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Written Statements
Thursday 19 November 2009
Afghanistan: Call-out
Statement
The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Bill Rammell) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
With the expiry of the call-out order made on 11 November 2008, a new order has been made under Section 54 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to enable reservists to continue to be called out into service to support operations in Afghanistan. The new order is effective until 10 November 2010. Reservists continue to make a valuable contribution to operations in that country and some 1,200 reservists are currently called out and serving, of whom 650 are deployed in theatre. The remainder are preparing for, or recovering from, operations.
Armed Forces: Personnel
Statement
The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Bob Ainsworth) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am today announcing the publication of the first annual report on the service personnel Command Paper, The Nation's Commitment: Cross-Government Support to our Armed Forces, their Families and Veterans. Copies are being placed in the Library of the House.
Our forces personnel are prepared to put their lives on the line in service of the country. They willingly accept restrictions to their lifestyle and the unique conditions of service that are required to do the job. But on becoming service personnel, they have not ceased to be citizens. Government have a moral obligation to ensure they are not disadvantaged as citizens by service life. The service personnel Command Paper was about meeting that obligation.
The measures we set out last year were well received by the services, by veterans' groups and by the public at large. But we are determined to ensure that the commitment set out in that paper does not fade. One of the steps we took was to ask our External Reference Group (ERG) to monitor delivery, and to report annually. It is the first of these reports which is being published today.
The report charts the progress that has been made including the delivery of significant improvements in a number of areas. For example, we have doubled the compensation paid for the most serious injuries; extended eligibility to affordable housing schemes; opened up access to free further education for service leavers; improved the immigration arrangements for families of foreign and Commonwealth personnel; and taken steps to ensure that service families retain their places
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The ERG brings together representatives from a wide range of government departments and the devolved Administrations, with leading charities and the service families' federations. It offers a unique perspective on how well we are doing, and I am very grateful to its members. This report shows how the dialogue between government and the third sector on how best to support the Armed Forces community has grown and developed over the past year. That relationship, and its continued improvement, is very important to us. I look forward to the ERG's future reports as further progress is made in this vital work.
I commend to the House this annual report on the nation's commitment to the Armed Forces community.
Civil Law Reform Bill
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Bridget Prentice) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
In June 2009, the Government confirmed their intention to publish a draft Civil Law Reform Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. I am today announcing that the Bill will be published in December and will include provisions:
to implement the reforms to the law of damages announced by the Ministry of Justice in July 2009; to reform the law of succession so that where a person is disqualified by the forfeiture rule or refuses an inheritance by disclaimer his or her heirs are not disinherited; to implement the reforms of the law relating to the calculation of interest on judgment debts and damages announced by the Ministry of Justice on 16 September 2008; and to transfer the jurisdiction for appeals in barristers' disciplinary hearings to the High Court.The draft Bill will not now include provisions to reform the law of limitation of actions. These provisions were based on a Law Commission report of 2001. But a recent consultation with key stakeholders has demonstrated that there are insufficient benefits and potentially large-scale costs associated with the reform. In addition, the courts have remedied some of the most significant difficulties with the law that the Law Commission identified, for example, in relation to the limitation aspects of child abuse cases. The limitation reforms will therefore not now be taken forward.
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EU: Agriculture and Fisheries Council
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
My honourable friend the Minister for Food, Farming and Environment (Jim Fitzpatrick) and the Minister for Marine and the Natural Environment (Huw Irranca-Davies), will represent the United Kingdom at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on 19 and 20 November.
There are a number of items on the agenda relating to agriculture and fisheries which are of significant interest to the United Kingdom, including the adoption of the recent dairy proposals, on which the UK will abstain. Discussions will take place on the following:
conservation of fisheries resources through technical measures;EU/Norway annual fisheries consultations for 2010;2010 fishing opportunities for fish stocks in the Black Sea;simplification of the common agricultural policy; andfuture of the common agricultural policy: rural development.There are currently two items under any other business-a statement on Community action reducing incidental catches of seabirds; and general conclusions from the 26th conference of EU paying agencies.
There is also a ministerial lunch scheduled to discuss the reform of the common fisheries policy.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Statement
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): My honourable friend the Economic Secretary (Ian Pearson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Government are correcting an omission in Section 214B of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), inserted by Section 171 of the Banking Act 2009, relating to the calculation of the contribution of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to special resolution regime (SRR) costs. The necessary amendments are included in the Financial Services Bill but new regulations made under the revised power will have retrospective effect so they will take effect from today.
