We have laid before the House regulations to increase the income level at which people are entitled to full remission of national health service charges, payment of travel costs, national health service sight tests and optical vouchers, that is full help through the national health service low-income scheme. Currently, people are entitled to full help through this scheme when their income is equal to, or less than, their requirements. From 6 April 2004 people will be entitled to full help if their income exceeds their requirements by up to 50 per cent. of the prescription charge. This will mean that people whose income is only marginally above income support level will now be entitled to full help.Entitlement to income-based help with health costs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.

Two new regulatory bodies, which will operate at arm's length from the Department, come into being on 1 April: the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI) and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). A third regulatory Body, the Office of the Independent Regulator (OIR) came into being in January this year. The inception of these new bodies will change the Department's role in the provision and inspection of healthcare and social services. The effects that this will have on accountability arrangements are set out below.The role of the OIR is to authorise, monitor and regulate National Health Service foundation trusts (NHSFTs). The Independent. Regulator is directly accountable to Parliament, and the Department will not be able to comment on the details of the OIR's day to day management. For any questions that might arise in this area, we would provide information on the Independent Regulator's behalf, but not directly.NHSFTs are themselves independent of the Department, and are directly accountable to their local populations and to Parliament. Because of this independent status, and NHSFTs' separate and local route of accountability, we will no longer be in a position to comment on, or provide information about, the detail of operational management within such trusts. Any such questions will be referred to the relevant NHSFT chairman. Notwithstanding these changes, matters of national policy (including the statutory framework for the NHS, and its resources, standards and targets) will of course remain the responsibility of the Department. We will therefore continue to respond directly on these issues. We will also continue to respond directly on the services commissioned by the NHS locally, as these remain the responsibility of primary care trusts.As with the OIR, CHAI and CSCI are independent of the Department. We will therefore provide information to Members on behalf of these bodies about their activities, but not directly. Two areas of their operations warrant particular notice. The Department has traditionally had much a closer involvement in the (performance) star ratings system. From 1 April, it will be CHAI's and CSCI's responsibility to devise the form of performance ratings, and their criteria and methodology. The Department will approve the criteria devised.

The Department has carried out a review of the basis for charging for a number of plant health, plant varieties and animal health services that it provides. Invoicing for the services concerned was suspended whilst the review was completed.The review focused on whether the legislative basis for making charges for these services was adequate. The conclusion is that for the following services the legislative basis was not sufficient to allow the Department to impose a charge:

The Highways Agency's 2004–05 business plan is published today and contains seven key targets for the Agency to deliver by 31 March 2005. These are: Explanatory notes against each of these indicators are provided in the business plan, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

I wish to announce that with effect from 31 March 2004, in accordance with the powers conferred on me by Rule 5(1) of the Prisons and Young Offenders Centre Rules (Northern Ireland) 1995, part of Maghaberry prison site, formerly the site of Maze prison, is removed from within the boundaries of Maghaberry prison. The area to be removed is indicated on the site map, which I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses, by the words

"area to be removed from the site of Maghaberry prison".

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland. Annual Report and statement of accounts for 2002–03 has been deposited in the Library of the House today.

I announced in July 2003 that the Ministry of Defence was conducting a business process review of the management and delivery of Defence housing, 2 July 2003, Official Report, column 2OWS. The Review has been completed and I have placed a copy of the final report in the Library of the House.This work has been part of a coordinated approach to the future direction of defence housing. It supports detailed work to improve accommodation through the defence housing strategy that, as set out in the Defence White Paper: "Supporting Essays", will direct the future provision of housing for service personnel and their families worldwide. It also takes forward work from earlier internal and cross-departmental studies. The Review has focused primarily on delivery and management of Defence housing in mainland UK, but it includes recommendations on our living accommodation overseas that might be considered in the future.The main conclusions were that some improvement could be made to the processes involved with the management and delivery of Defence housing. It was also recognised that we could benefit from the synergies within Defence Estates (DE) and the Defence Housing Executive (DHE). A number of recommendations have been made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes and organisations involved in delivery of Defence housing, the most significant of which are:

Today I have published households below average income for 1994–95 to 2002–03. This is a report published under national statistics arrangements with headline results that cover Great Britain. Copies have been placed in the Library.The report shows that there has been strong growth across the whole income distribution, and comparing incomes between 1996–97 and 2002–03, the poorest fifth of households have kept up with the strong income growth of middle-income households.Steady progress has been made towards the Government's target to reduce by a quarter the number of children living in low-income households by 2004–05.Some 700,000 fewer children are living in relative low income compared to 1996–97.There has been a more dramatic reduction in children in "absolute" low income and this has now halved since 1996–97, equating to 2.1 million fewer children growing up with their opportunities undermined by acute financial hardship.For pensioners below the same fixed threshold, the decline has been around two-thirds, from 2.7 million in 1996–97 to fewer than 1 million in 2002–03, meaning enhanced dignity and security for 1.8 million people during their retirement.

In a written statement on 4 December 2003, I announced the publication of the Department's second stage and final report of the review of ELCI.The report described the work that had been undertaken since June 2003, identified the further actions we intended to take and set these in the context of a strategic approach aimed at improving the efficiency, sustainability and outcomes of the ELCI system.A number of initiatives have been put in place to improve the functioning of the ELCI market. In addition we are working immediately to help business by a range of actions.I am pleased to announce the publication today of a partial regulatory impact assessment on a proposal to remove the requirement for ELCI from limited companies that employ only their owner (incorporated owners/sole employees). It is estimated that there are about 300,000 such companies. The partial assessment seeks the views of employers (in particular incorporated owners/sole traders) and insurers and their representative bodies and other stakeholders (e.g. employees, lawyers) and their representatives on the proposal. The views of the wider public are also welcome.Copies of the partial assessment have been placed in the Library.We will continue to take forward the initiatives and long-term proposals in the second stage report. We believe that they will continue to deliver significant, sustained improvements within the ELCI market.

I am today able to announce the 2004–05 annual performance targets for the rent service, responsibility for which transfers to my Department from 1 April 2004, and the disability and carers service. The targets I have agreed are set out below.Further information on the plans of the businesses in 2004–05 is contained in their individual business plans that have been published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.THE RENT SERVICE