The Government have today launched a consultation into how they might use s.71 of the Local Government Bill currently before Parliament to allow local authorities to retain business rates revenues. This consultation is being conducted jointly between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HM Treasury.The new Local Authority Business Growth Incentives scheme will affect all English local authorities—except fire and police—and will start in April 2005. It will give local authorities an incentive to encourage business in their areas, and will reward their contribution and encourage strong and successful partnerships between local authorities, business and other local and regional players.The current Local Government finance structure does not fully recognise or reward local authorities' contribution to economic growth. Local authorities bear many of the costs of economic development although they do not benefit from the increased revenues it generates. Since 1990 business rate revenues have been paid into a central pool so that local authorities get no direct individual or local benefit.This consultation sets out a scheme for reforming this arrangement by allowing local authorities direct retention of some business rate revenues. This scheme introduces incentives for local authorities to lead the economic development of their community by encouraging strong and successful partnerships with business and other local and regional players.We are convinced that all local authorities irrespective of their economic circumstances, should be able to benefit from the scheme. The proposals therefore balance the need to maintain a strong incentive for existing high growth authorities with the need to provide greater incentives and benefits to deprived and low growth authorities. In particular, the scheme provides local authorities with a clear opportunity to tackle the enterprise gap in their areas and to integrate enterprise with the regeneration of their communities.The proposals in this consultation provide a real opportunity for authorities to secure additional resources. No authority will lose, and there is no question of extra revenue from this scheme being offset against other income.We are also committed to devolving more decision making to a local level. Therefore, benefits from the scheme will not be ring fenced and local authorities and their electorate will be free to decide whether and how to respond to the incentives created by the scheme.

On 9 November 2001 I announced a Strategic Review of the future roles of RAF Brize Norton, RAF Lyneham and RAF St. Mawgan, anticipating the arrival of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft and the A400M around the end of the decade. The introduction of these modern aircraft will provide enhanced operational capability whilst creating spare capacity at RAF Brize Norton and RAF Lyneham. The airfield at RAF St. Mawgan was included in the Review as it too was recognised as having spare capacity.The first stage of the Review was the selection of a base for the A400M. I announced on 16 August 2002 that I had accepted the Study team's recommendation that RAF Brize Norton represented the best use of Defence assets in this respect, at the optimum cost to the taxpayer. Prior to this, I announced to the House on 13 February 2002,

In a written statement to the House on 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 9WS, I announced that the Attorney-General and I would be asking a High Court judge to review the current practices and procedures relating to disclosure, associated investigation techniques and case management in HM Customs & Excise's criminal cases.We received the report of the hon. Mr. Justice Butterfield yesterday and are now considering it. We plan to publish his findings before the House rises for the summer recess.