Other instruments of interest
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS
2008 (SI 2008/1083)
19. The Department for Communities and Local
Government have laid the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment)
Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1083), which amend the Local Government
Pension Scheme (Benefits, Membership and Contributions) Regulations
2007 (SI 2007/1166) by providing a reviewable "third tier"
of ill health retirement benefit for a Scheme member who leaves
employment because they are assessed by an independent occupational
health practitioner as being permanently incapable of their current
job, but medical evidence indicates they are capable of obtaining
alternative employment within three years of their leaving. The
Committee received additional information from the Department
about views on these proposals expressed by interested parties.
We also received comments from UNISON, and further information
from the Department responding to UNISON's concerns. That material
is printed at Appendix 2. We feel obliged to record our disappointment
at the inadequacy of the information about the consultation process
which the Department included in the Explanatory Memorandum; we
are concerned that this is not the first time that the Department
for Communities and Local Government have fallen short in the
content of such Memoranda.
PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS ON LOAN (PUBLICATION
AND PROVISION OF INFORMATION) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI 2008/1159)
20. These Regulations specify the information
that a borrowing institution must publish about an object lent
from abroad for a temporary public exhibition at an approved museum
or gallery in order for that object to be protected from seizure
or forfeiture in accordance with Part 6 of the Tribunals, Courts
and Enforcement Act 2007. That Act was passed to assure foreign
lenders that a cultural object lent for an exhibition in the United
Kingdom would be returned at the end of the exhibition. The Regulations
provide that information concerning the identification and provenance
of the object must be published free of charge for at least four
weeks before the day on which the object is brought into the country,
and thereafter made available to the public for a further period
of twelve weeks or until the closure of the exhibition whichever
is the longer period. Regulation 7 requires the museum to make
available to a potential claimant of the object a summary of the
material they hold about the object's provenance.
ELECTRICITY AND GAS (BILLING) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI
2008/1163)
21. The Department for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform (DBERR) have laid the Electricity and Gas (Billing)
Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1163), to implement the relevant provisions
of the Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive
(Directive 2006/32/EC). The Regulations amend Standard Licence
Conditions, so as to require electricity and gas suppliers to
provide domestic customers with historical consumption information
on their bills: namely a comparison of a customer's energy or
gas consumption covered by the period of the bill with that for
the corresponding period in the previous year. The requirement
does not cover business customers. DBERR have advised the Committee
of the Government's view that business customers have different
needs from domestic customers in terms of billing information,
and that suppliers should be left to innovate and compete in this
area. DBERR have referred to the Government's decision to proceed
with the introduction of advanced metering for around 200,000
medium-sized business, which will mean these customers will benefit
from far more data on their energy consumption than at present,
with readings generated on a daily, or possibly more frequent,
basis. They have stated their view that the Regulations represent
sufficient implementation of the relevant provisions of the Energy
Services Directive.
DISABLED FACILITIES GRANTS (MAXIMUM AMOUNTS AND ADDITIONAL
PURPOSES) (ENGLAND) ORDER 2008 (SI 2008/1189)
22. The Department for Communities and Local
Government have laid the Disabled Facilities Grants (Maximum Amounts
and Additional Purposes) (England) Order 2008 (SI 2008/1189).
The Order sets at £30,000 the maximum amount of disabled
facilities grant (DFG) that a local housing authority may be required
to pay towards the cost of works required for the provision of
facilities in dwellings or buildings in England for disabled persons:
the previous maximum limit was £25,000. The Order also specifies
additional purposes for which an application for a grant must
be approved: it will now be possible for grant to be made available
for enabling access to a garden. In their consultation on these
proposals in the early part of 2007, the Department raised the
possibility of increasing the maximum grant limit to £30,000,
and then to £50,000 in stages, if the evidence showed that
local authorities were realising sufficient offsetting savings
through using powers to reclaim DFG. The Department have confirmed
that they will keep the maximum limit under review.
TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES (NO. 2)
(AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI 2008/1180)
23. These Regulations amend meat-processing procedures,
following a change to EC Regulation 999/2001 that relates to the
control of BSE. From 26 April 2008, the age at which bovine vertebral
column is classified as Specified Risk Material is increased from
24 months to 30 months. The Regulations also revoke the residual
parts of the Beef on the Bone Regulations 1997 which have been
replaced by directly-applicable EU-wide legislation. A note on
the scientific justification for permitting the relaxation of
these rules is printed at Appendix 3.
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