Written Statement of 8 March 2004

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Police Information Technology Organisation
  The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears)
  I am announcing today the appointment of Chris Earnshaw to succeed Lieutenant General Sir Edmund Burton as Chair of the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO). He will take up the appointment with immediate effect.

  This is an important and high-profile post. PITO has a key role in bringing forward the Government's plans for delivering a "joined-up" criminal justice system and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the police. I would like to pay tribute to Sir Edmund Burton for his significant contribution. Mr. Earnshaw, as his successor, brings very considerable experience at senior levels in industry and a substantial Information and communications technology background. I am confident that, under his leadership, PITO will continue to deliver the key IT programmes and services on which the police service depends.

HEALTH

  NHS Trusts
  The Secretary of State for Health (Dr. John Reid)
  Pursuant to the dissolution of 16 national health service trusts since 1 August 2002 and their reconfiguration through the establishment of seven new NHS trusts, I propose to create originating capital for the new NHS trusts equal to the net assets transferred to them and therefore to remit the outstanding debt of the dissolved trusts.

  Assets from some of the dissolved trusts were also transferred to primary care trusts. Public dividend capital is not required as a financing transaction for these transfers as primary care trusts are subject to a different financial regime. Net assets transferred from dissolving NHS trusts to primary care trusts are reflected in an increase to the general fund of the primary care trust.
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  These operations involved no overall loss to the Exchequer. Her Majesty's Treasury has today presented a minute to the House giving particulars and circumstances of the proposed remission, which it has approved in principle.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Council for Science and Technology
  The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt)
  My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister today appointed 16 members to the Council for Science and Technology following its recent review. The appointments represent a wide range of experience from the scientific community, business and charities. The 16 appointments are:

  Professor Sir John Beringer CBE

  Professor Geoffrey Boulton QBE FRS FRSE

  Professor Janet Finch CBE DL AcSS

  Mr Andrew Gould

  Professor Wendy Hall CBE FREng

  Dr Hermann Hauser FREng CBE CPhys FInstP

  Dr Dieter Helm

  Professor Alan Hughes

  Dr Sue Ion QBE FREng

  Dr Rob Margetts CBE FREng

  Sir Paul Nurse FRS

  Sir Keith Peters FRS PMedSci

  Dr Raj Rajagopal FREng CEng FIEE FIMechE FIE FCMI

  Professor Michael Sterling FREng

  Professor Kathy Sykes

  Dr Mark Walport FMedSci

  The Council for Science and Technology is Government's top-level independent advisory body on strategic policy for science, engineering and technology. Its advice has been instrumental in helping the Government develop its present strategies for improving the excellence of the research base and putting it on a sustainable footing, for improving science education and for making effective use of science, engineering and technology. On 22 July 2003, the Government announced updated terms of reference and a new organisation for CST to reflect the needs of the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations for advice in coming years.

  CST will report to the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of the Devolved Administrations. The 16 members will choose one of their number to act as co-chair alongside the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King.

  Full details of CST's terms of reference and organisation, and biographies of the members, can be found at www.cst.gov.uk.

  Decisions on appointments have been made following open competition and wide consultation with key players.

  NHS Trusts
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)
  My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.

  Pursuant to the dissolution of 16 National Health Service trusts since 1 August 2002 and their reconfiguration through the establishment of seven new NHS trusts, I propose to create originating capital for the new NHS trusts equal to the net assets transferred to them and therefore to remit the outstanding debt of the dissolved trusts.

  Assets from some of the dissolved trusts were also transferred to primary care trusts. Public dividend capital is not required as a financing transaction for these transfers as primary care trusts are subject to a different financial regime. Net assets transferred from dissolving NHS trusts to primary care trusts are reflected in an increase to the general fund of the primary care trust.

  These operations involved no overall loss to the Exchequer. Her Majesty's Treasury has today presented a minute to the House giving particulars and circumstances of the proposed remission which it has approved in principle.

  Council for Science and Technology
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)
  My right honourable friend the Prime Minister today appointed 16 members to the Council for Science and Technology following its recent review. The appointments represent a wide range of experience from the scientific community, business and charities. The 16 appointments are:

  Professor Sir John Beringer CBE

  Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE FRS FRSE

  Professor Janet Finch CBE DL AcSS

  Mr Andrew Gould

  Professor Wendy Hall CBE FREng

  Dr Hermann Hauser FREng CBE CPhys FInstP

  Dr Dieter Helm

  Professor Alan Hughes

  Dr Sue Ion OBE FREng

  Dr Rob Margetts CBE FREng

  Sir Paul Nurse FRS

  Sir Keith Peters FRS PMedSci

  Dr Raj Rajagopal FREng CEng FIEE FIMechE FIE FCMI

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  Professor Michael Sterling FREng

  Professor Kathy Sykes

  Dr Mark Walport FMedSci

  The Council for Science and Technology is government's top level independent advisory body on strategic policy for science, engineering and technology. Its advice has been instrumental in helping the Government develop their present strategies for improving the excellence of the research base and putting it on a sustainable footing, for improving science education and for making effective use of science, engineering and technology. On 22 July 2003 the Government announced updated terms of reference and a new organisation for the CST to reflect the needs of the UK Government and the devolved administrations for advice in coming years.

  The CST will report to the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of the devolved administrations. The 16 members will choose one of their number to act as co-chair alongside the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King.

  Full details of the CST's terms of reference and organisation, and biographies of the members, can be found at www.cst.gov.uk.

  Decisions on appointments have been made following open competition and wide consultation with key players.

  Deepcut: Surrey Police Final Report
  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)
  My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

  The chief constable of the Surrey Police has today published his report following the completion of the police examinations into wider issues identified during police investigations into the deaths of Privates Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray and James Collinson at the Princess Royal Barracks Deepcut between 1995 and 2002. We welcome the conclusion of the police investigation and the report. The report makes recommendations which we are considering carefully. I intend to make a further announcement on this subject in the near future.

  Each of these four deaths was an individual tragedy in its own right and we very much regret the loss of these young lives. The police report acknowledges that we have been working energetically to ensure that lessons have been learnt and to improve the Army's care regime. It concludes by recommending that the Ministry of Defence considers a broader inquiry into how the care regime can be further improved and to provide assurance that the momentum that has developed will be sustained.

  As the report highlights, one key element of the work we have undertaken has been the Army learning account, which is a continuous record of lessons learnt and the action taken as a result. The

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  report also refers to work undertaken by the Directorate of Operational Capability (DOC) into the care of recruits in initial training, which I published last year. This was followed some five months later by a further report assessing progress in implementing recommendations (Hansard 10 February 2003 col. 35WS, and 16 July 2003 col. 42WS).

  We are committed to continuous improvement in the training and care regime, and will look carefully at
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  what benefits a broader investigation might offer and what form such an investigation might take.

  The Army has co-operated fully with the Surrey police throughout all their investigations, and we have been as open as possible with the families within the constraints imposed on us by the ongoing police investigation. In recognition of the degree of parliamentary interest in the Deepcut deaths, the chief constable has asked that copies of his report be placed in the Libraries of both Houses: I am making the necessary arrangements to do so.