Several pieces of ?housekeeping? legislation have been passed by the House of Assembly to tighten up vague wording in acts.

The Trade Disputes Amendment Act 2007 changes the name of the Trade Disputes Act 1992 to the Labour Disputes Act 1992. It also changes the name of the Trade Disputes Tribunal to the Labour Disputes Tribunal.

The Government Employees (Health Insurance) Amendment Act 2007 changes the way dependent children are added to the Government Employees Health Insurance Fund.

Currently, children insured outside of the Government plan must wait six months to join the plan if desired. Under the change in the law, this waiting period is abolished.

Giving an example of why this is necessary, asked the House of Assembly to picture a scenario where a dependant child was previously insured with one spouse employed outside of Government with a private insurer. The other spouse is a Government employee in the fund.

If the non-Government spouse becomes unemployed, the child would have to wait six months to transfer into the fund of the Government spouse.

?This we have a situation wherein the dependant child is now left without insurance coverage for six months, hence exposing the family to uninsured health costs should claims arise in the interim,? said the Minister.

This was undesirable, she said, and not the intention of the original act ? hence the change.

The Miscellaneous Taxes (Rates) Amendment Act 2007 makes a change in the wording to the way cruise ships pay taxes for passengers while docked in Bermuda.

It will have no impact other than clearing up an ambiguity in the phrasing of the main act.

All of the legislation will duly be considered by the Senate.