) The UK places the utmost priority on protecting its citizens, whether at home or abroad. We are always prepared to deploy British forces to evacuate UK nationals should their lives be placed in jeopardy. In the light of the deteriorating security situation in Côte D'Ivoire, a military reconnaissance team deployed earlier this week to assess the requirement to evacuate UK nationals. I wish to inform the House that, following this reconnaissance, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has requested British forces to undertake an evacuation of UK nationals and others over the next few days. Some 400 people are entitled to our protection.

While I cannot give the House precise details of the mission for reasons of operational security, we have now established liaison teams in Abidjan, and at Accra in Ghana. Concurrently, we have ordered the deployment of the Spearhead lead company group comprising Royal Gurkha Rifles personnel to assist with this evacuation. The company group is pre-positioning in Accra and will be on immediate notice to be called forward to support the evacuation in Abidjan. It is intended to support this evacuation with a number of RAF transport aircraft. In total this equates to a deployment of around 300 personnel.

As an additional contingency we have redirected the landing platform dock HMS Albion towards Côte D'Ivoire, and reduced the notice to move for other force elements should they be required. We would expect the operation to last days, not weeks.

Our ability to react quickly to the situation on Côte D'Ivoire is testament to the flexibility and capability of Britain's armed forces, and to the professionalism of British servicemen and women. The UK is working in close co-operation with international partners to monitor and respond to the situation in Côte D'Ivoire as it develops. In particular, we are working with the French and Ghanaians, who have offered significant enabling support to British forces.

The Ministry of Defence police operational report for the year 2003–04 is published today. After the introduction of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, which gave the Ministry of Defence Police extended jurisdiction, recommendations were made by the House of Commons Defence Committee that an operational report should be presented annually to Parliament.

A copy of the report has been placed in the Library of the House.

The contract for project Aquatrine package B, which covers the Ministry of Defence's estate in Scotland, has been awarded to Thames Water Nevis Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Thames Water whose major partner will be Scottish Water.

Project Aquatrine is one of the Government's leading and most significant public-private partnership (PPP) projects and will transfer the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the Department's water and wastewater assets and infrastructure throughout Great Britain to private sector providers. This project will enable the transfer of environmental risk to those in the private sector who are best placed to manage it and enable the Ministry of Defence to focus on its core activities. It is a 25-year arrangement worth £2.3billion across three packages that cover the MOD's estate in Great Britain.

Following a pre-commencement period, Thames Water Nevis Ltd. in partnership with Scottish Water will commence services in March 2005.

Defence Estates and English Partnerships (EP) have marked their close working relationship by means of a joint working agreement. This "framework" document provides further guidance on the sale of surplus MOD property to EP in accordance with the latest Government accounting rules.

The agreement builds upon a number of recent transactions undertaken between both organisations and will allow them to work even closer together in the future to meet the Department's disposal programme and help to deliver the objectives of the "sustainable communities plan".

In particular, the document will ensure that MOD receives market value for any sales to EP and maintains market confidence.

I am placing a copy of this document in the Library of the House.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Education and Skills departmental expenditure limit (DEL) (including the Office for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools (OFSTED) which has a separate estimate) will be increased by £467,748,000 from £27,695,021,000 to £28,162,769,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £4,875,000 from £267,487,000 to £272,362,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

(1) Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, in the table above, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

Within the administration cost limits changes, the impact is set out in the following table:

Resource DEL

The change in the resource element of the DEL of £460,704,000 arises from a £45,787,000 increase in the voted element of the resource DEL and an increase of £414,917,000 in the non-voted element of the resource DEL mainly to the Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Voted Resource DEL

