Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Postal Services Commission DEL will be increased by £1,000 from £152,000 to £153,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £1,000 from £2,000 to £3,000. The impact on resource DEL is set out in the following table. There is no impact on capital DEL.

Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

The change in resource DEL is as a result of additional administration expenditure relating to research into the social value of the Post Office (£100,000) offset by increased appropriations-in-aid income from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

There is a token £1,000 increase in the resource DEL and the administration budget.

My nobel Friend Lord Davies of Abersoch, the Minister of State for Trade and Investment has made the following statement:

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, UKTI’s total DEL will be decreased by £199,000 from £91,506,000 to £91,307,000. This reflects the net transfer of £200,000 in Voted capital from UKTI’s Vote to BERR’s Vote. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is set out in the following table:

UKTI’s vote does not include Administration provision, which is included in the Estimates of our parent departments, BERR and FCO.

The change in the resource element of DEL arises from:

A token increase of £1,000 to allow an increase in appropriations-in-aid to be included in the estimate.

The change in the capital element of DEL arises from:

A transfer of capital underspend of £200,000 to BERR to fund capital works to UKTI accommodation.

Legislation governing public service pensions requires them to be increased annually by the same percentage as additional pensions (State Earnings Related Pension and State Second Pension). Public service pensions will therefore be increased from 6 April 2009 in line with the annual increase in the Retail Prices Index up to September 2008, except for those public service pensions which have been in payment for less than a year, which will receive a pro-rata increase.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the spring supplementary estimate, HM Treasury’s resource DEL will be increased by £73,000 from £221,551,000 to £221,624,000 and the Administration budget will be increased by £118,000 from £169,425,000 to £169,543,000 with no net change in the capital DEL. The impact on resources and the administration budget is set out in the following table:

The net increase in resource DEL of £73,000 is the net effect of the following:

A transfer to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills of £17,000 administration costs as a contribution towards the costs of the Skills Strategy.

Transfers from the Departments of Health and Culture, Media and Sport of £45,000 near cash administration costs each to the Office of Government Commerce towards the costs of the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

The net increase in the administration costs budget is £118,000 comprising the administration costs changes mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, plus the reclassification of a programme costs transfer from the UK Statistics Authority received in the winter Supplementary Estimates round to administration costs of £45,000.

There is a reduction in non-voted Resource DEL due to the draw down of Departmental Unallocated Provision (DUP) comprising £4,313,000 administration costs and £2,000,000 programme costs to offset increased voted spending. There is also a reduction in non-voted capital DEL due to the draw down of DUP of £700,000.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, National Savings and Investments DEL will be increased by £18,900,000 to £183,547,000. Within DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of DEL arises from:

A drawdown of £ 6,900,000 from the Modernisation Fund for the upgrade of NS&l’s core IT infrastructure.

The take up of DEL End Year Flexibility (EYF) of £12,000,000—near cash— to cover payments related to increased sales volumes.

The change in the administration budget arises from the Modernisation Fund draw down.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the Supplementary Estimate, the HM Revenue & Customs total DEL will be increased by £75,248,000 from £4,539,797,000 to £4,615,045,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Today my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and I are announcing the publication of “Healthy lives, brighter futures: The strategy for children and young people's health”.

A healthy start in life is at the heart of a happy childhood and the ability of every young person to achieve their potential and grow up well prepared for the challenges of adolescence and adulthood.

Children and young people are healthier than ever before, but we now have the opportunity to go further. We need to do more to achieve world-class health outcomes and minimise health inequalities, offering services of the highest quality and an excellent experience for the young people and their families who use them.

We know that we must do more to provide mothers and fathers with the support they need to give their children the best start and to help young people to make healthy choices as they grow up and take more responsibility for themselves.

Our two departments have come together to produce this long-term strategy to improve health outcomes for all children and young people from pre-birth to 19. It is a direct response to the views and concerns of young people, parents and professionals working with children and families.

“Healthy lives, brighter futures” sets out how we will work in partnership with local authorities and Primary Care Trusts and those working across children's health services to build the quality of support for families at key stages in their children’s lives— during pregnancy and the early years of children’s lives, for school-age children as well as young people. Our package of support for children and young people with acute and additional health needs is backed by a total of £770 million funding over three years to 2010-11, the largest ever investment in these services.

Investing in children’s health from the early years through childhood and adolescence will benefit children, families, society and the NHS.

We have met many children, young people, parents and practitioners in the process of putting this strategy together Children and young people want easier access to health services to support their psychological as well as physical health. Parents and carers want better information about what services are available locally, with better links between the services that their children use. Frontline staff want help with providing excellent, integrated health and health care services for children and families.

Through “High Quality Care for All: NHS Next Stage Review Final Report” we set out how the NHS would meet the challenges of the 21st century. “Healthy lives, brighter futures” sets out how we will continue to deliver improvements in children’s physical and psychological health, building on existing policies such as the “National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services” and the Every Child Matters reforms.

The strategy builds on work already in train to improve the quality and consistency of services, support and opportunities that families and children can expect in their local area. Services already aim to promote healthy lifestyles, intervene early where health problems arise and deliver support tailored to families’ needs: easily accessible support in pregnancy and early years of children’s life through Sure Start Children’s Centres and GP practices; helping children to take increasing personal responsibility for their health during their school years and young people to deal with the health challenges of adolescence; good access to urgent care; and specialist support for children with complex and long-term conditions, so that every child can reach their full potential.

Through the strategy we are making commitments to improve this existing support for children, young people and families:

during pregnancy and the early years of life, more health visitors, and a strengthened role for Sure Start children’s centres with each centre having access to a named health visitor; further expansion of the successful family nurse partnership programme for vulnerable first-time mothers; and the development and testing of a new antenatal and preparation for parenthood programme for mothers and fathers;

for school-age children and their families, a core health programme, the development of a ‘Healthy Child Programme’ to set out what services should be available to parents, children and young people from 5 to 19 with schools supporting pupils’ health and wellbeing, and pilots to test the impact of extending free school meals to a greater number of pupils; and

for young people, more opportunities for sport, access to health services that are young-people friendly, and a new campaign to increase young people’s knowledge of effective contraceptive methods, backed by increased investment of around £27 million a year from 2008-09 for contraceptive services in a range of settings.

The strategy emphasises the need to ensure that high quality, timely and accessible support is available for children and young people with acute or additional health needs and their families. We are making new commitments to strengthen that support:

confirmation of £340 million in NHS allocations over three years to improve the experience of disabled children and their families through better access to short breaks, community equipment and wheelchair services, including £30 million for palliative care and end-of-life care, in addition to the £340 million revenue funding already announced by DCSF for the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and the £90 million capital funding announced in the “Children's Plan”; and

we will test innovative approaches to the provision of community equipment and make sure that by 2010 all children with complex health needs have individual care plans to support co-ordinated care.

Improving children’s health from birth to 19 is an ambitious agenda. In order to drive change in every area, we know that we need stronger joint leadership to plan, commission and monitor the delivery of excellent services. The strategy sets out how we will help those on the frontline make a reality of this vision.

The strategy sets out a clear expectation that Children’s Trust partners are to provide children and families with accessible and comprehensive information about the services, advice and support available locally. New commitments to support local provision include action to:

promote stronger joint leadership and local accountability arrangements, with statutory Children’s Trust Boards to include GP members as well as Primary Care Trusts;

ensure all organisations with responsibility for child health and wellbeing are fulfilling their statutory responsibilities for safeguarding children;

develop the child health workforce, with a particular early focus on health visitors;

deliver a support programme for local authorities and PCTs to commission child health services;

strengthen the information available to help plan, monitor and improve services; and

give a stronger voice for children and young people in assessments of healthcare organisations, and robust arrangements to promote and ensure the quality of health services.

With schools, GP practices, hospitals, Sure Start children’s centres, the voluntary sector and Government all playing their part in support of families, we can ensure that every child has a healthy start in life and a brighter future. Working together, we can continue to work towards our goal to make this the best place in the world to grow up.

Copies of “Healthy lives brighter futures: The strategy for children and young people’s health” and the accompanying guidance on joint commissioning will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Communities and Local Government's Departmental Expenditure Limits for 2008-09 will change as follows:

The Department for Communities and Local Government's Main Programmes DEL will be increased by £162,288,000 from £11,499,316,000 to £11,661,604,000 and the administration budget will also be increased by £1,240,000 from £289,689,000 to £290,929,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

(i) a transfer of £1,031,000 to Request for Resources 2 (Local Government DEL) (see 2(iv) below).

(ii) a net transfer of £1,200,000 from other government departments, comprising:

To other Government Departments

Programme Expenditure

(a) £40,000 to the Cabinet Office for the Government Secure Zone Security Monitoring and Control Centre.

From Other government Departments

Administration Costs (Government Offices)

(b) £1,240,000 from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for early exit costs of BERR staff in the Government Offices.

(iii) a net increase in receipts of £20,467,000 offsetting increases in provision of £100,000 for Homelessness and Housing Reform for the pilot scheme on overcrowding and worklessness; £1,000,000 for the Community Builders Fund; £500,000 for the cross Government project on adults facing chronic exclusion; £2,069,000 for Fire control rooms; £11,400,000 for Firelink payments made by the Department on behalf of the devolved Administrations; £28,000 for choice based lettings; £4,200,000 for central administration comprising £700,000 for additional work on behalf of other Government Departments and £3,500,000 for outward secondees to other organisations; and £1,170,000 for Government Offices to reflect additional work being undertaken on behalf of the Department of Health.

(iv) a net transfer of £21,879,000 from voted to non- voted provision comprising:

From voted to non-voted provision

(a) £2,500,000 to FireBuy for costs arising from litigation in connection with the Integrated Clothing Project;

(b) £40,953,000 to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to reflect the accounting implications of the application of merger accounting to the establishment of the HCA;

(c) £45,000,000 to non-voted European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to cover the near cash utilisation cost associated with the balance sheet provision raised in 2007-08 in respect of 1997-99 programmes;

(d) £5,481,000 to the Homes and Communities Agency comprising £1,930,000 for set up costs, £3,100,000 for the ATLAS programme and £451,000 to cover costs of staff seconded to the HCA;

(e) £722,000 to the Tenant Services Authority as part of the Authority's first year budget; and

Administration costs

(f) £1,500,000 to non-voted Government Offices from central administration to adjust budgets for utilisation of provisions in respect of early exit costs.

From non- voted to voted provision

(g) £1,100,000 to Implementing Planning Reforms for the Mine Waste Directive and the Renewable Energy Strategy;

(h) £10,748,000 to Government Offices for a new balance sheet provision for staff early exits;

(i) £8,000,000 for bad debts on old ERDF programmes;

(j) £800,000 for the cost of capital charge on lending to the Fire Service College;

(k) £429,000 to New Dimension for depreciation charges on Mass Decontamination vehicles;

(i) £50,200,000 non-cash for the creation of new provisions for future liabilities in respect of financial corrections to old ERDF programmes, including £18,807,000 from Departmental Unallocated Provision; and

(m) £3,000,000 non-cash for the creation of provisions for future liabilities under the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme.

The change in the administration budget arises from a transfer of £1,240,000 from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (see l(ii) above)

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from

(v) An increase of £149,700,000 for the changes announced in the Pre Budget report in November 2008 as part of the fiscal stimulus aimed at supporting the economy through the current economic downturn. The increase comprises £87,000,000 for Arms Length Management Organisations; £43,000,000 for Gap funding for large scale voluntary transfers and £19,700,000 for the Community Infrastructure Fund;

(vi) a transfer of £2,500,000 from Request for Resources 2 ( Local Government DEL) for the Regeneration Monitoring and Digital Inclusion programme;

(vii) A decrease in voted receipts of £105,100,000 offset by decreases in non-voted provision of

(a) £50,000,000 for Thames Gateway comprising £44,000,000 through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), £3,000,000 through the London Urban Development Corporation and £3,000,000 through the Thurrock Urban Development Corporation; and

(b) £55,100,000 for the HCA's Affordable Housing Programme.

(viii) A net decrease in voted receipts of £10,099,000 offset by a net decrease in voted expenditure comprising:

(a) a decrease of £10,300,000 for the New Deal for Communities;

(b) an increase of £150,000 for central administration in respect of the Department's interest in the sale of land transferred to the Building and Research Establishment; and

(c) an increase of £51,000 for choice based lettings.

(ix) A net transfer of £486,559,000 from voted to non- voted provision comprising

From voted to non-voted provision

(a) £541,408,000 to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to reflect the accounting implications of the application of merger accounting to the establishment of the HCA.

From non- voted to voted provision

(b) £20,253,000 from the Olympic programme contingency for payments to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport towards the 2012 Olympics;

(c) £34,596,000 to Fire control rooms for the temporary acquisition of two Regional Control Centre leases.

(2) The Department for Communities and Local Government's Local Government DEL will be increased by £18,941,000 from £24,873,688,000 to £24,892,629,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

(i) take up of End Year Flexibility of £10,000,000 for Local Government Public Services Agreement to cover planned spending over the amount provided in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007;

(ii) take up of End Year Flexibility of £410,000 for Invest to Save Budget Special Grant to provide funding for projects relating to this financial year;

(iii) an increase in receipts of £1,500,000 offsetting an increase in expenditure for Private Finance Initiative (PFD Special Grant to meet the higher costs of PFI projects for this financial year;

(iv) a net transfer of £1,031,000 from Request for Resources 1 (Main DEL) comprising:

a) £831,000 for Best Value Inspection to support Audit Commission Comprehensive Performance Assessment work on Fire and Rescue Authorities;

b) £200,000 for London Governance for the Mayor's new planning powers under the Greater London Authority Act 2007

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from

(v) a take up of End Year Flexibility of £10,000,000 for Local Government Public Services Agreement to cover planned spending over the amount provided in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007;

(vi) A transfer of £2,500,000 to Request for Resources 1 (Main DELI (see l(iv) above).

Today is Charles Darwin’s 200th Birthday and the beginning of a year long programme of events to celebrate his life and work which culminates on 24 November, the 150th Anniversary of the publication of his seminal book “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”.

Charles Darwin is one of the most influential Britons of all time and perhaps the most important natural historian of all. His theory that all species of life have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection has framed and shaped current scientific thinking and dramatically influenced the society we live in today. At a time of unprecedented environmental change, it continues to inform our understanding of the future challenges for humans and the natural world.

Darwin’s importance to the world is such that Darwin’s home and workplace, Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory, has been chosen as the UK’s 2009 nomination to become a World Heritage Site.

A wide range of organisations across England, Wales and Scotland have collaborated under the brand name Darwin200, to produce a national programme of events to celebrate the legacy and enduring relevance of Charles Darwin’s work. The partnership includes a number of organisations from across the arts, education, heritage, local government, libraries, media, museums, science, and tourism sectors such as the Natural History Museum, the BBC, the British Council, Research Councils UK, the University of Cambridge, and The Royal Society.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have been working together to support the Darwin celebrations.

There will be Darwin-related events in all parts of the country. The involvement of members from all sides of the House will help to raise the profile of Darwin200 and give added momentum to the work that so many of our national and regional organisations are involved in.

More about events celebrating Darwin's life and work can be found at www.Darwin200.org

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Department for Culture Media and Sport’s Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be increased by £52,635,000 from £2,552,209,000 to £2,604,844,000 and the administration cost limit will increase by £6,281,000 from £49,258,000 to £55,539,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

Take up of £30,100,000 End Year flexibility comprising: (£20,000,000) UK Sports; (£3,000,000) Central Sports Support; (£2,000,000) Visit Britain; (£1,200,000) Museums, Libraries and Archives Commission; (£900,000) for the Regional Cultural Consortiums; and (£3,000,000) Administration budget.

Transfers from other Government Departments of: £2,000,000 from Department for Work and Pensions for Free Swimming; £1,650,000 from Department for International Development to UK Sport for International Inspirations; and £332,000 from Cabinet Office to cover baseline costs of the Parliamentary Counsel.

Transfers to other Government Departments of: £45,000 to the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) for the Centre for Expertise in Sustainable Procurement and £2,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) for the Government Skills Strategy programme.

Partially offset by a transfer from non-cash Resource DEL to Capital DEL of £20,000,000.

The administration cost limit has increased by £6,281,000 from £49,258,000 to £55,539,000. This is as a result of a transfer from Cabinet Office of £332,000, a transfer to the OGC of £45,000 and a transfer to DIUS of £2,000 all detailed above; take up of £3,000,000 Administration End Year Flexibility and agreed net transfers of £2,996,000 from programme to administration costs, the latter to assist with the costs of the Government Olympic Executive.

The changes in the Capital element of the DEL arise from: Take-up of £18,600,000 End Year Flexibility for the Museums and Galleries; a transfer from non-cash Resource DEL to Capital DEL of £20,000,000.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Ministry of Defence Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) will be increased by £626,555,000 (Voted and Non Voted) from £37,510,083,000 to £38,136,638,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on Resources and Capital are as set out in the following table:

The changes to the resource and capital elements of the DEL arise from:

a net increase in the RfR2 of near Cash Resource of £237,000,000 and near Cash Capital DEL of £65,000,000 ; and a further Indirect (non Cash) Resource DEL request of £500,000,000 to reflect the forecast costs of peace keeping operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Balkans;

the take up of Resource End Year Flexibility (EYF) of £45,000,000 and Capital End Year Flexibility of £214,000,000;

transfers in from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of £1,800,000 for helicopter pilot training for counter narcotics operations (RfRl); transfers in from the Department for International Development of £300,000 being reimbursement for locally employed contractors in Iraq (RfR2), £18,899,000 as a contribution to the Global Conflict Prevention Costs Pool (RfR2), and £917,000 as a contribution to the Iraq Stabilisation Aid Fund (RfR2);

transfers out to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills being the MOD's contribution to the new Government Skills Strategy initiative of £235,000 (RfRl); and a transfer out to the FCO of £15,350,000 being the MOD's contribution to the Stabilisation Aid Fund (RfR2);

additional fiscal Capital DEL provision of £50,000,000 relating to the MOD's planned sale of its Spectrum holding;

to re-allocate Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC) costs of £9,224,000 from Non-Voted expenditure to other current Voted expenditure to correct a misalignment in the Winter Supplementary Estimates;

to re-allocate DEL Grants in Aid from DEL to Non Budget Grants in Aid (Non Voted) to reflect a further classification changes for the Council of Reserve Forces & Cadets Association of £29,081,000;

to increase Grants in Aid funding for the Royal Naval Museum of £773,000; the Council of Reserve Forces and Cadet Association (CRFCA) of £3,000,000; and the RAF Museum of £400,000; by reducing Resource DEL current costs and increasing Non Budget Grants in Aid with no overall impact on resource;

to increase operating Appropriations in Aid by £180,700,000 and Non Operating Appropriations in Aid by £25,879,000 to reflect current forecasts of outturn offset by corresponding changes to Resource and Capital spending with no overall effect on Resource or Capital DEL;

to revise sub-head provisions to reflect Resource and Capital revisions in allocations between Top Level Budget Holders to match required defence outputs, with no overall impact on DEL;

The changes to Resource DEL and Capital DEL will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £626,555,000.

