Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 25 August 2000.

Promoting conservation and funding research into more sustainable construction practices are amongst the wide-ranging proposals announced today by Treasury Minister Stephen Timms to help reduce the environmental impacts of quarrying.

A consultation into proposals for the ‘Sustainability Fund’ launched today sets out possible approaches to delivering environmental benefits to local communities affected by sand, gravel and crushed rock quarrying.

Announcing the consultation, Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury said:

“This new Fund provides an excellent opportunity to deliver real environmental benefits – not only to local communities affected by the impact of quarrying – but also for the future of construction design and aggregates recycling.”

Revenue for the Fund will be recycled from the aggregates levy due to be introduced from April 2002.

The consultation document invites views from all interested parties on how the objective of the Fund – to deliver environmental benefits to areas subject to the environmental costs of quarrying – can best be achieved, and suggests a number of options for discussion. They include:

• overcoming market barriers and promoting increased use of alternative materials as aggregates;
• funding research into more sustainable construction and demolition practices;
• promoting conservation and increased biodiversity;
• restoring the natural landscape;
• promoting environmentally friendly quarrying practices; and
• local community projects.

Responses to the consultation document are requested by 6 October 2000.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 30 August 2000.

Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury , today announced that the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has agreed a strategic partnership with Vodafone for the provision of mobile telephone services to Government bringing over £38m of savings to the taxpayer.

The partnership gives Vodafone access to over 100,000 mobile phone users across government for two years bringing a more streamlined approach to the government market.

Speaking about the new strategic partnership Andrew Smith said:

“We live in a fast moving technological age where the growth in the mobile phone usage is immense.

“This agreement is the first in a series of initiatives streamlined by the Office of Government Commerce and demonstrates the savings that can be achieved with a co-ordinated approach to procurement across Government. The strategic partnership with Vodafone will deliver savings on both service costs and administration totalling at least £38 million over the next two years. This is excellent news for the taxpayer.

” There are clear benefits for Government to enter into strategic partnerships with major private sector providers, particularly where they involve initiatives that optimise the purchasing power of all government departments and demonstrate their ability to improve services and reduce costs. The agreement makes available Vodafone’s best value for government to the whole of the public sector, including local authorities and the NHS, on government contractual terms and without the need for further local competitions.”

Peter Gershon, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce said:

“This is a quick win deal and demonstrates the OGC’s strategic approach to the purchase of a key procurement commodity across Government. Over the next two years we will gain a better understanding of the Government’s needs in this dynamic field and return to the market as a more intelligent customer. I encourage all public sector organisations to make use of these arrangements as soon as they are able.

“There are real benefits to the taxpayer on this agreement as the joint arrangement with Vodafone includes process savings, tariff reductions and access to new technology. This should be seen as a catalyst for other private sector partners to come forward and work to streamline contract processes with Government. Such systems optimise the purchasing power of all government departments and demonstrates the real scope for improving services and reducing costs.”

The agreement with Vodafone is based on the Government Telecommunications Mobile contract, one of the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency’s (CCTA) managed services. This agreement potentially encompasses over 100,000 users across government and caters for the varying usage requirements of the public sector on a range of tariffs specifically designed for the government marketplace.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 15 September 2000.

The membership of a new, expanded team of top private and public sector experts to help departments and agencies find fresh, practical ways to improve the performance and delivery of public services was announced today by the Chief Secretary, Andrew Smith.

The Public Services Productivity Panel, which originally became fully operational in 1999 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, was such a success that it has been decided to renew and expand it. Panel members are freely giving up their time to work with him to improve the quality of public services for everyone. The new Panel’s first meeting was held yesterday at No 11 Downing Street.

The Government’s 2000 spending review pledged a massive increase of £43 billion in funding for public services, but also set demanding targets for improved service delivery through new Public Service Agreements. A key role of the Panel is to help the government deliver and preferably outperform the PSA targets.

Andrew Smith commented:

“The Government is determined to make the very best use of the added investment it is providing for Britain’s key public services.

“I am very grateful for all the hard work and imaginative ideas that the original Panel members contributed to help improve performance across the public sector. I am also very pleased to be able to announce the new membership of an expanded Panel to build on this work. I believe that we will be able to draw on the wealth of experience of the new Panel to drive forward further improvements.”

The members of the Panel are:

Andrew Smith (Chair),  Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Lynton Barker,  Head of Management Consultancy Services, Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Keith Burgess,  Former Global Managing Partner, Andersen Consulting
Caroline Burton,  Board member, London Pension Fund Authority and Investment Panel member for various pension funds
Sir Ian Byatt,  Former Director General, OFWAT
Pat Carter,  Direct investor in US & European healthcare and technology businesses
Fiona Driscoll,  Director/Marketing, Defence Evaluation Research Agency
Michael Frye,  Chairman, Lynara (Management) Ltd
Andrew Foster,  Controller, Audit Commission
Sir Michael Lyons,  Chief Executive, Birmingham City Council
John Miskelly,  Chairman of JM and Director of Blueprint Group Ltd
Greg Parston, Chief Executive, Office for Public Management
Lord Simon, Advisor to the Cabinet Office
Lord Sainsbury, Minister of State, DTI
Clare Spottiswoode,  Former Associate Partner of PA Consulting Group
John Smith,  Director of Finance, BBC
David Varney,  Chief Executive, BG Group
Professor Sir Adrian Webb,  Vice Chancellor, University of Glamorgan

The Government intends to supplement the skills and experience of the Panel by appointing a person with a trade union background as soon as possible.

The Panel will be developing a new work programme, in consultation with public services, over the next month. Details of the programme will be announced at that time.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 20 September 2000.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown said:

“The IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Prague this week offer us a crucial opportunity to strengthen the international financial system and to ensure that all countries are able to participate fully in the world economy and share in the benefits of rising global prosperity.

“When the next country is faced by turbulence, and when the next challenge confronts the global financial system, people will not ask who was at which meeting. People will ask whether we have learnt the lessons of Mexico, Korea, Russia and Brazil, and whether we have put in place measures – from early warning procedures to framework for crisis resolution – to create greater stability and economic growth.

“The founders of the Bretton Woods institutions knew that prosperity is indivisible. This is even more the case in today’s world of instantaneous global markets. Today, instability anywhere has repercussions everywhere. The new world economy has brought greater risks of insecurity as well as opportunity. So it is the duty of the international community through economic co-operation to put in place measures to spot potential problems early, to prevent these problems where possible and where problems do occur, to minimise the disruption and real damage they can cause.

“While the path of open trade and open capital markets that we have travelled in the last 30 or 40 years has brought unprecedented growth, greater opportunity and the prospect of better lives for millions across the world, we must not forget there is still massive poverty. Globalisation must work for the poor as well.

“The message from Prague for us all – Governments, Institutions, demonstrators – must be that in the new world of open capital markets the proper course is not to retreat from global co-operation or globalisation. The way forward is to enhance international economic co-operation.

“So we reject those that say the instability of recent years and argue we should turn our back on globalisation, in effect a return to the protectionism of the 1930s and tightly controlled capital markets of the 1940s. Those that look at the expansion of private capital flows and argue there is no longer a need for the IMF and World Bank, that in effect we should return to the discredited laissez-faire of the 1920s. Globalisation has the potential to be the key to greater prosperity. Greater international co-operation is the best hope for eradicating poverty and of delivering growth and opportunity to all.

“The case for global economic co-operation is being made every day. The IMF, under the new leadership of Horst Kohler, and the World Bank, under Jim Wolfensohn, have agreed and are implementing reforms – including greater co-operation between the two institutions. There are four further steps we can and must agree in Prague:

co-operation in surveillance to deliver effective early warning;
co-operation in crisis prevention;
co-operation in crisis resolution;
and above all co-operation to break the vicious circle of debt, poverty and economic decline in which so many countries are still trapped, and create a virtuous circle of debt relief, poverty reduction and economic growth.

Surveillance

“Over the past two years the international community has made great progress in agreeing a framework of codes and standards covering the key areas that all countries need to address if they are to achieve stability and participate in the international financial system – transparency in fiscal and monetary policy, financial supervision and corporate governance.

“And because sound economies depend not simply on robust and transparent economic and financial systems, but on welfare and social systems that build social cohesion and trust, the World Bank and UN are also developing principles of good practice in social policy.

“But the codes of conduct will only work if there is an effective and authoritative surveillance mechanism, to monitor their implementation, so that the public have confidence in the transparency on which stability depends.

“The building block is already present in the IMF’s Article IV process. The new international architecture, however, requires a step change in the IMF’s surveillance under Article IV. It must become broader encompassing not just macro economic policy but the implementation of the codes and standards on which stability depends. It must become inclusive, drawing on the work and expertise of the World Bank and other bodies to deliver broader surveillance under the Article IV umbrella.

“It must become transparent so that the public and the markets get the information they need and have confidence in the process which produces it. Indeed we must ensure the private sector is aware of the codes and standards, and the information they provide. Evidence shows that where the private sector can see that a country has strong economic policies in place, that there is macroeconomic stability and a greater openness to trade, they are more likely to invest in that country. But we still have further to go. Strong foreign investment flows should be linked to strong economic policies.

