Written Ministerial Statements
Tuesday 10 November 2009
Treasury
Budget ECOFIN
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Ian Pearson): I plan to attend the Budget ECOFIN to be held on 19 November in Brussels. Items on the provisional agenda include the following.
Preliminary Draft Amending Budget No. 10 for 2009: Ministers will be invited to adopt this Preliminary Draft Amending Budget, which would amend the 2009 EC Budget to reflect latest implementation capacity and to contribute to financing the second part of the European economic recovery plan.
Letter of Amendment No. 2 to the Preliminary Draft Budget for 2010: Ministers will be invited to discuss this amending letter, which reflects latest information on agricultural prices and other developments influencing future implementation capacity and expenditure. It also provides for appropriations for the second part of the European economic recovery plan, and for continued support to nuclear decommissioning in Bulgaria.
Draft Budget for 2010: the Council will seek to agree its Second Reading position on the draft Budget in preparation for the subsequent conciliation with the European Parliament. Council will then conclude its Second Reading and finalise figures for compulsory expenditure (mainly agriculture). The UK will seek a budget that respects the principles of budget discipline and sound financial management, and reflects realistic forecasts for agriculture and structural funds spending.
Proposal to amend the inter-institutional agreement of 17 May 2006 as regards the multi-annual financial framework: the Council will consider a Commission proposal to revise the ceilings for expenditure set down in the financial framework 2007-2013, in order to secure financing for the European economic recovery plan. The UK will seek a financing solution that ensures the required funding for projects, and avoids an increase to the overall financial framework ceiling.
Defence
Defence Advisory Forum
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): In my written ministerial statement of 21 July 2009, Official Report, column 121WS announcing the appointment of a Defence Advisory Forum I undertook to inform the House of the membership of the forum once this was confirmed.
I have appointed to the forum:
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The Right Honourable and learned Sir Menzies Campbell MP The Right Honourable Lord Robertson of Port Ellen General (Retired) Sir Rupert Smith |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
British Waterways Board
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Huw Irranca-Davies): In accordance with the provisions of paragraph 8(2) of the first schedule to Transport Act 1962, the following information is furnished by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural affairs.
In exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 8(1) of that schedule, and now vested in him, the Secretary of State has determined, with the approval of the Treasury, that, with effect from 1 July 2009, the salaries of the members of the British Waterways board shall be as follows:
| Fees (£) | Allowances (£) | AnnualRemuneration(£) | |
| (*) Scottish Ministers' Appointee | |||
Agriculture and Fisheries Council
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn): My hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies), the Minister with responsibility for marine and the natural environment and the Minister with responsibility for food, farming and environment, my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick), represented the United Kingdom at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 19 and 20 October. Richard Lochhead MSP also attended.
On agriculture, France, spearheading a large group of member states, had deposited a paper with the presidency
calling for an active policy of dairy market management, and specifically, a €300 million dairy fund. This latter point complemented a call from the European Parliament in its first reading on the 2010 budget for a fund of the same proportion.
Responding to the paper, the Commission observed that each of the measures called for had either been addressed, or were the subject of ongoing study, or discussion. As for the dairy fund, the Commission said they would make €280 million available for the dairy sector from the 2010 ceiling, subject to a few conditions. First, as competence for budgetary matters rested with ECOFIN, it would be for finance Ministers to decide whether to take the proposal forward. Secondly, should the fund be adopted, there would be no further money available as provision against other crises in 2010. Thirdly, the Commission asserted that it had done all it could to respond to the crisis and no further action would be possible.
Greece and Belgium called for the full €300 million fund to be made available. France acknowledged that short-term measures were on track, but insisted that more needed to be done and that a new regulatory framework was necessary for the dairy sector-a point rejected by the UK who clarified that it did not support the French paper or the dairy fund. Only the Netherlands, Denmark and Malta agreed with the UK.
The Commission also presented its quarterly report on the sector, confirming a boost in prices for most dairy commodities (only cheese was lagging and that was in the normal order of things); as well as its proposal to assume new emergency powers to respond to dairy market disturbances, and to provide funds for dairy market restructuring by way of new rules on calculating the superlevy.
Turning to poultry meat, the presidency secured a qualified majority on the proposal to extend marketing standards to preparations. Voting against the proposal, the UK made a statement to the Council minutes, noting the disproportionate cost impact on the UK market (some 66 per cent. of the community market), as well as criticising the Commission's failure to carry out an impact assessment before adopting the draft legislation. The presidency noted both the UK's comments and the fact that the proposal had been adopted.
With the Standing Committee failing to reach a qualified majority for or against approval for use in food and feed (not planting) of three new GM maize varieties, the dossiers came to Council for confirmation of voting intentions. The presidency noted that, with no qualified majority for or against, the dossiers would now revert back to the Commission to complete the decision making process.
