5 potential policies YOU should care about

There are many things which get debated in the Houses of Parliament, and only a few of them end up becoming law. These are some of the ones currently making their way through Parliament in the hope of becoming law that you should know about.

Higher Education and Research Bill

Current stage: 3rd Stage, House of Lords

This Bill wants to significantly shake up the way higher education providers (such as universities) operate. It would include a Teaching Excellence Framework - meaning that education providers would be graded, and could charge above the current £9000 annual tuition fee threshold as a result.

It also would downgrade the threshold needed to be met for private businesses to be able to award degrees, which could potentially 'dumb down' education even further by allowing degrees to be more readily available.

The reputation of British universities and their research are already under threat by the result to leave the European Union - much of the income to conduct research comes from European grants. So the current plans to create a super-council for funding research in the UK would seem counter-productive, as it would oversee the budget for almost all publicly funded research in the country.

Policing and Crime Bill Current stage: Royal Assent This Bill has been agreed by both the House of Commons and House of Lords and will now be given Royal Assent (where it will become an act of law).

In her speech to open Parliament in May 2016, the Queen said: "Legislation will strengthen the capability and accountability of the police service in England and Wales". This means there a reform of the police complaints and disciplinary procedures to make sure the public have as much confidence as possible in the police forces.

Police, ambulance and fire services will now need to work together more, and local Police and Crime Commissioners (one for each area of the country) will also be in charge of the fire service, should a local case be made for it. One of the most important parts of the Bill is that children and young people under 18 who are in a mental health crisis will no longer be placed in police cells. There are also measures to be taken to ensure greater safety of children by protecting them from sexual exploitation.

Workers' Rights (Maintenance of EU Standards) Bill Current stage: Second reading, House of Commons This Bill is a Private Member's Bill, which is something any member of the House of Commons or Lords can bring before Parliament. In this Bill, which is in a very early stage (and may not progress any further), it seeks to make provision for rights of workers after the UK leaves the European Union. This is something which Theresa May talked about in a speech setting out 12 aims to achieve in a British deal to leave the EU, so this Bill may not be necessary. Sugar in Food and Drinks (Targets, Labelling and Advertising) Bill Current stage: Second reading, House of Commons You might have heard of the so-called "sugar tax" which was brought in by Government in 2016 and pushed through by celebrity chef and Turkey Twizzler Tool Jamie Oliver - this isn't about the sugar tax, but is instead about setting limits on how much sugar can be in food and drink. This Bill also asks for amounts of sugar to be printed on food in measures of teaspoons.

This would probably help people to cut down on their sugar intake - especially children - and allow people to think twice about whether the food and drink they are ingesting is really all that healthy and good for them.

Assisted Dying Bill Current stage: Second reading, House of Lords This Bill was introduced as by a member of the House of Lords, so will go through the House of Lords first before Commons.

Assisted dying is to enable competent adults who are terminally ill to be able to end their life with specific assistance. You might have heard of Dignitas in Switzerland, which offers assisted dying - it is for this reason that there is a strongly supported campaign across the UK. Canada passed a similar law in June 2016 and there are similar laws in a few states across the USA.

This could apply to people with terminal illnesses such as cancer or motor neurone disease, where life can become unbearable. Supporting charity Dignity In Dying believes that the correct UK law should be limited to people with less than six months left to live, and that dying people "deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death".

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