A copy of the consultation document on proposals for a Better Regulation Bill is today being placed in the House Library and on the website of the Cabinet Office Better Regulation Executive at:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/better_regulation_bill/index.asp.

The consultation exercise will run from 20 July to 12 October.

The proposals will make it simpler to remove or amend outdated, unnecessary or over complicated legislation, and make it easier to streamline regulatory structures in the private sector.

The Bill will also help deliver the Better Regulation Task Force "Less is More" recommendations for administrative burdens reductions and rolling simplification programmes across Whitehall. It will also enable the delivery of some of the Hampton report recommendations for reform of the regulators.

HM Treasury, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Education and Skills are today publishing "The ten-year Science and Innovation Investment Framework Annual Report 2005". Alongside this, HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs and the Department of Trade and Industry are also publishing "Supporting growth and innovation: enhancing the R & D tax credit". Copies of both documents are available in the Library of the House.

The MCSI Inspection of Court Services annual report for 2004–05 has been laid before Parliament today. This document gives full details of MCSI's performance for that year. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has today published its annual report for the financial year 2004–05 which includes its statement of annual accounts.

Paragraph 14 of schedule 1 to the Access to Justice Act 1999 requires the Legal Services Commission to provide to the Secretary of State, as soon as possible after the end of each financial year, a report on how it has:

funded services from the Community Legal Service (CLS) Fund,

funded services as part of the Criminal Defence Service (CDS) and

exercised its other functions.

Sub-paragraph 14(3) requires the Secretary of State to lay a copy of the annual report before each House of Parliament, and for the LSC to publish it.

The House will be aware from recent Adjournment debates that military flying activity is essential if we are to maintain operational capability. However, we also take our commitment to minimise, as far is reasonably practicable, the impact of noise on local communities. We have therefore conducted a study on aircraft environmental noise. The report is today being placed in the Library of the House and is published on the Ministry of Defence website at:

http://www.mod.uk/linked–files/dsc/env/aen–report.pdf.

We will continue to strive for a fair balance between our need to fly and the effect of aircraft noise on local communities.

The Key Targets have been set for the Chief Executive of BFPO for the Financial Year 2005–06. The targets are as follows:

Key Target 1. To provide a 100 per cent. secure Defence Courier Service (DCS) for the carriage of Protectively Marked Material (PMM). This target is broken down into the following sub targets:

PI 1: 100 per cent. of packages to reach the required destination.

PI 2: 100 per cent. availability of the DCS capability.

Key Target 2. To provide a secure Defence Courier Service for the carriage of Protectively Marked Material (PMM) operating within timescales for scheduled and special items at not less than 98.7 per cent. of that agreed with customers.

Key Target 3. To provide a resilient and dependable service for the controlled and specialised handling of Defence Official Mails by operating at least 96 per cent. of deliveries within scheduled timings, agreed with customers.

Key Target 4. To meet 96 per cent. of the requirements negotiated and agreed with customers for the transit times for delivery and collection at Defence Mail Centres (DMCs). This target is broken down into the following sub targets:

PI 1: 96 per cent. of mail delivered to DMC by Defence Mail Service (DMS)/Parcelforce (PF)/ Royal Mail (RM) to be sorted and ready for delivery within one hour and ten minutes of receipt.

PI 2: 96 per cent. of mail delivered to DMCs by DMS/PF/RM to be delivered to local customers the same day.

PI 3: 98 per cent. of mail delivered/collected into DMCs from local customers before 1500 hours to be sorted within one hour and ten minutes of receipt.

Key Target 5. To meet 95 per cent. of the agreed customer requirement for the movement of private and official mails from BFPO London to authorised overseas destinations within agreed timescales. This target is broken down into the following sub targets:

PI 1: 95.5 per cent. or more of deliveries of private and official mail to static locations world-wide (less British Forces Germany) within agreed timescales.

PI 2: 98 per cent. or more of deliveries of private and official mail to British Forces Germany within agreed timescales.

PI 3: 93.5 per cent. or more of deliveries of private and official mail to Operational and exercise locations within agreed timescales.

PI 4: 95.5 per cent. or more of deliveries of private and official mail to HM Ships within agreed timescales.

Key Target 6. Total year-on-year Direct Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit cost growth to be no more than Defence inflation less 1 per cent. This is an efficiency measure for continuous improvement whilst maintaining an effective level of service to our customers in accordance with the Service Level Agreements.

The amount of low flying training carried out in the UK Low Flying System (UKLFS) during the training year April 2004 to March 2005 was the minimum required for aircrew to reach and maintain their ability to fly at low level. The number of low flying training hours booked in the UKLFS (excluding the Rotary Wing Dedicated user Areas, where different booking arrangements apply) was 46,678 hours, a slight increase of 1,616 hours in comparison with the previous training year. This increase can be mostly attributed to the need by helicopter aircrew to convert to use of the Apache Attack helicopter, and the Merlin helicopter. The level of Operational Low Flying by fixed wing aircraft reduced by over 25 per cent. when compared to the last training year.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring that low flying training across the UK is spread as widely as is practically possible across the UK so that no single area is too burdened. However, due to a variety of reasons, population distribution and geographical and climate restrictions, it is unavoidable that some areas of the country may experience more activity than others.

I have today placed in the Library of the House a report giving a detailed account of the low flying training that has taken place in the UK Low Flying System for the training year April 2004 to March 2005.

Additional copies of The Pattern of Military Low Flying Across the UK 2004–05 are available on request from the following address:

Directorate of Air Staff

Complaints and Enquiries Unit

Ministry of Defence

Level 5 Zone H

Main Building

Whitehall

London SW1A 2HB

Alternatively it can be viewed on the MOD's website: www.mod.uk/issues/lowflying.

Networked enabled capability is the way we intend to improve our operational effectiveness on the battlefield through more efficient and effective sharing and exploitation of information by our armed forces, both with each other and with our coalition partners. We have recognised that unmanned aerial vehicles—UAVs—have the potential to contribute significantly though their ability to provide persistent surveillance of the battlefield, providing UK commanders with accurate, timely and high quality imagery to support decision making.

Last year my predecessor announced the selection of Thales Defence Ltd as the preferred bidder for the WATCHKEEPER tactical UAV programme. We have now negotiated an affordable solution with the company and I am pleased to announce today that we can move forward to the demonstration and manufacture phase of this important programme, subject to finalisation of a contract with Thales, worth around £700 million. We plan to deliver this capability incrementally from 2010.

Thales Defence Ltd is an international company directly employing some 11,000 people in the UK. It leads a strong international team including Elbit Systems Ltd, Cubic Defence and Boeing. Thales will lead on systems integration and bring considerable experience in sensors and command and control systems to the programme. Thales have confirmed their intention to complete the bulk of production in the UK, so this announcement is very good news for UK industry. The company estimates that up to 2,000 UK jobs, in Crawley, Leicester and across the UK, will be created or sustained and with export success this could rise further.

The WATCHKEEPER system is a new capability that will provide an all-weather, day and night capability. By integrating long endurance unmanned air vehicles, advanced sensor payloads and ground control facilities we will be able to direct surveillance and reconnaissance activities from the ground, putting fewer lives at risk, gather information, enhance our target acquisition ability and cue weapon systems in a hostile environment.

This decision to fund a contract for the development and manufacture phase of this programme is a major step forward and demonstrates significant progress in the delivery of new capability and the migration towards NEC. Our evaluation of Thales' bid has been extremely thorough and we have engaged fully with the company to ensure we obtain the best value for money and the right equipment for our armed forces.

The commander-in-chief, Royal Air Force Personnel and Training Command has set the chief executive of the Training Group Defence Agency the following targets for Financial Year 2005–06:

Key Target 1

Output—RAF Initial Flying Training

To recruit and train the required number of Royal Air Force aircrew to the standards required for entry to operational conversion unit training and other specialist flying training courses.

To compensate for the variations in the individual pipelines, successful achievement will be assumed if the total number of graduations is within 5 per cent. of target requirement. This KT subsumes the need for separate KTs for each of the specialisations. Individual Targets continue to be set for each specialisation for the next four years and are monitored through the Training Group Performance Management Plan.

Key Target 2

Output—RAF Initial Ground Training

To recruit and train the required number of Royal Air Force personnel to the standards required to undertake ground appointments.

To compensate for variations in the individual recruiting and training pipelines, successful achievement of this target will be assumed if the total number of graduations is +/-5% of the target.

Key Target 3

Output—Defence Initial Ground Training

To train the required number of Royal Navy and Army personnel to the standards required to undertake ground appointments.

To compensate for variations in the individual recruiting and training pipelines, successful achievement of this target will be assumed if the total number of graduations is +/-5% of the target.

Key Target 4

Output—Defence Flying Training

To train aircrew of the Royal Navy and Army to standards for entry operational conversion unit training and other specialist flying training courses, as well as providing training places for international students.

Key Target 5

Output—Defence Ground Training

To train personnel of the 3 Services to the standard required for career development and to undertake ground appointments.

Key Target 6

Quality of Output

To underpin the military effectiveness of the Royal Air Force by the timely provision of military personnel trained to the standards agreed with the Agency's customers.

Key Target 7

Efficiency

To reduce the average cost of training by improving first time and overall pass rates.

I am able to inform the House that the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has received a copy of Sir Alan Langlands' report examining the gateways to the professions.

Sir Alan Langlands was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Clarke) last year, following the debate on the Higher Education Bill, to act as an independent person to oversee the report. The announcement about his appointment and the terms of reference was made in a statement to the House on 12 February 2004. Sir Alan was asked to examine how the public sector and the professions can sustain and improve recruitment opportunities for graduates, especially those who do not qualify for the full £3,000 support that will be available in grants and bursaries under our plans to introduce variable fees from 2006. He was asked to put forward recommendations on actions that can be taken by employing organisations to provide clear and accessible gateways for all graduates who want to pursue such careers and which will benefit the recruitment needs of these sectors.

Sir Alan formally started his work on 1 July 2004, following Royal Assent of the Higher Education Bill, and I am extremely grateful to him for submitting his report within the timescale agreed. Sir Alan has agreed that his report should be published, along with the Government's response, in the autumn.

As required under the Animal Health Act 1981 (as amended by the Animal Health Act 2002) the Government will publish today a review of controls on the import of animal products for the financial year 2004–05. We welcome the opportunity to report on progress made in the past year.

This has been delivered by continuing to follow the three key principles of: investment in enforcement; securing better public engagement and awareness; and gaining a greater understanding of the risks.

DEFRA continues to work closely with HM Revenue and Customs, the Food Standards Agency, and Local/Port Health Authorities to provide a joined-up approach to risk based targeting of enforcement, and intelligence sharing. There continues to be a significant increase in seizures of illegally imported animal products when compared to previous years.

Successful specific targeted phases of publicity activity to raise awareness of the restrictions on the import of products of animal origin, both at home and abroad, have been undertaken as part of our overall ongoing campaign.

The Government continue to develop their approach to managing the risk posed by illegal imports, and examine risk across the board, including legal and illegal imports, EU and third country trade, and live animals to get a picture of relative risk, to help determine future enforcement strategy.

Copies of the review will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and on the DEFRA "personal food imports" website at: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/illegali. Hard copies will be available on request.

I wish to inform the House that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and His Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, signed a joint declaration of an enduring relationship between the UK and Afghanistan on 19 July, a copy of which I have placed in the Library of the House.

The 2004 annual report on Strategic Export Controls will be published at 1400 today as a Command Paper. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House. The report includes information on licensing decisions made during 2004 as well as describing UK policy and international developments in export control regimes.

The annual report on Strategic Export Controls is an innovation of this Government. Our defence export licensing system is one of the most rigorous and open regimes in the world and the annual report symbolises our commitment to accountability and transparency. Since 2004 the Government have also produced quarterly reports. This will be the Government's eighth annual report (the first report was published in 1997). The report will be available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (www.fco.gov.uk) and also published through the stationery office. This year, due to the increasing volume of information on strategic exports that is being published by the Government, the annual report will be available on a CD ROM. This CD will also include quarterly reports in 2004, information on licence refusals and further information on trade licences issued.

Wilton Park is an academically independent executive agency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Its annual report and accounts for 2004–05 is published today.

Highlights of the last year include: the greatest ever number of conferences held by Wilton Park—58; an increase in the number of overseas conferences, including the first ones held in the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa; continued high ratings from participants of the value of Wilton Park conferences (although these were slightly below a demanding target).

Wilton Park's performance against agreed targets for 2004–05 is shown below.

Targets for 2005–06 are:

Target 1: Wilton Park should achieve an average "excellent" rating for their programme higher than the previous year's rating of 54.5 per cent.

Target 2: The impact of Wilton Park conferences on policy and opinion should receive the positive endorsement of its Academic Council and the FCO.

Target 3: Wilton Park should recover all its running costs from conference and commercial income. Total planned income for 2005–06 is £4.2 million

The 2004–05 annual report for the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, HC194, was laid before Parliament today. Copies are available in the Library.

We have received the NHS Estates and Facilities Management Development Agency annual report and accounts 2004–05 and copies have today been laid in accordance with the requirements of section 5 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921.

The report describes the agency's performance against key tasks and targets and incorporates its accounts for that year.

Copies of the annual report and accounts 2004–05 have been placed in the Library.

Further to the statements made to the House by the then Secretary of State my right hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid), on 17 December 2003 and 16 March 2004 (and the written statements of 22 July 2004 and 9 September 2004) concerning variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and blood, I wish to provide a further update on this subject.

Following cases of possible transmission of vCJD by blood transfusion, we have already put in place a series of precautionary public health measures.

In December 2003 we put in place arrangements for contacting recipients of blood from donors who went on to develop vCJD so that any necessary action could be taken.

Since April 2004 we have excluded anyone who has received a blood transfusion since January 1980 from donating blood.

In September 2004 we announced arrangements to identify and notify patients who had received certain batches of UK manufactured plasma products.

In the light of further advice I have received from two of my Department's expert committees, the CJD Incidents Panel (CJDIP) and the Committee on Microbiological Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (MSBTO), I am now announcing further public health precautions in relation to a small group of blood donors whose blood has been transfused to people who later developed vCJD.

The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, had asked the expert committees to consider the implications for donors where a recipient of their blood had developed vCJD. The recommendations of the committees are based on an assessment of risk undertaken by the Department of Health's analysts. The risk assessment is being published on the Department's website.

There are 110 donors in the UK whose blood was given to three people who later developed vCJD and for whom this blood might be a possible source of their infection. The advice of the committees is that, although we do not know whether these cases of vCJD could be related to the blood that they received, we should take precautionary steps to inform and support the individual blood donors concerned and to safeguard public health.

As an extension to the current precautionary measures, these people are being contacted by the National Blood Service and advised not to donate blood, tissues or organs. Current donors from this group of 110 are being contacted today and offered expert advice and support. The National Blood Service will contact the GPs of lapsed donors, that is those who have not donated blood during the last five years, and make arrangements to contact these people as soon as practicable.

The committees have also advised that the donors in question should be considered at risk of vCJD for wider public health purposes and that the donors and their clinicians should be informed of their risk status and asked to implement the public health precautions currently specified by the CJD Incidents Panel. This means that they should inform doctors, nurses and dentists of their status if they present for surgery or other invasive medical procedures.

These public health precautionary measures are the same as those applied to any patients considered by the CJDIP to be at risk of vCJD, including the individuals notified following the previous statements to the House.

There is another group of people for whom further public health precautions may need to be considered. This group is all the other recipients of blood from the currently identified group of 110 donors (estimated to be up to 3,000 individuals). At present, these people are already excluded from blood donation themselves by the measures implemented in April 2004. I have asked for additional expert advice on this group and I will take further action if necessary.

Blood donors should be assured that it is not possible to contract vCJD by giving blood. Blood donors are highly committed to helping others and we greatly value their contribution. The NHS depends on their continued commitment to donating blood which saves lives every day in this country.

The vast majority of the over two million current blood donors will not be involved in this new safety measure and need take no action. However, current and past blood donors who are concerned can contact the National Blood Service helpline on 0845 7711711. People who have received blood donations and other members of the public who are concerned should contact NHS Direct on 0845 850 9850.

As with our actions to date on the possible transmission of vCJD, we continue to follow a highly precautionary approach.

In the White Paper "Choosing Health" we announced the introduction of health trainers, a new type of personal health support in the public health workforce. From 2006 national health service accredited health trainers will be giving support to people who want it in areas of highest need.

Many people have difficulty in changing to a healthier way of life. There is a great deal of advice and information available and exhortations to change often from distant national bodies and others, but equally often with little recognition of the realities of everyday life. There is support but it is patchy, fragmented and does not fit with their lives. It may be available at the wrong time of day or only accessible to people who speak and read English well, and access is unequal and erratic. Health trainers are designed to address these problems.

Heath trainers will be visible and accessible to local people through living and working in the communities they serve providing "support from next door". They will engage local people where they are to be found, for example, mothers at the children's centre, customers at the local pharmacy, members of the tenants' association. Their task is to motivate individuals to set personal goals for improving their health, by developing personal health plans using a core set of skills based on health psychology and a good understanding of what works. They will support people to carry out their plans, for example, accompanying a woman to a breast screening appointment; encouraging a teenage mother to go to the children's centre by arranging to meet her; planning a walking route with a 50 year old man. They will identify barriers with individuals to healthier choices and help find individual solutions by listening, empathising and sharing experiences. They will be able to "signpost" people to local services that can support their healthier choices, through their detailed knowledge of the local area. Health trainers may refer individuals on, but will also encourage, motivate and support them to use what is available, for example information about the local smoking cessation service, and then go with them to the first session.

In February the Government published the cash allocations for the NHS for 2006–07 and 2007–08 including additional cash to help to fund "Choosing Health" initiatives such as school nurses, community matrons and health trainers.

Those in greatest need were also allocated more money. In November, the Government announced the creation of 88 spearhead primary care trusts, which are those most in urgent need of action to tackle health deprivation and reduce inequalities in life expectancy and infant mortality. These areas have received a higher level of funding than other areas, making the allocation much fairer.

Primary care trusts and their partners, especially the spearhead primary care trusts, are planning to recruit, train, and fund health trainers from April 2006 when this funding comes on stream. In preparation for that I am announcing today 12 early adopter partnerships in 2005–06, led by the NHS, to develop and test elements of the recruitment. training and employment package and local models of service provision.

From September, these early adopters will begin to trial a draft set of core competencies and job descriptions prepared by my department and the sector skills council "Skills for Health". The early adopters will identify suitable local people who, for the most part are already carrying out roles with some similarity to health trainers, assess them against the competencies, provide training to address gaps and then deploy them in local communities.

During 2005–06 we will be providing all early adopters with additional funding to support them in this work and other primary care trusts with funding support totalling £5 million. Every primary care trust which expressed an interest in being an early adopter will receive £25,000 and the early adopters themselves up to £200,000. The early adopters have been selected following expressions of interest from over 130 primary care trusts and their local partners. These are shown in the following table.

The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's annual report and accounts has been published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

The Government's response to the Third Report of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, on New Developments in Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Policy, Cm 6649, has been published today.

Copies have been placed in the Library.

I announce that copies of the 2004–05 annual report and accounts for the Criminal Records Bureau have been placed in the Library of the House today. Arrangements are now in hand for their publication.

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC prepared a report on the operation in 2004 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which I laid before the House on 26 May 2005.

I am grateful to Lord Carlile for his detailed report and I have considered his recommendations folly. Following consultation within my department and with other relevant departments and agencies I am pleased to place my response to Lord Carlile's recommendations in the House Library today.

I am very concerned about the deepening nutritional crisis in Niger, and I spoke yesterday to Jan Egeland, the UN's Emergency Relief Co-ordinator about what needs to be done.

DFID was one of the first donors to respond to the UN Flash Appeal issued in May, when we gave £0.5 million to the World Food Programme. Following a DFID humanitarian assessment mission to Niger, we have now given a further £1.5 million to humanitarian NGOs providing emergency feeding and medical care. Our total contribution (£2 million) is equivalent to 22 per cent. of the original UN appeal and will deliver emergency nutritional therapy for up to 30,000 malnourished children, health care for up to 700,000 people, and food assistance for up to 250,000 people.

After a slow start, there is now a substantial humanitarian operation underway. I am urging other donors to work together with the Government of Niger and humanitarian agencies to ensure that needs are met and lives are saved as quickly as possible.

I have today arranged for the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland Corporate Plan 2005–08 and Business Plan 2005–06 document to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This document will also be made available on the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland website at www.osni.gov.uk

I have today arranged for copies of Jim McDonald's annual report for 2004 to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The report of the independent assessor continues to provide valuable reassurances to both the public and the Government that the Army's complaints procedures stand scrutiny. I welcome Mr. McDonald's report and I will consider it carefully. I will respond in due course.

My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (Lord Rooker) has made the following ministerial statement:

"Copies of the report and financial statements of Strategic Investment Board Ltd. for the year ended 31 March 2005 incorporating the auditor's report have been deposited in both Libraries of both Houses".

I have placed copies of the Youth Justice Agency's annual report and accounts for 2004–05 in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is the Agency's second annual report since its inception on 1 April 2003. It achieved all eight of its key performance targets and 20 of its 23 development objectives.

On 24 May 2005 I laid in Parliament and published the 5th report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).

As required by the agreement that established it, the Commission reported on the nature and levels of ongoing paramilitary activity and other criminality including that undertaken by the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Commission concluded that the Progressive Unionist Party had not done as much as it should in exerting influence to prevent such activities. The Commission recommended that I should continue the financial measures against the Progressive Unionist Party.

I have considered carefully the IMC's report and I have today written to the Progressive Unionist Party to advise them that I am minded to remove for a period of 12 months the party's entitlement to financial assistance payable to political parties in Northern Ireland. I have provided the PUP with seven days from today to make representations to me. At the end of that period I will take into account any such representations made to me and will reach a final decision.

My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General has made the following written ministerial statement.

"In my statement of 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns WS 22–23, I undertook to inform the House by way of written statement when any further charges are laid against British servicemen arising from incidents in Iraq. The Army Prosecuting Authority has directed that seven individuals should stand trial by court martial for various offences. The offences and the names of those individuals are set out below.

The allegations against the servicemen relate to incidents in Basra, from 13 to 15 September 2003. It is alleged that seven servicemen committed a number of offences against Iraqi detainees who had been arrested following a planned operation. One of the detainees, Baha Da'oud Salim Musa, was allegedly killed and inhumanely treated by one of these servicemen. The same serviceman is also alleged to have inhumanely treated other detainees and committed acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice. It is further alleged that two other servicemen inhumanely treated the internees, who sustained injuries following repeated assaults. One further serviceman is alleged to have assaulted a detainee. The three remaining servicemen are charged with negligently performing their duties or neglecting to perform a duty, contrary to the Army Act 1955.

The cases against all seven servicemen were reviewed by prosecutors of the independent Army Prosecuting Authority who applied the evidential and public interest criteria set out in the code for crown prosecutors. The Army Prosecuting Authority, following advice from highly experienced counsel, is satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of convicting all defendants and that the prosecutions are in the public interest.

These offences have been directed to be tried before a court martial rather than the civilian courts.

The men who have been directed by the Army Prosecuting Authority to stand trial and who have been informed of the charges against them are:

Corporal Donald Payne (34) of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion The Kings Regiment, based at Catterick, charged with three offences of: (i) manslaughter; (ii) inhuman treatment of persons; and, (iii) perverting the course of justice.

Lance Corporal Wayne Ashley Crowcroft (21) of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, currently based in Cyprus, charged with inhuman treatment of persons.

Private Darren Trevor Fallon (22) of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, currently based in Cyprus, charged with inhuman treatment of persons.

Sergeant Kelvin Lee Stacey (28), of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, currently based in Cyprus charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, alternatively common assault.

Warrant Officer Mark Lester Davies (36) of the Intelligence Corps based in Preston, charged with neglecting to perform a duty.

Major Michael Edwin Peebles (34) of the Intelligence Corps, based at Northwood, charged with negligently performing a duty.

Colonel Jorge Emmanuel Mendonca (41) late of Queen's Lancashire Regiment, based at Northwood, charged with negligently performing a duty".