There were three AOB agriculture items. Poland tabled its paper urging Council to consider its request to continue financing agricultural land purchases through to 2013. Portugal, supported by the UK, called on the Commission to suspend import duties on cane sugar. Austria called for activation of export refunds for landlocked cereals producers, as well as help with transport costs and the opening of intervention for maize in response to falling cereals' prices.
Turning to fisheries, Council reached political agreement on the text of the new regulation to update the monitoring and enforcement framework for EU fisheries. The
Commission, referring to a recently tabled presidency compromise that resolved some concerns of member states, highlighted a number of remaining issues.
The presidency and Commission then held trilateral meetings with nearly all member states during the day to fashion a final compromise. The UK had the first trilateral and in response to the president's request for member nations we focused on three significant priorities that had to be resolved, which comprised an offending provision on recreational fishing; demands on weighing tolerance; and the removal of the provision on minimum levels. The Commission also confirmed in the trilateral that pelagic weighting would be addressed.
When Council reconvened, the presidency tabled a final compromise which included all the points prioritised by the UK. In a final table round, the compromise was adopted by unanimity.
Council also reached political agreement on the regulation governing fishing opportunities in the Baltic for 2010. Trilateral meetings were held with interested member states during the day and agreement was reached on a compromise, of which the main elements were reduced TAC cuts for western herring, main Baltic herring, Atlantic salmon and sprat; 10 per cent. fishing effort limitations in some zones, a "high grading" ban and increased selectivity.
Ministers then had an exchange of views on the priorities for the forthcoming negotiations on the annual EU-Norway fisheries agreement which is of significant importance to UK fisheries. The Commission emphasised the difficult context for the negotiations, and the need for member states' support in the negotiations. The UK stressed the need for a fair solution on Arctic cod, and also the difficult situation on mackerel because of autonomous quotas set by Norway and Faeroes.
Under other fisheries business, Lithuania tabled a paper seeking support for financial assistance for the renewal of outdated fishing vessels. The Commission sought support for a firm EU position in the forthcoming meeting of ICCAT (International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna). Finally, the Commission raised the EU-Guinea (Conakry) Fisheries Partnership Agreement signed late 2008. It referred in strong terms to the recent attack on protestors by public authorities and noted international condemnation. Therefore, in these circumstances, the Commission said it was not appropriate to proceed with the legal adoption of the agreement and they would now go through the necessary processes formally to withdraw the relevant proposals.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
British Indian Ocean Territory: Marine Protection
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (David Miliband): The Government are today launching a public consultation into a proposal put forward by the Chagos Environment Network to establish a marine protected area in the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The Chagos Environment Network's proposal "The Chagos Archipelago: its Nature and the Future" advocates the creation of one of the world's greatest natural conservation areas and is a remarkable opportunity for
Britain to create one of the world's largest marine protected areas and double the global coverage of the world's oceans benefiting from protection.
The purpose of the consultation is to seek views from stakeholders and interested parties to help the Government assess whether a marine protected area is the right option for the future environmental protection of the territory and we are, therefore, strongly encouraging as many people as possible to participate in the consultation. We are also arranging for a facilitator to travel to Port Louis and Victoria early next year to listen to the views of the Chagossian communities and other stakeholders in Mauritius and Seychelles. The consultation will run until 12 February 2010.
Copies of the consultation are available on: www. fco.gov.uk, www.ukinmauritius.fco.gov.uk and www. ukinseychelles.fco.gov.uk, and are being disseminated widely to interested groups.
Draft Antarctic Bill
The Minister for Europe (Chris Bryant): I am pleased to inform the House that the Draft Antarctic Bill has been laid today, as Command Paper (Cm 7635). The draft Bill will now be open for public consultation until the 12 February 2010 and key stakeholders have been written to requesting their views. The Command Paper is available from the Vote Office and on the FCO website at: www.fco.gov.uk/antarcticbill
Health
"The NHS Constitution: a consultation on new patients rights"
The Secretary of State for Health (Andy Burnham): The Department of Health has today published the consultation document-"The NHS Constitution: a consultation on new patient rights".
The NHS constitution brings together in one place what the NHS does, what it stands for and the commitments it should live up to. It describes the values and enduring principles of the NHS. To guarantee that the NHS constitution is relevant and up to date it will need to change over time to reflect public priorities and developments in medical technology, and evidence.
Today's consultation sets out and seeks views on proposals for new rights to be included in the constitution, including a right to start consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks of referral by a general practitioner, or to be seen by a cancer specialist within two weeks of GP referral. Where this is not possible the NHS will have to
take all reasonable steps to offer the patient a range of alternative providers where they could begin treatment or be seen sooner.
This consultation also proposes that our commitment to the NHS health check programme, which assesses an individual's risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease becomes a right for all people aged 40 to 74.
The consultation also welcomes views on areas where we believe we will soon be able to offer rights, such as dentistry, evening and weekend access to GPs, personal health budgets, the ability to choose to die at home and rapid access to diagnostic tests.
The consultation document has been placed in the Library and copies are available for hon. Members from the Vote Office.
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