Written Statement of 11 September 2003

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Racially and Religiously Aggravated Crime
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Paul Goggins)
  I am pleased to announce that the Government is today laying an Order before Parliament which will extend the Attorney-General's powers in relation to unduly lenient sentences. This will enable certain racially and religiously aggravated offences to be referred to the Court of Appeal for review where it is felt that under-sentencing has occurred. The Order will come into effect on 13 October 2003 and will apply to any sentence imposed after that date.

  This Order is being laid following a recommendation in the HM Crown Prosecution Service's Inspectorate Review of casework having a minority ethnic dimension that racially aggravated offences be included in the category of offences which can be referred under the unduly lenient sentencing provisions. The inclusion of religiously aggravated offences is necessary and logical to prevent anomalies in the protection offered to different groups. The Government will keep under review whether any further extensions should be made in future.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  Draft Regional Planning Guidance (West Midlands)
  The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill)
  My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is today publishing for public consultation Proposed Changes to the draft Regional Planning Guidance for the West Midlands (RPG11). They follow the Public Examination into draft RPG11 in June and July 2002.

  The draft RPG was prepared and published by the Regional Planning Body (RPB). It provides a broad framework for the preparation of development plans and local development frameworks by the West Midlands local Planning authorities up to 2021. The overall strategy is to develop the major urban areas in such a way that they can increasingly meet their own economic and social needs in order to counter the unsustainable outward movement of people and jobs facilitated by previous strategies; address more effectively the major changes which are challenging the traditional roles of rural areas and the countryside; ensure that opportunities for growth are linked to meeting needs and that they help reduce social exclusion; and support the sustainable development of the region.
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  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister support these aims, and as recommended by the panel, we are proposing changes to ensure the strategy is more clearly and succinctly expressed. It is important that the implications for development plans and other strategies are clear and unambiguous in order to make a real difference on the ground.

  A key issue for the region is to bring about the urban renaissance of the major urban areas (MUAs) by creating a step change in urban regeneration processes and programmes. This is seen as essential to halt the drift of population to the surrounding shire areas. This objective, to encourage sustainable urban communities, is consistent with those of the communities plan (sustainable communities; building for the future).

  The proposed changes support the draft RPG approach to housing provision. The major urban areas will increasingly meet their own housing needs, with reducing provision for migration to the surrounding shires and unitary areas. There is a transition from the former ratio of new housing development between the major urban areas and other areas of 1:2, through a position at 2007 where this is near 1:1, to 2011 where the ratio is in favour of the major urban areas.

  The panel considered the need for the western bypasses for Wolverhampton and Stourbridge to support draft RPG's spatial strategy was not demonstrated, and recommended that they should be deleted. Instead of the Study proposed by the RPB, the Panel recommended a much wider sub-regional study to resolve issues within the Black Country, including housing capacity, employment, land, scope for environmental and town centre improvements, and improvements to access to regeneration sites particularly on its eastern side. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has supported this recommendation in his announcement on the West Midlands area multi-Modal Study and the Proposed Changes reflect this.

  My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister supports the panel's recommendation that Brierley Hill should not be included in the list of strategic town and city centres. However, he does not agree with the panel's recommendations on further retail development at Merry Hill, and has made it clear that any decisions on this issue will need to be made in the light of the RPB having decided its regional priorities for focusing retail, leisure and office development. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister considers that the future of Brierley Hill/Merry Hill should also be considered as part of the Black Country study referred to above. Any expansion of Merry Hill would be subject to transport improvements.

  In considering these proposed changes and carrying out any future review of RPG 11 it is important that account is taken of the principles set out in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill (published 4 December 2002), in particular the need to make RPG shorter and more strategic; more regionally specific; and more integrated and co-ordinated with other regional strategies; the increasing importance of introducing sub-regional policies within RPG's will also need to be addressed; and ensuring that the RPG process does not avoid making difficult decisions.
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  I have today written to the RPB with the proposed changes and indicating areas where views are particularly sought from any interested parties. There will now be a public consultation period on the proposed changes, which will end on 12 December 2003.

