Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, HM Treasury resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be reduced by £6,939,000 from £247,599,000 to £240,660,000. The administration budget will be reduced by £4,465,000 from £167,794,000 to £163,329,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on the voted and non-voted elements and near cash are as set out in the following table:

The reduction in the resource element of the DEL arises from a Machinery of Government change transfer of £6,940,000 following the transfer of budgetary responsibility for the salaries and pensions of UK members of the European Parliament from the Treasury to the Cabinet Office, to align with the policy responsibility.

The net reduction in the Administration Budget arises from a transfer of £4,465,000 from RfR 1: “Raising the rate of sustainable growth and achieving rising prosperity and a better quality of life, with economic and employment opportunities for all” to RfR 2: “Cost effective management of the supply of coins and actions to protect the integrity of coinage” to partially offset an increase in programme spending due to increased metal prices and increased demand for coinage.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the HM Revenue and Customs departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £98,509,000 from £4,858,924,000 to £4,957,433,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £31,230,000 from £4,492,263,000 to £4,523,493,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £31,230,000)

Voted: total increase of £91,304,000.

RfR1

(i) £60,074,000 Department Unallocated Provision from non-voted to voted administration costs to support on-going merger costs and to drive forward the modernisation programme.

(ii) £38,000,000 non cash administration costs End Year Flexibility (EYF), as announced in the 2005-06 Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm6883).

(iii) £35,109,000 transfer of administration costs to programme expenditure, of which £11,000,000 relates to a reclassification of some legal costs.

(iv) £30,000,000 Reserve claim in respect of the expansion of call centre capacity.

(v) A Machinery of Government change to the Home Office in respect of Serious Organised Crime Agency funding amounting to £1,445,000 in near cash administration costs and £216,000 in non-cash administration costs.

Non-voted: total decrease of £60,074,000.

RfR1

(i) £60,074,000 Department Unallocated Provision from non-voted to voted administration costs to support on-going merger costs and to drive forward the modernisation programme.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £36,366,000)

Voted: total increase of £52,957,000.

RfR1

(i) £35,109,000 transfer of administration costs to programme expenditure, of which £11,000,000 relates to the reclassification of some legal costs.

(ii) A reduction of £16,277,000 to voted programme receipts met from a commensurate reduction in non-voted programme expenditure. This is a neutral DEL change.

(iii) £1,500,000 reclassified as programme expenditure from capital DEL in respect of the Government Secure Zone.

(iv) £168,000 programme expenditure from the Department for Finance and Personnel in respect of the aggregates levy.

(v) A Machinery of Government change to the Home Office in respect of Serious Organised Crime Agency funding amounting to £97,000 in programme expenditure.

Non-voted: total decrease of £16,591,000

RfR1

(i) A reduction of £16,277,000 to voted programme receipts met from a commensurate reduction in non-voted programme expenditure. This is a neutral DEL change.

(ii) £314,000 transfer to DWP in respect of the National Insurance Fund provision.

Capital Change (total increase of £30,913,000)

Voted: total increase of £34,652,000

RfR1

(i) £30,602,000 transferred from resource to help deliver major investment in information technology and business systems infrastructure.

(ii) £3,739,000 non-voted Department Unallocated Provision transferred to voted capital DEL to help deliver major investment in information technology and business systems infrastructure.

(iii) £1,500,000 reclassified as programme expenditure from capital DEL in respect of the Government Secure Zone.

(iv) A Machinery of Government change to the Home Office in respect of Serious Organised Crime Agency funding amounting to £289,000.

RfR2

(v) £2,100,000 administration costs, as announced in the 2005-06 Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm6883) vired into capital.

Non-voted: total decrease of £3,739,000

RfR1

(i) £3,739,000 non-voted from Department Unallocated Provision to help deliver major investment in information technology and business systems infrastructure.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Office for National Statistics’ departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £28,279,000 from £196,203,000 to £224,482,000, and the administration budget will be increased by £22,993,000 from £168,423,000 to £191,416,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £22,993,000)

Voted: total increase of £28,993,000.

Reserve claim totalling £27,040,000 in respect of costs associated with vacating Drummond Gate, ONS efficiency and restructuring

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF) of £553,000 (administration) as set out in the Public Outturn White Paper (CM 6883)

To draw down £6,000,000 Departmental Unallocated Provision to meet in year pressures

To increase admin by £200,000 due to reclassification of EU expenditure and receipts

Loss on sale of Bessborough House(£4,800,000) financed by savings in administration costs

Non-voted: total reduction of £6,000,000

(i) To draw down £6,000,000 Departmental Unallocated Provision to meet in year pressures

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £5,286,000)

Voted: total increase of £5,286,000

Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF) of £686,000 (other current) as set out in the Public Outturn White Paper (CM 6883)

To reduce programme by £200,000 due to reclassification of EU expenditure and receipts to admin

Loss on sale of Bessborough (£4,800,000) financed by savings in administration costs

The Government are today announcing three steps to modernise the tax system to remove obstacles to competition and expand choice in trading financial instruments in the UK. They will allow firms to benefit from the new opportunities offered by liberalisation of financial regulation in the European Union, and specifically from the introduction of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).

First, from November 2007, the Government will no longer require transactions in shares admitted to trading on a regulated market under MiFID to be reported to that market, or those intermediaries to be members of that market, in order for intermediaries to benefit from stamp duty relief. Currently, relief from stamp duty is available for intermediaries that trade securities listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) only if they are members of the LSE and they report their trades to the LSE. This will allow new providers of transaction reporting services to enter the market more easily. The Government are today publishing draft clauses for consultation in advance of this year’s Finance Bill.

Second, the Government are announcing that, in addition to shares admitted to trading on a regulated market, it also intends to extend this approach to include shares admitted to trading on a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF). Currently, in order to benefit from stamp duty relief, intermediaries trading in such securities are required to report transactions to the market on which the securities are admitted to trade. The Government intend to remove this requirement, in order to further extend choice in transaction reporting. However, before proceeding with this proposal, the Government are providing time for the Financial Services Authority to consider fully any possible regulatory implications from this change and will provide an update on progress at the Pre-Budget Report.

