House of Commons Hansard Written Ministerial Statements for 6 May 2003 (pt 2)

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

UNESCO

The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short): The United Kingdom rejoined UNESCO in 1997, with the goal of helping UNESCO become a more effective organisation with clear, focused objectives and strategies. DFID's key objective is the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, of which the education goals are particularly relevant to UNESCO.

The Constitution of UNESCO states that

"each Member State shall make such arrangements as suit its particular conditions for the purpose of associating its principal bodies interested in educational, scientific and cultural matters with the work of the Organisation, preferably by the formation of a National Commission broadly representative of the government and such bodies".

We re-established a National Commission three years ago. It soon became clear that it was not working effectively. Most of the resources were being drained by a bureaucratic committee structure at the expense of engaging effectively with UNESCO, particularly with regard to DFID's focus on education and the reduction of poverty. A review group established by the National Commission submitted a report which made recommendations for a reconfiguration of the National Commission. This report was made available to the public and I made clear I was ready to implement these recommendations, but after much contentious debate it was not possible to achieve agreement on how to move ahead.

I therefore decided that for DFID it would be best for us to consult and account to parliament and civil society on UNESCO in the same way that we do for all the UN and other multilateral agencies for which we are responsible. DFID has since its inception consulted closely with civil society on the formulation of international development policy and we shall continue to do so. Other Departments will make their own arrangements for consultation with UNESCO about matters which fall within their respective mandates.

My Department remains committed to working with UNESCO to fulfil its mandate within a well-defined poverty and sustainable development strategy, giving top priority to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. We seek to achieve this through the governing bodies of which we are a member, and by providing appropriate technical co-operation and financial assistance.

6 May 2003 : Column 28WS

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Home Improvement Agency

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty): The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a consultation paper, "Home Improvement Agencies—Development and Reform", jointly with the Department of Health, last September. The paper set out proposals for reforming the Home Improvement Agency (HIA) sector in order to equip it for future challenges.

The Supporting People programme, through which the sector will receive a substantial proportion of its funding from 2003–04, will bring new responsibilities and ways of working. In addition, there is a need to make HIA services available more widely if the sector's potential to make significant contributions to the delivery of health and regeneration objectives is to be realised. The Government's aim in publishing the consultation paper was to invite views on the best way of improving the capacity of the sector to meet these challenges.

The paper sought endorsement of the Government's view that the sector should settle local commissioning models and structures during 2003–04, and work towards national coverage by the end of 2004–05. Recognising that additional resources would be needed in order to support the development and reform agenda, I announced last October that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister would be providing an additional £5.2 million over the next three years to support HIAs' running costs, and that the Department of Health would be providing £9.5 million over the same period, earmarked for agencies, so that they can become key players in the provision of services to older people on discharge from hospital.

In parallel with the consultation exercise, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister appointed Foundations, the national co-ordinating body for home improvement agencies, to investigate and recommend optimum structures for the sector, and also to recommend optimum commissioning models for HIA services within the Supporting People arrangements. Foundations has recommended that the goal in restructuring should be a network of area-resourced HIAs based upon the territories of the Supporting People commissioning bodies, combining a central management function and local delivery points. Foundations has also made a number of recommendations designed to secure the role of HIAs within the decision-making procedures of the commissioning bodies.

The majority of consultation responses supported the Government's overall approach to the future of the sector. Of those who expressed a view on the Government's proposed timetable for restructuring and expanding geographical coverage, about 80 per cent. were supportive. On the future of the national co-ordinating body, 88 per cent. of those who expressed a view believed that the Government should continue to fund such a body after the expiry of the current contract with Foundations on 31 March 2004.

6 May 2003 : Column 29WS

The Government are grateful for the consultation responses. We note the view of a number of respondents that full national coverage of HIA services may not be achievable, and we recognise that the provision of such services is a matter for local decision in the light of need and other factors. Nonetheless, we believe that there is considerable scope to expand the sector's current geographical coverage with the co-operation of local authorities and other agencies.

In accordance with EU competition rules and Government procurement policy, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will shortly begin the tendering process for a new contract with a national co-ordinating body to be funded centrally.

We accept the recommendations of Foundations on future structural and commissioning models, whilst recognising the value of existing centres of excellence and taking care to avoid losing the essentially local character of the services that agencies provide We will fund a Structure Support Team to work with agencies and their partners to agree and implement organisational changes where these are shown to be necessary. This team will be established by Foundations, in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, under an extension of its existing contract. HIAs and their partners will be notified when the Team is ready to start work.

Elections (2004)

The Minister for Local Government and the Regions (Mr. Nick Raynsford): I have today placed in the Library of the House a summary of the responses which the Government received to their consultation paper "Combining English Local Authority, Greater London Authority and European Parliament Elections in 2004".

A total of 364 responses were received to the consultation exercise. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor's Department have analysed these responses very carefully.

The consultation document sought views on five issues.

6 May 2003 : Column 30WS

The first issue was whether respondents agreed with the proposal to combine the local and GLA elections with the European Parliamentary Elections in 2004. Of those expressing a view, 172 of those responses agreed with this proposal, while 138 disagreed.

The consultation document secondly asked what practical issues respondents foresaw in combining most effectively the local (and, where applicable, parish) elections with the European Parliamentary Elections, and thirdly what practical issues they foresaw in combining most effectively the GLA elections with the European Parliamentary Elections. Respondents raised a range of different practical issues, relating to the operation of the elections themselves and council business more widely, such as the terms of office of members and the date of annual meetings.

The consultation document asked fourthly what action should be taken to address any practical issues raised. Respondents, including electoral administrators, have put forward a number of suggestions. Having considered the nature of the practical issues raised and the range of solutions available, the Government believe that there is no practical impediment to the combination of local, GLA and European Parliamentary Elections in 2004.

In the light of the responses to these four issues and the Government's analysis of the issues raised, our current intention remains to exercise the order-making provisions we are seeking in the Local Government Bill, if these are enacted by Parliament, to allow the combination of local elections in 2004 with the next elections to the European Parliament, which are due to take place on 10 June 2004.

The fifth issue on which the consultation document sought views was on whether to move elections to a weekend. Of those expressing a view, 74 were in favour of this proposal, 66 respondents supported further pilots or testing of weekend voting and 91 were against.

In the light of this response, the Government intend to take forward further pilots of weekend voting in view of potential benefits to electors, and taking into account the costs involved. A series of practical difficulties were raised about proceeding with nation-wide weekend voting in 2004. In particular, the Electoral Commission did not support wholesale mandatory weekend voting in 2004. Therefore the Government remain of the view that in 2004 local, GLA and European Parliamentary elections should take place on Thursday 10 June.