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In the News

DIUS: A pre-announcement on the Leitch Implementation Plan - The government has launched yet another educational campaign - Our future. It's in our hands - urging people to take control of their future by investing in skills. The government claims that research shows that 53% of adults in England believe they could achieve more out of life and, of these, 60% think improving their skills through training & education is the best way to do so.

A dedicated phone line 0800 011 30 30 and website is intended to help ensure that people have easy access to relevant information about how to get better skills through different training opportunities available for young people, adults and employers.

Our Future. It's in our hands forms part of the broader Leitch Implementation Plan ‘World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England’ which will be unveiled later in July.

The campaign is driven by statistics which indicate that the number of jobs in low-skilled occupations will continue to fall rapidly and that 2004 figures showed that there were 6.8m adults in the UK without a Level 2 qualification and with serious skills needs in numeracy, literacy and IT.

The LSC has instigated a wide range of programmes to help employers and learners with their skills needs, including: Train to Gain, the National Skills Academy network, Adult Learning Grants, Education Maintenance Allowance and Apprenticeships.

While Jacqui Henderson, of UK Skills, commented:

"Skills are the key to us being successful as individuals and as a nation. I look forward to seeing our commitment to skills being successfully demonstrated to the world when London hosts the WorldSkills competition in 2011."
NAO: Good idea still failing the hurdle of implementation - Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs), used to assess the need for, and potential impact of, new regulations, have not always been used effectively, according to a report published by the National Audit Office.

The report finds that RIAs:
* often failed to consider fully the cost & benefit of regulation
* did not take account of the long term implications of regulation
* particularly for issues of compliance & enforcement

In its fourth evaluation of RIAs, the National Audit Office found fewer cases of poor quality analysis, but also continued weaknesses in the quality of cost benefit analysis and insufficient consideration of the impact of the proposed regulatory changes.

Impact assessments are designed to provide a strong evidence base to support the process of policy making, but the NAO found RIAs have not been an integral part of the process as in many cases they are being used once a policy decision has been taken.

The report also highlights the changes made to the guidance on impact assessment released by the Better Regulation Executive in April 2007. The NAO encourages departments to use the introduction of the new guidance as an opportunity to improve how impact assessments are used and to develop training & guidance material to support policy makers.

This report is the first of two major NAO reports on the progress of regulatory reform within Government. In the coming weeks, the NAO will be publishing a report on reducing administrative burdens.
HM Treasury: Two year mortgages are but a moment in the lifetime of a housing debt - Following the Prime Minister's statement about the need to take further steps to improve the way that the mortgage markets works, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a number of new initiatives to ensure that lenders have the best access to capital market finance and consumers are able to take the most informed choices when buying a mortgage, including:

* new legislative proposals for a covered bond regime in the UK
* a Treasury led review to identify any further barriers to lenders wanting to raise funds in wholesale markets
* Government backing for a Private Members Bill, which will increase the proportion of funds which may be raised in wholesale markets, giving building societies more flexibility in financing their mortgages

Further details of these proposals will also be set out in the Government's housing Green Paper due to be published shortly.

The Chancellor will also consult on creating a new regime for covered bonds which will help mortgage lenders finance more affordable 20 to 25 year fixed rate mortgages.
DCFS: Foundation for a new Gold standard or just Gilt? - The government claims that the new Secondary Curriculum will free up around a quarter of the school day to enable teachers to give more help to pupils struggling to master the basics in English & Maths and raise standards higher across the board.

The new curriculum is intended to ‘cut clutter, reduce duplication and enable schools to do much more with the traditional school day to prepare pupils for the demands of today's world’.

As well as an even sharper focus on literacy and numeracy and retaining established subject knowledge, the new curriculum is claimed to place greater emphasis on equipping young people with the personal, learning and thinking skills they need to succeed in employment and adult life.

The new curriculum follows the first major review of the curriculum since 2000 which was launched for consultation by the QCA in February. It will come into force from September 2008.
Defra: So what did they learn from Carlisle in 2005? - A review to look at how the recent floods were managed & responded to by the Environment Agency, local authorities, the emergency services and others, has been announced by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.

The Lessons Learned review, to be carried out by the Cabinet Office with support from Defra and Communities and Local Government, will seek views from those involved in the floods, ranging from residents affected by them, to local councillors to members of the emergency services.

