My hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor, the right hon. Lord Falconer of Thoroton, has made the following written ministerial statement.

On 1 April 2005, I will launch Her Majesty's Courts Service. The new agency brings together 43 organisations: the Court Service and the 42 Magistrates Courts Committees;

The following table sets out the key performance targets which I have set for Her Majesty's Courts Service for 2005–06:

Copies of the HM Court Service framework document and the business plan for 2005–06 have been placed in the parliamentary Libraries.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor has today published the Government's response to the Public Administration Select Committee's first report of Session 2004–05 on "Government by Inquiry" which was published on 3 February 2005. The Government response includes comments on each of the 22 recommendations of the Committee.

The Government welcome the Committee's report on the use and effectiveness of independent inquiries into matters of public concern. The Committee's response is of immediate relevance to the current Parliamentary debate on the Inquiries Bill, which has now entered the House of Commons having completed its passage through the House of Lords.

The Inquiries Bill is designed to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for inquiries set up by Ministers into events that have caused, or have the potential to cause, public concern.

The Government believe that Government amendments brought forward in the House of Lords address many of the issues raised in the Committee's report. However, the Government is keen that the recommendations in the report, and our response published today, should both help to inform the debates on the Inquiries Bill as it continues its passage through Parliament.

I have placed copies of the response in the Libraries of both Houses and it has also been published on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website at: www.dca.gov.uk.

On 18 November last year, , the Government announced that, from 1 April 2005, the fee for a colour television licence would rise to £126.50 and the black and white licence fee to £42.00. I am today laying before the House the regulations necessary to bring these new fees into force.Official Report, column 99WS

The new regulations also increase the fee for a duplicate licence, to replace one that has been lost or destroyed, from £3.25 to £4.50.

I am announcing today that PriDE, a joint venture between Interserve (Defence) Ltd and Southern Electric Contracting (SEC) has been awarded the Regional Prime Contract covering the Ministry of Defence's estate in the south-east. This follows the successful conclusion of discussions with the consortium, which was appointed as preferred bidder in August 2004.

The seven-year contract, worth in the region of £400 million, is the third in a series of five such regional arrangements to cover the estate and provide for capital works, property maintenance and facilities management services, throughout the south east of England.

The MOD has undertaken to make significant improvements in the overall condition of its estate by changing its organisational structures and introducing prime contracting methods. Encouraging innovation and efficiency, Regional Prime Contracting is a key initiative that aims to provide a better quality of service and greater value for money through suitably incentivised contracts conforming to the principles of "Smart Acquisition".

Since May 2004 Ministers have made statements in both Houses of Parliament and in written answers to the effect that the use of hooding in Iraq by the British Armed Forces ceased at the end of September 2003. These answers referred to conventional forces and remain true with respect to them. It has been drawn to Ministers' attention, however, that UK Special Forces from time to time used hooding as a temporary measure for the safe arrest and transit of detained persons until May 2004. For the sake of completeness the Parliamentary record should be corrected to reflect this.

Most of the criticism about the use of hooding has related to the obscuring of vision during interrogation. This practice is contrary to the instructions given by the then Prime Minister in 1972 and was ceased by UK military interrogators thereafter. UK military interrogators are made fully aware of this as part of their training and there have been no reported incidents where UK military interrogators have interrogated individuals while they have been hooded.

Our legal advice remains that the practice of temporarily obscuring the vision of a detained person, for the purposes of initial detention and transit, by the use of a hood is not contrary to the law. In Iraq the initial circumstances on the ground were such that it was judged by certain military commanders that its use was appropriate given the numbers of detainees and in some cases the need to obscure the identities of particular detainees for their own protection.

I can, however, confirm that no UK forces are currently authorised to use hooding in any circumstances.

On 1 November 2004, I informed the House that there would be a series of announcements relating to the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme. On 25 November 2004, following a period of trades union consultation, I announced the implementation of changes arising from the recommendations of the end-to-end review of the logistics process for military aircraft support. I indicated that, in addition to changes arising from air depth support, the application of end-to-end logistic principles would result in a reduction of around 1,500 RAF uniformed personnel and some reductions in MOD civilian posts at some RAF stations.

