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Written Ministerial Statements
Monday 15 March 2004
HOME DEPARTMENT
Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy
The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears): The Strategy Unit's report, alcohol harm reduction strategy for England, is published today. The strategy aims to reduce the harm caused by alcohol misuse by focusing on four areas for intervention:
- using more effective enforcement to tackle alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour;
- encouraging the alcoholic drinks industry to take a lead in promoting more responsible drinking and in reducing alcohol-related problems;
- enabling individual choice through improved and better targeted education and communication; and
- better support and treatment for those who suffer from the effects of alcohol misuse and their families.
Its findings will be implemented as Government policy. This is consistent with the commitment made in the NHS Plan to begin implementing an alcohol harm reduction strategy for England in 2004.
Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
Disorder Penalty Notices
The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears): Home Office research findings summarising the main findings of the interim evaluation of pilots for penalty notices for disorder, which ran for 12 months from August and September 2002 to 2003, have been published today. The findings show that police officers have welcomed the scheme and are making good use of penalty notices for disorder. In particular, the pilots showed that the police find penalty notices for disorder a quick and effective tool for tackling the low-level drink-related nuisance offending that occurs late at night in city centres. Using a penalty notice for disorder saves police time and there has been a demonstrable switch from cautions and prosecutions in the pilot areas.
The issues raised by police officers about repeat offenders, "flagging" on PNC and taking of fingerprints and DNA have already been addressed. A programme is being developed that will identify repeat offenders on the computer database. A facility now exists to record penalty notices on PNC, and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 contains powers for the police to take DNA and fingerprints on arrest for recordable offences. These powers will be introduced on 5 April.
Copies of the research findings have been placed in the Library.
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TREASURY
Public Sector Relocation
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown): The report of Sir Michael Lyon's independent review of public sector relocation is published today. Copies are available in the Vote Office.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
National Minimum Wage
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt): In July 2003 I asked the independent Low Pay Commission to report on the national minimum wage by the end of February 2004.
The Government are today publishing the Commission's 2004 report and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chair of the Commission, Adair Turner, and its other members for their work on this very important issue.
We asked the Commission to consider two issues. We asked them to look at possible fine-tuning of the minimum wage rates proposed for October 2004, in the light of the latest economic position. And we asked them, following the recommendation in their fourth report last spring, to look at the possible introduction of a new minimum wage rate for 16 and 17-year-olds.
The Commission have concluded, first, that the overall economic outlook remains favourable, with growth being slightly higher than forecast last year and the labour market remaining robust with high employment and very low unemployment. In addition, employment across low-paying sectors as a whole is continuing to grow and there seems to be little or no evidence that the minimum wage is having an adverse impact on these sectors. On the basis that the Commission believe these recommendations are affordable for business and will not have any significant effect on levels of employment, the Government have accepted the recommended rate increases for 2004.
The Commission have also considered whether to introduce a new minimum wage rate for 16 and 17-year-old workers. They have found continued evidence that some jobs in this age group offer very low rates of pay and little or no training, and concluded that it is important to introduce a minimum wage for 16 and 17-year-old workers, in order to stop exploitative rates of pay.
However it is clearly important to set any rate for this group cautiously. Unemployment and employment levels for 16 and 17-year-old workers are substantially worse than those for those aged 18 to 21. The Commission believe that a rate of around £3.00 per hour would have negligible impact on young people's decisions on whether to remain in education, and the
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national implementation of Education Maintenance Allowances this autumn will encourage young people to stay on in education after they have completed compulsory schooling. The Commission have therefore recommended that a rate should be introduced for 16 and 17-year-olds, at £3.00 in October 2004. The Government have accepted this recommendation.
The Commission have also considered the position of young apprentices. Many young apprentices earn less than £3.00 an hour at 16 and 17, and many 18-year-old apprentices earn less than the development rate of £4.10 an hour. We are very concerned to ensure that employers continue to offer apprenticeships and, recognising the need for caution, the Commission have recommended extending the current exemption for apprentices aged under 19 to cover 16 and 17-year-old apprentices as well. They have also recommended extending this exemption to cover participants on specified pre-apprenticeship programmes. The Government have accepted this recommendation.
I have placed copies of this statement, the Report from the Low Pay Commission and our Regulatory Impact Assessment in the Libraries of both Houses.
Summary of recommendations in the Low Pay Commission's 2004 report and the Government's response
The adult rate of the minimum wage should be increased from the present hourly rate of £4.50 to £4.85 in October 2004.
Accept. This increase will take place on 1 October 2004.
The youth rate (which applies to 18–21 year olds) should be increased from the present hourly rate of £3.80 to £4.10 in October 2004.
Accept. This increase will take place on 1 October 2004.
