Written Statement of 17 September 2003

TRANSPORT

  Road Safety
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport(Mr. David Jamieson)
  The Government's Road Safety Strategy Tomorrow's Roads—Safer for Everyone set out ten-year targets for reducing road traffic casualties and recognised that more could be done to reduce the risks for those who use the roads for work purposes. A Task Group was set up by the Government and the Health and Safety Commission in May 2000 to consider ways to reduce at work road traffic incidents. The Task Group reported in November 2001. They concluded that existing health and safety law adequately covered work-related on-the-road activities and that there was no need for any new legislation. However, one of the Group's key recommendations was that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) should publish generic guidance to help employers manage at work road risk.

  Today the HSE, in partnership with the Department for Transport, has published a free booklet "Driving at Work—Managing Work Related Road Safety". There will be a small charge for bulk orders of the document to cover postage and packaging. It is also downloadable from the HSE web site http://www.hse.gov.uk/ without charge. The booklet contains generic advice on managing work-related road safety effectively and on integrating it into existing health and safety arrangements. The guidance will be useful to any employer, manager or supervisor with staff who drive or ride a motorcycle or bicycle at work.

  The Department is arranging for over 48,000 copies of the booklet to be issued to road safety, local authority, police, employer and employee interests. Effective management of work-related road safety will help reduce the risk to employees and to other road users, including pedestrians. I hope that all employers will follow the simple guidance set out in the booklet and that the benefits from raised road safety awareness at work will also improve standards of private motoring.

  Copies of the booklet are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Voluntary and Community Sector Infrastructure Consultation Document
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart)
  A Home Office consultation document on the development and funding of voluntary and community sector (VCS) infrastructure in England is being published today. The 50WS
  Government's aim is to help build a VCS, including social enterprise, which is fully engaged in shaping and delivering public services, underpinned by a high quality sustainable infrastructure that enables this to happen. Such support must meet the needs of a diverse sector and should complement support services available from the small business service and others.

  As part of the Spending Review 2002, the Treasury undertook a cross-cutting review of the role of the VCS in service delivery, published in September 2002. The review identified that VCS infrastructure was patchy in distribution and in quality and that this was a barrier to increasing VCS involvement in service delivery. It recommended that
  "Government and the VCS should develop a coherent shared strategy to underpin capacity in the sector".

  Consultation with voluntary and community organisations, and others interested in an effective sector, will inform a final strategy to be published early next year. This will include proposals to guide the investment of approximately £80 million of SR2002 funds.

  The aim is to put a strategy in place which ensures:
  High quality support for voluntary and community organisations delivered as close to the point of need as is economically viable.
  The existence of effective infrastructure locally, regionally and nationally. This may be supplemented by activity at a sub-regional level particularly activities that cannot be afforded more locally.
  Accessible, high quality support available across the VCS, including to support volunteering, black and minority ethnic and other diversity issues, social and community enterprise, community development, rural needs, and to support VCS use of information and communications technology.
  Strengthened specialist infrastructure organisations operating nationally—and regionally where needed—covering thematic areas of VCS activity and service delivery such as youth work, childcare, and vocational training.

  Copies of the consultation document are available in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament and on the Home Office website. We would welcome views on the proposals and questions outlined in the paper by Monday 22 December 2003. A draft regulatory impact assessment is included with the consultation document.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

  Crown Prosecution Service
  The Solicitor-General(Ms Harriet Harman)
  The Labour Party 2001 General Election Manifesto promised (at page 33):Despite an increase of 25 per cent. since 1997, we have too few prosecutors. By 2004, Labour pledges 300 new prosecutors.

  At the time, in March 2001, there were 1,828 lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service. The commitment had been met by October 2002. There were, by July 2003, 2,323 lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service, an increase of 495 since March 2001.

DEFENCE

  Veterans
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence(Mr. Ivor Caplin)
  I am announcing the publication of a new report entitled "Improving the Delivery of Cross Departmental Support and Services for Veterans", which my department commissioned from King's College London last year. The publication of this study demonstrates the commitment of the Government as a whole to the Veterans Initiative through the participation of a working group which included members from the Department of Health, Home Office, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Her Majesty's Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions and veterans organisations. The aim was to produce a map of veterans' needs, with emphasis on the more vulnerable veterans, match this against current provision and identify priority research gaps. This involved a literature survey, detailed interviews with 'at risk' personnel, and analysis and further interviews of an existing cohort of personnel for ex-Service outcomes.

