Thirteenth Report of Session 2012-13

Thirteenth Report of Session 2012-13 PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215049773
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Thirteenth Report of Session 2012-13

Thirteenth Report of Session 2012-13 PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215049773
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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HC 219-xxxiii - Thirty-fourth Report of Session 2014-15

HC 219-xxxiii - Thirty-fourth Report of Session 2014-15 PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215083784
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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House of Commons: Sessional Returns - HC 1

House of Commons: Sessional Returns - HC 1 PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215062277
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees. On title page: Returns to orders of the House of Commons dated 14 May 2013 (the Chairman of Ways and Means)

Caught Red Handed: Why We can't Count on Police Recorded Crime Statistics - HC 760

Caught Red Handed: Why We can't Count on Police Recorded Crime Statistics - HC 760 PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215068084
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Over the next ten years, development aid in the form of grants should be replaced for lower middle income countries. DFID should continue to channel some of its finance through multilaterals, making greater use of their specialist skills and expertise rather than replicating these within its own bilateral programmes. DFID should also establish a financial instrument team, prepare a development finance strategy and publish a Development Finance White Paper during 2014. This strategy should include consideration of whether to establish a UK development bank. The overwhelming drive in UK aid should continue to focus on lifting people out of poverty and meeting post-2015 development objectives. The UK should continue to fund the development and delivery of key services to the very poorest people in low income countries through a system of grants. We should also continue to channel 0.7 % of GNI into development cooperation. But, to support structural transformation in lower middle income countries a significant proportion of future UK development finance should also be delivered via a system of concessional loans and other financial instruments

HC 891 - The UK's EU Budget Contributions

HC 891 - The UK's EU Budget Contributions PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081714
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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On 17 October 2014, the European Commission informed HM Treasury that the UK would have to make an additional contribution to the EU budget of approximately 2.1 billion euro. This additional contribution had been prompted by revisions to EU Member States' historic Gross National Income (GNI) data, dating back to 1995. Member States make several annual contributions to the EU budget, by far the most significant being a levy on GNI. This levy is charged as a percentage rate on Member States' annual GNI, with the rate set at a level designed to cover exactly the portion of the EU Budget which remains unfunded once the other sources of income - namely Traditional Own Resources' and VAT-based resources - have been taken into account. The result is that an individual Member State contributes to this portion of the budget in proportion to its share of total GNI across all Member States. In 2013, GNI-based contributions amounted to 74 per cent of the EU's total budget. Emerging from the ECOFIN summit of 7 November 2014, the Chancellor claimed to have "halved the bill" of £1.7 billion demanded by the EU. He later described this as the result of "hard-fought negotiation" with the Commission to ensure that the consequential change to the UK's rebate would apply. The calculation of the rebate, and the circumstances in which it applies, are embedded in EU law. This is set out in detail in Council Decision 2007/436/EC and the supporting Council document on the UK correction. These documents establish the precise method for calculating the rebate. On the basis of the evidence the Committee has seen, it should have been unambiguously clear to the Treasury, well in advance of ECOFIN on 7 November 2014, that the UK was entitled to a rebate on any additional budget contributions that could arise from the GNI revisions.

HC 308 - Mesothelioma Claims

HC 308 - Mesothelioma Claims PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215075714
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
This report assesses the decision to apply sections 44 and 46 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) to mesothelioma compensation claims. These sections prevent winning claimants recovering from defendants success fees charged by their lawyers or premiums for insurance against having to meet defendants' costs (after the event, or ATE, insurance). They applied to all other personal injury claims since April 2013, but section 48 of LASPO required Ministers to undertake a review before they could be brought into effect for claims relating to mesothelioma. The section 48 review was not prepared in a thorough and even-handed manner and a fresh consultation should be undertaken. The Government was not reconciled to the concession it was forced to make to exempt mesothelioma cases from its provisions, and determined to review the exemption as soon as it could. In its haste the Government failed to ensure that relevant information, such as a cost-benefit analysis of the changes, was available to interested parties. It also shoehorned part of its section 48 review into a wider consultation on changes to the mesothelioma claims process. The Committee also urges expedition of the primary legislation needed to bring into effect the Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010, which will enable a claim to be issued against an insurer without a judgment first having had to be obtained against an insolvent insured party. The Ministry of Justice should also work in tandem with the Department of Health to reduce delays in the production of medical records of mesothelioma victims.

