Tag: Treasury

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.

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

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has agreed that its members will implement countermeasures against Nauru to ensure that member countries? financial systems are protected from the risk of money laundering.

HM Treasury has fully supported the work of the FATF in assessing the recent legislation passed by the Nauruan authorities on 28 August 2001, and concurs with the FATF’s assessment that the legislation leaves money laundering risks unaddressed.

All UK businesses, within and beyond the financial sector, should therefore be aware that there is a significant risk that any transaction with Nauru may involve money laundering. Businesses and individuals in the UK should exercise caution when entering into business relations with Nauru domiciled persons and entities, to guard against the risk that they may be involved in money laundering.

The UK will in the next week be issuing specific guidance to financial institutions through the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group. This guidance will warn UK financial institutions to take additional measures to ensure that transactions involving Nauru domiciled institutions and persons are fully scrutinised. Unless there is convincing evidence that the transaction is legitimate in nature, the presumption should be that the institution will make a suspicious transaction report to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) on all Nauru connected transactions.

Any other business who believes that they may be involved in a transaction that gives them cause for concern should similarly make a report to NCIS.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 13 December 2001.

Chancellor Gordon Brown today announced how he will ensure that the Financial Services Authority, now operating under its full powers, is properly accountable to the Government, to Parliament and to the wider public.

Gordon Brown, said:

“As the independent regulator of financial services, it is vital that the FSA is fully accountable in order to maintain confidence in financial services.  Setting up a single financial regulator has great advantages for business and for consumers. The FSA is independent of government, but it is important that the FSA and its Board can be called to account by both the Government and Parliament, and fully recognises the interests of all its stakeholders.

I am therefore setting out today how I propose to use my legislative powers so that we can all be satisfied that the FSA is meeting its objectives and that the accountability process works as effectively as possible.

Now that the FSA has assumed its full powers, I and the Chairman of the FSA have set out explicitly how the FSA will keep the Government informed of regulatory cases with serious and wider implications.”

Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of the FSA, welcoming the letter from the Chancellor, said:

“We attach great importance to being an open, transparent and accountable regulator. The Chancellor’s letter sets out clearly in public the respective roles and responsibilities of the FSA and the Government and how we will account for our actions to the public and Parliament.”

The Government’s  powers within the Financial Services and Markets Act enable it to:

• direct the FSA to cover particular issues in its public Annual Report, including its own performance;
• establish whether the FSA is providing value for money;
•  periodically review the secondary legislation which the FSA operates under and the boundaries of regulation;
•  launch a statutory inquiry into possible serious regulatory failure.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 13 December 2001.

Speaking at a press conference today to launch ?Tackling Child Poverty: Giving Every Child the Best Possible Start in Life?, a new consultation document setting out the Government’s strategy to tackle child poverty, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, said:

“Child poverty is a scar on Britain’s soul and an affront to our sense of decency as a nation.

Halving child poverty in ten years and abolishing it in a generation – as Tony Blair has pledged – is not just a moral issue, but a litmus test for any political party and a challenge for every person in Britain.

Every child deserves the best possible start in life.  For too long in the past families with children missed out, both financially and on growing up in a secure environment, with wider opportunities to develop.

Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is not about providing either more money or better public services; it is about the necessity of both.  As Government supports parents, in turn it is right that parents fulfill their responsibilities too.  We cannot tackle poverty from the centre of Government alone, but must do so with our valued partners in the voluntary, community and faith sectors.  These sectors have a unique role in reaching local communities and needs on the ground.

Today at Downing Street faith groups, community leaders and leading charities gathered to discuss how together we can win on the war against child poverty.

This unique gathering has come together because they recognise – as I believe the country recognises – that together we must ensure that no child is left behind.

Children are not only our single biggest investment in the future – but measures to tackle child poverty are the best anti-vandalism, anti-crime, anti-delinquency policies we can pursue.

And if every child is to have the best start in life, we will need to do more to cut child poverty.

Money matters, but the battle cannot be won by money alone.

Today we are setting out measures to raise family incomes through our new tax credits with a commitment to improving public services and supporting parenting. We are demonstrating our determination to engage not just national Government, but local communities, the voluntary sector and faith groups who must play their part as well.

Our measures start from our faith in the family and in responsibilities matched to rights as the bedrocks of a stable and healthy society.

