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Written Ministerial Statements

Thursday 29 April 2004

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Annual Report

The Minister for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality (Alun Michael): The Defra 2004 Departmental Report, which contains information on progress against the Department's objectives, the challenges ahead and summary expenditure plans for 2003–04 to 2005–06, has been published today. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Scottish Devolution Guidance Note

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie): My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following written ministerial statement in the other place today.

HEALTH

Departmental Annual Report

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Ms Rosie Winterton): The Department's annual report for 2004, (Cm 6204), was laid before Parliament today.

Copies have been placed in the Library.

Food Standards Agency

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Miss Melanie Johnson): The Food Standards Agency's departmental report Spring 2004, Cm 6205 was laid before Parliament today.

Copies will be placed in the Library.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Annual Report

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith): I am today able to announce the publication of the Department for Work and Pensions Departmental report. The report provides details of the Department's performance in 2003–04 against its public
 
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service agreement targets and sets out the Department's expenditure plans for 2004–05 and 2005–06. Copies have been placed in the Library.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

International Development Association

The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): In 2002, the UK agreed to contribute £900 million to the thirteenth replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional lending arm which is designed to meet the needs of the world's poorest countries. In addition to this contribution, the UK set aside another £100 million to be provided on condition that a satisfactory framework was agreed to compensate IDA for the costs of introducing grants under its thirteenth replenishment (IDA 13). Both the initial £900 million contribution and the additional provisional contribution of £100 million were approved by Parliament on 3 December 2002.

I am pleased to announce that a satisfactory framework for compensating IDA 13 for the introduction of grants has now been agreed. Under this framework, donors will compensate IDA upfront for the administrative costs associated with providing grants, through making additional contributions to the next replenishment (IDA 14). (These are costs which arise early in the project cycle and, in the case of loans, would be covered by recipient countries.) Meanwhile, donors will compensate for the lost re-flows from recipient countries as and when these would have fallen due. Given the 10-year grace period provided under IDA on repayment of loans, this would not have happened until 2013 at the earliest. Compensation payments will not therefore be required until this time, and the exact means of compensation will be discussed as part of future IDA replenishments.

An essential and fundamental principle of the agreed grants compensation framework is that donors should contribute to the cost of compensation in line with their share of IDA 13 (their 'burden share'). If the UK were to contribute the full £100 million set aside to cover the costs of upfront compensation, we would effectively displace the contributions of other donors. We have therefore decided to cover both our burden share under IDA 13, and the structural financing gap inherent in this replenishment (equivalent to 9.37 per cent. of total resource needs from donors), making a total UK contribution for upfront IDA 13 grants compensation of £64.8 million.

Departmental Annual Report

The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): I am today laying before Parliament copies of the Department for International Development's departmental report 2004.
 
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SOLICITOR GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service

The Solicitor-General (Ms Harriet Harman): My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General has made the following Ministerial Statement:

Designated caseworkers are now permitted to undertake all work in the magistrates' court other than:

The extended remit of designated caseworkers will enhance the role of the designated caseworker and enable more effective court listing. It will also support the effective delivery by the Crown Prosecution Service of pre-charge advice.

A designated caseworker will not be permitted to undertake the extended remit until successfully completing a training programme and receiving a personal letter of appointment from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The following documents will be lodged in the Libraries of Parliament:

DEFENCE

Individual Training and Education (Armed Forces)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): Our armed forces have an enviable reputation throughout the world for their professional delivery of operational military capability in a vast spectrum of roles. These range from war fighting to the complex and often subtle requirements of peace support operations and counter-terrorism; besides turning their hand, as they have done in recent years, to providing support to the civil community assisting with fire-fighting, flood-relief and the foot and mouth outbreak. Most who come across Service personnel acknowledge that they have sound essential military skills and operate within an ethos that differs from that generally found within the sphere of civilian employment. Yet those who join the services are not fundamentally different from the rest of society. What turns a young man or woman into a service person, capable of taking on successfully the variety of challenging roles which our country demands of them, is the training and education undertaken by servicemen and women throughout their careers.
 
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The Ministry of Defence is one of the largest providers of training and education to the 16 plus age group in the UK. The initial training delivered to new recruits is geared to provide them with the essential skills and knowledge to be capable of operating effectively in often unpredictable, violent, dangerous and stressful environments from the outset of their careers. MOD seeks to develop each individual to his or her maximum potential. Service personnel are given training and education to improve upon their latent ability; some who join may lack basic skills whilst others have graduate qualifications. The scope and scale of the training and education provision is considerable, and spans the whole length of a career in the forces. Not only does this help to recruit and retain people, but, equally importantly, when service personnel return to civilian employment, they take with them skills of value to society.

I am therefore pleased to announce that today I have placed in the Library of the House a Policy Paper, entitled "Individual Training and Education in the Armed Forces". The paper provides information on MOD's wide spectrum of training and education and explains the skills agenda to which this operates. At its core lies the fundamental requirement to prepare servicemen and women to deliver operational capability. It includes insights into the key stages of initial training and the training environment, and highlights the MOD's determination to remain at the forefront of developing skills for the 21st Century.

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