I am today announcing the key performance targets that have been agreed for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009.

The agency’s principal financial target for 2008-09 is to achieve a minimum dividend payment to the Department for Communities and Local Government of £1,340,000 with an additional dividend payment of £360,000 if trading revenues meet target. The agency will pay an exceptional dividend to the Department for Communities and Local Government in December 2008 of £2,800,000.

An operational target has been set to achieve room occupancy within the centre of 71 per cent. of capacity.

The agency also has the following quality of service targets:

Overall score for value for money satisfaction of greater than 90 per cent.

The number of complaints received to be less than two per 100 events.

An average response time when answering complaints of less than four working days.

Return on Capital Employed

HM Treasury set an annual return on capital employed of 6 per cent. for the centre’s trading fund activities.

External review

During the first quarter of 2008-09, the agency will conduct a strategic review to consider the following:

1. The opportunity to sustain and grow the existing conference business in its current marketplace. This will include:

An assessment of the UK conference centre market generally, commenting on growth, segmentation and trends, and how the QEIICC is positioned within it;

The opportunity to leverage value from the Olympics;

An assessment on the amount and timing of any investment required in the building; and

An assessment as to whether a private sector operator of the business might create additional value, and options for introducing such an operator.

2. The potential value of the site to a third-party developer on both a current use and a change of use basis.

3. To advise of any further strategic options that could create value to the taxpayer.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities is today publishing for consultation her proposed changes to the draft revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the north-west of England.

The Regional Spatial Strategy forms part of the statutory development plan for every local authority in the north-west, and sets the framework for the production of local development frameworks and local transport plans. It provides the spatial plan for the development of the region, and provides the policy framework for employment, housing, transport and the environment.

The current Strategy, initially published as regional planning guidance, became the Regional Spatial Strategy in September 2004 with the enactment of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act. A draft revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy was submitted to Government in January 2006 by the North-West Regional Assembly. It was subsequently tested in an examination in public between November 2006 and February 2007 and the report of the independent panel that conducted this examination was published in May 2007.

The Secretary of State has considered the recommendations of this independent panel which held the examination in public, and has taken into account the representations made on the draft revision, and also changes in Government policy since the draft revision was submitted.

Today’s publication of the Secretary of State’s proposed changes now represents the commencement of a public consultation until 23 May 2008. Also being published are the reports of a Sustainability Appraisal of the Proposed Changes and a Habitats Regulations Assessment.

Following consideration of the responses to the consultation, the Secretary of State hopes to publish the finalised Regional Spatial Strategy for the north-west of England in July 2008. On final publication it will supersede the current RSS.

Copies of the relevant documents are available in the Libraries of both Houses and have been provided for all of the region’s MPs, MEPs and local authorities.

The MOD is establishing a pilot Centre for Defence Enterprise to facilitate enterprise in the defence sector, continuing the pursuit of a broader supplier base for advanced technology to deliver a battle-winning edge to the UK armed forces, as set out in the defence industrial strategy, defence technology strategy and MOD innovation strategy.

The Centre for Defence Enterprise will bring together innovators and investors with an interest in potential defence technology. This will be a further incentive for individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises and academia to engage with the MOD and the established defence industry. It is also the opportunity for the UK investment community to enter the major business of supplying the UK armed forces.

The initial pilot will be focused on a physical centre at the Harwell science and innovation campus to allow for interested parties to come and understand the needs of the Department and align their ideas and energy to make a real difference to the frontline. The internet will be utilised to ensure that the whole of the UK can join this endeavour and further open defence to all UK innovators.

The initial pilot will test the level of engagement and needs of the innovators and investors to develop the business model for greatest effectiveness. Most products of this initiative are anticipated to take several years to mature, although some could deliver to the frontline much quicker if suitable.

In his oral statement to the House on 16 July 2007 on measures the Government would impose in response to Russia’s failure to answer satisfactorily our request for the extradition Andrey Lugovoy, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary agreed that he would keep Parliament informed of any changes to our visa regime for Russian officials.

One of the measures imposed in July last year was to restrict visas for Russian officials to being single-entry and time-limited. This brought UK practice into line with Russian practice for issuing visas to UK officials. I wish to inform Parliament that, by agreement between the UK and Russia, official couriers will be issued with multiple-entry visas, which accords with recent Russian visa practice towards UK couriers. The change is aimed at maximising the efficiency and efficacy of our network of couriers, and will enable our couriers to support better our diplomatic posts in Russia.

All other visa arrangements remain unchanged.

On 8 October 2007 my right hon. Friend the Minister for Children, Young People and Families and I announced the appointment of Andrew Williamson CBE and Peter Smallridge CBE as independent co-chairs of the review of restraint in juvenile secure settings (Official Report, Column 20WS). The Ministry of Justice and the Department for Children, Schools and Families have joint responsibility for the review.

My right hon. Friend and I asked the chairs to report their recommendations to us by 4 April.

