I am pleased to announce today approval of the 46 projects listed below which were submitted as bids by local authorities in this competition. This follows careful consideration of the 105 bids totalling almost 3 times the funding available submitted by authorities

The Strategic Rail Authority has today published its second Strategic Plan. I have placed copies in the Libraries of the House and it is also available on the SRA website.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Dover District Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library. This report finds that Dover District Council has some commendable performance while some areas are very poor.The report identifies the positive aspects as a benefits claim form that complies with the BFI model claim form, achievement of good results from a customer survey, and Verification Framework compliance in most areas. Dover needs to: run benefit take-up campaigns; verify residency more vigorously and income in renewal claims; carry out visits to Verification Framework requirements; apply benefit periods in accordance with risk and apply the fit and proper person test before making payments to landlords.Speed of processing is a distinct weakness, with only 25 per cent of claims sampled being processed within targets. Breaks in payments were found in 23 per cent of renewals sampled.There were significant problems with all aspects of the overpayments regime. The council is undertaking a fundamental review of the overpayments service, which is to be completed and implemented by March 2003.

I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses a Consultation Paper on a draft Order relating to the export of objects of cultural interest to be made under the Export Control Act 2002. The text is also available on the DCMS Departmental website at http://www.culture.gov.uk/heritage/export_controls.html.

My right hon. and noble Friend, The Lord Chancellor has appointed Dr. Zahida Manzoor as Legal Services Ombudsman.The appointment is for a 3 year fixed term in the first instance and Dr. Manzoor is expected to take up post on 3 March 2003.Dr. Manzoor is co-founder and marketing director of her own company. She was formerly a member of the NHS Policy Board, Regional Chair of the NHS Executive, Northern and Yorkshire Regions, Commissioner and Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and Chair of the Bradford Health Authority.

Revised estimates of farm income, output and productivity of agriculture during 2002 were published on 30 January. These confirm the increase in farm incomes forecast last November, and indicate a rise of 15 per cent. (14 in real terms) compared to 2001.Details have been placed in the Library of the House

I am pleased to be able to place in the Library a copy of the Police Complaints Authority's (PCA) Review of Shootings by Police in England and Wales between 1998 and 2001.On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, I commissioned this Review under Section 79(1) of the Police Act 1996 which allows the Home Secretary to call for a report from the PCA on issues of concern. I announced the terms of reference to Parliament on 20 November 2001. They were:

The draft Electricity (Trading and Transmission) Bill, which will bring forward the British Electricity Transmission and Trading Arrangements (BETTA), is being published today. The Trade and Industry Committee will now undertake pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill and will issue a report by Easter.Copies of the draft Bill and draft Explanatory Notes are available in the House Library. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been published on DTI and Ofgem's websites.

I have today published a consultation document on the secondary legislation to be introduced under the Export Control Act 2002. This makes provision for new controls on the transfer abroad of military technology by electronic means; the transfer of technology by any means or provision of technical assistance overseas which may be used in connection with weapons of mass destruction programmes; and trade in military equipment between overseas countries. The consultation document contains the drafts of the orders, explains how the new controls are expected to operate in practice and invites views on their practical implementation. The partial Regulatory Impact Assessment provides an initial assessment of the impact of the new controls and invites views on the estimated compliance costs. The consultation period will last for 3 months, closing on 30 April 2003. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

In my statement on 7 January 2003, Official Report, columns 23–25. I informed the House that I had made an Order under Section 54(1) of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to enable the call out of reservists for possible operations against Iraq. I explained that the overall scale of mobilisation would depend upon the continuing evolution of our contingency planning, that we envisaged initially sending out sufficient call-out notices to secure around 1,500 reservists, and that we would issue further notices as appropriate.That process of calling out and mobilising reservists is underway. By 24 January 2003, the Services had issued 2,063 notices. As I explained in my statement on 7 January, the number of notices issued has to be significantly larger than the number of reservists required, to allow for the proportion who are likely to be genuinely unavailable.Further contingency planning has now clarified the likely size and shape of our additional requirements, in particular in the light of the decision we reached recently on the size and composition of land forces that we plan to deploy, which I described in my statement on 20 January,