A total of 151 countries attended the 13th conference of CITES parties, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand over the period 2–14 October.

The conference agenda covered 65 different topics, including 27 proposed resolutions, 48 draft decisions and 50 different proposals to amend the species listed in the CITES appendices. I attended the conference during its second week where, amongst other things, I spoke against Japan's proposal to downlist the Minke whale to appendix II of CITES. I am pleased say that was eventually soundly defeated and that this magnificent species will continue to be fully protected from commercial trade. I was also pleased to be able to announce that the UK would be providing an additional £110,000 to help fund various projects, including workshops on enforcement, lions and Asian big cats.

Other successful outcomes included increased protection for the Irrawaddy dolphin, great white shark, ramin, humphead wrasse, sulphur-crested cockatoo and the Chinese yew. Our proposed resolutions seeking to address the problems relating to the conservation of great apes and the unsustainable trade in bushmeat were also adopted with some minor amendments, as were the EU proposals for achieving greater synergy with CBD. Details of all the decisions taken at COP13 have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Prior to the conference I was aware of considerable public concern about proposals submitted in relation to trade in lions, ivory and rhino and leopard hunting trophies.

On the lion, the range states were not convinced that the biological data were sufficient to justify a total ban on commercial trade and Kenya was eventually persuaded to withdraw this proposal. However the range states did agree to hold a number of regional workshops to look at the management of Africa's lion populations and I was pleased to be able to announce that the UK would be providing £30,000 to help fund these.

On the question of trade in ivory, Kenya's revised proposal for a six-year moratorium was withdrawn while the EU's compromise alternative, which provided for a suitable "testing period", was rejected. The parties also rejected Namibia's proposal for an annual quota of 2,000 kilos of ivory, although they did agree an amended proposal to allow non-commercial trade in traditional native jewellery made from worked ivory (known as ekipas). The UK would have preferred to defer this latter proposal to the next conference, to allow Namibia and the other range states time to agree a comprehensive arrangement for regulating the trade in ivory. However, there was no consensus within the EU for this approach and the member states therefore had to abstain on this vote.

The parties did agree an action plan for investigating the global trade in ivory, which will focus in particular on the domestic markets in Africa and South East Asia where the demand for ivory is strongest. The parties also endorsed the decisions taken at COP12 with respect to the proposed one-off sales of ivory by Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. This means that these sales can only go ahead once the CITES Standing Committee has confirmed that the strict conditions attached to that agreement have been met. These provide for strict controls over the potential market for this ivory, including the development of a unique monitoring system for any worked ivory that is produced. They also require close monitoring of the illegal killing of elephants using baseline data which are now being gathered on current population and poaching levels. The UK will of course be pressing the Standing Committee to ensure that these conditions are met in full before any sales are allowed.

On the question of black rhino hunting trophies, Namibia and South Africa argued that their populations were increasing and that they should be granted an annual quota of five males (about 0.5 per cent. of the total population). This is needed to enable them to deal with problem animals and to provide an incentive for private landowners to allow these animals on their land as the populations expand beyond the limits that can reasonably be managed within the national park areas. These proposals were eventually agreed by consensus, subject to a requirement that such trophies be individually marked. The parties were also satisfied that the leopard populations in these countries were healthy and causing problems in some farmland areas. It was therefore agreed by consensus to increase the hunting quota for Namibia from 100 to 250 specimens, and that for South Africa from 75 to 150.

Overall this was a very successful conference for the UK, in which most of our strategic goals were achieved. We played a prominent role in the main and side events and had the honour of being elected to chair the difficult discussions in Committee II (one of the two decision-making committees which dealt with most of the business of the conference). We also played a very prominent role in lobbying in support of common EU objectives. Our role in helping to broker deals on the more complex issues was widely recognised by all parties, who frequently looked to the UK for leadership and guidance.

The UK's standing at the conference was very high and I am very grateful for all the long hours of hard work put in by all the members of the UK delegation to achieve this. A lot of good work has been done and I am sure we have laid the foundations for even greater success when the parties meet again in the Netherlands in 2007.

I will today lay before Parliament the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report on the global opportunities fund (GOF) 2003–04. This is the first such report which covers the financial year (FY) 2003–04.

Copies will be placed in the Library of the House. Additional copies can also be obtained from the Vote Office. A copy will also be available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk/gof.