My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General has made the following written ministerial statement.

"In my statement of 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns WS 22–23, I undertook to inform the House by way of written statement when any further charges are laid against British servicemen arising from incidents in Iraq. The Army Prosecuting Authority has directed that four individuals should stand trial by court martial for the offence of the manslaughter of Ahmed Kareem, an Iraqi civilian.

The allegation against the servicemen relates to an incident in Basra, on 8 May 2003. It is alleged that the four servicemen detained four suspected looters of whom Mr. Kareem was one. The servicemen allegedly punched and kicked the looters before forcing them into the Shat Al-Basra Canal. Mr. Kareem could not swim and drowned.

The cases against all four servicemen were reviewed by prosecutors of the independent Army Prosecuting Authority who applied the evidential and public interest criteria set out in the code for crown prosecutors. The Army Prosecuting Authority, following advice from highly experienced counsel, is satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of convicting all defendants and that the prosecutions are in the public interest.

The servicemen who have been directed by the Army Prosecuting Authority to stand trial before a court martial have already been informed of the charges by the Army are:

Sergeant Carle Nicholas Selman, (38) currently serving with the Scots Guards, currently in Germany.

Guardsman Martin McGing, (21) with the Irish Guards, currently based in London.

Guardsman Joseph McCleary, (23) with the Irish Guards, based in London.

One serviceman, a Lance Corporal (21), with the Irish Guards, has yet to be informed of the charge against him. Once he has been notified, I will set out his name in a further written statement, which I will lay before the House at the earliest opportunity.

No date has yet been set for the trial or preliminary hearings in this matter".

I would like to draw the attention of the House to the explanatory statement that has been placed in both Libraries of the House on the subject of company law reform. This statement is also available at www.dti.gov.uk/cld/facts/clr.htm'>www.dti.gov.uk/cld/facts/clr.htm.

The Government's approach to the development of its proposals in this area has been extremely inclusive, and I am very grateful for the support and input of those who have contributed to the various consultation exercises. This is the final phase of our consultation process providing an opportunity for stakeholders to comment on some further aspects on our planned Company Law Reform Bill.

In addition to giving additional detail on how we will give expression to the policies set out in our White Paper "Company Law Reform" (March 2005) the explanatory statement explains how we will take forward elements of the proposed EC directive on audit and provisions for the oversight of the actuarial profession announced in the Budget.

We intend to place further detail on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk/cld/facts/clr.htm as it becomes available.

I am today setting out my position on the proposals submitted by P & O to develop a new container port at the old Shellhaven oil refinery site in Thurrock, Essex. I am minded to approve the proposals, subject to satisfaction on a number of outstanding issues including the provision of additional highway capacity in the area.

This position, and the reasons for it, are set out in the minded letter my Department has issued today. It follows a public inquiry in 2003 into the application for approval for the port development, and also into an application from P & O and Shell UK Ltd in respect of an adjacent commercial and logistics centre. The inquiry inspector recommended last year in favour of both proposals, subject to conditions including the provision of extra highway capacity in the area to accommodate traffic likely to be generated by the two developments in combination.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is today issuing a parallel minded to approval for the commercial and logistics centre.

The Government fully recognise the nation's and industry's needs for additional container port capacity in order to meet future economic demand. However, it is important that any new development, particularly on this large scale, be sustainable in a manner consistent with Government policy. We need to be sure, in particular, that the impacts of the full development on the area's highway network can be accommodated, and that any measures proposed to mitigate those impacts are not only adequate but also likely to be carried out. The Government are therefore inviting the promoters over the next three months to discuss with the relevant highway authorities the means of addressing future highway capacity. We are hopeful that the relevant parties will then be able to agree on a way forward.

A copy of the Department's letter to the applicants for the port has been placed in the House Library.

I am today publishing a consultation document setting out how I propose to allocate funding, other than for major schemes, to local transport authorities outside London during the second local transport plan period.

The document proposes a new formula for the allocation of the integrated transport block, together with transitional arrangements to safeguard authorities from sudden change. This formula has been developed in consultation with authorities and is designed to ensure that funding allocations are fair and transparent.

Two modifications are also proposed to improve the operation of the existing formula for distributing highway maintenance funds, and the document includes draft guidance on the reports which local authorities will be planning on their first local transport plans.

The Department is seeking views by 12 October. I am placing a copy of the document in the House of Commons Library.

Plans to upgrade the A303 trunk road passing Stonehenge and to improve the setting of this outstanding World Heritage Site have a long history. In July 1998, after extensive assessment of alternative options, the Government announced the inclusion in the targeted programme of trunk road improvements of the A303 Stonehenge improvement as an "exceptional environmental scheme". Following further studies and consultations, a preferred route was announced in June 1999 for improvements to 12.4 km of the A303 running from the countess roundabout in the east to Berwick Downs in the West. The scheme provided for dualling of the route and included a bypass of the village of Winterbourne Stoke and a 2km cut-and-cover tunnel past Stonehenge.

