Following the publication last year of the Regulatory Reform Committee's reports on civil registration reform, the Government announced that they would actively consider other ways of delivering the key elements of civil registration modernisation.

The Government remain committed to the modernisation of the local registration service in England and Wales, and are pressing ahead with their plans to reform the structure and delivery of civil registration. The consultation paper "Registration Modernisation", published today, sets out how local authorities are to be given greater responsibility and accountability for the delivery of the local registration service, and gives details of other important changes to be introduced to modernise civil registration.

Under these proposals local authorities would have more control to decide, within a national standards framework, how best to meet the needs of local people. Systems are also to be overhauled to speed up the registration process and deliver improved customer service. The details of the proposals have been developed by the Registrar General together with LACORS (Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services) and local registration managers.

A copy of the consultation paper has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Under the Cash Ratio Deposit (CRD) scheme, banks and building societies place non-interest bearing deposits at the Bank of England. The Bank invests the deposits and uses the income earned to fund the costs of the Bank's sterling liquidity, monetary policy and financial stability operations, which benefit sterling deposit-takers. With the effect of 1 June 1998 the Bank of England Act 1998 placed the scheme on a statutory footing.

From next year the Bank of England will be making significant changes to its operations in sterling money markets, in particular the introduction of remunerated voluntary deposits which banks and building societies will be able to place with the Bank. As a result, my written Ministerial Statement of 13 July 2005 announced that (as required by the Bank of England Act 1998) the Treasury would begin consultation on its proposal to amend the definition of Eligible Liabilities (ELs) for CRDs.

The consultation ended in September and the Treasury published its response. The responses to the consultation recognised and understood the rationale for making the change and accepted that including voluntary deposits in the definition of ELs would have a net neutral effect on the overall levels of CRDs.

As the proposal requires a change to secondary legislation made under the Bank of England Act 1998, tomorrow I will be laying before Parliament a Statutory Instrument scheduled to come into force on 1 March 2006. Principally the Statutory Instrument will ensure that voluntary deposits do not count as an offset within the calculation of ELs on which CRDs are based.

The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will be held on 21–22 November in Brussels. My right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary, the Defence Secretary, and the International Development Secretary will represent the presidency.

The agenda items are as follows:

Defence Ministers

Capabilities

The Council is expected to approve the Requirements Catalogue, which is part of the EU's Headline Goal 2010 capability process. The catalogue has used NATO-sourced operational analysis to identify the military capabilities and force requirements needed for the EU to fulfil its level of ambition. The Council should also note the Single Progress Report on military capabilities, and discuss progress on the battlegroups concept and the work of the European Defence Agency. As presidency, we aim to focus discussion on the identified need for rapidly deployable, highly interoperable capability and the importance of filling qualitative capability shortfalls.

Civil-military co-ordination

The Council will discuss progress on bringing together the EU's civilian and military instruments in a comprehensive approach to EU crisis management. Ministers are likely to note work on EU concepts for comprehensive planning and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) support to security sector reform, and underline the need for these principles to be taken forward in future reviews and for planning for holistic EU engagement in particular regions.

Defence_and_Foreign_Ministers

Western Balkans (Bosnia)

The GAERC falls on the 10th Anniversary of the initialling of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and both Defence and Foreign Ministers will hold discussions on progress in Bosnia and the evolving nature of the EU's engagement. The Council will review both the military mission Operation Althea, following its first year of operation, and the EU Police Mission (EUPM). It should agree the Joint Action to launch a follow-on mission to EUPM and is also expected to agree the Joint Action modifying the mandate of the EUSR in Bosnia to give him a greater role in coordinating EU instruments in the overall rule of law effort.

Foreign Ministers

Preparation for the 15–16 December European Council

The presidency will update the Council on preparation for the December European Council. This will be on the basis of the

traditional annotated agenda setting out the issues, with an indication of likely Conclusions. Substantive discussion will take place at the 12 December GAERC.