The review will look at flood risk management, the emergency response and the transfer to recovery. A further separate review will be carried out at a later stage to consider lessons learned from the recovery phase.
Press release ~ Hilary Benn's statement ~ Defra – Flood management ~ Directgov - Flooding ~ Regional Flood Defence Committee's - National Flood Forum ~ Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) ~ Environment Agency - Flood risk management ~ Flooding in Scotland ~ Repair and restoration of buildings following floods ~ Multi Agency debrief for Carlisle Floods ~ Presentation on Cumbria floods ~ UK Resilience - Emergencies - Severe Weather, Flooding, Drought

Industry News: Compliance is mainly a question of Best Practice – Things are stirring on the Data Protection front, as Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner (IC), not only ‘flexes his muscles’, but also seeks a source of ‘steroids’ from Parliament to boost his powers.

It’s nearly a decade since the current Data Protection Act received its Royal Assent and rumour has it that the IC wants the power to audit organisations without their permission and is lobbying for the creation of a two year jail sentence for people deliberately abusing personal data.

He said recently: “Over the last year we have seen far too many careless and inexcusable breaches of people’s personal information. The roll call of banks, retailers, government departments, public bodies and other organisations which have admitted serious security lapses is frankly horrifying …………….

Organisations that fail to process personal information in line with the Principles of the Data Protection Act not only risk enforcement action by the ICO, they also risk losing the trust of their customers”.

The problem for most organisations though is that, without realising it, we have evolved from limited data application systems, where senior management specify fixed data fields, to freeform systems that require exponential growth in storage & processing capacity, as users are allowed to develop their own uses for the equipment / software.

Email is THE classic example of such a freeform system, the use of which has evolved with minimal organisational control or, in many cases, staff training in Best Practice. Yet it can be used to commit an organisation to expenditure or a course of action that has not been approved, or whose risks have not been fully assessed.

It can also be used nefariously. Crucial, sensitive or confidential information can be cut & pasted into an email and sent to an external party both easily & quickly. Personal & highly sensitive information can be attached to an email and sent half-way round the world in an instant.

With individual employees creating more & more emails every day, storage is an ever growing problem complicated by the issue of establishing a retention / deletion policy that satisfies the requirements of various bits of legislation.

This is not an issue that can just be left to your IT Manager, so the question for senior management is therefore not just ‘What do we do?’, but more of ‘Where do we start?’ and the answer is ‘Why not benefit from someone else’s experience?’

ZANTAZ have commissioned a White Paper - EMAIL: A Best Practice Approach to Compliance and Information Management – that provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject, covering the issues involved and highlighting the legislation covering this area.

Full details ~ Request White Paper ~ Data Protection Act (1998) ~ 1995 EU Data Protection Directive ~ Freedom of Information Act 2000 ~ Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 ~ Environmental Information Regulations 2004 ~ Information Commissioners Office ~ Chief Executives of 11 banks ~ New ICO strategy ~ ICO 2006 – 07 Annual Report ~ Human Rights Act

For other Industry News please click HERE

For information on forthcoming public sector events please click HERE to visit the WGPlus Events Calendar

General News

CIOB: Each year the construction industry generates 109 million tonnes of waste, according to Defra and, in response to a recent consultation on compulsory Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has called for all construction projects, involving more than 30 days or 500 person days of construction, to plan & implement a SWMP.
 
This would create a level playing field within the industry, encourage more efficient use of materials and reduce waste crime.  The proposed threshold also provides consistency with notified projects under the new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations thereby minimising additional red tape.
 
The CIOB has also called for the government to consider incentive based schemes that encourage the industry to reduce waste; along with inspection and enforcement tied in with existing regulatory checks.
 
CEL: More than 120 learners attended the inaugural ‘Leading the learner voice awards’ ceremony in London recently.  The awards were established by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) to recognise the work of organisations & individuals leading the learner voice agenda.
 
Kat Fletcher, CEL's leadership of learners strategic coordinator, said: "Both the Foster review and the further education white paper acknowledged the need to involve learners in their educational experience, and we are working with the National Union of Students to promote the learner voice and encourage effective collaboration between student learners and sector leaders and managers”.
 
The purpose of these annual awards is to celebrate the best examples of provider, practitioner and learner leadership in recognising and promoting the learner voice and to disseminate examples of best practice, so that leaders can learn and develop from the process”.
 
BERE: Around 40,000 households will be taking part in energy saving trials in a bid to cut household bills and help in the fight against climate change, Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton announced recently. Contracts to conduct the trials are to be funded by £10m from the Government, matched by a similar amount from the companies involved.
 
The trials will include around 15,000 households receiving state of the art smart meters and 8,000 more receiving clip on real time display units for their existing meters. The other households in the trial will be testing new ways of receiving information to help them cut their energy use including clip on real time display units.
 
The trials will be carried out throughout the UK and will last two years with results being available on a six-monthly basis. Because it will take a number of years before a new meter and display can be rolled out to every household, the government proposed that between 2008-2010, real time displays, will be available free of charge to any household that requests one. These proposals will shortly be consulted upon.
 
Defra: Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has suspended a cross compliance standard to enable farmers to use mechanical equipment & vehicles on waterlogged soil so as to access their crops. The Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition standard, GAEC 3, prohibits farmers from carrying out mechanical operations and using motorised vehicles on waterlogged soil.  The standard was put in place to protect soils from compaction and structural damage caused by using vehicles when the soil is too wet.
 
The Secretary has the power to vary or suspend the requirement in periods of exceptional weather conditions and, in view of the recent weather conditions & flooding in some parts of the country, Mr Benn has temporarily suspended the requirement until 31 July 2007 (subject to review).
 
CC:  The Competition Commission (CC) has published an issues statement as part of its statutory review of the CAA's proposed price controls for Heathrow and Gatwick airports, which will govern how much the airports' owner, BAA, can charge airlines during the five-year period beginning April 2008 .
 
The CC is carrying out a review of these price controls as well as examining whether the airport owner has pursued any conduct during the last five years which has operated against the public interest.  The CC's review must report back to the CAA by 29 September 2007, which will then consider the CC's recommendations before carrying out a final round of consultation and announcing a final decision in March 2008.

Policy Statements and Initiatives

LLUK: Five Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) have announced their intention to work collaboratively for the delivery of excellence in public services. Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) has formed an alliance to work with Asset Skills, Government Skills, Skills for Care and Development and Skills for Health. The intention is to share information openly and to act collectively when it is less resource intensive or more cost effective than acting individually.

The SSCs have developed an action plan to focus on some key areas of work, including sharing the development of strategies, business planning & performance measures and developing policy responses to emerging themes. Arrangements are in place for the partnership to continue to 2009, when the progress will be reviewed and plans made for the forthcoming years.

Consultations

DH: Health Secretary Alan Johnson claimed that ‘Our challenge is to modernise stroke services at every stage and drive down death and disability caused by strokes’, when launching a consultation (closes on 12 October) on stroke services.

Stroke is the third biggest killer in England and despite more money being spent on stroke care over recent years, care for stroke patients is still lagging behind the other two big killers - heart disease and cancer. The consultation will shape the final Stroke Strategy which will be rolled out later this year and the proposals include:

* looking at smarter ways to prevent strokes
* treating the earliest signs of strokes seriously
* improving care & support when people leave hospital
CLG: The Government has published a consultation (closes 1 October 2007) reviewing business rates for empty properties. It seeks the views of property owners, developers, surveyors and councils on potential reform of detailed aspects of the empty property rates regime. In particular, it will propose ways to tackle rate avoidance.

It examines the tax concessions for empty listed buildings like shops, offices and visitor attractions and whether their current exemption from the business rates can be justified.

Another area of concern is the current, possibly perverse, incentive whereby companies in liquidation are exempt from empty property rates while those in administration are not. Stakeholders have expressed fears this could encourage insolvencies with the subsequent loss of jobs and knock-on effect on supplier and creditor businesses.
CIOB: The DTI (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) has launched its second joint consultation (closes 17 September) with the Welsh Assembly Government to amend Part II of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998.

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) requests your feedback (by 3 August 2007) on whether the proposals adequately address the weaknesses in the existing framework, so that it has time to submit its collated views.
DH: The government is consulting (closes 4 October 2007) on a new code of practice to set out how NHS counter fraud & security specialists should obtain documents from individuals & contractors effectively and appropriately.

