Written Statement of 14 October 2003

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Northern Ireland Tourist Board
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Ian Pearson)
  The Northern Ireland Tourist Board's 2001–2 annual report and accounts have been deposited in the Libraries of the House.

  Probation Board
  The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. John Spellar)
  I have today published the Probation Board (Northern Ireland) for Northern Ireland Annual Report for 2002–03. Copies of the report have today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

  Labour Relations Agency
  The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Jane Kennedy)
  I have today placed copies of the 2002–03 Labour Relations Agency annual report and accounts in the Libraries of both Houses.

  Youth Justice Agency
  The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. John Spellar)
  The Report on the Review of the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland, which flowed from the Belfast agreement, recommended in the area of youth justice that the Lisnevin Juvenile Justice Centre be closed.

  Following a consultation process, the then Minister of State, right hon. Adam Ingram MP concluded that none of the existing juvenile justice centres were suitable. On 29 November 2000 he announced that the best way forward was to construct a new purpose designed facility on land available at Rathgael and that while the new centre was being built, young people already in the system should be transferred to the Rathgael campus. He also announced that Lisnevin would close.

  The development of the Rathgael site is being advanced in two stages and I am pleased to announce in this statement that Phase 1, which involved the extensive renovation and up-grading of the Juvenile Justice centre on that site has now been completed and that the Lisnevin centre has closed.

  The refurbished centre is now fully operational and will provide a step change in the quality of the custodial provision for juvenile offenders in Northern Ireland. It will operate as the sole custodial facility for young people in Northern Ireland, providing a satisfactory interim solution pending the construction of a purpose-built centre on the same site over the next 3 years.

  Northern Ireland Forest Service
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Ian Pearson)
  The Key Targets for achievement by the Northern Ireland Forest Service (an Executive Agency of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) in 2003–4 are:To publish a statement on forest policy and develop a strategy for implementing the policy.
  To establish 500 hectares of new plantations.
  To replant 750 hectares of land following harvesting.
  To pay out woodland grant scheme and farm woodland premium scheme grants of £1.8 million to encourage the extension of the area of private woodland.
  To pay 90 per cent. of woodland grant scheme and farm woodland premium scheme claims within eight weeks of receipt of a properly completed claim form.
  To retain certification under the UK woodland assurance standard
  To produce 400,000m3 of timber for sale to the wood processing sector.
  To achieve 400,000 paying visitors to forests.

  The Forest Service business plan for 2003–4 will be published and placed in the Libraries of both Houses at a later date.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

  Public Guardianship Office
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie)
  My hon. Friend Lord Filkin has today set the following key performance indicators and targets for the Public Guardianship Office for 2003–4:

  KPI 1: To increase the satisfaction of its customers in the delivery of its services.

  Target:

  To achieve a customer satisfaction rating of at least 50 per cent for both professional and lay receivers, as measured by its annual customer survey.

  KPI 2: To increase the proportion of effective visits by the Lord Chancellor's Visitors.

  Targets:

  To maintain a minimum of 6,000 visits per year to include all Receivership Division clients.

  To visit all new receivership clients where the Chief Executive of the PGO has been appointed receiver of last resort.

  To achieve 75 per cent. effective visits over the year.

  KPI 3: To increase the percentage of accounts collected on time and reviewed on time, and will use this process to review the case management regime to ensure that it is meeting the needs or each customer and client.

  Targets:

  To collect 60 per cent. of accounts within two calendar months of the accounting end date, 80 per cent. within four calendar months of the accounting end date, and 100 per cent. within six calendar months of the accounting end date, referring cases to the Court of Protection where necessary or taking other steps to ensure proper accounts are produced on behalf of clients (applies to Protection clients only: i.e. those clients who have an external receiver).
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  To complete the review of 100 per cent. of accounts received or to have requested further information within four weeks (20 working days) of receipt (to apply to both Receivership and Protection clients).

  KPI 4: To deliver an improved service to clients:

  Targets.

  To respond to 95 per cent. of letters, faxes and e-mails within 15 working days of receipt.

