My right honourable friend the Minister of State (Harriet Harman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I wish to make the following Statement to the House about the inquests of service men and women who have died overseas where jurisdiction has been assumed by the Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, and the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, David Masters.

All casualties suffered by the UK Armed Forces are a source of profound regret. UK service personnel have put their lives on the line to help build strong, stable and democratic nations and protect the interests of the United Kingdom and we cannot pay high enough tribute to the job they are doing, or the sacrifice some of them have made. We are committed to assisting the families of UK service personnel who have died on operations overseas when their loved ones are returned to the UK.

We made Statements to the House on 5 June 2006, Official Report, Commons, col. 4WS; 12 October 2006, Official Report, col. 26WS; 18 December 2006, Official Report, col. 112WS, and 29 March 2007, Official Report, col. 121WS, with information about the conduct of inquests by the Oxfordshire coroner and today we are announcing progress which has been made since the Written Ministerial Statement in March.

Background

Coroners are independent judicial officers appointed and paid for by the relevant local authority. Their officers and staff are employed by the local authority and/or the police.

Each death of a service man or woman killed in an operation overseas whose body is repatriated to England and Wales is subject to an inquest. The inquest, both the investigation into the death and the holding of the public hearing into the death, is conducted by the coroner with jurisdiction which derives from where the body lies.

In the case of deaths of service men and women whose bodies were flown into Brize Norton military airbase until it could no longer be used for repatriations on 31 March 2007, the Oxfordshire coroner has initial jurisdiction. In the case of deaths of service men and women whose bodies have been flown into Lyneham military airbase since 1 April 2007, the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner has initial jurisdiction.

The coroner has powers under the Coroners Act 1988 to transfer jurisdiction to another coroner while the body is still lying within his district and with the consent of the other coroner. Since late December 2006, the Oxfordshire coroner's practice was to transfer jurisdiction to coroners closer to the next of kin wherever possible. This practice has been continued by the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner since 1 April 2007.

Progress with the remaining inquests

At the time of the March Written Ministerial Statement, 56 inquests had been held, 46 into the deaths of servicemen and 10 into the deaths of civilians in Iraq whose bodies were repatriated via RAF Brize Norton.

A further 16 inquests have been held into the deaths of servicemen, making a total of 72 inquests which have been held since June 2006.

Of these 72 inquests, the Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, has conducted five, Assistant Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner, Sir Richard Curtis, six, Assistant Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner, Selena Lynch, 28, Assistant Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner, Andrew Walker, 32, and the Greater Manchester West Coroner, Jennifer Leeming, one.

Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction

There remain 11 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel in military conflicts and exercises overseas, and four inquests into the deaths of civilians who lost their lives in Iraq and whose bodies were repatriated to Brize Norton before 16 May 2006. This includes the death of a serviceman on an exercise in California in December 2005, details of which we have recently been advised by the coroner.

The oldest outstanding military inquest in the Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction is the inquest into the death of Corporal Allbutt on 25 March 2003, which will be heard on 29 June 2007. The oldest outstanding civilian death inquest in the Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction is the inquest into the death of Antonio Jose Monteiro Abelha on 22 June 2006. This inquest will be heard on 13 July 2007.

The four outstanding civilian inquests all have a hearing date. All but one of the outstanding inquests into servicemen's deaths before 16 May 2006 has a hearing date and these inquests are due to be heard by the end of October 2007. The MoD recently determined that there should be a board of inquiry in the case of Lieutenant Palmer who died on 28 February 2006. His inquest will not be heard until 2008.

Of the 66 more recent cases since the 16 May 2006, which have been repatriated via Brize Norton, the Oxfordshire coroner has retained jurisdiction in 50 cases and has transferred 16 inquests to other coroners with jurisdiction closer to the next of kin of which one inquest has been held. Of those retained by the Oxfordshire coroner, pre-inquest hearing dates have been set in 17 cases, hearing dates set in nine cases and progress made in the remainder. Of the 15 inquests which have been transferred to other coroners, progress has been made and dates set for three inquests.

Wiltshire and Swindon coroner's jurisdiction

There remain 10 inquests into fatalities which were repatriated via RAF Lyneham prior to 16 May 2006. These relate to the deaths of 10 crew members who died together in the crash of Hercules XV 179 on 30 January 2005. The coroner held a pre-inquest hearing in February 2007 and hopes to fix a date for the inquest after a further pre-inquest hearing in July/August.

