The Defra 2004 Departmental Report, which contains information on progress against the Department's objectives, the challenges ahead and summary expenditure plans for 2003–04 to 2005–06, has been published today. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following written ministerial statement in the other place today.

"I am today publishing a protocol on Scottish legislative proposals giving devolved power, and functions to UK bodies. This has been agreed by the UK Government and the Scottish Executive. It will be published as one of our series of Devolution Guidance Notes and copies will be deposited in the libraries of both Houses and on the following websitehttp://www.dca.gov.uk/."

The Department's annual report for 2004, (Cm 6204), was laid before Parliament today.Copies have been placed in the Library.

The Food Standards Agency's departmental report Spring 2004, Cm 6205 was laid before Parliament today.Copies will be placed in the Library.

I am today able to announce the publication of the Department for Work and Pensions Departmental report. The report provides details of the Department's performance in 2003–04 against its public service agreement targets and sets out the Department's expenditure plans for 2004–05 and 2005–06. Copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2002, the UK agreed to contribute £900 million to the thirteenth replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional lending arm which is designed to meet the needs of the world's poorest countries. In addition to this contribution, the UK set aside another £100 million to be provided on condition that a satisfactory framework was agreed to compensate IDA for the costs of introducing grants under its thirteenth replenishment (IDA 13). Both the initial £900 million contribution and the additional provisional contribution of £100 million were approved by Parliament on 3 December 2002.I am pleased to announce that a satisfactory framework for compensating IDA 13 for the introduction of grants has now been agreed. Under this framework, donors will compensate IDA upfront for the administrative costs associated with providing grants, through making additional contributions to the next replenishment (IDA 14). (These are costs which arise early in the project cycle and, in the case of loans, would be covered by recipient countries.) Meanwhile, donors will compensate for the lost re-flows from recipient countries as and when these would have fallen due. Given the 10-year grace period provided under IDA on repayment of loans, this would not have happened until 2013 at the earliest. Compensation payments will not therefore be required until this time, and the exact means of compensation will be discussed as part of future IDA replenishments.An essential and fundamental principle of the agreed grants compensation framework is that donors should contribute to the cost of compensation in line with their share of IDA 13 (their 'burden share'). If the UK were to contribute the full £100 million set aside to cover the costs of upfront compensation, we would effectively displace the contributions of other donors. We have therefore decided to cover both our burden share under IDA 13, and the structural financing gap inherent in this replenishment (equivalent to 9.37 per cent. of total resource needs from donors), making a total UK contribution for upfront IDA 13 grants compensation of £64.8 million.

I am today laying before Parliament copies of the Department for International Development's departmental report 2004.

My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General has made the following Ministerial Statement:

The Director of Public Prosecutions has, in accordance with section 7A Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 as amended by section 53 Crime and Disorder Act 1998, extended the remit of work that may be undertaken by Crown Prosecution Service designated caseworkers.

Our armed forces have an enviable reputation throughout the world for their professional delivery of operational military capability in a vast spectrum of roles. These range from war fighting to the complex and often subtle requirements of peace support operations and counter-terrorism; besides turning their hand, as they have done in recent years, to providing support to the civil community assisting with fire-fighting, flood-relief and the foot and mouth outbreak. Most who come across Service personnel acknowledge that they have sound essential military skills and operate within an ethos that differs from that generally found within the sphere of civilian employment. Yet those who join the services are not fundamentally different from the rest of society. What turns a young man or woman into a service person, capable of taking on successfully the variety of challenging roles which our country demands of them, is the training and education undertaken by servicemen and women throughout their careers.

I am today arranging for my Department's annual report (Cm 6220) to be laid before Parliament in advance of publication on 30 April.Copies will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and the text made available on the Department's website at

I have today laid before the House a statement of changes to the immigration rules. From 1 May 2004, as a result of the accession of 10 new states to the European Union, nationals of those EU accession states will not require immigration leave to enter or stay in the UK. Consequently it is necessary to remove all references to the individual EU accession states in the immigration rules with effect from the date of accession.We have also decided to amend the European economic area (EEA) national settlement requirements to enable those currently in immigration categories leading to settlement to aggregate time spent here under the immigration rules with that as an EEA national in the UK when making an application to settle. This ensures that new EU nationals will not have to spend a longer time in the UK to qualify for settlement than they would if accession had not occurred. This mirrors the practice followed in previous accessions.

I am today announcing that, in line with the House of Lords judgment on 16 October 2003, I have established a public inquiry into the murder of Zahid Mubarek at Feltham Young Offender Institution in March 2000. The hon. Mr. Justice Keith will chair the inquiry; he will be assisted by three expert advisers who will provide advice and support to the inquiry on matters relating to race, prison operations and issues affecting prisoners. The inquiry will start immediately with the following terms of reference:

"In the light of the House of Lords judgment in the case of Regina v. Secretary of State for the Home Department exparte Amin, to investigate and report to the Home Secretary on the death of Zahid Mubarek, and the events leading up to the attack on him, and make recommendations about the prevention of such attacks in the future, taking into account the investigations that have already taken place—in particular, those by the Prison Service and the Commission for Racial Equality."

The Government have issued an open licence for the export to Iran of goods that will be listed in the United Kingdom strategic export controls annual report as "Components for Military Aero Engines". The goods will be used by the oil and gas industry overhaul turbines that power pumps for oil and gas pipelines. The goods are military listed because they were originally designed and used for military aircraft engines. In this instance, the Government are satisfied that there is a minimal risk of diversion to a military end use, and are prepared to make an exception to the UK national arms embargo. Other aspects of the application were considered against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.

I am pleased to announce the Secretary of State's targets for 2004–05 in respect of the Driver, Vehicle And Operator Group.The Secretary of State for Transport has set a range of high-level targets for the 2004–05 year on behalf of the Agencies within the Driver, Vehicle and Operator Group; the Driving Standards Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Vehicle Certification Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. They are included in the Agencies' Business Plans. The plans also include a range of management targets, performance indicators and key tasks which are appropriate to the Agencies' businesses and which reflect the wider DVO change agenda. Copies of the Business Plans will be placed in the Library shortly.The key targets for the Driving Standards Agency are:

On 21 October 2003, the Department for Transport launched a consultation exercise to consider the options for implementing the road transport (working time) directive—2002/15/EC (RTD) into UK legislation. This directive provides extra protection for drivers and crew of heavy goods and public service vehicles, who carry out road transport activities covered by the EU drivers' hours rules—regulation (EEC) 3820/85.This exercise has now finished. In the light of responses received the Government has decided that the UK regulations should:

The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Boundary Commissions Act 1992, requires that the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland undertake periodical reviews of constituencies in Northern Ireland. The commission are required to submit a report to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland not less than eight or more than twelve years from their last report. The present review commenced on 16 May 2003.The commission are announcing their provisional recommendations for constituencies in Northern Ireland today. The proposals are to be made available for public inspection at district council headquarters and electoral offices, public libraries and at the offices of the Electoral Commission and the Boundary Commission to coincide with the formal publication of the provisional recommendations on 6 May. The commission are required to take into consideration any representations made within one month of publication of the proposals.I will, of course, report back to Parliament once the commission has made its final recommendations.