| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Big Lottery Fund
The Minister for Sport (Mr. Richard Caborn): The National Lottery Bill, which is currently before Parliament, will establish the Big Lottery Fund as a new lottery distributing body, replacing three of the existing distributing bodies, the Community Fund, the New Opportunities Fund and the Millennium Commission. We consider there are strong reasons of public interest to begin the process of recruiting the board of the Big Lottery Fund while the Bill is still before Parliament. Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £33,200 for this new service will be sought in the main estimate for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £33,200 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
DEFENCE
Falklands Conflict (25th Anniversary)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Don Touhig): I am pleased to announce that the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict will be commemorated in the United Kingdom in June 2007. The commemorations, which will be designated "South Atlantic 25", will begin with the annual service of remembrance in the Falkland Islands memorial chapel at Pangbourne college, which will take place on Thursday 14 June. The main event will take place on Horse Guards Parade in the afternoon of the following Sunday, 17 June, and will consist of a parade, drum-head service and march past. The focus will be on the veterans of the campaign, and they will be supported by a tri-service band and serving members of the armed forces and merchant navy representing the ships, units and squadrons which took part in the operation. Families of the veterans will be invited to attend.
The armed forces will also participate in local commemorations being planned by the Falkland Islands Government.
The Ministry of Defence will be working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the veterans' organisations to plan the events in the United Kingdom, and will be liaising with the Falkland Islands Government. Further details will become available in due course and will be passed to the veterans' organisations and posted on the Veterans Agency website.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Certification Monitor's Report
The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality (Mr. Tony McNulty):
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has today placed in the Libraries of both Houses the second annual report of the Independent Monitor of the Certification of Claims as
27 Apr 2006 : Column 55WS
Clearly Unfounded under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum (NIA) Act 2002 (the Monitor), and the Government response to the report and its recommendations.
PRIME MINISTER
Senior Salaries Review Body
The Prime Minister (Mr. Tony Blair):
I have appointed Paul Williams and Michael Langley as
27 Apr 2006 : Column 56WS
members of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), initially for a three-year term. They will take up their post with immediate effect.
The other members of the SSRB are: