Download or read book Twenty third Report of Session 2005 06 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-04-11 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty-third report of Session 2005-06 : Documents considered by the Committee on 29 March 2006, including, Promotion of clean road vehicles, report, together with formal Minutes
Download or read book Thirty third Report of Session 2005 06 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-07 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty-third report of Session 2005-06 : Documents considered by the Committee on 28 June 2006, including: consultation on fisheries management proposals, report, together with formal Minutes
Download or read book Government proposals for the regulation of hybrid and chimera embryos written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-04-05 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is a response to the publication of Government proposals to prohibit the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos for research for the time being ("Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act", Cm. 6989, ISBN 9780101698924). It also takes account of recent applications from researchers for licences to create human-animal cytoplasmic hybrid embryos for research. Since the 1990 Act there have been significant developments in science and medicine and there is a need for revised legislation in this area of research. The Committee finds that the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos, and specifically cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, is necessary for research. But development of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos past the 14-day stage should be prohibited and there should be a prohibition on the implantation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos in a woman. The Committee is critical of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for delaying assessment of applications for licences to create cytoplasmic hybrid embryos for research. The Government proposals are considered prohibitive. Some research practices should be permitted under licence immediately. The Committee proposes mechanisms for legislation and regulation of the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos for research. The report criticises the Government for not clearly setting out the areas of research practice intended to fall under the proposed legislation and suggests that greater attention should be paid to implications of the proposals for current research practice and the UK research base.
Download or read book Legislative competence orders in council written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Welsh Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-06-05 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the National Assembly of Wales has limited law-making powers, they can be enhanced, given Parliamentary consent, by a new procedure known as Legislative Competence Order in Council. This sits alongside a procedure where Acts of Parliament may prescribe matters on which the National Assembly may legislate within areas (known as "Fields") for which it has responsibility. In this report the Committee examine the new procedure. Although it welcomes the chance to be involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Orders, it is worried about the potential work load and think there could be merit in ad hoc committees set up to examine each proposed Legislative Competence Order. There is also a concern that Matters added by provisions in Bills of a general nature will not have the same degree of scrutiny as legislative Competence Orders.
Download or read book Globalisation and Its Impact on Wales written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Welsh Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Welsh Affairs Committee report, "Globalisation and its impact on Wales" (HC 184-I, ISBN 9780215526373), examines the effects of global trade on a variety of economic sectors, including employment and skills, broadcasting, and food supply and production. The Committee found evidence of existing skills gaps in Wales, for example in specialist areas such as science, and recommends that to avoid dependence on low skilled, low paid jobs, the UK and Welsh Assembly Governments work with the higher education sector to raise the skills base. Universities are the drivers of the knowledge economy, which is key to success in the global marketplace. The Committee believes it is imperative that the UK and Welsh Assembly Governments fully integrate the commercial potential of higher education into their policies. Welsh companies can increase their value and stimulate the local economy by exploiting a strong local identity and values, and by making use of higher level and specialist skills to offer premium goods and services that cannot be sourced abroad, particularly in the farming and food production industries, where Wales is developing a global reputation for excellence. Also in the report, the Committee: welcomes the use of innovative methods of broadcasting used by S4C to engage with audiences outside Wales; recommends the commissioning of more programmes reflective of Welsh identity; supports initiatives helping Welsh companies to exploit their global potential in the creative industries.
Download or read book Research council institutes written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-03-22 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The eight UK Research Councils are the largest public investors in the UK scientific research and skills base, investing their annual budget of £2.8 billion in their own institutes and centres (collectively known as Research Council Institutes or RCIs) as well as awarding grants to universities. RCIs make a unique contribution in terms of providing national capacity and access to facilities and in developing multidisciplinary science driven by a clearly-defined mission, and vary widely in their structure, governance, facilities, size and objectives. The Committee's report focuses on the Research Councils' strategies for providing support to their RCIs, including the case for greater harmonisation of policy and practice, the role of Research Council UK in monitoring and improving the effectiveness of support for RCIs, the role of the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI), and a review of progress in three current restructuring projects involving the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Roslin Institute, and the National Institute for Medical Research. The report's overall conclusion is that the OSI needs to take on greater responsibility in this area, in order to monitor the state of the research base, to improve mechanisms for guaranteed funding, and to improve dialogue between government, Research Councils and the RCI sector.
