General Debate on Draft Legislative Programme 2008-09

ePolitix.com has been requested to provide a briefing paper for the general debate on the Draft Legislative Programme 2008-09 by the Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman.

This paper provides a selection of responses to the Bills in the Draft Legislative Programme 2008-09 by a number of stakeholder organisations.

The debate will take place in the House of Commons on Thursday 26th June 2008.

Background to the Debate:

The prime minister published the government's draft legislative programme for the 2008/09 parliamentary session in May 2008.

It includes plans for an education and skills bill giving parents new rights to information about their children's progress and the running of schools.

As well as, a Health Reform Bill setting out a constitution for the NHS; a Police Reform Bill including the placement of locally elected representatives on police boards; a Welfare Reform Bill placing new responsibilities on the unemployed as well as legislation granting equal employment rights to temporary and agency workers.

In total there were plans for 18 full bills, linked under four themes of: economic stability; "making the most of your potential; personalisation and improvement of public services; and "handing back power to the people".

Ministers are also keen for the announcement to be the first stage of a consultation, with MPs, lobby groups, industry stakeholders and the public, leading up to the autumn Queen's speech.

Responses can be found in this paper to the following Bills:

Banking Reform Bill

Saving Gateway Bill

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

Heritage protection Bill

Education and Skills Bill

Equality Bill

Welfare Reform Bill

Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill

Stakeholder Responses

Banking reform Bill

The Bill aims to improve the resilience of the UK financial system and support financial stability by strengthening depositor protection and dealing with banks in difficulties.

For more information on the Banking Reform Bill please click here.

Association of British Insurers

Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s Director General, said: "The announcement of further consultation is a sensible step.  We need to get this right and this will allow valuable breathing space in the process to avoid rushed legislation which could have hurt London's financial standing.
 
"We do not feel that the first consultation proved the case for the  'special resolution regime' as proposed. We also believe that a higher level of deposit protection*, and prefunding a deposit protection scheme, are not justified."

* The current level of protection of £35,000 covers 95% of all depositors

 

Saving Gateway Bill

The purpose of the Bill is to provide a financial incentive to saving among the poorest in society.

For more information on the Saving Gateway Bill please click here.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

"The savings scheme follows the strand of policy started with savings accounts for children i.e. encouraging asset ownership for all to help poorer households ride out shocks to their income.

"It could help lower income first time buyers overcome the deposit/stamp duty barrier. But any help to homeownership would surely still be far outweighed by market conditions (credit crunch or poor housing affordability)."

 

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

The Bill aims to improve and simplify arrangements for managing marine development, protect the marine environment and biodiversity, including a new planning system for the marine area, and providing greater recreational access to the English coast.

For more information on the Marine and Costal Access Bill please click here

Campaign to Protect Rural England

"CPRE welcomes the long-overdue announcement that a Marine and Coastal Access Bill will be brought forward, and the comprehensive nature of the government's proposals, but questions remain about relationships between coastal and marine planning.

"One of the greatest assets of coastal England is the view of the sea from the land, and it is regrettable that seascapes are not included in the benefits the government sees the Bill bringing.

"We welcome the provision for a coastal access corridor to be created around the English coastline. We support the government's plans for thorough local consultation and believe this is vital to ensure that the corridor is tailored to reconcile landscape, wildlife, leisure and business interests."

Plans to consult on a Draft Floods and Water Bill

Association of British Insurers

 

Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s Director General, said: "We are pleased that the Government has agreed with our view that legislation is needed to tackle flooding. The ABI looks for a long-term flood management strategy, with an investment programme to match the risk of flooding from rivers, coasts and drainage.

"This is needed urgently. The future availability and affordability of flood insurance depends on the adequate management of the growing flood risk."

 

Heritage Protection Bill

The Bill aims to create a more open, accountable and transparent heritage protection system and to safeguard the cultural property of the United Kingdom and other nations during armed conflict.