I launched the GOF in May 2003 to focus the FCO's programme spending more closely on our priorities; and to bring greater professionalism to our programme and project management work. It has made an impressive start. This report provides an overview of the GOF programmes and describes project activity. It also contains a section on lessons learned and a forward look to the current FY.

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council met on 6 and 7 December. Items on the agenda relating to health were covered on 6 December. Items for discussion were: a co-ordinated approach to combat HIV/AIDS in the European Union and its neighbourhood; European Commission proposals for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on medicinal products for paediatric use; and the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on nutrition and health claims made on foods. I represented the United Kingdom.

Ministers welcomed the European Commission's approach, as set out in its working paper "A Co-ordinated Approach to Combat HIV/AIDS in the EU and its Neighbourhood", but agreed that further work would be needed at all levels. The UK called on the European Commission to provide a clearer picture of where EU resources were currently targeted on HIV/AIDS and an analysis of how effective these investments had been. The UK stressed the need for the EU to work closely with the global fund. The UK also stressed its commitment to working with member states to develop a vaccine following the announcement in the UK on World AIDS Day (1 December) on exploring the use of advance purchase agreements to create the right financial incentives for pharmaceutical companies to invest in research.

The Council discussed, for the first time, the European Commission proposed regulation on paediatric medicines. The European Commission presented the proposal, setting out the principal objective of improving the health of the children of Europe by increasing the development of medicines for use in children. The UK did not intervene.

The Council had its first discussion of the Commission's proposal to harmonise rules for labelling foodstuffs with health and nutrition claims. The Council's exchange of views was structured around presidency questions focused on the key issue of nutrient profiles, the proposed method of determining whether claims should be allowed. The UK's position was that the impact on business had to be proportionate to the objectives, and that full stakeholder consultations on the details of implementation would be needed.

Ministers adopted Council conclusions on a European response to emerging zoonotic diseases without any discussion.

Further to my right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary's statement on 17 June about Ken Sutton's report on allegations about the handling of applications under the European Community association agreements (ECAA), work has continued on next steps. This work includes putting in place procedures and guidance for the agreement with Turkey, consistent with Mr. Sutton's recommendation that full account is taken of experience in handling applications under other association agreements. In order to ensure that all applications are considered robustly and consistently, applications under the European association agreement with Turkey have not been considered whilst this work has been continuing.

Following the Court of Appeal judgement in Dari and Tum v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and the recent reference of the case to the European Court of Justice, procedures and guidance will be put in place to manage applications made at port under this association agreement. Guidance will be published on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website shortly. Applications for entry clearance will continue to be considered under the current rules. In country applications will continue to be held while new guidance is prepared plus operating procedures developed.

It is now our intention to begin consideration of applications for leave to enter at ports from 5 January 2005 and to resume a service for application made for leave to remain promptly once procedures are in place.

A further announcement will be made in due course.

Following consultation on the Government's draft priorities and budget for Northern Ireland which was launched on 12 October 2004, I am today setting out the Government's priorities and spending plans for the Northern Ireland Departments for the period 2005–06 to 2007–08.

When devolution was suspended in Northern Ireland we pledged that we would work tirelessly to bring about an early restoration of devolved Government. We have and will continue to strive to bring this about so that the issues and plans set out in the priorities and budget can become the responsibility of Ministers accountable to a Northern Ireland Assembly. However, until then we are determined to continue to deliver on our plans to address the challenges facing Northern Ireland and ensure the delivery of better public services.

The resources underlying these priorities and budget proposals were largely determined by the outcome of the national spending review 2004 (SR 2004), as announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 July 2004. These resources have been supplemented by forecast local rates revenue and the use of the borrowing power available under the reinvestment and reform initiative over the next three years. This is a substantial allocation and provides for continuing real growth in public expenditure by Northern Ireland departments, reaching in excess of £9 billion by 2007–08.

The priorities and budget which we are publishing today sets out the Government's priorities for Northern Ireland and how we plan to use the resources available to us to pursue these over the next three years. In reaching final decisions on resource allocations my Ministerial colleagues and I have listened carefully to the issues raised and concerns expressed during the consultation of the draft proposals, and where it has been possible we have taken action to address these concerns.

These plans will continue to build on the progress made by the former Northern Ireland Executive under devolution and continued by the Northern Ireland ministerial team since devolution was suspended. Our vision for the future of Northern Ireland is for a peaceful, inclusive, prosperous, stable and fair society, firmly founded on the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust and the protection and vindication of human rights for all. Our key objective therefore is to develop a strong economy and a society that is fair for all. In pursuing this objective we must ensure that all available resources are used to the best possible effect. That is why this budget will ensure that investment is matched with reform, and steps will be taken to improve public sector performance and efficiency, ensuring that increased resources have maximum impact on the delivery of key front line services.