“Crucially, the surveillance system must be authoritative, independent and of the highest quality. It is important to ensure the IMF has the authority and credibility it needs: we need surveillance of the IMF as well as by the IMF. This is one of the reasons why we welcome Horst Kohler’s agreement to establish an independent evaluation unit at the IMF. This should cover the full range of the IMF’s activities.

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Crisis prevention and private sector involvement

“In setting up new mechanisms for surveillance and crisis prevention, we must also ensure that we provide the right incentives. We must ensure that all the main participants, public and private, in the international financial system accept their responsibilities and play their part in maintaining stability.

“All economies need not only to be transparent in their activities: they also need to forge regular contacts and lasting relationships with their private investors.

“Countries which are prepared to make the efforts to implement internationally-agreed codes and standards, and to establish closer and more secure relationships with their private sector creditors – through establishing investor networks, debt monitoring systems, private sector contingent credit lines, and collective action bond clauses – will find that these efforts will help contribute to building less crisis-prone economies.

“It is also important that the private sector works with the IMF on surveillance issues. We welcome the action the fund has taken in this area and its establishment of a capital markets group.

“And countries that adopt the right policies need to be sure that they have support from the official sector as well as the private sector. That is why the UK supported the development of the preventative contingent credit facility (CCL) at the IMF for these countries. We welcome the agreement at the IMF which we will finalise in Prague to develop further the CCL to make it more attractive to countries and to ensure that it offers real protection.

Crisis resolution

“However successful we aim to be at avoiding crises, we should recognise that shocks will occur. We need to ensure there are effective methods in place for crisis resolution – in a way that ensures that the burden of adjustment is not placed on the poor and the most vulnerable people.

“There will continue to be a role for the official sector, particularly the Fund, in resolving them. But we need also to recognise that the way we resolve crises may have significant implications for the behaviour of public and private sectors in the future.

“Following the events of 1997 and 1998, the international community has now developed a new framework for private sector involvement in crisis resolution. The handling of a number of recent cases has demonstrated the ways in which the private sector can be involved.

“But we need to go further in fleshing out this framework with a clear set of presumptions for appropriate private sector involvement concerning the range of potential crises, moving further away from the old ad hoc model, while still retaining the necessary flexibility to deal with the specifics of individual cases.

World Bank and IMF co-operation

“As we build a platform of stability, we must ensure that more countries share the benefits of the global economy.

“This requires close co-operation between the IMF and the world bank and I welcome Horst Kohler and Jim Wolfensohn’s statement earlier this month of an enhanced partnership between the two institutions.

“The focus of the World Bank is poverty reduction, structural reform and social development. Yet this matters not only in the poorest countries. As the crises of the 1990’s have demonstrated, it is important to put in place strong social systems and mechanisms for helping the most vulnerable in all countries participating in the international financial system.

“The IMF’s prime responsibility is stability and surveillance. But stability and surveillance matter in all countries. And the Asian financial crisis has shown that structural problems can lead to financial and macroeconomic instability.

“So in many countries the interests and activities of the IMF and World Bank are interdependent. They both have vital roles to play in surveillance and lending in emerging market and developing countries alike.

“Above all the Bretton Woods institutions have a crucial role to play in forging the new consensus that I believe we need. A consensus that recognises that enhanced international co-operation is the key to prosperity.

Development

“The need to develop a new approach is clearest for the poorest countries.

“To achieve our goal – halving by 2015 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty – we need to move beyond the economic and social assumptions of the past two decades. A new world requires a new understanding of what makes for sustainable economic development – how we break the vicious circle of debt, poverty and economic decline and create a virtuous circle of debt relief, poverty reduction and economic growth.

“So what we need is a new approach that recognises the links that form the virtuous circle:

first we need to deliver the enhanced debt relief;
second, we need to build the link between debt relief and poverty reduction strategies;
third, we need to create the new conditions for economic; development- stability and a recognition of the roles of the public and private sector – that will allow the participation of all poor countries in the global economy.

First, the importance of debt relief.

“The Commonwealth has played a crucial role in the drive for debt relief, starting with the Mauritius Mandate. Last year we were able to go further and secure a commitment to a major reform of the HIPC to deliver wider, deeper, faster debt relief. We are all anxious to see this implemented.

“Some progress has been made. We now have 10 countries through to decision point who will receive $21bn in total debt relief. But we need to go further. We need to make sure that any HIPC country that can make the necessary commitments to poverty reduction qualifies quickly for decision point and the flow of debt relief to achieve our aim of 20 countries qualifying for debt relief by the end of the year.

“I welcome the Fund and Bank’s statements earlier this month outlining new ways to speed up the process:

first, much greater flexibility on track record with the focus on achievement, not on a fixed number of years;

second, a recognition that the development of full PRSPs should not hold up debt relief and that to reach the decision point countries should produce interim PRSPs;

third a streamlining of conditionality so that it focuses on what is essential to achieve poverty reduction and growth; and

fourth, the Fund and Bank working more intensively through the joint implementation committee to drive the process more proactively.

“But just getting 20 countries to decision point by the end of 2000 is not enough. We must also face the next challenge of dealing with countries that are not able to make the commitment to poverty reduction, many of which are affected by conflict. We need to help these countries move to a position where debt relief leads clearly to poverty reduction.

This is an issue we need to address proactively – in following up the g7 declaration in Okinawa, and in the work of the bank’s post conflict unit. We will seek to move this agenda forward in Prague.

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Second, poverty relief

“Next we need to build the link between debt relief, development and poverty reduction strategies.

“The last year has seen a major and decisive shift away from the old Washington consensus and towards a new year 2000 consensus where anti-poverty policy and economic policy will in future go hand in hand in recognition that social justice and economic growth are intertwined.

“It is now widely agreed that anti-poverty strategies are be not only be country-driven but community driven – developed transparently with broad participation of civil society, key donors and regional institutions. And that economic and social strategies must be clearly linked to the international development goals of halving world poverty by 2015.

“Poverty Reduction Strategies are not however intended to hold up debt relief. Which is why I am glad the IMF and Bank have re-emphasised that only outline, or interim poverty reduction strategy papers are needed to reach decision point.

“But full PRSPs are vital to achieving our goals. The countries concerned must and the international community must together ensure that PRSPs do reflect the new year 2000 consensus. And the Bank and Fund’s programmes must support the PRSPs designed by the countries.

Securing the benefits of globalisation

“Aid and debt matter but in order to grow out of poverty, the poorest countries need to have access to the global economic system.

“We need to make this opportunity real for all the citizens of the world by ensuring the conditions, the capacity and the means to enable them to participate in the global economy in a manner that can benefit rather than harm them.

“There are several major issues that Clare Short and I will to continue to work on in the next 12 months:

the first is in trade talks to create liberalisation that does not disadvantage the world’s poorest. The EU has been working to persuade other industrialised countries to sign to its pledge of duty-free and quota free access to “essentially all” imports from developing countries. The prime minister, Clare and I have all gone further than this – calling for duty-free and quota-free access for all imports from developing countries.

secondly, we have called for the reform of WTO in a manner that ensures a true voice for developing countries; and

thirdly, we recognise in a new knowledge based global economy we need to ensure that the world’s poorest get access to technology, knowledge and skills that enable them to exploit opportunities rather than be exploited by them.

“A lasting exit from poverty will also need all countries to have access to private investment capital. Now it is true, as we saw in recent years, that short-term capital flows can be destabilising when investors are insufficiently informed and when countries lack open and transparent policy making procedures, strong financial systems, and the necessary institutional capacity.

“But, as I have said, the answer is not for the countries to turn their backs on globalisation but for us to join together to build a solution that meets the needs of developing countries.

“To do this we need to provide countries with road-maps for opening up their capital accounts – with guidance on the speed and desirability liberalisation. On attracting more stable direct investment not just portfolio flows.

“There are many issues to cover, from reforms to strengthen the financial sector, including banking supervision, bankruptcy laws, property rights and an independent judicial system; and on creating infrastructure and conditions to enable investment and using private sector finance and skills.

“We must offer developing countries a practical programme of advice and assistance that will help them on the path, not overloading their capacity, but also not losing sight of the ultimate goal.

“At present only 3 per cent of foreign direct investment goes to low income countries and only 1 per cent goes to the heavily indebted poor countries. We must change this so that developing countries receive stable, productive foreign direct investment. Investment which brings not just capital, but transfers skills.

“All countries, rich and poor, need stable oil prices. When the price trebles in only 20 months, every economy is affected, but the poorest disproportionately. I therefore welcome OPEC’s commitment to increase the supply of crude oil by 800,000 barrels per day from 1 October. But the price remains unsustainably high. So we call upon OPEC to raise supply and to take additional measures to bring down the price of oil as they have promised to do.

Conclusion

“So we should not turn our backs on globalisation. We must continue to build an improved international financial system fit for the twenty first century that will enable all countries to participate in the new world economy and to share in rising prosperity. Enhanced international economic co-operation is the best hope of eradicating poverty and of delivering growth and opportunity to all.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 9 October 2000.

