My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (James Plaskitt) has made the following Statement.

On behalf of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection reports on Amber Valley Council, Basildon District Council, Colchester Borough Council, North Shropshire District Council and South Bedfordshire District Council were published today 26 June 2007. Copies have been placed in the Library.

The BFI reports detail a range of strengths and weaknesses in the housing benefit services provided by councils and make recommendations to improve the security and efficiency of benefit delivery.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State is considering the reports and may ask the councils for proposals in response to BFI’s findings.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (John Hutton) has made the following Statement.

I have today published a Green Paper on the Government’s commitment to take forward new proposals in joint birth registration.

In December 2006 the Government published the White Paper A New System of Child Maintenance. This paper set out the Government’s proposal to make joint birth registration the default position for birth registration. It is the Government’s ambition significantly to decrease the number of sole registrations from the current level of around 7 per cent of births per year. This Green Paper sets out how we might achieve this ambition while providing robust exemptions for the protection of vulnerable mothers and children. We have always been clear that we would legislate on this issue only once we are sure such safeguards can be put in place and any legislation will have specific exceptions.

Joint birth registration is a positive, early intervention initiative that could form part of a wider cross-government programme to promote good parenting, fatherhood and parental responsibility. The point at which a birth is registered is also an ideal time for possibly vulnerable or at risk parents to be identified.

Making joint birth registration the normal requirement, and doing more to promote and explain this requirement to parents, will publicly embed an expectation that the usual course of events is for both parents to acknowledge and be involved in the upbringing of their children.

This could also lead to positive changes in the level of fathers paying maintenance for their child’s upbringing or provide a starting point for single parents to claim child maintenance where there is no longer a relationship between the parents.

The Government believe that joint birth registration can make a significant contribution to child welfare and is committed to actively promoting it. This Green Paper sets out proposals to achieve this aim alongside a number of further non-legislative measures designed to maximise the number of joint registrations. The Government believe that these are critical to ensuring the success of our approach. The Green Paper asks whether these measures should be advanced as complementary to the legislative approach or developed solely within the current legislative framework.

Copies of the Green Paper are available for Members from the Vote Office.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Anne McGuire) has made the following Statement.

I chaired the first meeting of the gas safety and carbon monoxide (CO) awareness ministerial group on 14 June.  The group agreed to support a co-ordinated approach to raising awareness and reducing deaths and ill health caused by CO poisoning. It also intends to meet representatives of the gas industry  and others  in the autumn to review their progress in delivering a programme of renewed action on raising CO awareness.

The members of the group are:

Lord McKenzie—Department for Work and Pensions (chair);

Lord Adonis—Department for Education and Skills;

Andrew Davies—Welsh Assembly Government;

Nigel Dodds—Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland;

Caroline Flint—Department of Health;

Ian Pearson—Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;

Angela Smith—Communities and Local Government;

Lord Truscott—Department of Trade and Industry; and

Alistair Buchanan—OFGEM 

A Minister for Scotland is about to be invited to join the group following the recent elections in Scotland.

My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown) has made the following Written Statement.

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held on 5 June in Luxembourg. The UK was represented by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Ed Balls. The items discussed were as follows:

Implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact: Excessive Deficit Procedures

The Commission presented its proposal to abrogate the excessive deficit procedures on Malta, Germany and Greece. Ministers agreed conclusions supporting the abrogation of the EDPs.

Convergence Reports by the Commission and the European Central Bank

The Commission and the European Central Bank presented their convergence reports on Cyprus and Malta, which conclude that both countries have met the Maastricht criteria for joining the euro. Ministers welcomed the Commission and ECB's conclusions, and agreed a letter to be sent to heads of state and government at the European Council on 21 and 22 June. The final decision on whether both countries will join the euro as planned on 1 January 2008 will be taken at ECOFIN on 10 July.

Quality of Public Finances

Ministers were presented a report on the efficiency and effectiveness of public finances, focusing in particular on the need to improve the measurement of public sector output. The council adopted conclusions supporting the report.

Tax

Combating tax fraud—Ministers agreed council conclusions on a range of measures to combat tax fraud, particularly in the field of VAT. The conclusions covered work on conventional measures and more radical approaches, including a Commission study into the impact of a possible wide reverse charge. The UK supports efforts to combat VAT fraud, particularly work to improve current arrangements such as exchange of information and mutual assistance.

