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10 Mar 2004 : Column 101WS

Written Ministerial Statements

Wednesday 10 March 2004

HOME DEPARTMENT

Immigration Documents

The Minister for Citizenship and Immigration (Beverley Hughes): During the summer of 2003 the Government consulted stakeholders about the introduction of a charge for extension of leave to remain for immigration employment documents such as work permits. Responses to the consultation were published on 7 January 2004.

I am announcing today that following the consultation a charge of £121 will be introduced for the consideration of each application from 1 April 2004 (within the range proposed in the consultation document). A new form for applications for leave to remain for immigration employment documents will also be introduced. A full Regulatory Impact Assessment has been carried out, and this is available from today in the House of Commons library.

I am also announcing an increase in the fee for Convention Travel Documents, issued to refugees; Stateless Persons' Travel Documents; and one way documents of identity. From 1 April 2004 the charge for application for these documents will increase from £28 to £42 to bring fees in line with those for the UK passports. Statutory instruments that set out the regulations for the new fees and leave to remain application form will be available from today.

Crime Reduction and Drugs Misuse

The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears): Through the Building Safer Communities Fund I am making a total of £74 million directly available to local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in 2004–05, to assist them in delivering their crime reduction and drugs priorities in the light of local needs.

This will be the second year of the Building Safer Communities Fund, and builds on the progress made in 2003–04. I remain keen to help local Partnerships to focus on reducing crime through having one crime reduction funding stream, with an emphasis on less paperwork. This fund will continue to assist in strengthening Partnerships' capacity to deliver.

The money can again be used in a variety of ways and Partnerships are showing that they can use their programme funding to deliver a wide range of interventions. They are using it to reduce gun crime; to disrupt drugs markets through direct police work; running activities designed to divert children from getting involved in crime and drugs; paying for more CCTV cameras or targeted campaigns on particular crimes or drugs hotspots; or for warden schemes. These are just examples and the views of the community are key to inform local decisions.

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I want to continue to give Partnerships the resources and flexibility to target investment where it will reduce crime and deliver real change on the ground, in accordance with local priorities. The single fund will enable local agencies on the front line to boost the work they do to tackle crime and drug abuse.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Equal Pay

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt): Along with other Government organisations DTI and its Agencies completed equal pay audits in 2003 and put in place action plans to address any concerns.

The Cabinet Office produced an overview of audits from across the Civil Service on 27 November 2003

(see http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/performanceandreward/performance.html).

All DTI organisations are already taking steps to deliver on their action plans and will review equal pay as part of future pay rounds.

Action Plans and summaries have now been placed in the Libraries of the House and published on websites

(see http://www.dti.gov.uk/about_dti_documents.html).

WORK AND PENSIONS

Housing Benefit Reform

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith): In October 2002, I announced a wide ranging programme of Housing Benefit reforms aimed at giving tenants choice and promoting personal responsibility. The centrepiece of those reforms is the Local Housing Allowance—a set amount allowance for housing costs based simply on household composition and location, and reflecting market rents.

We are testing this new scheme, for tenants renting accommodation in the private sector, in nine pathfinder local authorities, representing different types of housing markets, before rolling it out nationally. When we launched the policy I promised to keep colleagues updated on progress and I know there has been interest from many hon. Members in these groundbreaking reforms. I am pleased to report as of 9 February all pathfinders are up and running and implementation has gone smoothly.

Already some 19,000 tenants are enjoying the benefits of Local Housing Allowance in the Pathfinder areas, and a further 25,000 will transfer over the coming months.

For tenants in the private rented sector the local housing allowance means, for the first time, they will know in advance how much they will receive towards housing costs. This greater certainty about the amount of benefit that will be paid will help people make the move from benefits to work. Tenants will be able to choose where to live and whether to spend all, less or more than this on rent, out of their total income. These are the same choices that we all make.

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It follows that to have this freedom of choice, and to exercise this personal responsibility, payments of local housing allowance are normally made to the tenant rather than the landlord.

We recognise that some tenants, who have not been used to having those choices and responsibilities, will need help and support. We also recognise that it is important to provide safeguards for landlords against tenants who default on their rent. We are providing a range of safeguards for landlords, and support and advice for tenants.

It is too early to provide any firm lysis but I am pleased to report that there are already signs of tenants exercising choice by negotiating rent, and moving to accommodation that is more appropriate to their needs, and that landlords are working with pathfinders and claims are being processed more quickly.

We will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the pathfinder stage before extending the benefits of the Local Housing Allowance nationally.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Fisheries

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Ben Bradshaw): Effective monitoring, control and surveillance are critical to the operation of the Common Fisheries Policy and measures to conserve fish stocks. Towards the end of last year the European Commission drew attention to shortcomings in the United Kingdom's control arrangements and compliance with the rules and regulations of the Common Fisheries Policy. Concerns have also been expressed by the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts

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Committee and more recently by the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit, which will report shortly on a sustainable future for the fishing industry.

With increasing emphasis on the sustainable use of naturally occurring resources, a culture of high compliance becomes ever more important. To encourage such culture and to respond to the concerns raised by the European Commission and others, the Fisheries Departments in the UK are taking a number of measures to strengthen fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance. These include:








Some measures are already being put into effect and others are or will be the subject of consultation with the industry. Together the measures will complement other action that is being taken at both national and Community level to safeguard fish stocks and the long-term interests of the fishing industry.

A more detailed note on the action that is being taken has been placed in the library of each House and copies are to be sent to fishermen and other stakeholders.