Written Statement of 28 April 2004

WORK AND PENSIONS

  "Ambition: Health" Pilots
  The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith)
  From September this year, Jobcenter Plus, in partnership with the National Health Service and the Learning and Skills Council, will begin a pilot on Merseyside of "Ambition: Health". This new initiative will provide local workless people with the skills for good jobs in the NHS. Those who gain employment as a result will receive further support and training to gain qualifications and a sound basis for career progression.

  "Ambition: Health" will be the fifth of the Ambition programmes to be developed by the National Employment Panel and delivered by Jobcenter Plus. It joins programmes in the energy, construction, retail and IT sectors, which have directly involved employers in the design of high quality training, preparing participants specifically for their vacancies.

  Preparations are under way for a second pilot in South Yorkshire, to follow early in the New Year. Jobcenter Plus is examining the feasibility of further local pilots to be launched during 2005.

HEALTH

  Learning Disability Services
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr. Stephen Ladyman)
  I am today publishing "Valuing People: Moving Forward Together", the Government's second annual report on learning disability services. The report describes progress made in implementing the programme of action set out in the White Paper "Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century" (Cm 5086) and responds to "Rights, Independence, Choice and Inclusion", the second annual report of the learning disability taskforce, which was published in February this year.

  "Valuing People" is a cross-Government strategy. In last year's annual report, "Making Change Happen" (HC 5114), we acknowledged the learning disability taskforce's concern that Government as a whole was not giving enough priority to people with learning disabilities and undertook to talk to Government Departments about learning disability and the impact of their work on people with learning disabilities. "Valuing People: Moving Forward Together" reports on that
  42WS
  work and describes areas where departments have worked with, or will be working with, learning disabled people to ensure that they can be more fully included in society. It records a wide range of activity covering many aspects of daily life:
  The Department of Trade and Industry plans to work with people with learning disabilities to make sure that Consumer Direct provides information in a way that they can understand.
  The Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills are jointly supporting a conference later this year on parenting and people with learning disabilities.
  Under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Supporting People initiative, more than £400 million has been allocated to services for people with learning disabilities.
  The Department of Health has awarded the Home Farm Trust £194,000 over three years to set up a self sustaining national network of organisations supporting family carers who have adult relatives with learning disabilities.
  The Department for Transport has funded a project with Transport for London and a self-advocacy group to make buses and tubes in London easier for people with learning disabilities to use.
  The Department for Constitutional Affairs has been consulting people with learning disabilities over the Mental Incapacity Bill.

  Today's report, like last year's, is written in an accessible form, using pictures and straightforward, jargon-free language. We commissioned people with learning disabilities from the London Consultative Group to advise us on making the report accessible and I should like to acknowledge the help we received from them. It is important that people with learning disabilities can see for themselves what is being done to improve the services they use and to increase the opportunities available to them to lead the type of life the rest of us take for granted.

  "Valuing People" said that it would take a minimum of five years for its programme to be implemented. We are now over half way through that period and continue to make good progress.

  Copies of "Valuing People: Moving Forward Together" have been placed in the Library.

CABINET OFFICE

  Departmental Report 2004
  The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. Douglas Alexander)
  I have today, with my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, laid before Parliament the "Cabinet Office Departmental Report 2004" (Cm 6226).

  The report describes the work of the Cabinet Office, and includes a performance report for each of our public service agreement targets. It explains how significant changes to the Cabinet Office's leadership and internal structure over the past year have enhanced our ability to deliver our objectives. The report also includes a set of tables showing past outturn and future expenditure plans.

  Copies are available in the Vote Office and in the Library.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  Middle-Income Countries
  The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn)
  Although DFID's primary focus is, and will remain, the poorest countries of the world, DFID is producing a middle-income countries' strategy to ensure that our resources are used effectively to deliver the millennium development goals. We are publishing a consultation paper for discussion with our partners, and a copy has been placed in the Library. Our aim is to secure an improved international consensus around support to middle-income countries.

  We will publish the final version of the strategy later in 2004.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Small Business Service
  The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt)
  The Small Business Service (SBS) is today publishing its business plan for 2004–05. I have deposited copies of the plan in the House of Commons Library. Electronic versions are available on the SBS website www.sbs.gov.uk.

  The Government published a cross-departmental action plan "A Government action plan for small business" in January. The action plan defines Government's programme of work going forward and is the foundation for the 2004–05 SBS business plan. The SBS has a leadership role as a center of expertise, an innovator and an engine for change within government based on its experience of delivering services to small businesses and its extensive research base and network of contacts.

  The business plan sets out what the SBS will do to drive forward implementation of the Government action plan over the next 12 months. It also sets out the changes being made within the SBS to make a reality of its leadership role within Government on small business issues.