  This study is a preliminary scoping study and will inform the direction of policy and research. It therefore represents an important contribution to the Veterans Initiative. The report conclusions confirm that
  "For many (indeed most) personnel military life is a great leveller; it is a positive experience (especially for disadvantaged youths who enter service early), allowing them to enjoy a more favourable life trajectory",
  and that
  "Over three quarters of service leavers do well and gain employment after leaving".

  The report finds that there is little peer-reviewed published UK literature on outcomes of veterans, and that most published research concerns US Service and ex-Service personnel, from which it would be inaccurate to draw extrapolations. It also shows that mental health is an important issue—most personnel do not develop problems as a result of their Service, but the small percentage that do can face a range of difficulties in civilian life, including access to appropriate treatment.

  The Government welcome this report and would like to thank Professor Wessely and his team for their work. The report recommends a number of actions, as well as further research on ways to help the most vulnerable groups. I can confirm that we will look in detail at these recommendations and will evaluate them against existing policies and activities.

  A copy of the full report will be placed in the Library of the House, and also on the websites of the MOD and Veterans Agency, at http://www.mod.uk/ and http:// www.veteransagency.mod.uk.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

  Voting Pilot Schemes
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs(Mr. Christopher Leslie)
  The Government have today introduced a Bill to allow piloting of innovative voting methods at next year's European Parliamentary elections. The European 52WS
  Parliamentary and Local Elections (Pilots) Bill also provides for pilots at local elections where these are combined with and take place on the same day as elections for the European Parliament.

  This legislation demonstrates the Government's commitment to their goal of making voting easier and more convenient and represents a marked scaling up from previous pilots. The Bill is needed as current legislation does not allow for piloting at European Parliamentary elections and the Government are keen to maintain the momentum gained through previous successful pilot schemes. Such schemes have included both all-postal ballots and multi-channelled e-voting and, at this year's local elections, were conducted in 61 local authorities covering 6.4 million eligible voters.

  Decisions on which regions should be chosen for next year's pilots, and which methods should be used in those regions, will be informed by advice from the Electoral Commission. The Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are today jointly writing to the Commission with guidance on this issue. The Commission—an independent body funded by Parliament—will consult with stakeholders and report back later in the year.

  Alongside this legislation, the Government have also today launched a consultation on implementation of next year's pilot schemes. This consultation, to be conducted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, will outline our plans for the pilots and seek comments from local authorities and other interested parties on our proposals.

  Our proposals have been developed in the light of the Electoral Commission's strategic evaluation of the pilots held at the local elections earlier this year. Their report, "The Shape of Elections to Come", made a number of recommendations, which the Government have considered very carefully, and we have published today our formal response.

  One of the main recommendations made by the Commission was that all-postal voting should be made the normal method of voting at local elections. We welcome that recommendation, but we recognise that it would involve a major change to our traditional electoral arrangements. Therefore, the Government intend to launch a public consultation on the detail of that recommendation later this year.

HEALTH

  NHS Pension Scheme
  The Minister of State, Department of Health(Mr. John Hutton)
  Further to my statement of 28 November 2002, I have now received and accepted the report of the Government Actuary on his investigation of the National Health Service Pension Scheme in England and Wales for the period 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1999. The report confirms that the rate of employer contributions should be 14 percent, from 1 April 2003.

  Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Bill
  The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland(Mr. Paul Murphy)
  The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following statement under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998:

  In my view the provisions of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Bill [HL], are compatible with the Convention rights.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Iraq
  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 Industry recently approved a 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 these goods to be exported on the basis that they are to used by a private security firm in the protection of the British Office in Baghdad. The work of the British Office in Baghdad forms part of the Authority's functions under resolution 1483 (2003). 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.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  EU Structural and Cohesion Funds
  The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry(Ms Patricia Hewitt)
  The Government's long-term economic goal is to achieve high and stable levels of growth and employment. Regional policy is at the heart of our efforts to achieve this goal—ensuring that every UK nation and region fulfils its economic potential, that all parts of the country share in rising prosperity, and that economic disparities between our nations and regions are identified and addressed.

