Written Statement of 30 January 2004

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Police Grant Report (England and Wales 2004–05)
  The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears)
  I have today placed in the Library a copy of the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2004–05 (HC 277). The report sets out my determination for 2004–05 of the aggregate amount of grants that I propose to pay under section 46(2) of the Police Act 1996, and the amount to be paid to each police authority and to the Greater London Authority for the Metropolitan Police Authority.

  Allocations for each police authority for financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05 are set out in the table:

  Police Authority

  2003–04

  2004–05

  % Change

  Allocation1

  Allocation1

  £m

  £m

  English Shire forces

  Avon & Somerset

  157.1

  162.2

  3.3%

  Bedfordshire

  60.1

  62.1

  3.3%

  Cambridgeshire

  71.1

  73.4

  3.3%

  Cheshire

  103.9

  107.2

  3.3%

  Cleveland

  84.1

  86.8

  3.3%

  Cumbria

  57.7

  59.6

  3.3%

  Derbyshire

  97.9

  101.2

  3.3%

  Devon & Cornwall

  161.5

  166.7

  3.3%

  Dorset

  61.6

  63.6

  3.3%

  Durham

  81.5

  84.2

  3.3%

  Essex

  155.9

  160.9

  3.3%

  Gloucestershire

  57.0

  58.9

  3.3%

  Hampshire

  184.5

  190.5

  3.3%

  Hertfordshire

  101.5

  104.8

  3.3%

  Humberside

  110.9

  114.6

  3.3%

  Kent

  176.8

  182.6

  3.3%

  Lancashire

  177.1

  182.9

  3.3%

  Leicestershire

  98.8

  102.0

  3.3%

  Lincolnshire

  58.7

  60.6

  3.3%

  Norfolk

  79.6

  82.2

  3.3%

  North Yorkshire

  70.4

  72.7

  3.3%

  Northamptonshire

  62.2

  64.3

  3.3%

  Nottinghamshire

  123.6

  127.6

  3.3%

  Staffordshire

  105.8

  109.2

  3.3%

  Suffolk

  63.9

  66.0

  3.3%

  Surrey

  85.4

  88.2

  3.3%

  Sussex

  153.1

  158.1

  3.3%

  Thames Valley

  205.9

  212.6

  3.3%

  Warwickshire

  48.2

  49.8

  3.3%

  West Mercia

  104.4

  107.7

  3.3%

  Wiltshire

  58.7

  60.6

  3.3%

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  Police Authority

  2003–04

  2004–05

  %Change

  Allocation1

  Allocation1

  £m

  £m

  English Metropolitan forces

  Greater Manchester

  380.8

  393.2

  3.3%

  Merseyside

  240.5

  248.4

  3.3%

  Northumbria

  214.3

  221.4

  3.3%

  South Yorkshire

  172.3

  178.0

  3.3%

  West Midlands

  386.5

  399.3

  3.3%

  West Yorkshire

  289.4

  298.9

  3.3%

  London forces

  GLA—Police

  1,764.1

  1,822.0

  3.3%

  City of London2

  32.5

  32.7

  N/A

  English Total

  6,699.2

  6,917.7

  3.3%

  Welsh forces

  Dyfed-Powys

  49.3

  50.9

  3.3%

  Gwent

  69.6

  71.8

  3.3%

  North Wales3

  73.3

  75.8

  3.3%

  South Wales

  162.9

  168.2

  3.3%

  Welsh Total

  355.1

  366.7

  3.3%

  TOTAL

  7,054.3

  7.284.4

  3.3%

  Notes

  1. Rounded to the nearest £100,000. Grant as calculated under the Local Government Finance Report (England) and Local Government Finance (Police) Report (Wales). This includes the Metropolitan Police special payment, and the effects of floors and ceilings.

  2. Figures for the City relate to Home Office Grant only as calculated in the Police Grant Report (England and Wales). Revenue Support Grant is allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions. The City is grouped with education authorities for the purposes of floors and ceilings.

  3. Welsh Assembly Grant includes PFI payments in RSG funding. PFI payments will be made good to ensure equivalent treatment with English forces.

  Firearms Consultative Committee
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Caroline Flint)
  The Home Secretary has decided not to further extend the life of the Firearms Consultative Committee, which will cease to exist on 31 January. The Committee was originally set up for a period of five years from 1 February 1989 under section 22 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988. A total of four orders were subsequently made to allow for its continued existence as provided for by section 22(8).

