Tomorrow my Department is publishing a formal response to the consultation on how Government Departments, Regional Development Agencies, local authorities and non-departmental public bodies should support business in the future. This looks not just at the support my Department provides, but much more broadly across the whole of government at a national, regional and local level.

The formal response document builds on the initial Government response to the “Simplifying Business Support” consultation. It summarises responses received and provides further information on the future, shared framework for publicly funded business support we are developing in the light of evidence and consultation feedback. This shared framework will enable Government and the broader public sector to implement our vision for business support in 2010.

It sets out the principles for making the delivery of business support more efficient and builds on decisions taken in the light of economic analysis and the consultation on “Simplifying Business Support” on access to business support and business support interventions referred to in paragraphs 4.43 to 4.46 of the pre-Budget report. Business Link will continue to be developed as the primary publicly funded access channel to business support. In the spirit of simplification, Business Link will aim to build on best practice partnership working with local authorities, business support providers, business membership organisations and other key partners.

We are also publishing an early stage impact assessment.

We have consulted businesses, including social enterprises, business representatives, local authorities, organisations that support business and other interested parties. The consultation ran from 22 June to 14 September. Copies of the response to the consultation document will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 19 December 2007 and the document will be on the DTI website at:

www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/index

Sir Bob Kerslake has been appointed the first chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency.

The new agency will be key to delivering the 3 million new homes by 2020 pledged by the Prime Minister. The Homes and Communities Agency will bring together the current work and programmes of the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships. It will also take on delivery functions from Communities and Local Government. We will set out further detail on the Homes and Communities Agency functions to inform the Committee stage of the Housing and Regeneration Bill in January.

Sir Bob is currently chief executive of Sheffield city council and will initially take responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of the agency. He will then become its first chief executive when the agency begins operating on 1 April 2009.

Sir Bob has shown throughout his career a strong record of delivery in housing and regeneration. He was selected from a strong field of applicants for the position and is ideally suited to leading the agency in delivering Government’s challenging housing and regeneration agenda.

On 5 December 2007, I announced to the House the five unitary proposals that the Secretary of State had decided to implement without modification, having considered all the information and representations available to her.

In the case of the unitary proposals for Cheshire, I announced on 5 December that there remained alternative proposals for the whole area concerned which, as I confirmed to the House in July, we judged reasonably likely to achieve the outcomes specified in the five criteria. I assured the House at the time that we would make final decisions as soon as we could.

Having now considered all the information and representations available to her, including the very large volume of additional material that she has received since July, the Secretary of State remains of the view that there is a reasonable likelihood that, if implemented, both proposals would meet the outcomes specified by each of the criteria set out in the invitation of 26 October 2006.

Overall, she has decided that it is more likely that the long-term outcomes around strategic leadership, neighbourhood empowerment and value for money and equity on public services would be delivered to the greater extent by the proposal for a two unitary Cheshire. This is the process that we set out in the consultation document “Means of Prioritising Proposals” issued in June 2007. She has therefore decided to confirm her earlier “minded to” decision, and accordingly intends to implement the proposal for two unitary authorities in Cheshire by order made under section 7 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

It is now for all the councils in Cheshire—their members and employees—to work constructively and imaginatively together to deliver two new unitary councils that will achieve their full potential for local residents. Local people will rightly expect nothing less than their successful delivery.

In the case of the unitary proposals from Bedford borough council and Bedfordshire county council, I confirmed on 5 December that, on the basis of the information then available to her, the Secretary of State remained minded to implement Bedford borough council’s proposal subject to there being a satisfactory proposal for the rest of the county area. I notified the House on 19 November that the Secretary of State had invited the other councils in Bedfordshire by 17 December to make proposals for future unitary local government structures in the remainder of the county area.

We have now received a response to this further invitation from the remaining district councils in Bedfordshire—Mid and South Bedfordshire district councils. In accordance with section 7(3) of the 2007 Act, we will tomorrow be launching a consultation seeking the views of partners and stakeholders in the areas affected by the proposals for Bedfordshire. Partners and stakeholders includes all local authorities, the wider public sector, the business community, and the voluntary and community sector. It will, however, be open to anyone to respond to the consultation document that we are issuing, copies of which will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

After the stakeholder consultation, we will consider very carefully all the representations that we have received. Any proposal or proposals will proceed to implementation if, and only if, when we take our final decisions, we remain satisfied that they meet all of the criteria set out in the invitation.

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May), 26 November 2007, Official Report, column 12W.

The full answer given was as follows:

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Opinion Leader Research in each year since 1997; and in respect of each what was (a) the title and purpose of the project, (b) the cost to the public purse and (c) the dates on which the project was (i) put to tender, (ii) awarded to Opinion Leader Research, (iii) carried out and (iv) completed and its findings put to the Department.