A further 22 inquests relating to deaths since 16 May 2006 fall within the jurisdiction of the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner. Of these, the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner has transferred, or is in the process of transferring, 12 inquests to other coroners with jurisdiction closer to the next of kin. A further inquest has been heard by the Liverpool coroner, Andre Rebello.

We are very grateful for the efforts of all the coroners involved in conducting these inquests.

We shall continue to keep the House informed on a quarterly basis about progress through the remaining inquests. I have placed a table in the Library which outlines the status of all cases and the date of death of each case. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.

Liaison with the next of kin

It is of the greatest importance that the next of kin have full information about the progress on the inquest of their deceased next of kin.

In order to further improve the service to families, I invited to meet me on 4 December 2006 the families of service personnel who died in Iraq whose inquests had been held. We are grateful to the 17 relatives of the 12 deceased service men and women who gave us the benefit of their views and experiences so as to improve the inquest system for the benefit of future families of members of the Armed Service who die abroad.

Following that meeting we have been working on better supporting bereaved military families. My right honourable friend the Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence (Adam Ingram) issued a Written Ministerial Statement on 7 June, Official Report, Commons, col. 26WS, giving details of the support which is now being provided.”

I have today launched a consultation document on improvements to regulation intended to support better payment practices in the construction industry. Copies are available in the House.

It has taken a long time to assemble these proposals following the publication of the DTI and Welsh Assembly Government’s first consultation in March 2005. I am delighted that we can now issue the second consultation we promised on Improving payment practices in the construction industry. I know how important it is for all in the construction industry that we have a system which delivers fair payment practices. The framework set out in Part II of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 has delivered improvement over the past nine years and it is important that we build on this. I look forward to a healthy and constructive discussion.

The consultation document sets out a number of proposals on how we might seek to:

introduce greater clarity and transparency into the statutory payment framework to enable construction companies to better manage cash flow; and

encourage parties to resolve disputes by adjudication.

Prompt and fair payment practice throughout construction supply chains will help the construction industry to adopt integrated working as the norm.

The proposals:

improve transparency and clarity in the exchange of information relating to payments to enable the better management of cash flow;

encourage the parties to resolve disputes by adjudication, where it is appropriate, rather than by resorting to more costly and time-consuming solutions such as litigation; and

improve the right to suspend performance under the contract.

They do this by:

On adjudication

improving access to the right to refer disputes for adjudication by:

applying the legislation to oral and partly oral contracts;

preventing the use of agreements that interim payment decisions will be conclusive to avoid adjudication of interim payment disputes; and

ensuring the costs involved in the process are fairly allocated.

On Payment

preventing unnecessary duplication of payment notices;

clarifying the requirement to serve a Section 110(2) payment notice clarifying the content of payment and withholding notices; and

ensuring the payment framework creates a clear interim entitlement to payment prohibiting the use of pay when certified clauses.

On suspension

improving the statutory right to suspend performance by allowing the suspending party to claim the costs and delay which result.

These proposals are intended to be proportionate amendments to the existing framework to address specific issues that have arisen during the nine years the Construction Act has been in operation. Guidance remains the preferred route to improve the operation of construction contracts and we have only considered further legislative intervention where we believe it is absolutely necessary.

Having emerged from the first consultation on Improving payment practices in the construction industry in 2005, these proposals were first outlined in the analysis of the consultation in January 2006. During 2006, a DTI-appointed sounding board assisted in the development of the detailed proposals for this second consultation. I am very grateful for the work that the sounding board did.

It was originally intended that these proposals should be introduced using a legislative reform order (LRO) under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. But I have now concluded that it would be more appropriate to introduce these proposals using primary legislation. The consultation covers the primary legislative proposals in detail, as well as the consequential amendments that will need to be made to the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998.

We are now seeking the views of the construction industry and its clients on:

whether this package of proposals properly and adequately addresses the weaknesses in the existing framework; and

how we might evaluate the costs and benefits of the package.

We will be seeking to introduce legislation to implement the proposals emerging from this consultation through primary legislation as soon as a legislative slot is available.