As part of this continuing process, I am announcing today how the overall reductions in both RAF uniformed personnel and MOD civilians as a result of the application of the end-to-end logistic principles are expected to affect individual RAF stations. The civilian reductions will be subject to TU consultation. These efficiency reductions, together with the increase to the defence budget, will ensure that the Department can modernise its armed forces to meet tomorrow's challenges.

Further work to identify efficiencies has now estimated that the reduction in the number of RAF uniformed personnel posts will be in the region of 2,000. With regard to MOD civilian posts, I anticipate that a net additional 70 posts will no longer be required. These changes will form part of the service and civilian manpower reductions of 7,500 and 10,000 respectively that were announced on 21 July last year.

The effect on individual stations of these efficiencies are detailed in the table below. I expect the changes to be implemented by April 2008.

Note: All figures are reductions unless otherwise indicated. All numbers are rounded.

¹ Announced subject to Trades Union consultation 16 September 2004. Confirmed 25 November 2004.

Rammell): The United Kingdom, as lead nation, salutes the determination of President Karzai and his Government in implementing the 1384 (2005) Counter Narcotics Implementation Plan. The plan is a framework for action to accelerate all our efforts over the coming year and sets out counter-narcotics (CN) activities ahead under eight pillars:

building institutions

information campaign

alternative livelihoods

interdiction and law enforcement

criminal justice

eradication

demand reduction and treatment of addicts

regional cooperation.

The adoption of this plan follows the successful holding by President Karzai in December 2004 of the first Counter Narcotics National Conference in Afghanistan. At that conference and since then, President Karzai has delivered powerful messages to reinforce his strong determination to act against all aspects of the narcotics trade.

The UK welcomes this renewed commitment and joins with the wider international community in pledging our collective, increased support for the 2005 plan. There are some early signs that this year may see an overall reduction in opium poppy cultivation levels. However, as it is still early in the harvest cycle, we need to wait for the UN assessments later in the year on levels of cultivation and on how much of the crop in the fields has been destroyed.

The UK has increased its spending to US$100 million this year on counter-narcotics activities in Afghanistan. Specifically, we are stepping up activity in support of the 2005 Plan in the following ways:

On creating alternative livelihoods for farmers who currently grow opium poppy, following the visit of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development to Afghanistan in January 2005, the UK has pledged US$125 million of support for alternative livelihoods in 2005–06; our alternative livelihoods commitment has more than doubled annually from 2002–03 to 2005–06. The UK is also leading the way in pressing some of the larger multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, to include counter narcotics objectives in their programmes. Activities include:

substantial support to activities to bring short-term, visible impact in 2005, building on the US$5m already made available for "cash for work";

support to a wide range of agricultural and off-farm income generating activities in poppy growing provinces;

increasing access to credit to rural areas, and developing products to address the specific problem of opium debt;

assessing opportunities to promote alternative products to opium poppy, and more favourable terms of trade for those products;

improving the co-ordination and implementation of development and counter narcotics programmes in Badakhshan, where the UK has already committed more than US$7.5 million.

On law enforcement, the UK has mapped out and is coordinating the development of the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), working with other lead nations to establish the counter narcotics capacity of all Afghan law enforcement institutions. As part of the CNPA development plan, the UK is establishing a further nine mobile detection teams (over 100 officers) in the next 18 months, capable of interdicting drug trafickers in Kabul and the provinces. We are also providing mentoring for intelligence and investigation units. We are looking to international donors to contribute to the CNPA development plan. We also welcome the recent results of the Afghan Special Narcotics Force (ASNF), for which the UK has provided advice and funding. The Force has seized over 75 tonnes of opiates, destroyed 80 drugs labs and disrupted two drugs bazaars during the last year;

On developing the criminal justice system, the UK, working with the UN, has set up and completed the first phase of training and mentoring of the Counter Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force of investigators, prosecutors and judges. The Task Force will be 80 strong by mid-2005. We have also funded UNODC (nearly US$2million) to establish a secure court and prison facility for counter narcotics;

On eradication of the opium crop, this will be carried out in 2005 by the US-supported Central Poppy Eradication Force (CPEF) and by Governors and Police Chiefs at local level. The UK is working closely in both these areas and has established a Planning and Monitoring Cell to ensure that eradication by CPEF is targeted in a way which takes account of alternative livelihoods. We are also helping CPEF with salaries and equipment and are the major donor for verification and assessment of the eradication campaign to ensure it is carried out: over US$1 million to establish 30 ground-based verification teams (240 people) and satellite imagery. The first 15 verification teams should produce preliminary results by March.

On building the institutions necessary to support long-term Afghan commitment, the UK is helping to build central and provincial capacity in a number of key government institutions, including the new Counter Narcotics (CN) Ministry under Minister Qaderi, the counter narcotics function within the Ministry of the Interior, the Rural Reconstruction Ministry, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Civil Service Commission and the Cabinet Secretariat;

On lobbying, my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the International Development Secretary have now launched a substantial lobbying campaign to encourage international partners, including the G8, the EU, the US, neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and other Berlin Conference participants, to support the Plan and help establish the new Counter Narcotics Trust Fund. The aim of this Fund will be to pull together donor support for the Afghan government's counter narcotics priorities. The April 2005 Afghan Development Forum will be an important opportunity for the Afghan government to seek additional support for alternative livelihoods;

The UK is also working with Afghan and international partners—

To raise public awareness of the risks to Afghanistan of the drugs trade and the dangers to health from addiction associated with growing opium poppy through proactive and comprehensive information campaigns and drug treatment activities;

To increase regional co-operation to tackle the drugs trade across borders through implementation of the April 2004 Berlin Declaration on Counter Narcotics Within the Framework of the Kabul Good Neighbourly Relations Declaration of December 2002.

In 2004–05, the UK provided around US$2.5 million of assistance to increase counter narcotics capacity on Afghanistan's borders with Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan, the three main routes for opiates being smuggled out of Afghanistan. Further such assistance is planned for financial year 2005–06.

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr. Jack Straw) visited Kabul on 16 February, the day President Karzai launched the 2005 CN Implementation Plan. They agreed on the crucial importance of working together in support of the Plan to mobilise international assistance so that narcotics does not destroy Afghanistan's potential for stability, reconstruction and a thriving licit economy. The 2005 Plan therefore represents an important opportunity. We share the resolve of the Afghan government to achieve the sustainable elimination of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2005 and beyond.

I am placing copies of the plan in the Library of the House.

We shall lay before the House regulations to increase National Health Service charges in England from 1 April 2005. There will be a cash increase in the prescription charge of 10p from £6.40 to £6.50 for each quantity of a drug or appliance dispensed.

The cost of prescription prepayment certificates will rise to from £33.40 to £33.90 for a 4-month certificate and from £91.80 to £93.20 for an annual certificate. These offer savings for those needing more than five items in four months or 14 in one year.

Some 86 per cent. of prescription items are dispensed in the community free of charge with another five per cent., of items dispensed to holders of prepayment certificates at no additional charge at the point of dispensing.

Around 50 per cent. of the population are entitled to free prescriptions including:

Men and women aged 60 and over

Children under 16

Young people aged 16, 17 and 18 who are in full time education

Pregnant women and women who have had a child in the previous 12 months and who hold a valid exemption certificate

People who hold a valid exemption certificate for a War Disablement but only in respect of medication for the disablement

People suffering from certain medical conditions and who hold a valid exemption certificate

People or their partners who get:

Income Support

Pension Credit guarantee credit

Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance

Tax credit where income is £15,050 per year or less and meet qualifying conditions.

People on low incomes who qualify under the NHS Low Income Scheme

Prescription charges are expected to raise some £452 million for the NHS in 2005–06.

Charges for elastic stockings and tights, wigs and fabric supports supplied through the Hospital Service will be increased similarly.

The maximum patient charge for a single course of dental treatment begun on or after 1 April 2005 will increase from £378 to £384. Only around two in every 1000 dental courses of treatment incur the maximum charge.

