I have today agreed to the publishing of the Insolvency Service’s corporate plan for the period 2009-12.

Because of the current uncertainty in the economy the Insolvency Service is currently planning to deal with a level of new compulsory insolvency cases within a range of 86,000 to 92,600. The service is also planning to deal with a range of 180,000 to 220,000 redundancy payments and other insolvency-related claims during 2009-10.

The service’s “Enabling the Future” strategy, a major programme of IT-led investment, will deliver savings over the period of the current comprehensive spending review. I have set the service a target to have reduced its case administration fees by 15 per cent. in real terms by 31 March 2011.

Action will continue to be taken against bankrupts and company directors in respect of financial misconduct or dishonesty and the service’s companies investigation branch will continue to investigate the affairs of companies in the public interest. I have asked the service to maintain the level of enforcement outputs achieved in 2008-09 during 2009-10 and I have also set a target in relation to the timeliness of instigating disqualification proceedings in appropriate cases. The service will also be commissioning a new stakeholder survey in 2009-10 with a view to setting a new stakeholder satisfaction target for confidence in its enforcement regime in 2010-11.

I have set targets in relation to the timeliness of processing claims for redundancy payments and in relation to the overall satisfaction levels of the service’s users.

The corporate plan is available at: http://www. insolvency.gov.uk/aboutus/CorporatePlan.pdf

I will place a copy of the corporate plan in the Libraries of both Houses.

In addition to these targets the service is required to meet centrally promulgated targets relating to replying to correspondence from hon. Members and making payments to suppliers. The service will also look to maintain charter mark and Investors in People accreditation following reassessments during 2009-10.

In addition to the central target to pay 100 per cent. of invoices within 30 days, the Government have also instructed Departments and agencies to maximise levels of payment of undisputed invoices within eight days.

My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has made the following statement.

It is 10 years since the RDAs were set up, as business-led organisations, to promote enterprise throughout the country and drive up economic growth in their regions. They provide regional economic leadership, co-ordinate strategy, deliver vital programmes to provide real help to people and business today, invest for our future, and help join up the full range of public sector economic activity in the region. They have brought inward investment successes to the regions and worked closely with UKTI in supporting the growth of UK businesses through international trade. They also lead the regional response in times of economic difficulty, offering real help now to businesses and people to support them through the downturn and ensure they are well placed to respond to the opportunities in the recovery.

The independent performance assessments carried out in 2006-07 by the National Audit Office showed that all of the RDAs were operationally performing well or strongly. We now have an independent evaluation of the economic impact of RDAs, commissioned by BERR and RDAs and published today by PricewaterhouseCoopers, demonstrating the considerable success that RDAs have had in improving their region’s economy. The PwC report finds that the RDAs add real value: supporting business, helping people to increase their employability and productivity, and investing in infrastructure and communities. PwC assessed that RDA programmes will generate at least £4.50 for every £1 spent over the programmes’ lifetime. I have placed copies of the PwC report in the Library of the House.

All regions have significant centres of industrial strength and competitive advantage. For these centres to thrive and provide the foundation for our national economic success, national, regional and sub-regional bodies need to align their efforts to provide the best possible environment for business. The RDAs have a key leadership role. They catalyse investment in key infrastructure that will support the sustainable economic environment needed for the future. Through the funding they provide, the leadership they give, particularly in developing the new single regional strategy with the leaders boards, and their links with national and local partners, they have a prime role in delivering industrial policy, regenerating the economy, and moving to a low carbon economy. This delivery is built on RDAs’ precise regional knowledge and their ability to engage and work with other regional and sub-regional partners to lever and powerfully align funding and priorities at the national, sub-regional and local level.

In current economic conditions, we need a relentless focus on helping business and fostering growth and jobs. RDAs will be developing a different strategic mix of investments and interventions for the short-term, the medium and longer-term. The new guidance for the single regional strategy to be issued in the summer is an opportunity to set out a clear national framework setting out how RDAs, with regional and local partners, will work together to deliver sustainable growth, housing and tackling climate change, including through the Solutions for Business portfolio.

I am asking the RDAs to focus, working with and through others:

As an immediate priority, on providing assistance to business;

for the medium-term, on stimulating the recovery and growth; and

for the longer-term, on restructuring and developing each region’s strengths, supporting its growth and competitiveness in the future.

