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Estate Agents

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe): I aimed to publish the Government's response to the Office of Fair Trading report on the estate agency market in England and Wales by 18 June, but we have received a number of recent representations on the report that we are still considering. I expect the response to be published shortly.

Chemical Weapons Act

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Nigel Griffiths): I am pleased to announce that in accordance with the requirements of the Chemical Weapons Act 1996, I have today laid a report before the House on its operation during 2003.
 
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WORK AND PENSIONS

New Deal

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith): I have today published a paper "Building on New Deal: Local solutions meeting individual needs" which provides details of our strategy for building on the success of our employment programmes. A copy has been placed in the Library and copies are available for hon. Members from the Vote Office. This follows the publication of our preliminary paper on the 19 May.

The UK employment rate is now the highest in the G7, and the unemployment rate the lowest. Employment has risen in every region of the UK, and risen more in areas that previously had the lowest employment rates. The number of unemployed people has fallen by over 600,000 on both measures since 1997 to its lowest level for over a quarter of a century.

This success reflects a comprehensive economic strategy that the Government has put into place since 1997. At the heart of this success has been our welfare to work policies such as the new deal programmes, which have helped well over a million people to find work.

We have achieved significant falls in unemployment and rises in the employment levels of lone parents and older workers. But we are determined to do even more for those who face the most difficult barriers to work. We will build upon the success of the new deal, strengthening its ability to help people who face particular difficulties in moving into employment. This requires a personalised approach where personal advisers and local managers are given sufficient flexibility to deliver solutions appropriate for individuals and local labour markets. This strategy builds on existing policies to secure social justice for those who too often have been left behind, and to enable them to realise their full potential, to the economic and social benefit of the whole community and to achieve the goal of full employment in every region and nation of the UK.

We will be working with the devolved administrations, our private and voluntary sector partners and other organisations to successfully deliver this new approach and help even more people to move from benefit dependency into work.

DEFENCE

Iraq: UK Forces in Multinational Division (South-East)

The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): As part of the routine management of UK forces in the Multinational Division (South-East) (MND(SE)) in Iraq, we intend to conduct a further roulement over the coming months. The lead UK formation, currently 1 Mechanised Brigade, will be provided by 4 Armoured
 
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Brigade from October 2004. In addition to 4 Armoured Brigade's Headquarters and Signals squadron, we plan to replace the major units currently in Iraq as follows:

Unit deploying	Unit currently in theatre
4 Armoured Brigade Headquarters and Signal Squadron	1 Mechanised Brigade Headquarters and Signal Squadron
1st the Queen's Dragoon Guards	The Household Cavalry Regiment
The Royal Dragoon Guards	The Queens Royal Lancers
4th Regiment the Royal Artillery	1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
1st Battalion the Scots Guards	1st Battalion the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment
1st Battalion the Welsh Guards	1st Battalion the Royal Welch Fusiliers
1st Battalion the Duke of Wellington's Regiment	1st Battalion the Cheshire Regiment
21 Engineer Regiment	22 Engineer Regiment

This process of roulement is currently planned to take place over the period from mid-October to mid-November. We expect that 4 Armoured Brigade Headquarters will assume authority in early November. We expect that the number of armed forces personnel in theatre will remain broadly stable as a result of these changes.

In my statement on 27 May 2004, Official Report, column 1725, I announced that we were reducing the notice to move of 40 Commando the Royal Marines, in case it proved necessary to deploy it to help continue the work currently carried out by the two surge battalions, the 1st Battalion the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the 1st Battalion the Royal Highland Fusiliers. These battalions have carried out much impressive work, particularly in developing Iraqi security forces. However, the General Officer Commanding has concluded that there will be a continuing requirement for some surge capability in MND(SE), both to provide support to Iraqi security forces in the early stages of the transitional period, and to provide capacity for some other tasks, including the protection of essential infrastructure over the summer period.

As I announced in that statement, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders will complete their six-month tour in July. Three companies of the Royal Highland Fusiliers were originally deployed for a three-month tour to mid-July (the other company forms the Falkland Island Roulement Infantry Company). We have concluded that we should not extend their tour in Iraq any further. On the advice of the General Officer Commanding, therefore, I have decided that 40 Commando should deploy to replace the Royal Highland Fusiliers. Because all four companies of 40 Commando will deploy to Iraq there will be a net increase of approximately 270 personnel in theatre, which will bring the total to around 9,200. We envisage that deployment will begin on 21 June in order to complete the handover in mid-July.

As part of the roulement from 1 Mechanised Brigade to 4 Armoured Brigade, and in line with our policy of employing the reserves as an integral component of the armed forces, we shall shortly begin mobilising a further
 
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tranche of approximately 750 reservists to support operations in Iraq, with a view to deployment from mid- October onwards. This is a smaller deployment than previously required for Op TELIC. We currently have some 1,400 Army reservists carrying out a range of activities including medical support, force protection duties and providing individual reinforcements to units. We anticipate that most of these tasks will continue but the reduction in the number of individual reinforcements required and the replacement of the Reserve Field Hospital with one staffed by Regular soldiers will reduce the total Reserve requirement. These changes mean that the number of Army reservists in theatre will drop to about 1,050 at the start of the roulement (about 13 percent of the land component) and then further reduce to about 750 over the following months.

We aim to issue the call-out notices in two tranches on 23 July and 27 August and begin deployment in mid-October. Reservist personnel will receive at least 21 days' notice. Mobilisation will be followed by a period of individual, pre-deployment and collective training, integration into receiving units, and then a short period of pre-deployment leave. The majority of those called-out can expect a deployed tour of six months and a total period of mobilisation, including post-tour leave, of about nine months, though for a few it may be longer.

Between now and 23 July we aim to identify for selection as accurately as possible those reservists who are believed to be fit and available for deployment. As is customary, to ensure that we successfully mobilise the required number, we will need to issue a greater number of call-out notices than the actual requirement.

I would emphasise that these are routine adjustments to UK forces in MND(SE). We continue to consider, with our partners in the multinational force, the levels and dispositions of forces required in Iraq in the months ahead, to support the sovereign Interim Government of Iraq through the process leading to the election of a transitional assembly and Government early in 2005. If we judge that further changes to the UK military contribution in Iraq would be appropriate to support this process, we will of course inform the House at the earliest opportunity. At present, however, no such decision has been made.

Northern Ireland

The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram): As part of our normal process of keeping force levels under review, the General Officer Commandry Northern Ireland, in consultation with the Chief Constable of the PSNI, has concluded that two of his units (not routinely based in Northern Ireland) can be removed from his command as they are not required for routine support to the police in Northern Ireland. Accordingly, two battalions which have been rear-based outside Northern Ireland since December 2003 and February 2004, will transfer to the command of CinC LAND on 16 July 2004.

This is a prudent measure based on the GOC's and Chief Constable's assessment of the current security situation and the success of the PSNI in dealing with the threat from terrorism with reduced military support. It does not affect the Army's ability to support the PSNI in countering the threat from terrorism and preventing
 
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potential public disorder. We will continue to keep force levels in Northern Ireland under regular review to best deliver the support required by the PSNI.

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