The powers, granted under the Health Act 2006, set out how NHS fraud or security investigations can be boosted by asking individuals or contractors to provide documents that could contain evidence. The powers will help combat financial losses to fraud in the NHS - however, it is necessary to ensure that the powers will be used in a way that does not disrupt patient care.

Of particular importance is the need to protect patient confidentiality and ensure that any information obtained is used only for progressing investigations into fraud and security breaches. The code will also ensure the information is kept secure and not misused.
DCFS: The Department for Children, Schools and Families is issuing guidance for consultation (closes on 16 August 2007), which explains how to spot the victims of child trafficking and give them the help & long-term support they need to escape the cycle of exploitation and abuse.

The document, which has been jointly produced with the Home Office, has advice for a wide range of professionals - from immigration officials to social workers - as well as for communities. It clearly describes the best actions to take if a child is suspected of being trafficked and the important steps that need to be taken to ensure they don't fall back into the hands of the traffickers.

The draft guidance Safeguarding Children Who May Have Been Trafficked will form part of the overarching Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance that was published in 2006.

Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

LR: LandRegistry is pleased to announce the availability of Public Guide 18, detailing the facts of joint property ownership aimed primarily at members of the public.

Public Guide 18 Joint Property Ownership explains the differences between the two kinds of ownership: beneficial joint tenants and tenants in common.  It also provides details on how to amend Land Registry’s records if you change your kind of ownership, for example severance of joint tenancy using Land Registry form RX1.  Step-by-step instructions on how to complete the relevant forms are also included.
 
Defra: A voluntary Code of Best Practice for the Offsetting Industry will be established, backed by strong support from the offsetting industry, business, environment NGOs and others. Minister for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste Joan Ruddock announced the decision on the publication of the summary & analysis of responses to the draft Code, which was published in January.
 
Carbon offsetting involves calculating emissions and then purchasing equivalent credits from emission reduction projects that have prevented or removed the emission of an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide somewhere else. Certified credits are those emission reduction credits that come from the existing compliance market, that is:
* Certified Emission Reductions (CERs)
* EU Allowances (EUAs)
* Emission Reduction Units (ERUs)

Annual Reports

CC: Debate about charities and the role that they play in society has been wider and more intense than ever this year, says the Charity Commission in its annual report.
 
The report by the regulator for the 190,000 charities registered in England & Wales explains how the Commission has performed against a range of indicators and looks at the impact of its work on both the charity sector & wider public in the last year.
 
OS: Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency, has presented its Annual Report to Parliament showing that it exceeded all five financial & service quality targets set by government for 2006–07 and will pay a £4.6m dividend to the Government.
 
Defra: The Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) published its Annual Report, which lists cases in which wildlife - including beneficial insects and domestic animals - are suspected to have been put at risk or harmed by pesticides.
 
It highlights the importance of using pesticides correctly and it also confirms that the abuse of pesticides - deliberately and illegally using them as poisons - makes up a significant proportion of all pesticide poisoning incidents.
 
Anyone finding a suspect carcass should contact Defra on freephone 0800 321 600 with details on the location of the incident, the number and type of casualties or the suspected baits, and why they believe pesticides may be involved.  Do not risk exposure to possible poisoning by touching carcasses.
 
TfL: Congestion Charging has maintained reduced levels of traffic in central London and cut congestion in the western extension by up to 25%, according to the Fifth Annual Impacts Monitoring Report. 
 
Traffic levels in the original zone remained stable in 2006, at 21% lower than before the scheme was introduced in 2002, while traffic levels on boundary routes of the original zone have remained comparable to previous years.
 
Initial monitoring of the original charging zone suggests that congestion levels have not been affected as a result of the introduction of the western extension. As reported in February 2007, congestion levels in central London are being adversely affected by an increase in road works, notably by utility companies, which reduce the capacity of the road network. 
 
NAO: Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, has issued his audit certificate on HM Revenue & Customs 2006-07 Trust Statement of revenues.  Sir John was able to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the truth & fairness of the Trust Statement, but in common with 2005-06, issued a qualified opinion on regularity due to levels of claimant error & fraud in the tax credits system.
 
In the first three years since the scheme was introduced in 2003, overpayments arising from adjustments to awards, and other small changes to entitlement after the finalisation of awards, have led to a debt of £6bn.  At the end of March 2007, the Department had collected £2bn of this debt and written off £0.7bn.
 
At the end of March 2007, £3.9bn of this remained to be collected by HMRC.  It has also provided for £1.6bn for those debts where recovery is doubtful.

General Reports and Other Publications

BERR: According to the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, small firms using the Government's Business Link service grow their businesses, increase their employee numbers and add £750m to the economy each year, a new report shows.

The study of more than 3,000 small businesses found that for every £1 spent in government funding, Business Link achieved £2.26 of additional value to the economy as a result of better business performance.
MoJ: There are many strengths at HMP Leyhill, but resettlement work needs to be strengthened so that it is the core activity of the whole prison, said Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, publishing the report of an announced inspection into the open prison in Gloucestershire.

Inspectors found that residential staff were not sufficiently involved in supporting prisoners & preparing them for release, so consequently, prisoners' concerns & frustrations about resettlement were not dealt with.

The prison's resettlement difficulties were partly due to a mismatch between what the prison can reasonably provide and what prisoners expect in an open prison, or need in order to be eligible for parole or prepared for work. Elsewhere, inspectors found improvements and good work.
Defra: The Government has published a new report that combines a range of information on antimicrobial resistance in bacteria in farmed animals, humans, and food. Antimicrobials are chemicals such as antibiotics, used in veterinary and human medicine. Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of organisms to resist treatment with antimicrobials.

Concern about increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance has been growing for several years and the findings of the report will be used to monitor trends in patterns of resistance, identify new resistant organisms, and identify the risk factors that can lead to the development of resistance.
DIUS: There has been a dramatic increase in international scientific collaboration by the UK according to a report commissioned by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, which shows that nearly 40% of UK scientific output over the last five years involved international collaboration - a 50% increase compared with the previous five years.

The report, by Evidence Ltd, assesses the growth & impact of international scientific collaboration and quantifies the benefits to the UK and other countries (notably the US, Germany and France) from such partnerships.
A new brochure, also launched by the DIUS, showcases to the rest of the world the UK's strengths in science and innovation. The brochure (being rolled out through the Science and Innovation Network of UK embassies across the world) gives help & advice for potential international collaborators and outlines the support available for developing partnerships and exchanges with the UK.
Monitor: Speaking at the launch of the report, Healthcare for London: A Framework for Action, Chairman of Monitor, William Moyes said:

“Foundation trusts will have a key part to play in securing successful implementation of these ambitious plans. Their good management and financial strength will be crucial in order to meet the challenge of improving and reorganising hospital services.
In the new world painted by this report, the growing number of foundation trusts are perfectly equipped to play a critical role in delivering improvements. Their new freedoms give them the control needed over their budgets and clinical investments to be agile and responsive, with accountability to the communities they serve, not Ministers.”
NAO: Government has made progress in making a wide range of information available to the public through the internet, but a National Audit Office report has found that although internet users rate government websites reasonably well, the quality of those websites has improved only slightly since 2002, despite those organisations spending some £208m on websites each year.

The report found that many government websites tend to be text heavy & off-putting to the user, with Internet users complaining that some government websites are complex to understand & navigate and information useful to them is often hard to find amongst large amounts of policy material not relevant to them.

Government is seeking to improve this situation through reducing the number of central government websites. This will be carried out by moving customer-facing online information into two main ‘supersites’ – Directgov and businesslink.gov.uk to provide the public and businesses with a simple & clear route to accessing information and performing transactions

Legislation / Legal

MoJ: Public legal education is vital in providing access to justice by making people aware of their rights and responsibilities, according to Legal Aid minister Lord Hunt, who was speaking during the launch of the report Developing Capable Citizens: the role of Public Legal Education by the Public Legal Education and Support Task Force.
 
Lord Hunt commented knowledge about the law can change lives, improve life chances and enable active participation in democracy, saying that: "The Task Force has set out the case for increasing the availability of public legal education, developing good practice, improving evaluation, and longer-term funding. I will now discuss with colleagues in government how best we can overcome the obstacles to effective public legal education".
 
