A raft of new laws could be coming into place from this month. The new legislation that is set to be pushed through affect a whole range of people, from cyclists, to those who have suffered a bereavement and motorists..
Every month, Parliament carries out the next reading of proposed law changes or bills, and now September has arrived, it's time for a whole load of new ones. They range from new clean air zones, to national security and potentially a huge change for cyclists - 20mph speed limits and number plates, BirminghamLive reports.
As well as this, there's a new update on 'Levelling Up' which encompasses loads of different aspects like regeneration, pavement licences and begging. There's also a National Security Bill making its way through Parliament, which makes provisions about threats to national security from sabotage or espionage.
Rules around new clean air zones are also going through, which will see buses or HGV drivers that breach limits on pollution forking out £50 in a bid to achieve better air quality targets. Meanwhile, the government's bereavement support programme is also being extended to allow more people to make a claim if they need.
Here is a round-up of every change or potential change to the law that could be going through Parliament this month, and how it might affect you.
Data protection bill
The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill 2022-23 is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Commons on 5 September 2022. The Bill will establish a framework for the provision of digital verification services to enable digital identities to be used with the same confidence as paper documents.
It will also increase fines for nuisance calls and texts under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and update the PECR rules to cut down on ‘user consent’ pop-ups and banners. It will also allow for the sharing of customer data, through smart data schemes, to provide services such as personalised market comparisons and account management.
It will reform the way births and deaths are registered in England and Wales, enabling the move from a paper-based system to registration in an electronic register. And it will facilitate the flow and use of personal data for law enforcement and national security purposes.
Bereavement support
The government’s Bereavement Support Payment programme is being extended to allow unmarried, cohabiting couples with children to make a claim for financial support from September 2022, when previously the scheme was only available to the married.
“This legislative change is in progress to enable more families to access support during the most difficult of times and will face full parliamentary scrutiny. Once approved by Parliament, payments could be backdated to 30 August 2018,” a Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said in November.
New Clean Air Zones
The latest CAZ starts in Bradford on 26 September. Drivers of HGVs and buses breaching pollution limits will pay £50, while vans and minibuses will be charged £9 and taxis £7. Bradford Council was ordered by the government to implement a CAZ to achieve targets for air quality.
The scheme was originally due to start in spring this year, but was delayed to allow further testing of the monitoring system.
Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill
This bill will get its next reading on 8 September. This is a bill to provide for certain social security rules which apply where life expectancy is 6 months or less to apply instead where life expectancy is 12 months or less.
Levelling-up and Regeneration
The next reading of a Bill to make provision for the setting of levelling-up missions and reporting on progress in delivering them; about local democracy; about town and country planning; about Community Infrastructure Levy; about the imposition of Infrastructure Levy; about environmental outcome reports for certain consents and plans; about regeneration; about the compulsory purchase of land; about information and records relating to land, the environment or heritage; for the provision for pavement licences to be permanent; about governance of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; about vagrancy and begging; and for connected purposes.
National Security Bill
This will move a step closer with its next reading in Parliament this week. It is a bill to make provision about threats to national security from espionage, sabotage and persons acting for foreign powers; about the extra-territorial application of Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007; about the award of damages in proceedings relating to national security and the payment of damages at risk of being used for the purposes of terrorism; about the availability of legal aid to persons connected with terrorism; and for connected purposes.
Cyclists
This is unconfirmed so far - but proving very controversial. Cyclists could be made to abide by 20mph speed limits and have number plates on their bikes under strict new road laws being considered by the government.
Grant Shapps told the Daily Mail: “Somewhere where cyclists are actually not breaking the law is when they speed, and that cannot be right, so I absolutely propose extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists. Particularly where you’ve got 20mph limits on increasing numbers of roads, cyclists can easily exceed those, so I want to make speed limits apply to cyclists.
“That obviously does then lead you into the question of: ‘Well, how are you going to recognise the cyclist? Do you need registration plates and insurance? And that sort of thing.’ So I’m proposing there should be a review of insurance and how you actually track cyclists who do break the laws.”