The prescription charge increase is the same as in the previous six years and is well below the current level of inflation. The other increases are in line with this percentage increase.

In order to continue to provide help with the cost of spectacles or contact lenses to children, people on low income and individuals with complex sight problems, optical voucher values will rise by 2.5 per cent.

NHS Charges and optical voucher values in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the Devolved Administrations.

Details of the revised prescription, maximum dental charge and optical voucher values have been placed in the Library.

In February 2001, my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Health announced that the Department would be developing a new national service framework (NSF) with a particular focus on the needs of people with neurological conditions. I am pleased to announce that the long-term conditions NSF is today being published. It is an integral part of this Government's overall strategy to improve services for people with long-term conditions.

This NSF covers the full range of issues for people with neurological conditions across health and social care. It has been developed through active consultation with key stakeholders, including people who use services and their carers, and the direct participation of experts and practitioners from the field.

Although the NSF focuses on people with neurological conditions, much of the guidance it offers can apply to anyone living with a non-neurological long-term condition. Commissioners will therefore be encouraged to use the NSF in planning service developments for people with other long-term conditions.

The long-term conditions NSF is an evidence-based, 10-year strategy, which advocates a cultural shift in the provision of care, with services being designed and delivered around the needs of people and their families. It highlights the need for high-quality services that offer choice and are prompt, convenient and responsive and that look at the whole person, rather than at a presenting illness or problem.

The broad remit of the NSF is covered in 11 quality requirements, which are:

A person-centred service

Early recognition, prompt diagnosis and treatment

Emergency and acute management

Early and specialist rehabilitation

Community rehabilitation and support

Vocational rehabilitation

Providing equipment and accommodation

Providing personal care and support

Palliative care

Supporting family and carers

Caring for people with neurological conditions in hospital or other health and social caresettings

The long-term conditions NSF has been developed in line with this Government's wider public sector reforms, to devolve power and responsibility to local agencies. While the NSF sets out the levels of service quality which we expect to be available by 2015, the pace of change is to be left to local national health service and social care discretion to determine, and will be balanced against other priorities. The costs of implementing the NSF will be met from the additional resources announced in the 2004 spending review for the NHS and adult personal social services.

Copies of the NSF for long-term conditions have been placed in the Library.

I am grateful to the Intelligence and Security Committee for their report "The Handling of Detainees by UK Intelligence Personnel in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq" (CM 6469). I have today laid the Report before the House. The Government will respond formally to it in due course. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

I am pleased to inform the House that I am today inviting applications for petroleum licenses for unlicensed seaward blocks which will form the 23rd round of offshore petroleum licensing. These blocks are located in the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) areas 1–5 (a map of the SEA areas can be found on the website indicated below).

Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea)—Post Adoption Procedures

The DTFs draft plan to offer licences for offshore oil and gas exploration and production through a 23rd licensing round was the subject of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) initiated in 2003. The SEA is documented on a dedicated website (www.offshore-sea.org.uk) and includes commissioned reports on various components of the natural environment, cultural features and socio-economic considerations. In addition, as part of the SEA new information was collected for example on selected seabed features through seafloor mapping, sampling and photography, and on the offshore behaviour of seals by means of satellite tagging. The draft plan for the 23rd licensing round included offering blocks within the area to the east of Scotland, and also in those areas that had been subject to earlier DTI SEAs (SEAs 1, 2, 3, and 4) which covered the remaining parts of the UK North Sea Exclusive Economic Zone and the UK EEZ to the north and west of Orkney and Shetland.

The potential implications of the exploration and production activities which could follow if the draft plan was adopted were considered at an expert assessment workshop and a stakeholder workshop. The results of these workshops were assessed further and documented in an environmental report which then formed the basis for consultation with the consultation bodies and the public. The initiation of a three month consultation period on the DTFs draft plan and Environmental report was advertised in a number of local and national newspapers and by email notification to a wide range of individuals and organisations.

All responses received from statutory and other consultees on the draft plan and the environmental report have been considered by the DTI and a post consultation report for SEA 5 prepared and placed on the SEA website. This summarises consultee comments and DTI responses to them. The full texts of consultee comments have also been placed on the SEA website.