Gordon Brown today launched his Pre-Budget Report Consultation Tour by announcing a ‘new world of opportunity and choice for lone parents’ and setting an ambitious target to get the number of lone parents in work in the UK up to the levels of other countries.

He outlined new figures showing that:

• 100,000 lone parents have moved from welfare to work since 1997;
• after decades of rising numbers of lone parents on benefit, the numbers have fallen from 1,015,000 in May 1997 to 910,000 in May 2000 with further falls expected this year taking the proportion of lone parents in work to 50 per cent;
• 150,000 lone parents have received help through the NDLP, with over 55,000 moving into work directly through the New Deal for Lone Parents;
• 228,000 childcare places have already been established. With the planned and new money announced today by Margaret Hodge, new places will cater for 1.6 million children by 2004;
• there are 100,000 (25 per cent) more lone parents claiming WFTC than claimed Family Credit, the benefit it replaced. And 90,000 lone parents receive the childcare element of WFTC, compared with 47,000 who claimed the childcare element of Family Credit.

But the Chancellor said that there is much more to do, since lone parents in the UK are much more likely to be out of paid work and in poverty than elsewhere. Whilst the new figures show an increase in the proportion of lone parents in work from 44 per cent in 1997 to almost 50 per cent today, the UK still lags behind other countries in the ?league table? of international comparisons of the numbers of lone parents in work:

Furthermore, the figures show the UK has:

• low overall lone parent employment rates;
• relatively low full-time employment rates (about 20 per cent compared to around 70 per cent in France and 50 per cent in the US);
• a large, and negative, difference between the employment rates of lone mothers and couple mothers. (Latest figures show almost two-thirds of married mothers are in work in the UK).

More recent figures have shown the UK employment rate climb toward 50 per cent and the US figure is now around 70 per cent.

The Chancellor stressed that the biggest changes are yet to come, with:

• today’s launch by Margaret Hodge of an expansion of child care places to match the already announced expansion;
• second, new and improved arrangements for the Working Families Tax Credit ; the under-16s child credit in WFTC increased from £21.25 to £25.60 in June this year.  With this change the maximum WFTC available for a lone parent with two children increased by £450 a year. A new £4.2m advertising campaign is to be launched this month;
• third, the new £1.5bn Children’s Tax Credit for up to 5 million families; and
• fourth, new pilots for the new Choices programme. This new programme, supported by the National Council for One Parent Families, was announced in Budget 2000 in recognition of the fact that for some lone parents moving into work is a process, not an overnight event.  Under this scheme, which is being piloted this month and will be available nationwide from April 2001, lone parents can choose between:
• going into education or training, where they will receive an extra premium of £15 per week to help with the cost of studying;
• taking a ?mini-job? of less than 16 hours, with help to pay childcare costs in  the first year and a being able to keep the first £20 of their wages without affecting their Income Support;
• taking a job of 16 hours a week or more, and applying for the Working Families Tax Credit, which will give them a guaranteed income of £155 per week for 16 hours or more and £214 for 35 hours or more. They will also get help with childcare costs through the Childcare Tax Credit.

There is no requirement to take up work or undertake training, though lone parents whose children are over 5 will be required to come in for a discussion about the possibilities.  Those with younger children can volunteer for the programme if they wish.

The Chancellor said:

“We want to see a sea change in the opportunities available to lone parents. We want a new world of opportunity and choice for lone parents.

We want to give lone parents real choices, enable them to move from welfare to work and get them and their children off benefits and out of poverty. Our new package of help with child care, extra support through the Working Families Tax Credit and initiatives like Sure Start will help more lone parents combine a job with the vital work of bringing up children and get the number of lone parents in work up to US levels.

This Government is on the side of working mothers and working families, helping them to combine paid work with the vital job of bringing up children.  We are working to give them a real choice, helping them with record increases in child benefit, the Working Families Tax Credit and the new Children’s Tax Credit, a £1.5 billion tax cut for up to 5 million families. We’re tackling child poverty, giving families and mothers genuine choice by making work – the best route out of poverty – pay.

We have looked at alternative proposals for a transferable tax allowance. Under such a scheme, a family with two children on £15,000 a year would receive £965 a year. With the Working Families Tax Credit, the same couple would receive not £965 but £2,200 a year.

Scrapping the WFTC and the New Deal for Lone Parents would deny lone parents the choice of whether to work and would leave millions of children and their parents in poverty.

Over a million low and middle income families would lose more than £24 a week if the WFTC were scrapped.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 11 October 2000.

Chancellor Gordon Brown today welcomed a new multi-million pound initiative as an essential step in bridging Britain’s digital divide, and said it would it be the first in a series of measures that will achieve the Government’s aim to put computers and the Internet within the reach of everyone.

The initiative, the details of which will be announced by Education Minister Michael Wills, will wire up the poorest communities, provide computers to every resident who wants one, and offer on-line services and free on-line learning. And one of the UK’s highest unemployment areas will be the first wired up community in a public private partnership to give every household a computer.

The new scheme has three aims:

• To bridge the gap between those with computers and those without, ensuring no-one is left out of the internet revolution;
• To boost opportunities to work and train in the poorest and most deprived communities; and
• To put the UK at the forefront of the IT revolution, as part of meeting the Prime Minister’s pledge to ensure everyone has access to the Internet by 2005.

Speaking at the UK Internet Summit today in London, Mr Brown revealed new and disturbing figures showing that whereas one in two of the richest families are now on the Internet, only one in twenty of the poorest families are linked up.

He outlined a plan to wire up some of Britain’s poorest communities, and offer on-line services and free on-line learning in IT skills.

The first community to benefit will be Kensington in Liverpool, which has high levels of poverty and unemployment three times the national average, together with a range of other problems. It will be wired up in a unique partnership between a range of organisations including ICL and Gardner Systems firms, which will offer free computers to every resident in the pilot area.

9 more communities to benefit from the initiative will be announced at a later date.

Other measures to cross the digital divide include:

• 1,000 learndirect centres by spring 2001 – 600 are open now; and 1,000 ICT learning centres by 2001 – last month the first 616 ICT learning centres were announced.
• Both learndirect and ICT learning centres are part of the ?UK Online? brand – by the end of 2002, the aim is for there to be 6000 UK Online centres across England;
• on-line basic skills training free of charge for the unemployed;
• tax free loans of computers from employers to employees;
• the Foyer Federation, which provides housing and jobs training for out of work young people, is in partnership with ICL and NTL creating 50 UK online centres in Foyers across the country;
• in Brighton, a joint UK online/Big Issue centre will help homeless people to find a job by giving them access to computers and their own email addresses;
• charities in Hampshire are bringing laptop learning to the housebound; and
• testing new forms of provision for rural as well as urban areas – for example a mobile unit driving around rural Dorset.

Gordon Brown said:

“It is the determination to bridge the digital divide that makes us adopt such a innovative approach. Our aim is not just that people can access new technology, but that they also have the skills to make the most of that technology – hence our decision that the UK online centres include both ICT learning centres and learndirect centres, where we will provide a whole new network of computer learning, so that the whole of Britain is equipped for the information age.

The £15 million Computers Within Reach initiative which Education Secretary David Blunkett is leading will provide up to 100,000 recycled computers to low income families. Today, Education Minister Michael Wills is announcing the first wave of 35,000 computers.

In addition, Michael Wills is proposing to wire up some of the country’s most deprived communities, where the digital divide is most apparent.

This project involves a ,10 million investment in 10 innovative pilot schemes to wire up communities – bringing homes on line and linking them to their own community web with a single portal with links to local service. This will help overcome the barriers people may face in accessing employment, education and local services, and it will give many the opportunity, for the first time, to use the Internet.

Today Michael Wills will announce the first pilot in Kensington, Liverpool, an area with unemployment at three times the national rate and few families with computers – but within the pilot area, all homes will be eligible.

And to ensure the pilot works to the advantage of everyone, the first 2000 of the 35,000 computers ready for loan will be made available to the residents of Kensington free of charge.”

Mr Brown continued:

“A high unemployed area will therefore be the first to benefit from the most modern of technology, with not just some, but everyone, equipped for the challenges of the future.  This is only the first of 10 pilots in a project that if successful we will attempt to extend to many more areas which need it.

The principle behind it – that no-one should be excluded from the benefits of the IT revolution, and that the digital divide can be bridged.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 19 October 2000.

The Treasury is seeking applications for an additional Managing Director to the Board of the Financial Services Authority. Advertisements will appear in the national press from 19 October onwards. The text of the advertisement is attached.

The new post will have direct responsibility for the Consumer Relations Division, the regulation of insurance and investment firms, retail investment policy, training and competence issues and product regulation.

Announcing the new post, Economic Secretary Melanie Johnson said:

“This is a major appointment. The new Managing Director will have a key role in raising public awareness of the financial system and ensuring that consumers have the information they need to make appropriate choices about financial services products.

“The Government regards this as a key element in the success of its regulatory reforms. Appointments will be made in line with the guidance on Appointments to Public Bodies issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.  The Board of the Financial Services Authority is appointed by the Treasury.

2.  The current Financial Services Authority Board is listed below. It comprises the Chairman, the non-executive Deputy Chairman, two Managing Directors and ten non-executive Directors.

Sir Howard Davies, Chairman Joined the Board in July 1996 and became Chairman in August 1997

Stewart Boyd QC, Deputy Chairman Joined the Board in March 1999. Called to the Bar, Middle Temple in 1967 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1981

Moira Black CBE, Joined the Board in December 1998. Chairman, Consumer Communications for England. Vice-Chairman of the University of North London. A non-executive director of the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust. A trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens

David Clementi, Joined the Board in September 1997. Deputy Governor (Financial Stability) of the Bank of England

Michael Foot, Managing Director Head of Financial Supervision. Joined the Board in June 1998

Deidre Hutton CBE, Joined the Board in December 1997. Vice Chairman of the National Consumer Council. Chairman of the Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Bureau

Gillian Nott OBE, Joined the Board in December 1998. Chairman of Baronsmead VCT plc. Director, Foreign and Colonial Pacific Investment Trust Ltd. Trustee of Understanding Industry

Keith Oates, Joined the Board in February 1998. Non-executive Director of British Telecommunications plc. Non-executive Director of Diageo plc, where he chairs the Audit Committee

Christopher Rodrigues, Joined the Board in December 1997. Chief Executive of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society. A non-executive Director of Energis plc

Dr Shamit Saggar, Joined the Board in December 1998. Reader in Government at Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London. Board member of the National Consumer Council. A non-executive member of the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust. A Governor of the Peabody Trust. Member of the Advisory Council, Institute of Citizenship

Sir Robert Smith, Joined the Board in December 1997. Vice Chairman, Deutsche Asset Management. BBC National Governor for Scotland. Chairman of the National Museums of Scotland.

Stephen Thieke, Joined the Board in December 1997. Chairman of the RiskMetrics Group.

Phillip Thorpe, Managing Director Head of Authorisation, Enforcement and Consumer Relations. Joined the Board in June 1998.

Keith Whitson, Joined the Board in December 1998. Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings plc. He is also a director of the group’s major subsidiaries in the UK, Hong Kong, USA, Canada and Argentina.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 19 October 2000.

A new water-monitoring database system aimed at saving energy and providing the public sector with benchmarks and targets for lower water consumption has the potential for huge savings, Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury,  announced today.

The Watermark project, a sophisticated Government model for tracking the usage of water and effluent services by the wider public sector, will enable savings to be made on future water bills principally by reducing consumption and the adoption of meters across the estate.

Speaking in London about the new project at a Water Companies conference, Stephen Timms said:

“We all need to work towards conserving energy and water consumption and to reduce CO2 emissions.  This is essential if we are to meet our environmental targets and improve our energy conservation methods.  The potential for savings for the taxpayer are immense.

As a first step to increasing awareness and filling the huge knowledge gap across the public sector on how it uses water, we must have a better insight into such usage and to understand how better to manage consumption. To manage this spend more effectively and to reduce water consumption, benchmarking and management information is essential.

This contract is the first step towards providing a computerised database which will allow quick and easy data analysis of the water consumption.  This will provide departments with meaningful management information to allow better control and planning of expenditure.”

Peter Gershon, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), set up to improve procurement best practice across Government, said:

“There is a clear potential for the OGC to enter into strategic partnerships with suppliers in the area of energy conservation and to assist departments deliver best value for money in the public sector’s commercial activities.   I am delighted to be supporting a project that could bring real gains to the public sector and to be supporting the Greening Government Operations Strategy which seeks to reduce water consumption.”

The current £600m spend on water services by the wider public sector – central government and local authorities – is expected by the end of the Watermark study in April 2002 to have the potential to deliver savings of up to 10% each year on the total spend in this area.  This equates roughly to around £30m for central government and £30m for local authorities.

It is estimated that ninety per cent of the potential savings projections could be achieved through improving greater understanding and awareness of reducing water consumption, including less wastage, and addressing greening issues including wasted energy such as pumping and wasted hot water.  The ten per cent could be derived from implementing correct metering where rateable charges exist.  Some capital spend may be required in this area.

Currently DfEE, DETR, DSS, HM Treasury, HMP Prison Service, Ofwat, Inland Revenue, Police Authority for Northern Ireland, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories (NDPB) the Environmental Agency and The Metropolitan Police are involved with the Watermark project.

It is estimated that there will be some potential for some savings before the Watermark contract comes to an end in April 2002.  Much will depend on how quickly departments react to the benchmark data they receive.

The Watermark project is funded through the Government’s Invest to Save Budget and is managed by The Buying Agency (TBA), an executive agency of the OGC.  The contract worth £250,000 is for the provision of  Watermark’s computerised database and is with Energy Metering Technology (EMT), a specialist energy consultancy. Watermark is supported by the Department of the Environment (DoE), Transport and the Regions (DETR) and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).

The OGC will, through its remit, provide central Government procurement departments and agencies with a new drive to improve performance so helping them to deliver best value for money in their commercial activities.  The OGC is currently on track to deliver £1 billion value for money procurement gains across the public sector in meeting its £1 billion target over three years.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 19 October 2000.

Chancellor Gordon Brown today launched a new challenge to employers and workers to exploit this moment of hard-won economic stability to close the productivity gap with Britain’s main competitors. He called on employers and workers to tackle the key barriers to higher productivity growth: restrictive practices, low skills, resistance to innovation and under-investment.

Speaking in London to the Confederation of British Industry, Gordon Brown urged employers, employees, investors and others to work together to address the productivity challenge:

“I want to concentrate our attention on the moment of opportunity our hard won stability is now giving to our country. How we can build upon that hard-won monetary and fiscal stability to bridge the 35 per cent productivity gap with our competitors.

If we are to seize and not squander this hard won moment of opportunity, we must challenge each other – investors, managers, workforces, educationalists – that we should, without complacency, address and overcome the old British problems which many consider to be short-termism and under-investment, inadequate skills, resistance to change and to new technology, and over complacency and a failure to benchmark the best.

So this is my challenge. I can tell you today what Government can and will contribute: stable policies will continue so there will be no sudden lurches in tax or spending policy, no irresponsible pre-election sprees, no irresponsible wage increases that will put youth jobs or any jobs at risk, no relaxing our fiscal rules.

We will play our part in creating the best competitive environment and investing in the potential of our people and I will address these issues in the coming Pre-Budget Report.”

The Chancellor went on to outline the challenge he is setting today:

“I believe as a country we can do far, far more. We cannot bridge the gaps, however, without a broader drive from managers and workforces across the country to solve together productivity problems which each cannot solve on their own.

I have called on the Presidents of the CBI and TUC, the Director General of the CBI, and the General Secretary of the TUC to invite a positive response from unions and managements in regions and in sectors to address some of our old problems and together work through an agenda for economic reform. In short, whether we can remove all the old barriers to employment and prosperity for all.

I propose that, to tackle the productivity issue, the CBI should work with the TUC, educationalists and others to meet the challenge I have set out.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 23 October 2000.

Chancellor Gordon Brown and Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo will today urge working parents to apply for Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), as they launch a major new publicity campaign and publish new figures showing 2.2 million children are now better off as a result of WFTC.

The mould-breaking £5 million WFTC national advertising campaign – which will run for a month – features parents and families who have actually been claiming the WFTC, and spells out the degree to which they have benefited as a result.

At the launch in London today, Mr Brown showed that:

• Over 1.1 million families are already receiving the WFTC – 300,000 more than claimed Family Credit (FC) at its peak;
• 2.2 million children are living in those 1.1 million households, compared to 1.68 million children in families claiming FC at its peak;
• On average each family is receiving over £76 a week;
• On average each family is £30 a week better off than they would have been under Family Credit.

Mr Brown said:

I’m urging Britain’s families to ring the freephone response line – 0800 5975976 – and check whether they’re eligible for the WFTC. Over 3 million families have already done so.

I want every eligible family to know about it, claim it and receive it – making work pay more than benefits is a major way to tackle child poverty.

There is an estimated one million job vacancies in the economy and WFTC makes work pay and has taken a million children out of poverty. The next step is to take the second million out of poverty, and we’ll be bringing forward proposals to do this during the next Parliament.

We’ve brought in a range of measures to help parents combine work with the vital job of bringing up children, but we know there’s much more to do. WFTC gives families a real choice, helping them move from welfare to work, getting off benefits and out of poverty. Scrapping WFTC would deny working families – couples or lone parents – that choice of whether to work, and would leave millions of children and their parents in poverty.

WFTC shows that this is a Government on the side of Britain’s hard-working families.

Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo said:

WFTC means that working families will no longer need to apply to the social security office to take home a living income. It provides generous help with childcare and ensures that every child has the best start in life.

Alongside initiatives like the New Deal, Sure Start and the new Children’s Tax Credit, WFTC is providing new opportunities for millions of families in the UK.