The Government should introduce a minimum wage for 16–17 year olds, set at an hourly rate of £3.00 in October 2004.
Accept. We will introduce a new minimum wage rate for 16–17 year olds on 1 October 2004.
Apprentices aged 16 and 17 and participants on specified pre-apprenticeship programmes should be exempt from the new rate.
The Government should consider specific channels to promote awareness of the minimum wage for young people.
Accept. We will consider this point when developing the publicity campaign to inform people of the new rates this autumn.
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Sustainable Communities
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper): In February last year my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister published the Communities Plan. That plan was not simply about housing: it was about creating sustainable communities in all parts of the country, and we are following it up with a detailed programme of implementation. In July last year the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published "Making it Happen—Thames Gateway and the Growth Areas" and in February this year we set out our plans for the north in "Making it Happen—The Northern Way". I am now giving Members a further update on our plans for the growth areas.
One of our key objectives is to help tackle the long-term shortage of housing, and particularly affordable housing. Based on the potential set out in joint studies with partners, we are now working to deliver the additional 200,000 new homes identified in the Communities Plan for sustainable communities in the growth areas and London. This is in addition to the 930,000 already planned in the wider south-east by 2016, and subject to testing and examination through the Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) process.
These additional new homes are a key element in our response to the housing affordability problem which is seriously affecting the wider economy, business competitiveness, and the delivery of public services. Failure to respond to these pressures is directly harming communities and means that young people cannot live near their parents.
Constraining growth in order to divert it to other regions is not a solution. We are committed to enabling every region to perform to its full economic potential, and to narrow the gap in growth rates between them, but displacing investment in the south-east means it might well go abroad or not happen at all.
Later this week the Government intend to publish Kate Barker's review of housing supply which will consider the need for additional measures and on which we will consult. In the meantime we need to ensure that we and our regional and local partners are on course to deliver the full potential of the growth areas programme.
The regional Planning Framework
The growth areas will in part help meet demand close to London, and in part provide new opportunities in the north and east of the wider south-east, where there is substantial capacity for sustainable growth in new and expanded communities. The growth areas policy will also strengthen links between the south east and its adjoining regions, particularly the East Midlands, through Northamptonshire and the inclusion of Peterborough, and with Europe.
The areas that we are now taking forward were confirmed in RPG9 (for the wider south-east) published in 2001, because of their potential to take further sustainable growth, and to exploit major transport investment. The potential of Thames Gateway was established in RPG9a, and is being further developed in the Interregional Planning Statement which is being
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prepared by the three Regional Planning Bodies which cover the Gateway. The potential for the newer growth areas has been independently assessed in studies which were published last year. These studies and supplementary local assessments have been key inputs to the preparation of proposals by regional partners for new Regional Planning Guidance for each area, which is then subject to public consultation and testing in public examination. The current position is tabled below:
| Milton Keynes/ South Midlands | Mini RPG proposals published for public consultation July 2003; public examination starts 23 March 2004. |
| Ashford | Mini RPG proposals published July 2003, public examination held in December—Panel report submitted to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister February 2004. |
| London—Stansted—Cambridge—Peterborough | Growth area proposals are included in draft RPG 14 for the East of England—proposals agreed by Regional Planning Panel February 2004 subject to further work on the Growth Area for completion by September 2004. |
| Thames Gateway | Interregional Planning Statement being draw up by Regional Planning bodies puts forward outline growth potential for confirmation by Regional planning Statements. |
The growth areas programme is about sustainable communities, not simply about housing. We are looking to create places where we integrate from the start a more sustainable approach to health, education, transport, the environment and natural resources. Jobs growth needs to balance housing rather than simply add to long distance commuting. Where there is an urban extension, growth should strengthen the existing town centre, enabling it to offer a wider range of services, and where there is to be a new settlement, it needs to complement, not weaken, its neighbouring centres. The challenge is to make the most of these opportunities to create communities which are better designed and more attractive to residents and investors and which will stand the test of time. There are good examples of this quality of development currently being delivered in Cambridge, Northampton, Milton Keynes and in the Abode scheme at Harlow, and in Thames Gateway in the Royal Docks and Kent Thameside. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment is working extensively with local partners across the Growth Areas to help realise this potential.
One of the critical issues for new communities is ensuring that provision of infrastructure and services takes place in step with growth. Failure to do so places additional pressures on hard pressed existing facilities and will make the growth itself unattractive to investors, new arrivals and existing residents. Our task as Government is to put in place mechanisms with local
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and regional partners, and the private sector, to ensure that we tackle these issues together and give partners, investors and communities the reassurance they need. The approach we will follow is based on the following principles:
(i) that funding allocations for major services such as health and education respond effectively to rapid population growth;
(ii) that we will only support the development of individual growth locations which can be adequately supported by committed or planned transport services and infrastructure;
(iii) that for the major growth locations, we recognise the need for additional funding for local infrastructure services and environmental improvement to unlock key sites, alongside strengthened local delivery arrangements, established in consultation with local partners.