In deciding to proceed with a 23rd offshore licensing round the DTI has considered the conclusions and recommendations of the SEA 5 environmental report together with feedback received from consultees. As a result of the SEA process, a number of blocks are being withheld from licensing for the present on environmental grounds. These blocks are:

15/20c, 15/25d, 34/6, 34/7, 34/8, 34/12, 34/13, 34/17, 34/18, 40/15, 41/29, 41/30, 47/11, 47/27, 47/28, 47/29, 47/30, 48/26, 51/3, 51/4, 51/5, 52/1, 52/28.

Licensing of these blocks may be revisited in the future, for example as more information on the features of interest becomes available. In addition, a number of blocks may be licensed but with conditions attached restricting or prohibiting marine activities. It should be noted that the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999 and the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations, 2001 variously require that all major activities undertaken in connection with UK offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production include environmental assessment as part of consenting.

In addition, 34 blocks will not be offered for licensing in these SEA areas at the request of the Ministry of Defence

The DTI has established an offshore oil and gas environmental monitoring committee which is charged with coordinating the monitoring of significant environmental effects of the industry, including those that could arise from the implementation of the plan to hold a 23rd round of offshore licensing. The results of this monitoring will be made publicly available including through the SEA website.

In addition to the website above, a copy of the SEA report can be reviewed free of charge at:

Department of Trade and Industry 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET

Arrangements to view the Report can be made by telephoning 0207 215 5032.

I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses copies of a consultation document entitled "European Company Law and Corporate Governance—Directive Proposals on Company Reporting, Capital Maintenance and Transfer of the Registered Office of a Company". This document is available on the DTI website at:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/cld/current.htm.

The consultation period ends on 3 June 2005.

The consultation covers three proposals which form part of the European Commission's Action Plan on Company Law and Corporate Governance published in May 2003. The Commission has formally published two of the proposals. These are a Directive amending the Fourth and Seventh Accounting Directives and a Directive amending the Second Company Law Directive on Capital Maintenance. The commission is expected to publish shortly the third proposal, a directive on the cross border transfer of the registered office of a company.

By covering all three proposals in one single consultation we hope to give stakeholders the opportunity not only to consider all proposals at the same time but to understand how they relate to the overall framework of modernising company law and corporate governance in the EU.

Amendments to the Fourth and Seventh Accounting Directives

This proposal seeks to enhance confidence in financial statements and annual accounts published by European companies. It would introduce an annual Corporate Governance statement for publicly traded companies, tighten up accounting disclosure requirements and clarify the collective responsibility of directors towards the company for the annual report and accounts The Government support the broad principles behind the directive and believes that light touch common standards for disclosure should contribute to EU market confidence, encourage cross-border investment and facilitate cross-border access to capital. It is of the view that the requirements of the directive are broadly consistent with existing UK law and practice.

The consultation seeks views on the extent to which the proposed disclosure requirements will place additional burdens on companies and whether they will be of value to users of company accounts. It also asks for views on the nature of the information the Commission is proposing be contained in the Corporate Governance Statement.

Amendments to the Second Company Law Directive (Capital Maintenance)

This proposal seeks to simplify the Second Company Law Directive so that it is easier for public limited liability companies to take measures affecting the size, structure and ownership of their capital. It contains provisions to simplify procedures for valuation of non-cash consideration for allocation of shares, acquisition of own shares, financial assistance and waiving of pre-emption rights. It also aims to enhance standardised creditor protection for reductions of capital and introduces "squeeze-out" and "sell-out" rights of majority and minority shareholders respectively. The Government support the objective of streamlining measures to reduce burdens for business behind this proposal but has reservations about the real deregulatory benefits it will bring in practice.

The consultation seeks views on a number of issues to determine whether the changes in the proposal will have a significant beneficial impact for companies wanting to change their capital structures. It raises a number of areas where the proposals could lead to uncertainty on whether and how certain provisions will apply. It also seeks views on the proposed introduction of "squeeze-out" and "sell-out" rights in situations other than takeovers.

