A new Energy Bill was introduced in Parliament last week. 

The Bill has been designed with two objectives in mind: (1) protect vulnerable households; (2) develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

(1) Protect vulnerable households

The Bill contains the following measures to protect vulnerable households:

(a) Mandatory social price support (including electricity bill rebates)

A tough new compulsory licensing scheme designed to rid England, Wales and Northern Ireland of rogue wheel clampers, has been set out in the Crime and Security Bill.

Proposals within the Bill will make it mandatory for all wheel clamping businesses to be licensed under the terms of a strict code of conduct.  The code will include a cap on fines, time limits on towing cars unreasonably quickly after being clamped and set out clear instructions for putting up signs warning drivers that clamping takes place.

Ministers are also looking to introduce an independent appeals process for motorists who feel unfairly penalised by firms and their employees.

Any company which breaches the terms of their licence could lose their right to practise and face up to five years in prison or a substantial fine.

1. Stronger financial regulation and corporate governance

• Creates a new Council for Financial Stability, chaired by the Chancellor and including the Chair of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Governor of the Bank of England, to focus on managing systemic risk and protecting financial stability, both in the UK and internationally.
  
  
• Establishes a new financial stability objective for the FSA, enabling it to place greater emphasis on monitoring, assessing and mitigating macro-prudential risks in its supervisory and regulatory approach.
  
  
• Hands enhanced power to the FSA by:

- extending the Authority's rule-making powers to accomplish any of its objectives (not just consumer protection as at present);

- extending its information-gathering powers to non-regulated firms (including hedge funds), where information is relevant to financial stability;

- strengthening its powers to take action where firms and individuals are guilty of misconduct;

- allowing it to restrict short selling and to require disclosure of short selling.

• Includes the following provisions on remuneration:

- FSA handed task of coming up with binding rules to implement the G20 pay agreement;

- Hands FSA power to void any contract that contravenes said rules and to recover any payments made under contracts that breach rules;

- Ends multi-year guaranteed bonuses, or large bonuses paid out as a cash lump sum at year-end, and all bonuses subject to clawback.

Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released provisional estimates of the public finances showing that in October 2009 the public sector had:

• a current budget deficit of £7.7 billion;
  
  
• net borrowing of £11.4 billion; &
  
  
• at the end of October, net debt was £829.7 billion, equivalent to 59.2% of gross domestic product.

UK "skint as a country"

On 1st January, the UK's VAT holiday will end as the tax rate returns to 17.5% from 15%.

M&S chairman Stuart Rose says we should expect another increase next year as the Government looks for ways to pay off the deficit.  "We are skint as a country," he said.  "The Treasury needs revenue so I would not rule it out ... this Government and the future Government have got to make some hard decisions about refilling the coffers".

Retailers, already squealing about the return to a 17.5% VAT rate, fear a further increase would kill off the recovery before it's begun. 

But the Guardian estimates a VAT increase to 20% would raise an additional £12 billion a year for the public purse.  And levying VAT on food - which is currently exempt - albeit at a lower rate of 5%, would bring in another £3.5 billion a year.

Unite the union issued ballot papers for potential industrial action to its 12,000-strong cabin crew membership within British Airways this week.

The ballot papers were sent on the same day BA began to impose far-reaching changes to cabin crew working practices, changes which Unite believes are not only unworkable but also contractual - and so must be negotiated, not imposed.

A publishing company which made misleading claims about its circulation figures, and demanded payment for advertisements never placed, has been wound up in the High Court following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Rose Garland Limited, based in Heywood, Lancashire, claimed to publish 'awareness' booklets covering subjects such as road safety, fire prevention and drug awareness.  The company sold advertising space in the booklets to small businesses and organisations throughout the UK between October 2006 and November 2009, and had more than 5000 customers.

The enquiry by the Insolvency Service's Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) found that Rose Garland had been cold-calling potential advertisers, offering them advertising space based on highly exaggerated claims about circulation figures.  The investigation revealed that:

• One customer was told that 250,000 copies of the booklet containing his advertisement would be handed out to the police, fire brigade and ambulance staff and copies placed in casualty wards.  The enquiry showed that only 6,500 copies of the booklets had ever been printed and the low distribution and poor quality made them of little or no commercial benefit to the advertisers;

Anyone with a home or work address in the Greater Manchester region can now make an appointment to register for their identity card, with the first appointments taking place at the end of this month.

The new National Identity Service will soon be rolled out nationwide.  The cards will cost £30 cards and provide a secure and convenient way for people to prove their identity.