For more information on the Heritage Protection Bill please click here.

Campaign to Protect Rural England

"This long-awaited Bill would radically transform the way our historic environment is recognised and protected. CPRE will be calling for the new system to maintain at least the current level of protection for the historic environment. Critically, the new system will only work if it is properly resourced.

"We will be seeking safeguards to ensure that new arrangements maintain and do not erode Conservation Area status as a result of merging conservation area consent with planning consent."

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

"RICS welcome the additional legislation designed to protect the nation's heritage. Although the proposals that will make up the Bill should have a positive impact we are concerned about how they will be implemented.  The new powers outlined for English Heritage and Local Authorities must be adequately resourced and financed if they are to have the intended impact.  A clear timeframe must be put in place for the new measures to avoid the confusion that would be caused if there was a long period with the new scheme and old scheme operating in parallel."

Education and Skills Bill

The Bill aims to promote excellence in schools and help ensure that every school becomes a good school; ensure a customer-driven skills and apprenticeship system; create a new regulator for qualifications and tests as well as a development agency for curriculum, assessment and qualifications.

For more information on the Education and Skills Bill please click here

Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said: "Giving every worker the chance to take time off for training sounds very positive but there has to be a change in employer attitudes towards older workers if this is to become a reality. Older workers are increasingly important yet are often denied opportunities to further their skills or retrain as schemes and budgets are often focused on their younger counterparts."

"Flexible working should also be extended to older people to help ease the transition into retirement. Our research shows that a third (31 per cent) of older workers say they plan to retire flexibly, yet in reality only seven per cent of recently retired people say they were able to do so."
 
Association of Teachers and Lecturers



Martin Johnson, deputy general secretary, said: "The government is right to focus on improving the opportunities for students who are failed by the current system. We support the emphasis on education and training for the over-16s, but are not convinced the opportunities being offered are the right ones.

"Education should give all children the opportunity to learn and gain skills. 

"However, the government will not cut the number of so-called failing schools until it accepts the overwhelming evidence that the major cause is an unbalanced intake of pupils from different backgrounds, and finds a way to deal with this."

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development



John McGurk, CIPD skills adviser, said: "We are concerned that the proposed statutory entitlement to an apprenticeship could undermine employer support.  Apprenticeships are valuable if they are designed to meet business needs.

"Employers are ready to offer apprenticeships if they meet these business needs and are being taken up by young people keen to improve themselves. But they should not be allowed to be approached by apprentices as an 'entitlement'. Youth unemployment will not be solved by a 'right' to an apprenticeship.

"We cautiously welcome the proposal to introduce a 'right to request' time off for training. The 'light touch' right to request approach has worked well with flexible working, for both employers and employees. Four out of five such requests are accepted by employers, who are in turn experiencing a higher level of employee engagement and motivation from their growing flexible workforces. 

"However, it is important that we do not lose sight of the fact that training is a two-way street. It is of benefit to the learner, but must also contribute to meeting the business needs of the employer. If this test is not met, the employer must be able to decline requests for training."

Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators

 

Suzanne Dobson said: "Along with many other professional bodies we have been hit by the government’s decision not to fund professional education through the LSCs. Given that the agenda also encompasses a need for a more highly skilled workforce and a desire to encourage people into employment and to better paid – this seems a contradiction. There needs to be more coherence across policies if we are to have a workforce that has the sufficient skills to put Britain at the forefront of an already competitive global marketplace."
 
National Union of Teachers   



Christine Blower, acting general secretary, said: "The prime minister's draft Education Bill is a mix of good and bad. Of course an expansion in apprenticeships and second chances in education is vital. And one to one tuition for pupils who need it is long overdue.

"But schools need an expansion of top-down accountability like a hole in the head. Before the government leaps to legislation it should review the crushing and oppressive accountability structure already experienced by schools. Simply adding punitive intervention powers for local authorities is hardly going to gain the confidence of teachers.

