I will chair the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on 8 November 2005. The Paymaster General, right hon. Dawn Primarolo MP, will represent the UK. Items on the agenda are as follows:

EC Budget Roadmap: Roadmap to an integrated internal control framework; ECOFIN will discuss how to take forward the Commission's proposed roadmap towards a positive Statement of Assurance for the EC's annual budget.

Better Regulation: Ministers will be asked to agree conclusions on a common methodology for measuring the administrative burden that EU legislation would place on businesses.

EU Statistical Governance: ECOFIN will consider a package of measures to improve EU statistical governance.

Implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact; ECOFIN will consider a decision under Article 104 (8) on Hungary's Excessive Deficit Procedure.

Fiscal issues: VAT. ECOFIN will be updated on progress towards a "one stop scheme" designed to minimise compliance burdens on businesses, and will discuss reduced-rate proposals introduced by the Luxembourg Presidency.

Financial services: Cross-border consolidation in the EU financial sector. ECOFIN will note progress and agree conclusions on the supervisory approvals process for cross-border mergers and acquisitions in financial services.

Financial consequences of the Sugar Regime Reform: ECOFIN will discuss the budgetary aspects of ongoing negotiations around the reform of the sugar regime.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton) has made the following written statement in the other place today:

"I am pleased to announce that today I have laid before this House a paper entitled 'Supporting Magistrates Courts to Provide Justice'. Copies have been placed in the Library.

Magistrates courts play an essential role in the justice system. Each and every day they sit, the courts help to make our communities safer and more secure. They deal with over 95 per cent. of all criminal cases. They respond quickly and effectively to childcare cases. And they help people resolve their disputes as fairly as possible.

But the courts have not always received the support that they deserve and I wanted to know what we, the Government, can do to make magistrates courts even more efficient and effective. This is why, last year, I launched the Supporting Magistrates to Provide Justice programme.

The programme has looked at how the Government can help make improvements to the way magistrates courts operate. To inform us, we asked the experts: magistrates, district judges, justices' clerks and other court staff. They responded in their thousands with a range of suggestions and ideas that I set out in a Response Paper that was laid before this House on 1 April 2005.

There were clearly areas where we could—and must—improve. This paper sets out where we have already taken action and where we will be taking forward further reforms.

It is focused on four main areas:

Helping to ensure magistrates are connected to their communities. Magistrates must be able to keep abreast of the changing issues facing their evolving and increasingly diverse communities. We will support magistrates in understanding the current priorities and concerns faced by the local people they serve.

Ensuring magistrates courts are respected and valued, with court orders obeyed—courts are respected when the services and facilities they provide meet the needs of those that use and rely on the court, particularly victims and witnesses. This Government are committed to improving court facilities, providing efficient court processes and giving magistrates the authority to ensure their orders are obeyed.

Making sure the magistrates courts are effective in dealing fairly and efficiently with the cases before them. Our courts have a very important role to play in the lives of every citizen. For the community to feel truly confident in the justice system and to genuinely respect the work of the magistrates courts, it is critical that the courts deliver effective court services.

Improving the recruitment and retention of magistrates. The benefit of a volunteer magistracy is that they are able to represent the views of their community while providing a highly professional approach to discharging their responsibilities. In order that the magistracy is able to continue this critical role we propose a series of reforms and new initiatives which will see the development of a re-invigorated magistracy, attractive to the next generation of civic minded citizens willing to commit a portion of their time to building safe and secure communities.

This paper represents the next step in a continuous drive to provide the public with the service they expect from a modern magistrates courts system.

We will continue to look for further improvements so that our services are as efficient and effective as possible, making best use of the capacity of the courts, and of the talent and expertise of those working in them.

We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the work that led to this paper."

I intend to publish shortly a summary of the responses to the consultation paper "Burial Law and Policy in the 21st Century: The Need for a Sensitive and Sustainable Approach", which the Home Office issued last year. I am today placing pre-publication copies of that summary in the Libraries of both Houses.

We were grateful for the many detailed and thoughtful comments that were submitted. The responses indicated general support for modernisation of our burial laws, including more uniform legislation, the need to ensure adequate burial facilities, and the ability to make the best use of old burial grounds. Arrangements are now in hand to discuss with burial practitioners and others the practical details of the changes needed to give effect to law reform in this area. In doing so, we will consider sympathetically the case for enabling the re-use of old burial grounds, seeking a balance between the interests of relatives and descendants and the wider needs of the local community.

