Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s DEL will be reduced by £11,157,000 from £3,379,070,000 to £3,367,913,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £358,000 from £332,173,000 to £332,531,000.

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) Increase of £825,000 in respect of an award from the financial inclusion fund for face-to-face debt advice.

ii) Transfer of £40,000 from the non-voted departmental unallocated provision to the Cabinet Office for the security monitoring and co-ordination centre.

iii) Transfer of £4,000,000 from the Ministry of Defence in respect of global threat reduction.

iv) Virement of £17,088,000 from non-voted to voted expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies reflecting reduced contributions from other Government Departments.

v) Virement of £2,504,000 from voted to non-voted expenditure in respect of a reallocation from the London development agency to the regional development agencies.

vi) Virement of £1,000,000 from voted expenditure on business link marketing to non-voted expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies.

vii) Virement of £16,000,000 from non-voted capital expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies to the non-voted resource departmental unallocated provision.

viii) Transfer of £16,000,000 from the non-voted resource departmental unallocated provision to the Department for Work and Pensions in respect of cold weather payments.

ix) Virement of £115,000 from non-voted to voted expenditure in respect of a reduction in the gross expenditure and receipts of Postwatch as a result of the transfer of the Royal Mail quality of service review to Postcomm.

x) Virement of £14,300,000 from the non-voted resource departmental unallocated provision to voted insolvency service non-cash.

xi) Virement of £728,000 from the non-voted resource departmental unallocated provision to voted non-cash provisions in respect of Icelandic trawlermen compensation.

xii) Virement of £516,000 from the non-voted resource departmental unallocated provision to voted near-cash in respect of British shipbuilders’ liabilities.

Also within the change to resource DEL, the changes to the Administration budget are (RfR1):

i) Transfer of £1,463,000 from the Cabinet Office in respect of the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

ii) Transfer of £360,000 to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in respect of the Office of Climate Change.

iii) Transfer of £45,000 to the Office of Government Commerce (Cabinet Office) for the centre of expertise for sustainable development.

iv) Reclassification of £700,000 from voted administration to non-voted programme expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies’ business links.

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

RfR1

i) Virement of £39,501,000 from voted to non-voted expenditure in respect of a reallocation from the London development agency to the regional development agencies.

ii) Virement of £16,000,000 from non-voted capital expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies to the non-voted resource departmental unallocated provision.

iii) Transfer from non-voted regional development agencies expenditure of £1,000,000 to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in respect of increased warm front activity.

iv) Virement of £27,000,000 from voted environmental transformation fund expenditure to the non-voted departmental unallocated provision.

v) Virement of £27,400,000 from voted enterprise capital fund expenditure to the non-voted departmental unallocated provision.

vi) Virement of £2,300,000 from non-voted expenditure to voted in respect of increased recoveries of non-voted launch investment receipts and increased voted expenditure by the advisory, conciliation and arbitration service.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the postal services commission DEL will be increased by £1,000 from £151,000 to £152,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £1,000 from £1,000 to £2,000. 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. The token increase is necessary to bring to Parliament’s attention an increase in administration expenditure relating to the Royal Mail quality of service review (£114,000) offset by increased appropriations in aid (£114,000) from Royal Mail.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Office of Gas and Electricity Market’s DEL will be increased by £1,000 from £1,651,000 to £1,652,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £1,000 from £701,000 to £702,000:

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from a token increase in administration costs. The token increase is necessary to bring to Parliament’s attention an increase in administration costs of £1,499,000 offset by an increase in appropriations in aid of £1,499,000. The increase in administration costs is as a result of additional unplanned expenditure on a Competition Act investigation, the offshore transmission tender process and the energy supply markets probe.

I am pleased to announce that I have decided to appoint 23 RDA board members, whom between them will serve seven of our Regional Development Agencies. Their names are listed below.

The RDAs are playing a crucial role in supporting the national and regional economies in this critical and exceptional economic climate. All the appointees will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their RDA adding a vast amount of value.

I have agreed to the appointments starting on the 14 December 2008 for a period of three years, expiring in December 2011.

I have placed further details of these appointments, including biographies, in the Libraries of both Houses. I can confirm that the appointments were made in accordance with the code of practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the HM Revenue and Customs total DEL will be increased by £91,338,000 from £4,448,459,000 to £4,539,797,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource element of DEL arises from:

modernisation fund drawdown of £62,500,000 administration near cash costs to modernise and transform HMRC;

near-cash administration costs draw down of non-voted DUP of £43,662,000 taken up as voted provision to facilitate improvements to key operational activities;

£1,520,000 administration near cash costs transferred from Cabinet Office in respect of Parliamentary Counsel Office;

£77,000 administration near cash costs to the Home Office in respect of transfer of five information officers;

£45,000 administration near cash costs transferred to HM Treasury in relation to the contribution towards the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement;

£40,000 near cash programme costs transferred to Cabinet Office for Government Secure Zone;

£21,000 administration near cash costs in relation to one post being transferred to HM Treasury; and

£1,000 increase in respect of VOA administration.

The change in the administration budget arises from the changes detailed in the resource element above excluding the £40,000 programme transfer to the Cabinet Office.

The change in the capital element of DEL arises from:

£27,500,000 capital draw down of modernisation fund.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, National Savings and Investments DEL will be increased by £152,000 to £166,299,000 and the capital element of DEL will be increased by £950,000. Within DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are set out in the following table:

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from modernisation fund being drawn down of £950,000 to support running costs on capital expenditure on their estate.

The change in the resource element of DEL arises from:

A drawdown of £152,000 from the modernisation fund to support additional running costs associated with capital spending.

The change in the administration budget arises from the modernisation fund draw down.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday announced as part of the pre-Budget report a temporary reduction in the standard rate of VAT to 15 per cent. from 1 December 2008 to 1 January 2010 when the rate will return to 17 ½ per cent.

This Government have taken these steps to provide further support for growth and incomes during the economic downturn. The Government’s discretionary fiscal action will deliver support of around 1 per cent. of GDP to the economy in total in 2009-10.

However, it is also important that the Government protect the public finances from artificial avoidance seeking to exploit the change in VAT rates where there is no current economic activity. Therefore, Finance Bill 2009 will contain anti-forestalling legislation to ensure that the VAT rate changes announced are fully effective. The Government will expose the draft legislation for comment as soon as possible.

Anti-forestalling legislation will apply from today to ensure that, in the circumstances set out below, supplies with a basic time of supply after a VAT rate increase takes effect will be subject to the rate of VAT in force at that time. The provisions are designed to prevent artificial forestalling while being straightforward for business to understand and operate and not affecting genuine commercial transactions. This legislation is not intended to catch the normal commercial activity of providing goods and services.

The anti-forestalling legislation will apply in the circumstances set out below where the supplier receives a prepayment for the goods or services or issues a VAT invoice in advance of the rate increase. It will also apply where, in advance of the rate increase, the supplier grants the customer an option or a right to obtain goods or services at a discount or free of charge after the rate increase takes effect.

The circumstances are that the customer cannot recover VAT in full on the supply and that:

the supplier and customer are connected parties; or

the supplier receives a prepayment, or grants the customer an option or a right, and the prepayment, or the acquisition of the option or right, is wholly or partly funded (directly or indirectly) by the supplier; or

a VAT invoice is issued by the supplier showing an amount any part of which is due more than six months after the date of the invoice.

The basic time of supply is normally when goods are delivered or made available, or when services are performed. For continuous supplies of goods or services, with consideration payable periodically or from time to time, the basic time of supply will be the end of the period to which a payment or invoice relates (that is, a billing period).

Although the anti-forestalling legislation will apply from today, any extra VAT arising from its operation will not become due until after Royal Assent of Finance Bill 2009. Until then, suppliers should continue to account for VAT as normal, applying the VAT rate at the time of the prepayment, VAT invoice issue or grant of the right or option.