Through such investment, businesses will not only survive but thrive, with more jobs and employment created for the people in all parts of the country. This will be delivered more successfully by aligning RDAs’ business-focused capital expenditure with that of other bodies such as the Homes and Communities Agency, and sub-regional and local partners. Our ambition is to maximise economic benefits and through them the impact on people’s life chances, by targeting investment firmly on regenerating and strengthening each region’s economy.

The PwC report gives the RDAs and Government more widely, an opportunity to identify which types of investments and interventions have the greatest economic impact and in which circumstances. The evidence from the report will inform the conclusions of Public Value Programme review of RDAs to be announced in the Budget. More immediately, I have agreed with the RDAs that they should:

Reprioritise and focus sharply on measures to help their regions through the downturn and prepare for the upturn. They will look at the strategic mix of their interventions and use the evaluation work to arrive at a programme with maximum impact in the short and medium term to address the acute problems of the present and to lay strong foundations for recovery.

Ensure that robust mechanisms are in place uniformly across the network to embed learning from the evaluation into future investment planning and that experience is shared effectively across the RDA network. RDAs will also be working with BERR and others to produce new appraisal guidance which will set out a shared understanding of what, in the light of the evaluation, works well and what does not.

Draw extensively on the evaluation results and other evidence to refine their investment frameworks, to help them choose between competing investment projects to maximise the economic return to the region and the national economy. The result will provide an even more robust basis for ensuring the effective use of funds, particularly in ensuring that investment in physical regeneration complements business investment.

Update me on the immediate priorities they have agreed with their regional Ministers and partners and stakeholders such as the Homes and Communities Agency and local authorities. These should be set out in corporate plan updates so that there is clear visibility of everything they will be doing for the region over the period. This will provide the basis for more open and firmer performance management.

RDAs have agreed to provide detailed responses by the end of May.

I can today announce the implementation of a measure consulted on during 2008 and a measure to protect revenues.

Simplification of standard method for calculating VAT

Effective from 1 April 2009, the Government announce changes to simplify the standard method for calculating VAT for partially exempt businesses.

The changes announced today follow consultation over the summer, and will benefit up to 120,000 businesses in the UK, by making it easier for them to operate the default standard method. I am today laying regulations to effect these changes.

Value Added Tax—anti-forestalling legislation

On 25 November 2008, I announced the Government’s intention to introduce legislation as part of Finance Bill 2009 to protect the public finances from artificial avoidance which sought to exploit the change in the VAT rate (forestalling). That statement described the scope of the legislation, in particular the circumstances in which it was to apply, and set out that it would be effective from the date of the statement.

The draft legislation is today published for comment by HMRC. It includes further necessary measures to protect revenues, effective from today.

Business rates

In addition, I can confirm that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced that the Department of Communities and Local Government will bring forward legislation to enable businesses to spread payment of the increase in business rates bills for 2009-10 over the three years to 2011-12. Business ratepayers in England will be able to defer payment of around £600 million across 1.6 million properties, easing cash flow in the current year. Further details of the announcement can be found at: www.communities.gov.uk.

The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learners Bill will legislate for the creation of a new post—the chief executive of the Young People’s Learning Agency; and to take over some of the functions of the Learning and Skills Council—which will be dissolved. The Bill will also legislate to confer new responsibilities on local authorities for the commissioning of education and training for young people aged 16 to 19. Subject to the passage of the Bill, these changes will take effect from April 2010.

The scale of the change that the Department is implementing is considerable. Some £7 billion per annum of public funding will be routed through the YPLA and local authorities for the provision of education and training to 16 to 19-year-olds. This new organisation will have a major role to play in ensuring the provision of education and training for young people, and that strategic skills needs are met across the country. For such a large and complex transition it is imperative that DCSF seeks to minimise the risks around transition. In particular, that we allow time for the detailed new delivery arrangements to be designed, tested and established before the transfer. This will minimise the potential for there to be any risk to public funds; avoid any disruption in delivery of education and training; and thus sustain delivery against PSA targets.

With this in mind, we want the YPLA to work in ‘shadow’ arrangements with the LSC and local authorities before responsibility and staff are formally transferred in April 2010. The ‘shadow’ period will begin at the start of the 2009-10 academic year and will end when, subject to the passage of legislation, responsibility is formally transferred to the YPLA in April 2010.