Third, the Government also propose to modernise the definition of a Recognised Stock Exchange for tax purposes to allow shares traded on other regulated markets under MiFID to benefit from the same tax arrangements that currently apply only to the LSE in the UK. For example, this will allow shares listed by the UK Listing Authority and traded on a regulated market under MiFID to be held in an Individual Savings Account or to meet the listing requirement to be a UK Real Estate Investment Trust. The Government will publish draft clauses in advance of this year’s Finance Bill.

Taken together, these changes will help expand choice and increase competition in the provision of services to trade financial instruments in the UK.

The Government have been a leading proponent of the need to improve competition and efficiency in Europe’s securities markets for three reasons. First, to ensure that capital markets play their full role in financing the long-term investment needs of the wider economy as efficiently as possible. Second, to liberalise the provision of services to trade financial instruments within the EU so that successful firms and financial centres—such as London—can benefit from these opportunities within the European Single Market. Third, to ensure that the UK’s markets and related services remain competitive internationally.

The Government have supported the introduction of greater competition through MiFID. The UK is the only major financial centre in the European Union to transpose the MiFID by the deadline of 31 January. This gives UK-based financial firms the maximum time to prepare for the impact of the new trading environment.

Today’s announcement remove other unnecessary non-regulatory obstacles to greater competition in trading financial instruments by modernising the tax system to bring it closer into line with the liberalised regulatory environment.

These announcements today coincide with an informal meeting of the High Level Group on City competitiveness, during which senior figures from the UK-based financial services sector met European Commissioners Charlie McCreevy and Neelie Kroes to discuss the future direction of financial services policy in Europe, including developments in trading securities.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the National School of Government departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £1,636,000 from £640,000 to £2,276,000 and the administration costs limit will be £2,276,000. These figures reflect a take up of end year flexibility following NSG's transfer from the Cabinet Office. Within the DEL change, the impact of resources and Capital are as set out in the following table:

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Cabinet Office departmental expenditure limit (DEL) has increased by £93,200,000 from £379,380,000 to £472,580,000. Capital DEL includes capital grants treated as resource in Estimates and accounts but which are treated as Capital DEL in budgets. The administration cost limits will be decreased by £351,000 from £219,392,000 to £219,041,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from: Transfers from Security and Intelligence Agencies for their contribution towards BBC monitoring project, Scope programme and CSIA project; a Reserve transfer for V matched funding; a Reserve transfer for the funding of Retail Enforcement and Local Better Regulation within the Better Regulation Executive; a transfer from HM Treasury to Cabinet Office for the salaries and pensions of UK members of the European Parliament. Other changes in the resource element of the DEL arises from transfers to Deputy Prime Minister’s Office to cover DPMO’s accommodation costs (these costs will be recovered by invoice), and to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for Third Sector work.

The changes in the capital element of the DEL arises from a drawdown of End Year Flexibility (EYF) from the Capital Modernisation Fund to cover funding requirements for the SCOPE programme and Cabinet Office security and investments projects/programmes and a transfer of End Year Flexibility from the Home Office in respect of the Office of the Third Sector Futurebuilders Capital grant programme.

Plans to change the Charity Commission’s departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and administration budget for 2006-07.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Charity Commission total DEL will be increased by £550,000 from £30,992,000 to £31,542,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

initial expenditure of £200,000 on implementing the new Charities Act, including recruitment of new Commissioners;

one-off expenditure of £500,000 on staff severances to reduce baseline pay costs;

one-off expenditure of £200,000 in respect of dilapidations on the London office.

The increases will be funded by the take up of the Commission’s end of year flexibility entitlement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Communities and Local Government's departmental expenditure limits for 2006-07 will change as follows:

the Department for Communities and Local Government's main programmes DEL will be increased by £43,389,000 from £9,418,142,000 to £9,461,531,000 and the administration budget will also be increased by £5,852,000 from £318,647,000 to £324,499,000. The new administration budget takes account of the re-classification of £2,625,000 for the Residential Property Tribunal Service from administration to programme expenditure. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

(2) The Department for Communities and Local Government (Local Government) DEL will be increased by £27,588,000 from £22,803,676,000 to £22,831,264,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

(i) take up of end year flexibility of £27,500,000 for special grant paid in support of the local authority private finance initiative programme.

(ii) a transfer of £88,000 to Request for Resources (RfR 2) Local Government Research from Housing, Supply and Demand Section (RfRl).

(iii) an increase in receipts of £80,000 with a corresponding increase in DEL cover for capacity building.

(i) take up of end year flexibility of £13,500.000 comprising :

Programme Expenditure

£2,000,000 for Procurement Efficiency in Social Housing;

Administration costs

(b) £11,500,000 for administration costs comprising £5,000,000 (non cash) to cover transfers to Government Offices and £6,500,000 from Other Current to cover the costs of voluntary early staff exits.

(ii) a transfer of £88,000 from Request for Resources (RfR 1) Research to Local Government Research (RfR2).

(iii) Draw down of £813,000 from the Treasury's Invest to Save Budget comprising £108,000 for the First Step Trust and £705.000 for the Transitional Spaces projects.

(iv) A net transfer of £4,477,000 from other Government Departments, comprising:

From Other Government Departments

Programme Expenditure

£1,000,000 from the Department for Constitutional Affairs for the start up costs of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Administration Costs (Government Offices)

(b) £1,800,000 from the Department for Transport towards the costs of voluntary staff exits;

(c) £764,000 from the Cabinet Office for the Community Cohesion programme;

(d) £1,013,000 from the Department for Trade and Industry for additional UK Trade and Investment funding.

To Other Government Departments

Administration Costs (Central Department)

(e) £100,000 to the Deputy Prime Minister's Office for the costs of shared services.