  For 95 per cent. of requests for release of funds, the PGO will give directions to the Court Funds Office (CFO) or dispatch direction to an external receiver within 10 working days of receipt.

  To dispatch court orders and directions to applicants, receivers or their representatives in 95 per cent. of cases within 25 working days of their being made.

  For 95 per cent. of complete applications for final directions, the PGO will give directions within 25 working days, to transfer all of clients' assets to personal representatives.

  To register and return 95 per cent. of correctly lodged EPAs, where there are no objections within five working days of the end of the statutory waiting period.

  KPI 5: To demonstrate improvements in efficiency by meeting three financial performance targets.

  Targets:

  To remain within budget.

  To achieve a fee income of £13.1 million.

  To achieve a unit cost per case of not more than £535.

  Land Registration Act 2002—Chancel Repair Liability
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy)
  On 14 September 2003 a Transitional Provisions Order relating to the status of chancel repair liability was made under the Land Registration Act 2002. The making of the order follows the reversal by the House of Lords in June 2003 of the Court of Appeal's decision in Wallbank v Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley, Warwickshire. The order provides that, for a period of 10 years from the coming into force of the Act on 13 October 2003, chancel repair liability will remain an interest that binds successive owners of land even though it is not protected by an entry in a register kept by the Land Registry. As no land registration fee is payable for applications to protect similar ancient property rights, such as payments in lieu of tithe, Crown rents and manorial rights, the Land Registry intends to waive the fee for applications to protect chancel repair liability for the 10 year period.

TREASURY

  Census 2001
  The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Ruth Kelly)
  The report "Census 2001 Report for Parliamentary Constituencies", containing results from the 2001 Census, was laid before Parliament and published on 25 September.

  This report contains results from the 2001 Census for the areas covered by the 659 Parliamentary Constituencies in all four countries of the UK. The tables present similar information to that previously published for local authorities on 13 February, for
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  wards on 30 June and for health areas on 31 July. The data are also available on the neighbourhood statistics section of the National Statistics website.

WORK AND PENSIONS

  Housing Benefit
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond)
  On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions I am announcing the publication of performance statistics for local authority administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (HB and CTB) for the first quarter of 2003–4. The quarterly statistics for all local authorities in Great Britain were published on 9 October 2003 on the Department for Work and Pensions website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/other_stats.html and placed in the Library.

  Publishing these statistics is part of our strategy for reforming Housing Benefit and for ensuring that Local Authorities are accountable for their performance in Administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

  Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit performance statistics show that in the first quarter of 2003–4:
  96 authorities reported meeting the standard of processing new claims, on average within 36 days;
  The average reported number of days to process new claims reduced from 59 in the first quarter of 2002–3 to 53 days in the first quarter of 2003–4;
  Authorities in the worst quartile of performance reported processing times between 56 and 153 days;
  106 authorities reported meeting the standard of processing changes in circumstances, on average within 9 days;
  The average reported number of days to process change of circumstances remains at 18 days when compared to the same quarter in 2002–3.

  The statistics are unaudited and are provided quarterly by local authorities to the Department.

  The latest annual audited Best Value performance information for English local authorities is for 2001–2 and was published by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 12 December 2002 on the Best Value Performance Indicators website at:http://www.bvpi.gov.uk/home.asp. A copy is available in the Library.

  The most recent corresponding data for local authorities in Wales is for 2001–2. These are published on the Audit Commission website at http://ww2.audit-commission.gov.u1c/pis/pi_data_01.shtml. A paper copy of the relevant extract from this site is available in the Library.

  The most recent corresponding data for local authorities in Scotland are also for 2001–2 and are in the Accounts Commission publication "Performance Indicators 2001–2002": "Benefits, Finance and Corporate Issues", a copy of which is available in the Library.

  Pension Credit
  The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith)
  Payment of the new Pension Credit began on 6 October. I can now report the following progress on applications for the new entitlement; figures represent the period up to 6 October 2003.

  There are now around 1.9 million pensioner households on our systems being paid Pension Credit, which represents over 2 million individuals. All those who were receiving Minimum Income Guarantee have now been transferred automatically onto Pension Credit. Of the awards made 1.15 million pensioner households (over 1.3 million pensioners) will get more than they would have before.

