Written Ministerial Statements
Friday 26 June 2009
Business, Innovation and Skills
Learning and Skills Council (FE Capital Programme)
The Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs (Kevin Brennan): The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is announcing today a shortlist of 13 further education building projects which are proceeding to the next stage of development. The 13 projects announced today have been prioritised from over 180 projects submitted to the LSC as part of the latest round of the FE capital programme.
The LSC has been working in close consultation with the sector to use transparent and objective criteria to inject funds where they will have greatest impact for learners, employers and communities, to get building work started quickly, and to get best value for the taxpayer.
The LSC examined all projects which are ready to proceed quickly and then applied the following criteria: the education and skills impact; contribution to local economic and regeneration priorities; co-dependency (for example, where there is significant leverage of third party funding or another important project that is dependent on the college project); the current condition of the estate; and value for money.
The 13 colleges will now be asked by the LSC to make cost reductions to their initial project plans, to maximise borrowing within prudent limits, and to examine other possible sources of funds, while at the same time maintaining the planned project benefit for future learners and enabling construction to proceed rapidly. The aim of the LSC is to deliver best value for money for the taxpayer and to fund the maximum possible number of projects.
Barnsley College
Bournville College
Furness College
Hartlepool College of Further Education
Kirklees College
Leyton Sixth Form College
Manchester College—Wythenshawe
North West Kent College
St Helens College
Sandwell College
South Thames College
Tresham Institute of Further and Higher Education, Corby
West Cheshire College
Discussions between these colleges and the Learning and Skills Council will take place as a matter of urgency. All 13 colleges will receive funding only if the overall cost is reduced. The reductions required are significant but manageable.
For colleges which have not been selected to proceed this year, the next steps start this autumn when the Learning and Skills Council will further consult with the sector to agree a robust, fair and transparent process for prioritising the capital investment programme for the next spending review period starting in 2011-12. The size and scope of the programme will depend on the outcome of the next spending review.
Many colleges have incurred development costs for projects which will not now be going ahead in the short term. The Learning and Skills Council has a contingency fund to mitigate the impact of potential aborted costs on the financial health of colleges. This will be limited to those appropriately incurred within the terms of the capital programme.
The investment announced today will have a significant beneficial impact on the colleges, their learners and on local communities.
Budget 2009 announced an additional £300 million of capital investment in further education as part of a fiscal stimulus package which has enabled a number of projects to be funded this year. This Government have an excellent record on investment in FE capital and since 2001, 700 projects—at nearly 330 colleges across England—have been funded.
Mistakes were made by the Learning and Skills Council in carrying out the FE capital programme. In April of this year, Sir Andrew Foster completed an independent report on how this whole situation arose. He concluded that “a good policy has been compromised by the manner of its implementation”. There is now new leadership to the organisation and measures in place to ensure that there will be no repeat of those mistakes as the programme moves forward.
The Government remain committed to the FE capital investment programme, and this will continue into the next spending review. The Learning and Skills Council will in the meantime help colleges whose projects are not proceeding in the short term to draw up a revised estates strategy and to examine other possible sources of finance such as collective approaches to private financing and borrowing.
Treasury
Double Taxation Agreement (United Kingdom and Qatar)
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Stephen Timms): A Double Taxation Agreement with the State of Qatar was signed on 25 June 2009. The text of the agreement has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and made available on HM Revenue and Customs’ website. The text will be scheduled to a draft Order in Council and laid before the House of Commons in due course.
Energy and Climate Change
Road to Copenhagen
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Edward Miliband): I am today publishing the “Road to Copenhagen” (Cm 7659), setting out the Government’s priorities for the forthcoming international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this December.
The Copenhagen summit is a critical moment in the fight against dangerous climate change. Climate change is a global problem, with direct consequences for the future prosperity and security of the United Kingdom. It can only be addressed through a comprehensive global agreement between all countries represented at the Copenhagen conference.
To show ambition matching the science, an agreement must aim to limit global temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees celsius, the point beyond which the risks of dangerous climate change become greater. It must be effective, driving low carbon investment and with monitoring of outcomes to ensure commitments made are kept to, and it must be fair, particularly in helping the poorest countries adapt to the consequences of climate change.
To achieve these goals, the Government’s priorities for the Copenhagen agreement are:
i) Ambitious action to reduce emissions. Global emissions must peak and start to fall before 2020 and be at least 50 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2050, if temperature increases are to be limited to no more than 2 degrees. The Government are therefore calling for firm, binding targets from developed countries; and significant action by developing countries with appropriate support from developed countries, to reduce their emissions below “business as usual” levels.
ii) A reformed, expanded carbon market to support emissions reductions, and action to extend flows of carbon market finance over time, including: the establishment of new sectoral carbon trading systems in advanced developing countries by 2020 at the latest; sectoral crediting in other developing countries where appropriate; and a reformed clean development mechanism.
iii) A new international framework for low-carbon technologies to be more rapidly developed and deployed; including new low-carbon development strategies in which individual countries assess their own technology needs; capacity building support; and incentives to encourage international collaboration.
iv) Commitments to deep reductions in emissions from deforestation, halving tropical deforestation by 2020 and achieving zero net loss of forest by 2030; with new short-term financing mechanisms; and more comprehensive arrangements to account for emissions reductions from deforestation and land use.
v) Enhanced support for developing countries to adapt to climate change, with adaptation integrated into national development planning processes; support for developing countries in prioritising their own adaptation needs; and greater international support for better sources of information on climate risks and adaptation expertise.
vi) Commitment to provide international finance that is adequate, additional, predictable and timely, through a combination of sources including the carbon market, potential new automatic mechanisms, and a small, limited proportion of official development assistance (ODA). All countries except the least developed should contribute, using a transparent and dynamic formula based on emissions and ability to pay, and based on the understanding that developing countries will receive significantly more than they contribute. The UK remains committed to our target of providing 0.7 per cent. of our gross national income as ODA by 2013 and will provide finance for climate change that is new and additional to this. All ODA will be climate proofed and up to 10 per cent. of ODA will be used for activities which achieve both poverty reduction and climate objectives.
vii) Reformed international institutional arrangements which ensure an equal voice for developing countries and that decisions on spending priorities are made at the country level; simple, efficient and effective mechanisms for allocating finance to priority areas and countries that need them most, consistent with international standards of financial management; and robust monitoring, reporting and verification arrangements.
With our EU partners, the Government will be working intensively over the next six months to press for a global agreement which reflects these priorities, including through the negotiations under the United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC); full participation in the major economies forum convened by the United States Government; the G8; and the G20.
Copies of the “Road to Copenhagen” will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
State Visit: President of the Republic of India
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (David Miliband): I am pleased to announce that Her Majesty the Queen has invited the President of the Republic of India, Her Excellency Shrimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil, to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom from Tuesday 27 October to Thursday 29 October 2009. The visit will further the close relations that exist between the United Kingdom and the Republic of India.
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