The further work now initiated is expected to be completed next spring. Thereafter the Government will inform the House of their plans to bring forward proposals for burial law reform.

We have today issued for consultation the drafts of the HRA subsidy and item 8 determinations for 2006–07, which set out proposed figures for subsidy allocations for individual housing authorities. Copies of the draft determinations and supporting material have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and will also be available on my office's website from 4.30pm this afternoon at the following location:

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/housing/consult.

These allocations are based on the most up-to-date information available to us from authorities, and may change as that information is refined. Authorities have until 10am, 12 December to comment on the draft determinations, and 2 December to comment on the data.

For 2006–07, we will increase the average resources per dwelling available at the national level for management and maintenance allowances by 2.7 per cent. compared with 2005–06.

The Major Repairs Allowance will on average increase by 2.9 per cent. per dwelling in cash terms at the national level.

In addition, the draft determinations propose to continue the reforms in the calculation and allocation of management and maintenance allowances, which began in last year's determination round. The proposals for the management and maintenance allowances in 2006–07 take account of better and more representative data.

Data for the maintenance formula have been expanded to take account of both criminal damage to dwellings and burglary, a decision taken after consultation with stakeholders. Most local authorities will gain from the changes proposed in the draft determinations, and some will benefit substantially.

It is Government policy that social rents should be restructured and that over time tenants in social housing should pay similar rents for similar properties regardless of landlord.

We have carried out a three-year review of this policy which reported in 2004. We will introduce in full the recommendations made in this review in 2006–07, reinforcing the steps already taken to create a fair and transparent rent setting system in the social rented sector. In addition we will provide more protection for council tenants by capping at 5 per cent. the average cash increase in rents in any local authority for each of the next two years.

I am today announcing that we will be rolling out across the national health service a new programme of financial diagnostic checks and providing the opportunity for two-star acute specialist and mental health trusts to apply for NHS foundation trust status. The concerns about financial management in some parts of the NHS have encouraged us to work with Monitor (the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts) to develop these new financial diagnostic tools and pilot them in two strategic health authority areas. These new financial tools will help trusts prepare for foundation trust status. Bringing two-star rated organisations into the applications process for foundation status will give a greater number of trusts the opportunity to put forward their proposals for foundation status.

The Whole Health Community Diagnostic Project will drive a culture of improved financial management across the NHS and give acute trusts a clear indication of any areas for improvement before they embark upon the NHS foundation trust application process. It will assess the financial robustness and viability of all trusts that have not yet applied to become NHS foundation trusts, in the context of their wider health economies, as well as looking at other authorisation requirements such as management and governance arrangements. The project will provide an assessment of what needs to be done to get NHS acute trusts in England ready to apply for NHS foundation trust status.

To be authorised as an NHS foundation trust by Monitor, applicants have to be able to demonstrate their clinical and financial viability and sustainability as well as their overall capacity and capability to take on the additional freedoms and flexibilities. Monitor's authorisation process is a disciplined and very challenging process. It ensures that NHS foundation trusts are clinically and financially sustainable, effectively governed, locally representative, legally constituted and well managed. This is important if they are to operate with sufficient autonomy, achieve and exceed national healthcare standards and become increasingly responsive to their communities. In allowing two-star acute, specialised and mental health trusts to apply to Monitor in addition to three-star organisations, there is no question of lowering standards for authorisation as an NHS foundation trust. Monitor will continue to be a rigorous as before in determining whether applicants can be authorised for foundation trust status.

NHS performance ratings have so far only been used as a way of identifying which trusts could be invited to apply for foundation status, but they are not part of the formal authorisation criteria. In 2006, the Healthcare Commission (the statutory name of which is the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection) will replace the NHS performance ratings with an annual healthcheck performance rating system. It is therefore an appropriate time for the Government to revisit the entry requirements for foundation status and to broaden the base for applicants because the three-star requirement is too restrictive.

There are currently 32 NHS foundation trusts in operation. They are sustaining the core NHS principles of universality and equity, and collectively serving more than a quarter of the population in England. The continued rollout of NHS foundation trusts across the NHS is giving the public, patients and staff a louder voice in how their local healthcare services are designed and run. The Healthcare Commission's independent review of NHS foundation trusts and other reports have highlighted the significant benefits and opportunities presented by foundation status. We know that independence from central Government control and greater freedoms are giving NHS foundation trusts the opportunity to innovate new approaches to healthcare and healthcare services, for the benefit of NHS patients.

The Government remain committed to providing all NHS trusts with the opportunity to apply for NHS foundation trust status within the next three years. The decision on when to apply remains one to be taken locally.

The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Surveillance Unit's (NCJDSU) 13th annual report has been published today. The report documents the unit's findings in relation to sporadic, familial and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and also variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease up to 31 December 2004. Copies have been placed in the House Library, and the report is also available on the NCJDSU's website at www.cjd.ed.ac.uk.

Hon. Members will recall I made a statement to the House on 11 January 2005 updating them on progress in implementing Sir Michael Richard's recommendations arising from his inquiry into issues surrounding the Soham murders. I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses copies of the Government's second progress report on the on-going work. Although Sir Michael has now taken a step back from this work, it is in response to his suggestion that the six-monthly cycle of reporting be sustained that I have chosen to report now and I will offer a further update to the House in March 2006.

It is now clear that the inquiry has been a catalyst which has concentrated both the Government and the public services on improving the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. We are making good progress across the 31 recommendations, with a number already achieved and others nearing completion. We remain fully committed to implementation of the whole programme and to ensuring all the necessary resources are available. Beyond that, we will ensure that safeguarding remains a key priority as our broader work to improve delivery continues. For example, within the "Every Child Matters" initiative and as part of the development of the new National Policing Improvement Agency.

Sir Michael's recommendations have forced us to take a long hard look at the ways in which the police manage and share information. As a result, the IMPACT programme (Information Management, Prioritisation, Analysis, Co-ordination and Tasking) which is now in place will deliver huge changes to working practices and technology. These will greatly reduce the risk of the kind of failings in information sharing which formed part of the background to the Soham murders. A comprehensive code of practice on police information management will come into force on 14 November and will be backed up by extensive training and operational guidance. New technology to enable information sharing between forces will begin rolling out to their Child Abuse Investigation Units by the end of this year. This new capacity for sharing will be progressively extended as systems develop through to 2009 and beyond.

Equally crucial are arrangements for sharing information between the police and other agencies such as social services. Key improvements are being developed as part of the current work to revise the Working Together framework which will be completed by the end of this year.

The development of a central vetting and barring scheme covering all those wishing to work with children or vulnerable adults is well underway. It will provide a comprehensive, centralised and integrated system to prevent unsuitable people from gaining access to vulnerable groups through paid or voluntary work. It will be implemented via the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill which will be introduced during this session.

New on-line training for head teachers and school governors covering the need to emphasise safeguarding as part of staff recruitment procedures has been developed. It was successfully launched in July and the scope to extend this training beyond the education sector is being considered.

Existing vetting procedures are also being strengthened. A Quality Assurance Framework to assist police forces in carrying out their roles in the vetting process has been finalised and is being rolled out.

Sir Michael was very supportive of the governance and co-ordination arrangement put in place and we have maintained the programme structure based on effective joined-up working across the Government Departments and delivery agencies involved. We are working closely with all stakeholders and agencies to ensure the interdependencies are properly managed and the projected benefits realised. At the point of delivery, training arrangements are being put in place to support implementation, together with targeted inspection and performance measurement regimes to ensure compliance with new and improved systems.

It is vital to ensure the same level of protection for all children and other vulnerable people, wherever they are in the United Kingdom. The Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Office have therefore been closely involved in this programme of work. For some of the recommendations, the route to implementation will differ between jurisdictions, but the objective of effective, integrated systems is the same. The arrangements in different jurisdictions are set out in more detail in the report.

There are no shortcuts to delivering on the letter and the spirit of the Bichard inquiry, but the achievements and plans set out in the latest progress report are evidence of our commitment. The momentum must be maintained and I will provide a further update to this House in March 2006.

The National Offender Management Service is to establish a project to develop a strategy and standard for the management of younger adult offenders in custody and the community.

The purpose of the project will be to identify how the special needs of young adults can best be met in the context of the new approach to offender management, and taking account of the new custodial and community sentences in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Among other matters the project will consider the appropriate age range for those to be treated as young adult offenders, the use of the prison estate for this age group, and the regimes and interventions required in prison and in the community. It will also consider the commencement of Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 (which abolishes the sentence of detention in a young offender institution) and the consequent safeguards which will be required for this age group.

The project will be led by the National Offender Management Service, and will involve operational interests from prisons and probation, and other Government Departments. Representatives from the voluntary and community sector will be invited to participate.

Tourism Ireland Ltd. annual report and accounts 2004 were deposited in the Houses of Parliament today.

Copies have been placed in the Library.