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Written Ministerial Statements

Thursday 12 February 2004

TRANSPORT

London Transport Grant 2004–05

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Tony McNulty): The GLA Transport Grant for 2004–05 has today been determined by the Secretary of State for Transport at £2,224,536,000, following consultation with the Mayor of London. This grant is a block grant provided by the Government to Transport for London to support improvements to London Underground and other transport services in London.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Higher Education Reform

The Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Charles Clarke): I stated in the House on 27 January that I was commissioning a report to examine the gateways into the professions. I am pleased to announce the appointment of Sir Alan Langlands, VC of the University of Dundee, to lead this work.

Sir Alan will act as an independent person to oversee the report which will examine how the public sector and the professions can sustain and improve recruitment opportunities for graduates, especially those who do not qualify for the full £3000 support, and, to make recommendations to Ministers on action that can be taken by the employing organisations to provide clear accessible gateways for all graduates who want to pursue such careers and which will benefit the recruitment needs of these sectors.

The report will cover mainly the public sector but will also look at good practice in the private sector and will include those who work in a professional capacity in the voluntary sector. Additionally there will be reference groups established, one for each sector and with voluntary sector representation on each group.

On the public sector, the report will analyse support that is currently available, (through bursaries, golden hellos, fee payment and loan write-offs) its effectiveness and future plans for post autumn 2006. Furthermore it will assess whether these (plus any changes) are likely to continue to work after autumn 2006; and whether there are any gaps in what is available which are likely to create recruitment and retention problems.

On the private sector, it will research current and possibly international practice on incentives for graduates, and assess how employers might respond in a variable fees environment;

I am asking Sir Alan to start this work after Royal Assent this year with the aim of reporting to me by mid-2005.

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Building Schools for the Future

The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband): I am pleased to announce further details about "Building Schools for the Future" (BSF), including the projects in the first wave, the establishment of Partnerships for Schools, and the publication of the exemplar designs of schools of the future. This follows my statements of 26 February and 26 June 2003.

These developments start to deliver the Government's long-term commitment to a programme of rebuilding and renewal to ensure that secondary education in every part of England has facilities of 21st century standard.

We are announcing today the projects that will make up wave 1 of "Building Schools for the Future", starting in 2005–06. Wave 1 will benefit from government support for £2.2 billion capital investment in our secondary schools. We hope to announce further waves during 2004.

The projects in wave 1 are:

the four BSF pathfinder projects, which were announced last March: Bradford, Bristol, Greenwich-Lewisham-Southwark (joint project), and Sheffield;

plus ten further projects. These are: Knowsley, Leeds, Manchester (phase 1 of their proposal only), Newcastle, Newham, Solihull, Gateshead/South Tyneside (joint project), Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, and Waltham Forest; and

two reserve projects: Lancashire (Burnley) and Leicester City.

That is a total of 16 projects involving 19 local education authorities (LEAs) and substantial investment in some 180 schools.

BSF must get off to a flying start, to ensure that the considerable benefits that this programme promises are delivered: greater impact on educational standards and local deprivation, improved procurement, and better value for money. Our focus on delivery will be enhanced through the creation of a new agent to support delivery— Partnerships for Schools. The Department will manage Partnerships for Schools jointly with Partnerships UK, and with the participation of 4ps (Public Private Partnerships Programme), to co-ordinate the national delivery of the programme and provide support for LEAs. This body aims to build on the many strengths of the LEAs, and will respond to their needs, with a view to complementing rather than duplicating their role.

At the national level, Partnerships for Schools will:

support the Government in selecting areas to receive investment; establish best practice in delivery, both nationally and locally; and

develop innovative and effective models of procurement, which help create long-term public-private partnerships (PPPs), reduce the burden of bid costs, and streamline procurement through standard documentation.

We are also publishing today a compendium of exemplar designs of the schools of the future. The designs are examples of high-quality school design by 11 leading architectural firms who have created some of the country's best modern buildings. The designs will help LEAs and schools to develop their educational vision and requirements, and will drive consistently high standards across all LEAs. They are not a straitjacket, but an inspiring basis for thinking about future provision.

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The resulting designs are innovative and inspirational. The compendium contains the aims of the programme, detail of the designs themselves, as well as some of the common emerging themes across the designs. The designs balance the need to design schools for today—for example, incorporating concepts from extended schools and special needs—with innovative ideas for tomorrow—such as the potential teaching models of ICT- rich open learning spaces in all-through schools or schools-within-schools.

Further information can be found in the launch document which has been published today, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

LSC Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Ivan Lewis): I would inform the House that the Learning and Skills Council for England has today published its annual report and accounts for the period to 31 March 2003. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

National Land Information Service

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy): The Government have today accepted the recommendation of the review of the National Land Information Service Central Government Stakeholder Group that the Group should be abolished. Central Government Departments will continue to support the development of the National Land Information Service (NLIS) through direct contact and by liaising with each other to ensure a joined up response to issues relating to NLIS. A copy of the review has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

Courts Boards

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie): Courts boards will be a means of ensuring local involvement in the way in which courts are run. They will work with the new unified courts agency, which will integrate the management of the courts within a single agency to replace the Magistrates Courts Committees and the Court Service. Courts boards will provide a vital local input, to ensure that the courts' administration is run in a way that meets the needs of their areas. We intend to appoint the first members to courts boards towards the end of 2004, so that the boards will run in shadow form before the new agency is launched in April 2005.

The consultation paper "Courts boards: constitution and procedures" sought views on how appointments should be made to courts boards and the procedures by which they should operate. The consultation period ran from 25 September 2003 to 5 January 2004 and 141 responses were received.

A post-consultation report for the paper courts boards: constitution and procedures will be published on 26 February. The report will set out the Government's decisions on how courts boards will be

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set up, in the light of the responses received to consultation. It will also inform regulations which will be laid before Parliament on that day.

I am keen for courts boards to be set up in shadow form during this year so that the boards may then consider the draft business plans for the first year of the new unified courts agency.

PRIME MINISTER

Senior Salaries

The Prime Minister (Mr. Tony Blair): The 26th Report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries, which makes recommendations about the pay of the senior civil service, senior military personnel and the judiciary, is being published today. Copies are in the Vote Office and the Library of the House. I am grateful to the Chairman and Members of the Review Body for their work.

The main recommendations of the Review Body for the senior civil service are:

an increase from 1 April 2004 of 2 per cent. to the pay ranges for each of the senior civil service pay bands below permanent secretary;

a range of base pay awards from 0 to 9 per cent. depending on performance;

a minimum unconsolidated bonus payment of 3 per cent. or £2,500, whichever is the higher, for those making the greatest contribution; and

an uplift to the pay range for permanent secretaries resulting in a new range of £121,100 to £256,550; the uplift is broadly equivalent to the increase proposed to the pay ranges for the senior civil service pay bands below permanent secretary.

The main recommendation of the Review Body for the senior military is:

an increase from 1 April 2004 of 2.8 per cent. in the value of all points on the incremental pay scales for senior military officers

The main recommendation of the Review Body for the judiciary is:

an increase from 1 April 2004 of 2.5 per cent. in judicial salaries.

The Government have decided to accept these recommendations. Their cost will be met within existing departmental expenditure limits.

The Review Body has also recommended that broad salary linkage between its remit groups should be achieved from now on by maintaining general equivalence in salary levels at the top of the structures only. The Government will be considering this.

Pay increases for Members of Parliament and Ministers are linked automatically to the increase in pay bands for the senior civil service. Their pay entitlement will therefore increase by 2 per cent. from 1 April 2004.

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