Policy Announcements, Wednesday 7 February

Government 

• Jack Straw, the leader of the Commons, outlined details of the White Paper which proposes a house where some peers are elected and some still appointed, as they all are now. Mr Straw, who wants 50% of peers to be elected, said MPs would be given the final say on what proportion of peers should be elected in a reformed Lords. He said reform would increase Lords' legitimacy and "strengthen democracy". The plans, an attempt to end long-term deadlock, also propose cutting the number of peers from 746 to 540.
• For the first time courts will be able to jail people who trade in - or deliberately misuse - the personal data of others, in a move to crack down on the illegal trade in personal information announced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The decision follows a public consultation on increasing penalties for deliberate and wilful misuse of personal data and is part of the Government's strategy on data sharing to deliver better public services to individuals.
• Schools Minister Jim Knight announced seven new Trust School partners. The latest Trust partners announced - representing voluntary sector, business and higher education - are Barnardo's, Dyslexia Action, New College Durham, Northumbria University, the University of Sunderland, City College Plymouth and Tribal Group.
• Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly today unveiled details of a new international challenge for housebuilders to design and build flagship zero-carbon and low carbon communities. The Carbon Challenge, which will be run by English Partnerships, calls on developers to raise standards of design, construction, energy and water use and waste disposal so that these techniques can be used in the future as a benchmark for mainstream development. It also seeks to meet rising expectations from the public for more sustainable communities which offer them reduced bills and a higher quality of housing design.

Liberal Democrats

• Lib Dems comment on the first day of the judicial review looking at the Government's refusal to accept the Ombudsman's report on pension compensation: "the Government has acted appallingly by threatening those who have brought this case with having to pay the Government's legal costs. The Government should today withdraw the threat of pursuing costs against those who are seeking pensions justice."
• Responding to the Prime Minister's comments to the Liaison Committee that annual emission targets would be "impractical", Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said: "Annual targets are only impractical for ministers who do not want to be assessed during their term of office. The Government just wants a NIMTO - Not In My Term of Office - target. An independent carbon commission would have to have an annual benchmark if it is to make annual reports, so why not make that target explicit? Any target can easily be adjusted to take account of weather and the business cycle."