal with major financial commitments at short notice. In hindsight, the development of the lander and orbiter separately is seen as wrong, impeding the flexible co-ordination of the mission, leading to tensions between the Beagle 2 consortium, ESA and other contractors. Further, there was a lack of co-ordinated oversight between these three groups, and therefore a failure to identify important weaknesses in the mission. Despite the failure of Beagle, the Committee does see some positive potential for future projects, both in scientific and educational benefits, but that the costs of such projects would benefit from greater participation by other organizations.

Download or read book Department for International Development written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. International Development Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee's report examines the accountability and management of the UK aid budget by the Department for International Development (DFID) based on its 2004 departmental report (Cm. 6214, ISBN 0101621426) published in May 2004. It comments on the UK's development record over the past year and highlights several areas where the DFID could improve its performance. Conclusions drawn include support for the Government's increased aid budget, the announcement on multilateral debt relief, and the progress being made to increase the poverty focus of the UK's bilateral aid budget. Recommendations include: the departmental report should include more information about the poverty focus of multilateral organisations, such as the EU; the roll-out of the Poverty Reduction Budget Support must be evidence-based; and the DFID should improve its 'traffic light' system for showing progress on its public service agreement targets.

Download or read book Dismantling Defunct Ships in the Uk Eighteenth Report of Session 2003 2004 Report Together with Formal Minutes Oral and Written Evidence written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is estimated that, worldwide, about 700 large commercial vessels have to be scrapped each year, as they reach the end of their working life. Much of the material they are made from can be recycled, but many ships also contain hazardous materials, such as asbestos, PCBs and waste oils, which need to be disposed of safely. The Committee's report considers how defunct ships are dismantled and why most are currently dismantled in developing countries, mostly in Asia; health and safety protection for workers, and environmental protection standards; the international regulatory framework, including legislation such as the Basel Convention and EC regulations, IMO guidelines and enforcement problems; the principles of responsible ship recycling; the Government's approach to ship recycling and a UK ship recycling industry. Findings include that the Government has an important role to play in ensuring this issue receives sufficient international priority, particularly during the UK's forthcoming EU Presidency and chairmanship of the G8; as well at home in helping persuade UK-based shipowners to arrange for their vessels to be disposed of responsibly. As a first step, it should ensure that all naval and other publicly-owned vessels are dismantled to the highest health, safety and environmental standards.

Download or read book Climate Change Water Security and Flooding Sixteenth Report of Session 2003 2004 Report Together with Formal Minutes Oral and Written Evidence written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committees report examines the actions that will be necessary to adapt to changes in flooding and water availability caused by climate change. There are a number of steps that the Government should take to reduce future flood risk, with a key consideration being the planning of new housing developments to avoid building on flood plains, where possible. Where this is necessary, developments should be designed to be as resilient as possible to flooding, utilising sustainable drainage systems and including areas such as parks in order to contain floodwater. Existing sewer systems will need upgrading and new systems must be built to cope with higher storm flows. Greater attention needs to be paid by the Government to the issue of water shortages due to drier summers, including considering alternative water pricing mechanisms to relate costs more directly to amount used, and ensuring building regulations pay greater attention to water efficiency. Water companies must also do more to reduce water leakages.

Download or read book The Occupation of Iraq Volume 2 written by Stefan Talmon and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-07-18 with total page 2025 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The invasion and occupation of Iraq rank among the most controversial and complex issues in international law in recent history. This volume of documents covers the occupation of Iraq from the planning stages of the invasion of Iraq in early 2002 to the transfer of governing authority to the Iraqi Interim Government on 28 June 2004. The book presents 595 selected documents including the first complete set of all Regulations, Orders, Memoranda and Public Notices issued by the US-led occupation administration of Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), several of which were never published on the CPA`s website or promulgated in Alwaqai Aliraqiya, the Official Gazette of Iraq. Some of these legal acts have shaped the economic and political system of present day Iraq and will be part of the country`s legal order for years to come. The book also includes some 120 other CPA and CPA-related documents selected from more than 5000 unclassified CPA documents and received under freedom of information requests lodged in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Switzerland. These documents include instructions and proclamations to the Iraqi people in the early stages of the occupation, organizational charts, internal legal opinions, diplomatic notes, international agreements concluded by the CPA with other States, and numerous internal memoranda for the head of the CPA, Ambassador Paul L Bremer, on legal, diplomatic and political issues. The book also presents for the first time all 235 resolutions passed by the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) between July 2003 and June 2004. The resolutions as well as many of the 25 other important IGC documents (including various political statements, press releases and decrees of the Council`s Higher National De-Ba`athification Commission) have been translated from Arabic and are presented here for the first time in English. These documents are complemented by the relevant United Nations documents on the occupation of Iraq as well as some 50 policy documents of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Iraqi opposition movement as well as all relevant fatwas (religious rulings) of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani which shaped the internal Iraqi political process during the occupation. This collection archives these important documents for future use and makes them easily accessible to researchers and professionals. Considering that the main source of information for the occupying powers in Iraq were the precedents set during the First and Second World Wars, the occupation of Iraq will serve as a modern precedent for future administrations of occupied territory. The documents are made easily accessible by a comprehensive table of documents, a list of abbreviations, more than 1100 explanatory notes and cross-references and a substantive subject index. This volume is the second on The Occupation of Iraq. It is complemented by a monograph by the same author which, on the basis of the documents collection, presents a comprehensive analysis of The Governance of Occupied Territory in Contemporary International Law.

