Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 10 June 1999.

£30 million of innovative new funding to help cut paperwork and speed up access to justice across the Criminal Justice System was announced by the Chief Secretary Alan Milburn today. Home Secretary Jack Straw, the Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine and Attorney General John Morris welcomed the new funding which is being provided from the Capital Modernisation Fund (CMF).

The investment will create a central fund to provide electronic links to integrate the criminal justice agencies. Such integration will allow electronic case files to be passed between the Police, Prosecutors and Courts and will streamline the management of cases from arrest through to trial and sentence to reduce delays.

The criminal justice system of the future, which the fund will help to build, will have the benefits of:

– the police no longer having to send large bundles of paper to the Crown Prosecution Service, and each criminal justice agency not having to re-key information into its own system;

– improving the courts listing of cases, through more up-to-date information on the availability of witnesses and the readiness of the prosecution and the defence for the hearing, so minimising adjournments and wasted time and travel by victims, witnesses, lawyers and others.

– wider and faster access to Phoenix, the national criminal records database, will cut delays and improve public protection; custody sergeants and courts making decisions on bail, courts deciding between fines, community or custodial sentences, and prison governors deciding on the correct category of prison for an individual will benefit from faster and more accurate information on previous convictions.

Commenting on the investment, Mr Milburn said:

“This innovative pump-priming funding embodies the Government’s commitment to both investing in and modernising public services.

It will cut out time wasting bureaucracy and speed up access to justice. Victims and witnesses in particular can expect an enhanced service with reduced delays. By cutting down on form-filling this new investment will also help free up police, prosecution and court time to concentrate on improving front line services and tackling crime.

In welcoming the project, Mr Straw said:

“This injection of cash is very welcome and is part of our continuing drive to modernise the criminal justice system. It will ensure a greater level of efficiency across the system and will also bring about practical benefits for all those involved by boosting the IT network, integrating the work of agencies, reducing paperwork and raising standards for the management of criminal cases.”

The Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine said:

“This major investment will help to transform the courts. I want the Crown Court and our judges to be at the heart of a modernised, efficient criminal justice system made possible by the latest technology. This is joined-up Government at its best.”

The Attorney General John Morris said:

“Information Technology is a crucial weapon on the Crown Prosecution Services’s fight to prosecute crime successfully. The money released today from the Capital Modernisation Fund will help modernise the criminal justice system and contribute to the integration of electronic links between the CPS, police and the courts, as well as assisting other agencies involved in the fight against crime in the UK.

“I am delighted that the Treasury has again demonstrated the benefits of joined-up Government in this key area, ultimately improving everyone’s lives.”

The £30 million CMF funding will be allocated through the Integrating Business and Information Systems (IBIS) initiative that is taking a strategic approach to IT development across the criminal justice system. The money will be available in the form of bids to a central challenge fund. This will support the best new projects which contribute most to unlocking improvements in communication links, joint working and innovative business solutions across the criminal justice agencies. The focus will be on a modern, efficient criminal justice system that can provide a better service to the public.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 9 June 1999.

Britain has now pledged $171 Million to Millennium Trust Fund

A $100 million British pledge to speed up the debt relief process and cut the debts of the world’s poorest countries has been announced today by the Chancellor Gordon Brown and Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development.

The money has been pledged to the new £2,000 million Millennium Trust Fund, proposed by the Chancellor and Ms Short, which aims to fund a more ambitious framework for faster, wider and deeper debt relief.

It is proposed the new fund will be made up of:

• the funds of the existing HIPC Trust Fund, to which Britain has already pledged $71 million;
• a call to the world’s richest countries to increase their contributions (this includes the new $100 million pledge from Britain); and
• a call on the European Commission to contribute resources from the European Development Fund.

The Chancellor said:

“Britain has put forward proposals to write off at least $50 billion of debt by the end of the year 2000. We have led the way on the international stage in trying to unshackle the poorest countries from their unsustainable debt burdens. But is now time for us to take action.

“I hope this further $100 million pledge from the UK will encourage our international partners to make further pledges. The richest countries have it within their power to provide a better deal for poor countries and the world’s poorest people.”

Clare Short said:

“If we are to achieve the internationally agreed targets to halve world poverty by 2015 we need to make real progress with debt relief. This further pledge from Britain demonstrates our commitment to speed up the process of debt relief for those countries that are serious about reducing poverty.”

The Chancellor has proposed a write off of at least $50 billion of debt which will allow for quicker debt relief and for a significant reduction in the sustainability ratios. Britain has proposed:

• 150% of the net present value of debt/exports (known as the exports ratio). The figure is currently in the range of 200-250%; and
• 200% of the net present value of debt/government revenue (known as the fiscal ratio). This is currently set at 280%.

The Chancellor stressed that debt relief, poverty relief and economic development must go hand in hand. He said:

“When the debt burdens of the world’s poorest countries are lifted we want to see the money diverted to lift people out of poverty and used for investment in health and education. We want to see a new approach by the IMF and World Bank to see that this happens.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 31 July 1998.

Measures to promote a successful economy and a fairer society were enacted today when the Finance (No. 2) Bill received Royal Assent.

Financial Secretary Dawn Primarolo said today:

“This Act promotes fairness for all – business, employment, the family – and ensures that everyone has a fair chance to realise their ambitions. It is an Act for opportunity and stability.”

The Finance Act implements many of the measures of the March Budget, including:

• a Code for Fiscal Stability with a statutory basis to ensure fiscal policy is open, transparent, accountable and set in Britain’s long term interests;
• reducing rate of corporation tax to 30 per cent (and to 20 per cent for small companies) – the lowest rates ever;
• major reforms of capital gains tax, including a new long-term effective rate of 10 per cent on business assets, that will encourage long-term investment and growth of dynamic firms;
•  measures to protect the environment;
•  measures to ensure everyone pays their fair share of tax.

Together with:

• extending the New Deal to new groups excluded from the labour market;
• a major programme of tax and benefit reform to make work pay, including the new Working Families Tax Credit and restructuring National Insurance
  Contributions;
• new help for the costs of childcare and a significant boost to child benefit;
• as well as £1 billion of extra spending for health, education and transport for this year.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 30 July 1998.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced today the results of a joint study by the Treasury and the National Audit Office into the development of Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) for the UK.

Commenting on the Treasury’s report, the Chancellor said:

“Developing Whole of Government Accounts covering the whole public sector will be a major step in underpinning the new fiscal framework outlined in the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report published in June.  It will put the UK amongst the forerunners in the field of countries who are developing financial reporting which supports a new enhanced fiscal framework. The new accounts will help to deliver the Government’s commitment to more transparent fiscal reporting, using best practice accounting methods, set out in the Code for Fiscal Stability published alongside the Budget in March.

“I look forward to seeing the results of the further research into developing Whole of Government Accounts once the next phase of the work outlined in the report has been completed.”

The main conclusions of the Treasury’s report are that:

• the Government should proceed with work on the development of Whole of Government Accounts;
• the ultimate aim should be a full set of audited accounts based on UK GAAP for the whole public sector alongside improved but unaudited national accounts   based on statistical principles;
• practical considerations suggest a dual approach to developing GAAP-based Whole of Government Accounts, with work being undertaken on a consolidation of the accounts of central government into a Central Government Account (CGA) alongside work in parallel to establish a basis for consolidating other parts of the public sector into a Whole of Government Account;
• a decision on whether to produce a Central Government Account for 2001-02 would be taken in 2000.  If this were not possible, an alternative would be to move straight to Whole of Government Accounts, with the first set of GAAP-based accounts produced for 2003-04, if the decision to proceed was justified once a full cost/benefit analysis had been completed;
• the next step will be for a project team to be set up and a detailed project plan drawn up to cover the forward programme of action outlined in the report.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 30 July 1998.

Further steps towards the full integration of financial services were announced today by the Chief Secretary, Stephen Byers.

From January 1999 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will take responsibility for supporting the Building Societies Commission (BSC), the Friendly Societies Commission (FSC) and, in relation to credit unions, the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies, and for acting on behalf of the Treasury in the conduct of insurance supervision under the Insurance Companies Act.

The regulators are already working closely together with the FSA developing the new regulatory structure and contributing to the draft Financial Services and Markets Bill published today.

Chief Secretary, Stephen Byers said:

“This transfer will promote early integration of financial regulation and help achieve the benefit of a single regulatory culture ahead of the legislation. This transfer in no way affects the consultation we have started today on the draft Bill.”

A Contracting Out Order under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 will pass the functions of the Insurance Directorate to the FSA. Treasury Ministers will still remain accountable to Parliament for insurance functions.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 30 July 1998.

Proposals to modernise and simplify the structure of the UK’s financial regulatory structure were published today by the Chief Secretary, Stephen Byers.

Under the draft Financial Services and Markets Bill the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will become the single regulator for the UK’s financial services industry, backed by law.

Publishing the Bill, Mr Byers said:

“This bill will allow the creation of a financial regulatory system that is independent, flexible and accountable to those regulated by it and to the consumers that it protects.

“A single regulator will remove the scope for duplication, gaps and inconsistency that affects the current system.

“In the light of the personal pension mis-selling scandal we also want to see an improvement in standards so that customers are better protected and better informed about the products  they buy.

“Financial services is an important and internationally competitive sector of the economy. These reforms are the opportunity to apply best practice across the board and to  shape a financial regulator that will maintain confidence in UK markets at home and abroad, setting an example for  financial regulation around the world.

“We have consulted widely in putting this draft bill together and we are now delivering on our commitment to publish it in  the summer.  There will now be a further period of public consultation on the detail of the draft Bill.  I also  anticipate – and welcome – the involvement of the Treasury  Select Committee in the consultation process.  This  consultation is an important part of the process to ensure that the new system is efficient and effective. We want to lay the  foundations of a regulatory system that will last well into  the 21st century.”

The main features of the Bill include:

• new statutory objectives for the FSA to improve transparency and accountability. The FSA will be required to report annually on its achievements against the objectives of market confidence, public awareness, the protection of consumers and the reduction of financial crime.
• a single set of powers for the FSA. This will allow the regulator to authorise all those kinds of financial services business requiring regulation. It will have flexible powers to make rules governing regulated activities, subject to consultation and cost-benefit analysis. It will have full powers, where necessary, to investigate and intervene in authorised firms’ activities and to discipline, including the power to fine.

• powers for the Treasury to change the scope of what is regulated. For example, the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ code of practice is to be reviewed in 1999. If required, it would be possible to make mortgages subject to regulation under the Bill.
•  a new independent appeals tribunal. This will come under the Lord Chancellor’s Department and will give and effective right of appeal for those affected by the FSA’s decision.
• single ombudsman and compensation schemes to ensure improved access for consumers by providing single points of entry and improved public profile. This will reduce the scope for confusion about the roles and responsibilities of different schemes.
•  a new regime to regulate financial promotion. The draft Bill includes a single framework to cover existing activities such as issuing advertisements and making unsolicited ‘cold calls’, taking account of changes in technology.
• new civil fines for market abuse which will fill a gap in the current framework and will complement, not replace, the criminal regime.
• the recognition of investment exchanges and clearing houses. TheFSA will continue to be able to recognise the status of such bodies.
• statutory oversight of Lloyd’s. New FSA powers will provide, for the first time in many areas, a major element of external regulatory accountability.