Margaret Hodge: “There have been no contracts awarded by my Department to Opinion Leader Research since 1997”.

The correct answer should have been:

“In 2005 the Central Office of Information commissioned on behalf of the Department a qualitative research project on the BBC trust and the television licence fee from Opinion Leader Research, as part of the BBC’s charter review. The resulting report, “BBC Charter Review: Focus on the BBC Trust and the Enforcement and Collection of the Licence Fee”, was completed in December 2005 and published by the Department in March 2006. The Department made a payment of £38,205.13 to the Central Office of Communication for this research.

The Central Office of Information operates a specific roster of accredited suppliers of market research and has the capacity and expertise to help identify the most suitable agency for a particular project. The Department chose to rely on the Central Office of Information’s expertise and use its roster system to allocate the project, with the result that a formal tender procedure by the Department was not necessary”.

I announced in March our intention to convert the eight Chinook Mark 3 helicopters to a support helicopter role, in order to make them available to operations as quickly as possible. I am pleased to report that the Ministry of Defence has now signed a contract with Boeing to carry out the modification work. The most likely overall cost to the defence budget to modify the helicopters is £90.1 million, of which £62 million is taken up by the contract with Boeing.

We expect the first aircraft to be available for operations in 2009. These eight additional helicopters will represent a significant uplift to the UK’s heavy lift helicopter fleet. As the Chinook fleet has proven on numerous occasions, these helicopters are a key battle-winning capability. The eight converted Chinook will join the existing fleet of 40 RAF Chinook helicopters and will be based at RAF Odiham.

In my statement of 2 July (Official Report, column 41WS), I reported that the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) had met its formal target of making 96.14 per cent. of payments under the 2006 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) by 30 June.

Outstanding cases continue to be processed and there now remain about 60 claimants who have received a partial payment and await the balancing sum. Work has also to be completed in respect of a further 80 claims, mainly small ones and those affected by legal issues such as probate. Starting in the new year, interest will be paid to claimants on sums paid after 30 June 2007 on the same basis as for the 2005 scheme.

I also reported in July that a review was underway of 2005 cases where entitlement values have been identified for review and possible adjustment, upwards or downwards, to 2005 and 2006 payments. Further investigation led to a total of some 38,250 cases for review. The review has been completed in all but 1,150 cases, mostly those identified for possible correction subsequent to July. Where appropriate, additional payments are being made on the reviewed cases. Work is also underway to recover overpayments.

Alongside those activities, RPA has been processing the 106,000 or so claims that have been submitted under the 2007 SPS. The necessary system and process updates have progressed to plan, allowing a pilot run of full payments to be made on 10 December. Having evaluated the results of that pilot, the RPA chief executive has now authorised a series of full payment runs with the first payments expected to be with claimants this week. With payments having been initiated a month earlier than for the last scheme year, the agency is currently on track to meet its targets for 2007 SPS of making 75 per cent. of the total value of payments by the end of March 2008 and 90 per cent. by the end of June 2008.

I will continue to update the House on progress.

I represented the United Kingdom at the November Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels. The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, and the Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, also attended.

The Council reached unanimous political agreement, with the UK voting in favour, on a proposal establishing a multi-annual recovery plan for Bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. The plan transposes into EU legislation the recommendation agreed in November 2006 by the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

The Agriculture Commissioner presented the Commission Communication “Preparing for the Health Check” of the common agriculture policy (CAP) reform. The communication will build on the approach that began with the 2003 reforms, improve the way the policy operates based on the experience gathered since 2003 and make it fit for the new challenges and opportunities in an EU of 27 member states in 2007. I welcomed the Commission’s initiative as an important opportunity further to cut the trade distorting nature of the CAP, reduce regulatory burdens, give farmers greater control over their business decisions, and direct more public spending towards delivery of targeted public benefits.

The Agriculture Commissioner presented a proposal to reform the EU support scheme in the cotton sector. This proposal will introduce a revised reform of the EU cotton regime following the annulment by the European Court of Justice of the cotton reforms agreed in 2004. She also presented a proposal to temporarily suspend the import duties on certain cereals until 30 June 2008, with the exclusion of oats. I intervened to enter a parliamentary scrutiny reserve and queried why oats was excluded from the scope of the proposal, as it was inconsistent with the Healthcheck paper that says that all cereals should be dealt with in the same way.

The Fisheries Commissioner presented a proposal on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and updated Council on the outcome of a recent conference held in Lisbon. I welcomed the Commission’s initiative as an opportunity to reduce the regulatory burden of the necessary controls. I also stressed the importance of dealing with the problem and the crucial role that the trade network will play in this regard.