During their consultation on the independent review, the chairs have met a wide range of interested parties and have taken extensive written evidence. The chairs have also visited all secure training centres and a number of young offender institutions and secure children homes to learn first-hand about restraint and to hear of the experiences and views of both young people and staff. The chairs are grateful to all those who have provided evidence to the review.

The chairs have now moved towards a detailed consideration of their findings. The chairs have identified what they consider to be a significant remaining gap in the evidence base for their report. This concerns the use of restraint in secure children’s homes. Unlike the position in secure training centres and young offender institutions, there is a wide range of restraint methods available for commercial procurement in secure children’s homes. There is no central prescription of techniques and it is the responsibility of each local authority or provider to identify techniques appropriate to the secure children’s home for which they have responsibility, taking into account the framework for the use of restraint set out in regulations and national minimum standards. Consequently, this fragmented picture means that the information on restraint in secure children's homes has not been as readily available to the chairs as evidence on restraint in secure training centres and young offender institutions.

It was to help the chairs close this evidence gap that the Department for Children, Schools and Families commissioned the National Children’s Bureau to undertake thorough research on restraint in secure children’s homes. This important research, which began in January, aims to provide, for the first time, a systematic map of restraint methods, systems and processes in secure children’s homes. It will also help us to identify where there are remaining gaps in our knowledge. And it will look at the data to see if there is any evidence of harm to children and young people arising from these restraint methods.

The chairs have welcomed this research project and have been kept in touch with its early emerging findings. The main outcomes of the research, however, will not be available in time for the chairs to reflect its conclusions in their recommendations. Without this research, the chairs believe, the review may be a missed opportunity to examine restraint properly in all three secure settings and to make well-founded recommendations for its future regulation. Accordingly, the chairs wrote to my right hon. Friend and me on 28 February to propose that they should delay their report until 20 June to ensure that their report can reflect the results of the NCB research into secure children’s homes. We have placed a copy of the chairs’ letter in the Libraries of both Houses.

Having considered the arguments carefully, my right hon. Friend and I have agreed with the chairs’ request that they now defer their report to us until 20 June 2008 at the latest. We accept the chairs’ view that to be complete their report must take the NCB research into account. The restraint of young people is a highly important issue and we believe that, on balance, it is better for the report to be deferred for a short period than for a premature or incomplete report to be submitted to the original deadline.

Although this puts back the chairs’ submission of their report, my right hon. Friend and I have always been clear that the ongoing independent review would not prevent us taking urgent action on restraint where it is needed. In December 2007, my right hon. Friend and I, on medical advice, suspended two PCC restraint holds used by secure training centres, the Borders and Immigration Agency and in Northern Ireland. The Government will shortly be publishing its action plan to address issues raised by the Coroners of the inquests into the tragic deaths of Gareth Myatt and Adam Rickwood.

I am today publishing a report on Departments’ and Agencies’ performance on handling Members’ and Peers’ correspondence during 2007. Details are set out in the attached table. Figures for 2006 were published on 28 March 2007, Official Report, column 101WS. Departmental figures are based on substantive replies unless otherwise indicated.

The footnotes to the table provide general background information on how the figures have been compiled.

In line with established practice, guidance has today been issued to civil servants in UK Departments on the principles that they should observe in relation to the conduct of Government business in the run-up to the forthcoming elections to local authorities in England and Wales and to the Greater London authority, that are taking place on 1 May 2008.

The guidance sets out the principles on the need to maintain the political impartiality of the civil service, and the need to ensure that public resources are not used for party political purposes. The period of sensitivity preceding the local elections starts on 10 April.

Copies of the guidance have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Cabinet Office website at:

http:/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/civil_service/election_guidance.aspx

I am pleased to announce that I am today publishing “Post-legislative Scrutiny—The Government’s Approach” (Cm 7320).

The new process for post-legislative scrutiny introduces a systematic approach for strengthening the scrutiny of laws after they have been enacted by Parliament. The aim is to complement the Government’s internal departmental scrutiny with parliamentary scrutiny, principally by Committees of the House of Commons, to provide a ‘reality check’ of new laws after three to five years.

Copies of the document can be obtained from the Vote Office.

Our decisions were informed by the Law Commission report (“Post-legislative Scrutiny”—Cm 6945), published on 25 October 2006, following a request from the Government. We are most grateful to the Commission for its thoughtful and considered review.

I have today laid before Parliament a policy statement on the exercise of my powers in relation to passenger rail franchising under section 26(1) of the Railways Act 1993. Amendments to that Act made by the Railways Act 2005, which transferred certain franchising functions of the Strategic Rail Authority to the Secretary of State, require me to publish a statement of policy about how I propose to exercise my powers under section 26(1).

The statement sets out how I intend to award rail franchises in future, which is by means of competitive tender wherever possible. The statement also sets out those circumstances in which it is likely that an invitation to tender will not be issued, and clarifies those circumstances where a franchise agreement may be extended.

Copies of the statement have been made available in the Libraries of the House.