Policy Announcements, Thursday 19 July

Government  

• Jack Straw has told MPs they have a chance to "finish the job" of reforming the House of Lords, while ruling out legislation in this Parliament. Giving a statement to the House of Commons, the lord chancellor proposed further cross-party talks with a view to putting concrete plans for reform into Labour's next general election manifesto. Straw recapped events in March, when Parliament voted on reform. MPs then backed turning the Lords into a wholly-elected house by a majority of 113. A proposal for an 80 per cent elected and 20 per cent appointed second chamber was backed by a majority of 38. The Lords then voted to back an entirely appointed chamber, as at present, by a majority of 240.  
• Jacqui Smith has unveiled a new crime strategy aimed at making information about crime more accessible. The plan, which will be launched next summer and runs until 2011, will give everyone access to a "street-by-street story" of crime in their community, with details posted by the police and on the internet. It also focuses on tackling violence and cracking down on antisocial behaviour, with a move away from Whitehall-imposed targets and new goals based on the issues which most concern communities. There will be a new alliance of experts to examine how design can tackle crime, as well as a focus on young people including early intervention and building on links between schools and the police.
• Shipping Minister Jim Fitzpatrick today committed the Government to maintaining its 'light touch' approach to the regulation of ports in England and Wales and announced a strengthening of the Government's ports policy framework. He also announced the publication of an Interim Report setting out the findings so far of the Government's Ports Policy Review (PPR). The Interim Report sets out specific actions on issues such as demand forecasting, the future of trust ports, Master Plans and the safeguarding of land for port operations where that is appropriate. In addition, it looks forward to further improvements through the future establishment of the Marine Management Organization and Infrastructure Planning Commission, which the Government has announced in two recent White Papers.