I can now report to the House on some of the early action which colleagues and I are taking to help deliver this approach.
Creating new communities offers substantial potential for health benefits—through better design promoting healthier communities, responding to keyworker shortages in the health sector and providing health services more effectively from the outset. To support the development of Sustainable Communities, and reflect population growth, the department of Health is announcing a new funding package for the Growth Areas which will enable the NHS to increase local service capacity, including:
An additional £20 million of revenue funding per annum for 2004–05 and 2005–06, for those Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) that are already experiencing considerable population growth as a direct consequence of development of the four Growth Areas;
An additional £20 million of capital resources for allocation in 2005–06 to the 4 growth areas;
A Growth Areas Adjustment as part of future PCT allocations. This will apply from 2006–07. The detail of this adjustment will be worked through as part of Department of Health's review of its allocations policy which will take place later this year. It will ensure PCTs have the resources to put in place the additional capacity that planned population growth will require. The aim will be to ensure that additional health and social care capacity (both primary and community and hospital-based services) is ready to open as new populations move into the areas. NHS and social care organisations will need to play a key role in each of the delivery vehicles being set up in the Growth Areas. Early engagement will ensure that they can respond positively to population growth; planning innovative services integrated where possible into other aspects of the public and civic infrastructure (e.g. health facilities with local libraries, schools, or shops) and to help design urban developments so that they promote healthy sustainable communities and tackle health inequalities. Staffing the extra service capacity required in the four Growth Areas will also be a major challenge for Health Service and other delivery partners. The optimal solution is to train and employ local people, both to aid
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regeneration and promote healthy, sustainable communities, but also so as housing and travel difficulties are minimised. Education Improving education standards is a key objective of the Government, and of concern both for local communities and partners, and for prospective residents and investors in all the growth areas. The total capital funding available nationally for investment in school buildings has increased substantially—from less than £700 million in 1996–97 to £3.8 billion this year, and it will reach £5.1 billion in 2005–06. For example, just over £400 million (including £104 million Private Finance Initiative credits) has already been allocated to authorities and their schools covered by the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area over the period 2003–06. Within this over £200 million has been allocated largely by formula, and delivered through the Single Capital Pot, to meet modernisation and pupil needs. As part of the move to simplify the arrangements for allocating capital for pupil places, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) are introducing a mechanism whereby Local Education Authorities can apply for additional capital support to meet exceptional circumstances, including unusually high levels of growth. DfES will be discussing with rapid growth authorities their plans and funding needs. Within the total capital support a major component that will address capacity and help all four growth areas is the Building Schools for the Future programme. This is a programme of rebuilding and refurbishment to ensure that secondary education has facilities of 21st century standards. The aim is to deliver this goal successfully within 10–15 years from 2005–06, subject to future public spending decisions; £2 billion is available for the programme from 2005–06. An announcement on the first wave authorities was made on 12 February, and a further announcement about future waves will be made later this year. Local government services More generally, rapidly growing populations can place substantial additional demand on services provided by local government. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local and Regional Government has agreed to consider the impact of ceilings on rapid growth areas in the local government revenue support grant system and to do this in advance of the 2005–06 allocations. Transport Planning for large scale growth also offers opportunities for a more sustainable approach to transport through integrated decisions on development—location, design, density and mix of uses, linking with policies on the environment, health and education to create more sustainable travel choices. The Local Transport Settlement in December 2003 included approval for a number of important schemes in the newer Growth Areas including the Cambridge to Huntingdon Guided Bus £65 million, Luton-Dunstable guided bus (£78 million), Milton Keynes Integrated Transport £15 million (including ODPM funding) the Northampton Quality Bus network £8 million.