  Our direct mail campaign is continuing, supported by a major advertising campaign on TV and in the press which began in September. We have now written to some 1.6 million households and will have written to all pensioner households by June 2004. We are continuing to work with partner organisations, such as Help The Aged, Age Concern and Citizens Advice, amongst others, both at a national and local level, to encourage eligible people to take up their entitlement.

  We have made good use of an advance application period, which began in April, to ensure that our systems and procedures are working as they should and we have recruited extra staff and invested in new infrastructure to meet the additional demands of the new entitlement.

  There is plenty of time for pensioners to apply for Pension Credit. To ensure that pensioners do not lose out, there is a twelve month backdating provision until October 2004. This will allow applications to be backdated to October 2003, where entitlement exists, or to the date entitlement begins if this is later.

  I am placing a chart showing progress so far in the Library. From November onwards, I will provide more detailed monthly progress reports on take up of Pension Credit.

TRANSPORT

  Utility Street Works
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Tony McNulty)
  Regulations under section 74 of the New Road and Street Works Act 1991 came into force in April 2001. These allow highway authorities to charge utility companies for works in the street which overrun an agreed deadline.

  Following the implementation of these powers my Department appointed consultants, Halcrow, to monitor their effectiveness in reducing disruption on the highway. Copies of Halcrow's first annual report were placed in the libraries of both Houses last autumn.

  Halcrow have now produced their second annual report on these powers: Assessing the Extent of Street Works and Monitoring the Effectiveness of Section 74 in Reducing Disruption. The report consists of two
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  volumes; Volume 1 is the main report and Volume 2 contains accompanying tables and charts. Copies of each have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Criminal Cases Review Commission
  The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Blunkett)
  I am pleased to inform the House that Mr. Ian Nichol has been appointed as a member of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Copies of the press release relating to this appointment are available in the House Library.

  UK Passport Service
  The Minister for Citizenship and Immigration (Beverley Hughes)
  On 1 September 2003 the Criminal Records Bureau became an independent Agency in its own right and the UK Passport Service was re-established as a separate Agency. The UK Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau will now operate under separate Framework Documents. The UK Passport Service Framework Document has been published today and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Intergovernmental Conference (Rome)
  The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw)
  On 4 October the Prime Minister and I attended the opening session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in Rome. The Conference has been convened to enable member states to make decisions on a future Constitutional Treaty in order to ensure that an expanded European Union is both more effective and more accountable. Its starting point is the draft Treaty produced by the Convention on the Future of Europe, placed before the House this August as Command Paper 5897.

  On 9 September we issued a White Paper (Cm 5934) setting out the Government's approach towards the IGC. As we said in that White Paper, the draft Treaty is a good basis for starting the IGC negotiations. It consolidates existing Treaties into a clearer and more comprehensible text, but one which does not alter the fundamental constitutional relationship between the member States and the Union. It provides for the more efficient decision making processes which will be needed in an enlarged Union of 25 members. For example, it proposes a new position of full-time Chair of the European Council, which will make the Union more efficient, by ending the frequent changes of direction and priority inherent in the rotating Presidency system. It also reinforces the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, and the application of the principle of subsidiarity.

  We do not regard the draft treaty as perfect: as for many other member sates, there are some points in the text which we want to change and others which we need to examine in more detail. Final decisions at the IGC are

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  by unanimity and, as our White Paper stated, we will only accept a final text which makes it clear that issues like tax, defence and foreign policy remain the province of the nation State.

  This first detailed session of the IGC, attended by Foreign Ministers, agreed that, when the Council of Ministers is legislating, its proceedings should be as open as possible. It also agreed that the provision in the draft Treaty for establishing a legislative Council, which we opposed, would be dropped.

  The European Council of 16 and 17 October will continue discussion of the draft Treaty. In the meantime Foreign Ministers met in the context of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, on 13 October. We hope for agreement on a final text in sufficient time to allow for signature of a treaty, as provided in the conclusions of the Thessaloniki Council, as soon as possible after 1 May 2004. In the interim we will of course continue to keep the House informed of progress, including through Ministerial appearances at the IGC Standing Committee.

