My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister led the UK delegation to the sixth summit of the British-Irish Council and was accompanied by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office and myself.The council noted the ongoing engagement between the British and Irish Governments and the parties in Northern Ireland and looked forward to the restoration of the devolved institutions, established under the Good Friday agreement, as soon as possible.The main issue for discussion was tourism, and the council has agreed a programme to take forward joint working in this area. I have placed a copy of the communiqué in the House of Lords Library.

The Government warmly welcome Sir David Clementi's report on the future regulation of legal services in England and Wales. Sir David and his team deserve our thanks for all their work over the past 18 months.I established Sir David's review to consider the regulation of legal services with the clear objective of improving the service to the consumer. The provision of legal services must include safeguarding the public's right to independent legal advice and ensuring the quality and professionalism of the legal professions. Reform will be judged by the benefits it delivers for the consumer.People expect value for money and services that are delivered in ways which better suit their needs. They also expect proper redress if something goes wrong as a result of poor service. The legal professions are no exception. Whether we are buying a house or getting advice about our rights, the way in which lawyers, legal executives and those who advise on legal issues work, how they are regulated and what the processes are for complaining about their work potentially affects us all.The Government broadly accept the main recommendations of Sir David's important report and the arguments for change which he sets out. We want to ensure proportionate and appropriate regulation and separate handling of consumer redress. We will want to work closely on the details of his report with all of those involved, especially those representing the legal professions and consumer interests, to take forward this report and deliver reform quickly. We will be careful to ensure as small a bureaucracy as possible.We strongly support the objectives set out in Sir David's report: maintaining the rule of law, providing access to justice, ensuring protection for consumers, promoting competition, encouraging a strong and effective legal profession and increasing public understanding. To achieve those objectives, Sir David's principal recommendations are the creation of a new oversight regulator with significant powers, the separation of the representative and regulatory functions of the professional bodies, the creation of a single new complaints body and steps to enable the creation of legal disciplinary practices (LDPs). These changes could see non-lawyers for the first time not only as managers of legal practices, but also as owners of and investors in LDPs.I am sure that the legal professional bodies will engage positively with us. The Government's overriding aim is to preserve the best of the current system while moving forward for the benefit of consumers. While there are challenges in the report, we have worked together successfully on a number of issues, including the establishment of a new interim system for the appointment of Queen's Counsel. I am confident that we will continue to do so on the issues arising from Sir David's report.The Government will publish a White Paper on Sir David's proposals as soon as possible next year, to be followed by legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.Today, in response to Sir David's report we can affirm our commitment to putting in place a regulatory framework that ensures a better deal for consumers through increased competition, innovation and transparency, and safeguards the independence of the legal professions—including independence from government—in providing high-quality advice. Sir David's report provides a clear basis for achieving these aims and the Government are committed to taking this forward as a matter of paramount importance.

In December 2003, in the White Paper: UK International Priorities: A Strategy for the FCO (Cm 6052), my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Jack Straw) set out the Government's international priorities for the next five to 10 years and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's strategy for delivering them in a world of new challenges, opportunities and threats.On the basis of that strategy and the outcome of the 2004 spending round, we have been completing a reorganisation of the FCO in London and considering changes to our overseas network in order to align our resources more effectively to our priorities.

