Written Ministerial Statements
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Cabinet Office
Civil Service Fast Stream Recruitment
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Angela E. Smith): The 2008 Fast Stream Recruitment Report is being published online today at: http://www.cabinetoffice. gov.uk/reports/faststream.aspx. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House and are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.
Children, Schools and Families
School Teachers' Review Body Recommendations
The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls): Following the publication of the 18th report part 1 of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) (Cm 7546) on 31 March 2009, to which I responded in a statement of that date, I have today written to consultees with the outcomes of my consultation on the report and my response. Copies of the letter are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office, the Libraries of the House, and at: www.teachernet.gov. uk/pay.
I shall be taking forward the recommendations on the teachers’ pay award and pay ranges for excellent teachers for September 2009. Informed by the consultation I will implement interim changes to leadership pay that will better enable reward for system leadership roles. In this regard I am making one change to the recommended approach. I want to ensure that there are appropriate incentives for heads becoming responsible for the very largest federations of schools. I am not, therefore, accepting the STRB recommendation that there should a cap of 20 per cent. on the salary increase that is available to heads who take on permanent responsibility for running a number of schools.
To recognise the greater responsibility associated with running a number of schools, I will be encouraging governing bodies to make responsible use of the flexibilities that they already have to determine an appropriate level of pay for these heads in a way that is not constrained by the maximum of the leadership pay range but is appropriate, fair and transparent. These are interim arrangements while the STRB look in greater depth in the coming year at new pay arrangements for school leaders that will recognise and reward the vital contribution that they will make to the delivery of our vision of the 21st century school.
I shall also be following up a number of recommendations from the report concerning SEN payments in the context of a future remit which I will set for the STRB.
Defence
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Quentin Davies): The provision of armoured fighting vehicles to our forces has attracted considerable interest among hon. Members and the British public. I am today announcing the MOD’s new armoured fighting vehicles sector strategy and how it links to the defence industrial strategy.
The defence industrial strategy set out the Government’s approach to the delivery of the capabilities required by our armed forces now and in the future, recognising the important contribution that the defence industry makes. Building on the principles of the DIS, the new AVF sector strategy lays out further guiding principles which will shape MOD’s relationship with industry, setting the context for individual project decisions and contributing to a coherent sector programme.
In our strategy, we have changed the emphasis on how we meet our operational sovereignty requirements, making clear that it is not necessary to retain industrial capabilities in the UK in order to achieve appropriate operational sovereignty. We plan to make greater use of the global market, particularly within the EU and NATO, so long as we have assured access to the appropriate capabilities and expertise to design, modify, maintain, repair, overhaul, assemble, integrate and test our armoured fighting vehicles. Of course our critical requirement for affordability and value for money will remain. We continue to have a requirement to manufacture certain UK-specific critical sub-systems onshore and we will retain onshore the ability to maintain, repair and overhaul our vehicles, making use of the Defence Support Group. However where bids we receive offer comparable value for money, I will always take into account employment and industrial considerations in this country.
Contrary to our present position which normally involves manufacturers or lead contractors retaining the exclusive right to the use of the design information of platforms or systems we acquire, we will in future in principle wish to acquire at the outset rights over design information, as well as assured access to relevant design knowledge, sufficient to allow third party modification of designs where appropriate, and to permit routine maintenance repair and overhaul activities.
Our strategy will generally be to procure base vehicles which can provide a suitable platform for the systems we require and which allow for modification and enhancement in the light of future developments in technology and future operational requirements. This strategy will cover the whole of our AFV fleet, both legacy and future. As an intelligent customer, we need to be able to define technical standards and architectures and make intelligent decisions about using the right technologies and integrating them using best systems engineering practice. Where we do not have these in-house, we will need to source independent advice from elsewhere.
We owe a great debt to the men and women of the armed forces who operate in hostile environments, risking their lives to secure freedom and to ensure that international terrorism, which threatens us all, is not allowed to take hold. We must ensure that they receive the very best
support and the very best equipment for the roles they are undertaking. In this statement today, I have outlined a new strategy, one which will enable us to make the best procurement decisions in support of our armed forces. I believe that once the strategy is fully implemented it will ensure that we give our armed forces the armoured fighting vehicles they need and deserve to do their jobs as safely and effectively as modern technology can provide at best value for money for the UK taxpayer.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Climate Change Adaptation Sub-Committee
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn): In my oral statement to the House on 18 June I warned that the threat to the UK posed by floods, heat waves and coastal erosion presents a great challenge which we need to plan for. According to the UK climate change projections, the UK faces warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers, with more drought, heat-waves, flooding and sea-level rise. The results illustrate how important it is for the country to plan for the impacts of climate change. The projections underline that cutting global greenhouse gas emissions to limit future climate change is essential for the UK—as for the rest of the world.