The three key themes and associated objectives underpinning these plans are:

Economic competitiveness—to make Northern Ireland a more competitive and productive region.

Building equality and community cohesion—to increase opportunity for all and ensure stronger communities.

Better public services—to ensure excellent and efficient public services for all.

In order to meet these objectives we have set ourselves targets across a number of important priority areas, where the proposed outcomes are intended to deliver the changes needed to ensure the achievement of our vision for Northern Ireland. The ministerial team will concentrate on these targets, monitoring them closely to ensure that they improve policy making and provide better public services for the people of Northern Ireland.

For economic competitiveness, we have set targets of reducing the productivity gap with the rest of the UK; increasing the proportion of the working age population who are economically active; and by July 2007 opening up the electricity market to all consumers. These and other actions will help generate the conditions to enable the economy to become more competitive at national and international levels.

We want to encourage increased expenditure on research and development, to optimise the exploitation of Northern Ireland's world class telecommunications structure and achieve a competitive, sustainable and reliable energy market to improve competitiveness and stimulate enterprise. Through Invest NI we will provide support for companies to become more competitive through the development of their capabilities.

We also recognise the importance of workforce skills as a driver for economic change and growth. Increasing productivity and competitiveness, improving public services and addressing social disadvantage will all require a substantial increase in the overall skills of the workforce. One of our top priorities, therefore, is to improve the level of skills and qualifications in Northern Ireland, and we will do this by reforming key elements of the vocational education and training system.

In building equality and community cohesion, we are committed to building on our strong legislative and public policy frameworks to progress our goal of a more equal and inclusive society with strong, cohesive communities in which differences are accepted, respected and celebrated. We will continue to ensure that equality considerations are mainstreamed into policy development. Through promoting social inclusion (PSI) initiatives we will continue to support joint working across Departments, in partnership with statutory agencies and voluntary and community organisations to promote a more inclusive society.

Tackling poverty and disadvantage remain key priorities and we will build on new targeting social need by bringing forward a new anti-poverty strategy. We want to combat poverty by supporting people to move from welfare to work and increase benefit uptake through targeting vulnerable groups. We are also determined to reduce the number of households living in poverty through co-ordinated policy and action across the social security, health and education sectors. Through the implementation of the neighbourhood renewal strategy we aim to narrow the gap between those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of Northern Ireland. Support for victims and survivors remains a priority and as Northern Ireland emerges from conflict it is important that we pay particular attention to the citizens of tomorrow. To this end, a 10-year strategy for children and young people will be taken forward and we will continue to support the Office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People.

Investment in health remains a top priority for the Government in Northern Ireland. The budget provides for a rise of 23 per cent. in current spending on health over the next three years. This will enable investment in priority services such as renal, cancer and other critical care areas and will provide for enhancement to community, primary and intermediate care services, services for the elderly and those with mental illnesses.

We need to ensure that the major increases in funding for the health and social care sectors that have taken place since 1997 are used to deliver the best possible care and treatment, and improve the overall health of the population. It is in this context that an independent review of health service delivery in Northern Ireland has been commissioned. The review will be led by Professor John Appleby of the Kings Fund and will examine the effectiveness and efficiency of health service delivery. The review will report initial findings to Ministers in April 2005 with the final report scheduled for publication by summer 2005.

Current spending on Education will increase by 11 per cent. over the budget period and capital investment will increase by 62 per cent. A high quality education system remains a key priority for the Government and these expenditure allocations will allow us to take forward a programme of education reform that will change and improve substantially what children learn, how they learn, and the environment within which they learn. These reforms will produce significant benefits for children, for society and for the economy. They will also allow us to maintain a focus on improving literacy and numeracy standards, particularly among disadvantaged pupils, and continue to address the requirements of children with special educational needs.

The priorities and budget also provides for an unprecedented growth in capital investment in Northern Ireland's public service infrastructure, with levels of investment planned to grow to over £1.2 billion a year in each of the next three years. The reinvestment and reform initiative (RRI), launched in May 2002, remains a key enabler of the major improvements required to Northern Ireland's infrastructure, particularly in the major public services of health, education, roads, public transport, water and sewerage. The Strategic Investment Board was established in 2003 to help drive forward the reinvestment and reform initiative by improving expertise in procurement and spearhead the development of public private partnerships. Major investment programmes do of course take several years to deliver which means we need to plan several years ahead to ensure we allocate investment funds effectively. That is why the Strategic Investment Board has drawn up a longer term 10-year draft Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland which is also being published today for consultation.