"Parents have a vital role, but if developing positive parent partnerships means nothing more than having a requirement for parents’ councils then we will have traded in genuine dialogue between parents and teachers for an expansion of needless bureaucracy.

"The new bill should rectify the yawning democratic deficit that exists at local level. Children's trusts do not tackle this deficit. The development of academies and trusts is separating many schools from their communities. We need structures which enhance the involvement of communities, alongside parents and teachers, in decisions about the local running of schools."

NASUWT  

Chris Keates, general secretary, said: "The announcement gives a legislative base to a number of prior announcements and so there are no major surprises.

"For teachers, there are a number of issues on which the devil will be in the detail, particularly the flagged reform to strengthen schools accountability to parents. If this prompts a review of the whole accountability framework under which schools are currently labouring, to see if it is fit for purpose, then it will be welcome. If it results in another layer of accountability on top of the existing regime then there is a danger schools will crumble under the pressure.

"The proposed reserve powers (for the Secretary of State in relation to local authorities) give clear recognition that some local authorities are not carrying out their statutory duties. The NASUWT has been highlighting this for sometime.

"These reserve powers need to be focused on schools underperforming in relation to school workforce issues. However, for these to be effective the Secretary of State will need to also find a mechanism to challenge the cosy, unhealthy relationships that exists between some schools and some local authorities which results in statutory provisions being breached."

Unite

Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said: "Commitments given today that temporary and agency workers will no longer be treated like a second class workforce, and that young workers will benefit from training and apprenticeships show the government understands that exploitation at work must end, and recognises the value of real, lasting jobs to our communities.

"But these are tough times for working people and they are looking to their government to ensure they do not bear the brunt of the global economic downturn.  Living costs are spiralling, wages are standing still and the vulnerable are struggling to make ends meet yet all the while oil companies continue to pull in stratospheric profits."

Equality Bill

The Bill aims to make Britain a fairer place where people have the opportunity to succeed regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.

For more information on the Equality Bill please click here

Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said: "We strongly agree with Gordon Brown that 'in 21st century Britain prejudice is no longer acceptable'. A public duty to promote equality will help but a legal requirement not to discriminate against older people when providing goods and services is also clearly needed. 

"Age discrimination is the most common form of prejudice in Britain. Goods and services providers, including the public sector, will not act to help stamp out age discrimination without legal pressure."

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Freda Line, CIPD diversity adviser, said: "A Single Equalities Bill offers an opportunity to simplify and clarify the plethora of different legislation affecting equality and diversity.  It also offers an opportunity to break down the false hierarchies that have grown up between different forms of discrimination.

"Extreme caution needs to be exercised before introducing any proposals to allow more positive action measures. There is a very fine line between positive action and the kind of US style affirmative action which has long been seen as inappropriate for the UK.  Getting this wrong will be counterproductive, potentially damaging workplace relationships and undermining the business case for diversity."

Help the Aged

Paul Cann, director of policy and external relations, said: "If the Prime Minister is serious about creating a 'fairer' Britain, he must go back to basics and ensure people have equal rights. It almost goes without saying that this should include older people - the fastest growing population group.

"Far from being treated as equals, older people are dismissed as second class citizens, denied their right to equality because outside the workplace it is perfectly legal to discriminate against them because of their age. In an increasingly ageing society, this is a moral outrage.

"The Equality Bill announced today is a real opportunity for Gordon Brown’s Government to show older people they care by introducing a complete ban on the age discrimination that ruins their lives. Three quarters of the electorate want age discrimination to be outlawed – it remains to be seen whether the Government is listening.

"The Help the Aged ‘Just Equal Treatment’ is calling for the forthcoming Equality Bill to include proposals for legislation against age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services - including health and social care services. The Charity also wants the public sector equality duty - which currently requires local authorities to promote equality between people of different race, gender and disability status - to include age so older people’s needs are taken into account in public services. www.helptheaged.org.uk/justequaltreatment"

Welfare Reform Bill

The Bill aims to further reform the welfare and benefit systems to improve support and incentives for people to move from benefits into work and to provide greater choice and control for disabled people reaffirming the Government’s commitment to achieve the target on child poverty.

