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Written Ministerial Statements
Thursday 24 June 2004
HOME DEPARTMENT
ChangeUp: A Capacity Building and Infrastructure Framework
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart): I am today announcing the launch of ChangeUp—a programme of investment specifically for capacity building and infrastructure in the voluntary sector.
ChangeUp aims to ensure that by 2014 the needs of frontline voluntary and community organisations will be met by support which is available nationwide, structured for maximum efficiency, offering excellent provision which is accessible to all, truly reflecting and promoting diversity and sustainably funded. It sets out an architecture for how that infrastructure should develop and highlights key strategic actions that will bring it into being.
ChangeUp has been created in response to the 2002 Cross-Cutting Review on the Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery which recommended that the voluntary and community sector and Government together draw up a strategy to underpin the capacity of the sector. The Home Office has led on the development of the framework, which has included a three-month consultation period on the document Voluntary and Community Sector Infrastructure—A Consultation Document, published in September 2003.
ChangeUp sets out the principal capacity needs of frontline organisations—especially small and medium sized organisations. The main elements are performance improvement, workforce development and leadership, ICT, governance, supporting volunteers and financing voluntary and community sector activity. Each has a clear high level objective and achievable actions which will make a difference.
It also describes how voluntary and community sector infrastructure should be modernised and reconfigured. The emphasis is on placing the voluntary and community sector in the driving seat, helping it to work with public sector partners and funders to agree the best way to provide high quality and sustainable support to frontline organisations.
Nationally, expertise and leadership in particular areas should be provided by "hubs" which will build on best practice and reduce confusion in the sector by bringing people together to provide strategic leadership, signpost organisations to sources of support, and act as beacons of good practice, reaching directly to frontline organisations to develop advanced thinking and good practice.
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The ChangeUp framework will be used as a planning tool for Government, funders and voluntary and community sector partners at all levels and in different sectors to develop further action and will provide a point of reference for future thinking.
Implementation will be underpinned by Home Office investment of £72m of ChangeUp funds that will support strategic planning and catalyse modernisation of infrastructure provision to improve its quality and reach.
Copies of the document are available in the House Library and on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk. A regulatory impact assessment is also available with the document.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Animal Welfare Strategy
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Ben Bradshaw): I am pleased to announce today the publication of the "Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain."
The strategy fulfils the Government's commitment made in the strategy for sustainable food and farming to work in partnership with industry, specialists and the wider community to provide an overarching framework for the development and implementation of policies in all areas of animal health and welfare. It is based on the public consultation launched on 15th July 2003 and has been jointly produced by Defra, the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government.
I have arranged for copies of the "Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain" to be made available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Copies are also available on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/ahws/default.htm
Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Margaret Beckett): The Government are publishing the sixth section of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate (Framework) on waste today. This is available on the sustainable development in Government website. Copies of the website, on CD-Rom, will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The waste section of the Framework sets for the first time a Government wide commitment to reduce waste on the Government estate, and increase recycling and composting rates. It encourages Departments to purchase re-usable, recyclable, and recycled products; and return used products to manufacturers. This will make an important contribution to the UK's target on reducing waste sent to landfill, and will help deliver our commitment to moving up the waste hierarchy towards more sustainable waste management practices.
The Framework now requires all relevant waste management contracts to take account of measures and opportunities for reducing and avoiding the impact of waste, and for collecting waste management data.
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Departments must draw up sustainable waste management strategies setting out how they will deal with these issues.
Our ongoing work on the Framework defines a set of cross-Government targets for sustainable development, and outlines the mechanisms by which Departments will be expected to achieve them. These challenging targets give a clear indication of the Government's continued determination to take a lead in the practical implementation and achievement of sustainable development.
The Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate can be viewed at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/improving/index.htm
NORTHERN IRELAND
Strategic Investment Board: Report and Accounts 2003–04
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Ian Pearson): Today I have placed in the Libraries of the House, copies of the report and accounts 2003–04 of the Strategic Investment Board for Northern Ireland.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions I am announcing the publication of performance statistics for local authority administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit (HB and CTB) for the fourth quarter of 2003–04. A copy of the quarterly statistics for all local authorities in Great Britain has been placed in the Library and has been published on the Department for Work and Pensions website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/other–stats.asp
Publishing these statistics is part of our strategy for reforming housing benefit and for ensuring that local authorities are accountable for their performance in administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit.
Housing benefit and council tax benefit performance statistics show that in the fourth quarter of 2003–04, authorities that returned data reported that:
new claims were processed in an average of 47 days, compared to 53 days in the fourth quarter of 2002–03;
some 161 authorities had met the performance standard for processing new claims (36 days), compared to 130 in the same quarter of 2002–03;
change of circumstances were processed in an average of 14 days, compared with 17 days in the fourth quarter of 2002–03;
some 179 authorities met the performance standard for processing change of circumstances (9 days), compared to 160 in the same quarter of 2002–03.
The statistics are un-audited and are provided quarterly by local authorities to my Department.
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The audited best value performance information for English local authorities for 2002–03 was published by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 18 December 2003 on the best value performance indicators website at: http://www.bvpi.gov.uk/home.asp. A copy is available in the Library.
The most recent corresponding data for local authorities in Wales is also for 2002–03. This is published on the Audit Commission website at http://www.lgdu-wales.gov.uk/eng/Project.asp?id=SX99Al-A77F4BA8. A copy of the relevant extract from this site is available in the Library.
The most recent corresponding data for local authorities in Scotland is also for 2002–03 and is in the Accounts Commission publication "Performance Indicators 2002–03: Benefits, Finance and Corporate Issues", a copy of which is available in the Library.
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