The consultation document is also available at: www.dti.gov.uk/sectors/construction/constructionact/page 13956.html.

I am pleased to inform noble Lords that I have today laid before Parliament a further consultation paper on Confidence and confidentiality: Openness in Family Courts - a new approach (Cm 7131). It is available on the department's website at: www.justice.gov.uk/publications/consultations. htm.

Since publishing our initial proposals in 2006, we have reflected on the best ways of making the culture of family courts more open, while maintaining the privacy of those involved, especially children. We have listened to what people said in response to our original proposals. We have decided a new approach is needed which focuses not on who may go into family courts, but on the information which comes out.

The consultation paper sets out our intention to take forward proposals that were widely welcomed by responses to the previous consultation paper, and consults on further proposals.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Margaret Beckett) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

In 2006, 15 serious offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic immunity were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. “Serious Offences” are defined as offences that would, in certain circumstances, carry a penalty of 12 months’ or more imprisonment. Some 24,000 people are entitled to diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom.

The table below lists those foreign missions whose diplomats allegedly committed serious offences and the type of offence from 2002-06.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Margaret Beckett) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The majority of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom pay the national non-domestic rates requested from them. They are obliged to pay only 6 per cent of the total national non-domestic rates value, which represents payment for specific services such as street cleaning, lighting, maintenance and fire services. The total amount outstanding from all diplomatic missions is approximately £821,000.00. However, as at 31 March 2007, the missions listed below owed over £10,000 in national non-domestic rates. Twelve additional diplomatic missions, which owe £10,000 or more in respect of national non-domestic rates, have made arrangements with the Valuation Office Agency to clear their outstanding debts and have not been included in this list.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Margaret Beckett) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

There were 5,484 outstanding parking and other minor traffic violation fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in the United Kingdom recorded during the year 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006. These totalled £506,475. In April this year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office wrote to all diplomatic missions and international organisations concerned giving them the opportunity either to pay their outstanding fines or to appeal against them if they considered that the fines had been issued incorrectly. As a result of subsequent payments totalling £22,713 and formal appeals lodged, there remains a total of 4,859 (£448,965) unpaid fines for 2006^*. The table below details those diplomatic missions and international organisations that have outstanding fines totalling £1,000 or more.

The number of outstanding fines incurred by diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom for non-payment of the London congestion charge since its introduction in February 2003 until 3 April 2007 was 74,198. The table below shows the 10 diplomatic missions with the highest value of outstanding fines.

I will be attending the Competitiveness Council in Luxembourg on 25 June.

The council will be chaired by Annette Schavan, German Federal Minister for Research and Education.

The first item on the agenda is the proposal for a regulation establishing the European Institute of Technology. This proposal will be put for a council general approach. While the UK is generally content with the way in which the EIT proposal has evolved, the financial aspects of the proposal need to be dealt with satisfactorily.

The next item on the agenda is on knowledge transfer. The council will adopt conclusions on a communication from the Commission on knowledge transfer and a presidency initiative for a charter for the management of intellectual property from public research institutions and universities. The UK supports the need for better knowledge transfer between universities and business, in line with the Lambert review.

This will be followed by the adoption of council conclusions on a report from the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST) on “how to make better co-ordinated use of structural funds and the Framework Programme to support R&D”. The UK supports the co-ordinated use of these major EU funding programmes in support of the Lisbon agenda.

The next item on the agenda is a Green Paper on the future of the European research area. There will be an exchange of views on this. The UK considers future EU research policy to be an important component of the Lisbon strategy and supports the consultation on the Green Paper.

Eight items will be taken under any other business:

proposal for a council regulation on a joint technology initiative;

“Clean Sky” (presentation by the Commission);

proposal for a council regulation on a joint technology initiative;

“ENIAC” (presentation by the Commission);

future Commission proposal on Article 169 Initiative AAL (Information on the state of play);

future Commission proposal on Article 169 Initiative Euro STARS (Information on the state of play);

Euro-Med Education and Research Ministers Conference (Information from the presidency);

proposal for a directive on restrictions on the marketing of certain measuring devices containing mercury (Information from the presidency); and

work programme of the incoming presidency (Information from the Portuguese delegation).

I will be attending the extraordinary meeting of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in Luxembourg on 25 June, which has been called due to the likelihood of important developments in the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations.