The £45,787,000 increase in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from a £45,253,000 increase in RfR1; from the movement of £360,056,000 to non-voted resource DEL; the transfer to the Department for Constitutional Affairs of £3,705,000 for the Adoption and Children's Act implementation costs; the net transfer from the Department of Culture, Media and Sports of £2,023,000 for the schools physical education schools sport and club links project team, the schools sports partnership programme and the museums and galleries education programme; the net transfer from the Department of Health of £4,615,000 for the education health partnerships, aim higher health care and a shared nurse advisor; the transfer to the Department for Trade and Industry of £450,000 for foundation degree development; the transfer to the Department for Work and Pensions of £23,000,000 for the adult basic skills delivery of the short intensive basic skills programme; the net transfer from the Home Office of £3,492,000 for prison education capital, positive activities for young people and pay and accommodation costs, prison education offenders in Wales, contracted prisons and young peoples substance misuse partnership; the net transfer to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of £2,100,000 for the key worker programme, Government office regional co-ordination unit, extend schools and local public service agreements; the net transfer to OFSTED of £2,601,000 for spending review 2002 funding, local education authority strategic planning, evaluation of employability and adult learning qualifications, benchmarking and qualifications framework; the transfer from the Office for National Statistics of £126,000 for neighbourhood support; the transfer to the Welsh Assembly of £591,000 for student hardship loans; the take up of £387,500,000 end year flexibility (EYF); the take up of new resources £40,000,000 for employer training pilots.

The £17,963,000 decrease in RFR2 arises from the movement of £20,866,000 to non-voted resource DEL; the transfer from the Department for Work and Pensions of £4,503,000 for extended schools, childcare pilots and Sure Start unit research and evaluation; transfer to OFSTED of £1,600,000 for spending review 2002 funding.

The £56,000 increase in RfR3 for the take up of invest to save budget for child contact centres.

The £18,441,000 increase in the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England (OFSTED) from the net transfer of £4,201,000 from the Department for Education and Skills for spending review 2002 funding, local education authority strategic planning, evaluation of engaging adults in learning qualifications, benchmarking and qualifications framework; the take up of £3,632,000 end year flexibility; the take up of £10,608,000 Department for Education and Skills EYF for spending review 2002 funding.

Administration Cost Limits

The £4,875,000 increase in the administration cost limit arises from a £5,199,000 increase due to the reclassification of administration receipts to programme administration receipts; the transfer from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of £23,000 for the schools physical education schools sport and club links project team; the transfer from the Department of Health £15,000 for a shared nurse advisor; the net transfer from the Home Office £112,000 for pay and accommodation costs; the transfer to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister £600,000 for Government office regional co-ordination unit and local public service agreements; the transfer from the Office of National Statistics £126,000 for neighbourhood support.

Non-voted Resource DEL

The £414,917,000 increase in non-voted resource DEL arises from the movement of £380,922,000 from voted resource DEL; the net transfer from the Department of Health of £25,330,000 for the implementation of a new consultant clinical academic contract (through HEFCE), Selly Oak and Ruskin colleges, training improvement programmes and national health service pensions indexation; the take up of £12,566,000 EYF; the reclassification of £3,901,000 from resource to capital DEL for various non-departmental public bodies own capital.

Capital DEL

The change in the capital element of the DEL of £7,044,000 arises from a £2,709,000 increase in the voted element of capital DEL and an increase of £4,335,000 in the non-voted element of the capital DEL.

Voted Capital DEL

The £2,709,000 increase to the voted element of capital DEL arises from a £2,000,000 take up of EYF in RFR1 for specialist schools.The take up of £709,000 EYF in the office of Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools in England.

Non-Voted Capital DEL

The £4,335,000 increase to the non-voted element of capital DEL arises from the reclassification of £3,901,000 from resource to capital DEL for various non- departmental public bodies own capital. The take up of £434,000 EYF for partnerships for schools own capital.

The 2002–03 accounts of the Youth Council for Northern Ireland were deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 11 November 2004.

As directed under Paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 7 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the 5th annual report of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission will be laid before the House on 11 November 2004.

I would like to inform members of the House that, as part of a rolling programme of appointments, I have decided to appoint five new members to One North-East. The new appointees will take up their positions on the 14 December 2004 and their names are set out below.

The new board members will replace members whose terms of office end in December this year and will bring experience from business, local authorities and the voluntary sector.

Decisions on the appointments have been made following open competition in accordance with the guidelines set down in the Commissioner for Public Appointments code of practice, and following consultation with key national and regional players.

ONE (new Board members)

Christopher Thompson

Susan Underwood

Robert Symonds

Alison Thairi

Raymond Mallon

I would like to inform Members of the House that, as part of a rolling programme of appointments, I have decided to appoint five new board members to the East Midlands Development Agency. The new appointees will take up their positions on the 14 December 2004 and their names are set out below.