In response to this, experts have been appointed to the Adaptation Sub-Committee to the Committee on Climate Change , which has been established under the Climate Change Act 2008 to advise Government on their work on the national climate change risk assessment, and ensure that the Government’s adaptation programme enables England to prepare effectively for the impacts of climate change.
I am announcing the first six members of the Adaptation Sub-Committee to the Committee in Climate Change today. They are: Dr Sam Fankhauser, Professor Martin Parry, Professor Jim Hall, Dr Andrew Dlugolecki, Baroness Barbara Young and Mr Graham Wynne. The Sub-Committee will be headed by the newly-appointed Chair Lord John Krebs.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Zimbabwe
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (David Miliband): The House will have seen reporting of the visit to London by Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, on 19-24 June 2009. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I met Mr. Tsvangirai yesterday and made clear our determination to support him in bringing to Zimbabwe the change demanded by ordinary Zimbabweans.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that the UK’s assistance for Zimbabwe will increase to £60 million this year, including an additional £4 million for food security and £l million for textbooks for Zimbabwean school children. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development also met Mr. Tsvangirai and set out how that pledge will include support for improvements to Zimbabwe’s water and sanitation infrastructure to reduce the likelihood of
further cholera outbreaks, as well as resources to help work to tackle HIV and rebuild the health sector, livelihood support and food aid.
We want the inclusive Government to succeed, and to help them meet their commitments to reform outlined in the global political agreement. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear, we are prepared to provide further support to help rebuild Zimbabwe should there be further progress by the Zimbabwean Government in meeting their commitments to deliver political and economic reform. The Zimbabwean Government have made some progress in delivering reform, notably on the economic front, but much more needs to be done to deliver improved services and security to ordinary people. This includes work to implement IMF recommendations and reform the Central Bank; to reform the constitution as a prelude to new elections; to promote respect for human rights, freedom of the media and the repeal of repressive legislation; and to stop land seizures.
The southern African region has a key role to play in supporting reform in Zimbabwe. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister signalled yesterday our wish to work closely with South Africa, and I look forward to working with the new South African administration. My noble Friend Lord Malloch-Brown is in regular touch with Ministers from the southern African development community, a number of whom he met this month in Cape Town.
We will continue to do what we can to support Zimbabwe and its neighbours in seizing this historic opportunity for reform in Zimbabwe, and to build on the positive momentum generated by Morgan Tsvangirai’s visit to work with reformers to make progress on key issues.
Leader of the House
Parliamentary Standards
The Leader of the House of Commons (Ms Harriet Harman): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and I have today presented to Parliament the Parliamentary Standards Bill.
We are grateful for the constructive cross-party discussions that preceded the Bill’s introduction. This Bill is the first stage of legislation and covers the specific but important and urgent task of setting up an independent authority. There is likely to be subsequent legislation where this is judged necessary, not least in the light of further cross-party discussions.
The Bill will create a new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) to regulate the system of allowances, set rules to deal with financial interests and put the requirement for a code of conduct for MPs on a statutory footing.
The IPSA will be independent of Parliament and will have the power to set an allowances and expenses system without requiring Parliamentary approval. It will regulate and oversee Members’ expense claims and oversee the new allowance system.
The Bill will establish a Commissioner for Parliamentary investigations that will have the power to conduct investigations and report to the IPSA. The IPSA will be able when necessary to direct those who have received allowances they were not entitled to, to repay money. In addition the IPSA will be able to direct an MP to amend his or her entries in the register of financial interests.
The IPSA will be able to recommend that the House exercises its disciplinary powers to withhold a salary for a specified period, suspend a Member from the House for a specified period or expel a Member from the House.
The IPSA also has the power to refer matters to the police. The Bill will create new criminal offences of:
knowingly providing false or misleading information in a claim for an allowance, for which the maximum sanction is up to 12 months custodial sentence or an unlimited fine;
failing without reasonable excuse to comply with the rules on registration, for which the maximum penalty is a fine of up to £5000;
and breaching the rules which prohibit paid advocacy, for which the maximum penalty is a fine of up to £5000.
The IPSA will work transparently and the Freedom of Information Act will apply both to the IPSA and to the Commissioner for Parliamentary investigations.
The IPSA will be made up of four members and a Chair. Selection to the authority will be on merit and by fair and open competition. A candidate for appointment as the Chair or as a Member must be selected by the Speaker of the House of Commons with the agreement of the Speaker’s Committee set up by the Bill.
The Bill, together with explanatory notes, is available to Members from the Vote Office.
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