In seeking to deliver better public services a key focus of these plans is on efficiency and the reallocation of resources released through efficiency improvements to priority front line services. These plans include targets for the public sector to deliver efficiency gains of 2.5 per cent. each year over the next three years, at least half of which will release resources for reallocation to priority front line services. As a part of this, the administration costs of civil service departments are being held flat at 2005–06 levels over the next three years and civil service numbers will reduce by 2,300 across all departments. We also plan shortly to publish proposals flowing from the review of public administration with a view to reaching final decisions in the summer of 2005 and implementation by 2008–09. The review will contribute to the more effective delivery of public services and efficiency savings arising from its implementation will be in addition to those in current plans.

This priorities and budget builds on the substantial real growth in public expenditure that has occurred in recent years and will continue for the next three years. From 2002–03 to the end of this budget period expenditure by Northern Ireland departments will have grown by a third in cash terms—or by 20 per cent. in real terms. Infrastructure investment is planned to grow by 30 per cent. next year alone, and this extra investment will be sustained in the years after that. The challenge now is to deliver the better services and modern infrastructure that people want and Northern Ireland needs to enhance its competitiveness and to build a fairer society.

I have placed copies of the "Northern Ireland priorities and budget 2005–08" document in the Library.

I have today received from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel Northern Ireland copies of the corporate plan for the period 2004–07 and the business plan for the financial year 2004–05. The corporate plan outlines the panel's aims, objectives and responsibilities for the period 2004 to 2007 and the business plan its targets and objectives in the financial year 2004–05. Copies of the plans have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of Western European Union is as follows:

Tony Lloyd MP (Leader)

Full Representatives

David Atkinson MP

John Austin MP

Malcolm Bruce MP

Sir Sydney Chapman MP

Tom Cox MP

Bill Etherington MP

Paul Flynn MP

Lord Judd

Baroness Knight of Collingtree

Christine McCafferty MP

Kevin McNamara MP

Edward O'Hara MP

Lord Russell-Johnston

Syd Rapson BEM MP

Sir Teddy Taylor MP

John Wilkinson MP

James Wray

Substitute Representatives

Tony Banks MP

Baroness Billingham

Lord Burlison DL

Ann Cryer MP

Rt Hon George Foulkes MP

Jane Griffiths MP

Mike Hancock CBE MP

Baroness Hooper

Rt Hon Lord Kilclooney

Humfrey Malins CBE MP

David Marshall MP

Alan Meale MP

Gordon Prentice MP

Geraldine Smith MP

Lord Tomlinson

Dr Rudi Vis MP

Robert Walter MP

David Wilshire MP

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

The report setting out my conclusions on the issue whether in principle prosecutors should be able to interview witnesses in criminal trials has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

In reaching those conclusions I have been informed by the results of a public consultation, conducted on my behalf by the Crown Prosecution Service, and by the views expressed to me by senior members of the judiciary.

In England and Wales prosecutors are not entitled to interview witnesses before trial, even when they are key witnesses whose credibility may be critical to whether a prosecution should go ahead or not. If my vision of the CPS as a world-class prosecuting service, admired and respected, and seen by all as a champion for victims and justice is to be realised, this must change.

The public rightly expects prosecutors to prosecute criminal offences, robustly, promptly and fairly and to bring to trial only those against whom there is an adequate and properly prepared case (and whose prosecution is justified in the public interest) and that prosecutors have confidence in the reliability of the evidence. Logic dictates that this expectation can only be met if prosecutors are able to interview witnesses about their evidence before trial.

I have therefore concluded, for the reasons set out in the report that the position ought to change so that prosecutors should have the ability in the future to interview witnesses, subject to safeguards including a code of practice and appropriate training.

I believe that the changes recommended will strengthen the prosecution process and contribute to putting victims and witnesses at the heart of criminal justice and more at ease with the criminal justice process.

The Director of Public Prosecutions fully supports the conclusions that I have reached. The report sets out my proposals for implementation of these conclusions through a working group to consider best how to pilot these proposals and further discussions with the professional bodies.

I am grateful to all those who contributed their time and expertise by responding to the consultation paper.