  Iraq: Export Licence Application
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell)
  Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Indus try recently approved a further licence to export military list goods to Iraq. The arms embargo against Iraq remains in place under United Nations Security Council resolution 1483 (2003), with the exception of arms and other related material required by the Coalition Provisional Authority to serve the purposes of this and other related resolutions. Accordingly, Her Majesty's Government consider it appropriate to grant exemptions for the export of sub-machine guns and pistols that are to be used by private security firms contracted to provide close protection for employees of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq. The export is consistent with the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. Future applications will continue to be assessed on a case by case basis against the UN embargo and consolidated criteria, taking into account the circumstances prevailing at the time.

  Council of the European Union
  The Minister for Europe (Mr. Denis MacShane)
  The forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union is as follows:

  Date

  Location

  Event

  October

  2–3

  3–4

  7

  Brussels

  Justice & Internal Affairs

  9–10

  Rome

  Defence (Ministerial Informal)

  13–14

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  13–14

  Brussels

  Transport, Telecom & EnergyCouncil

  16–17

  Brussels

  General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC)

  20–21

  Brussels

  Agriculture & Fisheries Council

  24–25

  Brussels

  EUROPEAN COUNCIL

  27–28

  Brussels

  Employ ment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs

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  Date

  Location

  Event

  27

  Brussels

  Education, Youth & Culture Council

  Brussels

  Justice & Internal Affairs (Informal Council)

  Brussels

  Environment Council

  November

  4

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  6

  Brussels

  EU-Russia Summitt

  6

  Brussels

  Justice & Internal Affairs (Informal Council)

  6–7

  Catania

  European Conference on Employment

  17–18

  Brussels

  General Affairs and External Relations (GAERC)

  17–18

  Brussels

  Agriculture & Fisheries Council

  18

  Milan

  European Conference on Immigration & Labour Market

  24–25

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  24–25

  Brussels

  Education, Youth & Culture Council

  27–28

  Brussels

  Justice & Internal Affairs (Informal Council)

  28

  Brussels

  EU & Western Balkans JHA Ministers Meeting

  December

  1–2

  Rome

  Euromed Meeting

  1–2

  Brussels

  Employment, Social Policy Health and Consumer Affairs Council

  1–3

  Rome

  Informal Public Administration Ministerial

  4–5

  Brussels

  Transport, Telecom & Energy Council

  5–7

  Rome

  Closing Conference for the European Year of the Disabled

  8–9

  Brussels

  General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC)

  9

  Brussels

  EU and Western Balkans Foreign Ministers meeting

  12–13

  Brussels

  EUROPEAN COUNCIL

  15–17

  Brussels

  Agriculture & Fisheries Council

  16

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  22

  Brussels

  Environment Council

  January

  8

  Brussels

  Agriculture & Fisheries Council

  16–17

  Brussels

  Employment & Social Policy (Ministerial Informal)

  16–17

  Ireland (venue tbc)

  Informal Employment and Social Policy

  19

  Brussels

  Eurogroup

  20

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  22–23

  Ireland (venue tbc)

  Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal)

  26–27

  Brussels

  General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC)

  February

  10

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  19

  Brussels

  Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal)

  23–24

  Brussels

  General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC)

  23–24

  Brussels

  Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal)

  26

  Brussels

  Education, Youth & Culture Council

  March

  2

  Brussels

  Environment Council

  4–5

  Brussels

  Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Ministerial

  8–9

  Brussels

  Transport, Telecom & Energy Council

  9

  Brussels

  ECOFIN

  11

  Brussels

  Competitiveness Council

  22–23

  Brussels

  General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)

  22–23

  Brussels

  Agriculture & Fisheries Council

  25–26

  Brussels

  EUROPEAN COUNCIL

  31

  Brussels

  Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal)

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  Date

  Location

  Event

  April

  16–17

  Brussels

  GYMNICH

  23–24

  Brussels

  Economic & Financial Affairs

  26–27

  Brussels

  General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)

  26–27

  Brussels

  Agriculture & Fisheries Council

  29–30

  Brussels

  Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal)

  British Council Art Exhibitions
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Chris Mullin)
  The British Council, although not a Government Department, receives a substantial grant-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Council regularly organises or sponsors exhibitions overseas of works of art loaned from National Galleries and private collections in the United Kingdom. It provides certain assurances or guarantees in respect of loss or damage while these works are on loan.