My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.The deaths of four soldiers at Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, between 1995 and 2002 have been the subject of detailed scrutiny and much public comment for some time. Recent press reporting has further raised public interest in these distressing events.I told the House on 30 November 2004 that I was satisfied that the Ministry of Defence's response to public concern over the four deaths at Princess Royal Barracks was adequate and comprehensive but that I nevertheless accepted the case for a further review by a fully independent figure. I am now in a position to set out the details of that review.The review will be conducted by Nicholas Blake QC and will begin shortly. I expect Mr Blake to complete his report in the first half of next year. Mr Blake is a distinguished human rights lawyer with wide experience of civil liberties and criminal justice. His report will be published in full, along with my response to it.The terms of reference for the review are as follows.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.I am delighted to announce that the contracts for the second tranche of Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft have now been signed by the general manager of the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, on behalf of the four partner nations, and by the Chief Executives of the project's co-ordinating industrial consortia, Eurofighter GmbH and Eurojet Turbo GmbH. This is excellent news for both the Royal Air Force and for United Kingdom industry and represents the achievement of another major milestone for the Typhoon project.This order builds upon the success of the introduction into service of Tranche One Typhoon aircraft, which are demonstrating outstanding performance in operation with the RAF. The Tranche Two contracts will provide the RAF with an additional 89 aircraft at a value in cash terms of around £4.3 billion. The contracts form part of what is thought to be the largest defence order ever placed in Europe, reflecting the successful and continuing co-operation between the four partner nations and European industry.Typhoon will be an outstandingly capable, state-of-the-art aircraft which will form a cornerstone of the RAF's future capability. The aircraft will have the flexibility to contribute across a wide range of operations delivering air superiority and precision ground attack capabilities.The order will provide major benefits across the United Kingdom and, at the peak of manufacture, industry expects it to create or sustain some 16,000 jobs with defence manufacturers, many in areas of high-technology, and a significant number in supporting industries across the economy more widely.Typhoon will be a world-beating aircraft and this major investment will provide the RAF with the capability to respond to the challenges and threats we face now and in the future.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract for Project Aquatrine, Package C, to Coast to Coast Water Ltd (C2C), a consortium comprising Severn Trent Water plc and Costain. This contract covers the operation and maintenance of the department's water and wastewater assets and infrastructure in the north and east of England.The contract forms one of three such packages of Project Aquatrine, a 25-year arrangement worth £2.3 billion across three packages that cover the MoD's estate in Great Britain. The project is one of the Government's most significant public/private partnership (PPP) projects, and will enable the transfer of environmental risk to those in the private sector who are best placed to manage it. This will enable the MoD to focus on its core activities.Following a pre-commencement period, Coast to Coast Water Ltd will commence services in March 2005.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.I am announcing today that we will shortly begin mobilising approximately 900 reservists to replace the existing reservists serving in support of operations in Iraq. These reservists will be beginning their deployments from April 2005 onwards.We currently have some 750 army reservists carrying out a range of activities including medical support, force protection duties and providing individual reinforcements to units. We anticipate that most of these tasks will continue, but the forthcoming replacement of the Regular Field Hospital with one staffed by reservists, along with the number of individual reinforcements required by regular units will slightly increase the total reserves requirement. These changes mean that the number of Army reservists in theatre will be about 1,000 in May 2005, before reducing over the following months.We aim to issue the call-out notices in phases following this announcement and plan on giving reserve personnel 28 days' notice of call-up (a minimum of 21 days). Mobilisation will be followed by a period of individual, pre-deployment and collective training, integration into receiving units, and then a short period of pre-deployment leave. The majority of those called-out can expect a deployed tour of six months and a total period of mobilisation, including post-tour leave, of about nine months, although for a few it may be slightly longer.Between now and March we aim to identify those reservists who are believed to be fit and available for deployment. As is customary, to ensure that we successfully mobilise the required number, we will need to issue a greater number of call-out notices than the actual requirement.This further call-up is fully consistent with the Government's stated policy of employing the reserves as an integral component of the Armed Forces.

My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.Today I am launching a consultation on the allocation criteria for £170 million of planning delivery grant (PDG) in 2005–06. The consultation paper will enable local authorities to calculate a high proportion of their grant entitlement, subject to any changes which may result from the outcome of the consultation. I am also launching a further consultation on increases to planning fees.Planning delivery grant is aimed at providing additional resources to local planning authorities to support fundamental changes we want to see in the system to help deliver sustainable communities. The main principle underlying design of the grant is to reward performance in a range of planning activities.For 2005–06, the total amount of grant available will be £170 million. Later in this Statement I will outline how proposed further planning fee increases will bring additional resource to authorities for planning.