(v) an increase in receipts of £22,952,000 offsetting increases in provision of £1,711,000 for Firelink recharging Scotland (£1,144,000) and Wales (£565,000) for the costs of the Firelink project; £2,000 for Control Rooms; £583,000 for Central Administration for work provided to Other Government Departments; £178,000 for Other Current for expenditure incurred on secondees; £2,564,000 for Mapping and Data Services; £17,477,000 for Government Offices comprising £15,819,000 from the Home Office for various programmes; £1,653,000 for work provided to Other Government Departments and £5,000 to offset against non pay expenditure; and £439,000 for the Independent Housing Ombudsman Limited.

a net transfer of £29,296,000 from non voted to voted provision comprising:

From voted to non-voted provision

(a) £9,867,000 from Firelink to the Departmental Unallocated provision comprising of £4,817,000 non cash and £5,050,000 near cash;

(b) £125,000 from the Landlord Licensing and Safety Rating programme to the LEASE programme;

(c) £500,000 from the Regional Housing Board Advice to the Housing Corporation;

(d) £200,000 from the Housing Market Renewal Fund to the Housing Corporation;

(e) £150,000 within Thames Gateway from direct funding to Thurrock Urban Development Corporation (UDC);

To voted from non- voted provision

(f) £39,488,000 non cash from English Partnerships comprising £339,000 to the Coalfields Enterprise Fund; £150,000 to the Planning Inspectorate; £1,224,000 to E-Planning and £37,775,000 to the European Regional Development Fund;

(g) £650,000 to the European Regional Development Fund from Thames Gateway South East of England Development Agency (£500,000) and Thurrock UDC (£150,000).

(vii) As a result of the changes to Request for Resources 1, The Department for Communities and Local Government's administration provision will be increased by £12,352,000 from £325,454,000 to £337,806,000. The new provision takes account of the re-classification of £2,625,000 for the Residential Property Tribunal Service from administration to programme expenditure.

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:

a take up of EYF of £41,886,000 comprising of:

Programme Expenditure

(a) £34,000,000 for Large Scale Voluntary Transfers;

(b) £286,000 from the Invest to Save Budget for the Private Housing Renewal project;

(c) £7,600,000 for English Partnerships.

(ix) Draw down of £5,000 from the Treasury's Invest to Save Budget for the Transitional Spaces project

a net transfer of £17,204,000 to other Government Departments comprising of

From Other Government Departments

Administration Costs

(a) £45,000 from the Department for Transport for the Information Technology Services Outsourcing Project (ITSOP).

To Other Government Departments

Programme Expenditure

(b) £12,249,000 from the Departmental Unallocated Provision to the Department for Culture Media and Sport in respect of the Department's contribution towards the Olympics preparation infrastructure costs.

(c) £5,000,000 for the Combined Universities of Cornwall from the Development of English Regions programme.

(xi) an increase in receipts of £5,366,000 offsetting increases in provision of £3,750,000 for residual Single Regeneration Budget for claw back on behalf of Greenwich Industrial Estate and £1,616,000 for Government Offices from the Highways Agency.

Within the capital element of the DEL there is a net transfer of £26,061,000 from non voted to voted provision comprising ;

From voted to non voted provision

(a) £19,400,000 to English Partnerships comprising £5,000,000 from Procurement Efficiency in Social Housing; £13,500,000 from the Housing Market Renewal Fund and £900,000 from the Home Buying and Selling programme;

(b) £890,000 from Firelink to the Departmental Unallocated Provision;

(c) £1,199,000 from Thames Gateway direct funding to English Partnerships (£1,074,000) and Thurrock UDC (£125,000);

(d) £200,000 from Thames Gateway direct funding to East of England Development Agency.

To voted from non voted provision

(e) £45,000,000 to Capital Pooled Receipts from the Departmental Unallocated Provision;

(f) £2,500,000 within Other Growth Areas from the Urban Regeneration Agencies to direct funding;

(g) £250,000 within Thames Gateway from Thurrock UDC to direct funding.

(iv) a net transfer of £404,000 from voted to non voted provision comprising £104,000 from Capacity Building to the Standards Board and £300,000 from Bellwin to the Valuation Tribunal Service.

(v) The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from a transfer of £3,000,000 to voted Local Government on Line from the non voted Communication programme.

(vi) an increase in receipt of £1,250,000 with a corresponding increase in DEL cover for Local Government on Line.

Changes to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 for England came into force today introducing a new permitted development right to help mitigate the current increased risk of Avian Influenza ('bird flu').

Following the recent outbreak of avian influenza on a farm in Suffolk, Defra have taken measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including the culling of all birds on the infected premises, putting in place a 3 km protection zone and a 10 km surveillance zone around the infected area and a restriction zone covering approximately 2090 km2 of North East Suffolk and South East Norfolk. In all of those zones, bird keepers are required to house their birds or, if that is not practical, otherwise isolate them from contact with wild birds.

In order to help deal with the current increased risk of avian influenza nationwide, the Government have decided to assist poultry farmers and owners of other captive birds by granting planning permission in the whole of England for temporary and reversible works to shelter poultry and other captive birds from contact with wild birds. Landowners will be allowed to erect a building with a ground area of up to 465 square metres, or extend an existing building by up to 50 per cent. Any such development will be permitted to remain standing for as long as it is necessary to protect poultry and other captive birds from avian influenza, but not beyond 12 months. After such time the structures will either need to be removed and the land restored to its original condition or to any condition as agreed between the local planning authority and the developer or planning permission for a permanent structure will need to be sought.

The amendment will also cover Conservation Areas, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks. Legislation protecting Listed Buildings and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) will continue to apply.

On 12 February the Legal Services Commission (LSC) published the following papers which take forward the Government's legal aid reform programme set out in Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead:

Police Station: Boundaries, Fixed Fees and New Working Arrangements— Consultation Paper;

Market Stability—Response to Consultation;

A Consultation plan for Duty Solicitor Call Centre and CDS Direct; and

Best Value Tendering for Very High Cost Cases (VHCC)—Consultation Paper.

‘Legal Aid reform: the Way Ahead’ was published on 28 November 2006. It followed the extensive consultation we undertook on the proposals set out in the final report by Lord Carter of Coles, published on 13 July 2006. We very carefully considered and are continuing to consider the suggestions and concerns expressed by practitioners during the consultation. We have already made changes to the timing, sequencing and detail of some of Lord Carter's proposals.

We value the input of practitioners and interested parties on the ongoing reform of legal aid. We are grateful to all those who contributed to the recent consultation on market stability, and encourage all those with an interest to contribute both to the current consultations, and to the consultation on the Duty Solicitor Call Centre and CD2S Direct which will begin in March 2007.

Copies of the papers published on 12 February are available on the Legal Services Commission's website at

http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/criminal/consultations.asp

and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Culture Media and Sport's Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be increased by £58,769,000 from £1,808,003,000 to £1,866,772,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

Take up of £39,800,000 Programme End Year flexibility

Transfer of £3,080,000 to Ministry of Defence for DCMS' contribution to the funding of the meteorological services.

A reduction of £200,000 from the Departmental Unallocated Provision, that was incorrectly scored in the Winter Supplementary Estimate.

The administration cost limit has remained at £53,270,000

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from

Take up of Capital End-Year Flexibility of £10,000,000

Transfer of £12,249,000 from the DCLG for Olympic costs.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Defence departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £539,530,000 from £33,611,177,000 to £34,150,707,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on Resources and Capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

the draw down of part of the Department's Unallocated Provision (DUP) of 250,000,000 Indirect Resource DEL to meet Top Level Budget Holders' latest forecasts of depreciation and cost of capital;

a transfer in of £3,080,000 from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as their contribution to the National Meteorological Programme and Severe Weather Warning Service;

to increase Request for Resources 2 by £298,200,000 Resource DEL and £89,000,000 Capital DEL to reflect the costs of peace-keeping in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and the Global Prevention Pool;

a transfer of £42,000,000 from RfRl to RfR2 to cover depreciation and cost of capital costs;

In addition there is a transfer within RfRl from Resource DEL Indirect (non-cash) to Resource DEL Direct (near cash) of £150,000,000.

The changes to Resource DEL and Capital DEL will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £550,331,000.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office departmental expenditure limit (DEL) for 2006-07 will be increased by £587,000 from £1,960,000 to £2,547,000 as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from the Machinery of Government Changes comprising of £100,000 from Communities and Local Government and £487,000 from the Cabinet Office.

The administration budget for the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office will be £2,547,000. This resource will be used for the costs of its administration.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Education and Skills Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL), (including the Office for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools (OFSTED) which has a separate Estimate) will be increased by £139,575,000 from £59,602,990,000 to £59,742,565,000 the administration cost budget will be increased by £5,500,000 from £272,561,000 to £278,061,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Within the administration cost budget changes, the impact is set out in the following table:

Resource DEL

The increase in the resource element of the DEL of £126,934,000 arises from an increase in the voted element of the resource DEL of £9,730,000 and an increase of £117,204,000 in the non-voted element of resource DEL mainly in the Department's Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

Voted Resource DEL

The £9,730,000 increase in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from:

RFR1

The take up of end year flexibility of £105,500,000 for the resource consequences of Student loans £100,000,000, for pay and pensions for departmental running costs £5,500,000.

A movement of £115,048,000 from RFR2, £82,325,000 in respect of Nursery Education Extension Funding, £50,000 in respect of Early Years National Travellers Programme, £1,500,000 in respect of Child Contact Centres, £2,500,000 in respect of Early Years Foundation Centres, £100,000 in respect of Early Years data collection pilot, £28,573,000 in respect of current grants.

A £124,710,000 virement to non voted resource DEL, £25,523,000 to support Schools and Teachers, £25,193,000 to support Higher Education, £73,089,000 to support Further education and Lifelong Learning, £905,000 to support Children, Young People and Families.

A £29,951,000 virement from non voted resource DEL for other central services.

A movement of £220,000 to RFR3, for repayment of the Children's Fund loan.

An increase of £72,000 for Special Educational Needs for dyslexia taken up from the Invest to Save Budget.

A transfer from the Home Office of £604,000 for Offender Education.

Transfers to Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools (OFSTED) £393,000 for the Childcare register and to the Home Office £947,000 for Offender Education.

RFR2

A movement of £1,327,000 from non voted departmental unallocated provision for Central Government grants.

A movement of £116,928,000 to RFR1, £82,325,000 in respect of Nursery Education Extension Funding, £50,000 in respect of Early Years National Travellers Programme, £1,500,000 in respect of Child Contact Centres, £2,500,000 in respect of Early Years Foundation Centres, £100,000 in respect of Early Years data collection pilot, £28,573,000 in respect of current grants. A movement of £1,880,000 to RFR1 non budget section in respect of the National College for Schools Leadership.

RFR3

A movement of £220,000 from RFR1 for repayment of Children's Fund loan.

OFSTED

The increase of £206,000 in resource DEL arises from:

A transfer from the Department of Education and Skills £393,000 for the Childcare register.

A decrease of £187,000 from profit on the sale of an asset.

Non-voted resource DEL

The £117,204,000 increase in Non-voted resource DEL arises from:

A £124,710,000 virement from RFR1 voted resource DEL, £25,523,000 to support Schools and Teachers, £25,193,000 to support Higher Education, £73,089,000 to support Further education and Lifelong Learning, £905,000 to support Children, Young People and Families.

A £29,951,000 virement to RFR1 voted resource DEL for other central services.

A movement of £1,880,000 from RFR2 voted resource DEL to support the National College for Schools Leadership.

A transfer in of £5,669,000 from Department of Health for pension indexation.

The take up of end year flexibility of £16,500,000 for take up of Adult Learning Inspectorate provisions £4,500,000 and for take up of Qualifications and Curriculum Authority provisions £12,000,000.

A reclassification of £277,000 from non-voted resource DEL to non-voted capital DEL for the Office for Children's Commissioner capital investment.

A movement of £1,327,000 to RFR2 Central government grants from departmental unallocated provision.

Capital DEL

The increase in the capital element of the DEL of £12,641,000 arises from a £4,472,000 decrease in the voted element of capital DEL and an increase of £17,113,000 in the non-voted element of capital DEL.

Voted Capital DEL

The £4,472,000 decrease in the voted element of the capital DEL arises from:

RFR1

The take up of End Year Flexibility of £7,964,000 for the Cybrarian capital modernisation fund £7,851,000 and the Invest to Save Budget for Construction Industry Training Board £113,000.

A £16,836,000 virement to non-voted capital DEL £11,000,000 for support to Higher Education, £51,000 for the School Food Trust, £1,105,000 for support to the Sector Skills Development Agency, £4,680,000 from the departmental unallocated provision for Central Government grants.

Transfer from the Department for Communities and Local Government of £5,000,000 for the combined Universities of Cornwall.

The decrease of £600,000 in OFSTED capital for non-operating appropriation in aid in respect of the sale of an asset.

Non-voted Capital DEL

The £17,113,000 increase in the non-voted element of capital DEL arises from:

A £16,836,000 virement from voted capital DEL £11,000,000 for support to Higher Education, £51,000 for the School Food Trust, £1,105,000 for support to the Sector Skills Development Agency, £4,680,000 from the departmental unallocated provision for Central Government grants.