The Ministry of Defence “Votes A Annual Estimate 2009-10”, will be laid before the House on 12 February as HC117. This outlines the maximum numbers of personnel to be maintained for service in the armed forces during financial year 2009-10.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the New Estimate, the total Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget for the Department of Energy and Climate Change will be £2,790,657,000 and the Administration budget will be £98,320,000.

The resource element of the DEL arises from:

i) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of a net negative £963,013,000 voted near-cash, £1,711,504,000 of non-voted near-cash, a net negative £2,980,000 voted non-cash and a net negative £47,752,000 of non-voted non-cash in respect of Supporting affordable, secure and sustainable energy and managing historic energy liabilities effectively and responsibly;

ii) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of £152,512,000 voted near-cash and £34,000,000 of non-voted near-cash in respect of bringing about a low-carbon Britain, Developing an international agreement on climate change and Promoting low carbon technologies in developing countries;

iii) a reduction in non-voted expenditure of £27,000,000 and a reduction in voted income of £28,932,000 relating to reclassification of entities within the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

iv) an increase in non-voted expenditure of £296,782,000 and an increase in voted income of £296,782,000 due to updated income and expenditure forecasts for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

v) a Reserve claim of £54,100,000 non-cash in respect of an increase in provision for the Concessionary Fuel Scheme;

vi) utilisation of End Year Flexibility of £50,300,000 non-cash in respect of an increase in provision for the Concessionary Fuel Scheme;

vii) a transfer of £80,000 from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in respect of compensation for mesothelioma sufferers; and

viii) an increase in voted near-cash expenditure and a decrease in non-voted near-cash expenditure of £34,000,000 with respect to take up of Departmental Unallocated Provision for the Warm Front programme.

Also within the resource DEL, the Administration budget arises from:

ix) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of £52,471,000 near-cash and £3,000 of non-cash in respect of Professional support and infrastructure; and

i) a Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of £42,485,000 near-cash and £3,361,000 of non-cash in respect of Professional support and infrastructure.

The change in the Capital element of the DEL arises from:

i) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of a net negative £7,582,000 voted and £1,248,183,000 non-voted in respect of Supporting affordable, secure and sustainable energy and managing historic energy liabilities effectively and responsibly;

ii) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of £402,030,000 voted and £16,000,000 non-voted in respect of bringing about a low-carbon Britain, Developing an international agreement on climate change and Promoting low carbon technologies in developing countries;

iii) A 2008 Pre Budget Report award of £50,000,000 in respect of bringing about a low-carbon Britain;

iv) a reduction in voted income of £52,782,000 and a reduction in non-voted expenditure of £52,782,000 due to updated income and expenditure forecasts for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; and

v) an increase in voted expenditure and a decrease in non-voted expenditure of £16,000,000 with respect to take up of Departmental Unallocated Provision for the Warm Front programme.

Together with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Minister for Housing, I am today publishing three consultation documents, the “Heat and Energy Saving Strategy” (HESS), the “Carbon Emissions Reduction Target uplift” (CERT) and the “Community Energy Saving Programme” (CESP), which together make up a comprehensive package to save energy and reduce emissions from now through to 2020 and beyond and increase the UK’s energy security.

The consultation on “Heat and Energy Saving Strategy” sets out the Government’s long-term vision for dramatically improving the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses. If the UK is to achieve its targets on emissions reductions and renewable energy, we will have to move beyond conventional and easy to install energy efficiency measures and consider more radical ways of saving energy. We will also need to decarbonise the generation and supply of heat. By 2050, emissions from UK households need to be approaching zero if we are to meet our target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent.. The Minister for Housing recently published a consultation setting out proposals on making new homes zero-carbon from 2016, and seeking views on the Government’s ambition that non-domestic buildings should be zero-carbon from 2019. This strategy therefore concentrates on existing buildings. By 2020, our ambition is to have made available comprehensive whole house solutions to improve the energy performance of approximately 7 million homes. Building on this and by 2030, we aim to have made those measures available to all households.

In support of this, two consultations on increasing the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target by 20 per cent. and the Community Energy Saving Programme set out the Government’s immediate plans for households. In particular, they include increasing the current roll-out of energy efficiency measures and a new programme to deliver whole house solutions to the most vulnerable households in deprived communities. The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) is the Government’s principal tool for delivering household energy and carbon savings. Under CERT, electricity and gas suppliers are required to meet challenging carbon-saving targets by encouraging households to take up energy efficiency measures. Suppliers are free to decide how to deliver their obligations, but typically will promote free and subsidised offers on key measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation and high-efficiency lights and appliances. They are obliged to meet at least 40 per cent. of their targets in a priority group qualifying, low-income households, including those aged over 70. The obligation applies in England, Scotland and Wales. By way of increasing the number of energy saving measures available to consumers and in response to high and rising energy prices, the Prime Minister, on 11 September 2008, proposed raising the CERT target by 20 per cent.. Making a significant contribution to the UK’s environmental and social ambitions, increasing the level of CERT will mean a revised carbon target of 185 million tonnes lifetime C0₂ savings (from 154MtC0₂) to be delivered by 31 March 2011. This means annual savings of 5:3 MtC0₂ (from 4.2 MtC0₂), equivalent to the annual C0₂ emissions from 940,000 homes. It is expected to drive increased energy supplier investment of some £576 million, taking total energy supplier CERT investment to some £3.2 billion.

The Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) was also announced on 11 September 2008 by the Prime Minister, and aims to deliver holistic packages of carbon abatement measures to vulnerable households in low-income, deprived communities in Great Britain and offers an opportunity to pilot some of the approaches outlined in the “Heat and Energy Saving” consultation document. The key proposals will deliver substantial emissions reductions and permanent fuel bills savings for those in the targeted areas, and are:

A new obligation on energy suppliers and electricity generators to deliver an estimated £350 million of energy efficiency measures, and to ensure fairness to be targeted at the most vulnerable domestic consumers.

Ensuring targeted households, and hard to treat properties, receive the most effective and expensive actions like solid wall insulation.

Measures to be offered as a package to deliver whole house solutions, delivered in a house by house, street by street approach.

To deliver support through a community partnership where local authorities and community groups work with the electricity generators and energy suppliers to help identify the households in most need.

The proposals in these consultation documents will help us to tackle both the immediate difficulties people face in paying their energy bills and the longer-term issues we face in becoming more energy efficient and decarbonising our heat supply.

I wish to inform the House of the process and decision on the future location of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) HQ, which will become the UK Government's marine delivery body, subject to the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.

In line with the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, it is proposed the MMO will set the standard in the UK and internationally for strategy and planning in the marine and coastal environment, so delivering the Government's commitment to introduce a new framework for the sea that balances conservation, energy and resource needs.

In June 2008, KPMG were appointed to help provide an independent assessment of the most suitable locations for the MMO headquarters, ensuring that the process was transparent and fair. The first part of the process was an evaluation against agreed business and quality of life criteria, based on assessing published information and wide stakeholder consultation, to reach a short list. Copies of the final KPMG report along with an explanatory narrative will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

In consultation with the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA), DEFRA Ministers and senior officials along with other key stakeholders, KPMG produced a shortlist of five locations, while retaining London as the benchmark. Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth was added in order to ensure good geographical spread and to ensure that full consideration was given to any business benefits potentially arising from location alongside a directly related part of the DEFRA marine network. This made a final shortlist of six locations, all with considerable merit and some with an excellent foundation of marine expertise: they comprised Plymouth, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Merseyside, Tyneside, Carrick and Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth, in addition to London.

DEFRA officials—accompanied by KPMG—visited all the shortlisted locations to help inform the decision. Each location also had the opportunity to put forward a case to be the home of the MMO to me through its Members of Parliament. I would like to thank parliamentary colleagues for their time and effort, and for the quality of their presentations.

All of the shortlisted locations made professional, well-presented submissions and I would also like to thank all those people and organisations involved for their efforts, enthusiasm and time. All of the shortlisted locations had much to offer as a home for the MMO HQ.

Having assessed all of this information carefully, together with further analysis on the cost of the move, the impact a relocation would have on current MFA business and staff, and DEFRA's wider corporate responsibilities, I am pleased to announce that Tyneside will be the new home of the MMO. Tyneside has a broad range and a good balance of marine interests including a working port, fisheries, a growing renewable energy sector, environmental and industrial sectors, and a strong and developing university sector in marine specialisms, all of which will complement very well the role of the MMO. Tyneside also provides strong transport links to key stakeholders in London, Brussels, Scotland and across the UK. In addition, the extensive evidence of partnership working in the area provides confidence that Tyneside will be able to help the MMO to fulfil its role under the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.

The House will also wish to know that whilst the North East has had some notable success in encouraging private sector investment in recent years, it has not benefited to the same extent as some other regions in the UK from the relocation of public sector organisations and employment following the Lyons Review.

As I indicated earlier, all of the shortlisted locations could have provided a good base for the MMO, and this is a tribute to the continuing strength of those locations, to the case made by their respective Members of Parliament, and to the professionalism of the teams who put their presentations together. There can however be only one MMO HQ, and in thanking all the other locations' teams, I am sure they will join me in offering Tyneside our congratulations and best wishes.

To ensure there is a smooth transition and to mitigate against any risks arising as a result of the relocation an MMO skeleton body is proposed from Autumn 2009. Subject to Royal Assent on the Bill, the expectation is that this will run in parallel with the MFA until midnight 31 March 2010 at which time the MMO will be operational.

The Marine Bill and further information about the Bill can be accessed at: http://defraweb/marine/legislation/index.htm

And further information on the MMO and its implementation on the MFA's website at: http://www.mfa.gov.uk/

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DEL will be reduced by £656,314,000 from £3,746,278,000 to £3,089,964,000 and the Administration Budget will be reduced by £45,880,000 from £356,463,000 to £310,583,000. These movements in the DEL Budget are mainly due to the machinery of government transfer to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. That apart, the overall effect on DEFRA's DEL Budget is minimal with the forecast outturn anticipated to run close to allocated budget. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

(i) a transfer of £45,846,000 administration spend from the climate change group located in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC);

(ii) a transfer of £34,000 administration spend to Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) for skills strategy;

(iii) a transfer of £152,512,000 programme spend from the Climate Change Group located in DEFRA to DECC

(iv) a transfer of £34,000,000 Non-voted Departmental Unallocated Provision (DUP) to the DECC;

(v) take up of End Year Flexibility for Investing in Communities Invest to Save Budget (ISB) of £56,000.

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:

(i) a transfer of £402,030,000 from the Climate Change Group located in DEFRA to DECC; (ii) a transfer of £16,000,000 Non-voted Departmental Unallocated Provision (DUP) to DECC.

The change in the depreciation budget is due to:

(i) £3,102,000 transferring to DECC for the machinery of government transfer;

(ii) a transfer of £12,050,000 non cash costs from Natural England to DEFRA across non-cash categories;

(iii) re-profiling of Forestry Commissions (FC) Budget of £3,000,000 across non-cash categories.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be increased by £128,154,000 from £2,080,557,000 to £2,208,711,000. The administration budget will be decreased by £18,000 from £430,535,000 to £430,517,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

Request for Resources 1

Administration

I. £18,000 transfer of administration budget to DIUS for Government Skills.

Programme

I. Take up of £10,800,000 other current EYF in respect of restructuring.

II. Take up of £6,500,000 other current EYF in respect of adverse currency fluctuations.

III. Claim on the Reserve of £24,500,000 other current in respect of Consular Premiums.

IV. Claim on the Reserve of £24,000,000 current grants in respect of the International Subscriptions cost sharing agreement.

V. Transfer of £4,700,000 from the Home Office for work on migration.

VI. Transfer of £1,000,000 other current from DfID in respect of the Returns and Reintegration Fund.

VII. Transfer of £200,000 other current from DfID in respect of bilateral project work in Africa.

VIII. Transfer of £11,120,000 other current to the Security and Intelligence Agencies for expansion and capability.

IX. Transfer of £1,800,000 other current to MoD for counter-narcotics work in Afghanistan.

X. Transfer of £270,000 other current to the Security and Intelligence Agencies for expansion and capability.

XI. Transfer of £104,000 other current to the Home Office in respect of gratis visas for Zenit St Petersburg fans.

XII. Transfer of £10,000,000 other current to capital in respect of capital pressures, in particular FCO Services capitalisation.

Neutral Changes

I. To reflect the estimated indirect resource impact of the introduction of the IFRS Financial Instruments trigger point 1 on unrealised gains for forward purchase of Stirling contracts of £80,000,000, with an offsetting debit in impairments.

II. Transfer of £39,400,000 other current from RfRl to RfR2 in respect of Peacekeeping pool funds in Africa.

III. Transfer from depreciation to near cash other current of £20,000,000.

IV. Transfer of £6,900,000 other current to British Council in respect of exchange rate fluctuations and the cost of the Turner exhibition in China.

V. Budget neutral increase in A-in-A and administration costs of £20,000,000 for services provided to partners across government, including FTN telecom charges.

VI. Budget neutral increase in A-in-A and other current of £22,000,000 for Consular fees.

VII. Budget neutral increase in A-in-A and other current of £309,700,000 for UKBA charges following the MoG change.

VIII. Budget neutral increase in A-in-A and other current of £600,000 in respect of FCOS interest payments.

Request for Resources 2

Programme

I. A claim on the Reserve of £27,600,000 current grants in respect of the take up of the balance of Peacekeeping pool funds of which £13,925,000 for Africa and £13,675,000 for Rest of World.

II. Transfer of £15,350,000 current grants from MoD in respect of the Stabilisation Aid Fund of which £13,600,000 is for work in Afghanistan and £1,750,000 for work in Iraq.

III. Transfer of £1,000,000 current grants from DfID in respect of global conflict prevention work.

IV. Transfer of £6,516,000 current grants from DfID in respect of conflict prevention work in Africa.

V. Transfer of £216,000 current grants from DflD in respect of work in Ghana by the Carter Centre.

VI. Transfer of £916,000 to DflD in respect of management of Stabilisation Aid Fund projects in Afghanistan.

Neutral Changes

I. Transfer of £39,400,000 other current from RfRl to RfR2 in respect of Peacekeeping pool funds in Africa.

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:

Request for Resources 1

Capital

I. Transfer of £10,000,000 other current to capital in respect of capital pressures, in particular FCO Services capitalisation.

On 5 February I made an oral statement to the House on the case of Mr. Binyam Mohamed, following the judgment handed down in the High Court on 4 February. As I underlined in the debate that followed, we are working as fast and as hard as we can to secure Mr. Mohamed’s release from Guantanamo Bay and return to the UK.

I now wish to update the House regarding progress made in Mr. Mohamed’s case.

Senior Government officials, including Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States, have held further talks with the US Administration in recent days. President Obama issued Executive Orders on 22 January which established a review of the cases of all those detained at Guantanamo Bay. Following our representations, the US Administration has now agreed that Mr. Mohamed’s case should be treated as a priority in this process. We continue to work with the US to achieve a swift resolution.

We have long been concerned with reports of Mr. Mohamed’s welfare and medical condition. Yesterday I met with Mr. Mohamed’s US military defence counsel, Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley, and her account underlined these concerns. The US Government has also agreed that Foreign Office officials should visit Mr. Mohamed as soon as possible. The visit will help us make preparations for his return, should the review confirm a decision to release him. The team will include a medical examiner, who would take part in any return, so that he may assess Mr. Mohamed’s condition himself and report back.

I will keep the House informed on this issue.

The Privy Council Review of intercept as evidence was published on 30 January 2008.

In his statement to the House of 6 February 2008 my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister affirmed his commitment to the principle of using intercept as evidence and the case for doing so provided that national security could also be protected. He also agreed that the programme of work recommended by the Report be taken forward, with the objective of legislation. At the same time, the Privy Council Review itself, acknowledged that before legislation could be brought forward, further extensive work was required.

I am pleased to be able to report on progress. I am also having placed in the House Libraries copies of a progress report to my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister on behalf of the Advisory Group of Privy counsellors, comprising the Right Honourable Sir John Chilcot, the Right Honourable Sir Alan Beith MP, the Right Honourable Michael Howard QC MP, and my noble Friend the Right Honourable Lord Archer of Sandwell. I should like to express my thanks to the Advisory Group for their diligent and constructive support for this programme of work. I should also like to echo their praise for the “commitment and thoroughness with which the interception community has sought to address the issues”.

The Privy Council Review rightly recognised that interception is of vital importance to public protection and national security. It also recognised that the issues raised by the potential use of intercept product in evidence are complex. This has proved to be the case, as the Advisory Group’s report makes clear. However, we have now reached the end of the programme’s first phase, with work to design in detail the model recommended by the Privy Council Review, now largely complete. Work is now in hand to flesh out the detailed guidance required in advance of testing the practicalities of the model.

However, it is clear a number of key issues remain to be resolved if the objective of facilitating the prosecution of terrorist and other serious crime with the assistance of intercept as evidence is to be achieved. As the Advisory Group observes there is an intrinsic tension between meeting legal needs and the operational requirements identified by the Privy Council Review. It is also not yet clear whether the key safeguard of our being able to revert to the current regime should implementation fail would itself be legally sustainable.

The Government agrees with the Advisory Group that “securing the intended increase in successful prosecutions while ensuring fairness of trials remains difficult and may not prove possible in most complex cases”. The Government agrees on the importance of a further stage of work being taken forward urgently to test the viability of the model developed.

The Government’s intention remains to be in a position to bring forward legislation for use of intercept as evidence as soon as possible. However, it believes, given the importance of interception for national security, including the ability to prevent and disrupt serious crime and terrorism, that if the results indicate that there is no practical solution, they should be accepted. Equally, if it is necessary to take further time to iron out the detail of an apparently workable solution, we should do so rather than be driven by the legislative timetable.

I am today laying regulations on fees for immigration and nationality services.

The Government review the fees on a regular basis and makes appropriate changes as necessary. We have continued with our strategic approach to charging; setting certain fees on the basis of the value of the service as well as cost recovery in a number of areas.

Some fees will continue to be set at or below levels that reflect the administrative costs of the service. These fees must be set out in regulations before both Houses of Parliament and are subject to the negative procedure. Other fees continue to be set at levels above the normal administrative costs of the service. This allows us to generate revenue which is used either to set certain fees below cost recovery or to deliver the Government's wider objectives such as the doubling of resource for enforcement announced in March 2007, and the fund to manage the transitional impacts of migration announced in July 2008. These fees must also be specified in regulations before both Houses, but are subject to the affirmative process.

Today I laid regulations setting the fees charged above cost recovery. I am announcing our proposals for all the immigration and nationality fees we intend to charge during 2009/10 in order that Parliament may consider these regulations in context. For transparency, I have included the estimated unit cost for each route, so that it is clear which fees are set at or below cost recovery and the degree to which certain other routes are not.

Finally, we have also proposed fees for several new processes and services we provided previously free of charge. These new services were specified in the Fees Order laid on the 21 January. The fees for these services will be set in negative regulations. Full details on how to apply for these services will be provided on our website, www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.

A full table of fees for 2009-10 is set out at Annex A.

*An additional £50 for each dependant applied for at the same time is also payable.

**After the first two minors, an additional £50 per extra child included on the application form is also payable.

Plans of changes to the departmental expenditure limit and administrative budget for 2008-09.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Home Office’s departmental expenditure limits for 2008-09 will be increased by £2,822,000 from £9,688,381,000 to £9,691,203,000 and the administration budget will be reduced by £618,000 from £399,289,000 to £3,671,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resource and capital are as set out in the following table.

In July 2006, the then Education Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) announced that the Student Loans Company (SLC) would become the national delivery organisation of a transformed student finance service which provides a higher quality of service, and is more convenient for the customer.

The SLC is undergoing a programme of change to equip itself for its new role. As part of this we asked the Company to prepare a Delivery Strategy which sets out how it would deliver the policy objectives of DIUS and the Devolved Administrations.

I received the final version of the Company’s Delivery Strategy on 20 October 2008. It outlines what results the Company will deliver over the next three years, and the capacity and capability it will need to build, to ensure the effective delivery of the aspects of the student finance service for which it is now responsible. It also proposes the success measures that DIUS will use to hold the Company to account over its performance.

I am going to place the SLC Delivery Strategy in the Libraries of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for International Development’s departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be reduced by £29,787,000 from £5,736,451,000 to £5,706,664,000.

With the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The net change in the ‘Resource’ element of DEL arises from:

Additions:

£916,000 transferred from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in respect of Stabilisation Aid Fund projects in Afghanistan.

Reductions

£1,650,000 transferred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in respect of projects connected to the London 2012 Olympics.

£300,000 transferred to the Ministry of Defence in respect of payments to locally engaged staff in Iraq.

£1,000,000 transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in respect of the Returns and Reintegration Fund.

£5,000 transferred to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the Skills Strategy for Government project.

£6,716,000 transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in respect of the Conflict Prevention Pool.

£18,899,000 transferred to the Ministry of Defence in respect of the Conflict Prevention Pool.

£216,000 transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in respect of a Conflict Pool project in Ghana.

£917,000 transferred to the Ministry of Defence in respect of Stabilisation Aid Fund projects in Iraq.

£1,000,000 transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in respect of a Police Reform project in Pakistan.

There is no net change in the ‘Capital’ element of DEL.

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lord Bach, has made the following Written ministerial statement.

“Between 18 June and 10 September 2008, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Legal Services commission (LSC) consulted on options for how payments made under the Family Graduated Fees Scheme, which governs payments to barristers for family legal aid work, could be reduced in order to live within budget, and to protect services to vulnerable clients. Our consultation was announced in a statement made by my noble Friend, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, on 18 June, Official Report, column WS81.

Expenditure on legal aid barrister family advocacy has risen unsustainably from £74 million to nearly £100 million in the last five years—a rise of over 30 per cent. Over the same period, the number of cases has increased by only 11 per cent., so there has been a significant rise in average case costs in a short period. Payments to family barristers now form over 10 per cent. of the entire civil legal aid budget. Legal aid operates within a fixed budget and the department is obliged to take action to remain within that budget, or risk being forced to reduce vital services.

Following the close of our formal consultation in the autumn, we have continued to engage with interested parties to hear their views. We are grateful to respondents for their time. We have listened and changed many of our proposals, and accepted some of the suggestions made by consultees.

Today I am announcing a package of measures to restructure family barrister payments, reduce overall expenditure, and to refocus resources on high-priority clients. Given the significant priority afforded to public law children cases, these reductions will apply primarily to private family law work, such as child contact and residence disputes, and disputes over property. The Government is considering how we can increase the number of private law disputes which are resolved through mediation, because adversarial proceedings are not always in the interest of the parties. We will make the following changes to the Family Graduated Fee Scheme for barristers:

Abolish the “more than two parties”. Special Issue Payment which provides a 40 per cent. increase to fees when claimed in public law cases. We received strong representations from interested parties that this element of the scheme did not represent a sufficiently ‘special’ issue to merit a fee increase, as there are more than two parties in the large majority of such cases.

Re-direct most of the funding spent on the 2 more than two parties” Special Issue Payment into increasing by £4.4 million p.a. the fees paid to barristers for hearings and conferences in child care or supervision proceedings. This will mean an increase in fees paid to lawyers in at least 3,500 of these cases each year.

In private law disputes concerning child contact or residence, reduce the Special Issue Payments claimable by barristers for conduct issues and additional experts from 50 per cent. to 30 per cent. and 20 per cent. respectively. Both of these payments are currently running at 150 per cent. of the level intended.

In private law disputes concerning financial settlement on divorce, abolish the most expensive Special Issue Payments claimable by barristers for issues concerning conduct, analysis of accounts, assets which are outside the control of the parties, and more than one expert. In addition, we intend to reduce the Special Issue Payments claimable for litigants in person or a relevant foreign element from 25 per cent. to 20 per cent. All of these payments are running at a level higher than that intended.

Introduce tighter procedures for barristers’ claims for Special Preparation Fees, which was a suggestion made to us by interested parties. This is an area where fees are running at 800 per cent. of the level that anyone expected. Barristers will be required to submit to judges a detailed schedule of the hours spent in preparation so that these payments are only made where appropriate. We will also revise the claim forms so that the basis of any claim is clear.

We are not reducing expenditure in the Domestic Violence category.

Annual expenditure on family barristers’ fees is now nearly £26 million per year higher than it was five years ago—an increase which far outstrips any increase in cases. These changes will help us to reduce net expenditure by £6.5 million per year, and to refocus resources on some of the most vulnerable families and children in society”

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) and The National Archives (TNA) Total Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be increased as follows:

Total DEL for MoJ (RfR1, 2 and 3) is increased by £126,542,000 from £9,743,845,200 to £9,870,387,200 and the administration budget has increased by £195,000 from £461,841,000 to £462,036,000.

Total AME for MoJ (RfR1, 2 and 3) is increased by £455,000,000.

Total DEL for NICS is increased by £20,000,000 from £132,569,000 to £152,569,000 and the administration budget has decreased by £(1,000,000) from £(507,000) to £(1,507,000). This is due to an increase in administration income.

Total DEL for the TNA increased by £1,104,000 from £43,420,000 to £44,524,000 and the administration budget remains unchanged.

Within the Total DEL change for MoJ (RfR1, 2 and 3) the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.

(1) The change in the Resource and Capital DEL for MoJ arises from:

RfR1: To promote the development of a modern, fair, cost-effective and efficient system of justice for all.

Resource Change: Admin (total decrease of (£685,000))

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):

An increase of £95,000 in Resource DEL in respect of EYF draw down for the Diana Princess of Wales Inquest.

Other Increases:

An increase of £546,000 in Resource DEL in relation to the transfer of Corporate Costs from the Home Office.

Decreases:

A decrease in admin budget of £(1,104,000) in relation to a machinery of government change of the Statutory Publications Office to The National Archives (TNA).

A decrease in admin budget of £(222,000) transferred to the Department for Innovation Skills and Universities (DIUS) in relation to Government Skills Funding.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £97,957,000)

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):

An increase of £5,000,000 in Resource DEL in respect of EYF draw down for The Reform and Modernisation Programme (RAMP).

Reserve Claims:

An increase of £35,000,000 in Resource DEL in relation to the Modernisation Fund.

An increase of £15,000,000 in Resource DEL in relation to the Prison Capacity Programme.

Other Increases:

An increase in Resource DEL of £22,739,000 in relation to the Young Offender Education Funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

An increase in Resource DEL of £10,000,000 in relation to an increase in Pension Provisions within the National Probation Service Local Area Boards.

An increase in Resource DEL of £4,100,000 in relation to Intensive Fostering from the DCSF.

An increase in Resource DEL of £1,778,000 from the Department of Health (DoH) in relation to the Mental Health Review Tribunal Funding.

An increase in Resource DEL of £1,455,000 from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in relation to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Funding.

An increase in Resource DEL of £1,055,000 in relation to the Parliamentary Counsel Office from the Cabinet Office.

An increase in Resource DEL of £800,000 in relation to Social Workers in Young Offender Institutes from the DCSF.

An increase in Resource DEL of £680,000 in relation to the implementation of the Youth Rehabilitation Order from the DCSF.

An increase in Resource DEL of £220,000 in relation to Child Support Reform Funding from the DWP.

An increase in Resource DEL of £130,000 in relation to the Virtual Courts Pilot Scheme from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Resource Change: Programme (total decrease of (£34,822,000))

Decreases:

A decrease of £(19,960,000) Resource DEL transferred to the DoH in respect of the Escorts and Bed watches.

A decrease of £(9,936,000) Resource DEL transferred to the DoH to cover prisoner health care costs of new prison places as part of the Prison Capacity Programme.

A decrease of £(2,600,000) Resource DEL transferred to the CPS in relation to the Victims Surcharge.

A decrease of £(1,957,000) Resource DEL transferred to the DIUS to cover prisoner education costs of new prison places as part of the Prison Capacity Programme.

A decrease of £(200,000) Resource DEL transferred to the DoH in respect of IDTS Clinical funding.

A decrease of £(169,000) Resource DEL transferred to the CPS in relation to Liverpool Criminal Justice Centre.

Capital Change (total increase of £69,690,000)

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):

An increase of £131,000,000 in Capital DEL in respect of EYF draw down for 102 Petty France.

An increase of £3,200,000 in Capital DEL in respect of EYF drawn down for CORE Capital Grants.

Other Increases:

An increase of £1,500,000 in Capital DEL in relation to the provision of CCTV in Prisoner Communal Areas from the Home Office.

An increase of £990,000 in Capital DEL in relation to the Accelerated Contest Funding from the Home Office.

Decreases:

A decrease of £(67,000,000) in Capital DEL in relation to the Carter Programme funding drawn down in the Winter Supplementary Estimate, but now re-profiled into 2009-10.

AME Changes (total increase of £455,000,000)

Other Increases:

An increase of £430,000,000 provision for the National Offender Management Service relating to the impairment of assets.

An increase of £25,000,000 provision for Her Majesty’s Court Service relating to the impairment of assets.

RfR2: Overseeing the effective operation of the devolution settlement in Scotland and representing the interests of Scotland in the UK Government.

Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £880,000)

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):

An increase of £771,000 in Resource DEL in respect of an EYF draw down relating to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

An increase of £109,000 in Resource DEL in respect of an EYF draw down relating to the Office of the Advocate General.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £420,000)

Other Increases:

An increase of £420,000 Resource DEL in respect of EYF draw down relating to the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Scotland.

RfR3: To support the Secretary of State in discharging his role of representing Wales in the UK Government, representing the UK Government in Wales and ensuring the smooth running of the devolution settlement in Wales.

Total DEL for Wales has remained unchanged.

There is no change in the Capital DEL for RfR2 and RfR3

(2) The change in the Resource DEL for the Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) arises from:

Within the Total DEL change for Northern Ireland Court Service, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Resource Change: Admin (total decrease of £(1,000,000))

Other Decreases:

The change in the administration budget arises from a £1,000,000 increase in civil court fee income. This will be offset against additional related costs to dispose of civil court business. The appropriations in aid are classified as administrative income and so the additional fee income will reduce the administration cost limit by £1,000,000.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £21,000,000)

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):

Take up of EYF of £20,000,000 to cover an increased requirement in near-cash admin costs due to a projected shortfall by Northern Ireland Legal Services commission (NILSC) on legal aid expenditure. This is comprised of £9,316,000 near-cash, plus an agreed switch to near-cash of £847,000 non-cash and £9,837,000 capital.

Other Increases:

An increase in admin income as stated above has a subsequent impact of an increase of £1,000,000 in programme costs.

Transfer of £2,000,000 resources to finance increase in grant to the NILSC. In budgetary terms, the utilisation of savings on resource DEL (voted) are being used to cover an increase in resource DEL spending (non-voted) by the NILSC.

(3) The change in the Resource DEL for The National Archives arises from:

Within the Total DEL change for The National Archives (TNA), the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £1,104,000)

Other Increases:

An increase in Resource DEL of £1,104,000 in relation to a machinery of government change with a transfer of the Statutory Publications Office from the MoJ to TNA.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the UK Statistics Authority’s total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £200,000 from £216,865,000 to £217,065,000, and the programme budget will be increased by £200,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table.

The change in the resource element of DEL arises from:

Public Expenditure Survey transfers from other Government Department in support of migration statistics.

The take up of departmental unallocated provision (DUP) of £6,000,000 in order to finance in-year pressures and to meet new priorities.

The change in the programme budget arises from transfer from other Government Department of £200,000 and the draw down of £6,000,000 of DUP.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the Spring Supplementary Estimate 2008-09, the Cabinet Office total Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be increased by £50,980,000 from £357,896,000 to £408,876,000.

The impact on resources and capital is set out in the following table:

Summary of Changes in DEL

The change in the resource element of DEL, an increase of £48.675 million, comprises £37.195 million agreed claims on the Reserve, a £0.165 million take up of End Year Flexibility, £12.312 million transfers of budgetary cover from/to other Government Departments and £0.997 million transfers to Capital DEL.

The change in the capital element of DEL, an increase of £4.305 million, comprises a £3.308 million take up of End year Flexibility and £0.997 million transfers from Resource DEL.

Changes in Resource DEL (RDEL)

The changes which result in a net increase in Resource DEL (RDEL) of £48,675,000 are as follows:

Agreed Claims on the Reserve

A drawdown from the Reserve for v Matched Funding for the Office of the Third Sector to cover grant expenditure increases Resource DEL and Net Cash Requirement by £13,000,000.

A drawdown from the Reserve for the Invest to Save Budget (ISB) for the Office of the Third Sector to cover grant expenditure increases Resource DEL and Net Cash Requirement by £916,000.

A drawdown on the reserve for the Grassroots Grant programme increases Resource DEL and Net Cash Requirement by £23,279,000.

End year Flexibility

A take up of End Year Flexibility (EYF) for the Invest to Save Budget (ISB) for the Office of the Third Sector increases Resource DEL and Net Cash Requirement by £165,000.

Budget cover transfers outwards

Transfers to other Government Departments to cover the costs of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel reduces Resource DEL and net Cash Requirement by £1,728,000.

Budget cover transfers inwards

A transfer from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to cover the costs of i Monitoring Security Co-ordination Centre (iMSCC) increases Resource DEL and Net Cash Requirement by £40,000.

A transfer from the Security and Intelligence Agencies to cover the costs of the SCOPE programme increases Non Cash Resource DEL by £14,000,000.

Transfers from Voted Resource to Capital DEL

A transfer from Voted Resource DEL to Capital DEL increases the Capital Budget by £947,000 and consists of the following: a £60,000 transfer from the House of Lords Appointments Commission Resource DEL to cover the costs of redeveloping the appointments database, a £750,000 transfer from the core Cabinet Office Resource DEL to enhance the computer system that supports the Civil Service Pensions and a £137,000 transfer from the core Cabinet Office Resource DEL to cover expenditure on projects implementing security measures.

Transfer from Non-Voted Resource to Capital DEL

The Commission for the Compact Limited, an executive NDPB, has arranged to transfer £50,000 of its Non-Voted Resource DEL to Capital DEL to cover expenditure on office equipment.

Changes in Capital DEL (CDEL)

The changes which result in a net increase in capital DEL (CDEL) of £4,305,000 are as follows:

End Year Flexibility

A take up of End Year Flexibility for the Government Security Zone to cover accounting adjustments on capital grants increases Capital DEL by £3,308,000; there is no corresponding increase in net Cash Requirement.

Transfers from Voted and Non-Voted Resource to Capital DEL

A transfer from Voted and Non-Voted Resource DEL to Capital DEL increases the Capital Budget by £997,000 as previously described in the section Changes in Resource DEL.

Spring Supplementary Estimate 2008-09: Charity Commission

Plans to change the Charity Commission’s Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) and administration budget for 2008-09.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Charity Commission total DEL will be increased by £1,850,000 from £30,852,000 to £32,702,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of DEL and in the administration budget arises from the take up of the remaining £400,000 from the Modernisation Fund (out of a total £3 million agreed in the CSR 07 settlement) and the utilisation of £1,050,000 of the Commission’s Resource EYF.

The change in the capital element of the DEL reflects the utilisation of £400,000 of the Commission’s capital EYF.

All of these funds will be used to pay for the costs of making ready the Commission’s new accommodation at Fox Court in London. The Commission is due to leave its current London accommodation in June 2009.

Leader of the House

The list includes all requests and whether they have been submitted on the floor of the House, by letter, e-mail or another method. Weeks where there were no such requests are not included.

Week commencing 6 October 2008

‘Failures of Airlines and effect on passengers’ (Business Questions)

‘Sri Lanka’ (Business Questions)

‘Energy Providers’ (Business Questions)

‘Utilities prices’ (Business Questions)

‘Government initiatives to help economic growth’ (Business Questions)

‘Increase in Rail Fares’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 13 October 2008

‘Government policy on Disability’ (Business Questions)

‘Sri Lanka’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 20 October 2008

‘Fireworks’ (Business Questions)

‘Southampton City NHS’ (Business Questions)

‘Work of the Royal British Legion’ (Business Questions)

‘Severn Barrage’ (Business Questions)

‘Identity Fraud’ (Business Questions)

‘Zimbabwe’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 27 October 2008

‘Democratic Republic of Congo’ (Business Questions)

‘Food Standards Agency Report on Food Labelling’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 10 November 2008

‘Role of the Post Office in the Banking System’ (Business Questions)

‘Economy’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 17 November 2008

‘Zimbabwe’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 8 December 2008

‘Holocaust Memorial Day’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 15 December 2008

‘Child Protection and the Future of the Social Work Profession’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 29 December 2008

‘Gaza’ (Letter)

Week commencing 5 January 2009

‘Gaza’ (Letter)

‘Gaza’ (Letter)

‘Gaza’ (Letter)

Week commencing 19 January 2009

‘Mental Health’ (Business Questions)

Week commencing 26 January 2009

‘Domestic Violence’ (Email)

‘Gaza’ (Business Questions)

‘Sri Lanka’ (Business Questions)

‘Future of the Steel Industry’ (Letter)

During this period there have been the following Topical Debates:

‘Financial Stability’ on 9 October 2008

‘Energy Providers’ on 16 October 2008

‘Work and Skills’ on 23 October 2008

‘Businesses and the Regions’ on 30 October 2008

‘Political and Humanitarian situation in the DR Congo’ on 6 November 2008

‘Combating Obesity’ on 13 November 2008

‘Holocaust Memorial Day’ on 29 January 2009

‘Sri Lanka’ on 5 February 2009

In addition, the House debated Gaza on 15 January 2009.

Northern Ireland

Subject to Parliamentary approval the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) will be taking a 2008-09 Spring Supplementary Estimate. The effect this will have is to increase the NIO’s DEL by £146,802,000 from £1,215,517,000. to £1,362,319,000.

The change in total DEL of £146,802,000 relates to the draw down of End Year Flexibility of £89,334,000 (£81,534,000 resource and £7,800,000 capital); rephrasing of non-cash budgets from 2009-10 into 2008-09 of £12,184,000 for PNSI and Compensation Agency; additional funding of £12,250,000 for the implementation of FRS 17 and FRS 26; and resource and capital budget transfers with other government departments resulting in a net increase of £272,000.

The take up of End Year Flexibility is required to supplement baselines in Political Directorate, Criminal Justice Directorate, Northern Ireland Prison Service, Central Administration, Public Prosecution Service, Youth Justice Agency, Policing Non-Severance, Bloody Sunday Inquiry, Policing and Security and Compensation Agency.

The administration budget decreases by £1,260,000 from £77,285,000 to £76,025,000. This is due to the transfer of £1,726,000 from Administration to Programme for Forensic Science Northern Ireland and life Sentence Review Commissioners. Additionally there are resource budget transfers of £500,000 from the Department of Finance and personnel, Northern Ireland for accommodation costs; £28,000 to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland for staff costs; and £6,000 to the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills for the Skills Strategy for Government programme.

The increase in capital DEL of £7,960,000 reflects the budget transfer of £160,000 from the Department of Finance and Personnel, Northern Ireland for energy costs in the Northern Ireland prison Service and the take up of £7,800,000 End Year Flexibility to meet additional capital requirements in the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

The Northern Ireland Executive DEL will increase by £182,606,000 from £8,881,173,000 to £9,063,779,000.

The change reflects the take up of End Year Flexibility of £225,000,000 (£125,000,000 resource and £100,000,000 capital); additions of £1,809,000 arising from the 2009 Pre Budget Report; net outward budget transfers to other departments of £2,748,000; a reduction of £50,880,000 for Northern Ireland Water as a result of it becoming a Government owned Company; an increase of £9,425,000 to take account of capital reprofiling from 2010-11.

Scotland

My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General has made the following written ministerial statement:

“Following the ministerial statement on 13 January 2009 and discussions in the House on 15 January 2009, this subsequent statement provides further explanation of the Serious Fraud Office’s access to an advance from the Contingencies Fund ahead of the forthcoming spring supplementary estimate.

The Serious Fraud Office is funded in a different way to most other departments. There are four elements to its funding: its core operations; its large, so-called blockbuster cases; modernisation and transformation programmes; and asset recovery receipts. In addition, like many departments the Serious Fraud Office is able, subject to the Treasury’s approval, to use the end year flexibility scheme whereby previously unspent amounts are brought forward into a current financial year.

At the start of each year, the Serious Fraud Office’s Main Estimate covers expenditure for its core operations. Additional funding for the other four funding elements, as above, are then authorised through the normal Supplementary Estimates processes and can fluctuate depending on activity.

Parliamentary approval for this year’s additional resources of £14.1 million will be sought in a Spring Supplementary Estimate for the Serious Fraud Office. This includes blockbuster funding, modernisation funding and monies from end year flexibility net of asset recovery receipts. This figure has recently reduced from the £15.45 million set out in the statement of 13 January 2009 as blockbuster case costs have been reduced this year.

Pending that approval, urgent cash expenditure estimated at £10.1 million, of the £14.1 million above, being balances in respect of blockbuster cases (£5.9 million) and the transformation programme (£5.4 million), less asset recovery receipts of £1.2 million, will be met by a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund.

No additional monies are being sought by the Serious Fraud Office for its core operations.”

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Transport departmental expenditure limit (DEL) for 2008-09 will be decreased by £11,270,000 from £13,239,009 to £13,227,739,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £11,200,000 from £281,926,000 to £293,126,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital, are set out in the following table:

Resource change: Administration (total increase of £11,200,000)

Voted: total increase of £11,250,000

RfR1

(i) Take up of £11,200,000 near cash end year flexibility for administration pressures (£8,045,000)

(ii) £50,000 near cash transfer from non voted for administration pressures

(iii) Within the Administration Budget £3,800,000 of non-cash headroom has been converted to near cash, permitted under Treasury guidelines, to meet pressures in estates and aviation

Non Voted: total decrease of £50,000

Transfer of £50,000 to administration near cash voted provision.

Resource change: Programme (total increase of £462,663,000)

Voted: total increase of £101,972,000

RfR1

(i) Treasury agreed increase of £462,718,000^* non cash to reflect the accounting treatment of changes in fair values arising from the implementation of accounting standards FRS 25 and FRS 26 for: London and Continental railways (£300,000,000); Network Rail’s Debt Issuance Programme (£164,886,000); and the Air Travel Trust Fund (£-2,168,000); partially offset by the £462,718,000 is included in the £485,133,000 depreciation increase for the Spring Supplementary Estimate which also includes an increase of £26,215,000 for the Highways Agency partially offset by a decrease of £3,800,000 for central administration.

(ii) A net transfer of £360,691,000 to non voted provision as follows:

a. £369,383,000 near cash headroom from rail: for the net operating losses of London and Continental railways (£252,000,000); to the departmental unallocated provision in respect of programme slippage into 2009-10 (£104,928,000); and to cover a shortfall in Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency receipts (£12,455,000);

b. £4,045,000 near cash headroom from cleaner fuels and vehicles to cover a shortfall in driver and vehicle Licensing Agency receipts:

c.£500,000 near cash from other transport grants transferred to railways to allow payments to both the Rail Passenger Council and the Bus Passenger council to be administered more efficiently;

d. £2,500,000 non cash to reflect the write back of Voluntary Early retirement provision; partially offset by

e. £15,737,000 near cash use of Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts within the Departmental Expenditure Limit by the Highways Agency.