Recruiting a chief executive as early in the transition year 2009-10 as possible, will be a crucial element of facilitating a successful move to the permanent new arrangements. If recruitment activity were not to begin until Royal Assent, which is due in autumn 2009, we would not be able to guarantee that a suitable candidate would be available to take up post by April 2010. Advertising early would enable the successful candidates to take up position early in the transition year as possible, which would enable us to involve them in the crucial work to

provide Ministers with assurance that the new YPLA will have the capacity to deliver on Government’s ambition;

effectively manage the significant amounts of resource that they will be delegated; and

provide the leadership, strategy and operational plan so the YPLA is up and running from April 2010.

Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £80,000 for this new service will be sought in the main estimate for 2009-10 for DCSF. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £80,000 will be met by repayable advances from the contingencies fund.

Part 1 of the 18th report of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) is being published today, covering a range of matters referred to them in June 2008. I am grateful for the careful consideration which the STRB has given to these matters. Copies of the report and of my detailed response to it are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office, the Libraries of the House and at www.teachernet.gov.uk/pay.

The STRB has recommended that teachers’ pay be increased by 2.3 per cent. from 1 September 2009 without prejudice to the outcome of the part 2 report in June on the appropriateness of the pay award for September 2009 and 2010. In addition a further adjustment to pay scales for teachers in inner London is recommended for September 2009.

I am grateful to the STRB for these recommendations which will allow teachers to receive an increase in September 2009, pending the STRB’s report in June, and I intend to accept these recommendations.

The STRB has recommended that new statements of responsibilities for all teachers are drawn up, separate from conditions of employment, taking account of draft statements that the STRB has produced, and that the current statements in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) be removed.

I am grateful to the STRB for its consideration of this issue and for the work it has done to prepare draft statements. I agree that account should be taken of the STRB’s draft statements for teachers as work develops in this area. I agree that existing statements within the STPCD should be replaced in due course. I also take the view that conditions of employment should be considered alongside revised statements of responsibilities.

The STRB has also made recommendations concerning the leadership group. In particular, it has recommended that certain interim arrangements for pay and conditions for leaders in the STPCD be changed to enable leaders to be paid for existing models of leadership in a consistent and transparent manner. STRB has also recommended that there should be a fundamental review of the system of reward for the leadership group.

I note the STRB’s recommendation for changes to the pay and conditions for leaders and I agree that this work should be taken further by the STRB in the course of a future remit. I believe that this work should also link with work to develop a new set of professional responsibilities for all teachers.

The STRB has also made helpful recommendations concerning pay ranges for the Excellent Teachers Scheme, which I propose to accept, and concerning payments for teachers of pupils with special educational needs, including unattached teachers. My detailed response contains further information on all these issues.

During 2004-05, the ninth report of the Select Committee on Regulatory Reform considered that the draft Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order should be amended to allow the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989 to remain in force. The 1989 regulations were brought into force as a result of the Fennell report into the tragic King’s Cross underground fire in 1987. These apply in four fire and rescue authority areas: London, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear and West Midlands. The then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister agreed to retain these regulations until it published detailed guidance on the application of the order “to ensure public certainty and confidence”.

The Department for Communities and Local Government published guidance for the transport premises in 2007. Furthermore, the Department addressed the Committee’s concerns that the risk-assessment based regime provided under the order might not be suitable for the particular circumstances of sub-surface railway stations by conducting a review of the 1989 regulations to take account of the order. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the same level of fire safety was maintained. The Department undertook this in partnership with trade union representatives, train operators and enforcing authorities and determined that a number of provisions in the 1989 regulations were adequately covered by the order but that some were not. On the basis of this work, the Department carried out a full public consultation on the proposed revised regulations for fire safety on sub-surface railway stations. The Government response was published in December 2008 and confirmed that the 1989 regulations would be revoked and remade to take account of the order. We have taken this opportunity to modernise and simplify the drafting of the regulations where appropriate, without altering the level of fire safety at sub-surface railway stations.

In response to the Select Committee’s particular concern about the absence of guidance specific to sub-surface railway stations issued by the Secretary of State, my Department has now published detailed guidance to accompany the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) (England) Regulations 2009 which are laid today. The guidance has been written by technical experts and was overseen by a working group drawn from key stakeholder groups. The partnership was further extended by providing the wider group of stakeholders a chance to peer review the guidance in draft. To assist those affected by the change in the regulations, there will be a six-month transition period until the 2009 regulations come into force on 1 October 2009.