In the event of a bank or building society (an institution's) insolvency the FSCS provides statutory compensation to eligible depositors, up to a prescribed limit currently set (in rules made by the Financial Services Authority (FSA)) at £50,000. On paying the compensation, the FSCS takes over the depositors' claims against the estate of the insolvent institution. The FSCS is funded by levies on industry.
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The SRR, established by Part 1 of the Banking Act 2009, enables the authorities to resolve a failing institution, rather than allowing it to become insolvent. Under regulations made under Section 214B FSMA, the FSCS may be required to contribute to the costs of the SRR, up to the net cost that the FSCS would have had to incur in a counterfactual scenario where the institution had instead gone into insolvency.
The change will mean that the Government can include the interest costs incurred in a resolution in the calculation of costs to which the FSCS may be required to contribute. It will also mean that the maximum contribution the FSCS can be required to make will include interest costs which the FSCS would have borne in the hypothetical scenario where the institution had gone into insolvency.
This will be achieved through the keeping of two separate accounts which record all costs (including interest), recoveries, and any interim contributions to SRR costs which the FSCS is required to make. The interest will be calculated by applying interest rates prescribed by the Treasury to the net balance in the relevant account at that time.
First, a real account will be kept which records all actual resolution outlays the authorities incur and all associated inflows (ie the proceeds of the disposal of the assets of the failed institution and any interim contributions to SRR costs). Interest will be calculated periodically (on the net balance on the account) and added to the outlays.
Secondly, a hypothetical account will be kept based on the counterfactual scenario using data from the FSCS as to how much compensation would have been paid and when. Interest will be added to reflect the cost of the borrowing the FSCS would have needed to fund compensation payments. The timed recoveries that would have been received from the insolvent estate are to be determined by an independent valuer and will be included in the account and will reduce the balance on which interest is calculated. Any interim contributions the FSCS is required to make to the SRR and any compensation the FSCS has actually paid to depositors will also be included to reduce the balance on which interest is calculated.
When all recoveries have been made the real account will show the net cost of the resolution including interest incurred by that date; the hypothetical account will show the net cost of compensating depositors were the institution allowed to fail, including interest up to that date. After independent verification, the FSCS may be required to contribute up to the lower of the two accounts. Payment may be requested before all recoveries have been made based on an estimate of the payment required which, if included in the lower of the two accounts, would bring the balance when all recoveries had been made to zero. If, after all recoveries had been made, this turned out to be too large a contribution, the Treasury would make a balancing payment to the FSCS.
Since this power is to have retrospective effect from today, this interest cost will be included in the two accounts kept in relation to Dunfermline Building Society from the date of this announcement. As announced on 30 March 2009, the FSCS will be
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The interest rate to be used on the two accounts in relation to Dunfermline Building Society is 4.50 per cent. This rate reflects the rate of interest the FSCS would have had to pay were the institution to become insolvent and funds were borrowed in order to make compensation payments to depositors, with recoveries made over an estimated five-year period.
Flood and Water Management Bill
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I would like to inform the House that today I have introduced to Parliament a revised Flood and Water Management Bill, laid regulations under the European Communities Act to implement the EU Floods Directive and published a command paper setting out the Government's response to pre-legislative scrutiny and consultation on the draft Bill.
The floods in 2007 claimed 13 lives and cost our economy £3 billion.
Sir Michael Pitt undertook a comprehensive review of the lessons to be learnt from the floods. He called for urgent and fundamental changes in the way the country is adapting to the increased risk of flooding. To ensure that the 5 million people living in flood risk areas around the country are better protected we are also investing more than ever in maintaining traditional flood defences-£2.15 billion in the current spending round.
Since the 2007 floods the Environment Agency has completed and maintained 102 flood defence schemes, protecting over 63,000 additional homes in England. Operating authorities are currently on course to exceed delivery targets and provide better protection to 160,000 homes over the three years to March 2011.
In this time, government have also, among other measures, provided £15 million funding to local authorities to help them manage local flood risk, and set up a Flood Forecasting Centre which will improve the way we predict potential flooding and the exchange of information between emergency services.
We also promised legislation as a central part of this programme of action.
In April of this year, the UK Government and Welsh Assembly Government published the draft Flood and Water Management Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny and public consultation.