(iii) A transfer of £55,000 near cash to the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills for Government skills

Non-Voted: total net increases of £360,691,000

(i) £360,691,000 transferred from voted provision of which £358,191,000 is near cash and £2,500,000 non cash.

Capital Change: (no net change)

Voted: total increase of £227,060,000 RfR1

(i) A net transfer of £227,060,000 from non voted provision as follows:

a. a transfer from departmental unallocated provision to Network Rail capital grants (£258,060,000); partially offset by

b. a transfer of £5,100,000 from headroom on other transport grants (£3,100,000) and aviation services, transport security and royal travel (£2,000,000) to the shared services transformation project; and

c. a transfer of £25,900,000 2012 Olympics underspend to the departmental unallocated provision for use on this programme in future years.

Non-voted: total decrease of £227,060,000

(i) A net transfer of £227,060,000 to voted provision.

The Welsh Assembly Government’s Departmental Expenditure Limit will be increased by £99,949,000 from £14,256,819,000 to £14,356,768,000. The increase is a result of:

(a) Take-up of £68,800,000 EYF-Capital.

(b) Capital re-profiling of £28,180,000 from 2010-11 financial year.

And also includes:

(c) Transfer of £66,000 Near-Cash from Department for Children, Schools and Families.

(d) Transfer of £17,000 Near-Cash to the Department of Industry, University and skills.

(e) Increase of £2,920,000 Capital as a result of the Warm Front initiative announced in the 2008 pre-Budget report.

The transfers will be offset within the budgets of DCSF and DIUS and the take up of the end Year Flexibility will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure. The capital reprofiling and Warm Front additions will be met by an increase in the planned total of public expenditure as announced in the 2008 PBR.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Government Equalities Office departmental expenditure limit will increase by £1,000 from £83,602,000 to £83,603,000 and administration budget will increase by £4,001,000 from £4,085,000 to £8,086,000.

Within the departmental expenditure limit change, the impact on resource and capital is as set out in the following table:

Resource departmental expenditure limit

The change in the resource departmental expenditure limit arises from a token increase to the administration forecast, where a Department’s expenditure within the estimate is wholly offset by income, so that a token amount of £1,000 is voted.

Administration costs limit

The movement in the administration cost limit arises from a funding exchange between the Government Equalities Office and Department for Work and Pensions, in which the Government Equalities Office has exchanged programme funding for administration funding, to ease the funding pressures arising from the creation of the Government Equalities Office as a stand alone Department.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Work and Pensions Total Departmental Expenditure Limit will increase by £175,531,000 from £7,837,785,000 to £8,013,316,000 and the administration budget will increase by £139,878,000 from £5,693,829,000 to £5,833,707,000.

Within the Departmental Expenditure Limit change, the impact on resource and capital is as set out in the following table:

Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit

The change in the resource element of the Departmental Expenditure Limit arises from:

Request for Resources 1

i. A draw down of £46,000,000 of the Department’s Resource End of Year Flexibility stock to fund expenditure of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission.

Request for Resources 2

ii. An increase of £20,000,000 as a result of benefit savings realised by the rollout of Provider Led Pathways. An agreement with HM Treasury allows the Department to convert 50p of every £1 saved into Departmental Expenditure Limit funding.

iii. A budget transfer of £1,455,000 to the Ministry of Justice to fund increased operating costs relating to the introduction of Employment Support Allowance.

iv. A budget transfer of £220,000 to the Ministry of Justice to fund expected increases in consent orders through the courts for Child Maintenance, following repeal of section 6 of the Chid Support Act 1991.

v. A budget transfer of £330,000 to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in relation to Mesothelioma compensation payments.

vi. A budget transfer of £132,000 to the Department for Children, Schools and Families relating to Joint Birth registrations.

vii. Budget transfers to the Scottish Government £114,000, the Welsh Assembly £66,000 and the Department for Children, Schools and Families £1,142,000 in relation to Child Poverty Pilots.

viii. A transfer of £4,000,000 Administration funding was made to the Government Equalities Office, in return for £4,000,000 of Programme funding, resulting in a net nil overall impact on the Departmental Expenditure Limit.

ix. A £3,500,000 reduction in Departmental Expenditure Limit to contribute to increased Annually Managed Expenditure resulting from enhancements to the Support for the Mortgage Interest scheme, announced as part of the Government’s package of help for home-owners.

Request for Resources 3

x. A draw down of £55,000,000 from the Department’s Modernisation Fund. As part of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR07), the Department was given access to a Modernisation Fund of £550,000,000 across all CSR07 years, in addition to its settlement funding.

xi. A budget transfer of £2,000,000 to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to support the Government’s free swimming initiative.

Request for Resources 5

xii. A draw down of £45,000,000 from the Department’s Modernisation Fund. Refer paragraph 12. above.

xiii. A budget transfer of £315,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in relation to the Government Skills Programme.

Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit

The change in the capital element of the Departmental Expenditure Limit arises from:

Request for Resources 3

xiv. A budget transfer of £2,402,000 from the Northern Ireland Executive relating to the Pension Transformation Programme.

xv. A budget transfer of £1,463,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families in relation to the Employee Authentication Service project.

Administration costs

The movement in the Administration Cost limit arises from the changes to the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit as noted in terms i, iii, iv, vi, viii, x, xii and xiii above, and item xvii below.

Movements in Non-Voted Resource Expenditure

The changes in non-voted resource expenditure arise from:

Request for Resources 1

xvii. A £50,000,000 reduction in non-voted resource fully offset by a £50,000,000 increase in voted resource to reflect the allocation of the Departmental Unallocated Provision to support expenditure on the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

Request for Resources 2

xviii. An increase in non-voted expenditure of £1,313,000 offset by a decrease in voted expenditure of £1,313,000 in respect of increased spend of Working Ventures (UK) Limited.

Request for Resources 3

xix. An increase in non-voted expenditure of £8,000,000 offset by a decrease in voted expenditure of £8,000,000 on respect of an increased utilisation of the Financial Assistance Scheme provision.

xx. A reduction in non-voted expenditure of £141,000 offset by an increase in voted expenditure of £141,000 in respect of decreased spend of The Pensions Advisory Service.

xxi. An increase in non-voted expenditure of £82,000 offset by a decrease in voted expenditure of £82,000 in respect of decreased spend of The Pensions Ombudsman.

xxii. A reduction in non-voted expenditure of £3,801,000 offset by an increase in voted expenditure of £3,801,000 in respect of decreased spend of The Pensions Regulator.

xxiii. A reduction in non-voted expenditure of £6,573,000 offset by an increase in voted expenditure of £6,573,000 in respect of decreased spend of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority.

Movements in Non-Voted Capital Expenditure

The changes in non-voted capital relate to the following adjustments:

Request for Resources 3

xxiv. An increase in non-voted expenditure of £448,000 offset by a decrease in voted expenditure of £448,000 in respect of increased spend of The Pensions Regulator.

xxv. An increase in non-voted expenditure of £871,000 offset by a decrease in voted expenditure of £871,000 in respect of increased spend of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority.

This statement explains two supplementary issues concerning payments of Invalidity Allowances to pensioners from April 2009.

The Uprating Statement on 11 December 2008 announced new rates of Invalidity Allowance for customers under pensionable age to support the alignment of the rates of Incapacity Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance.

The rates for eligible pensioners due to receive Invalidity Allowance will be increased in line with the retail price index in the usual way.

The Department subsequently wrote to pensioners eligible for an Invalidity Allowance informing them of their entitlements. However, due to a technical error, a small number were sent an entitlement notice which was incorrect.

The Pensions Disability and Carers Service will ensure that the vast majority of customers who receive an Invalidity Allowance will receive accurate payments from April 2009—and we will notify those customers who receive an inaccurate notification that this correction has been made.

This will ensure that for all of those pensioners their incomes are unaffected and the correct benefits paid.

There will be a small number for whom corrections cannot be made before April and those will be corrected as soon as possible. If an under-payment has occurred, we will ensure the payment is corrected by June, and any arrears are paid to the pensioner. If an over-payment has occurred, we will not seek recovery though we will correct the overpayment as soon as possible.

Of the 500,000 pensioners with entitlement to an Invalidity Allowance we estimate that around 45,000 people may be overpaid and around 25,000 may be underpaid, depending on their individual circumstances. We estimate that the amount of weekly overpayment will range from a minimum 5p to a maximum of £3. The maximum underpayment will be £1.80 a week.

Any arrears will be calculated and paid to customers, and we will not take any action to seek recovery of these overpayments. As the Department works through the affected cases it will write to all customers who are affected to explain their position.

As people become pensioners from April 2009, they should automatically move on to the higher rate of Invalidity Allowance. Because the Uprating Order for this year does not provide the statutory basis ordinarily needed to make these higher payments, we shall be making them on an extra-statutory basis in the coming tax year. Around 7,000 customers are affected with payments worth in total around £350,000.

Our customers will not need to take any action. The Pension, Disability and Cares Service will identify and correct cases as soon as possible and contact all of those concerned.