The operation of the legislation will be kept under review to ensure that the provisions work as intended. Any additional or alternative anti-forestalling provisions included in Finance Bill 2009 will only take effect at the earliest from the date that they are announced.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the winter supplementary estimate, HM Treasury’s DEL will be increased by £1,318,000 from £220,233,000 to £221,551,000 and the Administration Budget will be increased by £1,223,000 from £168,202,000 to £169,425,000 with no change to the capital DEL. The impact on resources and the administration budget is set out in the following table:

The net increase in resource DEL of £1,318,000 is the net effect of the following:

For Request for Resources 1

A Machinery of Government transfer to the Cabinet Office of £273,000 near cash administration costs following the transfer of responsibility for the Statistical Reform team;

A transfer to the Statistics Board of £100,000 near cash programme costs as a contribution towards the costs of a project to improve the quality of migration statistics;

A contribution to the Cabinet Office of £80,000 near cash programme costs in respect of the Government Secure Zone costs;

A transfer from the Cabinet Office of £250,000 near cash administration costs towards consultancy costs incurred by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit; and

A transfer from HM Revenue & Customs of £21,000 towards the costs of a post in the Budget, Tax and Welfare team.

For RfR 3

Transfers to the Office of Government Commerce towards the costs of the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement as follows:

Some £45,000 near cash administration costs from each of the following Departments—Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Communities and Local Government, Cabinet Office, Children, Schools and Families, Transport, International Development, Work and Pensions, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HM Revenue & Customs, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice and £215,000 from Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

near cash programme costs of £45,000 from the Statistics Board and £700,000 from Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

There is a reduction in non-voted DEL due to the draw down of Departmental Unallocated Provision of £6,430,000 to offset increased voted spending.

The net increase in the administration costs budget is £1,223,000 comprising the administration costs changes mentioned in the preceding paragraphs plus a reclassification of programme costs to administration costs of £470,000.

On 21 November 2008, I represented the UK at the Budget Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).

Finance Ministers agreed to adopt Preliminary Draft Amending Budgets 10—as amended by the Commission during the course of negotiations—and 11 to the 2008 EC Budget. These amend the 2008 Budget respectively to reflect latest implementation capacity, thus reducing the level of funding required from member states in 2008, and to mobilise the EU solidarity fund for Cyprus following the recent drought there.

Finance Ministers agreed to adopt Amending Letters 2 —as amended by the Commission to include budgetary aspects relating to the proposed food facility for developing countries—and 3 to the Preliminary Draft Budget for 2009. These reflected the latest information on agricultural market prices and other developments, and a budgetary transfer to cover the costs of a new reflection group as called for by the October European Council.

During a conciliation meeting between Council and the European Parliament agreement was reached on the 2009 EC Budget and on the financing for the proposed food facility. The agreement establishes total payment levels of €116.1 billion—0.89 per cent. of EU GNI. The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on its own second reading on 18 December, after which the 2009 EC Budget will be formally adopted.

Five joint statements relating to the Budget were also agreed at Budget ECOFIN. These concerned the financing of the food facility and the implementation of cohesion policy and EU agencies. The Government are supportive of these statements, which affirm the co-ordination and visibility of Community development assistance, and call for sound financial management and budget discipline in the areas they concern.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Children, Schools and Families departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be decreased by £16,761,000 from £52,739,088,00 to £52,722,327,000; the Administration cost budget will be decreased by £2,364,000 from £189,900,000 to £187,536,000. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED) which has a separate estimate and DEL, will be increased by £485,000 from £180,731,000 to £181,216,000 the administration cost budget will be increased by £485,000 from £28,236,000 to £28,721,000.

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 decrease in the resource element of the DEL of £14,761,000 arises from a decrease in the voted element of the resource DEL of £172,838,000 and an increase of £158,077,000 in the non-voted element of resource DEL mainly in the department’s non-departmental public bodies.

Voted Resource DEL

The £172,838,000 decrease in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from:

RFR1

A movement of £450,000 from RfR2 in respect of special education needs programmes.

A movement of £55,601,000 from non-voted unallocated provision for current grants to support schools and teachers.

A movement of £10,369,000 from non-voted unallocated provision for current grants to support youth programmes.

A transfer from the Cabinet Office £411,000 administration for the Parliamentary Council Office.

A transfer to the Cabinet Office of £40,000 for ISMCC.

A transfer to HM Treasury of £45,000 administration for the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

A transfer to Department for Work and Pensions of £4,000,000 administration for the lease settlement for Caxton House.

A transfer to the Home Office of £432,000 for antisocial behaviour and crime prevention.

A transfer to the Ministry of Justice of £1,000,000 for Implementation of the Children and Adoption Act.

A transfer to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills of £3,655,000 for vocational reform.

A transfer to the Home Office of £6,000,000 for settlements relating to the Hillingdon judgement 2003.

A movement of £197,031,000 to non-voted resource DEL to support the department’s non-departmental public bodies

RFR2

A movement of £450,000 to RfRl in respect of Special Education Needs Programmes.

A movement of £2,500,000 from non-voted unallocated provision for Sure Start.

A movement of £29,516,000 to non-voted resource DEL in respect of the Children's Workforce Development Council.

Non-voted resource DE

The £158,077,000 increase in non-voted resource DEL arises from:

A movement of £226,547,000 from voted resource DEL to support the department's non-departmental public bodies.

A movement of £55,601,000 from non-voted unallocated provision for current grants to support schools and teachers.

A movement of £10,369,000 from non-voted unallocated provision to voted for current grants to support youth programmes.

A movement of £2,500,000 from non-voted unallocated provision to voted for Sure Start.

Capital DEL

The decrease in the capital element of the DEL of £2,000,000 arises from a £57,801,000 increase in the voted element of capital DEL and a decrease of £59,801,000 in the non-voted element of capital DEL.

Voted Capital DEL

The £57,801,000 increase in the voted element of the capital DEL arises from:

RFR1

A movement of £30,000,000 from non-voted unallocated provision to support schools and teachers.

A movement of £28,019,000 from non-voted unallocated provision for capital grants to support children and families.

A movement of £218,000 to non-voted resource DEL to support the department’s non-departmental public bodies.

Non-voted Capital DEL

The £59,801,000 decrease in the non-voted element of capital DEL arises from:

RFR1

A transfer to Department for Work and Pensions of £2,000,000 for the Government Connect Programme.

A movement of £30,000,000 from non-voted unallocated provision to voted to support schools and teachers.

A movement of £28,019,000 from non-voted unallocated provision to voted for Capital grants to support children and families.

A movement of £218,000 from voted resource DEL to support the Department’s Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

Administration Cost Budget

Reclassification of £1,270,000 from programme expenditure to administration for respect administration costs.

A transfer from the Cabinet Office £411,000 administration for the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

A transfer to HM Treasury of £45,000 administration for the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

A transfer to Department for Work and Pensions of £4,000,000 administration for the lease settlement for Caxton House.

Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills

Voted Resource DEL

Following the machinery of Government changes a transfer of £485,000 from the Ministry of Justice for the inspection of the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service.

A movement of £8,051,000 from non-voted unallocated provision for implementation of the Childcare Act 2006 and the requirements of the better regulation executive.

Non-voted resource DEL

A movement of £8,051,000 to voted provision for implementation of the Childcare Act 2006 and the requirements of the better regulation executive.

Administration Cost Budget

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £485,000 from the Ministry of Justice for the inspection of the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs and I are today publishing the Government’s response to the consultation paper: “Prosperous Places: Taking Forward the Review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration”.

The consultation paper proposed action on a number of conclusions set out in the review of sub-national economic development and regeneration that I announced to the House on 17 July 2007.