  The plan identifies eight key agency targets for 2004–05 grouped—where relevant—under the strategy to which they relate.

  Building an enterprise culture
  Deliver a national enterprise awareness event involving public and private sector partners in November 2004.

  Encouraging a dynamic start-up market
  Complete the establishment of the council for graduate entrepreneurship by May 2004.

  Building the capability for small business growth
  Ensure by March 2005 that Business Link (both the website and the face to face service) is effectively promoting and delivering the DTI's new portfolio of business support products—particularly those relating to innovation, knowledge transfer and best practice.
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  Improving access to finance for small businesses
  Complete an action plan for carrying forward the recommendations of the review of the small firms loan guarantee by December 2004, and launch a pathfinder round of enterprise capital funds within one month of state aid approval being received.

  Encouraging more enterprise in disadvantaged communities and under-represented groups
  Launch the second round of the City Growth Strategies and Phoenix Fund Building on the best projects from April 2004. monitor their progress and begin a programme of events to share best practice by February 2005.

  Improving small businesses' experience of Government services
  Plan the transfer of responsibility for the management of Business Link Operator contracts to the regional development agencies within a national framework that maintains core service standards with effect from April 2005.

  Developing better regulation and policy
  Complete a public consultation so that government can consider whether to extend the concept of common commencement dates for regulations to new areas of domestic law, and publish the responses.

  Delivering the Government Action Plan for Small Business
  Monitor, evaluate and drive forward implementation of the Government-wide "Action Plan for Small Business" published in January 2004, updating the web-based implementation programme available at www.sbs.gov.uk on a regular basis to record the progress being made.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Cyprus
  The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs> (Mr. Jack Straw)
  I would like to inform the House of developments in relation to Cyprus since my written statement of 1 April. In that statement I described how, after talks in Cyprus and in Switzerland between the parties, and also with the leaders of Greece and Turkey, the UN Secretary-General produced a final version of his comprehensive settlement proposals. I looked forward to the referendums scheduled for 24 April.

  The House will know that the referendum in the Turkish Cypriot community was carried by a large majority, but that in the Greek Cypriot community the settlement proposals were opposed by a large majority. Accordingly the Annan plan—which was designed to be self-executing in time for a reunited island to enter the EU on 1 May—is null and void. The United Kingdom's offer of territory from the sovereign base areas, which as an integral part of the plan is also null and void.

  It follows that, on 1 May. Cyprus will join the EU, but in the absence of a settlement the EU acquis will be suspended in the north of the island.
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  On the evening of 24 April I made the following statement, which I should like to raw to the attention of the House:
  "For thirty years, the international community has supported the efforts of Cypriots on both sides to resolve their differences and put an end to the tragic division of the island.
  Over the last few years, Kofi Annan and his team have built on earlier efforts and worked tirelessly to bring about a comprehensive settlement package that meets the key interests of the two sides, and provides a solid foundation for a durable bi-communal, bi-zonal federal solution.
  Britain has always given its strong support to the efforts of the UN and of those on both sides who have shown the courage to seek a realistic compromise solution.
  We will respect the choice that the Greek Cypriots have expressed today. But I hope that they will continue to reflect on whether this choice is the right one for them. By this decision a majority of Greek Cypriot voters has rejected the settlement, despite the prospect it offered of reuniting the island, providing long-sought relief for the refugees of 1974 and progressively lifting the weight of militarisation—all this within the framework of political stability and economic security which European Union membership provides.
  I am glad that the Turkish Cypriot community has voted so clearly for the settlement. The result shows what a fundamental change of attitude has taken place within the Turkish Cypriot community in recent years.
  I understand very well their wish to end their isolation in the world, to join with Greek Cypriots in a reunified island, and to move together into the European Union that is the best guarantee for the future of their collective security and prosperity. I want them to know that this remains our goal too, and that we will continue to work for its ultimate realisation.
  Meanwhile, I would like to assure all Cypriots that, if at any point in the future both communities decide in favour of a comprehensive settlement which would reunify the island in the European Union, the United Kingdom, as a guarantor power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a leading EU member state, not to mention a long-standing friend and supporter of Cyprus, will be exerting all its efforts to ensure that the settlement is the practical and political success which Cypriots have for so long deserved".

