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Written Ministerial Statements

Monday 11 October 2004

TREASURY

Responsibility for Tax Policy

The Paymaster General (Dawn Primarolo): In line with the recommendations of the O'Donnell review and the Chancellor's Budget statement in March, the new arrangements for the development and maintenance of tax policy are now in operation. HM Treasury has assumed responsibility for policy development, working very closely with Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise. Copies of the O'Donnell report are available in the House Libraries.

United Kingdom Listing Authority Objectives 2004–05

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Stephen Timms): The Financial Services Authority, acting in its role as the competent authority for listing, is referred to as the United Kingdom Listing Authority. Every year, the operational objectives of the UKLA are discussed with the Treasury. The annual objectives for 2004–05, which the Treasury has endorsed, will be placed in the Library, and also put on the Treasury website.

DEFENCE

Reservists (Operation Veritas and Related Operations)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): I have signed a further call-out order for reserve forces for operations in Afghanistan. The new order will enable reservists to continue to be called out into service to support the stabilisation and reconstruction operations. It is effective until 30 September 2005. Over 70 reservists were called out under the order made last year. Reservists currently provide about 12 per cent. of the total UK force in Afghanistan. We continue to be most grateful for their continuing commitment and the invaluable contribution they make to the work that UK forces are undertaking in Afghanistan.

Government Response to Defence Committee's Report on Defence Procurement

The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram): I can announce that Command Paper Cm 6338, which sets out the Government's response to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee report on Defence Procurement, will be published today.

It is the Government's opinion that the House of Commons Defence Select Committee report on Defence Procurement, published in July, was a flawed document. Our response rejects many of the report's findings. It is unusual for the MOD to reject major elements of a report written by the Defence Select Committee.
 
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Regrettably, however, we have taken this action because the report made claims that were not and could not be substantiated and was selective in the way it used evidence.

War Pensioners Report 2003–04

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): I am publishing today the "War Pensioners Report" for 2003–04.

Publication of the "War Pensioners Report" is an annual event dating back to before the second world war. It is a joint document presented to Parliament by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Defence, Health, Scotland and Wales.

The 2003–04 report provides an account of the administration of the War Pensions Scheme and the various services provided for war pensioners during that period. The report provides a variety of data on degrees of disability, pensioner age profiles, rates of pensions etc. and details of what the war pensions committees and the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions were involved in during the course of the year.

I am placing copies of the report in the Library of the House.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Government Response to ODPM Committee Report on Local Government Revenue

The Minister for Local and Regional Government (Mr. Nick Raynsford): We are publishing today the Government response to the ODPM Select Committee report on local government revenue. We welcome the Committee's report as another very helpful contribution to the important debate about local government finance.

There is significant common ground between this report and that of the balance of funding review that was published on 20 July. We now look to the Lyons inquiry to consider the detailed case for changes to the present system of local government funding, and to make recommendations on any changes that are necessary and how to implement them.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Recent Sanctions Change: Moldova

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell): On 26 August the Council of the European Union adopted Common Position 2004/622/CFSP. This amended Common Position 2004/179/CFSP (24 February 2004) that imposed travel restrictions on the leadership of the Transnistrian region of Moldova responsible for preventing progress in arriving at a political settlement of the conflict. In light of the widespread intimidation campaign being conducted against teachers, parents and students of Latin-script Moldovan schools in the Transnistrian region, the list of individuals subject to a travel ban by Common Position 2004/179/CFSP was expanded to include those persons responsible for the campaign against Latin-script schools.
 
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Iraq: Export Licence System

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw): On 8 June the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1546 reaffirming the arms embargo on Iraq and introducing new exemptions for supplies of arms and related materiel required by the Government of Iraq or the multinational force (MNF) to serve the purposes of the resolution.

Upon receipt of an application to export arms or related materiel to an end user not explicitly exempt from the embargo, Her Majesty's Government will seek certification on a case-by-case basis from the Government of Iraq or the MNF. The certification is to ensure that the proposed export is required to serve the purposes of Resolution 1546 and is therefore exempted from the embargo. A certification process has been established with the Government of Iraq.

WMD Proliferation: UK Report Under UNSCR1540

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw): In my written statement on 25 February 2004, Official Report, columns 46–49WS, on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), I expressed the hope that the UN Security Council would adopt a tough resolution against WMD proliferation, and establish an appropriate follow-up mechanism to oversee its implementation.

Both of these aims have now been achieved. UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (UNSCR1540) was adopted on 28 April this year. The resolution called on states to adopt robust national legislation to criminalise the possession, manufacture or trafficking of WMD, and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes; to develop appropriate, effective export controls on WMD related materials where these do not exist; and to maintain effective physical protection of such materials.

UNSCR1540 also established a committee (the 1540 Committee) to oversee its implementation, and called on all states to report on their implementation of the resolution by 28 October.

On 29 September the UK submitted to the Security Council its report on implementation of UNSCR1540. The UK's report under 1540 has been agreed interdepartmentally, and endorsed by the cross-Whitehall Counter-Proliferation Implementation Committee (CPIC).

We are one of the first states to submit its report to the 1540 Committee, underlining our commitment to UNSCR1540 and to counter-proliferation. I hope that the UK report will help set the standard for other states to follow, both in terms of structure and detail of the report itself, as well as in terms of concrete action to prevent the proliferation of WMD.

However, we will not rest on our laurels. The UK is continuing to review domestic implementation, as well as look at new initiatives to counter the proliferation of WMD and their means of delivery.

I am placing a copy of the UK's report in the Library of the House
 
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