I am placing a copy of the guidance in the Library of the House.

I should like to make a statement on the restructuring of coalition regional commands in southern Iraq.

The House will be aware from my statement of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 57WS and the Foreign Secretary’s statement of 25 March 2009, Official Report, column 326 that coalition forces providing support to the Iraqi security forces in the area south of Baghdad have to date been organised into two multinational areas: Multi-National Division South-East under UK leadership covering Basra province, and MND Centre under US leadership, covering the other eight Iraqi provinces. As indicated in those two statements, in future only a single Multi-National Division headquarters will be required south of Baghdad.

Due to the improved security situation and the continued demonstration by the Iraqi security forces that they are able to deliver security in southern Iraq with only minimal coalition assistance, the anticipated change in coalition command structures has taken place today. MND South-East and MND Centre have been merged to create a new Multi-National Division area, MND South. The headquarters for MND South will be located on the site of the contingency operating base outside Basra, and will provide support to the Iraqi security forces under US leadership across all nine provinces in southern Iraq.

UK forces from 20 Armoured Brigade will complete their remaining military tasks in southern Iraq as part of MND South and then withdraw before the end of July. We have also deployed logistics specialists in order to support the withdrawal. US forces in southern Iraq will continue to focus on their training of the Iraqi police and Department of Border Enforcement and on supporting the overall coalition mission in Iraq, including through the protection of key supply routes.

We are currently discussing with the Government of Iraq the precise scope of the military training that they would like the UK to provide as part of the enduring, broad-based bilateral relationship with Iraq, which the Prime Minister outlined on 18 December 2008, Official Report, columns 1233-35. On current plans, this would see fewer than 400 UK service personnel remaining in Iraq beyond 31 July 2009. Details of the specific military units that will be involved will be made available in due course on the MOD’s website: www.mod.uk.

Support arrangements at Her Majesty’s naval base (HMNB) Devonport, as with the other two naval bases, are vital in the base’s effective day-to-day running which in turn helps ensure a first-class service is provided to the Royal Navy.

These support arrangements are provided at HMNB Devonport under an incentive-based partnering arrangement —known as the Warship Support Modernisation Initiative (WSMI) agreement—between the MOD and one of its key maritime industrial partners, Babcock. These arrangements, which have been in place since 2002, provide essential engineering, logistics, infrastructure and waterfront services to the operational fleet at HMNB Devonport.

I am pleased to announce to the House today that we have renewed the WSMI agreement with Babcock for the provision of these services at HMNB Devonport until 2013. Worth approximately £559 million, this new four-year contract builds on the proven value for money solution and secures hundreds of jobs in the Devonport and wider Plymouth area. The duration of this renewed contract brings the WSMI arrangements at Devonport in to line with those at the other two naval bases. WSMI services are currently provided at HMNB Clyde by Babcock and at HMNB Portsmouth by BVT Surface Fleet Limited; both arrangements are scheduled to expire in 2013.

The 2009 report of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body (AFPRB) has now been published. I wish to express my thanks to the chairman and members of the review body for their report. I am pleased to confirm that the AFPRB’s recommendations are to be accepted in full, with implementation effective from 1 April 2009.

In line with the AFPRB recommendations, the basic military salary for officers and all other ranks will increase by 2.8 per cent. The rates of specialist pay (including flying pay, submarine pay and diving pay) will also increase by 2.8 per cent. The Government have also accepted the AFPRB recommendations on a number of targeted financial measures, including a minimum pay increase on promotion to the rank of Sergeant and Petty Officer of 5 per cent. and a reduction in the qualifying period between each level of longer separation allowance. The AFPRB, meanwhile, has endorsed the improved commitment bonus arrangements.

Copies of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body report are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House.

I am pleased to announce my decision on the establishment of the South Downs national park.

I have carefully considered both of the inspector’s reports on the public inquiries into the South Downs National Park (Designation) Order 2002, as varied, made by the Countryside Agency under the provisions of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. In line with the inspector’s recommendations, I have decided that the area now proposed for designation meets the criteria for a national park, subject to modifications, and should be managed by a National Park Authority to be established under the provisions of the Environment Act 1995. I therefore intend to confirm the designation order, with modifications, so creating the South Downs national park.