The Government’s response today confirms plans for more effective economic decision making and planning in England’s regions and localities. We believe that these reforms will put in place a legal and policy framework which will assist regions, sub-regions and local areas in responding to current economic difficulties, preparing for the upturn and strengthening jobs and business growth in all areas in the longer-term.

The Government response is now available in the Libraries of both Houses and can also be accessed online at: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/ citiesandregions/govresponseprosperousplaces

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Departmental Expenditure Limits for 2008-09 will change as follows:

(1) The Department for Communities and Local Government’s Main Programmes DEL will be increased by £248,654,000 from £11,250,662,000 to £11,499,316,000 and the administration budget will also be increased by £9,428,000 from £280,261,000 to £289,689,000. 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 £8,644,000 for Central Administration costs to cover early exit, audit and restructuring costs;

(ii) a draw down of £30,627,000 from HM Treasury for the Restoration Fund for flood recovery. This is part of the European funding paid to the UK Exchequer following the flooding in 2007 and has been made available to this Department to distribute to English local authorities;

(iii) a draw down of £9,800,000 from HM Treasury to non voted Homes and Communities Agency to ensure budget neutrality over the Comprehensive Spending Review years in the transition to the new Agency.

(iv) a net transfer of £996,000 from Request for Resources 1 (Main DEL) to Request for Resources 2 (Local Government DEL) comprising ;

To Local Government DEL from Main DEL

a) £1,000,000 to Best Value Inspection (Local Government DEL) from Fire and Rescue Services Improvement programme (Main DEL) to support Audit Commission Comprehensive Performance Assessment inspection work on Fire and Rescue Authorities;

b) £125,000 to Local Government on Line (Local Government DEL) from E-Planning (Main DEL) to cover the costs of the National Process Improvement Project as part of the Transformational Planning Project.

From Local Government DEL to Main DEL

c) £129,000 within Research from Local Government DEL to Main DEL as a contribution to a new strategic research budget.

(v) a net transfer of £764,000 from other government departments, comprising:

To other Government Departments

Programme Expenditure

(a) £500,000 to the Office for National Statistics from Safer and Stronger Communities and New Ventures Fund as a contribution to improving Migration Statistics work;

Administration Costs (Central Department)

(b) £45,000 to HM Treasury and the Office of Government Commerce for sustainable procurement;

Administration Costs (Government Offices)

(c) £36,000 to the Department for Transport for traffic signage in respect of the Road and Vehicle Safety Standards programme.

From Other government Departments

Administration Costs (Central Department)

(d) £620,000 from the Cabinet Office for the work of Parliamentary Counsel;

Administration Costs (Government Offices)

(e) £725,000 from the Cabinet Office for work by the Government Offices for the Office of the Third Sector.

(vi) a net increase in receipts of £31,392,000 offsetting increases in provision of £21,830,000 for work undertaken by Government Offices for sponsor Departments which has to be invoiced, £410,000 for Homelessness and Housing Reform, £11,010,000 for the Planning Inspectorate; £1,000,000 for Communities Empowerment, £1,097,000 for the Fire and Rescue Services Improvement programme (comprising £386,000 in respect of interest payments from the Fire Service College, £270,000 to cover receipts from agent selling Green Goddesses and £441,000 for medical appeals), £2,800,000 for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and £1,000,000 for non voted English Partnerships from claw back of Derelict Land Grant and a decrease in provision of £7,755,000 for Central Administration to reflect changes in income following the surrender of the lease for Ashdown House.

(vii) a net transfer of £58,766,000 from voted to non voted provision comprising:

From voted to non-voted provision

(a) £4,625,000 to non-voted West Northants Urban Development Corporation comprising £4,460,000 from Growth Areas New Growth Points to meet costs identified in their Corporate Plan and £165,000 from Planning Inspectorate to cover depreciation charges on work undertaken within the Growth Areas remit;

(b) £33,088,000 to non-voted Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) comprising £20,537,000 from various voted programmes to reflect the financial implications of the establishment of the HCA on 1 December, and the wind up of the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships; and £12,551,000 (non-cash) from Central Administration to non voted English Partnerships to cover the increased cost of capital charges resulting from a revaluation of assets associated with the establishment of the Homes and Communities Agency:

(c) £7,700,000 from voted provision for the Homes and Communities Agency comprising £3,700,000 to non voted Housing Corporation and £4,000,000 to non voted English Partnerships for reimbursement of transition costs;

(d) £3,000,000 from Implementing Planning Reform comprising £2,500,000 to non-voted English Partnerships to fund their hosted ATLAS programme and £500,000 to non-voted Housing Corporation to fund extra work undertaken with regard to set up of the Homes and Communities Agency;

(e) £4,353,000 from Fire and Rescue Services Improvement programme to non-voted FireBuy to cover their cash flow and the Integrated Clothing Project litigation costs;

(f) £800,000 within Growth Areas from voted to non- voted to cover the Department's contribution towards the running costs of the Milton Keynes Partnerships project;

(g) £15,000,000 within Thames Gateway from Direct Funding to non-voted programmes comprising

£6,215,000 for London Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and £6,285,000 for Thurrock Urban Development Corporation for delivering Thames Gateway projects; and

£1,300,000 for London UDC and £1,200,000 for South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) for resource non cash costs incurred as a result of recent decisions on the allocation of budgets under the programme,

(h) £1,500,000 from Community Empowerment to non voted Community Development Foundation in line with funding decisions taken in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007;

(i) £9,000,000 from Implementing European Energy Performance of Building Directives (EPBD) programme to non voted Departmental Unallocated Provision (DUP). This transfer reduces voted EPBD DEL cover to reflect the movement of activity from EPBD to Housing Revenue Account Subsidy (HRAS) in Annually Managed Expenditure It replenishes DUP from which a transfer to HRAS was made after the Main Estimate went to press.

From non-voted to voted provision

(j) £20,300,000 from non-voted New Burdens on Local Authorities programme comprising:

a. £12,650,000 to Area Based Grants including £7,650,000 for the costs estimated in an Impact Assessment associated with local planning authorities implementing new national planning policy on climate change; and £5,000,000 for compliance with the Habitats Directive following a court case in the European Court of Justice in 2005;

b. £1,350,000 to Regional Assemblies to fund estimated costs to regional planning bodies associated with implementing the Climate Change Planning Policy Statement;

c. £6,300,000 to voted provision for the Homes and Communities Agency to cover a pension deficit in respect of Housing Corporation staff.

The change in the administration budget arises from:

a take up of End of Year Flexibility of £8,644,000 (see above section (i)) to cover the work of the central Department ; a net transfer from other Government Departments of £1,264,000 (see above section (v)) and a transfer of £480,000 to programme expenditure for the Crown Premises Inspection Group.

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

(viii) an increase of £200,000,000 to give effect to the package of housing measures announced on 2 September 2008. This brings forward from 2010-11 budgets £100,000,000 spend for social rented housing, £50,000,000 for Mortgage Rescue and £50,000,000 from Regional Development Agency budgets to support HomeBuy Direct.

(ix) an increase in receipts of £1,469,000 offsetting increases in provision of £821,000 for Fire and Rescue Services Improvement programme comprising £790,000 for the disposal of the Green Goddesses and £31,000 for Fire Service College capital loan repayments and £648,000 for Growth Areas due to project slippage.

(x) Within the capital element of the DEL there is a net transfer of £355,641,000 from voted to non-voted provision comprising ;

From voted to non-voted provision

(a) £16,759,000 from Growth Areas New Growth Points to non-voted West Northants Urban Development Corporation to cover their programme capital budget as agreed in their Corporate Plan;

(b) £73,700,000 within Thames Gateway from Direct funding to non-voted programmes for delivering Thames Gateway projects. This comprises £3,700,000 for South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA); £30,000,000 for Thurrock Urban Development Corporation and £40,000,000 for London Urban Development Corporation.

(c) £266,682,000 from various voted programmes to non voted Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to reflect the financial implications of the establishment of the HCA on 1 December, and the wind up of the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships;

From non- voted to voted provision

(d) £1,500,000 to Disabled Facilities Grants from non voted Housing Corporation to help local authorities meet their statutory responsibilities for providing grants for adaptation works.

(2) The Department for Communities and Local Government (Local Government) DEL will be increased by £81,165,000 from £24,792,523,000 to £24,873,688,000. 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) a net transfer of £996,000 from Request for Resources 1 (Main DEL) to Request for Resources 2 (Local Government DEL) comprising:

From Main DEL to Local Government DEL

d) £1,000,000 from Fire and Rescue Services Improvement programme (Main DEL) to Best Value Inspection (Local Government DEL) to support Audit Commission Comprehensive Performance Assessment inspection work on Fire and Rescue Authorities;

e) £125,000 from E-Planning (Main DEL) to Local Government on Line (Local Government DEL) to cover the costs of the National Process Improvement Project as part of the Transformational Planning Project

To Main DEL from Local Government DEL

f) £129,000 within Research to Main DEL from Local Government DEL as a contribution to a new strategic research budget.

(ii) a transfer of £267,000 from non-voted Valuation Tribunals to voted Bellwin programme for repayment of Valuation Tribunals DEL overspend in 2005-06;

(iii) an increase in non-voted receipts of £5,000 offsetting increases on expenditure for Valuation Tribunals for Information Technology relating to the sale of printers.

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

(iv) a take up of End Year Flexibility of £82,000,000 for Local Government Public Services Agreement to cover planned spending over the amount provided in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

(v) A transfer of £1,000,000 from the Local Government on-line programme to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to facilitate more efficient electronic transfer of data between DWP, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) and local authorities.

(vi) an increase in receipts of £32,000,000 offsetting an increase in expenditure on Local Government Public Services Agreement.

I am delighted to announce today the publication of “Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom”, which has been prepared for me by the UK Geographic Information Panel. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

The UK location strategy is a thoughtful, authoritative and important document and its recommendations are closely aligned to the delivery of Government policy in many areas. Ministerial colleagues share with me in recognising the reality identified by the strategy that ‘everything happens somewhere’. The Government acknowledge that a better understanding of location is an important factor in moving forward the transformational Government agenda.

Implementation of the location strategy will maximise the value to the public, Government and UK industry of the use of geographic information. It will provide a consistent framework to assist national, regional and local initiatives and service delivery for the benefit of all our people. Key areas where the location strategy will be of benefit are in policy and operational areas of the public and private sector, where shared and integrated place-based information is essential for decision making. It will also be the basis for delivering the United Kingdom’s obligations under the European INSPIRE directive.

The Government now wish to build on the progress represented by publication of the location strategy. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has agreed to lead implementation of the location strategy alongside INSPIRE; implementation planning has commenced. Agreement has been reached that the initial phases of implementation will be funded by contributions that will be drawn from key stakeholder Departments across Government. A key early deliverable is the establishment of a UK location council, to be chaired by DEFRA, and I am also pleased to announce that Government have approved the actions necessary to set up the location council. It will continue the excellent work undertaken by the UK Geographic Information Panel, which will now be dissolved.

I wish to place on record my thanks to the UK Geographic Information Panel, chaired by Vanessa Lawrence CB, for its excellent work in conceiving, developing and championing the UK location strategy to this point.

I should like to make a statement on the restructuring of coalition regional commands in Iraq and the implications for the ongoing UK mission there.

As the Iraqi security forces have grown and matured, coalition forces across Iraq have been able to move increasingly into over-watch and mentoring operations. These successes have allowed coalition forces and structures to be rationalised and combat forces from several nations have been able to return home. The UK has also been able to reduce the scale of its deployment.

Until recently, the area south of Baghdad was divided into three multi-national divisional areas—MND-Centre under US control, MND-Centre South under Polish control and MND-South East under UK control. In future, it is anticipated that only a single multi-national divisional headquarters will be required south of Baghdad, given that the Iraqi security forces now have the lead in providing the security for all nine provinces in this area. As part of this restructuring, MND-Centre merged with MND-Centre South as Polish forces completed their mission and MND-Centre has now also taken over over-watch from MND-South East of the three provinces Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Maysan. This new US divisional area is called MND-Centre. Security in these three provinces is provided by the 10th Division of the Iraqi army—previously trained by UK and Australian forces—and therefore this boundary move does not affect any UK forces which are focused in Basrah. This restructuring of divisional areas is therefore an adjustment to reflect better both the dispositions of coalition and Iraqi forces on the ground and the continuing improvements in security. This new divisional area will remain MND-Centre.

MND-South East, which now consists solely of Basrah province, remains focused on developing the rapidly improving 14th Division. The delivery of 14th Division was defined by the Prime Minister in his 22 July statement as one of the decisive conditions for transition and it is therefore right that this is where UK forces concentrate their efforts. As the Iraqi security forces increasingly take responsibility for providing security, the role and shape of the coalition will naturally evolve as efforts increasingly focus on economic development, reconstruction and capacity building.

I attended an informal meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Budapest, Hungary, on 9 and 10 October 2008. It provided an important opportunity for discussions on operations and on the transformation of NATO capabilities, following the informal Defence Ministers’ meeting in London on 18 and 19 September 2008, which was attended by my predecessor as Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne).

The main focus of the meeting in London was the continuing transformation of the alliance. Ministers expressed their strong support for NATO transformation and for proposals made during the meeting to increase the targets for allies’ deployable capabilities. Over dinner, Ministers reflected on the implications for NATO of the events in Georgia in the preceding months. There was consensus that collective defence and discretionary, out-of-area operations required the same expeditionary capabilities.

The focus of the meeting in Budapest was on current operations. This was the first ministerial meeting in which Albania and Croatia participated fully. Ministers underlined the importance of the NATO operation in Afghanistan, and in response to a request from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, directed ISAF to take action, with the Afghan authorities, against narcotics facilities and facilitators supporting the insurgency within priority regions. Ministers stated their continued support for NATO’s KFOR mission and its work in providing a safe and secure environment in Kosovo. On Afghanistan, NATO Ministers also had a meeting with their counterparts from non-NATO nations making valuable contributions to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, together with the Defence Minister of Afghanistan, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and a European Union senior representative.

At the request of the United Nations, Ministers agreed that NATO will contribute to deter piracy in the waters off the coast of Somalia, by providing a number of ships from the Alliance’s Standing Naval Maritime Group to patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia and escort ships carrying food supplies for the world food programme.