VAT package—Ministers agreed a package of VAT measures, subject to work on some technical issues which are to be resolved before the end of the forthcoming Portuguese presidency. The UK welcomes this important work to modernise and simplify the existing VAT rules, particularly for cross-border supplies of services.

Common consolidated corporate tax base—Ministers held an exchange of views on the Commission's technical work on a CCCTB. The UK does not believe that the competitiveness of the EU would be helped by a harmonised company tax base and remains sceptical about both the principles and the practicalities.

Code of conduct on business taxation—the council took note of a report from the code group on its work under the German presidency to combat harmful tax competition. The UK supports the work of the group.

Joint transfer pricing forum—Ministers agreed conclusions welcoming the work of the joint transfer pricing forum. The UK agrees that the report's recommendations represent best practice, and broadly follows these standards already.

My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Ian McCartney) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I should like to make a Statement on the future status of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD).

I can now set out the financial framework under which the ECGD will undertake its functions from 1 April 2008.

On 1 July 2004 (Official Report, col. 22WS), my right honourable friend the Member for Leicester West, the then Secretary of State, told the House about the work she had put in place for the ECGD to assess the suitability of its operations becoming a government trading fund by operating a pilot of this status over a two-year period from April 2005. This period was subsequently extended to April 2008.

Since then, there have been some important changes in the environment in which the ECGD operates. In particular, against a background of changing UK industrial and trading patterns, buoyant private sector financial markets and benign global risk conditions, there has been a reduced demand for ECGD support and a reduction in its customer base. This has cast doubt about the ECGD's long-term suitability to operate within a trading fund structure. Moreover, the experience of operating as a pilot trading fund, combined with other reforms in ECGD's operations, has shown that the benefits from establishing an ECGD trading fund can be delivered in a more appropriate and effective way.

I am pleased to tell the House that the Chief Secretary and I have now agreed a new financial framework that is consistent with the objectives for the ECGD set out in 2004.

A number of key principles will underpin the new framework. First, there will be a cap on the risk exposure that the ECGD can commit without express consent from HM Treasury, but with sufficient headroom to meet current and potential demand from exporters. Secondly, robust systems will continue to be used to assess and control the assumption of new risks. Thirdly, the premiums which the ECGD charges on the transactions that it supports will continue to reflect the risk, including making a contribution to the cost of notional capital and to the maintenance of sufficient reserves, and to cover administration costs. Fourthly, the ECGD's administration costs will in future be subject to departmental expenditure limits and the disciplines of government spending reviews. The new framework will include revised financial objectives to enable Ministers to monitor the ongoing performance of the ECGD's operations.

Overall, this new financial framework will provide a structure for managing the ECGD's business that is appropriate to today's needs and which continues to balance the requirements of exporters against those of protecting the taxpayer and of achieving value for money.

My right honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (John Hutton) has made the following Statement.

I lay today before Parliament the second annual report of the financial assistance scheme.

This report covers the administration of the fund from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007.

My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is today presenting to Parliament a Command Paper providing the Government's response to the Public Administration Select Committee's report Governing the Future published on 6 March 2007 in conclusion to its inquiry into the place of strategy and planning in government.

The Government strongly welcome the PASC report and its support for strategic capability at the centre. The report provides a helpful contribution to promulgating a more strategic approach to policymaking and to ensuring departments are strategically well managed.

Copies of the Command Paper have been placed in the Library for the reference of noble Lords and will be available in the Printed Paper Office.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Ivan Lewis) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I am today publishing A National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS Funded Nursing Care in England, which will come into effect on 1 October 2007.

The framework sets out the principles and process for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care. By introducing national criteria the framework aims to promote consistency and transparency in decision-making and provide clarity for both patients and professionals about what the NHS will provide for those with the most complex long-term care needs.

It will address the problems surrounding the lack of consistency across the country in the application of the criteria for NHS continuing healthcare and respond to calls by the health ombudsman and the Health Select Committee to bring the locally set criteria and variable decision making into one national system.

