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Department for Children, Schools and Families: Official Receptions
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls)has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
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I have today published a list of official receptions hosted by Ministers at my department in the financial year 2007-08.
The total cost of official receptions held by Ministers at the department for Children, Schools and Families for the financial year 2007-08 was £9,000.
Education: National Curriculum Tests
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Yesterday, I wrote to the chair of the DCSF Select Committee to update him on the position with the return of national curriculum test results to schools, placing a copy of the letter in the Libraries of both Houses.
Further results have been released to schools by ETS Europe this morning, taking the total of scripts marked and released to over 98 per cent of marks at key stage 2 and some 88 per cent in key stage 3 —94.1 per cent in maths, 93.4 per cent in science and 76.9 per cent in English.
The QCA confirmed in a statement over the weekend that it is in discussions with ETS Europe following the unacceptable delays in delivering this year’s national curriculum test results. These discussions are highly sensitive—legally and financially—and, as I set out to the House yesterday, it is very important that the QCA should be allowed to conclude them in a timely and orderly fashion in order to safeguard the interests of pupils, schools and taxpayers. Ministerial intervention, at this stage, would be totally inappropriate and would jeopardise the public interest.
I shall continue to update Parliament regularly over the coming weeks on progress with release of results and Ofqual’s work on marking quality. I will write regularly with an update to the chair of the Select Committee, copying the letter to opposition spokespeople and the Speaker and placing a copy of the letter in the Libraries of both Houses.
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At the same time, and following my oral report to the Select Committee last week, Lord Sutherland has started work on his independent inquiry and will be collecting evidence in August and September before reporting publicly (when the House returns) in the autumn.
Energy: Nuclear Power Stations
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (John Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
It was announced in the 2008 White Paper on nuclear power that the Government would publish a public consultation on the strategic siting assessment (SSA) process and criteria.
I have today issued a consultation document on the SSA process and criteria. Alongside this, the Government are publishing a study of the environmental and sustainability effects of the siting of new nuclear power stations in accordance with the proposed SSA criteria. The Government are seeking views from members of the public, industry, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or any other organisation, body or individual with an interest. The Government are also publishing today a habitats regulations assessment screening report and the environmental study appendices.
This is a step towards the development of a new nuclear national policy statement.
The consultation will close on 11 November 2008. Copies of the strategic siting assessment consultation document and the environmental study will be placed in the Libraries of the House and are available together with the habitats regulations assessment screening report and the appendices of the environmental study on the website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform at www.berr.gov.uk/energy/nuclearwhitepaper/consultations/page44523.html.
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Justice and Home Affairs Council will be held on 24 and 25 July 2008 in Brussels. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice (Bridget Prentice), my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office (Meg Hillier) and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland (Kenny McAskill) will attend on behalf of the United Kingdom. As the provisional agenda stands, the following items will be discussed.
The morning of the council will focus on asylum and immigration business, starting with a state of play report on the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum. The pact covers five areas: legal migration of third-country nationals, illegal immigration and returns; border controls; asylum; and partnership with countries
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There will follow a discussion on the directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment (commonly known as the EU Blue Card), which aims to set admission conditions for highly skilled migrants. It also proposes to determine the conditions in which third-country nationals who are legally residing in a member state under the proposal may reside with their family members in other member states. The French presidency is aiming for political agreement at the September JHA Council. The UK has not opted into this measure since it does not fit with the UK’s points-based system.
The presidency is seeking an agreement to the directive providing for sanctions against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals by member states. The UK chose not to opt into this directive as a result of concerns in relation to the proposed definition of employer, a notification requirement and inspections. However, the UK is seeking to influence discussions in order to amend the text in a manner which would allow a review of our opt-in position post-adoption of the directive.
The council will be asked to agree conclusions on the taking-in of Iraqi refugees by member states. The Government strongly agree that member states should be able to determine their own resettlement policies. The UK will continue to resettle Iraqi refugees under our established policies and selection criteria and does not consider common resettlement criteria to be feasible. We support sharing good practice.
The presidency would like to reach a general approach on the directive amending directive 2003/109/EC to extend its scope to beneficiaries of international protection. The UK has chosen not to opt into the proposed directive as we believe it is not in line with our frontiers protocol. We want to determine the status of third-country nationals via the UK’s Immigration Rules.
The council then reverts to discussions on interior business, starting with the Mixed Committee with Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. The presidency will present a state of play report on the draft regulation amending common consular instructions on visas for diplomatic and consular posts in relation to the introduction of biometrics. Although the United Kingdom does not participate in issuing Schengen visas, we welcome the efforts of Schengen member states in ensuring that the Schengen external EU borders are as secure as possible.
The Commission will also update the council on the state of play of the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). The presidency will also look to agree the council regulation and council decision on the migration of SISI+ to SIS II.
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Under any other business in Mixed Committee, the Commission will present its communication on visa reciprocity. Although the United Kingdom does not participate in the EU common visa policy, the United Kingdom will continue to support the principle of reciprocity and extending the US visa waiver program to all EU member states.
The presidency intends to present its proposed working method on the passenger name records framework decision to the council. Its approach will focus on seeking agreement on the key issues of the dossier, namely scope, the depth of harmonisation necessary, data protection and relations with third countries. The presidency will also suggest that there should be consultation with data protection authorities, the European Parliament and carriers. The UK is in broad agreement with this approach and welcomes the ambitious programme of work outlined in the French proposal.
The presidency will present the final reports of the Future Groups on Home Affairs and on Justice, which aim to provide input to the new JHA work programme that will replace the Hague programme at the end of 2009. The Government see these reports as one element among several that should feed the debate on the direction of the new work programme.
The presidency will propose taking forward work to improve co-operation in tackling cybercrime. The UK supports action in this area to promote co-operation between private industry and public authorities, as well as between law enforcement. We will work with the presidency to develop its ideas.
On the morning of the second day, the council will move to justice issues. The presidency will seek political agreement on the council decision on strengthening Eurojust. This instrument aims to improve the efficiency of Eurojust, including by giving national members a minimum set of powers and increasing the flow of information between national competent authorities and Eurojust. The Government are content with the outcome of negotiations and believe the draft strikes a good balance.
The French presidency will also seek political agreement on the council decision amending the European judicial network. This instrument is intended to update and replace the 1998 joint action which established the European judicial network and take account of subsequent developments in EU judicial co-operation, including the establishment of Eurojust in 2002. The Government are generally content with what is proposed.
The presidency will present a proposal for a council decision on the establishment of the European criminal records information system (ECRIS). There will be a policy debate on this measure which aims to find a standardised format for exchange of the content of a conviction, as well as other general and technical implementation aspects of the information exchange. The Government strongly support this measure in so far as it aims to improve and speed up the arrangements for exchanging information on past convictions.
There will be a policy debate about the Rome III regulation (choice of law in divorce). The UK did not opt into the negotiations on this proposal. Member states have been unable to reach agreement on the measure, and some now wish to proceed by way of enhanced co-operation. The treaty provides for this,
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Government: Cars
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Ruth Kelly) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
I am publishing today details of the number of and cost to departments of the provision of allocated cars and drivers by the Government Car and Despatch Agency to Ministers during 2007-08.
| Department | No. of Cars | Contracted Cost | Notes |
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Leader of the House of Commons, the Government's Equalities Office and the Leader of the House of Lords | |||
- 1. The Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs was a post held jointly between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). The Government Car Service (GCS) costs were met by BERR.
- 2. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs was a post held jointly between the Department for International Development (DfID) and BERR. The GCS costs were met by DfID.
- 3. Cabinet Office figures include cars for Ministers in the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Minister for the Olympics.
- 4. The Minister of State for Borders and Immigration was a post held jointly between the Home Office and HM Treasury. The GCS costs were met by the Home Office.
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