The inspector recommended the deletion of some areas within Natural England’s proposed designation, and recommended adding others. Full details of my intended boundary, subject only to the new additions referred to below, will be released in my decision letter today, a copy of which, together with an illustrative map, will appear on my Department’s website. Copies of the inspector’s latest report, addendum, illustrative map and my decision letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

There are five “new” additional areas recommended by the inspector, which were not consulted upon between the two inquiries, as well as one other “new” additional area which I believe warrants further consideration/inclusion. Depending on the outcome of these there may be one further deletion.

Under the provisions of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, details of the proposed new additions to the designation order boundary will be made available to the public to enable any objections, representations and comments to be made. This period will last for 12 weeks. Details of where and when details of the proposed additions can be viewed, and the time limits for the receipt of objections, representations and comments, will be advertised shortly in the national and local press. I will consider all duly made objections, representations and comments and if necessary call a public inquiry or a hearing to consider them. When the boundary is finalised, I will announce the confirmation of the designation order with its final modifications as well as the date for the creation of the South Downs national park.

When I confirm the designation order, I intend also to confirm the orders made by the Countryside Agency to revoke both the East Hampshire area of outstanding natural beauty and the Sussex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty, to coincide with the national park coming into being. The South Downs national park as now indicated would cover over 99 per cent. of the land currently designated as areas of outstanding natural beauty and it would be inappropriate to have concurrent national landscape designations.

Following the conclusion of the further steps required to confirm the designation order, I propose to bring forward an order under the provisions of the Environment Act 1995 to create a national park authority. I expect the new authority to be established from April 2010 and to take on its full range of statutory powers and functions from 1 April 2011.

I wish to announce that for 2008-09 DEFRA will switch £20 million available near cash resource DEL budget to cover a forecast deficit against its capital DEL control total, in accordance with HM Treasury’s consolidated budgetary guidance. Although the financial out-turn for the year is not final, the current assessment of the required switch is £20 million. The movement in spend from near cash resource DEL to capital DEL is in respect of flood defences where the exact nature and classification of the expenditure is determined by the Environment Agency, as they undertake the work.

The Chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS foundation trusts) has announced that, in accordance with section 35 of the National Health Service Act 2006, Monitor has decided to authorise the following NHS trusts as NHS foundation trusts from 1 April;

Calderstones NHS Trust; and

Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust

Monitor’s announcement brings the total number of NHS foundation trusts operating in England to 117. A copy of Monitor’s press notice has been placed in the library.

The Government remain committed to offering all NHS acute and mental health trusts the opportunity to attain the NHS foundation trust standard as soon as practicable. Monitor is authorising NHS foundation trusts on a monthly basis, and further groups of authorisations are set to follow.

I am responding on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the 38th Report of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB), Cm 7579, which has been laid before Parliament today. Copies of the report are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House. I am grateful to the chair and members of the Review Body for their hard work.

The DDRB has recommended that the national salary scales for all salaried doctors and dentists, and the top and bottom of the salary range for salaried general medical practitioners, should be increased by 1.5 per cent. for 2009-10. For independent contractor general dental practitioners (GDPs), the DDRB has recommended a 0.21 per cent. increase in contract values which the DDRB intend to result in an increase in GDPs’ net income of 1.5 per cent. With regard to independent contractor general medical practitioners (GMPs), DDRB have recommended an increase in contractual payments to practices of 2.29 per cent. designed to result in an increase of 1.5 per cent. in GMPs’ average net income.

The DDRB’s pay recommendations have been accepted in full by the Government.

The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learners (ASCL) Bill will legislate for the creation of a new post of Chief Executive of Skills Funding, to take over most of the post 19 education and training functions of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which will be dissolved. The chief executive will lead a new Skills Funding Agency, and will be responsible for some £5 billion a year of public funding. This change will take effect from April 2010, subject to the successful passage of the Bill.

The move to the new arrangements will be complex, and it is essential to minimise the potential for any risk to public funds or disruption in education and training delivery. Early recruitment of a chief executive will reduce the set up cost for the Skills Funding Agency. It will also facilitate a successful move to the new arrangements. It is for these reasons that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is seeking a contingency fund advance of £77,000 to begin the chief executive recruitment process so the successful candidate can take up their position as early in the transition year (2009-10) as possible.

Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £175,000 for this new service will be sought in the main estimate for 2009-10 for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £77,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the contingency fund.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), which the UK ratified in December 2003, requires states party to establish a “national preventative mechanism” to carry out a system of regular visits to places of detention in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

OPCAT provides that a national preventative mechanism may consist of one body or several. The Government intend that the requirements of OPCAT be fulfilled in the UK by the collective action of existing inspection bodies.

I am designating the following bodies to form the UK NPM. If it is necessary in future to add new inspection bodies to the NPM, or if bodies within the NPM are restructured or renamed, I will notify Parliament accordingly.

England and Wales

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP)

Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB)

Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA)

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

Healthcare Inspectorate of Wales (HIW)

Children’s Commissioner for England (CCE)

Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)

Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)

Scotland

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS)

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS)

Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC)

Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWCS)

The Care Commission (CC)

Northern Ireland

Independent Monitoring Boards (1MB)

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI)

Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)

Northern Ireland Policing Board Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (NIPBICVS)

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) supports the Public Guardian in discharging his statutory duties under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The following list sets out the key performance targets that have been set for the Office of the Public Guardian for the year 2009-10.

KPI 1: Lasting Power of Attorney/Enduring Power of Attorney

Register and return 95 per cent. of applications for registration of attorneyship (LPA/EPA) within eleven weeks of receipt, improving performance to achieve 80 per cent. within eight weeks by the end of the financial year. This measure excludes applications that cannot be registered; for example where an objection is received prior to registration, or where the application is flawed and cannot be corrected. For the purposes of measurement, 11 weeks and eight weeks will be calculated on the basis of 55 and 40 working days respectively. The KPI has been simplified this year to amalgamate the registration and return processes in one target. It has been necessary to review the overall target because of the unexpectedly high volumes of applications received.

KPI 2: Supervision of Deputies

All deputyship cases require the allocation of a supervision regime based on risk assessment. Risk criteria include: whether a deputy has been refused credit or is an un-discharged bankrupt; whether a deputy has any financial interests which conflict with those of the client; the value of the client’s estate; the relationship of the deputy to the client and any objections which were made to the appointment of the deputy.

This year’s time scale to notify new deputies within 30 days has been decreased for 2009-10 to within 20 working days. This will improve service to the customer.

KPI 3: Supervision of Deputies— Case review

A new supervision level of deputies has been introduced following the review of the implementation of the MCA. The four supervision levels are: close supervision; intermediate; light touch and minimal.

Some 10,000 cases that require intermediate and light touch supervision will be subject to a case review during 2009-10 under KPI 3. Last year the target was to review 4,000 cases of this type. This year’s target will be stretching for the organisation but is achievable.

A case review could be a combination of: review of annual report; carrying out a visit; review of supervision level following short-term intervention.

KPI 4: Investigations

Upon receipt of an investigations case in the compliance and regulation unit it is allocated to a specific caseworker. At this point of allocation, the two-day target to assess risk begins. The three-month target to complete the investigation is inclusive of the two days in which the risk assessment and initial action are put in place.

a) We will assess risk in 95 per cent. of cases within two days.

b) 75 per cent. of investigations will be completed within three months.

The assessment of risk includes taking immediate action where appropriate.

KPI 5: Finance

Based on the statutory instrument for fees approved by Parliament, we will aim to achieve 100 per cent. full cost recovery.

Full cost is defined as:

The total cost of carrying out the provision of services to the taxpayer, less social subsidy/fee remission; financial losses over and above a yearly notional premium; in-year bad debts write-off and exceptional items.

Copies of the Office of the Public Guardian Framework Document and Business Plan will be available in the Libraries of both Houses and from the website of the OPG (www.publicguardian.gov.uk) from 31 March 2009.

The Government are committed to providing public service pension schemes that are affordable and sustainable in the long term, consistent with the principle of fairness for all taxpayers and between generations.

The Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 requires the Government Actuary to make triennial reports on the financial position of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF). His latest report, dealing with the position of the fund as at 1 April 2008, is published today and a copy of the report “Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund Valuation as at 1 April 2008: Report by the Government Actuary” [HC345] has been laid before the House. It includes his recommendation on the Exchequer contribution to be made to the fund, which the Act requires the Government to follow.