Download or read book Annual Report For 2004 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Liaison Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annual report For 2004 : First report of session 2004-05, report, together with appendices and formal Minutes

Download or read book Ministry of Defence Major Projects Report 2003 Forty Third Report of Session 2003 04 Report Together with Formal Minutes Oral and Written Evidence written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Major Projects Report 2003 provides information on progress made by the Ministry of Defence in procuring major defence equipment against cost, time and technical performance targets. It covers 30 projects split, according to Smart Acquisition principles, between the 20 largest projects on which the main investment decision has been taken, and the 10 largest projects yet to reach that point. For the 20 largest projects, costs are forecast to have increased by £3.1 billion in the last year, and are now 6.1 per cent over their approved costs. Difficulties on four older projects (which predate the introduction of Smart Acquisition) account for the majority of cost and time overruns. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 195, session 2003-04; ISBN 0102926581) published in January 2004, the Committee's report examines four main issues: the impact of the large cost overruns and delays; departmental risk management; ways of developing a more constructive relationship between the Department and industry; and lessons that need to be learned to avoid such poor procurement performance being repeated in future.

Download or read book National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-01-10 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Healthcare systems have been confronted by multiple, often conflicting, guidelines on the use of medical technologies. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) was established in 1999 to address these problems in England. This work looks at what it does, how it works, changes made since its establishment, and the challenges it faces.

Download or read book Draft Planning Policy Statement 6 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draft planning policy Statement 6 : Planning for town centres, twelfth report of session 2003-04, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written Evidence

Download or read book Audiology services written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-05-16 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One in seven people in England suffer from hearing loss of some kind, and the advent of digital hearing aids proved of great benefit to many patients. The Modernising Hearing Aid Services (MHAS) programme to improve audiology services, introduced in 2000, aimed to provide NHS patients with digital hearing aids. But the demand from people upgrading from older models was not predicted, and this led to very long waiting lists and times. The Committee regards the Government's new framework for audiology, "Improving access to audiology services in England" (Dept of Health, March 2007, http://www.18weeks.nhs.uk/public/default.aspx?main=true&load=ArticleViewer&ArticleId=570) as primarily reiterating previous announcements. A main concern is that audiology is kept outside the 18-week referral to treatment target that applies to consultant-led services, which compounds the waiting time problem. There is a need to increase capacity, and the Department of Health should undertake an examination of the medium- and long-term demand for digital hearing aids. The Committee notes the variation in practice in NHS audiology departments, and believes many could operate more efficiently. They should examine the skill mix and levels of training or experience necessary, and look at more flexible approaches to service provision. The report also comments on the involvement of the private sector to provide additional capacity, and the entry into the market of others such as opticians. The private services need to be monitored and the quality of care assessed on the same basis as that used for the NHS.

Download or read book Supporting Vulnerable and Older People written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the Government's Supporting People Programme, launched in April 2003 to provide housing related support services to help vulnerable people to live as independently as possible in the community. In particular, the Committee's report focuses on: the reasons behind the commissioning of a review less than one year after the programme's launch; capital and revenue funding allocation and the need for fairer distribution of grants; Home Improvement Agencies; and the significance of the transfer of administrative responsibility for the programme within ODPM. Conclusions reached by the Committee include: Home Improvement Agencies are good value for money and should be expanded; although the tighter financial controls introduced by the ODPM are welcome, any effects on services should be minimised by targeting grant reductions on authorities with excessive spending; and that, given the chequered history of the programme to date and its scale and significance for vulnerable people, the ODPM should give a full account of its management of the programme in its 2005 Departmental Report.