Following further consultations with English Heritage and the National Trust, a number of alternative tunnel options were evaluated and on 10 December 2002 the Government announced that they would proceed with further consideration of a 2.1 km tunnel (extending the tunnel by 100 metres compared with the preferred route announcement) and that the tunnel would be bored rather than cut-and-cover, thereby providing significant additional environmental benefits.

The public inquiry into this proposed scheme was held between 17 February and 11 May 2004. The inspector's report was received in January 2005 and the Government have been considering it carefully. The inspector, having considered all the representations and submissions from objectors, was satisfied that the case for the scheme had been made and has recommended that the scheme orders should be made, subject to a number of minor modifications. In particular, he was satisfied with:

the line of the published scheme;

all the proposed slip and side road changes required to implement the scheme;

the requirements of the traffic prohibition orders restricting certain classes of traffic from using the tunnel and some of the new roads; and

the acquisition of all the land and interests necessary to carry out the published scheme.

However, there has been a material change in the estimated scheme costs since the scheme went to public inquiry and which was not part of the inspector's considerations. The Highways Agency's evidence to the public inquiry indicated that the construction cost of the scheme would be £192 million. After allowing for additional factors including land, preparation and supervision costs this translates into a total outturn scheme cost of £284 million, assuming a construction start date of spring 2005.

In addition, following the completion of the public inquiry, the Highways Agency has carried out further detailed assessments of the ground conditions through which the tunnel would be bored. These have confirmed the scale of two significant factors along the line of the proposed tunnel:

very large quantities of phosphatic (soft, weak) chalk;

a high water table, with the groundwater potentially rising to the surface at times of heavy rainfall where the tunnel passes below a shallow valley to the south of Stonehenge.

These factors would significantly complicate the tunnelling process and extend the overall construction period of the scheme. Together with certain other factors which serve to increase tunnel costs, including more rapid increases in construction cost inflation than had previously been anticipated, the Highways Agency's latest estimate of the outturn cost of the scheme has now risen to some £470 million. For consistency with earlier estimates, this figure also assumes a construction start date of spring 2005. Slippage in the start date beyond spring 2005 will have further increased the estimated cost in line with continuing inflation in construction costs.

This represents a significant change to the basis on which the Government originally decided to progress this scheme. Our recognition of the importance of Stonehenge as a World Heritage Site remains unchanged but given the scale of the cost increase we have to re-examine whether the scheme still represents value for money and the best option for delivering improvements to the A303 and the setting of Stonehenge. The Government therefore plan to carry out a detailed review of the options, consulting relevant environmental interests including, in particular, English Heritage and the National Trust, before taking a final decision on the inspector's report. The review will also consider the implications of delaying the Stonehenge scheme for the delivery of improvements proposed for other single carriageway sections of the A303 further to the west.

I have placed copies of the inspector's report in the Library of the House.

The New Deal for Disabled People will be extended for a further year to 31 March 2007. This will provide continuity of support to priority customers and allow emerging evaluation evidence, from this and other initiatives, to be taken into consideration in the development of future provision.

All existing job brokers will have the opportunity to bid to participate in the extended programme, details of which will be published in the autumn.

This quarterly report is to update the House on progress of the Child Support Agency. It covers the period from March to June 2005 and contains improved management information. The last report formed part of the Government's response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee's Second Report of the Session 2004–05 and covered performance up to February 2005.

The Agency is currently administering cases under new and old schemes, across two computer systems. At the end of June 2005, the Agency's caseload stood at around 1.4 million cases. Of these, 950,000 cases were being administered under the old child support scheme (270,000 of which were on the new computer system having migrated from the old computer system because they were linked in some way to a new application) and 480,000 were being administered under the new scheme. Around 12,000 new scheme cases are being administered clerically as they are un-progressable on the new computer system.

Since the inception of the new scheme in March 2003 the Agency has received 680,000 potential new scheme applications, of which 420,000 have been cleared. The remaining 260,000 are at various stages of the work in progress, representing a marginal reduction since March as a result of efforts by the Agency to focus on its backlogs. In addition, there are 78,000 old scheme cases awaiting an assessment, a reduction from 130,000 in June 2004.

In June 2005, as a result of the Agency's intervention, 390,000 parents with care (equating to 520,000 children) were in receipt of maintenance via the collection service, or had a maintenance direct arrangement in place. Despite the problems with the administration of the new scheme the proportion of parents with a new scheme calculation who receive maintenance is higher (54 per cent.) than if they had been assessed under the old scheme (46 per cent.).

During the period March 2005 to June 2005 overall Agency case compliance remained stable at 70 per cent. This is also the case for old scheme compliance at 72 per cent. New scheme compliance, at 66 per cent. in June 2005, has risen from 61 per cent. in June 2004.

As a result of initiatives rolled out since autumn 2004, we are seeing real improvement in case compliance for those cases for which maintenance was calculated from September 2004 onwards. The overall new scheme compliance rate was 66 per cent in June 2005, and, for those new cases calculated in February 2005 (the latest month for which compliance has begun to stabilise for new cases), compliance had reached 78 per cent.