The new board members will replace members whose terms of office end in December this year, and they will bring experiences from business and local authorities.

Decisions on the appointments have been made following open competition in accordance with the guidelines set down in the Commissioner for Public Appointments code of practice, and following consultation with key national and regional players.

emda (new members)

Steve Brown

Cllr Geoffrey Stevens

Cllr Jonathan Collins

Cllr Gary Hunt Professor

Phillip Tasker

I am pleased to announce that the Department for Transport (DfT) will be making a contribution towards the funding of GoSkills, the new sector skills council for passenger transport. The DfT funding, which amounts to £780,000 over three years, is particularly intended to reflect GoSkills1 input into skills and training initiatives for the taxi/private hire sector and the community and voluntary transport sector.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Eastbourne borough council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The performance standards for housing benefits allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.

In 2002–03, Eastbourne borough council administered some £31.8 million in housing benefits, about 52 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.

In April 2004 BFI carried out a second inspection of Eastbourne borough council and found that many of the issues highlighted in the 1999 inspection were still outstanding. For example, claims verification was still weak in some areas, there was a lack of management assurance checking, comprehensive guidance for staff was not available and the management of counter-fraud activity was poor. The review of the entire overpayments process that BFI recommended in 1999 had not been carried out.

The report notes that performance in administering benefits does not meet key best value performance indicators, and management information is not analysed or used to manage processes or identify staff training requirements. Comprehensive policies relating to benefits are not in place and there has been no dedicated counter-fraud manager since August 2003, resulting in a lack of effective counter-fraud measures.

The council's high level commitment to provide an effective benefits service is not adequately reflected in its operational planning and staff objectives. The organisational structure has also contributed to a lack of direction and effective communication within the service.

The BFI reports that although the council has not reached standard in any of the seven performance standards, there are some areas of strength. There is support for the benefits service at a corporate level, and a new management structure that was put in place just before the on-site phase of the BFI inspection.

The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on the London borough of Lambeth was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The performance standards for housing benefits allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.

In 2003–04, the London Borough of Lambeth administered some £114.9 million in housing benefits, about 10.37 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.

In May 2004 BFI carried out a follow-up inspection on the London Borough of Lambeth assessing progress against the recommendations from the first inspection report published in 2001. The report notes that the council has not reached standard in any of the seven performance standards. There are some good practices in strategic areas, including a clear corporate vision, underpinned by policies and high level plans. Overpayment recovery has also improved and is supported by good procedural guidance.

However, the council's corporate commitment to provide an effective benefits service is not followed through into operational planning, staff objectives or local targets. The organisational structure does not support the effective delivery of benefits or effective communication. Performance in administering benefits remains poor, does not meet best value performance indicators and is hampered by the continuing backlog of work.

BFI reports that the counter-fraud policies have led to a number of successful sanctions and prosecutions but numbers of referrals from the benefits service are falling, management controls are inadequate and communications between benefits and investigation staff are poor.

The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Swale borough council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The performance standards for housing benefits allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.

In 2003–04, Swale borough council administered some £29.1 million in housing benefits, about 48 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.

In June 2004 BFI carried out a third inspection on Swale borough council and found that the council's benefits service had failed to fully implement 56 per cent. of the recommendations made in the second inspection report, published in September 2002.

The report notes that the council has not reached standard in any of the seven performance standards. The council did not monitor performance and the lack of reliable management information undermined the council's ability to effectively manage its benefits service and counter-fraud activity.

The council averaged 168 days to process new claims, and 66 days to process changes of circumstances, compared with performance standards of 36 and nine days respectively.

BFI reports that nearly 25 per cent. of telephone calls to the benefits service were unanswered. Decision letters needed to give clearer guidance and information to customers. There were delays in dealing with complaints and replies frequently did not cover the facts, were misleading and lacked sufficient detail.

The management of the council's counter-fraud resources and quality of the investigative work was poor. Delays in dealing with changes of circumstances increased the level of preventable overpayments. Between March 2003 and March 2004, outstanding debt increased by 95 per cent.

The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFFs findings and recommendations.