Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 29 November 2001.

Details of two new tax credits to support work, help families with children and tackle poverty were announced today by Treasury Minister Dawn Primarolo. This is the next step in the Government’s major reform of the tax and benefits system.

A Bill to introduce the new tax credits was published today, setting out the legislative framework for the Child Tax Credit, for families with children, and the Working Tax Credit for low-income working households, including those where a worker has a disability. The credits are to be introduced from 2003.

The new tax credits will provide a simpler and more streamlined system.

Announcing the details, Ms Primarolo said:

“The Government is delivering on its promise to introduce a new streamlined system of tax credits to move forward on our commitments to eradicating child poverty and making work pay. Our tax and benefits reforms have helped ensure that more low-income families keep more of what they earn, and our reforms to improve work incentives are tackling the vicious unemployment and poverty traps. The new tax credits are key elements in achieving these aims.

“We are building on the success of the Working Families’ and Disabled Person’s Tax Credits, which benefit nearly 2.5 million children in 1.25 million families already, providing around £35 more a week compared to their predecessors. The new streamlined system will provide a secure stream of income for children, whether parents are in and out of work, helping people make the move into work and removing stigma from support for children.”

In the light of responses to a consultation exercise over the summer, a number of issues about the design of new tax credits have been confirmed:

•  the Child Tax Credit will be paid directly to the main carer, in line with Child Benefit;
• the principle of in-work support will be extended to those without children through the Working Tax Credit, which if based on the levels of the current systems of support, would benefit up to 400,000 low income working people without children;
• by creating a single, seamless system of support for families with children, the Child Tax Credit will extend support to around 100,000 families currently excluded from all but Child Benefit, including groups such as students and student nurses;
• the Child Tax Credit will support children up to the September following their 16th birthday. It will also support the families of young people up to the age of 19 who are in full time education;
• couples with children will be allowed to sum their hours together to qualify for the 30 hour credit;
• there will no capital limits for the new tax credits;
• the childcare element of Working Tax Credit will be paid direct to the main carer;
• payments of child maintenance will continue to be excluded from income for tax credits purposes;
• tax credit payments should be able to adjust in response to changes in income – but there will be further discussion about how this would work.

Other points in response to the consultation exercise are set out in the attached paper. The Government will continue discussions on the detail of the system as the regulations to support the Bill are drawn up.

The Bill also provides for the transfer of responsibility for Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance to the Revenue. The transfer, announced by the Prime Minister in June, will bring Government support for children within a single Department.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 27 November 2001.

Derek Wanless today published for consultation “Securing Our Future Health: Taking A Long-Term View”, his interim report on the long-term trends that will affect the health service over the next two decades.

The report is the result of an initial phase of domestic and international consultation that has included a major conference, various workshops and international visits.

Announcing publication of the interim report, Derek Wanless said:

“This is the first time in the history of the NHS that the Government has commissioned a long-term assessment of the resources required to fund the health service.

In this, my interim report to the Chancellor, I have set out what I regard as the key drivers of health need and cost over the next 20 years.  Although I have been able to gather and analyse a large amount of information, I am aware that many other people will have valuable contributions to make. I want to take account of these views and assess the most robust evidence possible before coming to a conclusion about the long-term resource requirements for the health service”.

The interim report presents emerging views about the key factors that drive NHS costs: catching-up to world class standards in the quality of service provided; rising patient and public expectations, particularly of the elderly; technological advance; and the recruitment and retention of an appropriately skilled workforce.

The report concludes that the impact of an ageing population on costs is not as large as is often thought and that there is scope for productivity savings to offset some cost increases. The report also concludes that ?There is no evidence that any alternative financing method to the UK’s would deliver a given quality of health care at a lower cost to the economy. Indeed other systems seem likely to be more costly.?

The report sets out a number of specific questions for consultation.  Mr Wanless said:

“The quality of the health service affects us all, and I would welcome views on this interim report from as many people as possible. I will be holding consultation events in the English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to hear the views of experts, patient groups, and those working in the health service. I also intend to gather more evidence internationally before compiling my final report in time to inform the 2002 Spending Review”.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 23 November 2001.

