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The presidency presented the Commission’s report on implementation of the free movement directive. The Commission said it hoped to adopt guidelines on application of the directive by the summer. It confirmed that the guidelines would cover abuses of free movement rights, including marriages of convenience and persistent criminality: moving to another member state carried responsibilities as well as rights. A number of member states highlighted their concerns about abuses of free movement. The UK welcomed the Commission's work on guidelines and asked that they should set out consequences when these responsibilities are not met.
The council briefly discussed the issue of combating illegal immigration in the Mediterranean. The discussion highlighted the role of Frontex (the European Border Agency), readmission agreements and the need for further development of the EU’s global approach to migration.
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The council also discussed progress in resettling Iraqi refugees following the council conclusions adopted in November 2008 which set an EU target of 10,000. The Commission welcomed the fact that member states had notified their intention to resettle 5,100 refugees so far, improving the situation of refugees in Syria and Jordan. The Commission stated that additional funds (€20 million) would be made available to support member states' efforts.
During the working lunch Interior Ministers discussed the appointment of the Europol director, but no agreement was reached. The presidency said that it wanted to reach agreement at the next JHA Council meeting in April. The UK said that the recommendation of the Management Board, endorsing the UK candidate, should be followed.
The closure of the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay was also discussed during lunch. Ministers agreed that there was a need to obtain more information and study all aspects of the issue. Following the previous discussion in the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) there was agreement that further discussion with the United States would be a good idea.
Under any other business, SWIFT was discussed, concerning the controls and necessary safeguards on data protection and use under the terrorist financing tracking programme. Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière commented that the US Administration had set up a particularly robust programme to ensure the protection of personal data for counterterrorism purposes, though there was still room for improvement. The Commission would be making available a report on state of play on SWIFT. On the EU’s anti-drug policy, the presidency and Commission stressed the need for more and better supply side indicators. A report would need to go to council in June on this subject.
Ministers reached a broad consensus on presidency conclusions to steer negotiations on the proposed framework decision on prevention and settlement of conflicts of jurisdiction in criminal proceedings, in particular focusing the instrument on preventing situations where the same person is subject to parallel proceedings in different member states, and establishing flexible mechanisms for communication. The UK supported these conclusions. The presidency hopes to be able to reach political agreement on this proposal at the June JHA Council.
A negotiating mandate was also agreed authorising the presidency to open discussions with Japan for an EU agreement on mutual legal assistance. The Commission noted that in future it would be necessary to decide how to prioritise target countries for these agreements.
The presidency updated member states on progress in e-justice and asked the Commission about the financing of e-justice projects, particularly video-conferencing. The Commission reminded member states that there was already money available to fund e-justice projects and undertook to present all the available funding opportunities at the next JHA Council.
Under any other business the presidency provided a state of play report on negotiations on an amending directive on ship-source pollution and on the introduction
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Sweden presented a paper on transparency in the EU, advocating the need to demonstrate a greater commitment to transparency, stronger protection of citizens’ individual rights and better understanding of the citizens’ expectations. Germany updated member states on the appointment of a new director to the Tribunal for the International Law of the Sea, which dealt with civil disputes. The Romanian delegation drew attention to the conference of prosecutors general that they will be hosting in Bucharest from 23 to 25 March 2009.
Finance: Parliamentary Accountability
Statement
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): My right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Yvette Cooper) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Government announced in its July 2007 Green Paper The Governance of Britain (Cm 7170) that it would simplify its financial reporting to Parliament, ensuring that it reports in a more consistent fashion at all three stages in the process—on plans, estimates and expenditure outcomes.
The Treasury submitted an initial memorandum to the relevant parliamentary committees in November 2008, outlining the Government's emerging thinking on how this commitment might best be delivered. I have sent a further memorandum to the committees this week setting out the Government's formal proposals for achieving better alignment between budgets, estimates and accounts. The proposals take account of the views expressed by the committees in response to the November memorandum, as well as the results of a consultation exercise with key stakeholders external to government carried out during autumn 2008.
The memorandum notes that the Government propose to begin implementation of the new, better aligned framework from April 2010. To achieve this deadline, the Government would welcome Parliament's agreement to its proposals by July 2009.
