Following the publication of our consultation response "Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities: Next Steps" on 18 January, I am pleased to say that the draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill is today being presented to Parliament.

This Bill takes forward the commitment we made in the Green Paper "Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities" to provide the courts with more flexible powers to facilitate contact and enforce contact orders.

At present, contact orders can be enforced only through contempt of court proceedings leading to fine or imprisonment. Courts have quite rightly been reluctant to use these measures because of the potential negative impact on the children involved. That is why they need more flexible, more realistic powers, of the sort that this Bill will provide. It will allow the courts, at any stage, to:

Refer parents to resources including information meetings, meetings with a counsellor, orparenting programmes/classes designed to deal with contact disputes;

Attach conditions to orders which may require attendance at a given class or programme;

And where an order has been breached, the courts will also be able to:

Impose community-based orders for unpaid work or curfew;

Award financial compensation from one parent to another where the actions of one inbreaching a contact order have caused real financial loss to the other.

In addition, the Bill will provide more clarity in the law about the mechanism by which inter-country adoptions from individual countries may be suspended where there are concerns about child welfare.

I believe that this draft Bill, alongside the wider programme of reform set out in our Green Paper and the response document published on 18 January, will make a real difference to the family justice system in this country, and help provide better outcomes for children and families faced with the difficulties of parental separation.

In light of continuing instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the fragile security situation in Kinshasa, the Government have authorised the deployment of armed guards to our British Embassy in Kinshasa in order to safeguard embassy staff and ensure the mission can continue to operate.

The Government take seriously their obligations to contribute to peace and security in the DRC. We have a development programme for the DRC worth £34 million for the financial year 2004–05. Upgrading the security of our embassy will enable staff to continue to contribute to the peace process in the DRC. The DRC Government have been informed of our intention and is content with the arrangements we propose to protect our staff.

A UN arms embargo, targeting rebel groups operating in the east of the country, has been in place on the DRC since 28 July 2003. An EU embargo has been in place on the country since 7 April 1993. We fully support these measures and have informed the UN DRC Sanctions Committee and EU partners of the deployment.

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) proposes to introduce measures to reduce the number of organisations currently registered with the CRB, through the setting of an annual threshold for the submission of disclosure applications by registered bodies. At present there are some 13,000 organisations registered with the CRB of which just 20 per cent. process 80 per cent. of all disclosure applications.

Setting an annual threshold will be a key part of the CRB's strategy to enhance the efficiency of, and improve standards within, the registered body network. Those organisations that remain registered will be better equipped to carry out their responsibilities under the CRB code of practice, receiving enhanced support and assistance from the CRB in carrying out their obligations. We shall consult widely with registered bodies and other stakeholders prior to the change.

The CRB and its major stakeholders recognise that public safety and the integrity of the disclosure service relies upon the widespread adoption of robust internal processes by registered bodies, particularly in terms of properly verifying the identity of disclosure applicants, ensuring that eligibility criterion are met, and forms are completed correctly.

The current assurance and compliance regime has highlighted that a significant number of registered bodies do not, for one reason or another, comply with all of the CRB's key guidelines or the CRB code of practice. A more compact registered body network, working in greater partnership with the CRB and composed of high-volume users would allow the CRB to focus its resources more effectively to improve compliance and support the evolving role of registered bodies.

The CRB remains committed to providing appropriate means of access for those organisations that wish to continue to use the disclosure service, and will work with in partnership with low-volume users to find alternative arrangements that best suits their requirements; keeping cost and bureaucracy to a minimum.

The introduction of such a threshold will be subject to a formal consultation process followed by the laying of regulations under sections 120AA and 120ZA Police Act 1997.

I have today placed in the Library of the House a list of functions hosted by Mrs. Blair in Downing Street between November 1998 and January 2005.

Functions Hosted by Mrs Blair in Downing Street November 1998—January 2005

I am taking the earliest opportunity to inform the House of my decision on 27 January to give regulatory consent to National Grid Transco's (NGT) proposed sale of four distribution networks (DN).

NGT announced in 2003 that it was considering the sale of between one and four of its gas distribution networks. In August 2004, it announced that it had reached provisional agreement, subject to regulatory consent, on the sale of four of its DNs.

The DNs are:

North of England;

Wales and the West;

South of England; and

Scotland.

