Written Statement of 16 October 2003

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Animal Procedures Committee Report 2002
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Caroline Flint)
  In accordance with section 20(5) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, I have placed the Committee's annual report for 2002 in the Library today. The report includes the Committee's consideration of particular licence applications and its consideration of enforcement and compliance issues.

WORK AND PENSIONS

  Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Report (Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council)
  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, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) visit report on Redcar and Cleveland borough council was published on 9 October 2003 and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

  Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The performance standards for housing benefits allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.

  The BFI visited Redcar and Cleveland borough council to find out why the council had not regularly submitted performance data to the Department for Work and Pensions as required by the Department.

  It was agreed with the council that the normal scope of a BFI inspection would not be suitable, and that the BFI visit would look at the key performance indicators produced by the council and the processes that were intrinsic to the production of its performance data.

  The report finds that the council had undergone two major changes since April 2002. It had implemented the verification framework in April 2002 and transferred its housing stock to a private landlord as a large-scale voluntary transfer in July 2002. The BFI's visit concluded that these changes were poorly planned and senior management did not fully anticipate the effect they would have in terms of resources. Consequently they have had a detrimental impact on the benefits business.
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  At the same time as these changes, there was considerable uncertainty within the benefits service because the council had started negotiations with a private contractor with a view to contracting-out the benefits service.

  These factors caused a backlog of work to build up in August 2002 and this stood at 12,000 items (11 weeks work) at the time of our visit. The report finds that since August 2002, the council's performance in processing new claims to benefit and changes of circumstances had deteriorated significantly. The BFI's sampling showed it had moved from delivering a quick and efficient service to its customers, to one where new claims to benefit and changes of circumstances were taking an average 77 and 44 days respectively to process. However, the latest performance data received by the Department for Work and Pensions indicates that the council's performance is better than this.

  The report finds that the council's benefits service used an IT system that was developed in 1987 and which no longer fully supported the business. This had made it difficult for the council to produce the management information required by the Department for Work and Pensions.

  In May 2003, the benefits service was contracted out and plans put in place to clear the backlog of work, and also to recruit staff to take the benefits service to full complement. The new contract had been negotiated with the requirement that a new IT system will be implemented before the start of the 2004–05 financial year. In 2002–03, Redcar and Cleveland borough council administered some £38.6 million in housing benefits, about 14 per cent of its total gross revenue expenditure.

  The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit.

  My right hon. Fri end the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to BFI's findings and recommendations.

DEFENCE

  Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
  The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram)
  The following key targets have been set for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory for financial year 2003–04:

  Propose simpler method of measuring customer satisfaction and at least maintain overall satisfaction and improved customer understanding of DSTL by 2005.

  Maintain, and by the end of a three-year period show, an increase in scores for scientific and engineering capability in the technical benchmarking exercise.

  Maintain accreditation to IS09001: 2000, Good Laboratory Practice, IiP and other mandated quality and safety standards. Implement all recommendations arising from the Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF) audits and Board of Inquiry.
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  Achieve a Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) of 6.5 per cent. for 2003–04 and an MOD dividend of £3 million per year. Capital employed will equate to the total assets from which shall be deducted the total of current liabilities.

  Maintain the average charge rate for manpower for 2003–04 and beyond below that for 2001–02 uplifted by GDP deflator.

  Achieve planned progress on site rationalisation to meet the 2006 date for transfer of DSTL staff to the new core site.

  Agree and implement a DSTL diversity action plan.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

  European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy)
  On 10 October 2003, the UK ratified protocol 13 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms banning the death penalty in all circumstances. The ratification will apply at present only to the metropolitan area of the United Kingdom. Ratification will be extended to the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories at a later date. We shall in due course seek parliamentary approval pursuant to section 1(4) of the Human Rights Act 1998 to add protocol 13 to the list of scheduled convention rights.

  Court Service Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie)
  The Court Service annual report and accounts for 2002–03 has been laid before Parliament today. This document gives full details of the Agency's performance and expenditure for that year. Copies or the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  Supporting People
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper)
  The supporting people programme went live on 1 April. The programme provides services which help vulnerable people—including victims of domestic violence, older people and teenage parents—live independently in their accommodation.

  The Government have today announced a grant allocation of £1.8 billion for the first year of the programme. Officials will be writing to local authorities individually to confirm allocations for 2003–04.

  The Government have also set up an independent review to gauge the true picture of how the funding is being utilised. The review will report by Christmas and will inform local authority budget allocation decisions for the next financial year. This review is in the context of the growth of the transitional housing benefit element of supporting people, which has increased by £400 million from the original estimates by local authorities, which were announced in February. In all there are now an estimated 250,000 units of housing support, excluding sheltered and community alarms, compared to fewer than 100,000 estimated in 2000.

  The review will specifically consider:
  The considerable variations between authorities' costs and patterns of service provision.
  Services which were previously paid for out of other budgets where it is unclear how the resulting savings have been re-deployed;
  Whether the programme is meeting its original objectives, including schemes which raise questions about compliance with grant conditions.

  A key objective of the programme remains to ensure vulnerable groups receive the level of complex support they need through planned sustainable spending arrangements that demonstrate equity, efficiency and value for money.