The Government hopes identity cards will deliver a number of other key benefits to residents, businesses and local authorities, including:

• A universal and simple proof of identity that means an end to the use of photocopied bank statements, phone bills and birth certificates, and brings convenience for both organisations and individuals;
  
  
• Ensures that foreign nationals living, working and studying here legally are able to easily prove their identity and prevent those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of Britain; &
  
  
• Allows citizens to use the identity card, which fits in a wallet or purse, in place of a passport for travel throughout Europe.

As more than 25,000 Muslims travel to Mecca for Hajj, the Government is urging pilgrims to know their rights and report scam artists.

In previous years, some Hajj pilgrims have been ripped off by a variety of scams, including paying for a five star hotel but getting substandard accommodation, or in extreme cases, some agents have disappeared and taken pilgrims' money with them.

Reuters reports a United Airlines pilot was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Monday on suspicion of being drunk shortly before he was scheduled to fly a transatlantic flight to Chicago, U.S.A.

The pilot - Erwin Washington, 51, from Lakewood, Colorado - was charged with "performing an aviation function whilst exceeding the proscribed alcohol limit," a London police spokesman said.

He was due to fly a Boeing 767 aircraft with 124 passengers and 11 crew members on board.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction (EMCDDA) published its annual report this week.  It shows that the UK is home to over a third of all online legal high retailers.

The Government has already announced it intends to ban man-made chemicals and cannabinoids which are sprayed on herbal smoking products such as "Spice" and the chemical solvent GBL by year-end. 

These legal highs are often more potent than the illicit drugs they're intended to mimic.

Commenting on the legal high phenomenon, Wolfgang Gotz, the director of EMCDDA, had this to say:

Peter Mandelson has called for a three-pronged approach to tackle unlawful peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing.

The Business Secretary said that new laws in isolation would not be enough to tackle the problem, which costs the creative industries millions of pounds each year.

He called on ISPs and the creative industries to work with Government to ensure a package is put in place which balances education, enforcement and new business models to discourage unlawful downloading.

Speaking at the C&binet creative industries conference, Mandelson confirmed proposals set out in the recent consultation on unlawful file-sharing would form the basis of measures in the Digital Economy Bill.

The Government expects that warning notifications, followed up with targeted legal action by rights holders, should be the only enforcement action required to significantly reduce the level of unlawful file-sharing.  However, the Government would have reserve powers to issue an order requiring ISPs to invoke technical measures.  Account suspension will be an option of last resort to deal with the most serious infringers.

The Government has announced the following proposals for store & credit card reform:

(1) Change the order in which debt is paid 

Most credit card companies make customers pay the cheapest debt off first.  This is a particular problem for consumers who withdraw cash on their card, typically charged at 25% APR or more.  They are often the most likely to be vulnerable to financial difficulties.  The Government is considering changing the rules so that the most expensive debt is paid off first. 

(2) Raise the minimum monthly payment level

Around one third of people who don't pay off their credit card bill in full each month make only the minimum repayment.  This can mean consumers take decades to pay off the debt.  The Government is considering the introduction of a mandatory higher monthly minimum payment to encourage people to pay off their debts faster.

Since most controlled substances have medical &/or scientific uses, there are various exemptions to the general prohibition on possession and supply.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, substances are categorised under five schedules to determine how broad an exemption applies.

Schedule 1

This schedule includes include marijuana / cannabis, coca leaf, ecstasy, LSD, raw opium and psilocin (when extracted from magic mushrooms).

These drugs are not authorised for medical use and can only be supplied, possessed or administered in exceptional circumstances under a special Home Office licence (e.g., for research purposes).

Schedule 2

This schedule includes amphetamines, cocaine, dihydrocodeine, Diconal, heroin, methadone, morphine, opium in medicinal form, pethidine and Ritalin. 

These drugs are available for medical use and can be prescribed by doctors.  It is illegal for people to be in possession of these drugs without a prescription.   They are also subject to strict record keeping and storage requirements.

The Misuse of Drugs Act makes the production, supply of controlled drugs unlawful, except in clearly defined circumstances (e.g., use of controlled drugs on medical prescription). 

Allowing one's premises to be used for the purpose of producing or supplying controlled drugs may also be unlawful.

To enforce the law the police have the special powers to stop, detain and search people on 'reasonable suspicion' that they are in possession of controlled drugs.

The Misuse of Drugs Act categorises controlled substances into three classes according to their relative harmfulness when used:

Class A Drugs 

This class includes ecstasy, cocaine, crack, magic mushrooms, methylamphetamine (crystal meth), heroin, LSD, mescaline, methadone, morphine, opium and injectable forms of Class B drugs.