  Copies of the relevant documents are available in the Libraries of the House and have been provided for all of the region's MPs, MEPs, and local authorities.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

  Jury Research
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie)
  In their report on the Criminal Justice Bill, the Home Affairs Select Committee invited the Government to consider the merits of repealing section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 in order to permit meaningful research into how the jury system operates. This invitation followed from recommendations made by Lord Justice Auld in his Review of the criminal courts.

  To fully consider this issue, the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, intends to publish a consultation paper towards the end of autumn to look at whether or not we should allow jury research to be conducted. The consultation paper will also consider the issue of jury impropriety, as recommended by Lord Justice Auld in his review.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  British Overseas Territories Act 2002
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell)
  My right hon. Friend the Baroness Amos undertook to inform the House of the number of British overseas territories citizens that have applied for British citizen passports; and the number of new applicants seeking British overseas territories citizenship in the first year of implementation of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.

  A total of 7,079 British citizen passports were issued to British overseas territories citizens in the period May to December 2002 and 5,174 in the period January to May 2003. That is a total of 12,250 since the citizenship provisions of the British Overseas Territories Act came into force on 21 May 2002.

  A total of 1,359 new applicants applied for British overseas territories citizenship in the first year of implementation of the citizenship provisions of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.

  Diplomatic Missions: Serious Offences
  The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw)
  From a community of around 20,000 in the United Kingdom entitled to immunity, 20 serious offences, allegedly committed by such persons, were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2002. Serious offences are defined in accordance with the 1985 White Paper on 32WS
  Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges, that is as offences that would in certain circumstances carry a penalty of 12 months or more imprisonment.

  Diplomatic Missions: Unpaid Parking Fines
  The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Jack Straw)
  The figures recorded for the number of outstanding parking and other minor traffic violation fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in the United Kingdom during the year 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 totalled 4,302 (£173,180.00). In April this year the Foreign and Commonwealth Office wrote to all affected diplomatic missions and international organisations giving them the opportunity to either pay their outstanding fines or appeal against them if they considered that the fines had been issued incorrectly. As a result payments totalling £52,200.00 were received, leaving a total of 3,021 (£120,980.00) unpaid fines for 2002. The attached table details those diplomatic missions and international organisations that have 11 or more undisputed fines unpaid.

  Diplomatic Mission/International Organisation

  No. of fines Outstanding

  Amount in £

  United Arab Emirates

  323

  12,830.00

  Libya

  226

  8,940.00

  China

  195

  7,790.00

  Egypt

  97

  3,790.00

  France

  81

  3,290.00

  Algeria

  80

  3,020.00

  Ghana

  72

  2,870.00

  Morocco

  71

  2,970.00

  Ukraine

  71

  2,840.00

  Oman

  69

  2,710.00

  Russia

  67

  2,670.00

  Greece

  59

  2,350.00

  Turkey

  59

  2,480.00

  Iran

  56

  2,190.00

  Uganda

  52

  2,100.00

  Senegal

  51

  2,040.00

  Yemen

  50

  1,970.00

  Hungary

  48

  1,960.00

  Phillippines

  44

  1,760.00

  Pakistan

  42

  1,690.00

  Afghanistan

  38

  1,520.00

  Mozambique

  38

  1,520.00

  Vietnam

  38

  1,520.00

  Mongolia

  37

  1,470.00

  Kazakhstan

  36

  1,440.00

  Tunisia

  36

  1,440.00

  Qatar

  34

  1,170.00

  Jordan

  31

  1,280.00

  Sudan

  31

  1,220.00

  Zambia

  31

  1,210.00

  Ethiopia

  30

  1,180.00

  Kenya

  30

  1,200.00

  Cyprus

  28

  1,140.00

  Malaysia

  26

  1,040.00

  Poland

  25

  1.000.00

  United States of America

  23

  920.00

  Georgia

  23

  930.00

  Romania

  21

  880.00

  Brazil

  20

  790.00

  Commonwealth Secretariat

  19

  780.00

  Cote D'Ivoire

  19

  770.00

  Azerbaijan

  18

  740.00

  Indonesia

  18

  720.00

  Panama

  18

  740.00

  Lithuania

  17

  660.00

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  Diplomatic Mission/International Organisation