The framework will also simplify the interaction between NHS continuing healthcare and NHS funded nursing care.

The final framework was developed following a public consultation undertaken by the department in 2006 that attracted responses from the health and social care sectors, voluntary organisations and users and carers. I am also publishing today a summary of the responses to this consultation.

The framework and the response to the consultation have been placed in the Library and copies are available to honourable Members from the Vote Office.

My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Key targets for the financial year 2007-08 for the following Ministry of Defence agencies and trading funds have been placed in the Library of the House.

Defence Vetting Agency;

Hydrographic Office;

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency;

People, Pay and Pensions Agency; and

Service Personnel and Veterans Agency.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (John Hutton) has made the following Statement.

I am today able to announce the annual performance targets in 2007-08 for the Pension Service executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions. The targets that I have agreed are set out below.

Further information is contained in the Pension Service business plan for 2007-08, which has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.

The Pension Service targets 2007-08

Successful applications:

to generate a further 235,000 successful applications overall for pension credit, of which 166,000 should be for guarantee credit.

Pension traces:

to undertake 60,000 successful pension traces.

Service delivery targets:

to answer 80 per cent of all calls received in 45 seconds;

to achieve pension credit accuracy of at least 96 per cent;

to achieve state pension accuracy of at least 98 per cent;

to issue 99 per cent of winter fuel payments for 2007-08 (automatic payments and successful claims received before 22/09/07) by Christmas 2007; and

to reduce monetary value of fraud and error in pension credit to 4 per cent of pension credit expenditure.

My right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Stephen Timms) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Treasury will publish the 2006-07 public expenditure provisional out-turn White Paper on Thursday 19 July.

The White Paper is an annual report to Parliament on the provisional out-turn for public expenditure. It focuses on spending within departmental expenditure limits (DELs) and annually managed expenditure (AME), including information on individual supply estimates, and administration costs and near-cash limits.

The out-turn figures are described as provisional because they may be revised when departments’ final accounts are published.

A copy of the White Paper will be available in the Libraries of the House and will be accessible on the Treasury website.

I have set the following targets for the Rural Payments Agency for 2007-08:

to have paid 75 per cent by value of valid 2007 SPS scheme claims by 31 March 2008 and 90 per cent by value of valid 2007 SPS scheme claims by 31 May 2008¹;

to process and pay SPS claims within 2 per cent materiality threshold and to put in place other arrangements, with associated measures, to improve data quality;

to process and pay at least 85 per cent of valid claims, by volume, for all non-SPS schemes within ministerial guidelines and 99 per cent within EU Commission deadlines or, in their absence, 60 days of receipt of the claim;

to record 98 per cent of notifications of births, deaths and movements of cattle on the cattle tracing system within 14 days of their receipt;

to demonstrate a continually improving trend in customer satisfaction compared with the results of the February 2007 survey as measured for the year through our quarterly customer surveys and a reduction in customer complaints;

to provide training and development to enhance leadership skills to all the RPA’s senior staff to maximise efficiency and deliver results;

to demonstrate a material improvement in effective joint working with Defra and the Defra network across all relevant interfaces compared with the February 2007 survey, as measured by feedback from key partners; and

successful delivery of improvements covered by Defra investment while maintaining performance across the RPA’s core business activities.

Copies of the 2007-08 strategy and business plan will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

¹ This target is based on the assumption that no partial payments will be made. Defra Ministers will consider the issue in autumn 2007, and the target may be adjusted if necessary. The EU regulatory target (for the UK) of paying 96.154 per cent of total fund value by 30 June 2008 is unchanged.

My honourable friend the Minister of State for Transport (Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Ministerial Statement.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport has today laid an order before Parliament to enable the revision of interest rates on the debt owed by the Humber Bridge Board to the Secretary of State. The debt represents borrowing from the Government for the construction of the Humber Bridge. The interest rate on the loan will be reduced from 7.75 per cent, currently payable on a portion of the debt, to 4.25 per cent payable on the entire debt.

The revised interest rate will apply from 1 April 2006 until 31 March 2011, at which time it will be reviewed. The rate of 4.25 per cent was chosen as this was the national loans fund rate as at 3 April 2006. Over the five-year period, the reduction in interest payable amounts to £16.6 million, which the Humber Bridge Board can use to fund maintenance or repay capital debt. The reduction in interest payments will be reported in the Department for Transport's accounts each year over the five-year period.