  In the six-month period ended 30 March 2003 the British Council provided such assurances to 4 national lenders and undertakings to 171 private lenders. The value of the contingent liabilities that remained outstanding as at 30 March 2003 in respect of national lenders was £300,000 and £3,703,862 in respect of private lenders.

  Following a recent review, HM Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Council have agreed to a revision of the Government art indemnities arrangements for artworks loaned to British Council exhibitions overseas. The revised scheme, which comes into effect on 1 April 2004, has three main features. The maximum total liability available to the Council at any one time will be £50 million (compared with the current £70 million). The £50 million limit does not include "high value" exhibitions (i.e. single exhibitions valued at £30 million or over), which are treated separately. In the case of "high value" exhibitions the Council will submit proposals to the UK's Public Diplomacy Strategy Board and HM Treasury for approval at least two years in advance. For all exhibitions the Council will have to show evidence of having approached the Government of the host country for cover and of having sought sponsorship for commercial insurance.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  IRAQ: Reconstruction
  The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn)
  At the Donors' Conference on Iraq, in Madrid on 24 October, the UK will make a total financial commitment towards Iraq's reconstruction of £544 million for the three years from April 2003, including the funding that we have provided so far and our share of proposed European Community spending in Iraq. £248 million is humanitarian and reconstruction assistance already committed by DFID and other Government Departments (£9 million of which is our share of the EC commitment), and £296 million will be for the period up to March 2006 (£29 million of which is 10WS
  our share of currently proposed EC spending). We expect to channel a substantial proportion of this spending through Multi-Donor Trust Fund arrangements being established by the World Bank and the United Nations, and to continue to support bilateral and multilateral programmes in Iraq. This funding does not include the costs of maintaining security in Iraq, towards which we are making a major contribution. Nor will it involve any reduction in DFID's planned development expenditure for low income countries. We remain committed to deliver £1 billion of bilateral assistance for Africa in 2005–6, and to increase the proportion of bilateral spending on low income countries to 90 per cent. by the same time.

DEFENCE

  Afghanistan
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin)
  On 3 October 2003, following the expiry of the call-out order made last October, I signed a new call-out order—made under the Reserve Forces Act 1996—to allow reservists to continue to be called out in support of stabilisation and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan. The new order is effective until 30 September 2004.

  Over 230 reservists were called out under the order made last October. We are most grateful for their continuing commitment and the invaluable contribution they and their employers make to this operation.

  I have also authorised the Military Secretary to call out special members of the reserve forces, known as sponsored reserves, who are involved with the heavy equipment transporter contract. They will support operations in Iraq, with about 10 reservists deployed at any one time.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  British Energy
  The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt)
  On 1 October, British Energy announced that it had formally agreed with creditors the terms of its proposed restructuring announced on 28 November last year.

  In the light of the company's announcement, I have confirmed the Government's support for the plan by entering into the Government Restructuring Agreement (GRA) with British Energy. This is an overarching agreement recording the conditions of the Government's commitment to British Energy to proceed with the restructuring and making that commitment legally binding. It entails the Government agreeing that, when the restructuring takes place (Restructuring Effective Date), it will enter into the following principal agreements with British Energy:

  CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT, which details the mechanisms by which the British Energy group will make contributions to the Nuclear Liabiities Fund (NLF) for the purpose of discharging its liabilities.

