Consultations

Deadline 6th October

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agencywant to adopt a more systematic approach to listening to and involving patients – ensuring that the patient voice is heard when safety issues, concerning medicines or medical devices, are identified and in the licensing of new medicines.

They also plan to do more to communicate about who they are and the results of their work.

They would like to hear from:

• patients
• patient group representatives
• carers
• healthcare professionals

By taking part you will help to identify what the priorities should be for patient engagement and involvement in the future.

For more information and to take part go to the Government website

Final deadline 29th November

Government are seeking views on proposals to better support parents to balance work and family-life. Sections 2 and 3 (neonatal and transparency) close on 11 October, section 1 closes on  29 November 2019

It covers:

1. Parental leave and pay: This section sets out high level options for reforming existing entitlements which could help parents to balance the gender division of parental leave.
2. Neonatal leave and pay: This section looks at proposals for a new leave and pay entitlement for parents of babies that require neonatal care after birth.
3. Transparency of flexible working and family related leave and pay policies: This section looks at whether employers should have a duty to consider if a job can be done flexibly and make that clear when advertising a role. It also considers options for requiring large employers (those with 250 or more employees) to publish their family related leave and pay and flexible working policies.

For more information go to the Government website

Deadline 16^th September

Fuel poverty is defined in the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 as:

a person [who] is a member of a household living on a lower income in a home which cannot be kept warm at reasonable cost.

In 2014, the government introduced in legislation a fuel poverty target for England to improve as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable to a minimum energy efficiency rating of Band C, by the end of 2030.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy is looking to update the fuel poverty strategy for England. This consultation has 2 aims:

• to publish an assessment of the implementation of the 2015 fuel poverty strategy so far
• to seek views on proposals to update the fuel poverty strategy

For more information go to the Government website

Deadline 12^th October

The government is committed to modernising the rented sector, and intends to introduce a new, fairer deal for both landlords and tenants.

On 15 April 2019, the government announced that it will put an end to so called ‘no-fault’ evictions by repealing section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. Under the new framework, a tenant cannot be evicted from their home without good reason. This will provide tenants with more stability, protecting them from having to make frequent moves at short notice, and enabling them to put down roots and plan for the future.

The government also proposed to strengthen the section 8 eviction process, so landlords are able to regain their property should they wish to sell it or move into it themselves. This will provide a more secure legal framework and a more stable rental market for landlords to remain and invest in.

This consultation seeks views on how section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 has been used in the past, and the circumstances in which landlords should be able to regain possession once it has been abolished, including what changes may be necessary to the existing grounds for possession in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988.

They are also inviting views on the implications of removing the ability of landlords to grant assured shorthold tenancies in the future, how the processing of repossession orders through the courts could be improved, and whether the reforms should be extended to other types of landlords, most notably, to housing associations.

For more information go to the Government website

Deadline 14^th October

The Cabinet Office and Department of Health and Social Care are seeking your views on proposals to tackle the causes of preventable ill health in England.

They know that our health is shaped by the environment in which we live, the choices we make, and the services we receive and they want to take action on each of these.

For more information go to the Government website

Deadline 15^th October

The Homelessness Reduction Act is intended to reform homelessness legislation. It is a key lever for reducing homelessness and helping to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and ending it altogether.

This call for evidence seeks to gather evidence on:

• the impact the Act has had and the outcomes that are being achieved
• how has the Act changed the approach of local housing authorities and their partners to tackling homelessness and supporting those in need
• the experience of people approaching their local housing authority for help
• how the implementation of the Act has been resourced, including the level of new burdens funding to assist this
• what elements of the Act and processes are working well, and which might need adjustment

For more information go to the Government website

Deadline 30^th August

The DCMS Committee is launching an inquiry to consider whether changes are needed in the operation of the National Lottery as the process begins to award a new licence from 2023.

The current operator, Camelot, has run the National Lottery since its launch in 1994.

DCMS Committee Chair Damian Collins MP said:

“This autumn it will be 25 years since the National Lottery was launched and in that time it has raised more than £39 billion for good causes.

“A lot has changed since the first lottery draw was made in 1994, and this is the right moment to look at how the new licence should be awarded and managed. In particular, against a background of falling lottery receipts we want to consider the sustainability of the lottery.

“We also want to investigate whether changes to the lottery market, including the work of society lotteries, are having an impact on the way people choose spend their money.”

Terms of Reference

The Committee is seeking written evidence that addresses the following questions:

• What lessons should be learnt from the previous license periods in designing, awarding and managing the fourth National Lottery licence?
• Is there need for greater flexibility to enable the licence to respond to changing consumer habits?
• How should the next licence be structured to maximise returns for good causes?
• What challenges will the next operator of the National Lottery face, and what can Government and the Gambling Commission do to mitigate against them?
• What has been the impact of society lotteries, or other changes to the lottery market, on the main National Lottery draw?
• How can lottery funding distributors be better supported to manage changing trends in receipts for good causes?

Submitting evidence

The Committee invites evidence from the public, organisations and others with relevant expertise, on the terms of reference. The deadline for submitting evidence is 5pm on Friday 30 August.

For more information go to the Parliament website