For more information on the Welfare Reform Bill please click here

Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said: "Getting those who want to work back into the workplace is crucial but the government must ensure that people are given the practical support that they need. Our research shows that the government's provision of 'back to work' training programmes still do not fully meet the needs of older people."

Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill

The Bill aims to create greater opportunities for community and individual empowerment, reform local and regional governance arrangements to promote economic regeneration and continue the Government’s programme of housing reform.

For more information on the Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill please click here

Campaign to Protect Rural England

Ben Stafford, CPRE's head of campaigns, said: "This Draft Legislative Programme contains some positive proposals, particularly on protecting heritage and the marine and coastal environment.

"However, other measures give cause for concern, particularly aspects of the Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill, which may centralise power rather than devolve it."

"This Bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing – giving local communities more power in some areas and then setting up powerful and unelected bodies to call the shots in others.

"The bill aims to give people more of a say on how their rural services are provided, but could give them less influence over future development within their region.

"We are disappointed the government is pursuing this approach. Regional development agencies are unelected, and their primary role is to promote economic growth. By giving these bodies regional planning powers, the government risks creating a democratic deficit in our planning system and undermining its own sustainable development goals."

Council of Mortgage Lenders

A spokesperson said: "The CML welcomed today’s announcement in the government’s draft legislative agenda of plans to provide more help for first-time buyers, in particular the widening of access to shared equity schemes. In future, all first-time buyers with an income of less than £60,000 will have the opportunity to apply to buy a share of their home.

"Other measures announced in the legislative programme that will be welcome to lenders and their customers include: An initiative to enable the Housing Corporation to allocate up to £200 million to buy new properties on the open market, to be made available either for first-time buyers to purchase through the Homebuy scheme or for social renting.  Although this will have only a relatively modest impact on the housing market, it has the potential to widen the first-time buyer shared equity scheme.
 
"Proposals to give the Bank of England greater flexibility to respond to credit market conditions by allowing short-term non-disclosure of liquidity assistance. Lenders believe the Bank should be able to respond flexibly to changing conditions in credit markets.

"The CML also welcomed the separate announcement today of a market study of the sale-and-leaseback sector by the Office of Fair Trading. Lenders favour regulation of sale-and-leaseback to deliver fairer and more consistent treatment of home-owners who may be considering this option as a means of dealing with mortgage payment problems. 

Michael Coogan, director general, said: "The government’s announcement on shared equity means that its approach is now more logical, providing help based on the income rather than the occupation of buyers. It will remove an anomaly by which providing help for one group of less well-paid workers makes access to home-ownership more difficult for others earning similar salaries but working in different jobs.

"The OFT market study in sale-and-leaseback is also welcome, and we hope it will be completed by September, as promised, and acted upon quickly. The reality is that sale-and-leaseback companies are already targeting home-owners in difficulty. The quicker we have effective regulation of the sector to provide protection for consumers, the better the safety net for borrowers in financial difficulty will be."
 

National House Building Council

"NHBC, the UK's leading standard setting and home warranty provider for new homes, welcomes the proposals in the draft Queen's speech to establish a fund to help social tenants rent or first time buyers purchase newly built homes."

NHBC's chief executive Imtiaz Farookhi said: "The industry is facing many major challenges including targets to deliver more homes and to a higher environmental standard. In the third quarter of last year NHBC's First Time Buyer Index reported the most difficult conditions for first time buyers to enter the market since the Index was launched 28 years ago.

"We therefore welcome the additional support for first time buyers which will help ease some of the current market pressures and look forward to further details. NHBC will use its unique position working closely with industry, government and consumers to help meet the housing challenges ahead."