---

16 Jan 2003 : Column 27WS

Written Ministerial Statements

Thursday 16 January 2003

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Local Authority Housing

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty): The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday laid before Parliament an amendment to The Local Authority (Capital Finance) Regulations 1997 to allow local authorities to use up to 100 per cent. of the capital receipt they receive from the disposal of certain housing assets, excluding right to buy sales and large and small scale voluntary transfers, for the provision of affordable housing.

Copies of the regulation have been placed in both House Libraries.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Small Arms Export Control Conference

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Mike O'Brien): HMG hosted a successful meeting on strengthening export controls on small arms and light weapons at Lancaster House on 14 and 15 January. Over fifty nations and representatives of international organisations and NGOs attended. The Secretary of State for International Development and I addressed the delegates.

The meeting was an initiative of the Government's Global Conflict Prevention Pool. The Government's objective was to build on and develop consensus between small arms exporting nations, whether producers or stock-holders, on the need for effective export controls and controls on arms brokers. These were sensitive issues that the Government considered would benefit from further work following the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects in 2001.

Recognising the central role for the UN, the meeting discussed ways of taking forward work on an international agreement to control the activities of arms brokers. There was also general agreement on the need for effective export controls on small arms.

The UK will report the outcome of the meeting to the United Nations biennial review meeting in July 2003 and follow up on the common ground established at Lancaster House.

The meeting demonstrates the strength of the international consensus to implement more effective controls on small arms exports and brokers. All who attended saw the meeting as a useful initiative to take forward key elements in the international effort to

16 Jan 2003 : Column 28WS

control the spread of small arms, a major factor in instability and conflict, particularly in Africa and in human rights abuses and crime worldwide.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Prison DNA Sampling

The Minister for Policing, Crime Reduction and Community Safety (Mr. John Denham): The DNA Expansion Programme is a major Government initiative that has been developed to enable the police to make maximum benefit of DNA in tackling crime. Home Office funding has been made available to enable the police to take DNA samples from all people cautioned or charged with a recordable offence and from as many crime scenes as possible. The database has already played a leading role in solving a large number of crimes.

A number of prisoners and mentally disordered offenders do not have DNA on the database as they were convicted before the DNA expansion programme enabled every offender to be DNA sampled. An exercise is now underway to identify those offenders without DNA on the database and to ensure that a sample is taken before they are released from prison or hospital. This Prisoner DNA Sampling Programme is being run under the auspices of the existing DNA Expansion Programme.

A dedicated programme management team has been recruited and is developing plans to ensure that the majority of those without DNA profiles on the database do provide them by Summer 2003. Centrally managed but regionally based teams of police officers working in close co-operation with prison and mental health establishments will ensure a speedy completion of the exercise with minimal impact on the establishments involved.

The exercise will underpin the Home Office aims of reducing crime, increasing the efficiency of crime investigation and increasing successful prosecutions. If known offenders can be linked to their offences more often and more quickly then we will be able to detect and deter more crime in the future—and also improve victim reassurance and so contribute to reduction of the fear of crime.

The Prisoner DNA Sampling Programme and the broader DNA Expansion Programme are clear examples of the use of science and technology to reduce crime and improve the effectiveness of the police. In the National Policing Plan, published recently, we state our commitment to ensure that the DNA database covers all known active offenders by 2004.

Science and Technology Strategy

The Minister for Policing, Crime Reduction and Community Safety (Mr. John Denham): Today sees the launch of the first ever science and technology strategy for the police.

16 Jan 2003 : Column 29WS

Science and technology have been important tools in the fight against crime for many years. However, as criminals become more technologically aware, so it becomes vital that the police service is not only properly equipped to combat this new strain of criminals but also that the tools they use are as effective and efficient as possible. From early on in the police reform process the major stakeholders in policing identified the need for an overarching strategy for the police use of science and technology—a commitment which was made in the police reform white paper: XPolicing a New Century: A Blue Print for Reform". ¹

I established the Police Science and Technology Strategy Group to bring together the key stakeholders and commissioned them to identify and prioritise the police's requirements for science and technology. This work has formed the basis of the overarching strategy that we are launching today.