The House resolved on 24 January 2008 to endorse in principle recommendations contained in the report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) on parliamentary pay, pensions and allowances (Cm 7270-I) which capped the Exchequer contribution to the cost of accrual of benefits for MPs and advised that there should be a major review of the fund should it become likely that the Exchequer contribution rises to more than 20 per cent. of payroll. Both of these recommendations exclude payments to amortise the accumulated deficit identified in the 2005 valuation of the fund.

Following a warning from the Government Actuary that the Exchequer contribution was likely to rise beyond 20 per cent. of payroll, in line with the recommendation made by the SSRB and endorsed by the House, the Prime Minister on 13 February 2009 asked the SSRB to conduct a fundamental review of the pension provision for MPs, Ministers and other parliamentary office holders. The Prime Minister has asked the SSRB to consider the full range of options for reducing the Exchequer contribution and to consider, among other things, the merits of defined contribution or money purchase arrangements. We expect the SSRB to report later this year.

In the report published today, the Government Actuary has assessed that, since the last actuarial valuation in 2005, the underlying cost of benefits accruing under the parliamentary pension scheme has increased from 27.4 per cent. of the pensionable payroll of scheme members to 32.2 per cent. The main reason for the increase in cost is the fact that people are living longer, and pensions are therefore payable for longer. In common with the approach taken in many other pension schemes, the Government Actuary has changed his assumptions about how long people will live in the future. The Government Actuary has also assessed that the deficit in the fund (that is, the shortfall of assets to the estimated value of liabilities) and the contributions to amortise the deficit (that is, contributions to pay off the deficit over a period of 15 years) remain broadly the same as at the last valuation. Better investment returns and lower salary growth during the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2008 than had been assumed have been offset by the fact that the Government Actuary has assumed that people will live longer in the future. As a result, the deficit has increased from £49.5 million to £50.9 million.

The Government Actuary has recommended that the Exchequer contribution should be at the rate of 31.6 per cent. of payroll from 1 April 2009 “adjusted to take account of any increase in members’ contributions and/or benefit reductions which the Government announce as a consequence of cost-sharing or cost-capping”.

There are different ways in which the Exchequer contribution as recommended by the SSRB and endorsed by the House could be restricted. We shall be consulting the Trustees of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund and the House of Commons on proposed changes.

The Government’s preferred option to achieve the cap on the Exchequer contribution includes an increase in member contribution rates from 10 to 11.9 per cent. of salary (for an accrual rate of 1/40th), and from 6 to 7.9 per cent. (for 1/50th). This would mean that an MP on the 1/40th accrual rate would pay a net increase of around £60 per month on top of the current contribution of £316 per month. This means that the total annual contribution based on 2009-10 salary would be around £4,625. A member on the lower accrual rate would also pay a net additional contribution of around £60 per month. In addition we intend further to extend the cap on MPs’ accrual, which is set at two thirds of final salary, to include MPs over age 65 who joined the scheme before 1 June 1989. Both changes would need to be backdated to 1 April 2009. Taken together these measures would mean that the Exchequer contribution remained within the cap recommended by the SSRB and endorsed by the House.

During consideration of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (Renewal of Temporary Provisions) Order 2007 the Government undertook to return to the House on an annual basis and report on progress towards our target of 30 per cent. Catholic composition within regular officers in the police service of Northern Ireland.

Since the introduction of the temporary provisions in 2001 tremendous progress has been made towards a more representative police service and our ultimate goal of 30 per cent. Catholic composition. The Catholic composition of police officers has increased from just 8.3 per cent. at the time of the Patten report to 26.14 per cent. as of 12 March 2009. The number of Catholic applications to the PSNI has also risen significantly, with 42 per cent. of applicants in the last campaign being from the Catholic community. This is against 23.33 per cent. Catholic applications in the last campaign before the introduction of the temporary provisions.

In the 14 competitions run to date over 88,000 applications have been received from across the whole community. This figure reflects the fact that many people are ready to commit to a career in PSNI. The 15th recruitment campaign opened on 5 March and we are confident that it will again produce recruits of the highest calibre from across all sections of the community.