Financial Perspectives 2007–13

The Council will have a further substantive discussion of the issues as a follow-up to the 7 November GAERC.

Post Tsunami follow-up

The Council will have a discussion on an updated post-tsunami action plan, which will task work to be taken forward in key areas on disaster response.

WTO/DDA

The Commission will update Member States on the current status of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations in preparation for the 13–18 December Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting.

MEPP

The Council is expected to discuss EU involvement in a possible non-executive monitoring role at Rafah on the Egypt-Gaza border. The Council is also expected to discuss the 25 January 2006 Palestinian Legislative Elections and Commission support to the electoral process. Council conclusions are expected.

Iraq

The Council is expected to discuss how the international community (including the EU) can provide further support to Iraq in relation to a broader platform of international partnership to support political, economic, governance and security development.

Iran

The Council will have a further stocktake of EU-Iran relations following the 7 November GAERC. We can expect the nuclear portfolio also to be discussed given the proximity of the 24 November International Atomic Energy Agenda (IAEA) Board meeting.

EuroMed Summit

The presidency will debrief the Council on the state of play of the main Summit texts and overall preparation.

EU/Canada and EU-Ukraine Summit Preparations

The presidency will debrief the Council on the state of play of the main Summit texts and overall preparations.

Migration in External Relations

The Council will discuss how the EU can work more closely in partnership with source and transit countries on migration issues to develop a balanced approach to migration, which harnesses the benefits of migration and also focuses on combating illegal immigration.

Development Ministers

EU Strategy for Africa

The Council is expected to agree Conclusions on the Commission Communication on the EU-Africa Strategy: Towards a Euro-African Pact to Accelerate Africa's Development. The Communication will form an integral part of the overall EU Strategy for Africa, which isexpected to be agreed at the European Council on 16–17 December.

Development Policy Statement

The Council is expected to agree the Joint Declaration by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the "European Consensus for Development". This is a successor to the 2000 EC Development Policy Statement. The Declaration is divided into two parts: the first provides a common vision that will guide the EU and its 25 Member States in development co-operation; and the second sets out the EC Development Policy to guide Community development assistance and implementation of the commitments in the common vision. The European Parliament is due to adopt its report on the proposal for a Joint

Declaration by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the European Union Development Policy "The European Consensus" in Plenary on 17 November.

Orientation Debate: EU Aid Effectiveness

The Council will hold its annual Orientation Debate on the basis of a presidency paper looking at how the quality of aid and the effectiveness of aid delivery can be improved, building on EU commitments taken in the context of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Paris in March 2005. The Council is expected to agree Conclusions on the Orientation Debate.

Post Tsunami follow-up

Development Ministers will have a discussion on the humanitarian response, reconstruction and disaster preparedness aspects of a revised post-Tsunami Action Plan.

Aid for Trade

The presidency is proposing that the Council discuss and agree a comprehensive and credible EU aid for trade package in advance of the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong on 12 December.

I have today placed in the Library of the House a copy of the National Community Safety Plan which incorporates the National Policing Plan 2006–09.

The National Community Safety Plan is the first of its kind. It sets out central Government's key community safety priorities for the next three years and our minimum expectations of each of our partners, to underline the very broadly based nature of community safety work. Its aim is to join up the approach to community safety across central Government, to instil a new relationship between public services and the communities they serve in the community safety field and to encourage a deeper and more mature relationship between central Government and its partners in this area.

The delivery of community safety requires a multi-agency approach and the police are key players, so the National Policing Plan is now embedded within the National Community Safety Plan. This, the fourth National Policing Plan, sets the framework and context for policing in England and Wales for the next three years. It will inform local police planning and help to ensure that all communities know what they should expect from their local police force.

The National Community Safety Plan is available on the web at www.crimereduction.gov.uk/ncsp.

I have today published a consultation paper on the Government's proposals for the powers of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Government strongly believe in the importance of human rights and are committed to ensuring that the Commission has the right powers to enable it to carry out its duties effectively.