A reclassification of £277,000 from non-voted resource DEL to non-voted capital DEL for the Office for Children's Commissioner capital investment.

Administration Cost Budget

The take up of End Year Flexibility of £5,500,000 to cover net pressure on departmental administration costs.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £388,898,000 from £3,496,929,000 to £3,885,827,000 and the Administration Budget will be increased by £50,000,000 from £285,458,000 to £335,458,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from (i) take up of £50,000,000 of administration resources through End Year Flexibility; (ii) a claim on the Reserve of £305,000,000 of non-cash programme resources to cover provision for disallowance arising from Common Agricultural Policy schemes, most notably the Single Payment Scheme; (iii) take up of £250,000 of programme resources from HM Treasury for the StartHere initiative; (iv) a transfer to the Department of Trade and Industry of £4,172,000 of programme resources for socio-economic funding; (v) reclassification of £37,820,000 of cost of capital charges in respect of British Waterways Board to non-cash programme DEL resources; (vi) a switch of £25,508,000 of programme resources from non-voted to voted.

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from (i) a switch of £67,000 of capital from voted to non-voted.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £115,860,000 from £1,878,801,000 to £1,994,661,000. The administration budget will be decreased by £6,611,000 from £891,442,000 to £884,831,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

Request for Resources 1 (RfRl)

Administration

Transfer to the DEL Reserve of £6,611,000 in respect of the overseas pricing mechanism (OPM) impact on the FCO.

Programme

I. DEL Reserve Claim of £14,600,000 in respect of Consular Premiums collected in the UK

II. DEL Reserve Claim of £12,849,000 in respect of the FCO/HMT 50/50 International organisations cost sharing agreement

III. Transfer to the DEL reserve of £3,837,000 in respect of the overseas pricing mechanism (OPM) impact on the FCO.

IV. Transfer from the DEL Reserve of £821,000 in respect of the overseas pricing mechanism (OPM) impact of the British Council.

V. Budgetary transfers to SIA of £200,000 and £74,000 in respect of planned programme activity.

Neutral Changes

I. An increase in income and expenditure of £16,600,000 in respect of wider market sales.

II. An increase in income and expenditure of £10,000,000 in respect of consular A in A.

III. An increase in income and expenditure of £4,830,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to HO for Afghan delivery plan.

IV. An increase in income and expenditure of £3,789,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to DFID for FTN Services.

V. An increase in income and expenditure of £3,413,000 in respect of reclaimable VAT. VI. An increase in income and expenditure of £2,000,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to Cabinet Office

VII. An increase in income and expenditure of £1,766,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to DFID for FTN Services.

VIII.. An increase in income and expenditure of £1,210,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to SOCA for FTN Services.

IX. An increase in income and expenditure of £439,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to HO for migration fund.

X. An increase in income and expenditure of £432,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to DFID for FTN Services.

XI. An increase in income and expenditure of £168,000 in respect of an invoice from FCO to HMRC for FTN Services.

Capital

I. DEL Reserve claim of £9,094,000 in respect of the FCO/HMT 50/50 International organisations cost sharing agreement.

II. Transfer to the DEL Reserve of £318,000 in respect of the overseas pricing mechanism (OPM).

Neutral Changes

I. An increase in income and expenditure of £7,600,000 in respect of the asset recycling agreement with Treasury.

II. An increase in income and expenditure of £1,087,000 in respect of the asset recycling agreement with Treasury.

Request for Resources 2 (RfR2) Programme

I. Drawdown of £60,500,000 balance of Africa peacekeeping main estimate provision for planned programme activity and budgetary transfers.

II. Budgetary transfer to MOD of £53,000,000 for peacekeeping (Balkans).

III. Drawdown of £46,500,000 balance of global peacekeeping main estimate provision for planned programme activity and budgetary transfers.

IV. Budgetary transfer from DFID of £5,000,000 for Africa conflict prevention activity (Sudan).

V. Budgetary transfer from DFID of £5,000,000 for Africa conflict prevention activity (humanitarian).

VI. Budgetary transfer from DFID of £5,000,000 for Africa conflict prevention activity (peacekeeping).

VII. Budgetary transfer to MOD of £4,200,000 for planned programme activity.

VIII. Take up off £4,000,000 EYF in respect of global conflict prevention pool for planned programme activity

IX. DEL reserve claim of £950,000 for global conflict prevention pool peacekeeping.

X. Budgetary transfer from DFID of £875,000 for quick intervention programmes (QIPs).

XI. Budgetary Transfer from DFID of £341,000 for Africa conflict prevention activity.

XII. Budgetary Transfer from SIA of £190,000 for Africa conflict prevention activity.

Subject to the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department of Health's element of the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be reduced by £5,513,000 from £87,176,137,000 to £87,170,624,000 and the Administration Cost Limit will be increased by £12,259,000 from £227,319,000 to £239,578,000. The Food Standards Agency DEL remains unchanged at £144,847,000. The overall DEL including the Food Standards Agency will reduced by £5,513,000 from £87,320,984,000 to £87,315,471,000. The impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table.

The Department of Health DEL has reduced by £5,513,000 made up of transfers with the Department for Education and Skills of £5,669,000 for pension indexation costs and the National Assembly for Wales of £2,441,000 for cross border patient flows, dental sift budget and high security psychiatric services. These reductions are partially offset by an increase from the Scottish Executive of £1,600,000 for a contribution towards the healthy start programme and £997,000 additional funding from the Invest to save budget.

The Department of Health’s administration cost limit has increased by £12,259,000 from programme budgets to reflect the re-timing of expenditure between years for the department's change programme.

There is no change to the Food Standards Agency element of the DEL.

Today, my Department has published the National Health Service financial report for the third quarter of 2006-07. This report shows that the NHS as a whole is forecasting a £13 million surplus for the year.

We remain on course to deliver net financial balance across the NHS by the end of March 2007.

The report has been placed in the Library, and is available on the Department’s website at:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4143035&a mp;chk=K/OpG3

We are also today laying before Parliament the Government's response to the Health Select Committee's Report on NHS Deficits (Cm 7028). We welcome the report from the Health Select Committee on NHS deficits and the valuable contribution made to the wider debate on the financial position of the NHS.

