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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Centre for Environment, Fisheriesand Aquaculture Science
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Ben Bradshaw) : The 2003–04 annual report and accounts for the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science was laid before Parliament today.
Copies are available in the Library of the House.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Accession State Nationals (Transitional Arrangements)
The Minister for Citizenship and Immigration (Mr. Desmond Browne) : Further to my written statement of 7 July 2004, Official Report, column 36WS, I would like to correct a typographical error which appeared in paragraph 7. The sentence which read: "Accordingly the 20 per cent. increase on last year's UK entry figures for May is to be expected" should in fact have read: "Accordingly the 25 per cent. increase on last year's UK entry figures for May is to be expected."
WORK AND PENSIONS
President of Appeal Tribunals (Annual Report)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith) : I am pleased to publish today the fourth report by the president of appeal tribunals on the standard of decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State in cases which come before appeal tribunals. The main reasons given for appeal tribunals overturning or amending decisions were because new evidence was produced at the hearing, the tribunal took a different view of the same evidence or the oral evidence of the appellant at the hearing shed new light on the existing evidence. The president reiterates his view that an improvement in the attendance of presenting officers at tribunal hearings would provide the Department with immediate feedback on the standards of decision making.
The president has highlighted some areas where improvements have been made since his last report. Some examples of these are an improvement in balancing the evidence used, a reduction in the number of disability living allowance/attendance allowance appeals where the tribunal formed a different view of the evidence used and a significant improvement in cases where the medical report had under-estimated the severity of the disability for incapacity benefit.
The president has suggested that the agencies should be more proactive when an appeal is lodged, to resolve discrepancies, obtain the evidence and seek further information. He considers if time were spent on this fewer appeals would reach the Appeals Service. Another recommendation is that medical reports and decision
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makers need to explore more thoroughly the impact mental health problems may have on appellants with a disability. I welcome the president's report which provides an independent view of the standard of Secretary of State decision making in cases coming to the appeal tribunal.
Copies of the report have been placed in the Library and are available on the internet at www.appeals-service. gov.uk/pres–rep04.pdf.
DEFENCE
Defence Bills Agency (Key Targets)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram) : Key targets have been set for the Chief Executive of the Defence Bills Agency (DBA) for the financial year 2004–05. The targets, which build on the already high standards of service provided by the Agency since its formation in 1996, are as follows:
To pay 99.9 per cent. of correctly presented bills within 11 calendar days of receipt as part of the Department's 30-day payment target.
To raise 99 per cent. of invoices accurately within four days of receipt of a correctly authorised claimable document.
To ensure that the average percentage of overdue collectable debt due to the Department does not exceed 30 per cent. of total collectable debt.
To deliver 99 per cent. of the required accounting and financial information feed to the Departmental Financial Management System portal within one working day.
To make a progressive improvement of at least 1 per cent. in the overall level of customer satisfaction over a baseline of 77 per cent. achieved in 2003–04.
To make a progressive reduction in the unit costs for bills of at least 4 per cent. by March 2005, over the 2003–04 baseline.
Iraq: Referrals
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon) : Hon. Members will recall the harrowing images broadcast by al-Jazeera television in March last year, which showed the bodies of two British soldiers—Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth and Sapper Luke Allsopp. There were indications that one or both of the soldiers may not have died in combat, and as a result we launched a special investigation branch inquiry. Although it would not be appropriate for me to comment in detail on the evidence collected so far, it continues to point to the possibility that one or both soldiers may have been murdered.
Hon. Members may also recall the tragic deaths of six RMP soldiers in al-Majarr al-Kabir last June. Against the backdrop of an extremely challenging environment, an SIB investigation into that incident has also been making progress.
Last year, the coalition provisional authority established the central criminal court of Iraq (CCCI) to exercise jurisdiction over all criminal offences referred to it by the administration in Iraq, which were committed there since 19 March 2003. The CCCI follows "the
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investigative model", prevalent in the rest of Europe, whereby an "investigative court" directs and oversees the investigation and, where appropriate, refers the matter to a "trial court".
If these cases are to be pursued through the CCCI, it is important that the concluding phases of the investigations are conducted under the court's direction, to ensure compliance with the rules and procedures of the court. This will have particular impact in respect of the admissibility of evidence. I have therefore agreed that it would be appropriate for the CCCI to be invited to take on these cases. To that end, translations of the cases developed so far have been passed to the CCCI. If the CCCI adopts the cases, we will, of course, support them in any way we can in taking the investigations forward.
The CCCI represents the best prospect of dealing with such cases in an expeditious and fair manner, as Iraqi law has a bar to extraditing its own nationals to a foreign state, including the UK.
Whatever the outcome of these cases, I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of the SIB senior investigating officers and their teams for their hard work.
The families of the eight soldiers are being kept informed of progress with the investigations. Our thoughts and sympathies remain with them.
TREASURY
Statistics Commission (Annual Report)
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Ruth Kelly) : The Statistics Commission's annual report and accounts, covering the 2003–04 financial year, are being published today, having been laid before both Houses of Parliament. Copies are available in the Vote Office.
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HEALTH
State of Health Care Report
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Ms Rosie Winterton) : The report on the state of healthcare, HC820, by the Healthcare Commission (whose statutory name is the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection) was published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Modernising Marriage Law
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy) : On 10 July 2003 the Government published the consultation paper, "Civil Registration: Delivering Vital Change". This set out our proposals to reform civil registration in England and Wales using powers in the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. It remains our intention—as the Financial Secretary to the Treasury announced on 29 March this year—to bring forward two orders under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. One, planned for this Session of Parliament, will amend the current legislation on birth and death registration. The second, on marriage law, has been deferred so as to enable us to take into account Parliament's wishes on civil partnership legislation.
Preliminary consideration of the responses to "Civil Registration: Delivering Vital Change" suggests that there is an issue regarding the proposals for marriage on which there should be further consultation. The issue concerns the absence of any proposal to change the legal requirement for marriage ceremonies to be either civil or religious. Policy in this area of marriage law is the responsibility of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. In the coming months and in consultation with others, we will be working with Treasury Ministers and the General Register Office for England and Wales to determine the scope of any revised proposals.