And at the heart of our approach is integrating payments for child support into a new and seamless system, where for the first time, all child support is paid to the mother, the best way, according to all the evidence, to tackle child poverty.

For twenty years, the living standards of families with children fell behind the rest of the population. By the mid 1990s, the average income for households with children was around 30 per cent lower than for those without children.

Our new Child Tax Credit will build on the tax cuts we have already delivered for families. And every family needs extra support at key times, in particular, after the birth of a child. So to help ease the pressure on new parents, our reforms – raising maternity pay matched to new paternity pay – are making it easier for mothers to make the choice to stay at home after their child is born – and for much longer than previously.

Reform also means we should match new opportunities we offer families with the responsibilities we expect of them.

All parents – must accept their responsibilities for their children.

That obligation does not end if the relationship between the parents should come to an end. Parenthood is for life, and financial responsibility for children should and will continue until adulthood.

Where parents live apart, the best arrangements for children are when both accept financial responsibility for their children. But if one parent fails to discharge his or her duties, we will not stand aside.

We’ve doubled the number of absent fathers paying their maintenance in full since we came to power. Our latest reforms will do more to ensure all children receive at least some of the money collected on their behalf and we have strengthened the sanctions for those who fail to comply.

Responsibility for children lies with parents, but government can encourage good parenting. Already we have provided £1 million to establish the National Family and Parenting Institute. We have funded Parentline, so parents can receive support from volunteers who are parents themselves.

And we will be increasing help to the marriage and relationship support services.

Vulnerable parents need special help. The children of teenage mothers are in turn more likely to be teenage mothers themselves. Their children are more likely to be underweight and to face worse outcomes in later life. We can and will break this cycle.

As we have said, the Government believes that, if they cannot live in parental home, mothers under 18 should be accommodated in supported housing rather than housed alone and isolated with their babies.?

Giving children a good start in life requires not only cash help and parental support but also good schools, good health services, and good public services.

In addition, our new children’s fund is designed to support the innovative and make it commonplace, to turn local successes into country-wide triumphs. It is Government money to back local and volunteer initiatives to tackle child poverty with the emphasis on prevention, not simply coping with failure. Faith-based organizations are being encouraged to apply.

So our approach combines rights and responsibilities to the best interests of children, a families first policy which provides support for all families; gives an extra helping hand when families need it most; and offers additional support for those who need it most; and involves all of us accepting our responsibilities – as parents, neighbours, citizens and community leaders.

We ask the whole country to join the crusade to end child poverty and ensure all children have the best possible start in life.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 13 December 2001.

The Government’s commitment to giving every child the best start in life, will require further action to improve both incomes and services, the Chancellor Gordon Brown stressed today as he launched a new strategy paper on tackling child poverty. At the same event, Education Secretary, Estelle Morris was able to announce a £10 million boost to the Sure Start programme to help make existing services more accessible to those that need them.

They were speaking at a seminar at Number 11 Downing Street attended by Ministerial colleagues, religious leaders, key community groups and charitable organizations. Those also attending include Work and Pensions Secretary Alistair Darling, Home Office Minister John Denham, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chief Rabbi and the Archbishop of Westminster.

Gordon Brown said:

“Every child and young person deserves the best possible start in life.  For too long in the past families with children missed out, both financially and on growing up in a secure environment, with wider opportunities to develop.  This Government is determined to put families first and to abolish the scourge of child poverty forever.

Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is not about providing either more money or better public services; it is about the necessity of both.  As Government supports parents, in turn it is right that parents fulfil their responsibilities too.  We cannot tackle poverty from the centre of Government alone, but must do so with our valued partners in the voluntary, community and faith sectors.  These sectors have a unique role in reaching local communities and needs on the ground.  I am delighted to meet with our partners today and look forward to taking this partnership even further forward.  Together we can ensure that no child is left behind.”

Estelle Morris, Secretary of State for Education and Skills said:

“Tackling child poverty means working across Government to improve the services families depend on and increase the incomes they receive. We are determined to work in partnership with local communities, the statutory and voluntary sectors, to deliver the services that parents want and children need.

Sure Start has an important role to play in improving the life chances of young children in disadvantaged areas. It makes a tremendous difference to young children’s learning and development and provides a flying start rather than leaving children trapped in social disadvantage.