At the meeting, Ministers re-affirmed the importance that they attach to developing deployable capabilities and agreed to increase targets for the deployability of allies’ land forces. In addition, the first ministerial-level meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission took place, where the Defence Minister for Georgia set out the Georgian Government’s priorities in security and defence policy.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Defence departmental expenditure limits (DEL) will be increased by £3,434,312,000—voted and non-voted—from £34,075,771,000 to £37,510,083,000. The administration cost budget will be increased by £64,108,000 from £2,294,141,000 to £2,358,249,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The changes to the resource and capital elements of the DEL arise from:

a net increase in the RfR2 of £2,302,000,000 direct resource DEL, £1,063,000,000 capital DEL, and indirect resource DEL of £350,000,000 to reflect the forecast costs of peacekeeping operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Balkans;

transfers in from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of £2,400,000 for Balkans funding (RfR2) and £2,800,000 for helicopter pilot training for counter-narcotics operations (RfR1);

a transfer in from the Cabinet Office of £209,000 in respect of future funding arrangements for the expansion of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (RfRl);

transfers out to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) of £4,000,000 being the MOD’s contribution to BERR’s chemical and nuclear weapons disposal pool (RfR1); transfers out to the FCO of £16,000,000 and the Department for International Development of £1,970,000 being the MOD’s contribution to the stabilisation aid fund (RfR2); a transfer out to the Cabinet Office of £40,000 being the MOD contribution to the Government secure zone fund (RfR1); and a resource administration budget transfer of £45,000 to the Centre of Expertise for Sustainable Procurement (RfR1);

a transfer within RfR1 of £1,000,000,000 capital DEL to direct resource within RfR1 relating to single use military equipment (SUME) flexibility with no overall impact on DEL;

to reflect the estimated indirect resource impact of the first stage of the international financial reporting standards on derivatives and impairments of £215,000,000, with no overall impact on DEL;

to revise sub-head provisions to reflect resource and capital revisions in allocations between top level budget holders to match required defence outputs, with no overall impact on DEL;

additional fiscal capital DEL provision of £50,000,000;

to increase non-operating appropriations-in-aid to reflect a QinetiQ receipt of £200,000,000 and a receipt for the Defence Aviation Repairs Agency of £60,000,000, with a corresponding and offsetting increase in capital expenditure (no overall impact on capital DEL);

to reallocate Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC) costs of £9,232,000 from other current voted expenditure to non-voted expenditure;

to reallocate DEL grants-in-aid from DEL to non-budget grants-in-aid (non-voted) to reflect classification changes for the Council of Reserve Forces and Cadets Association of £55,522,000; £8,631,000 for the Marine Society and Sea Cadets; and a re-classification of cost of capital for public corporations from voted other current costs to grants of £21,396,000 with no impact on resource DEL;

to increase grants-in-aid funding for the royal naval museum of £75,000; Royal Hospital Chelsea of £1,000,000; the RAF museum of £400,000; and the national army museum of £395,000 by reducing resource DEL current costs and increasing non-budget grants-in-aid with no overall impact on resource;

to increase grants-in-aid funding for the armed forces memorial of £80,000 by reducing resource DEL current costs and increasing non-budget grants-in-aid (outside DEL); and

to reflect the reclassification of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) museums from voted to non-voted DEL of £14,903,000.

The changes to resource DEL and capital DEL will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £3,389,122,000.

I and Huw Irranca-Davies represented the United Kingdom at November’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels. Richard Lochhead, Conor Murphy and Elin Jones also attended.

All of the ‘A’ points were adopted.

On fisheries the Council reached agreement by unanimity on a new regulation to establish elements for a medium-term multi-annual framework to allow for the recovery and management of cod stocks. Following an initial table round and bilateral discussions with the most interested member states, the presidency was able to reach agreement with the Commission and so table a final compromise. The final compromise represents a balance between those offering appropriate protection for the stocks, and the opportunity to encourage sustainable fishing. The main elements are:

Targets expressed in terms of fishing mortality, rather than the previous approach of increased spawning stock biomass, over which fleets have no control. In all sea areas the target is 0.4;

Mortality reductions in the first year of 25 per cent. They will then be set at 10 per cent. annually for the North sea and, depending on biomass levels, either 25 per cent., 15 per cent. or 10 per cent. elsewhere until the target mortality rate is reached;

For quota setting, constraints on the movements of TACs of 20 per cent. for the North sea and 15 per cent. elsewhere. The North sea constraint will not apply to quota increases in 2009;

The allocation kW day effort “pots” to member states and allows them to administer their own effort to reward sustainable fishing; adjusted on an annual basis. This extends these arrangements based on collaboration with the fishing industry, and pioneered in the UK (both Scotland and England) as possibilities to all member states. The effort levels will be based on the average deployed either during 2004-06 or 2005-07, as member states wish;

The geographical scope is extended further to the west of Scotland to include the vast majority of cod catches;

The Celtic sea remains outside the scope of the plan.

Member states then re-enforced their priorities for the final round of negotiations scheduled to finalise the EU-Norway fisheries agreement. The Commission noted the difficulty of resolving member states’ conflicting views on which stocks should be used to pay for the balance of access to Arctic cod, Norway’s strong desire for progress on discard reductions and the willingness of Norway to accept a modest TAC increase. The UK noted that decisions on cod TAC needed to be taken with Norway and should be part of a wider package, including in cod recovery. We also supported the wider principle on discards issue, but noted the need for more technical work.

The Council held an initial exchange of views on the Commission’s very recent proposal to reform the regulation that governs member states’ responsibilities to enforce fisheries regulations. This is a recognised area of weakness in the common fisheries policy framework, and in which nearly all fishing member states have a weak record. The Commission noted that improvement should not wait for the general CFP reform in 2012. The new proposal would encourage a culture of compliance by all in the sector; those who break the rules should not benefit; a penalty points system would lead to licence withdrawal of licence where necessary. It would introduce a new common approach to control and inspection to all stages of the chain; including import, transport and at market; using modern technologies and risk analyses. Control and enforcement are member states’ exclusive competence and this would reaffirm their complementary roles with the Commission. It offered more flexibility for quota reductions or financial penalties where necessary.

Nearly all fishing member states spoke briefly to acknowledge the general need for improvement, the need to avoid over-bureaucratic requirements and to support compliance by industry. France was the most dubious about the ease of progress.

With regard to aquaculture, member states discussed the future of the aquaculture sector based on a Commission non-paper and a presidency questionnaire. The Commission expressed concerns that the EU industry’s output seemed to be stagnating while that of third countries were continuing to expand and explained that they planned to publish a communication next spring on the matter.

There was general support for simplification of the legislation and of the administrative procedures but disagreement on whether the environmental legislation needed amending to reflect the needs of the aquaculture sector. While there was some support for the EFF giving more attention to the aquaculture sector there was also a clear rejection from UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany for any extra funds to be made available. Most landlocked member states asked for a differentiation to be made in the EFF rules between inland and marine aquaculture. Many member states called for a community promotion campaign and there were also general calls for a community action plan to deal with the problem of cormorant predation. The UK and Slovenia mentioned the importance of reducing the input of wild fish protein. There was a clear rejection of the French suggestion that the Community had a role to play in questions concerning zoning.

Finally on fisheries, the Council noted reports from the Commission on recent measures to simplify CFP regulations, and on Poland’s significant recent progress to comply with the regulation on quota reduction and stricter enforcement.

On agriculture items, the Council reached majority agreement on the CAP Health Check—the scheduled review and adjustment of the mechanisms of the EU’s common agricultural policy, which was intended to improve, reinforce and build on the 2003 CAP reforms. However the UK did not support the final deal.

The UK set out its ambitions for the Health Check in April. We made it clear then that we wanted to cut further the trade distorting nature of the CAP, reduce regulatory burdens, give farmers greater control over their business decisions, and redirect more CAP spending away from direct farm payments towards delivery of targeted public benefits. Progress has been made in these areas, often in the face of opposition from other member states, but we are also disappointed that some new distortions have been introduced.

The Health Check took a number of positive steps in reforming the CAP, which the UK welcomes. These include:

Further decoupling of approximately £3 billion of direct farm payments—reducing the market distortions faced by UK farmers and making farmers across the EU more responsive to market signals in important sectors such as arable crops - although this decoupling could be significantly reduced if member states fully utilise payments under national envelopes under article 68.

