British Steel and government special measures
The government has taken control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant operations. What are the next steps if nationalisation follows?

This Research Paper has been produced to inform Second Reading debate on the Consumer Rights Bill, which was introduced to the House of Commons on 23 January 2014 and is due to have its Second Reading on 28 January 2014.
Consumer Rights Bill (1,013 KB , PDF)
This Research Paper has been produced to inform Second Reading debate on the Consumer Rights Bill, which was introduced to the House of Commons on 23 January 2014 and is due to have its Second Reading on 28 January 2014.
The Bill sets out a framework that consolidates in one place key consumer rights covering contracts for goods, services, digital content and the law relating to unfair terms in consumer contracts. The Bill also introduces easier routes for consumers and small and medium enterprises (‘SMEs’) to challenge anti-competitive behaviour through the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘CAT’). In addition, the Bill consolidates and simplifies enforcers’ powers as listed in Schedule 5 to investigate potential breaches of consumer law and clarifies that certain enforcers (Trading Standards) can operate across local authority boundaries. Finally, the Bill will also give the civil courts and public enforcers’ greater flexibility to take the most appropriate action for consumers when dealing with breaches or potential breaches of consumer law.
Consumer Rights Bill (1,013 KB , PDF)
The government has taken control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant operations. What are the next steps if nationalisation follows?
Businesses are required to register for VAT if their turnover of taxable goods and/or services is above a given threshold. This note discusses how the registration threshold has been set in recent years and the debate there has been about whether the threshold is too high or too low.
Business and consumer sentiment can give an early indication of economic trends. Find the latest data on what businesses and consumers expect for the UK economy.