The purpose of the S&T strategy is to ensure the police service is equipped to exploit the opportunities in science and technology to deliver effective policing as part of a modern and respected criminal justice system. To achieve this the strategy identifies three key aims:

to establish priorities for current and future science and technology applications and research;

to co-ordinate the development and implementation of technology between users and suppliers to ensure a coherent and effective process; and

to implement processes for future scanning to ensure that the police service can exploit new technology at the earliest opportunity and is prepared for new technology-based threats.

These activities will support the delivery of national priorities for policing as identified in the National Policing Plan. This strategy will inform local planning as forces, police authorities, and key providers draw up their individual plans for the use of science and technology. Hence, the role of this strategy is not to usurp or replace individual plans and strategies but to provide a framework for their successful development. This provides the opportunity for a more co-ordinated approach in those areas where that is appropriate.

An important first step in this new process was the identification of the capabilities which science and technology can enhance to deliver more effective policing. The most important of these have already been outlined in the National Policing Plan: the effective use of intelligence gathering technology, secure exchange of data and mobile data input and retrieval, effective management of investigation and case handling, and maximising the value of evidence including the use of DNA.

The process of prioritising, improving co-ordination and scanning for future threats and opportunities is not a static one, but will be developed and improved upon over the coming year. This strategy sets out how this process will be carried out.

Despite being very different in their roles and status, the Forensic Science Service, Police Information Technology Organisation and Police Scientific Development Branch will all play important roles in delivering the strategy. The strategy, along with the priorities it has identified, will provide the framework

16 Jan 2003 : Column 30WS

for their individual plans for 2003–04 and beyond to ensure a more co-ordinated approach to meeting the science and technology needs of the police service.

This first overarching strategy, developed with both the key stakeholders and independent experts, marks a significant step but is not the culmination of our work. The next and perhaps most important step is that of implementation. This, with our partners in the Police Science and Technology Strategy Group, will be our main focus for the year ahead.

¹ Home Office (2001), Policing New Century: A Blueprint for Reform, CM5326, Stationery Office

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Royal Mail

The Minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness (Mr. Stephen Timms): I would like to update the House on the implementation of the Royal Mail financing package.

In her statement of 13 June 2002, Official Report, column 1016 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced that the Government had agreed a package of measures to put the company on a stable financial footing. This draws on the #1.8 billion of gilts (the accumulated cash generated by the business) on the balance sheet of the Royal Mail to enable the mails business to implement its renewal plan, and to support the nationwide network of post offices. The individual elements of this package have now been agreed.

Mails

The package for the mails business has been put together on commercial terms and provides an appropriate level of debt financing to allow Royal Mail management to finance their restructuring programmes, which aim to return the mails business to profitability in 2004–05. The Government is providing #1,044 million of debt, which comprises:

#544 million of loans from the National Loans Fund (NLF), secured on cash deposits from Royal Mail; and

Two DTI bonds, one of #200 million and one of #300 million, both secured against Royal Mail's assets.

Both the loan and bonds will be provided on commercial terms, and will be repayable between 2007 and 2009. Before the Departmental bonds are issued, the Department will seek Parliamentary authority, in the form of a main or supplementary estimate, for the necessary funds to acquire the bonds from Royal Mail.

Post Office Limited

I announced to the House on 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 518W, that #450 million from the gilts will be made available from 2003 to 2006 to help maintain the rural post office network over the next few years. In addition to this, and subject to state aid clearance, which we are currently seeking from the

16 Jan 2003 : Column 31WS

European Commission, we intend to support the network business through its current period of transition by allowing the use of the gilts:

to repay short term loans from the Royal Mail Group to Post Office Limited totalling #420 million; and

to meet the net cash outflows of POL (up to #570 million) over the next 5 years, based on the decreasing levels projected in its strategic plan.

---