Additionally, later this year the Commission intends to start a study to look at more radical reform of the capital maintenance regime and the Government invite views on the overall merits of reform of this nature.

Proposal for a Directive on the Cross Border Transfer of Registered Office

This proposal will establish a legal framework for companies registered in the EU to transfer their registered office from one Member State to another without having to be wound up. In Great Britain both public and private companies registered under the Companies Act 1985 would be able to utilise the proposed transfer structure. The Government support the measure as one which should extend the opportunities for corporate restructuring across the EU.

This consultation is based on the proposals contained in the Commission's e-consultation carried out in spring 2004. It explores whether the overall proposal will be useful to UK companies and seeks views on the details of the procedures to be followed.

The Government are committed to encouraging more cycling in England, given the benefits in terms of transport, public health and the environment. Today the Department for Transport is publishing a review of the 1996 National Cycling Strategy, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

The key findings of the review are that:

whilst investment in cycling has increased substantially in recent years, there has been no commensurate increase in cycling levels;

The Government need to get a better return on their collective investment in cycling—for transport, sport, leisure and tourism;

cycling is not sufficient a priority for local authorities that we can rely on them as exclusively as we have to date to deliver an increase in cycling.

I am therefore announcing today that we will form a new, cross-Government group of representatives from interested Departments: Transport; Education and Skills; Health; Culture, Media and Sport (represented by Sport England); Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This group will set broad objectives to get more people cycling, more safely.

We will also create a new expert advisory body, Cycling England, to plan and co-ordinate Government investment in cycling, reporting to the cross-Government group. Cycling England will have a budget of £5 million per annum for the next three years to allocate to cycling programmes. It will comprise experts in transport policy, engineering, public health, the cycle industry, local government, cycle sport, cycle training and education. Cycling England will not be a separate spending body in itself, but there will be a presumption that Government will invest the £5 million budget earmarked in cycling in accordance with its advice. Cycling England will monitor programmes and be accountable to the Government group and Ministers for the value for money and effectiveness of its programmes.

We expect Cycling England to extend our co-operation with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in cycling. NGOs in this field bring huge energy, experience and commitment and have been very effective in their own areas of work. We anticipate making better use of those attributes to supplement the work of local authorities.

It will be for Cycling England to determine its priorities, but we expect its programmes to fall into three broad categories:

training of children and adults to the new national standard for cycle training;

cycle routes and secure cycle parking;

marketing programmes to provide, on a targeted basis, better information on opportunities to cycle and to spread good practice in providing for cyclists.

My predecessor advised the House on 20 January 2004 that he had initiated a review of the final phase of the planned development of the London underground station at King's Cross.

Mott Parsons Gibb (MPG), the Department's technical advisers for the channel tunnel rail link (CTRL) project, subsequently undertook a thorough review of the case for the phase 2 London underground works, in consultation with key stakeholders who might be affected by a change from the original plans for implementing these works. I have placed copies of MPG's final report to Ministers in the House Library. Copies are also available on the Department's website.

The report examined a range of options for the works, and their practical, operational, and financial implications. The main conclusions were as follows:

significant growth in demand is expected at King's Cross interchange, arising not only from general traffic growth, but also from passengers using the CTRL once it is open to traffic, and demand from major redevelopment schemes in the King's Cross area;

without the phase 2 LUL works (the northern ticket hall and associated tunnels to the deep tube lines), passenger demand at the King's Cross interchange would exceed safe operational levels by about 2011, resulting in the need for temporary closures at peak times;

there are close physical and programme inter-relationships between LUL's proposed works, Network Rail's plans for a new western concourse and the King's Cross central development, with significant benefits from delivery of them together in an integrated way;

of the options for the LUL Phase 2 works, the cheapest would be outright cancellation, but this would have severe implications for the future ability of the interchange to cope with demand;

delivery of the Phase 2 works by 2011 would avoid this problem: were a decision taken to proceed, it would be most cost-effective to do so with the minimum delay.

