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Social Fund: Annual Reports
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (James Plaskitt) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
I am pleased to announce publication of the annual report by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Social Fund 2005-06 and the Social Fund Commissioner's annual report. The Secretary of State's annual report on the Social Fund for 2005-2006 (Cm 6856) was published today and has been laid before Parliament. Copies are available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office.
The report records that total gross expenditurein 2005-06, excluding winter fuel payments, was£917 million. That included more than 275,000 non-repayable grants and more than 2.2 million interest-free loans together worth over £742 million, and funeral and cold weather payments totalling more than£53 million. In addition, around 238,000 Sure Start maternity grants worth over £120 million were made, and over 8 million households benefited from a winter fuel payment at a cost of around £1.99 billion.
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The report also confirms that reforms to the Social Fund loan scheme were introduced from April 2006, with extra net funding of £210 million over the next three years to support the changes.
The Social Fund Commissioner's report has also been published today, and copies will be available in the Libraries of both Houses.
UK Trade and Investment
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Alistair Darling) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) launched today its new five-year strategy entitled Prosperity in a Changing World. This strategy sets out how UKTI will respond to the enhanced role envisaged in the Budget.
The new strategy describes how UKTI will take the lead to maximise the UK's ability to attract foreign direct investment, win market share in the new high growth economies and help business internationalise in a globalised world. It will lead government efforts to:
market the UK overseas as a key business partner and as the preferred location for inward investment;boost UK trade with, and secure investment from, emerging economies such as China and India;promote the UK's financial services sector and the City of London as the world's leading international financial centre;lobby overseas on regulatory issues and barriers to trade and investment; andtarget innovative R&D-intensive companies both for inward investment and as potential exporters.20 July 2006 : Column WS128
It outlines plans for UKTI to reform itself to become a more streamlined, entrepreneurial organisation, focusing on the ever-changing needs of its clients. UKTI will spearhead a more professional approach to marketing the strengths of the UK economy. It will allocate resources to front-line services where they can be most effective in adding value to the UK economy.
I am arranging for copies of the UKTI five-year strategy to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Wilton Park: Annual Report
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): Wilton Park is an academically independent executive agency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Its annual report and accounts for 2005-06 are laid before Parliament today.
Wilton Park celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2006. It continues to achieve high ratings from participants on the value of Wilton Park conferences. Building on last year's successes, nine overseas conferences are planned for 2006. There has been an increase in the number of participants from certain key areas, including international organisations and business.
Wilton Park's performance against agreed targets for 2005-06 is shown below.
| 05/06 Target | 05/06 Performance | |
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