Speech: The legislation game

Hayley Rogers, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel

Scratching my head over how to interest civil servants in a training course on the legislative process, I hit on the idea of creating a board game that would lead players through the process, from initial ministerial bright idea to fully implemented Act of Parliament.

For the uninitiated, this journey can often feel rather like an arcane game of snakes and ladders, so a board game seemed like the ideal way of bringing it to life. We were up against a deadline, so I drew the board freehand, and a group of us pooled our collective war stories on bills to come up with some realistic “chance” cards that would send players backwards or forwards through the process.

And so “Legislate?!” was born… that was four years ago, and since then it has been played by hundreds of civil servants at training events, along with students visiting Parliament and members of the public during Parliament Week. It has proved a popular and engaging way of helping people to understand the legislative process, with many comments along the lines of “It’s surprising anything ever makes it into law!”.

For some time now we’ve been asked whether we could make the game more widely available, and one player who came along to last year’s Parliament Week event just happened to work for GDS. Terence Eden offered us his expertise to turn the hand-drawn board into something digital, and the cards instructions for players and background information for facilitators into something printable.

You can access everything you need to play “Legislate?!”. If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you.

Office of the Parliamentary Counsel colleagues



News story: Small cloud tech businesses in line for funding boost

The Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden MP, has today (Tuesday 6th March 2018) announced that a new version of the G-Cloud procurement framework will open for bids in April, allowing new companies to join the framework – after delivering £1.4bn of spend to small businesses since its inception.

The decision to release a new version of the framework will support new companies, including small businesses, to supply to government, while also giving current suppliers the opportunity to update their service offer and pricing.

Companies will be able to bid to join the framework from April. G-Cloud 10 could eventually be worth £600 million.

G-Cloud gives central government, local councils, NHS Trusts and other public sector bodies a way to purchase cloud-based services such as web hosting from a single, central website.

Oliver Dowden, Minister for Implementation, said:

I’m pleased to confirm that we will re-let the G-Cloud framework, which provides opportunities to many small businesses in the digital sector. This will provide innovative online solutions to government, supporting the delivery of efficient, effective public services. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, so it’s crucial that we listen to them when shaping policy, as we have done today.

Rob Driver, Head of Public Sector at Tech UK, the industry trade body for technology companies across the UK, said:

For the UK Government to deliver its ambitious vision of being world-leading in the next wave of digital government transformation it must embrace the full diversity and strengths of UK tech suppliers, and innovative procurement vehicles such as G-cloud will be fundamental to achieving this vision. The announcement of the G-Cloud 10 Framework should be welcomed as it allows new innovative providers to work with government, enables new services to be provided and is an opportunity to engage with the wider public sector to make use of the framework.

The current version of the framework has 2,856 suppliers, over 90% of which are SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). The framework is expected to go live in June.

To find out more about G-Cloud, visit the Digital Marketplace.



News story: Defence Secretary reaffirms commitment to Daesh’s total defeat in meeting with Iraqi counterpart

Royal Air Force Typhoons flying over the middle East in support of Operation Shader. Crown copyright.

There will be no respite in UK operations against Daesh until we can guarantee their absolute defeat, the Defence Secretary reassured his Iraqi counterpart, Erfan al-Hiyali, in a meeting in London today.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

We will not rest until we hammer the final nail in the terrorists’ coffin.

While Daesh’s territory is diminishing, the threat they pose to our security at home and abroad through their evil and barbaric beliefs remains stark. That is why RAF jets continue to strike them in Iraq and Syria to eliminate the threat they pose to our way of life.

The importance of continued RAF activity was echoed by Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, who said:

With Daesh losing control of its last remaining pockets of territory, they are once more looking purely like the terrorist organisation they are. Yet the threat they pose within the region and more widely across the world remains.

As we have discovered in previous conflicts, if we let up, then we run the risk that Daesh will return. It is vital that we stay the course, alongside our allies, until the job is done.

In the past three weeks, RAF Typhoons, Tornados and Reapers have destroyed armoured vehicles, terrorist bases, weapon stores and disrupted supply routes.

On Wednesday 14 February Typhoons destroyed a mechanical excavator, used by the terrorists to construct fortified positions near the Euphrates river in eastern Syria. Operations continued in eastern Syria on Friday 16 February, Typhoons and Tornado’s provided close air support to Syrian Democratic Forces engaged in ground close combat with Daesh fighters, destroying five terrorist positons.

An RAF Reaper patrolled over the Euphrates on Tuesday 20 February, striking armed terrorists, including a pair on a motorcycle moving at high speed. On Wednesday 28 February, Typhoons attacked two Daesh armoured vehicles north-east of Abu Kamal. A second Typhoon flight destroyed a key road in the area, which will prevent the terrorists from moving heavy truck-bombs and equipment along it.

On Saturday 3 March, Typhoons demolished four Daesh buildings close to the border with Iraq. On Sunday 4 March, a Typhoon destroyed a tunnel used by the terrorists as a weapons cache, located in a remote area in northern Iraq.

RAF aircraft have carried out nearly 1,700 strikes against Daesh in Iraq and Syria since 2014. The UK have deployed Reaper UAVs, Typhoon jets and Tornados, have conducted significant ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions and have provided additional air support such as inflight refuelling and transporting.

The UK is working to secure Daesh’s lasting defeat by cooperating with legitimate local authorities towards a stable, prosperous and united future for affected communities in both Iraq and Syria and ensuring that Daesh must not be allowed to re-emerge.



Press release: Worksop waste company fined £15,000 for operating illegally

A Nottinghamshire company has been fined £15,000 for operating an illegal waste site on land adjacent to Sandy Lane in Worksop. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £7,200 and a victim surcharge of £120.

The case against Yorkshire Waste Services Ltd. of Gateford Road, Worksop, was proven in the absence of a company representative at the trial on Friday 2 March 2018 at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court.

Officers from the Environment Agency told the court that the site had been previously used by a company called Trent Valley Recycling Ltd. The site itself is one with a high fire risk due to the waste operations conducted by the previous owners.

This company did have an environmental permit for the site, however this was disclaimed once the company went into liquidation.

Officers discovered that Yorkshire Waste were storing a significant quantity of baled textile waste on the site between April and June last year.

A search of the public register confirmed that a number of companies had registered exemptions for waste activity on the site.

In light of that, and the fact that there was a high fire risk associated with the site, the exemptions were de-registered.

An enforcement notice was served on Yorkshire Waste giving them 21 days to clear the site of illegal waste. However, the waste remained on the site and no attempt was made to clear it.

In passing sentence, the Magistrates said that the company had flagrantly disregarded the law in committing the offences. They noted that the offences took place close to a high risk fire site.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:

Yorkshire Waste Services has repeatedly put the environment at risk by deliberately ignoring the law for financial gain.

Illegal waste activity such as this has a detrimental impact on the community and environment, as well as undermining legitimate businesses.

The Environment Agency will continue to work hard to ensure enforcement action is taken against those who flout the law.

Anyone who suspects waste is being disposed of on an illegal site should report the matter to the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The charges

  • On 15 June 2017 Yorkshire Waste Services Ltd failed, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a notice dated 22 June 2017 pursuant to section 59(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in that it failed to remove controlled waste from land at Sandy Lane, Worksop. Contrary to section 59(5) Environmental Protection Act 1990.

  • Between 9 April 2017 and 15 June 2017 at a site adjacent to Sandy Lane, Worksop, Yorkshire Waste Services Ltd did operate a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the deposit, treatment and storage of waste, except under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit Contrary to Regulations 12 and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.



News story: 1 April 2018: Update to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) fees