Download or read book The Speaker s Committee third report 2007 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Speaker's Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-02-18 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On cover & title page: Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
Download or read book The London Underground and the public private partnership agreements written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-01-25 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report from the Transport Committee, examines London Underground and the Public-Private Partnership Agreements. The Government originally announced proposals for modernising the London Underground network system via Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreements in 1998. Three contracts were drawn up with: (i) Tube Lines for the maintenance and renewal of the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern Lines; (ii) with Metronet Rail BVC for the maintenance and renewal of the Bakerloo, Central, Victoria & Waterloo & City Lines; (iii) with Metronet Rail SSL, responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the "sub-surface lines": the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan & East London Lines. These PPP Agreements, 30 years in duration, were arrangements to maintain, renew and upgrade parts of London Underground by private sector infrastructure companies (Infracos), whilst London Underground is responsible for services to customers. The PPP Agreements also set out a performance-related incentive and penalty scheme to remunerate the Infracos for the improvements they make to the network. In May 2007, Metronet admitted an overspend of £1 billion and was refused access to loan facilities by the banks. It then made a reference to the PPP Arbiter, which in turn triggered an Extraordinary Review (which occurs when extra costs are incurred above the level allowed for the bid). Metronet put in a bid for £551m but the PPP Arbiter provisionally concluded that a sum of £121m was appropriate. Metronet subsequently went into administration on 18 July 2007. The report sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations, including: contracts that were supposed to deliver 35 station upgrades, in fact delivered only 14, 40% of the requirement; stations that were supposed to cost Metronet SSL £2m, cost £7.5m, with only 65% of schedule track renewal accomplished; the Committee criticises the consequences of the imposition of PPP on Transport for London, as a "lamentable state of affairs", with the future of most of London Underground's upgrade and maintenance work in doubt; the Committee states, that the Government should remember the failure of Metronet before it considers entering similar arrangements; that the Government should publish a candid analysis of the events preceding Metronet's collapse and its consequences; the Committee believe that the PPP model was flawed and probably inferior to traditional public-sector management; that the Government needs to prioritise transparency and clarity to taxpayers and ensure that any future contracts result in clear accountability.
Download or read book The draft Local Transport Bill and the Transport Innovation Fund written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-08-03 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The draft Local Transport Bill consists of a package of measures intended to promote stronger joint working between local authorities and bus operators, to support the introduction of local road pricing schemes and to enable changes to be made to local transport governance. This report follows the structure of the draft Bill. Although the remarks are related to specific clauses some of the recommendations have a more general application. Included with the report is consideration of the Transport Innovation Fund, which is closely linked to congestion and the draft Bill. The Committee is however unhappy that at the end of their inquiry the Secretary of State announced further consultation on parts of the Bill related to the powers and status of the traffic commissioners on reform of the Bus Service Operators' Grant and transitional arrangements for quality contract schemes.
Download or read book Galileo written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-13 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developed as an alternative to the American and Russian military systems, the Galileo programme is an independent European navigation satellite system designed specifically for civilian applications, primarily funded and controlled by the European Union and the European Space Agency. Galileo has potential uses across many sectors, though transport applications such as road and rail traffic monitoring, road pricing systems and air traffic control have been considered key areas of benefit. An earlier Committee report on the topic (HCP 1210, session 2003-04, ISBN 9780215020550), published in November 2004, recognised the potential benefits of the programme for the UK and Europe, but raised concerns over its cost and funding sustainability unless rigorous cost-benefit analyses were undertaken. The programme is currently in its development phase, with the second of two experiemental satellites due to be launched at the end of 2007. It is not expected to be fully operational until 2013-14 (originally this phase was meant to have commenced in 2008), and until Galileo becomes operational, Europe is largely reliant on the American and Russian systems. The Committee's report examines i) the costs, funding and value for money of the programme, including the delays encountered, the UK share of costs, the collapse of the public-private partnership (PPP) negotiations and the governance and procurement strategy; and ii) the impact of the complexity of the EU decision-making process on the programme's future funding and management.