Our response has been placed in the Library, and is available on the Department's website at:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4143033&a mp;chk=9%2B31I6

My Department is also publishing today, the report complied by our Chief Economist, entitled “Explaining NHS deficits, 2003-04 to 2005-06”. This report describes various evidence concerning NHS deficits and explores potential explanations for the timing, geographical patterns, and organisational structure of deficits. Its conclusion is that there is no single cause of deficits, although there is more evidence for some explanations than others.

The report has also been placed in the Library, and is available on the Department's website at:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4143034&a mp;chk=WhXwaX

Plans of changes to the departmental expenditure limit and administrative budget for 2006-07.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Home Office's departmental expenditure limit for 2006-07 will be increased by £214,980,000 from £14,191,117,000 to £14,406,097,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £36,661,000 from £573,636,000 to £610,297,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table:

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for International Development departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £57,216,000 from £4,958,465,000 to £5,015,681,000; the administration budget will be increased by £30,000,012 from £235,000,000 to £265,012,000. The administration budget increase is for non-cash changes in accounting provisions; the cash budget for administration activities is unchanged.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The net addition to the resource DEL is made up as follows:

Additions: draw down of £77,077,000 of resource provision from end-year flexibility entitlements set out in the Public Expenditure 2005-06 Outturn White Paper, allocation of £343,000 from the Treasury Reserve for Band Aid VAT and £12,000 transferred from the Cabinet Office in respect of DFID's use of the Parliamentary Counsel's Office.

Reductions: transfer of £5,341,000 from the Africa Conflict Pool and £13,875,000 from departmental unallocated provision (DUP) to FCO for support to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and Quick Impact Projects in Afghanistan, and £1,000,000 from DUP to Home Office for migration projects.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Privy Council Office total DEL will be increased by £311,000, from £6,856,000 to £7,167,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from the draw down of EYF to make provision for early departure costs.

Subject to parliamentary approval the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) will be taking a 2006-07 spring supplementary estimate (DEL). The effect this will have is to increase the NIO’s DEL by £68,798,000 from £1,237,461,000 to £1,306,259,000.

The change in DEL £68,798,000 relates to the draw down of End Year Flexibility £61,303,000 of which is £36,900,000 is near cash resource and £24,403,000 is non-cash. The Department is also receiving net budget transfers from other Northern Ireland Departments of £2,547,000k resource and £24,000 capital. Also the Department has increased its DEL as a result of a swap from AME budget of £3,500,000. As DEL stated excludes depreciation, the change is adjusted by £1,424 000 to £68,798,000.

The cash drawdown is required to fund additional pressures declared during the year in areas such as Central Administration, Political Directorate, and Criminal Justice Directorate. The non-cash element is mainly required to create provision for potential liabilities in Compensation Agency, Youth Justice Agency, and the NI Prison Service.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) provision for the administration of the Scotland Office will be increased by £19,076,000 and the Scotland DEL will be reduced by £1,585,000 from £24,953,534,000 to £24,910,776,000.

The administration of the Scotland Office DEL increase takes account of the following routine adjustments:

the take-up of End Year Flexibility (EYF) by the Scotland Office amounting to £3,000,000;

a transfer of £16,076,000 from the Scottish Executive.

The Scotland DEL decrease takes account of the following routine adjustments to the Scottish Executive provision:

the take-up of End Year Flexibility (EYF) by the Scottish Executive amounting to £16,000,000;

an increase in depreciation of £34,805,000;

an increase in impairments of £6,368,000; and

the take up of £91,000 for PER 2006 Budget Consequential,

The DEL decrease also includes the following transfers between the Scottish Executive and other Government departments, amounting to a net decrease of £17,676,000. These are:

a transfer of £1,600,000 to the Department of Health; and

a transfer of £16,076,000 to the Scotland Office.

The decreases will be subtracted from the planned total of public expenditure to fund spending commitments in the current financial year.

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

The General Medical Council has started a hearing into allegations of professional misconduct by Professor David Southall, a consultant paediatrician. It is said that he kept so-called ‘special case’ files containing original medical records relating to his patients that were not also kept on the child's proper hospital file. Concerns have been raised that in some of those cases criminal proceedings may have been taken but the existence of the files not revealed, resulting in their not being disclosed as part of the prosecution process. I share those concerns.

What is not clear at this stage is the nature and extent of the failure of disclosure, if such it be. I have therefore decided that I will conduct an assessment of the cases where Professor Southall was instructed as a prosecution witness to determine if any ‘special case’ files existed in any cases involving criminal proceedings.

Once that assessment has been completed, I will decide what, if any, further review is required.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Attorney-General’s departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £7,057,000 from £717,645,000 to £724,702,000 and the Administration budget will not change from £117,360,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will be increased by £6,518,000 from £617,168,000 to £623,686,000. The Administration budget will reduce by £538,000 from £57,953,000 to £57,415,000.

The change in the CPS's DEL arises from:

The take up of £7,880,000 programme resource End Year Flexibility to support increased expenditure on the prosecution of criminal cases.

A decrease of £538,000 administration resource due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General’s resource DEL, from the Crown Prosecution Service to HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitors. This is required to help fund the provision of administrative services to the Attorney-General by the Attorney-General’s Office.

A decrease of £364,000 programme resources due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover from the Crown Prosecution Service to the Home Office. This is required to provide additional resources to fund the “No Witness No Justice (NWNJ)” partnership programme to improve services to prosecution witnesses in Court.

A decrease of £460,000 programme resource due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover from the Crown Prosecution Service to the Department for Constitutional Affairs to support the Criminal Justice Information Technology (CJIT) PROGRESS project.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is not applying for any funding in the spring supplementary. The SFO element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will therefore remain unchanged at £47,689,000. The Administration Budget will remain at £30,189,000.

The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office’s (RCPO’s) element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will be reduced by £299,000 from £36,666,000 to £36,367,000. The Administration Budget will reduce by £300,000 from £18,193,000 to £17,893000.

The changes in RCPO’s DEL arise from:

A decrease of £300,000 administration resources due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General’s resource DEL, from the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office to HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitors. This is required to provide additional resources to help fund the provision of administrative services to the Attorney-General by the Attorney-General’s Office.

A net token increase of £1,000 programme resources due to additional resources of £1,943,000 offset by an increase in appropriations-in-aid of £1,942,000 received as a result of asset forfeiture activity.

The Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSD) element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will be increased by £838,000 from £16,122,000 to £16,960,000. This is as a result of the Administration Budget increasing by £838,000 from £11,025,000 to £11,863,000.

The change in TSD’s DEL arises from:

Administration cost changes in respect of a reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General’s resource DEL of £538,000 from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and £300,000 from the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) to the Treasury Solicitors Department to meet the cost of policy support to the Attorney-General provided by the Attorney-General’s Office (AGO).

This statement sets out the changes that the Department is taking to manage its budgets in the current and next financial year.

In 2006-07 the Department is transferring £33m from underspends in the Science budget to its non-Science budget. The Science budget this year is £3.268 billion.

In relation to 2007-08, we are reducing our contribution to the RDA budget, which totals £2.3 billion, by £50 million, and we do not anticipate that the second instalment of the loan that was taken from accumulated Science underspends at the time of the last spring supplementary will be repaid.

Spring Supplementary Estimates 2006-07 – Written Statement

Expenditure Limits

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department of Trade and Industry’s departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £134,984,000 from £6,876,455,000 to £7,011,439,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £797,000 from £336,084,000 to £336,881,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

RfR1

i) utilisation of £800,000 near-cash programme resource DEL from the unused balance of the Department's end-year flexibility (EYF) entitlement in respect of the renewable energy Performance and Innovation Fund;

ii) transfer of £4,373,000 from UK Trade and Investment in respect of their DTI-related restructuring costs;

iii) transfer of £492,000 to the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland in respect of the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive;

iv) utilisation of £55,258,000 non-cash programme resource DEL from the unused balance of the Department's EYF entitlement in respect of provisions relating to Concessionary Fuel;

v) increase of £1,500,000 in respect of a transfer from the Treasury Reserve for the Financial Inclusion Fund, for face to face debt advice;

vi) virement of £1,500,000 from non-voted capital expenditure to voted non-cash resource expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

vii) virement of £2,087,000 from non-voted expenditure of the Coal Authority to voted expenditure in respect of shipbuilding support;

viii) virement of £6,693,000 from non-voted non cash resource expenditure to non-voted capital expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the Civil Nuclear Police Authority;

ix) utilisation of £60,000,000 near-cash programme resource DEL from the unused balance of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's EYF entitlement in respect of its non-voted expenditure;

x) Machinery of Government transfer of £4,172,000 from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in respect of the Regional Development Agencies for Natural England;

xi) utilisation of £7,739,000 near-cash programme resource DEL from the unused balance of the Department's EYF entitlement in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Regional Development Agencies;

xii) virement of £27,000,000 no longer being spent this year from the non-voted budget of the Research Councils to voted non-Science expenditure in relation to the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive; and

xiii) virement of £6,000,000 no longer being spent this year from the non-voted budget of the Research Councils to voted non-Science expenditure in relation to the National Measurement System.

RfR2

i) virement of £ 1,825,000 from the non-voted expenditure of the Research Councils to voted OSI Initiatives;

ii) virement of £975,000 from the non-voted expenditure of the Research Councils to voted Science and Society programmes;

iii) virement of £24,174,000 from the non-voted non cash expenditure of the Research Councils to non-voted capital expenditure of the Research Councils;

iv) virement of £27,000,000 no longer being spent this year from the non-voted budget of the Research Councils to voted non-Science expenditure in relation to the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive;

v) virement of £6,000,000 no longer being spent this year from the non-voted budget of the Research Councils to voted non-Science expenditure in relation to the National Measurement System.

Also within the change to resource DEL, the changes to the administration budget are RfR1:

i) utilisation of £1,965,000 near-cash administration resource DEL and £582,000 non-cash administration resource DEL from the unused balance of the Department's EYF entitlement in respect of UK Trade and Investment;

ii) transfer of £ 1,013,000 from UK Trade and Investment to the Department for Communities and Local Government in respect of Government Offices for the Regions;

iii) transfer of £100,000 from the Treasury Solicitors in respect of European Division;

iv) transfer of £837,000 from administration to programme expenditure in respect of the transfer of the Companies Investigation Branch to the Insolvency Service;

v) RfR2 budget reallocation of £467,000 transferred to RfRl, as part of a wider programme of restructuring and reallocations, to bring budgets into alignment;

RfR2:

Underspends transferred to RfRl as noted above.

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:

RfR1

i) a virement of £1,500,000 from non-voted capital expenditure to voted non-cash resource expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

ii) a virement of £6,693,000 from non-voted near-cash resource expenditure to non-voted capital expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

RfR2

i) virement of £3,000,000 from the voted expenditure of the Science Research Investment Fund to the non-voted expenditure of the Research Councils;

ii) an increase of £5,710,000 in the non-voted expenditure of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and an equivalent increase in voted expenditure; and

iii) virement of £24,174,000 from the non-voted noncash expenditure of the Research Councils to capital expenditure of the Research Councils.

Spring Supplementary Estimate 2006/07 - Written Statement

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Office of Gas and Electricity Market's departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £1,000 from £1,652,000 to £1,653,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £1,000 from £492,000 to £493,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from a token increase in administration costs to cover an increase of £251,000 in expenditure offset by an increase of £250,000 in A in A.

There is no change in the capital element of the DEL.

The Government are publishing a consultation paper today on Protecting Vulnerable Agency Workers. This consultation paper follows up the commitment to take forward measures identified in Success at Work, the Government's labour market strategy paper, published last year.

The Government's intention is to address the bad practices that can affect the most vulnerable agency workers, but without placing burdens on the majority of reputable agencies, which would not use such practices, but are undercut by those who do. At the same time, in line with the Government's commitments on better regulation, we are seeking to reduce burdens on reputable agencies where we can do so without removing important protections for workers.

Measures set out in the consultation document include giving workers a clear right to withdraw from accommodation, transport or other services provided by an agency without suffering any detriment, and banning the taking of fees at casting sessions held by talent-spotting agencies, and possibly for up to a week afterwards, to give would be entertainers and models the protection of a cooling off period. The Government also plan to make clear in guidance that driving agencies who flout the law and knowingly allow drivers to work beyond their hours can face criminal prosecution. In addition we will also provide potential EU migrant workers, who are at risk of being misled, with official advice on living in Britain before they leave, so they are aware of issues such as the cost of living before taking on loans to enable them to take up work in the UK.