  No. of fines Outstanding

  Amount in £

  Uzbekistan

  17

  670.00

  Finland

  16

  680.00

  Japan

  16

  640.00

  Bahrain

  15

  610.00

  Belgium

  14

  580.00

  Peru

  13

  520.00

  Bangladesh

  13

  520.00

  Nepal

  13

  520.00

  Nicaragua

  13

  520.00

  Thailand

  13

  520.00

  Albania

  12

  480.00

  Latvia

  12

  470.00

  Kuwait

  11

  500.00

  Germany

  11

  480.00

  South Africa

  11

  430.00

  Total

  2,698

  107,680.00

  Diplomatic Missions: Outstanding National Non-Domestic Rate Bills
  The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw)
  Most diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom meet their obligations and pay the National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) requested from them. However, as at 31 July 2003 the following missions owed over £10,000 in respect of NNDR:

  Country

  Amount

  Bulgaria

  £143,346.09

  Iran

  £104,943.24

  Algeria

  £47,022.74

  Sierra Leone

  £43,320.65

  Mozambique

  £32,301.67

  Cameroon

  £30,109.53

  Uganda

  £27,801.89

  Syria

  £24,750.48

  Bangladesh

  £23,356.44

  Zimbabwe

  £21,016.08

  Zambia

  £19,276.56

  Cote D'Ivoire

  £16,392.46

  Malawi

  £12,606.03

  Cuba

  £12,349.06

  Total

  £558,592.92

  Eleven additional Diplomatic Missions who owe £10,000 or more in respect of national non-domestic rates have made arrangements with the Valuation Office Agency to clear their outstanding debts and have not been included in this list. The total amount outstanding from all missions, including these additional diplomatic missions, is approximately £960,394.45.

PRIME MINISTER

  Ninth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (Government's Response)
  The Prime Minister (Mr. Tony Blair)
  I am today publishing the Government's response to the ninth report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life "Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, special advisers and the permanent Civil Service". The Government has considered the 34WS
  Committee's report with great care, and I would like to place on record my thanks to the Committee for its thorough consideration of these issues. I am pleased to be able to announce the Government accepts the majority of the recommendations. Our response to the main recommendations is as follows:

  Independent Ethics Adviser
  the Government agrees to the appointment of an independent adviser to provide Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with an additional source of professional advice as required on the handling of complex financial issues.

  Civil Service Act
  the Government commits itself to publishing a draft bill for consultation once the Public Administration Select Committee's proposals for a Civil Service Act have been published.

  Special advisers
  the Government proposes a new section to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers to clarify relationships between special advisers and permanent civil servants. An amendment to the Code is annexed to the Government's response.

  First Civil Service Commissioner
  the Government agrees that, in future, the appointment of the First Civil Service Commissioner will be made following consultation with the Leaders of the main opposition parties.

  Appointments
  the response makes clear that the Government is committed to maintaining a permanent and impartial Civil Service where selection is made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. It also acknowledges the important role of the Civil Service Commissioners in the recruitment processes and in upholding the core values of the Civil Service. The response commits the Government to discussions with the Civil Service Commissioners to consider whether the different approaches to Civil Service and public appointments continue to be justified.

  Copies of the Government's response [Cm5964] have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

TREASURY

  Futurebuilders
  The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Paul Boateng)
  Today I am announcing the result of collaborative work with the voluntary and community sector to design the futurebuilders fund.

  I am publishing the final report on the fund, following consultation, along with a summary leaflet. I am also publishing a consultation report, which contains the key messages from the consultation. Copies of all three documents are being made available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House.

  These reports are being published jointly with the Compact Working Group, reflecting the fact that the voluntary and community sector has been central in shaping the fund.
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  Futurebuilders will invest in voluntary and community organisations, and social enterprises, to assist them in their public service work. It will enable organisations to modernise their operations so that they can increase the scale and scope of their public service delivery. It is targeted at organisations working in or across the service areas of health and social care; crime; community cohesion; education and learning; and support for children and young people.
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  The fund will provide finance to acquire capital assets, through a range of funding solutions, including grants and different forms of loans. Advice and support will also be available to organisations to help them in accessing the fund.

  The manager(s) of the fund will be appointed through open competition. Advertisements are being placed this week seeking expressions of interest.