This private member’s bill seeks to establish a public advocate who would advise representatives of the deceased after major incidents, and who would establish a panel similar to the Hillsborough Independent Panel if a majority of representatives of the deceased requested it.
![Public Advocate Bill [HL]: HL Bill 25 of 2022–23](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Communities-1-1232x924.png)
The Illegal Migration Bill seeks to fulfil the commitments made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 4 January 2023 to “stop the boats and tackle the unfairness of illegal migration”. Provisions in the Illegal Migration Bill would introduce a duty on the home secretary to remove all adults entering the UK illegally (as defined in clause 2) after 7 March 2023. It would also introduce powers to detain those individuals prior to removal. The bill provides the secretary of state with greater powers to decide the place and duration of an individual’s detention. In addition to the duty to remove adults, the bill contains a power to remove those under 18 years of age; this would become a duty upon the child reaching 18. It would disapply aspects of modern slavery protections and provide that asylum and human rights claims by those subject to clause 2 were inadmissible. Immigration is a reserved matter, most of the bill’s provisions would apply in all four parts of the UK.
The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill would allow the secretary of state to make regulations to deter the theft of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). This government-supported private member’s bill has passed its stages in the House of Commons and is awaiting second reading in the House of Lords.
Research Briefing
The Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill is a private member’s bill that was introduced in the House of Commons by Simon Fell (Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness). The bill is sponsored in the Lords by Lord Bird (Crossbench). It is supported by the government.
Research Briefing
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill is a private member’s bill that has government support. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Equality Act 2010 to make employers liable for harassment of their employees by third parties (such as customers or clients) and to introduce a specific duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees.
Research Briefing
Before an employer can make an employee on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave redundant, redundancy protection regulations require an employer to give that employee first refusal on a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists. The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill would give the secretary of state powers to introduce regulations that would enable redundancy protections to apply from the point an employee told their employer that they were pregnant, and six months after returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
Research Briefing
Pensions dashboards are new online services that will allow individuals to see information about their pensions online. The Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 place certain obligations on pension schemes, including a requirement to connect to the dashboard services. The Pensions Regulator has the power to issue a financial penalty for any breach of the regulations. The Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill would make it a criminal offence for occupational or personal pension scheme trustees or managers who receive a financial penalty under the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 to reimburse themselves with pension scheme assets.
Research Briefing
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is a government bill which is intended to help tackle economic crime, better protect national security and enable Companies House to deliver a better service for UK individuals and businesses.
Research Briefing
The OFCOM (Duty regarding Prevention of Serious Self-harm and Suicide) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill that has been introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench). Amongst its provisions, the bill would require Ofcom to establish a unit to advise the government on the extent of content on social media platforms which could be seen to encourage self-harm or suicide.
Research Briefing
The Education (Non-religious Philosophical Convictions) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill sponsored by Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat). It would introduce an explicit requirement for schools in England to include non-religious worldviews such as humanism in religious education (RE). The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the bill at second reading on 3 February 2023.
Research Briefing
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 6 February 2023. The bill would automatically revoke, or ‘sunset’, most retained EU law at the end of 2023. However it would also give ministers powers to exempt some retained EU law from the sunset and to restate, reproduce, replace or update retained EU law by statutory instrument.
Research Briefing
The Online Safety Bill is a government bill that would establish a regulatory framework for certain online service providers. It would also create several new offences relating to online harms including offences of false communications, threatening communications, sending or showing flashing images electronically (‘epilepsy trolling’) and sending photographs or films of genitals (‘cyberflashing’). The government has said it will bring forward several amendments to the bill in the House of Lords including new offences relating to intimate images and promoting self-harm, criminal sanctions for senior managers of non-compliant providers, and promotion of small boat crossings.
In Focus
The Commission on Young Lives was an independent group formed to design a new national system to prevent crisis in vulnerable young people and to boost their life chances and educational prospects. The commission published a report in November 2022 which made recommendations to government, local authorities, police and others to tackle the “deep-rooted” problems facing vulnerable youths. The commission’s “centrepiece recommendation” was for a “sure start plus for teenagers” network of intervention and support.
Research Briefing
On 19 May 2023, the second reading of the Water Safety (Curriculum) Bill [HL] is scheduled to take place in the House of Lords. The bill is a private member’s bill introduced by Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat). The bill seeks to make it compulsory to include water safety education in the curriculum for all schools (primary and secondary) in England and Wales.
In Focus
National Windrush Day on 22 June 2023 will mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the passengers of the Empire Windrush to the UK. The day celebrates the contribution and achievements of the Windrush generation and their descendants. This briefing provides background information for a debate in the House of Lords on the government’s plans to mark this celebration.
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