We will also introduce a measure to ease administrative burdens on agencies, by reducing the information requirements where they provide workers for very short assignments, of less than five days duration.

The Government announced last year that restrictions on smoking in enclosed workplaces, public places and vehicles would be introduced in England from 1 July 2007. These provisions are described in The Health Act 2006 which aims to act on medical and scientific advice. This will save thousands of lives over the next decade by reducing both exposure to hazardous second-hand smoke and overall smoking rates.

The Health Act 2006 includes provisions designed to prohibit smoking in enclosed public places and vehicles, but does not cover vessels operating at sea or on inland waters. I now intend to introduce similar provisions to provide protection from second-hand smoke for people on vessels operating in UK waters, both at sea and on inland waterways.

On 14 February I launched a consultation paper asking for comments as to how smoke free provisions should be implemented on sea going and inland waterways vessels. The provisions, under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, will apply to all vessels operating in UK inland waters or within the 12 mile territorial waters regardless of which country they are flagged with providing they carry passengers or employees. I am also keen to see these provisions extended to Wales and Northern Ireland and for a consistent set of restrictions to be established in Scotland.

In line with the Health Act 2006, I am proposing that owners and operators of vessels may provide for residents and guests on merchant ships to be allowed to continue smoking in an entirely private area of residential accommodation.

I am also proposing that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency hold the responsibility for enforcement of these provisions with a scale of penalties similar to those laid down in the Health Act.

Copies of the consultation paper have been sent to a wide range of representatives in the shipping industry and they will have 12 weeks to respond to the consultation. Further copies of the consultation paper are available on the DfT website at www.dft.gov.uk. Copies have also been placed in the Libraries of the House.

The National Assembly for Wales' departmental expenditure limit will be increased by £68,410,000 from £13,020,716,000 to £13,089,126,000. The increase is a result of:

(a) The take-up of end year flexibility of £25,000,000 for the National Assembly for Wales —non cash;

(b) Transfers from other Government Departments to the National Assembly for Wales of £3,631,000 near-cash;

(c) An increase of £53,000 as a result of the pre-Budget report - near cash.

These transfers are as follows:

£1,190,000 from Department of Constitutional Affairs for the implementation of new electoral duties;

£14,000 from Department of Health for Dental Sift;

£210,000 from Department of Health for High security psychiatric services;

£2,217,000 from Department of Health for Cross border flows.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Work and Pensions DEL will increase by £204,654,000 from £7,780,201,000 to £7,984,855,000 and the administration budget will increase by £225,465,000 from £5,827,134,000 to £6,052,599,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Resource DEL

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from: RfR2

i. a draw down of End of Year Flexibility to support expenditure in respect of

Jobcentre Plus Change Programme £200,000,000 administration (of which £50,000,000 non-cash);

ii. additional funding in respect of In Work Credit as provided in the Pre-Budget Report £151,000 administration and £9,849,000 other current;

RfR3

iii. a transfer to capital spend of £473,000 in respect of planned expenditure of the Pension Protection Fund.

RfR5

iv. a draw down of End of Year Flexibility to support expenditure in respect of centrally managed non-cash costs £25,000,000 (administration);

Capital DEL

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:

RfR2

v. a draw down of End of Year Flexibility to support expenditure in respect of Jobcentre Plus Change Programme £43,000,000.

RfR3

vi. a transfer from resource spend of £473,000 in respect of planned expenditure of the Pension Protection Fund.

Administration Costs

The movement in the Administration Cost limit arises from those items noted above as affecting administration costs plus the following entry which is offset by other current receipts from the National Insurance Fund (NIF).

vii. an increase in provision of £314,000 (administration) relating to the transfer of functions from Government Actuary's Department (GAD).

Movements in non-voted expenditure

Transfers from Other Government Departments

viii. £314,000 increase in non-voted spend relating to the transfer of functions from Government Actuary's Department (GAD) and related NIF receipts from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Additionally there are the following drawdowns that are neutral in overall DEL terms:

Resource DEL

Housing Benefit Reform Fund (HBRF)

ix. £6,500,000 into RfR2 for modernisation of Housing Benefit;

Unallocated Provision

x. £37,500,000 into RfRl to increase provision for the Child Support Agency

Operational Improvement Plan.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs)

xi. £2,285,000 from RfR2 for expenditure by National Employment Panel (NEP) Limited.

xii. £264,000 from RfR2 for increased expenditure by Disability Rights Commission (DRC).

xiii. £75,000 from RfR3 for increased expenditure by Centre for Policy on Ageing.

xiv. £73,000 into RfR3 relating to decreased expenditure by The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS).

xv. £708,000 into RfR3 relating to decreased expenditure by the Pensions Ombudsman (PO).

xvi. £1,911,000 into RfR3 relating to decreased expenditure by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Capital DEL

Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs)

xvii. £550,000 from RfR3 for increased capital expenditure by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

xviii. £20,000 from RfR3 for increased capital expenditure by The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS).

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will be held on 22 February in Brussels. There are no health or consumer affairs issues. I shall be representing the UK.

The first and main item is Preparation for the Spring European Council which will be held on the 8-9 March 2007. The Key Messages paper, prepared by the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee, identifies the key messages emerging from the various other reports for adoption and endorsement at the March Council. The Key Messages paper will be adopted following a policy debate.

The second item is an information point from the Presidency on the content of the Tripartite Social Summit. This will be held on 7 March in advance of the Spring European Council to allow the European Social Partners to feed in their views to the Spring Council. Attendees are the current Presidency, the two subsequent Presidencies (Portugal and Slovenia), the Commission and the social partners.

The Council will also deal with the opportunities and challenges of demographic change in Europe. The exchange of views on "Structuring the European Debate on demographic change" will be the main discussion on the Council's agenda. I shall insist that Europe should avoid the temptation to set up new or duplicate processes at EU level where perfectly good mechanisms already exist. We need to place any new actions we take within the context of achieving greater growth and jobs and the existing open method of coordination. Within the context of demographic change in Europe, the Council will also be asked to adopt a resolution on the contribution of older people to economic and social development.

Under Any Other Business, there is a Commission presentation on the "New Community Strategy on Health and Safety at Work 2007-2013", which we expect to be published on 21 February. Also, the Committee Chairs will give an oral presentation of the 2007 Work Programmes of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee. The Council is informed annually about the Committees' work programmes.