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Written Ministerial Statements

Wednesday 5 November 2003

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Excellent Authorities

The Minister for Local Government, Regional Governance and Fire (Mr. Nick Raynsford): Authorities categorised as excellent ¹ by the Audit Commission following comprehensive performance assessment are given a wide range of freedoms and flexibilities in recognition of their performance and capacity to improve.

These freedoms and flexibilities include the removal of almost all plans, virtually no inspection and a dramatic reduction in ring-fenced grants. A programme is in train which has already provided some substantial freedoms. Others will become available as the Local Government Act 2003 and other deregulatory measures come into effect.

The Government have decided that councils which lose their status as excellent where their performance has slipped should in principle retain the full range of freedoms and flexibilities for the following year, 2004–05. Exceptionally freedoms could be retained for a further year if that proves necessary in securing improvement in key areas of weakness.

The Government will meet with formerly excellent authorities as soon as possible after recategorisation to determine how best to secure the necessary improvement in performance. The relevant Inspectorate/Department (as appropriate) will agree with the authority:

the way in which the authority will tackle declining performance and what steps are needed to move back up to excellent;


the time period within which improvement in performance is expected to take place; and


how performance improvement will be supported and assessed.

The principle of an inspection holiday will be retained for councils subject to an agreement, but there will need to be some inspection involvement in respect of any specific service in which performance has deteriorated. However, the scale and scope of assessment will be the subject of discussion with each authority and will be proportionate to the scale of the problem to be addressed. It could include a large degree of self-assessment.

The duration of the agreement will be tailored to individual councils' circumstances but will be up to 12 months, although in exceptional cases it could be up to 24 months.

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¹ Excellent authorities that are currently less then 3 star education performers will gain access to the full package of flexibilities, including the inspection "holiday", as they relate to education on achieving 3 star status.

Councils which have been recategorised downwards from excellent will remain members of the Innovation Forum.

An agreement will be made when:

a rule comes into play eg

Social services performance falls below 2 stars;


Education performance falls below 2 stars;


Financial standing; the auditor's judgement falls to 2 or below on the 4 point scale;


Any other core service scores 1 on the 4 point scale.

Overall service scores fall below the 2002 threshold for excellent based on the 2002 CPA methodology.

In exceptional circumstances drops in service or corporate performance may be sufficiently serious as to warrant immediate removal of some or all freedoms and flexibilities. These circumstances include:

Service failure in either social services which would lead to zero star or special measures status, or education, in the event that an LEA receives an OFSTED inspection report graded "unsatisfactory" or worse;


Exposure of fundamental problems in the council that had not previously been evident;


Breakdown of relations between members and officers such that the council ceases to be able to run itself effectively.

The reaction would be different in different cases and would be proportionate to the scope and severity of the failure. In the event of service failure in education or social services any removal of freedoms and flexibilities would be limited to those related to the relevant service area.

Renewable Energy

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper): I am today announcing the start of the public consultation period for planning policy statement 22, which sets out this Government's planning policy for renewable energy projects.

Increased development of renewable energy resources is vital to facilitating the delivery of the Government's commitments on both climate change and renewable energy. This new draft planning policy statement clearly sets out positive planning policies, which will facilitate renewable energy developments and contribute to all four elements of the Government's sustainable development strategy.

This statement makes clear:

that local planning authorities should set clear criteria in their plans on which renewable energy projects will be judged rather than identifying any specific locations suitable for certain types of development. We believe that the past emphasis on identifying specific areas of search within development plans has proved unsuccessful;


that targets for renewable energy generation should be set within regional planning guidance, as indicated in the Energy White Paper. Such targets may be disaggregated sub-regionally if appropriate, but the aim should always be to exceed any targets set, rather than just meet them;

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the latest Government planning policy relating to renewable energy developments and the additional safeguards for national parks or other national and internationally designated areas.

Due to the need for clearer and more concise statements of Government policy this PPS does not include technical advice or good practice guidance. The intention is to publish separately a companion guide containing the technical details of what was originally in the annexes of PPG22. We are also keen to include evidence of good practice from both developers and local planning authorities within this guide. Work on the guide will commence shortly and it will be published alongside the final version of PPS22.

TRANSPORT

School Buses

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Alistair Darling): My Department is today publishing a research report by Steer Davies Cleave which evaluates the impacts of three yellow school bus pilots in Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire) Runnymede (Surrey) and Wrexham (North Wales), plus a variety of other schemes around the country. I am arranging for copies of the report to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This research sets of the potential advantages of well designed dedicated bus schemes and the service features which are most highly valued by both primary and secondary school children.

Although the pilots evaluated have been relatively small in scale, there is clear evidence that dedicated bus schemes have the potential to reduce car dependency on the journey to school, the key objective of the travelling to school action plan, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and I published jointly on 17 September.

Several local authorities have already submitted, or are in the process of submitting, capital funding bids for dedicated school bus schemes through the local transport plan process. I welcome the initiative that is being taken by local authorities in considering how dedicated school buses can contribute to the overall mix of transport policies at local level. Where these schemes can meet our normal appraisal criteria, and subject to affordability constraints, my Department will give full and fair consideration of such bids, consistent with its approach to other bids for major capital funding.

DEFENCE

Gurkha Prisoners of War

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): The Government have carried out a detailed review of the eligibility for the ex-gratia payment scheme established in 2000 for far east prisoners of war. This follows the ruling in the High Court by Mr. Justice McCombe in November 2002.

I am now able to announce that, in accordance with the principles set out in the judgment of the Court, the scheme will be formally extended to include those

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Gurkha far east prisoners of war (FEPOW) who were held captive by the Japanese in the second world war and who, in 1951 when the peace treaty between the United Kingdom and Japan was signed, were citizens of Nepal. Claims can be made by the FEPOW or by their surviving spouse for the payment of £10,000.

In order to deal with applications, a team from the Ministry of Defence will be established in Kathmandu and in Delhi by the end of February 2004. Application forms will be available for claims after this date but in the meantime an internet site http://www.army.mod.uk/fepow is available now for potential claimants to register their interest.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Oil and Gas Licensing

The Minister for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services (Mr. Stephen Timms): I am pleased to inform the House that I am today offering Burlington Resources (Irish Sea) Limited an oil and gas exploration and production licence on Seaward Blocks 113/21 and 113/22 in the East Irish Sea.

The successful applicant will have a fixed period in which to decide whether or not to accept the offers.

DTI undertook an environmental appropriate assessment prior to advertising these blocks to ensure compliance with European Union environmental legislation.

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