  In March, we put forward for consultation a proposal to reform the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds through the establishment of an EU Framework for Devolved Regional Policy. We argued that this offered the best way to reform EU regional policy so that it supported the domestic regional agenda and responded to the challenge of EU enlargement in a fair and sustainable way.
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  Since then, we have received almost three hundred written responses, and I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to engage in the consultation, either in writing or through the consultation events that we have held throughout the UK. Our overall conclusion, in the light of the responses received, is that the Government's proposed EU Framework for Devolved Regional Policy provides the best context in which to develop future arrangements for EU and UK regional policy, that it can be built on to address the key points raised during the consultation exercise, and therefore that it should form the basis of our negotiating position in Europe.

  I am making this short statement today because I wanted to take an early opportunity to explain how the Government propose to move forward in the light of the consultation. Further work, in consultation with key stakeholders, will now be set in hand to flesh out the details of our proposal and to respond to questions and concerns raised in the consultation. This will be the subject of a more detailed statement on the EU Framework and how we see it operating after the recess.

  THE OUTCOME OF THE CONSULTATION

  The proposals we put forward in the consultation were based on the following key objectives:
  We want a EU regional policy that fully supports, and adds value to, the ambitious devolution, decentralisation and regional development agenda already being pursued domestically.
  We want significantly simpler and more flexible implementation and monitoring arrangements, which are proportionate to the amount of funding available and which allow integration with other policies.
  We want EU regional policy actively to support the EU's agenda set at Lisbon and elsewhere for higher productivity and employment and for developing human resources.
  While being in no doubt about the continued need for strong regional policy in all Member States, we believe that it is both fair, and the most effective use of funds, to concentrate the EU's limited financial and administrative resources on the poorest Member States, where they will add most value.
  And we must also ensure that expenditure on EU regional policy, as with other elements of the EU budget, achieves a fair budgetary deal for the UK taxpayer.

  The responses to the consultation are being published on the DTI website today. The vast majority of those who commented on the overall aims for reform of EU regional and cohesion policy supported these key objectives. On issues such as the need for increased flexibility, state aid reforms, and reduced bureaucracy, the majority of respondents also agreed that these should be priorities for reform. Many also supported our view that, in the context of enlargement, current arrangements are unsustainable, and a number of respondents recognised that the UK cannot expect its current level of EU Structural Fund receipts to be maintained after 2006.

  On our proposed EU Framework for Devolved Regional Policy, a small number of respondents expressed wholehearted support for the approach. Some others were firmly against it, and favoured an alternative approach in which Structural Funds would be retained in all Member States including the UK. But the great majority emphasised a desire for more

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  information about the proposal and how it would operate in practice. The further work we are now setting in hand will respond to this.

  More specifically, in consultation with others we shall be working to provide further information on:
  the structure and content of the EU Framework and how it would operate at Member State and European levels;
  the ways in which the Framework would complement our domestic regional policy agenda;
  how the Government's guarantee to increased domestic funding for regional policy would be met, in the event that the EU Framework approach is adopted, with more information on the scale and duration of the guarantee;
  possible delivery mechanisms for increased domestic funding, designed to ensure that the best aspects of Structural Funds are retained in a simpler and more streamlined system;
  the ways in which different domestic policy agendas, for example urban and rural regeneration and the need to continue to support activities in the National Action Plan for Employment, including priorities such as employability, skills and social inclusion, would be incorporated in the new approach;
  the relationship of the EU Framework approach to developments in other European policy areas such as reform of the State Aid Regime, the Common Agricultural Policy and the European Employment Strategy.

  In addition to this work, officials will need to consider separately what the proposed approach should be to future PEACE funding in Northern Ireland.
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  CONCLUSION

  The Government remain fully signed up to the objectives for European regional policy we set out in March. We welcome the support we have received for these objectives, and continue to believe that the EU Framework approach provides he best way forward to address them. We have concluded that the responses to the consultation exercise provide a basis for building on the approach set out so far, on which further work will now be taken forward. In the meantime the approach will now form the basis of the Government's position in forthcoming discussions and negotiations with our EU partners.

  By responding to the challenge of enlargement, by focusing EU resources on the poorest member states, by agreeing EU-wide objectives and giving European regions greater flexibility within that framework, I believe we can achieve an outcome that is best for the new member states, for Europe, and for the nations and regions of the United Kingdom.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

  Business
  The Leader of the House of Commons(Mr. Peter Hain)
  The date of the Queen's Speech to Parliament will be Wednesday 26 November. I plan to announce the date of prorogation as soon as I am able.