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  NUCLEAR LIABILITIES FUNDING AGREEMENT, which provides for the mechanisms by which Government will meet its commitment to underwrite the NLF to the extent that British Energy's contributions are not sufficient to meet the costs, as and when they fall due, of decommissioning British Energy's power stations and discharging other uncontracted nuclear liabilities.
  HISTORIC LIABILITIES FUNDING AGREEMENT, which details the mechanisms by which Government undertakes to discharge British Energy's payment obligations under certain of its existing contracts with BNFL with respect to the management, reprocessing and storage of historic spent fuel, i.e. fuel loaded into British Energy's reactors prior to the Restructuring Effective Date.
  OPTION AGREEMENT, which details the mechanisms by which Government may exercise an option to acquire the British Energy stations at the time when British Energy plans to shut them, either to prolong their operation where it is economically advantageous to do so or decommission them within the public sector.

  These agreements are within the terms of the support for British Energy which I announced to the House on 28 November last year. They are summarised in more detail in British Energy's announcement of 1 October, which I have placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This announcement also gives more details of the conditions of the formal agreements to the proposed restructuring, which include the acceptance of the restructuring terms by a sufficient number of British Energy's significant creditors.

  The restructuring will only be implemented once all these conditions are met. Other conditions include the receipt of State Aid approval from the European Commission. The Commission announced on 23 July 2003 that it was opening a formal investigation procedure into the Government's proposed restructuring aid to British Energy. The period for third party comments to the Commission has now closed and the Government are continuing to work with the Commission to complete the investigation as swiftly as possible.

  Also, if the Government are not satisfied that British Energy will be viable in all reasonably foreseeable conditions, or if there is a material adverse change in British Energy's position, the Government have reserved the right to withdraw their support for the restructuring.

  This would include withdrawal of the Government's secured credit facility, which the Government are otherwise continuing to make available to British Energy at its current level of up to £200 million. Drawings under the credit facility can be made up to the date of the European Commission's decision on the Government's proposed restructuring aid, or 30 September 2004, whichever is earlier. Repayments under the credit facility have to be made by the earlier of the Restructuring Effective Date or 30 September 2004.

  British Energy's announcement is a significant step forward in the implementation of its restructuring plan. However, there are significant milestones ahead, and the Government's contingency plans to fund the administration of the company should any of the restructuring conditions not be met or the restructuring fail for any other reason, will, therefore, remain in place. This means that whether or not the solvent restructuring plan is implemented the nuclear power stations will
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  continue to generate electricity and employ staff and customers' lights will stay on. Government's overriding objectives of ensuring the safety of the nuclear power stations and the security of electricity supplies to the grid and consumers will be met.

  I understand that in November British Energy will be making copies of the key agreements signed on 1 October available for public inspection. When this takes place, I will also place copies of those agreements in the Libraries of both Houses.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill
  The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill)
  I have today published for consultation draft regulations and policy statements on regional and local planning arrangements, and on development control processes. The regulations and guidance underpin the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, currently before the House. They are issued for consultation, subject of course to any changes made to the Bill by the House.

  The draft regulations set out detailed procedural matters in relation to regional and local planning matters and development control. We are also publishing draft revised rules for procedures for major infrastructure projects.

  Planning Policy Statement 11 (PPS11), which will supersede PPG11 when the Planning Bill comes into effect, sets out the how Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) should be prepared and revised under the new statutory framework. In particular it places a new emphasis on community involvement and partnership working, integration with other strategies, making the RSS more regionally specific and on the delivery of policies

  Planning Policy Statement 12 (PPS12) sets out the Government's policy on the preparation of the local development documents that will comprise the local development framework for a local planning authority or for a minerals and waste planning authority. It explains the actions that need to be taken in preparing the local development documents, which will deliver the spatial strategy for the area and the new, streamlined arrangements for dealing with the formal stages of the process. It emphasises the need for community involvement and explains how local planning authorities should prepare sound development plan documents, which will be independently tested before adoption by the authority.

  The Government also published today for consultation draft guidance on development control matters.
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  The Government will be publishing consultation drafts of other planning policy statements in due course, in particular Planning Policy Statement 1, setting out the principles underlying the planning system in England.

  The public consultation on the draft guidance and regulations will run until 16 January. The secondary legislation will be laid before Parliament as soon as
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  possible after the Planning Bill receives Royal Assent. We are planning for both the guidance and secondary legislation to come into effect at commencement of the Act.

  I am today placing copies of the documents in the House library. They will also be available on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.