Fourteen bills become law on final day

Friday, 8 April 2005 12:00 AM

A bill to set up a British version of the FBI was one of a number of bills to become law on Thursday.

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, which had its clause to create the offence of incitement to religious hatred removed, will also crack down on drug gangs, people traffickers and fraudsters.

Reforms to the UK's gambling laws also received Royal Assent on Thursday, after the Government agreed to scale down its plans for eight "super casinos" to just one.

However, a number of high-profile bills failed to make progress, most notably the controversial Identity Cards Bill.

In all, 14 bills received Royal Assent on Thursday, bringing the total to 21 in this session of Parliament.

Increasing police powers to tackle drugs, creating a statutory framework for people who lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions, improving the rights of disabled people, streamlining the structure of the rail industry, and giving ministers the power to set up inquiries into events causing public concern were among the provisions of bills to pass into law.

Under the Drugs Act 2005 police will be able to test people for class A drugs when they are arrested. It also introduces measures to tackle drug dealing near schools, and introduces a new drug intervention order, similar to the established anti-social behaviour orders.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 includes provisions to make it clear that a person should be assumed to have capacity unless proven otherwise, and more controversially to introduce so-called living wills where a person can make an advance decision to refuse treatment.

The long-awaited Disability Discrimination Act introduces a duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people, ensures that buses and other forms of public transport are accessible to disabled people, and that landlords cannot refuse consent where a disabled tenant wants to adapt a rented property.

The Strategic Rail Authority will be scrapped and pass its functions to the Transport Secretary and devolved administrations under the provisions of the Railways Act. The act also transfers the Health and Safety Executive's responsibilities for railway safety to the Office of Rail Regulation - combining safety and economic regulation in one body.

Elsewhere on transport, the Crossrail bill to set up an east-west cross-London rail link will be carried over into the new session of Parliament after carry over motions were passed in both Houses of Parliament.

And the Inquiries Act 2005 will make Government inquiries, such as Lord Hutton's investigation of the death of Dr David Kelly, shorter and less expensive, while remaining fair, by setting up a framework for the way they are carried out.

Other bills that failed to progress include the Charities Bill, the Consumer Credit Bill, the European Union Bill to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution, the Road Safety Bill, and the School Transport Bill.

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