The phase-out of the remaining processing aid schemes for dried fodder, starch, flax and hemp;

Further reductions in the intervention system, including the abolition of intervention for pigmeat, butter for manufacture and butter for direct consumption;

Agreement on the process for phasing out milk quotas by 2015, including a 1 per cent. per year increase in quotas over the next five years—although other aspects of the final deal involve differential increases for some member states, while two scheduled reviews of the dairy market could create uncertainty for the dairy industry;

Reducing red tape for farmers through some simplification of direct farm payments and the requirements of cross-compliance;

An increased focus on environmental benefits across Europe, by increasing the rate of compulsory modulation to 10 per cent. by 2012, and therefore increasing the share of CAP funding that goes towards environment and rural development schemes. This will reduce the gap in modulation between the UK and the rest of the EU, leading to a more level playing field for UK farmers.

The ending of compulsory set-aside, leaving farmers free to take their own production decisions based on market circumstances.

Flexibility in the new cross-compliance requirements to allow member states to pursue options for capturing the environmental benefits of set-aside that is appropriate to local environments.

The UK is concerned about some aspects of the Health Check, in particular the market distortions created by the increased flexibility in the use of “national envelopes” which allow member states to support specific sectors using payments coupled to production, and to fund risk management measures.

We are also disappointed that the Health Check was unable to go further in achieving full decoupling across the EU (although that will be achieved in England), phasing out all the remaining market support mechanisms such as intervention, and focusing even more CAP spending on delivering public benefits, including environmental benefits.

On balance, the UK could not support the final Health Check deal because it allows unused funding from single payment scheme budgets to be used to fund measures within national envelopes, rather than being returned to member states, thus increasing the potential for distortions, and because it creates short-term competitive distortions and uncertainty in the dairy sector from a range of measures, in particular differential changes to milk quotas, changes to rules on the butterfat content in milk (which is used as a reference for deciding dairy quotas) and two reviews of the quota phase-out process.

Overall, the UK takes the view that the agreement reached on the Health Check is a step in the right direction of further reform, but is also a missed opportunity to speed up the process of change. We will continue to press for further steps for the benefit of farmers, consumers, taxpayers and the environment in the forthcoming EU Budget review, in which we want to see a more fundamental reassessment of the CAP.

The Council also agreed the presidency compromise on the school fruit scheme, but it failed to secure a majority either way on the approval of Round-Up Ready II GM soya for use as food and feed. The Commission will now act on its own initiative to approve this use.

Finally, the Netherlands and UK raised concerns about the European Parliament’s proposed amendments to the pesticides package. These could have an adverse affect on the availability of pesticides and so agricultural activity, with no impact on public health. It was important that the Council held to its agreed position. A number of member states intervened in support, whilst the Commission said it supported the Council’s common position, and not the Parliament’s approach.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £149,848,000 from £1,930,709,000 to £2,080,557,000. The administration budget will be decreased by £34,000 from £430,569,000 to £430,535,000. 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

Administration

1. £11,000 transfer of Administration Budget from Cabinet Office in respect of legal work undertaken by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.

2. £45,000 transfer of Administration Budget to the Office of Government Commerce for sustainable procurement.

Programme

1. Transfer of £5,000,000 other current expenditure from the Home Office for work on migration.

2. Transfer of £4,000,000 other current expenditure from DFID is respect of the Returns and Reintegration Fund.

3. Transfer of £2,800,000 other current expenditure to MOD for counter-narcotics work in Afghanistan.

4. Transfer of £400,000 other current to the Security and Intelligence Agencies for expansion and capability.

5. Transfer of £40,000 other current expenditure to the Cabinet Office for the Government Secure Zone.

6. Transfer from the British Council of £40,000 other current expenditure to the Cabinet Office for the Government Secure Zone.

Request for Resources 2

Programme

1. Claim on the reserve of £100,000,000 in respect of African Peacekeeping activities.

2. Claim on the reserve of £31,300,000 in respect of Global Peacekeeping activities.

3. Transfer of £16,000,000 from MOD in respect of the Stabilisation Aid Fund.

4. Transfer of £2,400,000 to MOD in respect of Global Peacekeeping activities.

5. Transfer of £738,000 to DFID in respect of management of Stabilisation Aid Fund projects in Afghanistan.

The Department of Health’s element of the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be reduced by £4,630,000 from £98,570,061,000 to £98,565,431,000, the administration cost limit remains unchanged at £219,163,000. Subject to the necessary supplementary estimate, the Food Standards Agency DEL will increase by £1,000 from £137,719,000 to £137,720,000 and the administration cost limit will increase by £1,000 from £50,439,000 to £50,440,000. The overall DEL, including the Food Standards Agency, will reduce by £4,629,000 from £98,707,780,000 to £98,703,151,000. The impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table:

The Department of Health DEL has reduced by £4,630,000 made up of:

A transfer to the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Heath Service Commissioner for England to allow for the change in responsibility for handling NHS complaints.

The Department of Health’s administration cost limit remains unchanged at £219,163,000.

The change to the Food Standards Agency element of the DEL is due to:

a transfer of £400,000 from programme into capital increasing it from £631,000 to £1,031,000 to fund infrastructure investment; and

a token increase in FSA’s administration cost.

The Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR) was established 22 months ago following Sir David Cooksey’s recommendations for better co-ordination of health research activities across the UK, and a stronger focus on translating basic science into improved care for NHS patients. Sir David’s report “A Review of UK Health Research Funding” was published in December 2006. The first progress report from the chairman of OSCHR, Professor Sir John Bell, was published on 18 November 2008.

Sir John’s report “Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health: Chairman’s First Progress Report” highlights the main elements of the combined approach that has been put in place by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) since the Cooksey review. This period has seen an unprecedented commitment to health research in terms of funding, infrastructure, research programmes and the volume of health research commissioned.

The Government’s single health research fund, which will soon top £1.7 billion a year, is allocated by the Department of Health to the National Institute for Health Research in England, and by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills to the Medical Research Council, which supports research throughout the United Kingdom.

The progress report also announces that the Prime Minister has asked for a set of national ambitions for health research to be developed to build on the progress so far and encourage the translation of major research breakthroughs into new NHS treatments and services. The national ambitions will be developed independently of Government by the research funding bodies, under the auspices of OSCHR, in consultation with the academic community.

A copy of the report has been placed in the Library of the House.

I regret that the written answer I gave the hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 22 February 2008, Official Report, columns 1069-1071W, included a reference to a write off of £40 owed by Annette Craze that was incorrect. Further investigation has shown that Annette Craze did not owe any money and should not therefore have been referred to in the reply.

Plans of changes to the Departmental Expenditure Limit and Administrative Budget for 2008-09.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Home Office’s Departmental Expenditure Limits for 2008-09 will be decreased by £67,008,000 from £9,755,389,000 to £9,688,381,000 and the administration budget will be reduced by £29,760,000 from £429,049,000 to £399,289,000.

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

On 29 October 2008 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, announced that the Government is making extra money available, totalling £100 million in steady state, to meet the higher than expected demand for student support in 2009-10 and beyond. This will enable the Government to maintain its intention that two-thirds of eligible students should receive either the full grant of £2,906 or a partial grant in 2009-10. We also expect that our commitment for one-third of eligible students to receive a full grant will be exceeded—under the new package, we anticipate that 40 per cent. of students may be eligible for a full grant.

This means that students with household incomes ranging from £18,360 to £50,020 will be eligible for higher levels of grant than in 2007-08, while those with incomes ranging from £18,360 to £57,708 will be eligible for a more generous package of grant and loan support than in 2007-08. Amendment Regulations to the Education (Student Support) (No 2) Regulations 2008 are being laid today.

My predecessor as Minister of State for Higher Education, the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), placed a Memorandum in the Library on 13 May 2008 giving details of the increased loan, grant and fee rates for the 2009-10 academic year, in line with forecast price increases. The detailed tables in that memorandum gave income thresholds for the partial maintenance grant and for the non-means-tested element of the student loan, which have now been revised. I am therefore placing an updated memorandum in the Library which makes clear the levels of support available to new entrants in 2009-10, as well as giving tables showing support for continuing students.