The public consultation on the draft Bill in England and Wales generated over 650 responses. A summary of the responses is also being published today on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/flooding/policy/fwmb/.
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The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee published its report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill on 23 September. The department is grateful to the committee, and to those who gave evidence, for their vigour and commitment in developing the report. The Government have considered it very carefully.
We believe the consultation responses indicate broad support for our overarching proposals. Both they and the EFRA Select Committee's report gave valuable and useful feedback which has informed the way forward, which is now set out in the command paper published today. That command paper sets out the department's response to each of the recommendations made by the Select Committee.
In line with one of the committee's recommendations, I have also today arranged for copies of a statement from Ofwat to be placed in the House Library. This statement sets out Ofwat's assessment of the risks to water industry investors of the Bill's proposed changes to the regulatory regime.
Some have argued that it is preferable to wait until it is possible to bring forward a single Bill which makes all the necessary changes to both flood and water legislation and brings them together with the current statute book. However, the Government are clear that they should legislate as soon as possible for the new clear roles and powers necessary to improve the protection of people from the risk of floods.
The Bill also meets our commitment to safeguard community groups, such as churches and scouts, from the unaffordable increases in surface water drainage charges they face now.
Furthermore, the EU Floods Directive is due to be transposed this month. This has led us to lay regulations now, to avoid unreasonable delays and the increased risks of infraction.
Climate projections suggest that extreme weather will happen more frequently in future. Members will be aware of the many flood warnings issued this week and the work being carried out at this moment by the Environment Agency, local authorities, emergency services and the voluntary sector to help protect homes, businesses and people against the risk of flooding. Our thanks go to those many people and organisations on the front-line, tackling flooding, and our thoughts are with those directly affected.
Serious flooding can happen any time. This Bill is central to reducing that risk.
G6: Interior Ministers Meeting
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Alan Johnson) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The informal G6 group of Interior Ministers from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and the UK held their most recent meeting in London on 5 November.
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The meeting was divided into three working sessions, the first two of which were attended by the core G6 Ministers. This group sat again for the final working session, with the additional guest attendance of the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
The first working session considered the issue of organised crime, where the Home Secretary presented the results of the UK's recent domestic review: Extending Our Reach-A Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Serious Organised Crime, published in July, and asked what more the G6 countries could do together to tackle the threats posed. The group exchanged experiences of what had been found to work in each country in tackling organised crime. There was broad agreement to the need for organised crime to be raised up the agenda. Ministers recognised the value of working together to tackle organised crime, and agreed to more sharing of best practice where relevant.
During the second session the Ministers considered what benefits data sharing could bring to strengthen borders, improve identity management and facilitate the prevention and detection of serious organised crime but also the challenges faced to ensure data were secure and protected. There was less of a consensus on this issue due to the incompatibility between legal systems in each state.
The afternoon session opened with a presentation by the UK of the current terrorist threat assessment. Ministers offered information on the threats posed in their respective countries. This was followed by a discussion of how to counter radicalisation through community engagement, which focused mainly on the role of mosques in radicalisation of young people. Conversation centred on difficulties of mosques preaching in a non EU language (for early stage interventions), and considerations of how to better regulate Imams.
The Interior Minister of Spain, Alfredo Rubalcaba, also took the opportunity to offer a factual presentation on his plans for the Spanish presidency of the EU, which will start on 1 January 2010. There was no discussion.
The next meeting of the G6 is expected to be held in Italy in the first half of next year.
Government: Legislative Programme for Northern Ireland
Statement
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Shaun Woodward) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
The fifth Session UK legislative programme unveiled in the Queen's Speech on the 18 November contains measures of relevance to the people of Northern Ireland.
The following is a summary of the legislation announced in the Queen's Speech and its impact in Northern Ireland. It includes both new Bills that will
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The list also identifies the lead government department.
The following Bills extend to Northern Ireland, in whole or in part, and deal mainly with excepted or reserved matters. Discussions will continue between the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that where provisions that are specifically for a transferred purpose are included in any of these Bills, the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly will be sought for them:
Bribery Bill (MoJ);Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill (MoD);Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (MoJ) (introduced in fourth Session);Crime and Security Bill (HO); andFiscal Responsibility Bill (HMT).It is intended that the following Bills will extend to Northern Ireland to varying degrees. They require the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly in relation to those provisions in the devolved field:
Child Poverty Bill (Child Poverty Unit) (introduced in fourth Session);
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