Charities will receive more than £1.5 million for projects benefitting wildlife and the environment as a result of enforcement action by the Environment Agency, it was announced today. read more
From: First published: 31 January 2017 Part of: Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged restraint following the recent escalation of fighting in eastern Ukraine, and expressed concern about the worsening humanitarian situation. Recent day… read more
The CMA is to review long-standing undertakings covering FirstGroup and local authority tendered bus services in the Greater Bristol area.
The undertakings followed the 1989 merger of local bus companies Badgerline and Midland Red West which was investigated by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC). The MMC ruled that the merger would remove competition for bus services contracted by the former Avon County Council. Local authorities tender for – and subsidise – unprofitable bus services in order to maintain important transport links for residents.
The merged company was therefore required to sign up to a number of restrictions, including a cap on the amount they could receive from the local authority for running a tendered service – and a requirement to return any excess profit from such services.
These undertakings were amended in 1996 following a subsequent bus merger where both operators became part of FirstGroup.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now decided to review the undertakings to see if there has been a change in circumstances which justifies their removal or variation.
The CMA is seeking views in particular from local authorities, bus operators and bodies representing bus passengers in the Greater Bristol area. It wants to hear about whether the ability of local authorities to attract competitive bids has changed in the intervening years, whether the growth of other operators has increased competition for tendered bus services and the practical impact of the undertakings.
Responses are invited via the review case page.
The CMA has also today published its final advice to the secretary of state recommending the removal of remedies in 2 merger cases that followed investigations carried out under the Fair Trading Act.
Today’s actions result from the CMA’s ongoing programme of work on remedy reviews, initially set out in the CMA’s 2015/16 annual plan, with the aim of reducing burdens on business by assessing whether past merger and market remedies should be removed or varied when they are no longer necessary. Since its creation in 2014, the CMA has launched 96 remedy reviews, around two-thirds of which have resulted in the removal of the remedy.
For more information see the remedies review case page.
Thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now abolished sexual offences have today been posthumously pardoned.
The historic moment comes after the Policing and Crime Bill today (31 January 2017) received Royal Assent – enshrining, in law, pardons for those convicted of consensual same-sex relationships.
The new law, made possible following government intervention, will also see statutory pardons granted to the living. However, this will only apply in cases where offenders have successfully applied through the Home Office’s disregard process to have historic convictions removed.
Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said:
This is a truly momentous day. We can never undo the hurt caused, but we have apologised and taken action to right these wrongs.
I am immensely proud that ‘Turing’s Law’ has become a reality under this government.
‘Turing’s law’ has been a longstanding government commitment, in order to build on the case of World War II hero and Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing.
Turing, who committed suicide in 1954 following his conviction for gross indecency, was posthumously pardoned by Her Majesty the Queen in 2013.
What to do if you see a bloom of algae in a river, lake or the sea. read more