  These were the policies which I advocated at the 26 April meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg. They met with wide agreement from our European partners. There was regret that the union's strong preference for accession by a reunited Cyprus had not proved possible. But there was also determination to build upon the positive aspects of the situation, including the contribution of the Governments of Greece and Turkey, and—in particular—the pro-EU, pro-settlement vote of the Turkish Cypriot community. The conclusions in respect of Cyprus issued by the council on Monday were as follows:
  "The council noted the results of the referenda in Cyprus on 24 April and expressed its strong regret that the accession to the EU of a united Cyprus will not now be possible on 1 May. The council expressed its deep appreciation for the determined and sustained efforts of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his colleagues in the search for a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem. The council also welcomed the contribution made by Greece and Turkey. It expressed its determination to ensure that the people of Cyprus will soon achieve their shared destiny as citizens of a united Cyprus in the European Ur ion.
  The Turkish Cypriot community have expressed their clear desire for a future within the European Union. The council is determined to put an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community. The council invited the Commission to
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  bring forward comprehensive proposals to this end, with particular emphasis on the economic integration of the island and on improving contact between the two communities and with the EU. The council recommended that the 259 million euros already earmarked for the northern part of Cyprus in the event of a settlement now e used for this purpose.
  The council asked COREPER to expedite discussion of the Regulation on a regime under Article 2 of Protocol 10 of the Act of Accession with a view to its adoption before 1 May, taking due account of the council's desire to send a signal of encouragement to the Turkish Cypriot community that its future rests in a united Cyprus within the European Union".

  By these and other means we intend to demonstrate Europe's concern for the well-being of Turkish Cypriots. In the same spirit, I have noted the announced intention of the Cyprus Government to support the economic strengthening of the Turkish Cypriot community and to facilitate trade.

  As these conclusions indicate, neither the UK nor the EU as a whole is proposing any change in our long-standing and consistent policy of non-recognition of "TRNC".

  We look forward to a report from the Secretary-General during the course of May about he future of his good offices mission.

  We continue to believe that the Annan plan represented the best available blueprint for settlement. 1 share the UN Secretary-General's hope, expressed after the "no" vote on 24 April, that the Greek Cypriot electorate may arrive at a different view in the fullness of time, after a profound and sober assessment of their decision.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  English Indices of Deprivation 2004
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper)
  Today I am announcing the publication of the revised "Indices of Deprivation—Indices of Deprivation 2004".

  The Indices of Deprivation 2004 (ID 2004) combine statistical indicators on economic and social issues into a single score and rank for each small area in England. This enables us to rank small areas according to their level of deprivation. The indices are used by Government and other agencies to identify where there are concentrations of disadvantaged people, so that resources can be targeted where there is greatest need.

  The new index is a significant improvement on previous indices. It uses a new base geography, which is more consistent over time and in terms of size. This allows us to overcome some of the problems with electoral wards, which were of varying sizes and which were regularly changed. The new super output areas allow us better to identify where very small pockets of deprivation exist and to track changes over time.

  We have also been able to include new indicators that give a more precise measurement of particular aspects of deprivation. For example, with the new pupil level annual school census, we are able to attribute educational deprivation to the area where the child lives rather than attributing it to the school, as was the case in the past. We have also overcome previous problems with crime data and have now included a crime domain

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  for the first time. There is also a new living environment domain, which aims to identify deprivation in the indoors and outdoors living environment. Both of these new domains were strongly supported in the two periods of public consultation held to determine the best process for updating the 2000 index.

  The index also allows us to rank local authority districts. Districts are complex to describe as a whole and as a result, six different measures have been designed which focus on different aspects of multiple deprivation in the district. No single measure is favoured over another, as there is no single best way of describing or comparing districts. The six measures are:
  The Concentration is an important way of identifying districts' hot spots of deprivation.