  Since it was established the Committee has made eleven reports and the Home Secretary is grateful for the close scrutiny it has given to a whole range of difficult and complex issues. The Government are anxious to maintain a forum for consultation but would wish to do so on a broader basis than allowed by the existing statutory framework. Urgent consideration will be given to setting up a new consultative structure, possibly on the basis of a two-tier structure to look at detailed technical matters and the operation of firearms controls in the round.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  Planning Obligations Policy
  The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill)
  On 6 November 2003 the Government published a
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  consultation document setting out their proposals for the reform of planning obligations policy. The Government have also made amendments to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill 2004 to facilitate their proposal to introduce an optional planning charge. The Government are today publishing a statement on the reform proposals and on Monday 2 February will also publish a summary of the responses received to the consultation. A copy of the Government's statement has today been placed in the Library of the House and is also available on the ODPM's website at www.odpm.gov.uk

  Local Government Finance Settlement 2004–05
  The Minister for Local Government, Regional Governance and Fire (Mr. Nick Raynsford)
  Yesterday I laid before the House the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2004–05. This report establishes the amounts of revenue support grant (RSG) and non-domestic rates (NDR) to be paid to local authorities in 2004–05, and the basis of their distribution. A draft of this report was issued for consultation on 19 November 2003. A revised draft was also issued on 11 December, following the announcement in the Chancellor's pre-Budget report of additional money for local authorities.

  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received a total of 454 written representations within the consultation deadlines from the Local Government Association and the Association of London Government, from local authorities, local authority groups and hon. Members. ODPM Ministers met with delegations from six local authority associations and representative groups to discuss the proposals.

  Having considered the views of the local authority associations and others who have commented on the provisional settlement, I have decided to confirm my proposals on the bases of distribution.

  The final figures published today reflect the more accurate data and resource totals that have become available since we published our proposals, and also appropriate data corrections to reflect errors discovered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or notified to us by local authorities.

  This year's settlement provides another good increase in grant for local authorities. As last year, every local authority has been given a grant increase above the rate of inflation on a like for like basis. With this increase, we expect councils to continue to be able to provide good services while setting reasonable council tax increases. To this end, we have made an extra £640 million available for non-schools services in 2004–05. This is additional to the money allocated under the last spending review, and brings the total increase in money from Government to local councils to 30 per cent. since 1997 in real terms.

  I shall be sending copies of this report to all local authorities, and making available full supporting information on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/ finance/0405/grant.htm

  I have placed copies of the report in the Journal Office; and copies of the report, tables showing each authority's formula spending shares and its allocation
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  of RSG and NDR, and other supporting material are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office and the Libraries of the House.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Export Licence Application
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell)
  Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved a further licence to export military list goods to Iraq. The arms embargo against Iraq remains in place under United Nations Security Council resolution 1483 (2003), with the exception of"arms and other related material required by the Coalition Provisional Authority to serve the purposes of this and other related resolutions".

  Accordingly, Her Majesty's Government consider it appropriate to grant exemptions for the export of riot shields which are to be used by Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) peacekeeping forces in Iraq. The export is consistent with the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. Future applications will continue to be assessed on a case by case basis against the UN embargo and consolidated criteria, taking into account the circumstances prevailing at the time.

DEFENCE

  Colchester PFI Announcement
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin)
  There has been considerable interest in the House in the plans to redevelop the Colchester Garrison living and working accommodation. Detailed negotiations are taking place, and I intend to make an announcement to the House shortly.

  Defence 2004
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin)
  On 1 September 2003 I informed the House that the Defence 2003 exhibition, under the leadership of the Royal Air force, which was scheduled to take place at the Royal International Air Tattoo, had been postponed by 12 months because of operational pressures,Official Report, columns 913–14W. In light of the continued high level of operational commitments and the associated demands upon service personnel and their families, the Ministry of Defence has now concluded that Defence 2004 should not take place. However, the services will continue to fully support the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) which will take place in July at RAF Fairford, including support for a Youth Day, an Armed Forces Careers Convention, and commemorations of Entente Cordiale and the D-Day anniversary. Over the coming months we will be working closely with the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund Enterprises who organise the event, to help ensure that RIAT continues its tradition of great success.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

  Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy: Second Annual Report
  The Minister for Children (Margaret Hodge)
  Today, 30 January 2004, the Government published their response to the second annual report of independent advisory group on teenage pregnancy.

  In their report, the independent advisory group raised a number of issues for the Government's consideration and made eight recommendations. We have carefully considered and responded specifically to the recommendations put forward by the independent advisory group in their second annual report.

  We continue to make good progress in implementing the teenage pregnancy strategy, which remains a Government priority. We welcome the early signs that our long-term sustained efforts to reduce the rates of teenage pregnancy are working. This includes a 10 per cent. reduction in conception rates in under 18s and an 11 per cent. reduction among under 16s since 1998.
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  The strategy draws on the best available research evidence of what works. This is a multi-faceted approach with a range of measures to help young people resist pressure to have early sex, to improve sex and relationship education, to support parents in talking to their children about sex and relationship issues, to improve young people's access to contraceptive advice and to support teenage parents in participating in education, training and employment.

  The strategy is very much in tune with the vision of the Green Paper, "Every Child Matters", which provides our vision of how to help every child and young person fulfil their potential.

  The Government welcome the recommendations made in the independent advisory group's second annual report and acknowledge the valuable contribution the group makes to the strategy and its implementation.

  Our response recognises that in order to sustain the success of the strategy we cannot give way to complacency. There are still many lessons to be learnt and much to do to reach our goal and help young people reach theirs.

  A copy of the Government's response has been placed in the Libraries.