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5 Oct 2009 : Column WS197
Written Statements
The following Statement was received between Wednesday 22 July and Friday 24 July 2009
Questions for Written Answer: Correction
Statement
Baroness Thornton: I regret that the Written Answers given to Lord Alton of Liverpool on 22 July 2008 (Official Report, col. WA227) and to Baroness Masham of Ilton on 25 March 2009 (Official Report, col. WA131, were incorrect with respect to the costs to the National Health Service (NHS) of abortions performed in NHS hospitals in England between 2004-05 and 2006-07. The correct information is set out in the table below:
| Table: Costs to the NHS of abortions performed in NHS hospitals | |
| Year | Total cost of medical and surgical terminations undertaken by NHS organisations £m |
Source: Schedule 4 (NHS trusts and primary care trusts combined) of the national schedule of reference costs
1. Figures taken from schedule 4 (NHS Trusts and PCTs combined) of the national schedules of reference costs for the financial years 2004-05 to 2006-07.
2. Figures do not include abortions performed by private sector organisations under contract to the NHS.
3. Total costs are the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) multiplied by the national average unit cost and the number of excess bed days multiplied by the national average unit cost.
4. National average unit costs are calculated on a weighted basis.
5. Figures include day cases, electives and non-electives (including excess bed days), outpatient procedures and regular day and night admissions.
6. 2004-04 and 2005-06 costs were collected on Healthcare Resource Group version 3.5 (HRG3.5) and include:
(a) M09-Threatened or spontaneous abortion
(b) M10-Surgical termination of pregnancy
(c) M11-Medical termination of pregnancy
7. 2006-07 costs were collected on HRG4 and include:
(a) MA15A-Vacuum aspiration with rigid cannula for 9 weeks gestation or more
(b) MA15B-Vacuum aspiration with rigid cannula for less than 9 weeks gestation
(c) MA16Z-Vacuum aspiration with flexible cannula
(d) MA17A-Dilation and evacuation 20 weeks or more
(e) MA17B-Dilation and evacuation less than 20 weeks
(f) MA18Z-Medical termination of pregnancy
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The following Statements were received between Monday 7 September and Friday 11 September 2009
Armed Forces Pay Review Body
Statement
The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (the right honourable Bob Ainsworth) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Prime Minister has been pleased to appoint Professor Alasdair Smith as the next chair of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body, for a three-year term of office commencing on 1 March 2010. This appointment has been conducted in accordance with the guidance of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Armed Forces: Typhoon
Statement
The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary and Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, (Mr Quentin Davies), has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am delighted to announce that the contracts for the third tranche of Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft have now been signed by the general manager of the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA), on behalf of the four partner nations, and by the chief executives of the programme's co-ordinating industrial consortia, Eurofighter GmbH and Eurojet Turbo GmbH. This is excellent news for defence and for United Kingdom industry and represents the achievement of another major milestone for the Typhoon programme.
This order builds upon the success of the in-service Tranche 1 fleet and the ongoing introduction into service of Tranche 2 Typhoon aircraft, which are demonstrating outstanding performance in operation with the RAF. The Tranche 3 contracts will provide an additional 16 aircraft as part of a UK order for 40 aircraft, 24 of which are replacements for aircraft being diverted to satisfy exports to Saudi Arabia. The contracts form part of what is thought to be the largest defence order ever placed in Europe, reflecting the successful and continuing co-operation between the four partner nations and European industry. The contracts have also enabled partner nations to programme significant through-life support savings. For the UK this is of the order of £900 million.
Typhoon is an outstandingly capable, state-of-the-art aircraft which is providing a significant enhancement to our defence capability. The aircraft has the flexibility to contribute across a wide range of operations delivering air superiority and precision ground attack capabilities. Additionally, the aircraft will be built with sufficient capability to allow the embodiment of upgrades to systems now and in the future. The Tranche 3 aircraft will be an essential part of our defence capability to be retained until at least the 2030s as they will be delivered with sufficient incremental development capacity to
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The order will provide major benefits for industry across the United Kingdom and is expected to sustain upwards of 15,000 direct jobs with defence manufacturers, many in high-technology positions, and a significant number in supporting industries across the economy more widely.