NGT required regulatory consents to proceed with the sale from GEMA (Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, which heads Ofgem, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) and myself. In considering whether to give consent, we share the same duties under the Gas Act 1986 (as amended). The central duty is to protect the interests of consumers in relation to gas conveyed through pipes, wherever appropriate by promoting effective competition. The legislation confers no powers for GEMA or the Secretary of State to require that consumer benefits should be maximised. GEMA, but not the Secretary of State, has the power to attach conditions to the sale.

Over the last 18 months or so Ofgem has been leading a major exercise within the gas supply industry to design new industry arrangements for managing separate DNs and allocating responsibilities between the players; to identify and manage risks to consumers; and to assess consumer benefits, in order to inform GEMA's decision whether to consent to DN sales. My Department has liaised closely with Ofgem during this exercise.

Ofgem's final impact assessment (IA), published in November 2004, estimates that DN sales would generate a net benefit of £225 million, net present value (NPV) over 18 years (starting from the beginning of the next gas distribution price control in 2008–09) for GB gas consumers connected to the DNs. This includes domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. This is Ofgem's central estimate within a range of £80 million–£500 million. I am informed that, against the experience of comparative regulation in the electricity sector, this reflects a cautious judgement. Ofgem has assessed the benefits of independently owned networks. A greater flow of information about networks will allow Ofgem to compare their performance and thereby to identify the level of costs associated with the most efficient network. Ofgem will then be able to use this information to set more appropriate price controls for each DN.

I have carefully considered the potential impact of DN sales, including the risk of fragmentation on prices and standards of service; on security of supply; and on safety.

Ofgem and NGT have agreed to create an "agency" as a single point of interface between the gas transporters and the shipper/suppliers (wholesale traders) using the gas pipelines. The agency is expected to discharge many of the functions and services which are currently provided by NGT for example, information processing and handling. This would reduce duplication, and hence costs, that would otherwise be faced by shippers.

GEMA has determined the scope of this agency. If changes in the scope are thought necessary by stakeholders, these would be considered by the whole industry and subject to the approval of GEMA. The agency proposals are a key element of the proposed industry framework, and the basis on which the costs to the industry of the DN sales were assessed by Ofgem in its IA.

The main impact on prices would arise from the new opportunity for Ofgem to apply comparative regulation as assessed in their IA. I have already mentioned the savings to consumers from 2008. There are also likely to be one-off costs of £18 million for 2005, substantially less than £1 per consumer and £8 million per annum on-going.

The ability of consumers to change supplier will not be affected. NGT's role in the consumer "switching" process will be placed within the "agency" arrangements. Other standards of service by licensed gas transporters will continue to be regulated by Ofgem.

In the event that NGT do not sell all four of their distribution networks, and there is only one comparator, thereby reducing the opportunity for comparative regulation, Ofgem have required NGT to agree a "safety net", by which NGT (not consumers) would take the risk of a net detriment to consumers.

Security of supply would be maintained. There would be clear responsibilities for operating and investing in the National Transmission System (NTS) and DNs. The new industry arrangements would ensure efficient investment and operation at the interface. This includes market-based signals for pipeline investment at the NTS offtake points and in the DN pipelines, and incentives on Transco and DN operators to respond to these signals.

Safety of the public is paramount. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are working to ensure that safety will not be jeopardised. The freephone 24-hour national gas emergency service (0800–111–999) operated by Transco will remain unchanged, and will remain seamless to the public who use it. Transco will remain the Network Emergency Co-ordinator for the GB gas network, accountable to the HSE. HSE will ensure that the revisions to Transco's safety case, and the safety cases from the new DN operators, are robust, and that resources are properly prioritised and allocated to safety case verification and inspection. The HSE will also continue to approve and monitor replacement programmes for the population of iron gas mains.

Following the work on the proposed sales, I am satisfied that the longer-term potential savings outweigh any short-term costs. On this basis, on 27 January 2005, I granted regulatory consent for NGT to proceed with the proposed sales. GEMA has also granted consent, subject to a number of conditions, under the same duties.

If the sales proceed, Transco would retain responsibility for the operation of the NTS, and would transfer its four retained DNs into other Group companies.

The sales are expected to take effect on 1 June 2005 and new industry structure is expected to take effect 1 May 2005, subject to processes to modify and transfer appropriate licences, and acceptance of the safety cases by the HSE. GEMA's consent to the sale included relevant conditions.

Ofgem, HSE and DTI will work together in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition to the new industry arrangements.