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On strategic transport, the newer growth areas will benefit from major commitments on rail such as West Coast mainline and on strategic roads, such as the M11 Junctions 8 to 9 widening, and the A14 in London-Stansted–Cambridge. In Milton Keynes/South Midlands, the schemes added last year to the Highways Agency programme included M1 widening from Luton (Junctions 6a to 10) and Luton to Milton Keynes (Junctions 10 to 13), A421 dualling (M1 Junction 13 to Bedford) and the Dunstable Northern Bypass (A5 to M1 link) (in total over £820 million of investment), and also Ashford M20, Junction 10A on the M20—decision last December. In terms of other possible transport infrastructure schemes, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with the Department for Transport on the interface between growth and transport capacity, as in the study commissioned to look at these issues in the London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough area. Decisions on specific proposals and priorities clearly need to be informed by a robust evidence base. On the proposal for an East-West Rail link between Oxford and Bedford, we are carefully considering the business case developed by the Consortium and its potential in relation to future development and in supporting east-west strategic direction across the growth area. Future decisions on any new rail projects and announcements will be taken in the light of the results of the Department for Transport's review of rail industry structure and organisation and the outcome of this year's Spending Review announcement. Significant progress has also been made over the past six months towards realising enhanced transport infrastructure to support growth in the Gateway. This includes consultation by the Strategic Rail Authority on an Integrated Kent Franchise that incorporates Channel Tunnel Rail Link domestic services to Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Medway, Sittingbourne and on to Ashford and East Kent; a provisional offer (subject to conditions) from the Department for Transport of £200 million of Private Finance Initiative credits towards the construction of the Thames Gateway Bridge; agreement between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Transport for London to jointly fund the improvement of the A206 in Bexley; and the approval by the Department for Transport of a Transport and Works Act application to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from the Royal Docks under the River Thames to Woolwich. The first phase of the West Thurrock regeneration Ring Road will shortly be completed; the DLR extension to City Airport is on site and on programme; and the construction of the second Swale Crossing in Kent will commence this year. Water and natural resources We are committed to household growth that is located and designed in ways that respect the environment and minimise resource use. New homes and neighbourhoods should be built to new and exacting standards of resource efficiency as an investment for the future. The Sustainable Buildings Task Group has been asked to make recommendations to Government on how this can be done in new and existing homes.
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The Government is committed to ensuring that the growth areas have the water they need and necessary sewerage infrastructure. The relevant water undertakers and environmental regulators have been involved in the development of the growth area proposals. Opportunities for developing sustainable new water resources in the south-east are very limited, so improving the management of water demand by improved conservation of existing resources will be crucial. Water companies will need to identify options for demand management, including better leakage control and higher levels of water efficiency. And we will support innovative solutions for water management. In Ashford, for example, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is providing funding for an Integrated Water Management Strategy (covering water supply, wastewater treatment, and flood defence and alleviation) by the Environment Agency. Additional funding for local infrastructure Through the Growth Areas Fund administered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Government has made £446 million available to the Thames Gateway and £164 million available to the three newer growth areas for the three financial years 2003–06. A key objective of the funding is to remove the barriers to implementation in the major growth sites. In the newer growth areas examples of recent funding include £20 million to support infrastructure and site works for the new communities around Cambridge, £5 million to progress the Bedford western bypass which has the potential to unlock 3,500 dwellings and similar projects in Northampton, Wellingborough and other locations. We are also funding preparatory work to plan new services; for example £0.8 million has been awarded to plan local health care services and better health across the sub-region and funding has been provided for a range of master planning and economic visioning studies. We are improving the environment. Overall in the 4 growth areas, around £30 million has been allocated to 'greenspace' projects, to create new strategic green buffer areas and improve countryside access around key growth locations, e.g. Rainham Marshes, the new Nene Valley Regional Park in Northamptonshire, and extensions to the Forest of Marston Vale. Funding post 2005–06 will be determined through Government's expenditure review this year. In the Thames Gateway, funding has been allocated towards land acquisition and site preparation in key brownfield areas including Lower Lea, and Rochester Riverside, and the completion of the A206 Thamesmead spine road in Bexley. Support has been provided for the renewal of key town centres at Barking, Dartford, and Gravesend, and to expand the University Campuses at Southend and Medway Delivery Mechanisms To deliver all this needs a concerted approach between partners. Within Government, a Cabinet Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, brings all the key Departments together to consider issues around growth in the south east. In the newer growth areas we have established, at the sub regional level, a new Inter-Regional Board for the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area which brings together regional and local partners across the three regions to focus on strategic
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issues and implementation. At the local delivery level we are establishing six new vehicles after consultation with local partners—local authority led vehicles at Cambridge, Ashford, Bedford and Aylesbury and subject to consultation, an Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) for West Northamptonshire and a Urban Development Area for Milton Keynes. Further discussions are under way for other growth locations. In the Thames Gateway we are establishing a new Gateway Delivery Office to manage the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funding programme, and local partnerships which will focus on the key development and will co-ordinate partner inputs around an agreed framework. These include two Urban Development Corporations, one already established in Thurrock, and a second (subject to Parliamentary approval) in East London, a URC in Southend and partnerships in Kent Thameside, Basildon, Medway, and Swale. For many key locations in the growth areas, development is already under way, implementing existing plans. We want to ensure early delivery and the measures we are taking will support this as well as laying the foundations for future growth. The scale, location and timing of that future growth will be determined through the Regional Planning Guidance process, including independent testing and examination, which will begin shortly for the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area and the Government will revise its plans as necessary to take account of that process.
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