Female composition within PSNI has almost doubled, from 12 per cent. in 2001 to 23.43 per cent. today and there are currently 31 officers from an ethnic minority background including Pakistani, Black Caribbean, Chinese and Indian. The ethnic minority figures remain small in actual numbers but the 0.42 per cent. compares to the 0.67 per cent. composition of the ethnic minority working age population. A series of initiatives have been introduced to further increase the ethnic minority composition.

Catholic representation among civilian staff also continues to rise. The percentage of Catholic police support staff has increased from 12 per cent. at the time of the Patten report to 17.66 per cent. on 1 March 2009.

As set out in the St Andrews Agreement, the temporary 50:50 recruitment arrangements to the PSNI will lapse when the Government’s target of 30 per cent. Catholic officers has been achieved. We are on course to reach this target by 2010-11.

The 31st Report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries is being published today. In addition the Government intend to reform civil service severance and early retirement terms.

The Government are determined to reduce the costs of the civil service. Having achieved 86,700 workforce reductions and £26.5 billion of efficiency savings as part of the Gershon efficiency programme, the Government are going further to ensure that resources are focused on improving key front line public services. As well as delivering £35 billion of Value for Money gains by 2010-11 the Government will bear down on the cost of running Government, with -5 per cent. reductions in real terms in the cost of running Government in each of the next three years. Over the next few years the Government will continue to ensure that value for money is driven throughout all aspects of the public sector to support our drive to continue to improve key public services.

The Government therefore intend fundamentally to reform the severance and early retirement terms for all civil servants in order to control costs. The current arrangements have been in place since 1987 and are inflexible and expensive. The new terms require departments to reduce costs and will improve accountability and value for money for the taxpayer, saving up to £500 million over the next three years.

The report of the senior salaries review body makes recommendations about the pay of the senior civil service (SCS), senior military personnel, the judiciary and very senior NHS managers. Copies have been laid in the Vote Office and the Library of the House. I am grateful to the chairman and members of the review body for their work.

The Government have decided to accept some but not all of its recommendations. It is important in the present economic climate that senior staff in the public sector show leadership in the exercise of pay restraint.

Senior Civil Service

For 2009-10, the review body recommended a 2.1 per cent. increase in base pay and no increase to the size of the non-consolidated performance-related pay pot.

The review body has recommended that the maxima and minima for each pay band should be increased by approximately 2.1 per cent.

The Government have decided that base pay and the minima and maxima of each pay band will increase by 1.5 per cent. It has accepted the recommendation of no increase to the size of the non-consolidated performance-related pay pot. Permanent secretaries have already announced that they will forego such payments in 2009.

Senior Military Personnel

On senior military pay the review body has recommended that base pay for all senior military officers should increase by 2.8 per cent. from 1 April 2009.

The review body has recommended that the X-factor (a supplement to base pay in recognition of the differences between military and civilian life) should be paid at a rate of 25 per cent. of the full cash value to 2- and 3-star officers and that an appropriate differential should be re-established between 1- and 2-star medical and dental officers.

The Government have decided to accept the review body’s recommendations on senior military pay.

Judiciary

The review body’s main recommendation for the judiciary is an increase of approximately 2.6 per cent. for almost all judicial salaries.

The Government have decided that judicial salaries will increase by 1.5 per cent.

Very Senior NHS Managers

The review body has recommended an increase in base pay of 2.4 per cent. and no increase to the size of the non-consolidated pay pot.

The Government have decided that base pay will increase by 1.5 per cent. and have accepted the recommendation of no increase to the size of the non-consolidated pay pot.

Ministers

The changes to senior civil service pay mean that ministerial pay, which is linked by legislation to the average increase in the midpoint of senior civil service pay ranges, will increase by 1.5 per cent. However, given the importance of public sector pay restraint at a time of economic uncertainty salaried Ministers will not be accepting any pay rise in 2009-10, either in their ministerial pay or in their parliamentary pay.

The Secretary of State will be making changes to the discretionary social fund, with effect from 6 April 2009. The changes:

aim to reduce inappropriate applications for a crisis loan for living expenses in respect of a period for which a payment has already been awarded. The consideration of such applications is now limited to those where the decision maker is satisfied that an event beyond a person’s control has occurred.

improve and speed up the Jobcentre Plus review process for both customers and staff.

I will deposit copies of the amended Social Fund Guide in the House Library.