Typhoon is a world-class combat aircraft and this investment will provide our defence force with the capability to respond to the challenges and threats we face now and in the future.
Atomic Weapons Establishment
Statement
The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Quentin Davies), has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Further to the announcement on 19 July 2005 (Official Report, vol. 436; col. 59 WS), regarding the continuing programme of investment at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), I should like to provide an update to the House. This is the first opportunity I have had to announce that, on 30 July 2009, agreement was reached between the department and AWE Management Limited (AWEML) to extend the priced period of work, within the existing overarching 25-year contract, with AWEML to 31 March 2013.
This work, providing important investment in skills and facilities at AWE, is valued at an average of around £1 billion per annum and represents the next period of priced work within the Nuclear Warhead Capability Sustainment Programme. It is fully in accordance with the December 2006 White Paper The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent (Cm 6994).
Commonhold (Amendment) Regulations 2009
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Bridget Prentice) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
On Thursday 4 September, I laid before Parliament the Commonhold (Amendment) Regulations 2009. The regulations make consequential amendments to the Commonhold Regulations 2004, arising from the final implementation of the Companies Act 2006 on 1 October 2009. The principal changes are the removal of the prescribed form of memorandum of association for commonhold associations from the Commonhold Regulations 2004 and the insertion of a revised form of articles of association.
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The existing non-statutory guidance on the Commonhold Regulations 2004 will be updated to take account of the changes and copies placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Debt Recovery
Statement
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): My right honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Stephen Timms) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
This Statement, which I am making also on behalf of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Yvette Cooper), sets out the plans of our two departments to work together to recover more of the debt which is owed to the taxpayer.
For some three years our two departments have been taking forward a programme of joint working, covering a range of areas where, together, we can deliver better service to our customers and better value to the taxpayer than we could if we worked separately. One such area relates to the debts which are owed to both HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)-often by the same individuals. Accordingly, we have been examining:
ways in which we can recover debts more cost effectively (for customers and departments) from customers who owe money to both our departments;joint tracing services to locate customers with debts owing to one or both departments for whom we have no current address; anda simpler payment method for customers owing a debt to HMRC and who are in receipt of benefit payments from DWP.As part of this programme of work, from the spring of 2010 HMRC will start to trial the recovery of working tax credit and self-assessment debts through deductions from DWP benefit payments. Participation in the trial will be voluntary. The new service will be offered to people who cannot afford to settle their debts with HMRC in one go and who would prefer to pay them off through a voluntary deduction from their benefits.
To do this, DWP intends to make a regulation under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 to enable DWP to collect HMRC debts. This regulation will be subject to scrutiny by the Social Security Advisory Committee, and both departments will consult with customer representatives when designing the trial.
The trial will enable our two departments to assess the effectiveness of collecting HMRC debts via deductions from DWP benefit payments as well as to test our customers' response to this method of payment. The trial will involve customers who are in receipt of benefit and whose tax credit overpayment or self-assessment debt is less than £1,000. It will offer customers whose tax credit award has ended or who have a self-assessment debt the option of paying back the debt via deductions from benefit payments as an alternative to current HMRC payment methods.
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Both departments will evaluate the results of the trial before deciding whether to make this a permanent payment option.
Double Taxation Agreements
Statement
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): My right honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Stephen Timms) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
New tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) were signed with Anguilla on 20 July 2009, Turks and Caicos Islands on 22 July 2009, Liechtenstein on 11 August 2009 and Gibraltar on 27 August 2009. Protocols to double taxation agreements were signed with Singapore on 24 August 2009 and Switzerland on 7 September 2009.
The text of each TIEA and protocol has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and made available on the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website. The text of each will be scheduled to separate draft Orders in Council and laid before the House of Commons in due course.
On the same day that the TIEA with Liechtenstein was signed, HMRC also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Liechtenstein on co-operation in tax matters. The text of the MoU is available on the HMRC website.