The consultation paper sets out the Government's conclusions on each of the recommendations put forward by the Commission in its own review of its powers. In total, the Commission has recommended 29 amendments to the Northern Ireland Act 1998, although following a House of Lords ruling the Commission withdrew eight of the recommendations.

In assessing these recommendations, the Government have concluded that it is satisfied that the Northern Ireland Act 1998 already broadly provides the Commission with the right powers to carry out its duties efficiently. In a number of cases, we agree with the recommendations put forward but believe that these changes do not require any additional legislative provision but should be made administratively, in co-operation with the Commission.

However in two important areas, namely, the right of access to places of detention and the power to compel evidence and witnesses, we agree that it is right to amend the Northern Ireland Act 1998 in order to grant the Commission the necessary powers to allow it to fulfil its existing functions properly.

While the Government believe that it is right for the Commission to be granted these powers, we also believe that there must be proper safeguards in place to ensure that they are used appropriately.

The consultation, which will run until 8 February 2006, invites views on all aspects of the paper, but I have asked specifically for views on how these two powers should be implemented and how we can make sure that the right safeguards are in place.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2004–05, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council administered some £25.1 million housing benefits, about 37 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. The council was selected for inspection because it was taking 46 days on average to process new claims for housing benefit in the quarter ended 31 December 2004 and it had operated with a backlog of claims for several years. The inability to clear the backlog was mainly due to a high turnover of Benefits service staff and managers and time lost to the introduction of new technology. Several initiatives to reduce the backlog were tried, including the introduction of a twilight shift, overtime working and the use of a dedicated backlog team. The backlog was eventually cleared in September 2004.

The overall performance of the Benefits service has improved considerably over the past 12 months. A variety of initiatives and changes to procedures have been introduced, including the fast tracking of claims and the prioritisation of changes of circumstances. BFI's sampling confirmed that processing times for new claims had improved considerably with the time taken to process new claims for the quarter ended 31 March 2005 now at the Department's standard of 36 days. The sampling also confirmed that performance in respect of changes of circumstances had followed a similar pattern of steady improvement. In 2003–04, the average time taken to process changes of circumstances was 43 days but this had reduced to an average of 17 days in 2004–05.

The overall standard of verification was good with only one area of weakness. The claim form currently used by the council does not meet the design and content principles of the Department's model claim form but the council is in the process of revising the form and will ensure that best practice is taken into account in the new version.

The council has good working relationships with many stakeholders, including landlords, housing associations, The Pensions Service and Jobcentre Plus. The council has an effective performance management framework in place to report the benefits service statistics to members but current performance targets are not challenging enough. Targets need to be reviewed to ensure that they remain up to date and challenging. This will help the council drive forward further improvements to performance and help it achieve its aim of top quartile performance by 2006.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is considering the report and may ask the council for proposals in response to BFI's findings.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Great Yarmouth Borough Council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2004–05 Great Yarmouth Borough Council administered some £27.7 million in housing benefits, about 31 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. Overall, the inspection found that Great Yarmouth Borough Council was performing to a Fair standard.

The council has had a backlog of work for many years. This, together with problems recruiting and retaining processing staff and an outdated benefits IT system have made it difficult for the council to provide an effective benefits service. The council reported that it had taken an average of 89 days to process new claims in 2004–05. However, BFI's inspection revealed that a combination of errors meant that its reported performance was understated and the real average was nearer 49 days, compared to the Standard of 36 days. Inefficient practices were creating unnecessary delays at each stage of the claims process and the council's checking regime was not identifying some of the errors that were resulting in inaccurate reporting. Only limited analysis was carried out by the council to establish the reason for failure to meet targets. Insufficient internal audit resources had been allocated to audit the benefits service.

The council has demonstrated a commitment to improving its benefit service by allocating funds to clear the backlog, implementing a new benefits IT system and seeking to enter into a partnership with consultants to help improve performance.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is considering the report and may ask the council for proposals in response to BFI's findings.