Building on the progress we have already made, I am delighted today to be able to announce a £10 million programme over the next two years to build the lessons of Sure Start into our core services to benefit more children.”

The £10 million pilots will cover a range of activities to meet local needs including:

• training up parents in the community to be part of home-visiting teams who provide support and advice to parents-to-be and new parents;
• schemes to encourage people from disadvantaged areas to take up training and jobs in health and childcare to fill vacancies in their own communities; and
• re-shaping of health services away from routine visiting to provide more coherent and responsive services for new mothers and mothers-to-be.

These pilots will focus on developing a culture of prevention and adapting existing services to make them more accessible to the families who most need them. This £10 million is being made available for a number of pilots over the next two years out of the resources allocated to Sure Start as part of the last Spending Review.

Today’s paper “Tackling child poverty: giving every child the best possible start in life” sets out the Government’s approach to tackling child poverty, with four key strands:

• providing more support for family finances
• giving priority to children’s services, especially health and education
• offering support to parenting for life
• pursuing a partnership with the voluntary and community sectors.

The paper sets out the context for policy decisions to come in the Budget and Spending Review of 2002 and the years to follow.  It welcomes others’ views.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 12 December 2001.

A better deal for consumers across a range of financial services together with a streamlining of regulation which will benefit business was announced today by Economic Secretary Ruth Kelly.

She set out the good progress made by the banks in implementing the recommendations of DeAnne Julius’s Review Group aimed at improving services to bank customers. Ruth Kelly also announced that the FSA is to regulate mortgage advice, a move called for by the Julius Group, consumer groups and industry, and, in parallel, the sale of general insurance products. These measures will ensure that a coherent regulatory framework exists.

The measures set out today will:

• Benefit millions of consumers by regularising standards and providing safeguards and minimum standards of mortgage advice;
• Benefit banking customers through easier account switching and clearer account information;
• Streamline and simplify regulation for mortgage advice and general insurance advice;
• Allow brokers to compete for insurance business in other EU countries.

Ruth Kelly said:

“Buying a mortgage is the biggest financial decision of most people’s lives, they need to get it right and high quality understandable advice is crucial. Regulation will ensure a high standard of advice is available across the board to the large number of people, 1.2 million in 2000, who take out mortgages every year. In the rare and unfortunate cases where things go wrong the Financial Ombudsman will be the single body for handling customer complaints.

“DeAnne’s review highlighted areas where improvements should be made to benefit banking customers. There has been a very constructive response with the majority of the recommendations being accepted by industry. The measures being taken forward will benefit customers, for example through making account switching easier and stimulating competition in personal banking.

“The Julius Review group argued that mortgage advice should be regulated, echoing the sentiments of many consumer groups and industry. We have listened to these views and after reviewing the policy believe regulation will bring benefits to both consumers and businesses.”

DeAnne Julius commented:

“I am delighted with the Government’s decision to regulate mortgage advice. This was supported unanimously by our Review Group, because we felt it would help both consumer and mortgage providers. I am also pleased that the banks have agreed to take on board the majority of our recommendations for changes in their self-regulatory codes. With the new cleaner process for code review I am hopeful that in due course those changes they have not yet accepted will also find favour.”

Ruth Kelly added:

“Many of the 12,500 UK mortgage brokers also sell general insurance. In order to maintain a consistent and streamlined approach, the sale of general insurance products will be regulated by the FSA. Brokers who deal in two or more lines of regulated business will deal with a single regulator, not several, and will be able to compete in European markets. Additionally the Government will look at insurance sold as part of a package with another product – for example, travel or extended warranty – to consider the implications of the new regime for them.”

“Today’s measures will benefit industry by simplifying and streamlining regulation.  The watchword in developing the new frameworks will be proportionality.  We and the FSA will be working closely with the industry and others to design a regime that understands the market, and is targeted precisely at maximising benefit to the consumer, and not loading industry and ultimately the consumer with unnecessary costs.”

“I am grateful to GISC and MCCB for all the hard work they have put in to raising standards in their respective industries. Today’s announcement is in no way a criticism of what both bodies have achieved. I hope that they will both be able to work closely with the FSA to ensure a seamless transition to the new regime.”

The timing and details for the implementation of regulation will be discussed with industry. It is anticipated that regulation for both mortgage and the sale of general insurance products will come into force simultaneously, following consultation by the FSA.