The memorandum is being published as a Command Paper and presented to the House, and copies have today been placed in the House of Commons Vote Office, to enable all Members to assess the Government's proposals.
Intelligence and Security Committee
Statement
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): My right honourable friend the Prime Minister (Gordon Brown) today made the following Statement in the House of Commons
I have today laid before the House the Intelligence and Security Committee’s annual report 2007-08 (Cm 7542). This follows consultation with the committee
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I have also laid before the House today the Government’s response to this report (Cm 7543). Copies of the report and the response have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
I am grateful to the Intelligence and Security Committee for its valuable work.
NHS: Charges
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): My right honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Dawn Primarolo) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Regulationshave today been laid before Parliament to increase National Health Service charges in England from 1 April 2009. There will be an increase in the prescription charge of 10p from £7.10 to £7.20 for each quantity of a drug or appliance dispensed.
The cost of a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) will rise to £28.25 for a three-month certificate and to £104.00 for an annual certificate. PPCs offer savings for those needing four or more items in three months or more than 14 in one year.
Prescription charges are currently expected to raise some £435 million for the NHS in 2009-10. This figure excludes prescription charges collected by dispensing doctors, which are not collected centrally, but remain with primary care trusts.
Charges for elastic stockings and tights, wigs and fabric supports supplied through hospitals will be increased similarly.
Regulations have also been laid to increase certain NHS dental charges, and increase the value of NHS optical vouchers, from 1 April 2009.
The dental charge payable for a band one course of treatment will increase by 30p from £16.20 to £16.50. The dental charge for a band 2 course of treatment will increase by £1 from £44.60 to £45.60. The charge for a band 3 course of treatment will remain at £198.
Dental charges are expected to raise between £6 million to £700 million for the NHS in 2009-10. The exact amount will be dependent upon the level and type of primary dental care services commissioned by primary care trusts and the proportion of charge paying patients who attend dentists and the levels of treatment they require.
This annual adjustment to dental charge rates is intended to sustain the expected contribution to the overall cost of dental services from patient charge income.
The range of NHS optical vouchers available to children, people on low incomes and individuals with complex sight problems are also being increased in value. In order to continue to provide help with the cost of spectacles or contact lenses, optical voucher values will rise by an overall 2 per cent.
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NHS charges and optical voucher values in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved Administrations.
Details of the revised charges for prescription items, appliances, dental charges and optical voucher values are as follows.
Increases in prescription charges from April 2009
| Item | Current Charges | New charges |
| Course of dental treatment | Current Charge | From 1 April 2009 |
Increase in optical voucher values from 1 April 2009
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Planning
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning (Margaret Beckett)has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Today I have published the Government’s formal response to the Killian Pretty review. Our response sets out our proposals to take forward an ambitious programme of measures to create a more proportionate and responsive planning application process. This will help businesses, developers, councils and the wider community, particularly in the current challenging economic environment.
The review was commissioned jointly by the Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government and Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to consider how the planning application process could be improved for the benefit for all involved. The final report, with detailed recommendations, was published in November 2008.
We welcome the Killian Pretty report as a strong foundation for the next stage in reforming the planning system. In response to its recommendations, we propose actions to improve the planning application process from start to finish, grouped into five main themes:
reducing the number of small scale developments that require full planning permission;making the planning application process more efficient and effective for all involved;improving the quality of information available to users of the planning application system;improving local authority capacity and performance in the process, and streamlining the national planning policy framework.We propose a phased approach to reform, with immediate priority given to consulting on detailed proposals to extend permitted development rights for businesses and public services and to streamline information requirements for applicants.
Clearly, successful development and implementation of further improvements to the planning application process requires the active involvement of key stakeholders, including local government, the profession and private sector. So a key part of the implementation programme is to work closely with stakeholders, in a range of ways, including the formation of a stakeholder sounding board, in addition to full public consultation on draft proposals, where appropriate.
A copy of the Government’s response is available in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Communities and Local Government website at www. communities.gov.uk/publications/planning andbuilding/killianprettyresponse.
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