The Commission also updated the Council on the conclusion of the annual EU/Norway consultations for 2008 and the 2006-08 action plan for simplifying and improving the common fisheries policy. On EU/Norway, I warmly welcomed the Community commitment to reduce discarding in fisheries which catch cod and reducing whiting discards in all fisheries and was pleased with a cod TAC increase of 11 per cent. I regretted the fact that Norway was unable to accept the unanimous pelagic regional advisory council advice on the herring TAC but overall felt it was a fair agreement for the UK and the Community.

Under any other business, Greece supported by a few member states, called on the Commission to introduce measures (such as income support, intervention measures or transport aids) to support its livestock industry due to the steep rise in costs of animal feed.

Latvia called on the Commission to use intervention funds to compensate livestock producers for the high cereals prices and to come forward with proposals for “long-term systematic solutions and crisis management” in the context of the Healthcheck.

France, supported by a few member states, called for further relief measures in the form of export refunds to alleviate the difficulties currently being experienced in the pigmeat sector. The Agriculture Commissioner announced her intentions to submit a proposal to introduce export refunds in the pigmeat sector to the pigmeat management committee on 29 November.

The Agriculture Commissioner also updated Council on the state of play in the WTO negotiations.

Over lunch, Ministers had an exchange of views on the Commission’s paper analysing the economic impacts of unapproved GMOs on EU feed imports and livestock production. In common with some other member states I argued that while there must be no compromise on maintaining a rigorous assessment and approvals regime for new GM products entering the EU, we should explore the scope for overcoming difficulties in this area and improving the speed with which GM applications are processed.

In the margins of Council, the presidency and the Commission held trilateral meetings with Agriculture Ministers from the various member states to discuss the Commission’s wine reform proposals.

I will be representing the United Kingdom at this month’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels. The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, and the Northern Irish Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Michelle Gildernew, will also attend.

The presidency will seek political agreements on a Commission proposal to reform the wine sector and on a package of proposals on food improvement agents. The presidency will also seek political agreement on the total allowable catches (TACS) and quotas and related measures fixing fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks for 2008 and on associated conditions for certain fishing stocks, applicable in Community waters.

The Council hopes to adopt a proposal on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks and a proposal establishing the date for application of electronic identification in sheep and goats born after 31 December 2007.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner will present the Commission’s report on the dairy market sector and a proposal to increase milk quotas by 2 per cent.

The Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner will report on the progress of a proposal covering the marketing of plant protection products. Following this, the presidency will seek political agreement on a proposal establishing the sustainable use of pesticides.

A number of issues, as follows, will be raised under any other business: the Netherlands has asked for an update from the Commission on illegal timber imports. Germany has asked for a discussion on the common action plan on shark fishing; and Sweden has asked for a discussion on the eligibility criteria for the slaughter premium for bovine animals.

In addition, the Commission will provide a written update on avian influenza and will ask Council for the swift adoption of the EU/Mauritania fisheries agreement.

The Government is committed to informing Parliament annually of the sanctions regimes which the United Kingdom implements. Currently the United Kingdom implements United Nations sanctions in relation to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and terrorism.

The UK also implements sanctions regimes imposed autonomously by the EU in relation to Belarus, Burma, China, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (in connection with individuals indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or responsible for certain acts of violence at Mostar), the Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

In accordance with a decision of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the United Kingdom implements arms embargoes on Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Government also takes full account of the Economic Community of West African States moratorium on certain exports of small arms and light weapons to Economic Community of West African States members.

A full list of sanctions regimes and restrictive measures implemented by the UK is published on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:

www.fco.gov.uk/sanctions

Following a request from the noble Lord the right hon. Lord Wakeham during the 12 October debate on the impact of economic sanctions in another place, this document now includes objectives and lift criteria for each regime.

I am pleased to announce that Her Majesty the Queen has invited the President of the French Republic Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom from Wednesday 26 March to Friday 28 March 2008. The visit will further reinforce the close relations which exist between the United Kingdom and the Republic of France. The annual UK-France summit will take place during the state visit.

“Our Health, Our Care, Our Community” published in July 2006 set out our ambition for community hospitals. It announced the setting up of a £750 million capital investment programme over five years from 2006-07 to develop a new generation of community hospitals and services.

I am announcing today funding for a further nine schemes, which are supported locally by a broad cross-section of partners and other stakeholders:

£3 million towards the development of a new town centre primary care facility in Hartlepool;

£3.7 million to refurbish St Charles hospital in North Kensington in London;

£5 million for a new health park at Keynsham in Bath and North Somerset;

£6.4 million towards a new health and social care campus at Dursley, Berkeley Vale;

£7 million towards a joint health and community campus development for Selby;

£13.2 million for the development of two community hospitals at Moreton and at Bourton in the North Cotswolds;

£17.1 million to develop a community hospital on the site of St Mary’s hospital in Portsmouth;

£19.3 million to provide a new community hospital facility at Malvern; and

£20 million to develop three community hospitals in East Riding at Beverley, Horsea and Driffield hospitals .