  Rank

  Rank of Average Score

  Rank of Average Rank

  Rank of Extent

  Rank of Concentration

  Rank of Income Scale

  Rank of Employment Scale

  1

  Knowsley

  Tower Hamlets

  Tower Hamlets

  Knowsley

  Birmingham

  Birmingham

  2

  Liverpool

  Hackney

  Hackney

  Liverpool

  Liverpool

  Liverpool

  3

  Manchester

  Knowsley

  Islington

  Manchester

  Manchester

  Manchester

  4

  Tower Hamlets

  Manchester

  Manchester

  Middlesbrough

  Leeds

  Leeds

  5

  Hackney

  Islington

  Liverpool

  Newcastle upon Tyne Bradford

  Sheffield

  6

  Easington

  Liverpool

  Newham

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Sheffield

  Bradford

  7

  Nottingham

  Newham

  Easington

  Salford

  Newham

  Sunderland

  8

  Islington

  Easington

  Knowsley

  Nottingham

  Tower Hamlets

  Wirral

  9

  Middlesbrough

  Nottingham

  Nottingham

  Wirral

  Hackney

  Wigan

  10

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Middlesbrough

  Rochdale

  Nottingham

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  11

  Newham

  Southwark

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Hartlepool

  Sandwell

  Wakefield

  12

  Hartlepool

  Haringey

  Southwark

  Redcar and Cleveland

  Leicester

  Nottingham

  13

  Salford

  Barking and Dagenham

  Haringey

  Bradford

  Wirral

  Doncaster

  14

  Halton

  Sandwell

  Halton

  Blackpool

  Bristol, City of

  Bristol, City of

  15

  Haringey

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Hartlepool

  Halton

  Lambeth

  Sefton

  16

  Birmingham

  Halton

  Birmingham

  Stockton-on-Tees

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Kirklees

  17

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Lambeth

  Sandwell

  Birmingham

  Haringey

  Stoke-on-Trent

  18

  Southwark

  Hartlepool

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Gateshead

  Southwark

  Sandwell

  19

  Sandwell

  Middlesbrough

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Tower Hamlets

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  20

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Birmingham

  Salford

  Westminster

  Sunderland

  Barnsley

  21

  Blackpool

  Salford

  South Tyneside

  St. Helens

  Kirklees

  Lambeth

  22

  Sunderland

  Blackpool

  Sunderland

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Brent

  Leicester

  23

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Camden

  Wolverhampton

  Derby

  Lewisham

  Coventry

  24

  Rochdale

  Greenwich

  Camden

  Sheffield

  Wolverhampton

  Newham

  25

  Camden

  Sunderland

  Barking and Dagenham

  Easington

  Coventry

  Southwark

  26

  Barking and Dagenham

  Waltham Forest

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Leicester

  Doncaster

  Hackney

  27

  South Tyneside

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Gateshead

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Ealing

  Salford

  28

  Wolverhampton

  Wear Valley

  Rochdale

  Oldham

  Enfield

  Bolton

  29

  St. Helens

  Hastings

  Lambeth

  Sunderland

  Wakefield

  Wolverhampton

  30

  Gateshead

  South Tyneside

  Mansfield

  Bolton

  Islington

  Knowsley

  31

  Leicester

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Barnsley

  Leeds

  Croydon

  Rotherham

  32

  Lambeth

  St. Helens

  Blackpool

  Bristol, City of

  Walsall

  Haringey

  33

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Bolsover

  St. Helens

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Sefton

  Gateshead

  34

  Barnsley

  Barnsley

  Doncaster

  North East Lincolnshire

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Tower Hamlets

  35

  Mansfield

  Leicester

  Greenwich

  Sefton

  Salford

  Dudley

  36

  Wear Valley

  Mansfield

  Hastings

  Preston

  Greenwich

  Walsall

  37

  Hastings

  Wolverhampton

  Bradford

  Barnsley

  Waltham Forest

  Lewisham

  38

  Bradford

  Lewisham

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Coventry

  Knowsley

  Islington

  39

  Greenwich

  Gateshead

  Leicester

  Burnley

  Bolton

  Brent

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  The Extent portrays how widespread high levels of deprivation are in a district.
  The Income Scale measure gives the number of people in the district who are income deprived.
  The Employment Scale measure gives the number of people in the district who are employment deprived.
  The Average of SOA Ranks summarises the district as a whole, taking into account the ranks of both the deprived and least deprived SOAs.
  The Average of SOA Scores also describes the district as a whole, taking into account the full range of SOA scores across a district.

  The table below summarises the districts that are amongst the 50 most deprived on each of the six district measures.
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  Rank

  Rank of Average Score

  Rank of Average Rank

  Rank of Extent

  Rank of Concentration

  Rank of Income Scale

  Rank of Employment Scale

  40

  Doncaster

  Rochdale

  Wansbeck

  Mansfield

  Wigan

  St. Helens

  41

  Redcar and Cleveland

  Penwith

  Walsall

  Hastings

  Dudley

  Rochdale

  42

  Burnley

  Doncaster

  Oldham

  Wolverhampton

  Rotherham

  Ealing

  43

  Wansbeck

  Sedgefield

  Preston

  Haringey

  Camden

  Brighton and Hove

  44

  Waltham Forest

  Burnley

  Burnley

  Islington

  Derby

  Oldham

  45

  Bolsover

  Tameside

  Wear Valley

  Great Yarmouth

  Barnsley

  Tameside

  46

  Oldham

  Wansbeck

  Sedgefield

  Wansbeck

  Rochdale

  Plymouth

  47

  Wirral

  Derwentside

  Norwich

  Wigan

  Barnet

  Camden

  48

  Westminster

  Wigan

  Bolton

  Doncaster

  Oldham

  South Tyneside

  49

  Tameside

  Westminster

  Redcar and Clevaland

  Wear Valley

  Gateshead

  North Tyneside

  50

  Wigan

  Ashfield

  Bolsover

  Tameside

  Brighton and Hove

  Croydon

  Middle Income Countries
  The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)
  My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.

  Although DfID's primary focus is, and will remain, the poorest countries of the world, DfID is producing a middle income countries strategy to ensure that our resources are used effectively to deliver the millennium development goals. We are publishing a consultation paper for discussion with our partners, and a copy has been placed in the Library. Our aim is to secure an improved international consensus around support to middle income countries.

  We will publish the final version of the strategy later in 2004.

  Cyprus
  The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)
  I would like to inform the House of developments in relation to Cyprus since my Written Statement of 1 April. In that Statement I described how, after talks in Cyprus and in Switzerland between the parties, and with the leaders of Greece and Turkey, the UN Secretary-General produced a final version of his comprehensive settlement proposals. I looked forward to the referendums scheduled for 24 April.

  The House will know that the referendum in the Turkish Cypriot community was carried by a large majority; but that in the Greek Cypriot community the settlement proposals were opposed by a large majority. Accordingly the Annan plan, which was designed to be self-executing in time for a reunited island to enter the EU on 1 May, is null and void. (The United Kingdom's offer of territory from the Sovereign Base Areas, which was an integral part of the plan, is also null and void.)

  It follows that, on 1 May, Cyprus will join the EU, but in the absence of a settlement the EU acquis will be suspended in the north of the island.

  On the evening of 24 April, my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary made the following statement. which I should like to draw to the attention of the House:
  "For thirty years, the international community has supported the efforts of Cypriots on both sides to resolve their differences and put an end to the tragic division of the island.
  Over the last few years, Kofi Annan and his team have built on earlier efforts and worked tirelessly to bring about a comprehensive settlement package which meets the key interests of the two sides, and provides a solid foundation for a durable bicommunal, bizonal federal solution.
  WS 28
  Britain has always given its strong support to the efforts of the UN and of those on both sides who have shown the courage to seek a realistic compromise solution.
  We will respect the choice which the Greek Cypriots have expressed today. But I hope that they will continue to reflect on whether this choice is the right one for them. By this decision a majority of Greek Cypriot voters has rejected the settlement, despite the prospect it offered of reuniting the island, providing long-sought relief for the refugees of 1974, and progressively lifting the weight of militarization—all this within the framework of political stability and economic security which European Union membership provides.
  I am glad that the Turkish Cypriot community has voted so clearly for the settlement. The result shows what a fundamental change of attitude has taken place within the Turkish Cypriot community in recent years.
  I understand very well their wish to end their isolation in the world, to join with Greek Cypriots in a reunified island, and to move together into the European Union which is the best guarantee for the future of their collective security and prosperity. I want them to know that this remains our goal too, and that we will continue to work for its ultimate realisation.
  Meanwhile, I would like to assure all Cypriots that, if at any point in the future both communities decide in favour of a comprehensive settlement which would reunify the island in the European Union, the United Kingdom, as a guarantor power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a leading EU member state, not to mention a long-standing friend and supporter of Cyprus, will be exerting all its efforts to ensure that the settlement is the practical and political success which Cypriots have for so long deserved".

  These were the policies which he advocated at the 26 April meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg. They met with wide agreement from our European partners. There was regret that the Union's strong preference for accession by a reunited Cyprus had not proved possible. But there was also determination to build upon the positive aspects of the situation, including the contribution of the governments of Greece and Turkey, and in particular the pro-EU, pro-settlement vote of the Turkish Cypriot conummity. The conclusions in respect of Cyprus issued by the Council on Monday were as follows:
  "The Council noted the results of the referenda in Cyprus on 24 April and expressed its strong regret that the accession to the EU of a united Cyprus will not now be possible on 1 May. The Council expressed its deep appreciation for the determined and sustained efforts of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his colleagues in the search for a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem. The Council also welcomed the contribution made by Greece and Turkey. It expressed its determination to ensure that the people of Cyprus will soon achieve their shared destiny as citizens of a united Cyprus in the European Union.
  The Turkish Cypriot community have expressed their clear desire for a future within the European Union. The Council is determined to put an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community. The Council invited the Commission to bring forward comprehensive proposals to this end, with particular emphasis on the economic integration of the island and on improving contact between the two communities and with the EU. The Council recommended that the 259 million euros already earmarked for the northern part of Cyprus in the event of a settlement now be used for this purpose.
  The Council asked COREPER to expedite discussion of the regulation on a regime under Article 2 of Protocol 10 of the Act of Accession with a view to its adoption before 1 May, taking due account of the Council's desire to send a signal of encouragement to the Turkish Cypriot community that its future rests in a united Cyprus within the European Union".
  WS 29
  By these and other means we intend to demonstrate Europe's concern for the wellbeing of Turkish Cypriots. In the same spirit, we have noted the announced intention of the Cyprus Government to support the economic strengthening of the Turkish Cypriot community and to facilitate trade.

  As these conclusions indicate, neither the UK nor the EU as a whole is proposing any change in our longstanding and consistent policy of non-recognition of "TRNC".

  We look forward to a report from the Secretary-General during the course of May about the future of his good offices mission.

  We continue to believe that the Annan plan represented the best available blueprint for a settlement. We share the UN Secretary-General's hope, expressed after the "no" vote on 24 April, that the Greek Cypriot electorate may arrive at a different view in the fullness of time, after a profound and sober assessment of their decision.

  Learning Disability Services
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)
  My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Community (Dr Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.

  I am today publishing Valuing People.. Moving Forward Together, the Government's second annual report on learning disability services. The report describes progress made in implementing the programme of action set out in the White Paper Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability fin- the 21st Century (Cm 5086) and responds to Rights, Independence, Choice and Inclusion, the second annual report of the Learning Disability Task Force, which was published in February this year.

  Valuing People is a cross-government strategy. In last year's annual report, Making Change Happen (HC 5114), we acknowledged the Learning Disability Task Force's concern that government as a whole were not giving enough priority to people with learning disabilities and undertook to talk to government departments about learning disability and the impact of their work on people with learning disabilities. Valuing People: Moving Forward Together reports on that work and describes areas where departments have worked with, or will be working with, learning disabled people to ensure that they can be more fully included in society. It records a wide range of activity covering many aspects of daily life:

  The Department of Trade and Industry plans to work with people with learning disabilities to make sure that Consumer Direct provides information in a way that they can understand;

  The Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills are jointly supporting a conference later this year on parenting and people with learning disabilities;

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  Under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Supporting People initiative, more than £400 million has been allocated to services for people with learning disabilities;

  The Department of Health has awarded the Home Farm Trust £194,000 over three years to set up a self sustaining national network of organisations supporting family carers who have adult relatives with learning disabilities;

  The Department for Transport has funded a project with Transport for London and a self advocacy group to make buses and tubes in London easier for people with learning disabilities to use;

  The Department for Constitutional Affairs has been consulting people with learning disabilities over the Mental Incapacity Bill.

  Today's report, like last year's, is written in an accessible form, using pictures and straightforward, jargon-free language. We commissioned people with learning disabilities from the London consultative group to advise us on making the report accessible and I should like to acknowledge the help we received from them. It is important that people with learning disabilities can see for themselves what is being done to improve the services they use and to increase the opportunities available to them to lead the type of life the rest of us take for granted.

  Valuing People said that it would take a minimum of five years for its programme to be implemented. We are now over half way through that period and continue to make good progress.

  Copies of Valuing People: Moving Forward Together have been placed in the Library.

  English Indices of Deprivation
  The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)
  My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

  Today I am announcing the publication of the revised Indices of Deprivation 2004.

  The Indices of Deprivation 2004 (ID 2004) combine statistical indicators on economic and social issues into a single score and rank for each small area in England. This enables us to rank small areas according to their level of deprivation. The indices are used by govermnent and other agencies to identify where there are concentrations of disadvantaged people, so that resources could be targeted where there is greatest need.

  The new index is a significant improvement on previous indices. It uses a new base geography, which is more consistent over time and in terms of size. This allows us to overcome some of the problems with electoral wards, which were of varying sizes and which were regularly changed. The new super output areas allow us to better identify where very small pockets of deprivation exist and to track changes over time.
  WS 31
  We have also been able to include new indicators that give a more precise measurement of particular aspects of deprivation. For example, with the new pupil level annual school census, we are able to attribute educational deprivation to the area where the child lives rather than attributing it to the school, as was the case in the past. We have also overcome previous problems with crime data and have now included a crime domain for the first time. There is also a new living environment domain, which aims to identify deprivation in the indoors and outdoors living environment. Both of these new domains were strongly supported in the two periods of public consultation held to determine the best process for updating the 2000 index.