Download or read book Bus Services Across the UK written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-10-26 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buses are a key local service, but usage has been in decline since the 1950s. The Transport Act 1985 introduced deregulation, but that has failed to reverse that decline. The report examines the particular problems local authorities face in developing and implementing effective bus strategies. It is clear to the Committee that, for many areas, including all major metropolitan areas outside London, the current regime is not working. The Committee recommends more flexibility, and is particularly attracted by Quality Contracts. These would replace open competition with a licensed regime. Operators bid for exclusive rights to run bus services on a route or group of routes, on the basis of a local authority service specification. Independent Traffic Commissioners are another development that the Committee welcomes, and would like to see them have a higher profile and more resources and powers, especially to enforce Quality Contracts and penalise operators who do not meet their obligations. Others areas covered in the report are: securing socially necessary services outside the PTAs; congestion and bus priority; concessionary fares; and the image of the bus.

Download or read book Immigration Control written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-23 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the report of an inquiry into the policy and practice of immigration control, examining entry clearance (visa) system, the granting or refusing of further leave in the UK and the enforcement of immigration control. It considered the degree to which the aims of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and UK visas are being met; the progress in implementing recommendations from recent reports; and lessons to be learnt from the operation of the current system. Although it is recognised that staff are working hard and diligently there are a number of problems , especially related to fragmentation and lack of communication. The Committee make a number of recommendations including the establishment of a Cabinet Committee and an Independent Immigration Inspectorate; a redrafting of the Immigration Rules and a greater focus on the quality of decision making as opposed to speed.

Download or read book Terrorism Detention Powers written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-03 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report considers the police case for an increase in detention powers in respect of terrorism suspects, in particular their support of 90 days pre-charge detention. It looks at the background, both existing provisions, changes in the Terrorism Act 2006 and the origins of the police case; the terrorist threat, whether its nature has changed and alternatives to longer detention; and judicial oversight and detention periods. Although the Committee can find no evidence to suggest that 90 days pre-charge detention is essential they think that 28 days might prove to be inadequate. Because of this they recommend the creation of a committee, independent of Government, which will review the pre-charge detention period each year and make recommendations when necessary.

Download or read book Draft Sentencing Guidelines written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-06-28 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Domestic violence is a social problem of enormous proportion. In 2000 there were an estimated 12.9 million incidents, and 1.2 million women were affected by stalking. It accounts for a quarter of all violent crime. Victims and children suffer with physical and psychological abuse. The costs to society are high, recently estimated as amounting to £3.1 billion for services for survivors: including absence from employment, medical, psychiatric and addiction treatment, housing and other social and legal assistance. The loss to the economy has been estimated at £2.7 billion per year. Two draft guidelines on domestic violence were published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council on 11 April 2006. Overarching Principles: Domestic Violence deals with the general principles. There is no specific offence of domestic violence, and conduct amounting to domestic violence can be covered by a wide range of offences: not only assaults, but criminal damage, harassment, threats to injure or kill, false imprisonment, and sexual offences. The guidelines define domestic violence, and discuss assessing seriousness, aggravating and mitigating factors, and the wishes and interests of victims and children. Breach of a Protective Order, the second draft guideline, addresses breaches of restraining or non-molestation orders imposed in order to prevent harassment or fear of violence, or the molestation of others. The Committee endorses the general approach in these guidelines, particularly the explicit recognition that courts should treat domestic violence no less seriously than other cases of violent crime. The Committee makes a number of recommendations for amendments to the guidelines.

Download or read book The EU s Common Foreign and Security Policy in Germany and the UK written by Nicholas Wright and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-11 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the impact on member states of long-term foreign policy co-operation through the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Focusing on Germany and the UK, it provides an up-to-date account of how they have navigated and responded to the demands co-operation places on all member states and how their national foreign policies and policy-making processes have changed and adapted as a consequence. As well as exploring in depth the foreign policy traditions and institutions in both states, the book also offers detailed analyses of how they addressed two major policy questions: the Iranian nuclear crisis; and the establishment and development of the European External Action Service. The book’s synthesis of country and case studies seeks to add to our understanding of the nature of inter-state co-operation in the area of foreign and security policy and what it means for the states involved.