The council will be chaired by Bernd Pfaffenbach, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour. EU member states will be represented at the GAERC by Trade Ministers, rather than Foreign Ministers, due to the issue to be discussed.

The item on the agenda will be the Doha development round of multilateral trade negotiations. The meeting will review progress made during the negotiations between the G4 group of countries (EU, US, Brazil and India) between 19 and 22 June, and discuss how these negotiations should be taken forward during the next few months, which represent a critical period in the negotiations. The council is likely to adopt conclusions to guide the Commission’s negotiations on behalf of the EU at this meeting.

A further Written Statement will be prepared after the meeting has taken place.

Today I have deposited copies of The Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Second Annual Report on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act in Central Government -2006 in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.

This is the annual report analysing the performance of central government in the second full year of freedom of information.

My honourable friend the Minister for Local Government (Phil Woolas) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I am today placing in the Libraries of both Houses copies of the strategy document, Independence and Opportunity: Our Strategy for Supporting People, and an associated impact assessment and equalities impact assessment.

The strategy document is the culmination of an extensive consultation with local authorities, service providers, service users and representative bodies on the future effective delivery of housing-related support.

The document focuses on four key delivery issues:

Keeping the needs of service users at the heart of the Supporting People programme, by ensuring their involvement in the planning, design and delivery of services; by encouraging choice and control over services; and by rationalising needs assessment for individuals.

Enhancing our relationship with the Third Sector, which delivers the majority of housing-related support services, by ensuring they have the capacity and tools to compete fairly for contracts to deliver services.

Delivering housing-related support services effectively in the new local government performance landscape that is through the local area agreement framework.

Maximising efficiency and minimising bureaucracy through a national value improvement programme which will assist in rationalising processes such as procurement and contracting.

The strategy aims to provide additional clarity and focus to an already successful programme that helps a million people per year to attain or maintain independent living in their own homes.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office, Mr McFadden, is today presenting to Parliament a Command Paper listing regulatory impact assessments published between July and December 2006. This is the 26th Command Paper.

The Government are committed to ensuring that regulations are necessary, give effective protection, balance cost and risk, are fair and command public confidence.

In accordance with this, we require departments to produce and publish regulatory impact assessments for all regulatory proposals likely to have an impact on business, charities or voluntary bodies and the public sector.

Copies have been placed in the Library for the reference of noble Lords and will be available in the Printed Paper Office.

Following the Prime Minister’s Statement on 24 January this year in relation to the recognition of the contribution made by the Bevin Boys who worked in the UK coalfields during and immediately after World War II, I would like to update the House on the recent developments.

Members will be aware that the Bevin Boys scheme was introduced in 1943 by the then Minister for Labour and National Service, Ernest Bevin, in response to an increasing shortage of labour in the coal-mining industry. The scheme ran between 1943 and 1948 and involved recruiting men aged between 18 and 25 years to work in coal mines rather than serve in the Armed Forces. Some 48,000 men worked in the mines under the scheme.

I am delighted to announce that the DTI is launching today a lapel badge in recognition of the contribution this group made to the war effort.

Of the 48,000, some 43 per cent were conscripted directly into the mines and are known more generally as “ballotees”. The remaining 57 per cent were those who opted for mine work in preference to joining the Armed Forces or those who were in the Armed Forces and volunteered to become miners. Only those who fall into these categories will be eligible for the badge.

The Bevin Boys Badge is a survivor’s badge and I would encourage Bevin Boy Veterans to wear it in public in order visibly to raise awareness of the important role they played during World War II and in the post-war reconstruction of the UK. Widows and estates will not eligible.

The application process for the badge will be launched towards the end of the year, with a view to the first badge being awarded to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the demobilisation of the final Bevin Boys in March 2008.

The DTI had worked closely with the Bevin Boys Association, which has expressed its extreme pleasure at the introduction, to ensure that the design of the badge suitably reflects the work they carried out. It is important that we never forget the sacrifices that were made both at home and abroad during the war, and this badge is a fitting way to remember the Bevin Boys’ work to keep the coalfields going.

A copy of the badge design can be found on the department’s website at www.gnn.gov.uk/image library/downloadMedia.asp?MediaDetailsID=206373.