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Written Ministerial Statements Wednesday 2 April 2003
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Forestry Commission
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Elliot Morley): Following last year's review of the administrative arrangements for forestry since devolution, I decided, with the Forestry Ministers in Scotland and Wales that the functions of Forest Enterprise, a Forestry Commission executive agency which operates across Great Britain, should be transferred to separate bodies in each country. Forest Enterprise ceased to operate on 31 March 2003 and a new agency called Forest Enterprise England, responsible for the management of the Forestry Commission estate in England, came into being on 1 April 2003. The agency will work to the targets set for Forest Enterprise in the Forestry Commission Corporate Plan for England.
Following a separate review of the Commission's Forest Research agency, Ministers agreed that a single body, covering the whole of Britain, continued to be the best way forward. The agency's five-year review concluded that it enjoyed strong support from its stakeholders, particularly for the quality of its research, scientific services and development work. New framework documents for these 2 agencies will be published shortly.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Road Scheme Inquiries
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty): With the agreement of the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Transport I wish to make an announcement concerning the Lord Chancellor's Panel of Independent Inspectors. This follows informal consultations with relevant parties. From today I have asked the Planning Inspectorate Executive Agency to take on full responsibility for arranging for suitable Inspectors to carry out public inquiries into proposed road schemes.
The Lord Chancellor has nominated Inspectors for road scheme inquiries since acceptance of a recommendation in the 1978 White Paper on the handling of the 1970s roads programme. The Planning Inspectorate was established as an executive agency in 1992, bringing with it the high standards of impartiality, openness, and fairness that are a hallmark of the work of the Inspectors.
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The Planning Inspectorate has established a deserved reputation for the independent and impartial way it conducts inquiries. That is rightly regarded as key to the process of public participation at inquiry stage which the Government recognise s and values. I therefore have every confidence in asking the Agency to take on the task of arranging for suitable Inspectors to carry out road inquiries. And that confidence will, I know, be shared by all holding an informed view of the process.
The Planning Inspectorate places great importance on employing Inspectors with an appropriate range of technical skills. Over the last few years it has recruited as Inspectors a number of highly qualified and experienced men and women. Their expertise now covers a wide area including planning, the environment, architecture, engineering, housing and transport issues. Such high quality recruitment is a continuing feature of the Agency's profile.
This change will provide greater flexibility for the Planning Inspectorate to manage resources more effectively, enabling it to deliver an enhanced service, whilst maintaining and improving quality.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Terrorism and Civil Resilience
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Blunkett): On Tuesday 1 April, in a meeting held in Washington between myself and US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, we reached agreement on key issues which will lead to unprecedented co-operation and sharing of intelligence between the UK and US Governments.
Our two countries have agreed to set up a Joint Contact Group of senior officials who will drive a joint programme of work, including how best to share knowledge and resources. This will make a significant, practical contribution to the fight against international terrorism, building on the excellent co-operation we already have on security and intelligence issues.
The new Joint Contact Group of senior officials will meet regularly to ensure that a joint programme of work is focused and on track. The work of the group will cover:
- Closer working on the development of biometric technology such as iris and facial recognition.
- Pooling of knowledge and resources, such as vaccines, to counter chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
- Strategies to prevent and deal with cyber/electronic attacks.
- Joint forward planning and exercise programmes to test out different scenarios.
- Greater protection for borders through visa and passenger intelligence sharing.
- Continued prior warning of changes in alert states.
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Today's agreement between Tom Ridge and myself will significantly contribute to the steps which both the US and UK Governments are taking to combat international terrorism, and will allow real, practical preparations to be made against future threats, for the benefit of our citizens.
LORD CHANCELLOR
Her Majesty's Land Registry Key Performance Indicators and Targets 2003–04*
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Ms Rosie Winterton): My right hon. and noble Friend, the Lord Chancellor has today set the following key performance targets for Her Majesty's Land Registry for 2003–04.
Percentage of office copy and official search applications processed within two working days: 98 per cent.
Percentage of all registrations processed within 20 working days: 80 per cent.
Percentage of registrations processed free of any error: 98.5 per cent.
Percentage of customers who, overall, are very satisfied/satisfied with the full range of services provided by Land Registry: Better than 94 per cent.
Percentage return on average capital employed: 6 per cent.
Cost per unit in cash terms 3 (real terms) 4 : £29.08 (£22.17)
Start pilot implementation for e-Discharges
Make all key Land Registry information services available over the Internet
Implement the Land Registration Act 2002
Report to Ministers on proposals for e-conveyancing services and procurement strategy
- 1 Results from YTD monthly mini satisfaction survey and Customer Service Survey 2002
- 2 This is a milestone towards the HM Treasury-agreed cost per unit target for 2006–07 of £28.62 in cash terms (£20.27 in real terms).
- 3 Based on the GDP deflator issued by HM Treasury on 23 December 2002 (base year 1992–93)
- 4 The real term unit cost in the base year of 1992–93 was £30.65
*More information on these and other key targets is published in the Strategic and Business Plans.
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Council of the European Union
The Minister for Europe (Mr. Denis MacShane):
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