HC 870 - Autumn Statement 2014

HC 870 - Autumn Statement 2014 PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081536
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
The Treasury has again been unable to provide all the information needed by deadlines agreed with the OBR. The Government may, as the Chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility suggested, have decided that for political reasons this was a "price worth paying." This would set an undesirable precedent. The work of the Office for Budget Responsibility depends on the Treasury meeting the agreed deadlines. The Committee welcomes the OBR's innovation of providing uncertainty ratings for policy costings. The Committee recommends in future that the OBR publish a breakdown of the uncertainty rating assessment against the three criteria for all announced measures at Autumn Statements and Budgets. The Committee also welcomes the Government's continued publication of the distributional analysis of the Government's policy changes and recommends that the next Government continue with this important aid to transparency. The current inflation target set by the Government is symmetrical, and is 2 per cent at all times. Several witnesses alluded to the risks of very low inflation and subsequent deflation, including the Chancellor. The Chancellor has publicly welcomed the current level of inflation. This is not likely to help anchor inflationary expectations. The Governor of the Bank of England is required to write to explain to the Chancellor why inflation has fallen below 1 per cent. It is important to avoid mixed messages on inflation targeting. The Bank of England should undertake research on the effect of net migration, and the potential for future net migration, on the supply of labour and wage growth as part of the work on meeting the MPC's remit. The Treasury should ensure that discussions within Government on immigration policy fully consider the requirements of the economy.

Making Governments Accountable

Making Governments Accountable PDF Author: Zahirul Hoque
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317666968
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Over the past two decades, there has been a paradigm shift in public administration and public sector accounting around the world, with increasing emphasis on good governance and accountability processes for government entities. This is all driven both by economic rationalism, and by changing expectations of what governments can and should do. An important aspect of this accountability and governance process is the establishment and effective functioning of a Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a key component of democratic accountability. With contributions from renowned scholars and practitioners, and using case studies from around the world, this research-based collection examines the rationales for current roles of the PACs and explores the links between PACs and National Audit Offices. It also compares PAC practices from developing and developed countries such as Africa, Asia, Pacific islands, and Europe with both Westminster and non-Westminster models of government. This will be valuable reading for academics, researchers, and advanced students in public management, public accounting and public sector governance.

More Complains Please! - HC 229

More Complains Please! - HC 229 PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215070895
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
How complaints are handled determines the quality of the relationship between consumers and public services. The best performing organisations welcome complaints as a way of engaging consumers. A failure to recognise the importance of complaints leads to insufficient redress for the individual, limits the impact that complaints have in improving services, and alienates the public. In some parts of public services, there are encouraging signs of increased attention to good complaints handling. However, Government as a whole cannot be said to be complying with best practice in complaints handling or adapting to the needs and expectations of today's citizen. Success depends on the right leadership. The Committee recommend that: there should be a minister for government policy on complaints handling; the primary objective of the Cabinet Office review of complaints handling in Government should be to change attitudes and behaviour in public administration at all levels in respect of complaints handling; in respect of complaints from MPs handled by ministers, replies must be accurate, clear and helpful and with no sharing of confidential information or delegation of responsibility for responding; the Government should create a single point of contact for citizens to make complaints about government departments and agencies; and the Government should provide leadership to those responsible for various parts of administrative justice, to ensure that there is a clear and consistent approach to sharing, learning and best practice.

HC 307 - Crime Reduction Policies: A Co-Ordinated Approach?

HC 307 - Crime Reduction Policies: A Co-Ordinated Approach? PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215073193
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
The Justice Committee believes The Treasury should seriously question whether taxpayers' money is used in ways most likely to reduce future crime and victimisation and must develop a longer term strategy for the use of resources tied up currently in the criminal justice system. All parts of the criminal justice system have had to cope with significant spending cuts, yet it appears that the Government has shied away from using the need to make those cuts to re-evaluate how and where money is spent. The Committee welcomes the development of various cross-Government initiatives to deal with the sources of crime, such as the Troubled Families Programme. But resources committed are tiny compared to the costs of crime to society. Each year: violent crime, 44% of which is alcohol related, costs almost £30 billion; crime perpetrated by people who had conduct problems in childhood costs around £60 billion; drug related crime costs £13.3 billion; anti-social behaviour related to alcohol abuse costs £11 billion. The costs of preventative investment further upstream are often relatively small yet the Committee's evidence highlights the clear benefits of collective ownership, pooled funding and joint priorities that have been facilitated by the shift of power in this field from Whitehall to local communities. The greatest problem identified by the Committee is the lack of rigorous assessment of where taxpayers' money can be most effectively spent in cutting crime. A more evidence-based approach is needed.