The Planning and Compulsory purchase Bill contains provisions to reduce the default period for the commencement of development under a planning permission, listed building consent or conservation area consent from five to three years. This provision is a crucial part of our agenda for speeding up the operation of the planning system.Local planning authorities have flexibility under existing legislation to vary the length of a permission or consent. This flexibility will remain. The time limit for the commencement of development will normally be three years from the date of permission or consent, but a local planning authority may direct a longer or shorter period as it considers appropriate. Local arming authorities should look favourably upon requests for longer periods of duration where there are valid planning grounds for such a request. There will be cases where three years is unlikely to be long enough to allow developers to complete all the preparation needed before starting work. Longer periods are likely to be appropriate, for example, for complex generation projects.After the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill has completed its Parliamentary passage, the Government will issue guidance to local planning authorities on the new provisions. In this guidance we will make clear the need for flexibility on the part of local authorities in their dealings with applicants on the duration of permissions and consents.

The Government is today publishing draft guidance for social landlords on how they should prepare and publish their statements of policies and procedures for tackling antisocial behaviour on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website for consultationSection 12 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 places a new requirement on all social landlords (local housing authorities, registered social landlords and housing action trusts) to prepare and publish statements.The consultation is aimed at all social landlords in England and those with an interest in housing and antisocial behaviour issues, including tenants groups. I would therefore urge the sector and others with an interest in these issues to consider the draft and supply their views.

I am today publishing a draft Identity Cards Bill for consultation as part of a document explaining the need for legislation entitled "Legislation on Identity Cards: A Consultation" (CM 6178).The draft Bill establishes the legislative framework that would be necessary for the incremental introduction of the national identity cards scheme as set out in "Identity Cards: The Next Steps" (CM 6020) published in November 2003.The draft Bill includes provisions that would:

I am pleased to announce that Lord Carlile of Berriew QC has completed the report on the operation of the Act, which will be laid before the House today.

One of the Government's priorities is to improve performance in the collection of fines and reinvigorate fines as an effective penalty for those who commit crime, thereby increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system.Currently, offenders who default on payment of fines and are receiving income support, jobseeker's allowance or pension credit, may have the sum of £2.80 deducted weekly from their benefit, by way of a third party deduction, until the fine or fines are recovered in full.However, this cash repayment is frequently too low for effective enforcement of financial penalties. It is often below the minimum repayment rate that magistrates can accept from offenders unable to pay immediately and in full, and it results in a repayment period that is too drawn-out.We are therefore increasing the amount of this weekly deduction from £2.80 to £5. This increase will be subject to the normal rules governing implementation of the various third party deductions from benefit that may be made, including the maximum amount for such deductions. If those rules preclude a £5 deduction but would allow one of £2.80, that rate will apply instead. This change is also consistent with the £5 now required from some non-resident parents on benefit towards child support maintenance.This will support the Government's efforts to restore confidence in fines as an effective penalty and therefore a credible alternative to prison. The increase is aimed at those offenders who simply refuse to repay their fines or those who opt to pay by deduction from benefit. It supports the wide-ranging work that the Department for Constitutional Affairs is carrying out in this area.We propose to amend regulations so that the increase will come into force from April 2005.