The rate has been revised to reflect more closely current interest rates and to allow the Humber Bridge Board to repay the debt within the agreed loan period (until 2038) without recourse to levying a precept on the local taxpayers of Humberside.

The debt was last restructured in 1998, when an interest rate of 7.75 per cent was set, although interest was not payable on a suspended part of the total debt. These arrangements were set out in the 1998 loan agreement and the Humber Bridge (Debts) Act 1998. In 2006 the Humber Bridge Board approached the Department for Transport advising that the debt would become unmanageable from 2007-08 at the 7.75 per cent interest rate. This was because traffic growth had not met the levels predicted in 1998 and because of previously unforeseen major maintenance work required.

A revised loan agreement between the Secretary of State and the Humber Bridge Board was signed on 13 June 2007, replacing the 1998 loan agreement. It is dependent on the coming into force of the Humber Bridge (Debts) Order 2007. The order is made under the Humber Bridge (Debts) Act 1996.

The total debt owed by the Humber Bridge Board to the Secretary of State was £334,437,000 as at 1 April 2006.

My honourable friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Ed Balls) has made the following Written Statement.

On implementing the EU's insurance mediation directive, the Government gave the Financial Services Authority responsibility for regulating the selling of all general insurance, save for a few exemptions allowed by the directive. Sales of travel insurance sold along with a holiday or related travel were exempt from regulation, but given concerns with this market, the Government committed to review their decision in early 2007.

In August 2006 the Treasury announced that it would conduct an investigation into the selling of travel insurance sold along with a holiday or related travel, thereby fulfilling the commitment made in 2003 to return to this area. A call for evidence was published in November 2006 to inform the review. This document set out the issues and put forward a number of options for the future regulation of the sector. The Treasury Committee also held a hearing into the scope of FSA regulation and has since produced a report calling for travel insurance sold along with a holiday to be regulated by the FSA, so long as it can be done in a proportionate way, and for the Government to work with the FSA and industry to produce policies that are better summarised in plain English. On the second of these recommendations, HM Treasury is taking forward work with the Association of British Insurers.

The Government believe that there is a clear weight of evidence pointing to a gap in consumers' understanding of travel insurance as a product and the cover it provides. In particular:

although the travel insurance market is highly competitive, polices tend to be more complicated than a simple household or motor policy;

as a secondary purchase, consumers are less likely to be focused on the details of their insurance policy than through a direct sale; and

the majority of consumers seem only really to consider price, not the details of the policy, in deciding which policy to purchase.

While all firms selling travel insurance could do more to explain to customers what the policy does and does not cover, there is clear evidence to suggest that FSA regulated firms do a better job in terms of product disclosure and navigating the consumer through the sales procedure. Furthermore, customers of FSA firms have access to statutory redress and compensation mechanisms if things go wrong. Also, from a principled viewpoint, there is no case for the distribution of travel insurance through this channel to sit outside the regulatory framework when direct sales through insurers or brokers are within it.

The Government take a risk-based approach to financial services regulation by balancing the need for proper consumer protection with the need to minimise the regulatory burden on firms. After a careful consideration of the arguments and assessment of the balance in this case, the Government believe that it is in the public interest to extend FSA regulation to cover travel insurance sold alongside a holiday. Further details of this assessment are set out in the partial regulatory impact assessment accompanying the proposal. There will now be a further period of consultation on the Government's preferred approach.

HM Treasury is responsible for the overarching regulatory framework under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the scope of activities to be regulated by the FSA. Once a decision has been made on scope, the FSA is responsible for the details of the regulatory framework that firms must operate under.

The Government are confident that the FSA operates within a framework that offers it the opportunity and flexibility to regulate in a risk-based and proportionate way. In line with better regulation principles, the Government will also look to undertake a post-implementation review after a reasonable period of time, three to four years after regulation comes into effect.

HM Treasury is today publishing the following document: Travel Insurance Review—Summary of Responses and Next Steps, copies of which are available in the Vote Office and the Libraries of the House.