DfT: Transport Minister Rosie Winterton has announced new regulations, laid in Parliament & introduced under the Traffic Management Act 2004, which are meant to enable local authorities to minimise the impact roadworks have on motorists, pedestrians, businesses and local residents. In addition, from early next year councils will be able to use additional powers to impose conditions and co-ordinate all roadworks.
 
The following Regulations have been laid;-
* The Street Works (Registers, Notices, Directions and Designations) (England) Regulations.
* The Street Works (Fixed Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations
 
The proposed maximum fee for a permit will be £240, but fees would be set by local authorities and would depend on the scale of the works and the predicted disruption.  All fees revenue will be used by an Authority to run the utility side of the permit scheme.
 
Defra: New regulations to reform game licensing in England and Wales have been announced by Defra, which it is claimed will remove restrictions for those shooting & dealing in game. The Regulations which come into force on 1 August 2007 will remove the:
* restriction on dealing in game birds and venison during the close season
* requirement for a licence to kill or take game, and
* requirement for two licences for game dealers to sell game
 
The legislation relating to the shooting & dealing in game ("game" covers pheasants, partridges, grouse, heath or moor game, black game, woodcock, snipe, hares, rabbits and deer) dates back to the 19th Century - the principal Acts being the Game Act 1831 and the Game licences Act 1860.

EU Legislation, Initiatives, etc.

DfT: The Department for Transport has called on interested parties to bid for funds to finance projects in the North Sea region as part of the EU's plan to establish ‘Motorways of the Sea’, which are intended to encourage high-quality regular services that can be combined with other modes of transport to provide efficient alternatives to road-only transport.
 
Following the close of this first stage (on 15 October 2007), all UK bids will be evaluated by the Department and any other relevant North Sea countries' administrations.
 
They will decide which bids will receive the necessary national government support to be eligible in the bidding process when the European Commission calls for bids for Trans European Network - Transport funding in December 2007.

Charity and Voluntary Sector

CC: Charity trustees will find it quicker & easier to update their charity's information online, send accounts and file their annual returns from the comfort of their own armchair, by logging on to the new Charity Commission website.
 
The site will also feature a new Google-based search tool and a simpler structure, making the Commission's advice & guidance more accessible. Charities can sign-up for access to the secure online service and will then be able to update their details on the register of charities and see this new information on the Commission's website within 24 hours. In addition the new 'Browsealoud' feature will read web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online

Business and Other Briefings

HMRC: HMRC is urging employers & individuals who have set up their own pension scheme to check who their pension scheme administrator is, and make sure they are aware of their responsibilities. If you have set up your own scheme - rather than just joined an existing scheme - using an insurance company, bank or other provider, in some cases they will not be the legal scheme administrator - it could be you.
 
All pension schemes must have at least one scheme administrator, and they have certain legal responsibilities, so, if you're not sure who your scheme administrator is, HMRC suggests you contact your scheme provider directly in the first instance.
 
If you still need help, visit the HMRC website, or, contact HMRC's Pensions Helpline on 0115 974 1600.
 
Competition Commission: The Competition Commission (CC) has concluded that the anticipated joint venture between Kemira GrowHow Oyj (Kemira) and Terra Industries Inc (Terra) could damage competition in the market for the supply of carbon dioxide as well as those for related chemical products.
 
The joint venture (JV) would merge the greater part of the UK businesses of these two international companies, which are both fertilizer production businesses but also sell chemical products which are outputs from their processes.
 
In order to address the potential damage to competition, the CC has decided on remedies to protect customers' interests by ensuring that there continue to be alternative suppliers of these products after the JV has been established.
 
HMRC: HM Revenue & Customs has announced new rates of interest covering quarterly instalment payments and early payments of corporation tax not due by instalments, in respect of accounting periods ending on or after 1 July 1999.  These new rates of interest, which take effect from 16 July 2007, are a result of the recent movement in market rates:
* On underpaid instalment payments of corporation tax changes from 6.50% to 6.75%
* On overpaid instalment payments of corporation tax, and on corporation tax paid early (but not due by instalments) changes from 5.25% to 5.50%.
 
This Brief gives details of an article concerning: VAT: Court confirms HMRC’s policy on all-inclusive leisure facilities schemes
 
This Brief gives details of an article concerning : Review of the Registered Dealers in Controlled Oil scheme (RDCO).

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