The Social Responsibility, Action and Heroism Bill (the SARAH Bill) sets out various factors that the court “must have regard to” in determining the steps a defendant was required to take to meet a standard of care in claims for negligence or breach of statutory duty.
Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (HL Bill 47 of 2014–15) (270 KB , PDF)
It was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 4 June 2014 that a bill would be brought forward “to provide that where a person acts heroically, responsibly or for the benefit of others, this will be taken into account by the courts”. The Social Responsibility, Action and Heroism Bill (the SARAH Bill) sets out various factors that the court “must have regard to” in determining the steps a defendant was required to take to meet a standard of care in claims for negligence or breach of statutory duty. The Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons without amendment and is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 4 November 2014.
This Library Note examines the background to the Bill, including the current legal framework; provides an overview of the Bill’s provisions; and summarises proceedings on the Bill in the House of Commons.
Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (HL Bill 47 of 2014–15) (270 KB , PDF)
On 12 November 2024 the government announced it would co-develop a new national youth strategy with young people. Alongside this, the government said that it would be closing the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme. The announcement of the new national strategy has been broadly welcomed, but concern has been expressed by some organisations about the closure of the NCS and funding challenges faced by the sector more widely.
Integration and community cohesion have both been identified as important factors to enable people from different communities to live and work together. Like the previous Conservative government, the current Labour government has committed to policies intended to support integration in order to improve community cohesion. This briefing summarises how integration and community cohesion are conceptualised and measured and discusses the debate on effective integration strategies.
At present, prenuptial agreements are not automatically enforceable by courts in England and Wales. However, a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010 stated that courts should consider such agreements if entered into freely and with full understanding, unless doing so would be unfair. This has prompted calls for reforming marriage laws, including a Law Commission proposal to introduce a new form of marital property agreement.