Download or read book The future of BAA written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-03-14 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BAA Limited owns and operates seven UK airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. They handle nearly 150 million passengers a year, and are a vital part of the country's transport infrastructure. In the light of the Office of Fair Trading's referral of BAA to the Competition Commission, to investigate whether BAA's market position was limiting competition in the UK aviation sector, the Committee set up its own inquiry. It particularly wanted to consider: the regulatory framework; the quality of service provided; the size and quality of investment; any consequences following the acquisition of BAA by Ferrovial; the implications of further runway and terminal capacity; how more competition could be introduced into the market. The Committee concludes that the drawbacks of common ownership outweigh the advantages, and identifies a problem with service quality. It believes that increased competition is possible, and hopes the Competition Commission will ensure a healthy, competitive airport sector for the future.
Download or read book Cross border provision of public services for Wales written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Welsh Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-03-11 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Working practices between the UK and Welsh Assembly governments in relation to cross-border policies appear much improved since the Committee's earlier reports on this subject. But a number of outstanding issues remain in transport, health and further and higher education. On transport the Committee welcomes the planned electrification of the Great Western Main Line. However, the Department for Transport appears to have washed its hands of any strategic responsibility for cross-border roads. The A483 is the clearest example of a road vital for travel within Wales but which is not important to the English region in which it is located, and as a result loses out on funding. The Committee stresses the need for comparative data on which to build solid research comparing NHS performance in the devolved nations. More needs to be done to raise public awareness of the differences in services people can expect to receive on both sides of the border. Transparency of information is vital. Research proposals in the UK Government's Higher Ambitions strategy for higher education make no reference to nations other than England, despite the UK-wide research remit of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Committee calls for details about how research funding proposals apply to all four nations.
Download or read book Passengers experiences of air travel written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-07-26 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Air travel has expanded hugely over the past 25 years and in 2005 228 million passengers travelled through UK airports. This report looks at the passenger experience of air travel from purchasing a ticket to boarding the plane, including travel to and from the airport, check-in and security and complaint resolution. It finds that passengers are more frustrated and dissatisfied than ever. More choice has not led to more power, easier purchasing of tickets has not led to greater transparency, security queues are getting longer with rules becoming more convoluted, and consumer rights can be overwhelmed by legal complexity. The Committee look to the aviation industry to work towards a system whereby the passenger can buy a clearly priced ticket, drop off baggage and quickly proceed through security to board a plane staffed by well qualified, polite staff.
Download or read book The Departmental Annual Report 2005 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 2005-12-20 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: departmental annual Report 2005 : Fourth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, and lists of oral and written Evidence
Download or read book Free Speech after 9 11 written by Katharine Gelber and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there has been a lot written about how counter-terrorism laws impact on human rights and civil liberties, most of this work has focussed on the most obvious or egregious kinds of human rights abrogation, such as extended detention, torture, and extraordinary rendition. Far less has been written about the complex ways in which Western governments have placed new and far-reaching limitations on freedom of speech in this context since 9/11. This book compares three liberal democracies - the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, in particular showing the commonalities and similarities in what has occurred in each country, and the changes in the appropriate parameters of freedom of speech in the counter-terrorism context since 9/11, achieved both in policy change and the justification for that change. In all three countries much speech has been criminalized in ways that were considered anachronistic, or inappropriate, in comparable policy areas prior to 9/11. This is particularly interesting because other works have suggested that the United States' unique protection of freedom of speech in the First Amendment has prevented speech being limited in that country in ways that have been pursued in others. This book shows that this kind of argument misses the detail of the policy change that has occurred, and privileges a textual reading over a more comprehensive policy-based understanding of the changes that have occurred. The author argues that we are now living a new-normal for freedom of speech, within which restrictions on speech that once would have been considered aberrant, overreaching, and impermissible are now considered ordinary, necessary, and justified as long as they occur in the counter-terrorism context. This change is persistent, and it has far reaching implications for the future of this foundational freedom.
Download or read book Bovine TB 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 2006-03-15 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bovine TB : Badger culling, sixth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence
Download or read book The Environment Agency 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 2006-05-11 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With correction slip dated May 2006.
