This House of Lords Library briefing provides background information in advance of the second reading of the Driving Instructors (Registration) Bill in the House of Lords on Friday 11 March 2016.
Driving Instructors (Registration) Bill (128 KB , PDF)
The Driving Instructors (Registration) Bill is a private member’s bill introduced in the House of Commons by Sir David Amess (Conservative) under the ten minute rule. It completed all its stages in the Commons without amendment and is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 11 March 2016.
The Bill would simplify the registration of driving instructors in Great Britain by allowing a driving instructor to request voluntary removal from the register of driving instructors and by simplifying the process for re-joining the register where an instructor’s registration has lapsed for between one and four years. The Bill is supported by both the Government and the Opposition.
Driving Instructors (Registration) Bill (128 KB , PDF)
Highlighting the human and economic costs of accidents, and rising rates of accidental deaths in the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has called for the government to create a national accident prevention strategy. RoSPA argues that currently, responsibility for accident prevention is too fragmented. The government has not yet commented on this proposal.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill would make changes to the system for approving major infrastructure projects, planning committees and nature recovery. It would also make changes to electricity and transport infrastructure processes, development corporations, spatial development strategies, and compulsory purchase. The government intends the bill to help grow the economy by enabling important infrastructure and homes to be built more quickly. Some parts of the bill, particularly those related to nature recovery, have attracted criticism from opposition parties and external bodies.
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a pan-European satellite navigation system that augments global satellite systems, improving their accuracy and making them suitable for safety-critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels. As a result of its departure from the European Union, the UK no longer participates in the EGNOS programme. Some stakeholders have called for the UK to reinstate the EGNOS system, particularly whilst a UK alternative is developed.