ECOFIN
Statement
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Informal focused primarily on preparing a European position ahead of the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and central bank governors held on 4 and 5 September in London, including on IMF issues, executive remuneration and climate change financing. Ministers agreed to increase European resources available to the IMF, building on commitments made in the European Council conclusions in June. They also agreed that the G20 should move forward on reforms of financial regulation, stabilising the world economy, preparing for future growth and establishing sound compensation practices in the financial sector, building on the commitments made at the London summit.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury represented the UK.
G20
Statement
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The G20 Finance Ministers and central bank governors' meeting was held in London on 4 and 5 September. Discussions at the meeting focused on the global economy, financial regulation and international
5 Oct 2009 : Column WS202
ICL Inquiry Report
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Yvette Cooper) has made the following Statement.
On 16 August I announced the publication of Lord Gill's report into the causes of the tragic factory explosion at ICL Plastics Ltd in Glasgow on 11 May 2004. At the same time I asked the chair of the HSE and its board to consider the report's findings and to report back to me on progress by the end of September, addressing both Lord Gill's criticisms of its actions since the explosion and how the report's recommendations could be taken forward. I said that I would report back to Parliament on progress in the autumn.
The HSE has now responded to me. I have placed a copy of its response in the Libraries of both Houses and it is also available on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/lpg.htm.
In the response the HSE chair acknowledges that, while primary responsibility for the tragic accident rested with the site user, there were failings within the HSE which need to be addressed. The chair also reiterates the apologies that both she and the chief executive of HSE made for these failings both during and after Lord Gill's inquiry, and explains the steps that have already been taken since the accident.
HSE has worked closely with members of UKLPG, the trade association of the liquefied petroleum gas industry, to develop plans for the replacement of buried metal pipework with polyethylene pipes, which do not carry the risk of corrosion. It has been agreed that the replacement programme will include domestic sites, which goes beyond Lord Gill's recommendations. The programme, which is scheduled to be completed by 2015, will be prioritised using an established risk model to ensure that sites identified as high risk are dealt with first. In parallel with this, HSE is also preparing an inspection campaign with local authorities focusing on sites identified as high risk, and is working with the industry to review and update user guidance materials and codes of practice for suppliers and installers.
The HSE also launched a two-stage consultation to address those recommendations of the Gill report where action is not already under way. The initial stage of the consultation seeks views from interested stakeholders in the LPG industry, the wider business community and those with an interest in health and safety, and will run until 19 November. I hope honourable Members will take the opportunity to feed their views into this.
Following completion of this initial stage, the Government will in the new year publish the full response to Lord Gill's report. This will include firm proposals for action which will form the basis of the second stage of the consultation, supported by a formal impact assessment.
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Marine Management Organisation
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Food, Farming and the Environment (Mr Jim Fitzpatrick) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Part 1 of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, currently before Parliament, seeks to establish a new executive non-departmental public body called the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The MMO will subsume Defra's Marine and Fisheries Agency, take on further functions from the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Transport and deliver a range of new functions, as set out in the Bill.
In order to become a legal entity, the MMO must have a chair and a board of at least five and no more than eight ordinary members. However, if recruitment of the board is delayed until after Royal Assent, it is highly likely that vesting of the MMO would have to be delayed. We have therefore sought HM Treasury approval for a contingencies fund advance to begin the recruitment of the board of the MMO prior to Royal Assent. Should Royal Assent not be granted, the recruitment process will be terminated.
Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £50,000 for this new service will be sought in a supplementary estimate for Defra. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure, estimated at £50,000, is being met by a repayable cash advance from the contingencies fund.
MG Rover
Statement
The First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council (Lord Mandelson): The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is announcing that on Friday 11 September it will be publishing the report produced by independent inspectors appointed by the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry after MG Rover Group went into administration on 8 April 2005 owing creditors nearly £1.3 billion.
The inspectors were appointed under Section 432 of the Companies Act and had wide powers to require documents and the attendance of witnesses, including directors, officers and agents of the company. They investigated the affairs of MGRG, its parent company Phoenix Venture Holdings and MGR Capital Limited and 32 related companies between the purchase of MGRG from BMW in May 2000 and the date of it entering administration.
Copies are being sent to members of the BIS Select Committee and to the Library of the House. The report will also be available on the BIS website.
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