  The index also allows us to rank local authority districts. Districts are complex to describe as a whole and as a result six different measures have been designed which focus on different aspects of multiple deprivation in the district. No single measure is favoured over another, as there is no single best way

  Rank

  Rank of Average Score

  Rank of Average Rank

  Rank of Extent

  Rank of Concentration

  Rank of Income Scale

  Rank of Employment Scale

  1

  Knowsley

  Tower Hamlets

  Tower Hamlets

  Knowsley

  Birmingham

  Birmingham

  2

  Liverpool

  Hackney

  Hackney

  Liverpool

  Liverpool

  Liverpool

  3

  Manchester

  Knowsley

  Islington

  Manchester

  Manchester

  Manchester

  4

  Tower Hamlets

  Manchester

  Manchester

  Middlesbrough

  Leeds

  Leeds

  5

  Hackney

  Islington

  Liverpool

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Bradford

  Sheffield

  6

  Easington

  Liverpool

  Newham

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Sheffield

  Bradford

  7

  Nottingham

  Newham

  Easington

  Salford

  Newham

  Sunderland

  8

  Islington

  Easington

  Knowsley

  Nottingham

  Tower Hamlets

  Wirral

  9

  Middlesbrough

  Nottingham

  Nottingham

  Wirral

  Hackney

  Wigan

  10

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Middlesbrough

  Rochdale

  Nottingham

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  11

  Newham

  Southwark

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Hartlepool

  Sandwell

  Wakefield

  12

  Hartlepool

  Haringey

  Southwark

  Redcar and Cleveland

  Leicester

  Nottingham

  13

  Salford

  Barking and Dagenham

  Haringey

  Bradford

  Wirral

  Doncaster

  14

  Halton

  Sandwell

  Halton

  Blackpool

  Bristol, City of

  Bristol, City of

  15

  Haringey

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Hartlepool

  Halton

  Lambeth

  Sefton

  16

  Birmingham

  Halton

  Birmingham

  Stockton-on-Tees

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  Kirklees

  17

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Lambeth

  Sandwell

  Birmingham

  Haringey

  Stoke-on-Trent

  18

  Southwark

  Hartlepool

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Gateshead

  Southwark

  Sandwell

  19

  Sandwell

  Middlesbrough

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Tower Hamlets

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Kingston upon Hull, City of

  20

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Birmingham

  Salford

  Westminster

  Sunderland

  Barnsley

  21

  Blackpool

  Salford

  South Tyneside

  St. Helens

  Kirklees

  Lambeth

  22

  Sunderland

  Blackpool

  Sunderland

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Brent

  Leicester

  23

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Camden

  Wolverhampton

  Derby

  Lewisham

  Coventry

  24

  Rochdale

  Greenwich

  Camden

  Sheffield

  Wolverhampton

  Newham

  25

  Camden

  Sunderland

  Barking and Dagenham

  Easington

  Coventry

  Southwark

  26

  Barking and Dagenham

  Waltham Forest

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Leicester

  Doncaster

  Hackney

  27

  South Tyneside

  Blackburn with Darwen

  Gateshead

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Ealing

  Salford

  28

  Wolverhampton

  Wear Valley

  Rochdale

  Oldham

  Enfield

  Bolton

  29

  St. Helens

  Hastings

  Lambeth

  Sunderland

  Wakefield

  Wolverhampton

  30

  Gateshead

  South Tyneside

  Mansfield

  Bolton

  Islington

  Knowsley

  31

  Leicester

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Barnsley

  Leeds

  Croydon

  Rotherham

  WS 32
  of describing or comparing districts. The six measures are:

  The concentration is an important way of identifying districts' hot spots of deprivation;

  The extent portrays how widespread high levels of deprivation are in a district;

  The income scale measure gives the number of people in the district who are income deprived;

  The employment scale measure gives the number of people in the district who are employment deprived;

  The average of SOA ranks summarises the district as a whole, taking into account the ranks of both the deprived and the least deprived SOAs;

  The average of SOA scores also describes the district as a whole, taking into account the full range of SOA scores across a district.

  The table below summarises the districts that are among the 50 most deprived on each of the six district measures.
  WS 33