On this basis, the Government have concluded that the phase 2 works, including the northern ticket hall, should proceed without further delay, and that these should be co-ordinated with development of plans for the NR western concourse in order to ensure an integrated overall design and programme which should deliver the combined scheme as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. The Department is now taking this forward with London Underground, Network Rail and other key stakeholders.

Following the Madrid rail attacks in March 2004, the Government undertook a comprehensive review to examine rail security measures already in place in the UK and investigate new ideas and ways of improving current measures. It was undertaken in conjunction with the British Transport Police (BTP), industry and other Government Departments.

Rail and underground security in the UK already has strong foundations in place which have been developed over time to deter the Irish terrorist threat. The review built on lessons learnt from this threat but also focused on the different methods used increasingly by international terrorists. It also took account of the obvious constraints and practical difficulties in trying to secure the open, mass-transit system that characterises the rail network today.

What the review did was to identify a package of short, medium and long-term measures to enhance rail counter-terrorist security. A key feature of the review was to ensure that the measures were proportionate, pragmatic, sustainable and did not place an undue burden on industry.

The resulting measures are producing incremental enhancements in the security of the rail network, without requiring a significant shift in the open nature of the rail system. Each of the measures seeks to address the vulnerabilities of the existing security regime and goes some way in deterring potential terrorist activity.

Significant progress has been achieved with the industry so far in translating these recommendations into real changes on the ground. Some examples include:

More frequent and varied security announcements on trains and at stations to increase passenger awareness

Mandatory security training to form part of industry's general training regime

Publication of interim guidance to industry on baggage reconciliation

Enhanced use of CCTV

Enhanced national covert explosives test programme

Work to bring the Glasgow Subway and Docklands Light Railway under formal security regulation is at an advanced stage

A 'menu of options' agreed with industry and the BTP for interim enhanced security measures in response to specific threats

Agreement with Network Rail to deploy a range of additional security measures to monitor rail infrastructure security

A vital element in maintaining the security of the railways and deterring potential terrorist activity rests with the BTP, who acts as the first line of defence in combating the threat posed by terrorism on the railways. It has security capabilities unavailable to railway operators which include:

high-profile policing

increased use of explosive sniffer dogs

the monitoring of vehicles entering station car parks

a comprehensive technical capability

Working in partnership with the Department and the industry, the BTP supplements the operators' protective security procedures. In addition, agreement has been reached with the Association of Chief Police Officers to enhance the BTP's policing presence in the event of a heightened threat level.

In response to the changing security environment, the Government has taken concrete steps to position the rail industry and the travelling public against the new threats faced today from international terrorism.

The outcomes from the review and the enhanced policing operations make a genuine difference to the security measures in place prior to the terrorist attacks in Madrid. Combined, the measures are improving the way security is administered by industry and the BTP, and perceived by the public.

A consultation exercise has been launched today on the Government's proposals to extend the range of benefit fraud offences that local authorities in Great Britain are able to investigate. At present, legislation allows local authorities to investigate fraud against local benefits, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. However, legal opinion has suggested that it does not allow them to investigate fraud against the national benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions even though they have traditionally investigated such fraud in the past. This limits the powers of local authorities: it is harder for them to tackle fraud against a local benefit which also involves fraud against a national benefit even where the offence involves the same or similar facts. We estimate that around 70 per cent. of fraud against a local benefit also involves fraud against a national benefit.

Most cases of benefit fraud will continue to be investigated by the DWP. However the proposed changes will give local authorities clear powers, once more, to investigate and prosecute offences against national benefits. This will be permitted in cases where their abilities to investigate and prosecute offences against local benefits will be hampered if the national benefit offence is not also investigated. While it is proposed that Scottish local authorities be allowed to investigate offences against national benefit the power to prosecute will not apply in Scotland where the Procurator Fiscal is responsible for the prosecution of all criminal offences. The Government proposes to make the changes by a Regulatory Reform Order.

Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Library and are also available online from the DWP website at:

www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2005/hbsd/la–investig ative–powers.pdf.

The Government is inviting comments from local authorities, the law enforcement community, customer advocacy groups and the general public. The consultation closes on 10 June.