Trends in cash compliance performance are broadly flat over the period, with overall Agency performance at 69 per cent. in June 2005. Old and new scheme performance was 72 per cent and 62 per cent respectively with new scheme performance having improved from 50 per cent in June 2004.

During the quarter ending June 2005 the Agency collected maintenance arrears equivalent to 35 per cent of the total amount of unpaid regular maintenance which accrued over the same period. Performance across the quarter has remained unchanged for the old scheme at 40 per cent, with new scheme performance demonstrating further improvement from 22 per cent to 27 per cent (having already risen from 15 per cent in June 2004).

Accuracy performance is measured cumulatively month-on-month throughout the year. Figures based on the first results of 2005–06 show performance to June of 82 per cent for new scheme and 75 per cent for old scheme.

Whilst we have seen continuing progress some significant problems remain with the new computer and telephony systems and these continue to slow progress on business recovery. The Agency is working closely with EDS to resolve these problems and further IT releases were successfully implemented in December 2004 and May 2005.

We have always said that no decision will be taken on when to convert old scheme cases until we are confident the new scheme is working well. A new chief executive was appointed in April this year and he has initiated a strategic review of the Agency's objectives and operational arrangements. He will report to Ministers in the coming months and we will report to the House in due course.

Notes:

1. A case is defined as cleared if:

a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a payment arrangement between the parent with care and the non resident parent is in place;

the case has been closed because the PWC is claiming Good Cause or is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; or

the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case.

Further changes in the definition of a clearance may be made as further progress is made with the improvement in management information.

2. Previously, a case was defined as cleared when it had been closed or a maintenance liability had been calculated. Improvements in management information now enable the Agency to extend the definition as described above, and thereby provide a more accurate picture of the Agency's intake and volumes of new applications work in progress. Further changes in the definition of a clearance may be made as further progress is made with the improvement in management information.

3. Figures exclude cases which have been progressed and cleared clerically. This is because it is not possible to determine how many clerically progressed cases are still included in the Agency's work in progress, or were originally included in the intake figures. Details of clerically progressed cases are included below:

4. While we can give accurate scheme to date information, it is not currently possible to break this down into a monthly time series prior to January 2005 as work to produce this information is still in progress.

Notes:

1. Compliance is measured over a quarterly period as opposed to monthly, as it is a less volatile measure of performance in that it smoothes out the impact of events such as bank holidays, late payments and processing details. These figures may be subject to change as more reliable information becomes available.

2. There are no figures for new scheme for June 2004 or for new and old scheme in April 2005 because no accuracy checks were performed during that month. Accuracy across old scheme cases on both systems has been recorded only since May 2005. Prior to May 2005, accuracy was measured only against those old scheme cases on the old computer system.

Summary of Agency Performance to June 2005 -- Table 1—Agency Performance—New applications intake, clearances, work in progress

Table 2—Agency Performance—Compliance, Arrears & Accuracy

The Secretary of State's annual report on the social fund for 2004–05 (Cm 6595) was published today and has been laid before Parliament.

The report records that total gross expenditure in 2004–05, excluding winter fuel payments, was £867 million. This included more than 261,000 non-repayable grants and around 2.2 million interest free loans together worth almost £700 million, and funeral and cold weather payments totalling more than £48 million. In addition around 236,000 Sure Start maternity grants worth over £119 million were made, and over 8.2 million households benefited from a winter fuel payment at a cost of around £1.95 billion.

The report also outlines reforms to the social fund loan scheme, some of which have already been announced in the pre-Budget report. Introduction of the reforms is planned for April 2006.

The social fund commissioner's report has also been published today and placed in the Library.

Remploy's achievement against its targets set by Government for 2004–05 is in the table.

Remploy will publish its annual report and accounts in the autumn giving further detail of its peformance throughout 2004–05. Copies of the annual report and accounts will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

In addition, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, I have written to the Chairman of Remploy informing him that I am disappointed at the increasing unit cost and approving the 2005–06 Performance and Resources Agreement between the Department and the Company. The Performance and Resources Agreement includes targets for the coming year. The Agreement has been negotiated by the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The Targets for 2005–06 are:

a total of 1,700 progressions from Remploy factories or Interwork to open employment;

Remploy Ltd. will keep within an average cost per supported employee of £10,000;

the company will achieve a gross margin (sales less cost of materials) figure of £64.5m;

the company's employee development time will be at least 5 per cent.

The full Agreement for 2005–06 has been placed in the Library.

I am pleased to announce that the Department for Work and Pensions has today published the 2004–05 annual reports and accounts for five of its executive agencies: The Pension Service (HC342), Child Support Agency (HC256), Disability and Carers Service (HC181), The Rent Service (HC220) and Appeals Service (HC235). Copies have been placed in the Library. The annual report and accounts of Jobcentre Plus will be published after the summer recess.