As a consequence of budgetary transfers associated with the Winter Supplementary Estimates, the Department for International Development's total departmental expenditure limit will be reduced by £1,377,000 from £5,737,828,000 to £5,736,451,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on Resource and Capital is set out in the following table:

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

Additions

£1,970,000 transferred to DFID from the Ministry of Defence in relation to Stabilisation Aid Fund projects in Iraq.

£738,000 transferred to DFID from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in relation to Stabilisation Aid Fund funded projects in Afghanistan.

Reductions

£40,000 transferred from DFID to the Cabinet Office in relation to the funding of the Government Security Zone.

£4,000,000 transferred from DFID to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in relation to the Returns and Reintegration Fund.

£45,000 transferred from DFID to HM Treasury as a contribution to the Office for Government Commerce’s project Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

There are no changes in the capital element of DEL.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) and the National Archives (TNA) total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased as follows:

Total DEL for MoJ (RfR1, RfR2 and RfR3) is increased by £319,016,000 from £9,424,829,000 to £9,743,845,000 and the administration budget has increased by £24,541,000 from £437,300,000 to £461,841,000.

Total AME for MoJ (RfR1, RfR2 and RfR3) is increased by £150,000,000.

Total DEL for NICS is increased by £1,201,000 from £131,368,000 to £132,569,000 and the administration budget has decreased by £3,000,000 from £2,493,000 to £(507,000). This is due to an increase in administration income.

Total DEL for the TNA has remained unchanged.

Within the Total DEL change for MoJ (RfRl, RfR2 and RfR3), the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

The change in the resource and capital DEL for MoJ arises from:

RfR1: To promote the development of a modern, fair, cost effective and efficient system of justice for all.

Resource Change: Administration (total increase of £24,306,000)

Take-up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):

An increase of £397,000 in resource DEL in respect of EYF draw-down for the Diana Princess of Wales inquest

Other Increases:

An increase of £24,439,000 in resource DEL in relation to the transfer of corporate costs from the Home Office.

Decreases:

A decrease in the administration budget of £485,000, in relation to transfer to OFSTED for the responsibility for the inspection of CAFCASS.

A decrease in the administration budget of £45,000 transferred to the Office of Government Commerce in relation to contribution to the Centre of Expertise for Sustainable Procurement.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £122,238,000)

Reserve Claims:

An increase in near-cash resource funding of £100,000,000 in relation to the prison capacity programme

An increase in non-cash resource funding of £11,260,000 in relation to the prison capacity programme

Other Increases:

An increase in resource DEL of £3,500,000 in relation to the child support reform funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

An increase in resource DEL of £2,233,000 in relation to the downstream costs of the Violent Crime Reduction Act from the Home Office.

An increase in resource DEL of £1,696,000 in relation to the early retirement provisions from the Home Office.

An increase in resource DEL of £1,430,000 from the Home Office in relation to costs associated with the prison sentences of 12 months plus for foreign nationals and automatic deportation orders.

An increase in resource DEL of £1,000,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in relation to adoption costs.

An increase in resource DEL of £569,000 in relation to ESA funding from the DWP.

An increase in non-voted resource DEL of £550,000 in relation to by-election funding.

Resource Change: Programme (total decrease of £23,717,000)

Decreases:

A decrease of £13,912,000 net resource DEL transferred to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) in relation to the prisoner education programme.

A decrease of £4,300,000 resource DEL transferred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in relation to the COMPASS case management system.

A decrease of £1,793,000 to align MoJ's resource DEL to the agreed CSR07 settlement.

A decrease of £1,182,000 resource DEL transferred to the CPS in relation to the Local Criminal Justice Boards.

A decrease of £1,130,000 resource DEL transferred to the CPS in respect of the Corporate Manslaughter Act.

A decrease of £600,000 resource DEL transferred to the CPS in relation to the EXISS R1 programme.

A decrease of £417,000 resource DEL transferred to the CPS in relation to costs arising from the Road Safety Act 2006.

A decrease of £343,000 resource DEL transferred to the CPS in respect of the progress project.

A decrease of £40,000 resource DEL transferred to the Cabinet Office in relation to the Government security zone’s SM and C centre.

Capital Change (total increase of £211,040,000)

Reserve Claims:

An increase of £211,000,000 in capital DEL in respect of the prison capacity programme.

Other Increases:

An increase of £40,000 in capital DEL to align with the agreed CSR settlement.

AME Changes (total increase of £150,000,000)

Other Increases:

An increase in AME of £150,000,000 in respect of impairment of assets within Her Majesty’s Court Service.

RfR2: Overseeing the effective operation of the devolution settlement in Scotland and representing the interests of Scotland in the UK Government.

Total DEL for Scotland has remained unchanged.

RfR3: To support the Secretary of State in discharging his role of representing Wales in the UK Government, representing the UK Government in Wales and ensuring the smooth running of the devolution settlement in Wales.

Resource Change: Administration (total increase of £235,000)

Other Increases:

An increase of £235,000 in Resource DEL in respect of the Parliamentary Counsel Office funding.

There is no change in the Capital DEL for RfR2 and RfR3.

The change in the resource and capital DEL for the Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) arises from:

Within the total DEL change for Northern Ireland Court Service, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

Resource Change: Admin (total decrease of £3,000,000)

Other Decreases:

An increase in admin income of £3,000,000 to reflect an increase in the fee rates and additional work income. This will offset against additional costs to dispose of civil fee business. The appropriations-in-aid are classified as administrative income and so the additional fee income will reduce the administration cost limit by £3,000,000.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £3,001,000)

Other Increases:

An increase in administration income has a subsequent impact of an increase of £3,000,000 in programme costs. This reflects an increase in the fee rates and additional work income.

A token increase of £1,000 to allow increase in appropriations-in-aid.

Capital Change (total increase of £1,200,000)

Increases:

An increase of £1,200,000 in relation to re-profiling of capital from 2009-10 into 2008-09.

The National Archives are not submitting a winter supplementary estimate.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the UK Statistics Authority’s total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £805,000 from £210,060,000 to £210,865,000, and the programme budget will be increased by £805,000.

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 DEL arises from:

Public expenditure survey transfers from other Government Department in support of migration statistics.

Transfer to HMT in respect of the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

The change in the programme budget arises from transfer from other Government Department of £850,000 and transfer of £45,000 to HMT in respect of the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

Plans to change the Charity Commission’s departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and administration budget for 2008-09.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Charity Commission DEL will be increased by £1,000 from £30,971,000 to £30,972,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £1,000 from £30,971,000 to £30,972,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources is as set out in the following table:

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

a “token” increase to account for the increased Appropriations in Aid arising from project funding by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the continuation of the International Outreach project, which aims to provide guidance and training in areas of the world where the regulatory infrastructure is not as developed as in the UK.

I should like to make the following statement:

Subjects proposed for Topical Debates (July 2008- September 2008)

To Note: The list includes all requests and whether they have been submitted on the floor of the House, by letter, e-mail or another method. Weeks where there were no such requests are not included.

Week commencing 30 June

“EC Commission’s involvement in political affairs in this country and the NHS” (Business Questions)

“Identity Fraud” (Business Questions)

Week commencing 7 July

“Review of Services for Children and Young People with Speech, Language and Communications Needs” (by e-mail and Business Questions)

Week commencing 14 July

“Proposed Eco-Towns” (Business Questions)

“Tackling Problems in Young People’s Health” (Business Questions)

During the passage of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 Ministers undertook to make a statement to Parliament each year on the volume of non-jury trial cases under the legislation. This is the first such statement.

During the period 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008 inclusive, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland issued 29 certificates, relating to 28 cases, under section 1 of the Act. Some of those certificates relate to cases that were already in the system at the time the previous “Diplock” arrangements under the Terrorism Act 2000 were repealed, but where the indictment had not yet been presented.

During the same period 48 non-jury cases have been dealt with before the Crown Court. This figure is made up of 13 cases under the 2007 Act, and a further 35 cases being dealt with under the transitional arrangements put in place for the repeal of part VII of the 2000 Act. Under those transitional arrangements, cases where the indictment had been presented at the time of repeal continued to be tried under the 2000 Act arrangements.

A further 24 cases were in the system at 31 July 2008. This figure is made up of 15 cases where certificates have been issued under the 2007 Act, and nine transitional Diplock cases. These nine cases will be the last tried under the Terrorism Act 2000 arrangements.

Subject to parliamentary approval the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) will be taking a 2008-09 winter supplementary estimate. The effect this will have is to increase the NIO’s DEL by £31,542,000 from £1,183,975,000 to £1,215,517,000.

The change in total DEL of £31,542,000 relates to:

£20,000,000 rephasing of Compensation Agency non-cash provisions budget from 2009-10 and 2010-11 into 2008-09;

£146,000 admin budget near cash transfer from the Cabinet Office for Parliamentary Counsel’s Office costs; and

£11,396,000 addition of police pension funding.

Subsequent to a written answer I gave on 15 September 2008, to a parliamentary question on the hourly rates of pay for cleaning contractors, I would like to inform the House that further investigation has revealed additional information with regard to the Vehicle Certification Agency. The original answer stated that this was contracted out.

The response to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington(John McDonnell) (Question 223278)—15 September 2008, Official Report, columns 2053-56—should read as follows:

I am announcing today the publication of Delivering a Sustainable Transport System. This document marks the latest milestone in our longer term planning process, setting out our goals and identifying the various challenges that future transport schemes will need to address.

The publication of Towards a Sustainable Transport System in October 2007 outlined our approach to long-term transport planning. Since then the department has been undertaking further work and accelerating the process for identifying the strategic national corridors where we face our most immediate transport challenges. The National Networks Strategy Group I announced on 29 October will be focusing on measures to ensure we make best use of investment in key strategic national corridors, and develop these for the longer term. The development of solutions for international networks will also be led by the department. Regions and local authorities will undertake similar work for the remaining networks.

Transport is a critical enabler for the economy and underpins many of the things we regard as important for our quality of life, but we are also committed to addressing climate change both now and for future generations.

A copy of the document has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

I am also announcing today that I am bringing forward over £l billion of investment in improving our nation’s transport infrastructure, in particular to tackle bottlenecks and improve access to key international gateways.

This comprises an extra £700 million which will be invested in major transport projects next year to accelerate Government plans to cut congestion and significantly increase rail capacity. This includes:

dualling of the A46 between Newark and Widmerpool (£100 million—as part of £174 million Government funding overall)

an additional 200 train carriages to relieve congestion on the Great Western, Northern and Transpennine rail franchises (£300 million)

introducing more managed motorways schemes to make best use of our existing motorway capacity (£300 million).

Alongside this, £300 million of new Government funding will be committed to speeding up the delivery of other key schemes that improve transport links to some of the UK’s most important airports and ports, as well as offering more environmentally friendly options for transporting freight. This includes:

improvements to the A180-A160 junction to enhance access to Immingham Port (£30 million)

technology improvements to enhance traffic flow on the A12 between the M25 and Ipswich, improving access to Felixstowe and Harwich ports (£60 million)

the South East Manchester relief road, to improve access to Manchester Airport (£ 165 million)

enhancements to the North London Line to enable increased movements of rail freight on this important link (£54million).

Delivery of the A46, A12, A180-A160 and access to Manchester Airport schemes is subject to agreeing regional funding contributions and, with the exception of the A12, the completion of statutory planning processes.

The Welsh Assembly Government departmental expenditure limit is reduced by £14,859,000 from £14,309,106,000 to £14,294,247,000. This decrease takes account of the following changes:

An increase of £193,000 in respect of additional provision for flooding;

A transfer of £21,547,000 to the Home Office for policing; and

A transfer of £6,495,000 from the Home Office for the Drug Intervention Programme.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, provision for the Wales Office is increased by £235,000 as a result of a transfer from the Parliamentary Counsel Office of £235,000 near-cash.

Wales Office spending is contained within single Ministry of Justice departmental expenditure limit and administration costs limit.

On 3 March the Government published the five-year cross-Government Independent Living Strategy. The strategy sets out a series of Government commitments aimed at ensuring that disabled people have choice and control over the support they need to live their everyday lives.

The strategy was produced in partnership with disabled people and we need to ensure that disabled people are actively involved in making the strategy a reality and checking that good progress is being made. Consequently, the launch of the strategy saw the start of a consultation to seek views on how best to do this.

The consultation closed on 20 June and I am pleased to announce that I am today placing copies of the Government’s response to this consultation in the Libraries of both Houses.

Following the consultation, and the further involvement of disabled people in the development of the Government’s response, the Government have decided to implement the following steps to make sure disabled people are actively involved in the implementation and monitoring of the strategy:

Establish an Independent Living Scrutiny Group to review progress on implementing the strategy.

Develop a web-based and print resource to support disabled people’s involvement in local strategic partnership boards.

Work with Equality 2025 to look at how best to use and develop existing networks to form a “network of networks”, creating a two-way channel for communication between Government and disabled people.

Examine some of the options, for example, specific courses, suggested by respondents for building leadership capacity.

Work to help disabled people’s organisations benefit more from new opportunities to build capacity in the third sector.

The Government’s response will be available on the Office for Disability Issues website later today (http://www.odi.gov.uk/working/independentlivingstrategy.asp)

Remploy’s achievement against its targets set by Government for 2007-08.

Remploy are due to publish their annual report and accounts in November 2008 giving further details of its performance throughout 2007-08. Copies of the annual report and accounts will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, when it is published.

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, I have written to the Chairman of Remploy formally approving the provisionally agreed 2008-09 Performance and Resources Agreement between the Department and the Company. The Performance and Resources Agreement includes targets for the current year. The agreement has been negotiated on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The targets for 2008-09 are:

The full agreement for 2008-09 will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and I have today published the Government’s response to Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working age population, “Working for a healthier tomorrow”.

Dame Carol’s review, published on 17 March 2008, built upon the growing evidence that work is generally good for health and that the mounting costs of ill-health are unacceptable, whether for individuals and families, for businesses or for society as a whole. Her analysis brought into focus, as never before, the scale of the economic cost of ill-health and its impact not just on work but on human life. She laid the foundation for a consensus around a new vision for health and work, setting out radical and far-reaching proposals to prevent illness; make early access to work-related health support available to all; and improve the health of the workless so that everyone with the potential to work has the support they need to do so.

Today we are responding in full to Dame Carol’s recommendations. Our response “Improving health and work: changing lives” sets out our proposals. It includes a series of pilots and programmes with the potential to redefine the ambition of health and employment support in Britain; shifting the focus of welfare beyond helping people into work to helping them stay there; and further widening the focus of national healthcare from treatment to prevention and early intervention.

Our proposals include:

Changing the paper based ‘sick note’ to an electronic ‘fit note’;

Piloting a ‘Fit for Work’ service;

Creating a National Centre for Working-Age Health and Well-being;

Establishing a network of Health, Work and Well-being Co-ordinators;

Introducing an occupational health helpline;

Extending NHS Plus ;

A review of the health and well-being of the NHS.

Dame Carol set out a challenging vision for improving the health of the working age population. Ultimately responsibility rests with a range of people: Government; employers; trades unions; healthcare professionals; and individuals themselves. Today, with the publication of our response we are setting out Government’s real commitment to this agenda and how we will play our part.

Copies of “Improving Health and Work: Changing Lives” will be placed in the Library of the House.