Approval is subject to clearance through the formal business case process.

The total value of these schemes is equivalent to approximately £132 million, of which £95 million will be funded from the community hospitals and services programme. Today’s announcement means that 23 schemes have now been approved which have a total value of roughly £272 million, bringing the investment from the community hospitals programme up to £190 million.

These schemes will change the face of the local NHS. They offer genuine opportunities to deliver better and more flexible primary care and community health services to local communities providing better access and integrated services closer to home.

The report by the Government Actuary of the valuation of the NHS pension scheme at 2004 is published today. I am placing a copy of this report in the Library of the House.

The principal purposes of the valuation are to assess the level of liability in respect of the benefits due under the NHSPS regulations, taking into account the demographic experience of the scheme since the previous valuation, and to recommend the contribution rate to be paid by the employers who participate in the scheme. This will be implemented from 1 April 2008.

The report shows that as a result of the changes to the NHS pension scheme being implemented from 1 April 2008, the recommended employer contribution rate has reduced from 15.3 per cent. of pensionable pay (that would have been required) to 14 per cent. of pensionable pay (the current contribution rate). This represents a saving of around £430 million in contributions.

I am today publishing a consultation paper on proposals to reform the visitor routes into the UK. This consultation fulfils the promise made in our strategy “Securing the UK Border” published in March 2007 to consult on four main categories of visitor: tourist, business, short-term student and family. Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Over the next 12 months there will be sweeping changes to the immigration system. The points-based system will ensure that only those the UK needs will be able to come here to work, study or train and we are currently consulting on new arrangements for marriage visas, including whether to introduce an English language requirement. The time is now right to look at short-term routes into the UK.

Our visit visa system for those people wishing to travel to the UK is already changing—by next spring we will be taking everyone’s biometrics so that only the people we are sure of can come to Britain. We now want to make sure that the visitor system is robust against abuse while maintaining the UK’s position as a destination of choice for tourists.

The consultation contains a number of options to ensure that the system is fit for the 21st century. These include reducing the maximum leave available to tourists from six to three months; introducing a UK-based sponsor for visitors travelling to see family in the UK, requiring this sponsor to put up a financial deposit to guarantee that their family member will leave the UK at the end of their stay and reforming appeal rights for these visitors.

The consultation period will run for 12 weeks and the final date for responses is 7 March 2008. Once the process has concluded, and views considered, we will report on the results of the consultation and any proposed changes to the immigration rules relating to visitors.

I am drawing the attention of the House to a factual error of reporting in relation to the number of employers who have voluntarily made the skills pledge to support the upskilling of their employees.

On 12 December 2007 the House was informed by the Minister for Skills within Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy), that the number of employees covered by the voluntary pledge was 3.1 million, based on information from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Incorrect figures were used in a small number of other instances in reply to Members’ questions and in another place. However, I was informed on Friday 14 December by the LSC that the correct figure is 2.3 million and that the mistake was due to a computer programming error which has now been detected and rectified. The LSC has confirmed that the number of employers making the skills pledge (630) was correct. I apologise to the House unreservedly for this inadvertent error. I am also writing to Members who were given the incorrect figure.

The LSC’s internal quality assurance processes identified this programming error. However, I have asked the LSC chief executive to ensure through a rigorous review of his organisation’s information and reporting systems that there is no recurrence of this problem. This review will report to me in January 2008 as part of my ongoing considerations on the future leadership and management of the skills pledge and its contribution to making the skills of the workforce world class.

I am publishing today a report entitled the “Options Appraisal Relating to the Long-term Accommodation Needs in the Adult Male Estate for the Northern Ireland Prison Service”.

Following a review of the Northern Ireland Prison Service efficiency programme in June 2005, the Government asked the Northern Ireland Prison Service to prepare a strategic development plan aimed at drawing up a blueprint for the long-term development of the Prison Service. The estate strategy is a fundamental part of that process and in February of this year as part of this review I commissioned the “Options Appraisal”.

I am proposing to retain the two current sites, Maghaberry and Magilligan, with an option for a third site should the prison population continue to rise.

I have decided that we will proceed with an 800-bed replacement prison for Magilligan delivered on a phased basis. The Northern Ireland Prison Service will recruit a programme manager and design team to take forward this work.

As the further detailed business case is worked up, the timing and phasing of the redevelopment at Magilligan will be informed by the availability of funding through the next spending round.

Over the next three years we will provide additional prison places in order to reduce doubling and meet shorter term population pressures. Specifically we will redevelop Mourne House at Maghaberry Prison as a 300-bed unit (240 new places), work on which has already commenced. There will be up to an additional 170 places at Magilligan including the recently opened Alpha Unit.

I have placed copies of the “Options Appraisal” in the Library of the House.

My hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) has been appointed as a substitute member of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of Western European Union in place of my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice).