Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 13 March 2002.

Improved scrutiny of Government bodies and greater accountability for the use of public funds were announced by Treasury Chief Secretary Andrew Smith today.

In its Response to the report “Holding to Account: The Review of Audit and Accountability for Central Government” by Lord Sharman, the Government has accepted the main recommendations directed to the Government and supports those addressed to other bodies.

The main effect of these recommendations will be to give the National Audit Office new powers of audit and access to documents.  It will also provide better scrutiny of the performance of public sector bodies and improve transparency.

Announcing publication of the Government Response, Mr Smith said:

“I am grateful to Lord Sharman for producing such a comprehensive review of audit and accountability in central government.  We have accepted all his recommendations directed mainly to the Government either in their entirety or in principle, and support his recommendations directed to other bodies.  The existing arrangements had developed over many years and Lord Sharman has set out the way forward for the 21st century.

“This report provides an excellent basis for Parliamentary scrutiny of the way taxpayers’ money is used. It retains the fundamental features of the current arrangements, while giving the Comptroller and Auditor General new statutory powers to ensure he can do his job independently.

“This will strengthen accountability of the Government to Parliament. It will also strengthen the move towards better management and innovation in central Government. I welcome the C&AG’s assurances that he will not use his new powers to impose extra burdens on private sector bodies that are holding documents that he needs to see. ”

The Response paves the way for increased Parliamentary scrutiny of central Government and improvements in the structure of accountability of the Executive to Parliament by:

• agreeing that the National Audit Office (NAO) should audit all non-Departmental public bodies (NDPBs).
• agreeing that, where the NAO needs to see documents, held by   bodies outside Government, it should normally have legal powers of access to them.
• inviting  the NAO  to validate the data systems used in reporting on Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets.
• supporting arrangements to promote the quality and transparency of central Government audit.
• ensuring that the new arrangements do not place bigger burdens on the private sector.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 12 March 2002.

The Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF), officially launched today by the Chancellor Gordon Brown to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee year, will help Commonwealth developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in education so that every child in the Commonwealth completes a primary education by 2015.

At present, 75 million primary school-age children in the Commonwealth do not attend school.

In the presence of Her Majesty The Queen at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference in London, the Chancellor outlined his plans for the CEF.  Mr Brown’s speech followed an earlier visit to Allfarthing Primary School in Wandsworth which is ?twinned? with the Presbyterian Experimental Primary in Tamele, Northern Ghana.  Accompanied by television personality Davina McCall, a supporter of Comic Relief, and Mike Aaronson, Director General of Save the Children, the Chancellor spoke to the children about their links with the school in Ghana and saw for himself the benefits of the ‘twinning’ programme.

The Chancellor announced that:

•  Sir Edward George, Governor of the Bank of England, will chair the Fund;
•  ActionAid, Oxfam and Save the Children will jointly administer the majority of CEF resources through a strategic fund.

Alongside the £10 million Government commitment to the fund, money raised by business will be matched pound for pound by the Government; the Government will also match pound for pound funds raised for education in Commonwealth developing countries by Comic Relief’s Sport Relief.

While most of the funds from the CEF will be invested in expanding access to education in the Commonwealth’s poorest countries, the Government will also expand its work to develop links between schools in Commonwealth countries and the UK, to raise children’s development awareness.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 7 March 2002.

The International Monetary Fund has “commended” the UK Government “for the impressive performance of the UK economy”.

According to the latest assessment by experts at the IMF, “a strong policy framework, sound macroeconomic policies and sustained structural reform were key to this remarkable performance”.

At a discussion in Washington on 4 March, the IMF Board of Directors noted that the outlook for the UK economy is subject to risks, but agreed “the current slowdown is likely to be relatively brief”. They judged the UK’s economic policies to be appropriate in the present economic climate and noted that “fiscal credibility earned from a strict adherence to a sound policy framework has greatly improved the UK’s flexibility to respond to new challenges”.

The Directors welcomed “plans to increase public investments in education and infrastructure” and “recent measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public services”, and endorsed the Government’s objective of “raising productivity through targeted reforms aimed at identifiable market failures”, including measures introduced to strengthen the competition regime.

Commenting on the IMF’s report, the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, said:

“I welcome the IMF’s endorsement of the Government’s economic policy which provides clear support for the new framework for monetary and fiscal policy. Greater global instability means that we must not relax our fiscal disciplines and continue to work within the tough fiscal rules that we set out in 1997 and have stuck to throughout.

I also welcome recognition of the importance of the Government’s commitment to raising productivity, strengthening competition and to tackling low skills and child poverty.”

As in the previous two years, at the request of the UK Government the IMF is today publishing its Article IV staff report on the UK economy in full, along with the record of the IMF board discussion, and the UK’s statement in the board meeting.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 25 April 2002.

Paul Boateng, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, today announced further details about the Government’s plans to modernise the taxation of the haulage industry.

At a meeting with representatives from the haulage industry and environmental, motoring and business organisations, Paul Boateng said:

“The Government is committed to ensuring that hauliers from overseas pay their fair share for using UK roads. Following consultation and Chancellor Gordon Brown’s recent Budget announcement, we are today publishing more details about how we intend to deliver this commitment.

“We have decided to introduce a new lorry road-user charge that will be related to the distance travelled on UK roads and will apply to lorry operators using UK roads regardless of their nationality. However, we recognise that the UK haulage industry already pays towards the costs it imposes in the UK. We will therefore ensure that the UK haulage industry does not pay any more as a result of this charge by introducing offsetting tax reductions when the charge is introduced. We aim to introduce this new charge in 2005 or 2006.

“Our decision to modernise the tax system in this way follows intensive consultation. I am delighted that this policy has been backed by the haulage industry, environmental organisations and other stakeholders. It shows how – through working together – we can achieve real reforms that bring together our concern for the environment with the needs of the haulage industry.”

John Spellar, Minister for Transport, said:

“This is an important day for the haulage industry. It demonstrates the Government’s commitment to modern, competitive and environmentally-responsible haulage, building on other recent announcements such as the reforms to lorry vehicle excise duty and the £100m Haulage Modernisation Fund.

“The progress report we are publishing today sets out more details about why we have chosen to introduce a distance-based rather than time-based charge, our preliminary thoughts about how the charge will work and the next steps in implementing this policy. It will help to ensure that foreign hauliers pay their fair share.”

The report, Modernising the taxation of the haulage industry – progress report one, outlines:

why the Government has chosen to introduce a distance-based rather than time-based lorry road-user charge – drawing on the responses to a consultation exercise and further analysis; some preliminary thoughts about the nature of the charge – for example, the Government is considering applying the charge to all roads and varying the charge according to the weight and axle structure of lorries; and the key next steps.