Better public services must start from a better understanding of users and their needs, expectations and behaviours. This applies at the outset of policy development as well as in front line service delivery, according to a Public Sector Productivity Panel (PSPP) report published today. The report builds on the growing understanding of what ‘customer focus’ means in practice for public sector management.

Welcoming the report, Chief Secretary Andrew Smith said:

“We remain committed to improving the quality of public services throughout the delivery chain and ensuring that the public get the best possible service at all stages. But improving delivery is a limited benefit if we are not delivering what people really need.

“This report makes it clear that improvement must be sought from the earliest stage of developing new policies or adapting and improving existing ones. It takes a new look at customer focus, in particular the need to shift radically the whole of an organisation – strategy, policy and front line delivery – towards service users.

“It lays out a path to a powerful transformation of public services, and I am pleased that the report has identified some clear successes that public service agencies should study carefully to see how they can keep consumers at the front of their thinking.”

Lynton Barker, PSPP author of the report said:

“In the private sector, companies have learnt that if they interpret customer focus as only about front line systems and processes, they will not achieve sustainable success. Only when they change their strategy, policy, behaviours and reward systems outward to ‘face the customer’ will they increase customer satisfaction.

“Customer-focused Government requires a similar fundamental shift in the way public services are conceived and managed. I think this is a real challenge to public sector organisations, but one which it is essential to meet successfully if the Government is to achieve its planned transformation of public services.”

Peter Wanless, Board level customer champion at the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), which will be piloting the approach set out in the report, said,

“I think this report provides an excellent grounding in what customer focus means in the context of public policy-making, as well as very practical advice in how to achieve it.”

The report sets out four key principles for public service providers to address :

• Understanding the customer : who they are, what they want and understanding how they act at present and how they could act in future.
• Building operations around the customer : how strategy, performance measures, systems, processes, organisation, values and behaviours support customer focus.
• Managing stakeholder relationships : making sure that all parties with an interest in better services – the wider public, business, voluntary sector and representative groups, as well as individual users and public sector bodies – understand and support each other and manage the potential risks of close relationships.
• Using customer understanding to deliver target outcomes : developing and implementing strategies to make best use of customer knowledge and relationships in order to improve performance.

The report finds that the quality of front-line public services such as health care or vehicle licensing are compared increasingly with other service experiences such as banking or shopping, and that there is an increased expectation of high quality public services that match those provided elsewhere.

The recommendations reflect findings that the public are more discriminating as customers and conscious of the impact of Government policy on their lives, their health, opportunities and business, than ever before and want higher levels of personalised service, wider choice, more information, and a greater voice.

The report looks at the lessons public service agencies can take from the success of a number of public sector exercises:

• DWP developed in parallel overarching delivery principles to protect and enhance the dignity and individuality of existing and imminent pensioners, and specific, targeted objectives for identifying the needs and concerns of future pensioners, including under 16s about to enter the world of work, savings and pensions, the self-employed and presently unemployed as well as those presently working for an employer.
• DfEE (now DfES) developed a targeted, flexible approach to ensure that effective delivery of the new National Literacy Strategy takes account of the full range of consumer interests at every level, from the individual child, teacher and school to regional and national agencies, including local education authorities, OFSTED and the Department itself.
• DfEE and South East Careers Service developed a ‘walking through what happens’ model from the perspective of six different stakeholders, including a disaffected young person, social services and the Youth Service, to assist effective delivery of the Connexions Service for young people in the area.
• The Office of the e-Envoy is planning two e-strategies focused on service delivery to pensioners and young people as customers across Government. Both groups are high priority for the Government but do not fall neatly within the jurisdiction of any single Department.

Preparation of the report included interviews with a wide range of external organisations including interest groups, industry bodies, non Departmental public bodies, other Government Departments and individual public sector staff.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 22 November 2001.

The Treasury has today decided to renew the scheme, set up to fill the gap in the commercial insurance market, until 23 January 2002. This will ensure that UK airlines can continue to fly in the wake of the events of September 11.

Chief Secretary Andrew Smith said:

“The Government has decided to renew the insurance scheme to enable airlines to keep flying. The Government’s objective remains to withdraw from the market as soon as practicable.  However, there is still a gap in the commercial insurance market which the Government is filling to ensure the aviation industry has the cover it needs.”

The current scheme expires on 23 November.  The scheme will be rolled forwards until midnight on 22 January 2002.  As before airlines and service providers will be required to find commercial cover for the first $50m of third party war and terrorism liabilities. The Government backed Troika scheme will provide the cover for liabilities above those minimum levels.

Premiums will be payable by all airlines covered by the Troika scheme.   These will continue to be on the per passenger basis recommended in European Commission guidelines.  However, discussions will continue with the industry on whether this is the most appropriate basis.

The Government will also continue discussions with the industry with a view to more commercial cover being reintroduced into the market.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 20 November 2001.

Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, today launched the work of a joint government and industry group, aimed at delivering better IT projects and creating a government market place more accessible for suppliers.

It represents a significant breakthrough in the approach to IT enabled business change by both government and industry and joint determination to ensure that, over time, future IT projects are delivered IT effectively. It also seeks to put an end to the cost and time overruns associated with previous IT project failures.

The programme of work was carried out by the Senior IT Forum, jointly sponsored by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and Computing Services and Software Association under the chairmanship of OGC’s Chief Executive, Peter Gershon.

As part of the programme Andrew Smith also announced today that the Department of Health, the Met Office and the Charities Commission would test a new approach to project leadership in live IT procurement projects in their departments. This would enable a supplier role to be developed to strengthen working relationships with Government to deliver successful IT projects.

Speaking at a Computing Services and Software Association conference in London, Andrew Smith said:

“Successful implementation of IT projects is important for the Government’s delivery of improved public services. These practical proposals should make it easier for Government and Industry to deliver business change supported by IT solutions that stand the test of time and ensure effective use of taxpayer’s money.”

The new approach to procuring and delivering successful IT projects includes:

a new framework for the leadership of projects
high level value for money guidance
a partnering approach recommended for all complex IT projects
a joint education programme as part of OGC’s wider commercial skills framework
input to a wider supplier code of conduct

Peter Gershon, Chief Executive of OGC said:

“The OGC is at the heart of helping government become a more intelligent client in procuring and delivering goods and services. Set against the progress already made under the SPRITE programme, today’s announcement represents a real step forward in opening the door to a new era of leadership and effective ways of procuring IT projects which deliver value for money.”

John Higgins, Director General of the Computer Services Software Association said:

“The work of the Senior IT Forum has been directed at driving out the systemic problems in public sector IT procurement. These first tangible results represent a significant step towards these goals and reflect the continued commitment of both Industry and Government to deliver real improvement in this difficult area.”

The Senior IT Forum’s recommendations are all intended to ensure that behavioural patterns are addressed on both the government and industry side. This will be reinforced by the roles of the Government’s Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and Industry Equivalent (IE).

The Government will shortly publish guidance explaining the way it evaluates value for money. This transparent approach will make the government market more accessible for suppliers wanting to enter it who, previously, may have been discouraged from bidding for the Government’s IT business.

The work of the Forum will help encourage partnering behaviours such as openness and trust. In time this will mean less disputes and reduce the time and costs involved in delivering IT projects. The OGC will shortly issue guidance to support effective partnering, including a standard approach to partnering in contracts.

The OGC will extend its training programme for government staff across civil central government by introducing a Wider Commercial Skills programme. The Senior IT Forum is working with OGC to identify areas suitable for joint training with government and industry to facilitate the developments of better relationships between them.

The Senior Forum will contribute to OGC’s work with the wider industry by introducing a supplier code of conduct for industry. The code will set out a standard of behaviour and conduct for supplier working with government. This will support the existing government ?Code of Good Customer Practice? which was launched in June 2001.

These changes will create a better understanding between government and industry at the very outset of a project. They complement the Government’s Gateway Review process for civil central government announced in February 2001 to ensure that projects have the capability to deliver sound business cases and long term effectiveness.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 15 November 2001.

A new price pledge from suppliers assuring civil departments the best price when placing orders for goods and services, such as light bulbs, CCTV and photocopying services, through a government catalogue was unveiled today by Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

The price pledge represents a contractual promise from suppliers to government using the Office of Government Commerce buying.solutions portfolio catalogue to match the best price offered to any civil central government department. This will deliver

•  a contractual condition agreed with suppliers to sell to the public sector at the lowest price;
• benefits to the taxpayer  from the lowest price in the market-place;

Speaking about the new price pledge Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:

“The introduction of this price pledge shows the scope that a focussed approach to procurement can have in making full use of the public sector’s   buying power.  This is promoting the public sector’s efforts to become one of the smartest customers in the market place and to bring about  best value for money for the taxpayer.”

Peter Gershon, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce, welcomed the work of its trading fund, OGCbuying.solutions in developing this framework.  He said:

“The pursuit of best practice and a more strategic approach to procurement across government is clearly generating results. Attitudes to procurement are changing. This is another successful step in OGC’s agenda to raise the profile of procurement.  This new clause follows best retail and commercial practice.”

Types of goods and services purchased by government departments under this framework include :

•  furniture
•  stationery
•  desk lights
•  refrigerators and freezers
•  waste disposal equipment
•  temperature monitoring equipment
•  catering equipment
•  building materials
• engineering and industrial tools
• energy metering and monitoring
• water and waste management
• sanitary ware
• carpets and curtains
• dishwashers

Under the framework OGCbuying.solutions will negotiate the terms and conditions, including best price, with a supplier and enter into a contract with them.  If at a later date the supplier chooses to sell to other public sector customers at a lower price, under equivalent conditions, then the Price Pledge clause will take effect.  This will ensure that future OGCbuying.solutions. customers can buy goods and services from that supplier at the lower price.

This new clause applies to the OGC buying.solutions portfolio contracts covering a wide range of goods and services from paper clips to furniture. Over £117 million per annum is spent through Portfolio.

All contracts agreed between OGCbuying.solutions and new supplier companies will now include the Price Pledge clause as a requirement. Many of OGCbuying.solutions existing suppliers have already agreed to incorporate the Price Pledge clause as a supplementary condition from 1 October.  It is expected that by March 2002 all suppliers will endorse the price pledge.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 14 November 2001.

Government Departments have been asked by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Smith, to ensure that sustainable development issues are considered and reflected in their bids for the 2001 Spending Review (SR). This is the first time that specific sustainable development guidance has been provided.

Mr Smith said:

“All Departments have a contribution to make to sustainable development and this should be reflected in their Spending Review proposals, targets and investment strategies.  Spending Review 2002 will make a significant contribution to our economic, social and environmental objectives. This Guidance demonstrates the importance the Government attaches to its Quality of Life objectives.”

As part of its Spending Review submission each Department participating in the Spending Review has been asked to produce:

• A sustainable development report (SDR), in which Departments will have an opportunity to explain the sustainable development dimension to their work.
• A summary of how sustainable development has influenced the Department’s priorities.
• An explanation of how its PSA targets relate to sustainable development.

This SDR will be the main sustainable development product of SR2002, giving departments an opportunity to explain in more detail the sustainable development implications of their bids and expanding on information provided elsewhere in the SR2002 bid.  The SDR should set out any anticipated significant social, economic and environmental implications for Departments’ top priorities.

Mr Smith has laid out fifteen headline indicators as a starting point for Departments to consider.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Government’s fifteen headline indicators set out in 1999 are attached at Annex A. The 15 headline indicators are updated regularly and can be found at the following web address below.

Annex A – the 15 headline indicators

Economic

Economic output (GDP)

Investment (% of GDP)

Employment

Social

Poverty and social exclusion

Education (qualifications at 19)

Health (exp. years of healthy life)

Housing  (unfit / non-decent homes)

Crime violent crime vehicle, burglary

Environment

Climate change (greenhouse gases)

Air quality (days of air pollution)

Road traffic

River water quality

Wildlife (farmland birds)

Land use (% of new homes on brownfield sites)

Waste  (more waste reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery)

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 8 November 2001.

The fight against the financing of terrorism continued as the UK, in coordination with international partners, circulated a list of 46 organisations and 16 individuals to financial institutions requiring that assets belonging to them be frozen.

Chancellor Gordon Brown also announced that a further £7 million of suspected terrorist assets had been frozen in the UK in the last week. The total amount of assets frozen in the UK now stands at £70 million in 38 accounts.

The individuals and organisations named on today’s list are believed to have committed or pose a significant risk of committing or providing material support for acts of terrorism.

Gordon Brown said:

“The ready supply of finance is the lifeblood of modern terrorism. The £7 million of terrorist assets frozen last week is evidence that the work we are urgently pursuing to stop the financing of terrorism is hitting terrorists where it hurts. If any of those named today hold assets in the UK they will be frozen immediately.

This list is a result of further intelligence sharing and coordination between the UK, US other international allies.  It follows other recent initiatives to destroy and disrupt the financing of terrorism, including the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations of last week. The UK will continue to work with our allies, and take a leading role internationally, in the fight against terrorism.

The UK’s domestic controls of terrorist financing are already among the best in the world, but we will do whatever is necessary to deprive terrorists of the funds they rely on. We will continue to strive to ensure that just as there is no safe haven for terrorists there is will be no safe hiding place for their funds.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 November 2001.

HM Treasury, in coordination with US Authorities, today circulated a list of 25 organisations to financial institutions requiring that assets belonging to them be frozen.

Those named are believed to have committed or pose a significant risk of committing or providing material support for acts of terrorism.

Gordon Brown said:

“Those named today  have committed or pose a real risk of committing or funding acts of terrorism. They will find no safe haven for their assets in the UK. I expect all financial institutions to check their records and freeze the assets of those named wherever found.

Today’s list is further evidence, following the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations earlier this week, of concerted international co-operation to disrupt and destroy the financing network of terrorists. The UK will continue to play a leading role in this work.

The ready supply of finance is the lifeblood of modern terrorism. Those who finance terrorism are as guilty as those who commit it. UK domestic controls of terrorist financing are already among the best in the world, but we will do whatever is necessary to deprive terrorists of the funds they rely on. Just as there is no safe haven for terrorists there is no safe hiding place for their funds.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.Those listed today are:

1.      Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO)

2.      Aum Shinrikyo

3.      Babbar Khalsa

4.      Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)

5.      Gama?a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)

6.      Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem

7.      Hizballah External Security Organisation

8.      International Sikh Youth Federation

9.      Kahane Chai (Kach)

10. Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK)

11. Lashkar e Tayyaba

12. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

13. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MEK) [minus the ?National Council of Resistance of Iran? (NCRI) alias]

14. National Liberation Army (ELN)

15. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)

16. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)

17. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

18. PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC

19. Real IRA

20. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

21. Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)

22. Revolutionary Organisation 17 November

23. Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army/Front (DHKP/C)

24. Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)

25. United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC)

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 20 December 2001.

The Treasury today published, and submitted to the European Commission, the UK’s 2001 Convergence Programme, “Maintaining Economic Stability”.  This is the fourth annual update to the UK Convergence Programme published in line with the EU Stability and Growth Pact.

The programme, which provides information on economic and fiscal developments in the UK, is submitted to the ECOFIN Council and the European Commission in line with Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 of the Stability and Growth Pact, for the purposes of the multilateral surveillance procedure under Articles 99 and 104 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (ex Articles 103 and 104c).

Following submission to the Council and the Commission, the 2001 update of the UK programme will be examined by the Commission, as will updates of Stability and Convergence Programmes submitted by the other 14 Member States of the European Union.  Following the Commission’s examination, the ECOFIN Council will deliver its opinion on the programme.