  Rank

  Rank of Average Score

  Rank of Average Rank

  Rank of Extent

  Rank of Concentration

  Rank of Income Scale

  Rank of Employment Scale

  32

  Lambeth

  St. Helens

  Blackpool

  Bristol, City of

  Walsall

  Haringey

  33

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Bolsover

  St. Helens

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Sefton

  Gateshead

  34

  Barnsley

  Barnsley

  Doncaster

  North East Lincolnshire

  Stoke-on-Trent

  Tower Hamlets

  35

  Mansfield

  Leicester

  Greenwich

  Sefton

  Salford

  Dudley

  36

  Wear Valley

  Mansfield

  Hastings

  Preston

  Greenwich

  Walsall

  37

  Hastings

  Wolverhampton

  Bradford

  Barnsley

  Waltham Forest

  Lewisham

  38

  Bradford

  Lewisham

  Barrow-in-Furness

  Coventry

  Knowsley

  Islington

  39

  Greenwich

  Gateshead

  Leicester

  Burnley

  Bolton

  Brent

  40

  Doncaster

  Rochdale

  Wansbeck

  Mansfield

  Wigan

  St. Helens

  41

  Redcar and Cleveland

  Penwith

  Walsall

  Hastings

  Dudley

  Rochdale

  42

  Burnley

  Doncaster

  Oldham

  Wolverhampton

  Rotherham

  Ealing

  43

  Wansbeck

  Sedgefield

  Preston

  Haringey

  Camden

  Brighton and Hove

  44

  Waltham Forest

  Burnley

  Burnley

  Islington

  Derby

  Oldham

  45

  Bolsover

  Tameside

  Wear Valley

  Great Yarmouth

  Barnsley

  Tameside

  46

  Oldham

  Wansbeck

  Sedgefield

  Wansbeck

  Rochdale

  Plymouth

  47

  Wirral

  Derwentside

  Norwich

  Wigan

  Barnet

  Camden

  48

  Westminster

  Wigan

  Bolton

  Doncaster

  Oldham

  South Tyneside

  49

  Tameside

  Westminster

  Redcar and Cleveland

  Wear Valley

  Gateshead

  North Tyneside

  50

  Wigan

  Ashfield

  Bolsover

  Tameside

  Brighton and Hove

  Croydon

  Amalgamation of Divisions of General Commissioners
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin)
  On 26 April 2004 I made an order under Section 2(6) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 amalgamating a number of divisions in Oxfordshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire with effect from 1 May 2004 and a number of divisions in Devon with effect from 1 June 2004, as follows:

  Bideford, Barnstaple and Tavistock divisions are merged into North and West Devon Division; Moreton and Henley divisions are merged into Oxfordshire South Divisions; Frome and Wells divisions are merged into Frome and Wells Division; Northleach and Cheltenham divisions are merged into Cheltenham Division; and Stroud and Whitstone divisions are merged into Stroud Division.

  All the amalgamations were made at the request of the general commissioners in all the divisions with the aim of improving the organisational efficiency of the divisions concerned. I have placed a copy of the order amalgamating the divisions in the Libraries of both Houses.

  Small Business Service: Business Plan 2004–05
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)
  My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Hewitt) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

  The Small Business Service (SBS) is today publishing its business plan for 2004–05. I have deposited copies of the plan in the House of Commons
  WS 34
  Library. Electronic versions are available on the SBS website (www.sbs.gov.uk).

  The Government published a cross-departmental action plan A government action plan for snail business in January. The action plan defines the Government's programme of work going forward and is the foundation for the 2004–05 SBS business plan. The SBS has a leadership role as a centre of expertise, an innovator and an engine for change within government based on its experience of delivering services to small businesses and its extensive research base and network of contacts.

  The business plan sets out what the SBS will do to drive forward implementation of the government action plan over the next 12 months. It also sets out the changes being made within the SBS to make a reality of its leadership role within government on small business issues.

  The plan identifies eight key agency targets for 2004–05 grouped—where relevant—under the strategy to which they relate.

  Building an enterprise culture

  Deliver a national enterprise awareness event involving public and private sector partners in November 2004.

  Encouraging a dynamic start-up market

  Complete the establishment of the Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship by May 2004.

  Building the capability fir small business growth

  Ensure by March 2005 that Business Link (both the website and the face-to-face service) is effectively promoting and delivering the DTI's new portfolio of

  WS 35
  business support products—particularly those relating to innovation, knowledge transfer and best practice.

  Improving access to finance for small businesses

  Complete an action plan for carrying forward the recommendations of the review of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee by December 2004, and launch a pathfinder round of Enterprise Capital Funds within one month of state aid approval being received.

  Encouraging more enterprise in disadvantaged communities and underrepresented groups

  Launch the second round of the City Growth Strategies and Phoenix Fund Building on the Best projects from April 2004, monitor their progress and begin a programme of events to share best practice by February 2005.
  WS 36
  Improving small businesses' experience of government services

  Plan the transfer of responsibility for the management of Business Link operator contracts to the regional development agencies within a national framework which maintains core service standards with effect from April 2005.

  Developing better regulation and policy

  Complete a public consultation so that government can consider whether to extend the concept of common commencement dates for regulations to new areas of domestic law, and publish the responses.

  Delivering the government action plan for small business

  Monitor, evaluate and drive forward implementation of the government-wide action plan for small business published in January 2004, updating the web-based implementation programme available at www.sbs.gov.uk on a regular basis to record the progress being made.