Written Ministerial Statements

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

Tuesday 12 February 2013

ECOFIN

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will be held in Brussels on 12 February 2013. We expect the following items to be on the agenda and discussed:

Current legislative proposals

The presidency intends to give an update on: single supervisory mechanism (SSM); the fourth capital requirements directive (CRD IV); bank recovery and resolution; market abuse directive (MAD)/market abuse regulation (MAR); and revised rules for markets in financial instruments directive (MiFID).

Discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget for 2011

As part of the annual discharge process, Ministers will conclude recommendations to the European Parliament on whether to discharge the Commission from its responsibility for implementing the 2011 EU budget, based on an annual report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Council guidelines for the budget for 2014

As part of the annual EU budget process, Council will agree a set of Council conclusions on guidelines for the 2014 budget of the EU, which will serve as its overall reference for the subsequent budgetary procedure.

Preparation of G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and governors (Moscow, Russia, 15 to 16 February 2013)

Council will be asked to endorse the EU terms of reference for the G20 Finance Ministers and governors meeting. This will be the first G20 Finance Ministers and governors meeting of the Russian presidency.

Annual growth survey 2013

Ministers will agree a set of Council conclusions on the Commission’s annual growth survey 2013.

Alert mechanism report 2013

Ministers will agree a set of Council conclusions on the Commission’s alert mechanism report 2013.

Fiscal sustainability report 2012

Ministers will agree a set of Council conclusions on the fiscal sustainability report 2012.

Afghanistan (Roulement)

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Hammond)]

The next roulement of UK forces in Afghanistan is due to take place in April 2013. Around half of these units will form Taskforce Helmand under command of 1 Mechanised Brigade. The remainder will deploy within Helmand and also to other locations in Afghanistan—particularly Kandahar and Kabul—as part of the UK’s overall contribution. The forces deploying include¹:

European Defence Agency Membership Review

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Hammond)]

I am announcing today that following a review of our membership of the European Defence Agency (EDA), the UK will at the present time remain a member of the agency.

In 2010 the UK reviewed its membership of the EDA following the strategic defence and security review. Subsequently, my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), recommended that the UK should remain a member of the EDA with a stocktake after two years.

In consultation across Government, my Department has reassessed the benefits of remaining in the EDA and reviewed progress made by the agency since 2010 against identified shortfalls.

The EDA has made progress in some areas requiring reform, but there is more to be done to improve its operational effectiveness and so the case for continued membership remains finely balanced. Overall, I have concluded that for now the UK should remain a member of the EDA with our continuing membership to be reviewed again in late 2013 in light of progress made during the year.

Military Low Flying (2011-12)

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr Mark Francois)]

I have today placed in the Library of the House a document providing detailed statistics of the low-flying training that has taken place in the UK low-flying system for the training year 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012. This statistical appendix may be read in conjunction with the master document “Military Low Flying in the United Kingdom” that is already available in the Library of the House.

The amount of low-flying training carried out in the UK low-flying system (UKLFS) during the training year 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 was the minimum required for aircrew to reach and maintain their ability to fly at low level. A total of 48,270 hours of low-flying training were conducted across all low-flying areas. In comparative terms, there was a decrease of 881 hours, or approximately 1.8% on the previous training year due to the operational deployment of fixed wing aircraft in Afghanistan and Libya. The amount of operational low flying (between 250 feet and 100 feet) by fixed wing aircraft was 134 hours, accounting for 0.3% of all low- flying activity.

International Criminal Court (Victims Fund)

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)]

I can announce today that the UK will contribute an additional £500,000 to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Trust Fund for Victims. This is in addition to two previous donations I announced in April 2011 and July 2012, amounting to £1 million. This brings the total UK support to the ICC Trust Fund for Victims since 2011 to £1.5 million. We believe the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) is doing excellent work in supporting victims of sexual and gender-based violence during conflict. The TFV was established by the states parties of the ICC in 2002 to benefit the victims of crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction. It is entirely funded by voluntary donations. The focus of its work so far has been in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where its project work provides assistance to the victims of the most serious crimes, including torture and sexual violence. It is making an important difference in helping the victims of serious crimes rebuild their lives. The Government are calling upon G8 countries for similar support to initiatives such as the TFV to help alleviate the significant suffering caused by these horrific acts of violence and take action to prevent these crimes from occurring.

London 2012 Games Security

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and G4S have today announced that they have reached a settlement following G4S’s failure to deliver in full the Olympic and Paralympic venue security contract.

LOCOG’s negotiating parameters were set out before the Home Affairs Committee in September by my Noble Friend, Lord Deighton, then LOCOG chief executive:

The public purse should not be adversely impacted by G4S’s failure to deliver on its contractual obligation;

The step in costs of using the military and police in place of G4S should be met by G4S;

LOCOG will not pay for any services not delivered.

All these objectives have been achieved.

The settlement, which has full Government approval, imposes a total reduction of £85 million in the payment due to G4S. This is to meet the step-in costs and to reflect their very serious failure to deliver. The settlement also recognises that G4S did provide around 80% of its contracted workforce hours over the course of the pre-games, games-time and post-games periods.

The Government contribution to the LOCOG venue security budget was set at £553 million in December 2011. The settlement today brings the total savings on that budget to £102 million, £39 million of which was announced in October 2012.

DCMS will provide a further update on the overall public sector funding package position (including venue security) at the end of June 2013.

The Damages Act 1996: The Discount Rate

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mrs Helen Grant)]

The Ministry of Justice, the Scottish Government and the Department of Justice, Northern Ireland have today jointly published a consultation paper “Damages Act 1996: The Discount Rate—Review of the Legal Framework” (CP 3/2013).

The paper seeks views on two issues: first, whether the legal parameters governing the way in which the discount rate prescribed under section 1 of the Damages Act 1996 is currently calculated should be changed; and, secondly, whether there is a case for encouraging the use of periodical payments in cases where the discount rate would otherwise apply.

The consultation period is 12 weeks from 12 February. Copies of the consultation paper have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The document is also available online at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk.

Judgment in Wilson/Reilly Case

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Mr Mark Hoban)]

The Court of Appeal has today ruled that the Government’s back to work schemes do not breach article 4 of the European convention on human rights.

While the judgment supports the principle and policy of our employment schemes, and acknowledges the care and resources we have dedicated to implementing them, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011 (“the ESE regulations”) do not describe the employment schemes to which they apply, as is required by the primary legislation. The Court of Appeal has therefore held the ESE regulations to be ultra vires and quashed them.

We are seeking permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment and, if permission is granted, we will take our case to the Supreme Court. As we are currently seeking permission to appeal, claimants who have already served a sanction will not be able to appeal on the basis of the Court’s decision until our appeal is heard. We are considering a range of options to ensure we do not have to repay these sanctions.

Today we intend to lay new regulations, which will come into force immediately and enable us to continue to refer jobseekers allowance claimants to our employment schemes and to provide the best chance for people to find employment.