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constituent
07-11-2007, 01:14 PM
From the Guardian:

PM Brown's legislative agenda,

Children in care bill
Reform of the care system for children aimed at improving the experiences of children in care, increasing their opportunities and raising attainment in schools to the level of their peers. It features measures to create greater stability for children in care, including a plan to stop them being moved from schools at crucial points in their education. It will also ensure that young people are not forced out of care before they are ready to live on their own.

Child maintenance and other payments and bill
Alongside the shake-up of the troubled Child Support Agency, this bill is designed to simplify the assessment of child maintenance and strengthen enforcement against parents who refuse to pay. It will establish the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission and will also encourage voluntary maintenance arrangements.
Climate change bill
Announced earlier this year, the bill will establish statutory targets to cut carbon dioxide by at least 60% by 2050.

Constitutional reform bill
Announced last week, the bill sets out proposals for "a new British constitutional settlement that entrusts more power to parliament and the British people".

Coroners bill
First mooted in 2005, the bill will update the ancient coroners system and will give bereaved families a new right of appeal against coroners' decisions. A new chief coroner will be appointed to oversee the work of new full-time coroners.

Counter-terrorism bill
The bill fleshes out proposals announced last month by the former home secretary John Reid. It includes proposals for extending detention limits for terror suspects beyond 28 days, allowing terrorist suspects to be questioned after charge, introducing a new register to keep track of convicted terrorists, and holding a review of possible use of intercept evidence. It will also ban convicted terrorists from traveling overseas.

Criminal justice and immigration bill
Announced last month, the bill (the 55th of its kind since Labour came to power) is aimed at easing prison overcrowding. It will limit to 28 days extra sentences served by non-dangerous offenders if they are recalled to prison. It will also ban the courts from imposing suspended sentences for minor offences, and it includes new "violent offender orders", greater powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, and new powers to remove terrorists and serious criminals from the UK.

Crossrail bill
First announced in 2004, the bill sets out plans for a long-awaited and much-delayed fast rail route from west to east London.

Education and skills bill
The bill details proposals announced yesterday by the children's secretary, Ed Balls, to raise the school leaving age to 18. It also sets out a new right for adults to claim free training in literacy and numeracy skills.

Employment simplification bill
Introduces a new system for enforcing the minimum wage and resolving workplace disputes. It also aims to improve standards in employment agencies.

Energy bill
Aims to safeguard energy security and meet climate change emission reduction targets. It will encourage "a diverse, secure supply of electricity" and regulate for carbon capture storage, and will require any private companies involved in building or running new nuclear power stations to set aside money for their decommissioning and waste management costs.

European communities (finance) bill
Puts recent agreements on European Union budget contributions into UK law.

Health and social care bill
Will establish a new health and adult social care regulator called Ofcare (a 2006 budget commitment) from existing regulators (eg the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection). Ofcare will aim to assure patient safety but will have "a significantly lower budget than the existing bodies". Providers of health services and adult social care will have to be registered. The bill will also implement recommendations of the Harold Shipman inquiry.

Housing and regeneration bill
Will establish a new homes agency designed to support the regeneration and delivery of new social and affordable housing, both social and private. The new agency will also be tasked with making better use of surplus public sector land and maximising the potential for brownfield development. The bill also implements a European court of human rights ruling on Gypsies and Travellers.

Human tissues and embryos bill
Merges the current two authorities to create the Regulatory Authority for Tissue & Embryos. Legislates for ensuring that the production and use of all human embryos outside the body - whatever the process used in their creation - is subject to regulation. It will continue the ban on selecting the sex of offspring for non-medical reasons. The duty to take account of "the welfare of the child" is extended, but the reference to "the need for a father" will be removed. Same-sex couple will be recognised as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos.

Local transport bill
Will support the government's strategy to tackle road congestion and improve public transport by ensuring that local authorities can act to meet local transport needs. Aims to give local authorities powers to improve bus services and develop road pricing schemes.

National insurance contributions bill
Legislates 2007 budget announcements on modernising national insurance contributions which are likely to bring the Treasury an extra £1.5bn by 2009/10.

Pensions bill
Will enact the remaining provisions of the pensions reform package set out in a May 2006 white paper and see the automatic enrolling of individuals into personal pension accounts. Aims to give low to moderate earners an opportunity to save for their retirement.

Planning reform bill
The government wants to speed up the planning application process by establishing a planning commission and a single consent regime for nationally significant infrastructure. Likely to meet strong protest from high-profile groups worried that their concerns on planning decisions will be eroded.

Planning gain supplement bill
Creates a "major new" tax on the gains from increased land value when full planning permission is granted. Aims to increase the supply of land for new housing development. The new tax will provide "additional revenue for investment in local and regional infrastructure".

Regulatory enforcement and sanctions bill
Aims to cut unnecessary burdens imposed on business by local authority regulatory services, establishing a local better regulation office which works with trading standards, the Environment Agency and other bodies to provide consistency.

Sale of student loans bill
Will offload the running of student loans schemes from the government to the private sector, as laid out in this year's budget. The sale is expected to raise around £6bn by the end of 2010/11.

Unclaimed assets bill
Will allow banks to transfer unclaimed assets to charities and the voluntary sector to be "reinvested in society". Covers bank and building society accounts where there has been no "customer-initiated" activity for 15 years. There will be provision for clients to reclaim their assets.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gordonbrown/story/0,,2123917,00.html