New regulations on the manufacture and storage of explosives have been laid before Parliament, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced today (5 April). The Manufacture and Storage of Explosives...

Progress report on the implementation of the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum Action Plan, originally published in 2003.

The Homelessness Monitoring Group's 2nd report - who were appointed by the Scottish Executive to support and monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Homelessness Task Force and report to Ministers...

The Foreign Office today revised its Travel Advice for Sierra Leone. We are no longer advising against travel to areas of Sierra Leone bordering Liberia due to improvements in the security situation.   

The Prime Minister has called a General Election to be held on Thursday May 5.

UK Election Guidance

The formation of a new UK Special Forces Regiment was announced today by Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon.   

Businessman Richard Maudslay was today appointed the first non-executive chairman of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Board.   

The Secretary of State, Lord Falconer, in his role as Lord Chancellor, is pleased to announce that Sir Nigel Wicks, former Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, will Chair the selection...

New Commission for Human Medicines   

Regulations were today introduced to abolish the Medicines Commission and the Committee on Safety of Medicines. The amendments to the Medicines Act 1968 have replaced these with the establishment of a...

Mark Slaughter, Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs International, has been appointed a Non Executive Director on the Board of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). UKAEA is a world ...

Early findings from the evaluation of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Pathfinders are published today.   

Asked if there was any response to the Birmingham postal votes fraud judgement, the PMOS said that people would take note of the judgement and what the judge had said. However in addition, without in any way suggesting...

Asked if there were any signs of a loan, the PMOS reminded journalists that this was a commercial deal but as the DTI had made it clear through out we would do everything we could to support the process and...

Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending the Pope's funeral, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) confirmed that the Prime Minister would be attending. Asked if Mrs Blair was attending and whether...

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that the Prime Minister had left Downing Street for Buckingham Palace. That meant that a General election campaign was underway and therefore there...

Briefing from the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman on the election.

Consultation paper on Cross Border Student Flows: Higher Education Tuition Fee Levels

The classified directory advertising services market is not working effectively according to the OFT and has been referred to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation.   

Two more businesses have stopped distributing misleading advertisements following action by the OFT.   

A radical new way of paying Housing Benefit in nine test areas has been introduced smoothly according to a report published today.   

Briefing from the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson on: Pope's Funeral/Royal Wedding, MG Rover and Postal Voting.

A web only publication for ED:IAC Division

The Queen been pleased to approve the appointment to the Court of Directors of: - Paul Myners, Chairman, Marks and Spencers; and - Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group Plc   

Part I: UK Government Foreign Currency Assets and Liabilities - March 2005   

Responding to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) report into Nottinghamshire police, the Home Secretary Charles Clarke said:   

NHS on track to meet December 2005 target that no patient will wait more than six months for surgery   

Everybody aged 65 and over will be offered a routine jab to help protect them against pneumococcal infection which can cause serious diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia announced the...

A radical new way of paying Housing Benefit in nine test areas has been introduced smoothly according to a report published today.   

A summary of the early experiences of implementing the Local Housing Allowance in the nine Pathfinder areas   

The Government's response to the Foreign Affairs Committee's Report on The Western Balkans is published today at 1000 hours.   

More employees are aware of their right to request working flexible hours, according to new statistics released by the Department of Trade and Industry today.   

A note has been placed with the Mental Capacity Bill's draft code of practice in the Libraries of both Houses. The note lets Members know what changes we expect to make to the draft code of practice as a result ...

On 4 April 2005, the Department for Constitutional Affairs introduces the new Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, hereafter referred to as the AIT, under the provisions of clause 26 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment...

This statement provides information about a number of amendments tabled on the Gambling Bill, which is currently being considered in Committee in the House of Lords. The Government believe it may be of assistance...

Following Ministerial approval of the business plan, key performance targets have been agreed for the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006.The agency's principal financial...

The Government are today announcing they will be commissioning research to identify the future direction of mobile phone technology and the future need for mast developments. The research will also look at the potential...

The following key targets have been set for the Chief Executive of the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency (DMETA) for the financial year 2005–06:Key Target 1—Meeting Operational Manpower RequirementsTo...

In the 2004 Defence White Paper "Future Capabilities" we announced plans to merge the Fleet and Second Sea Lord Headquarters in Portsmouth. This is part of a programme to create a modern, effective and efficient...

I am pleased to announce that following the successful completion of negotiations MAN ERF UK Limited has been awarded the contract for the Ministry of Defence's support vehicle programme.The award of this contract...

I am pleased to announce that a five year extension to the Defence Fixed Telecommunications System (DFTS) contract with British Telecommunications plc (BT) was signed on 1 April. The extension takes the contract...

A copy of the annual performance and resource agreement with the Student Loans Company (SLC) for 2005–06 has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses today.The SLC plays a key role in the delivery of the Government...

It is with regret that last Friday my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, decided temporarily to suspend operations in our embassy in the Ivory Coast with immediate effect...

The Government warmly welcome United Nations Secretary-General Annan's report "In Larger Freedom", released in New York on 21 March.As my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and International Development Secretary...

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is well known to many Members of this House who have committed time and effort to work on behalf of the WFD, promoting democracy around the world through training; ...

Following continuing interest in both Houses about variations across the country in the use of cancer drugs approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), this statement informs the House of ...

The chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS foundation trusts) announced on 1 April 2005 that, in accordance with section 6 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health...

The then Home Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn, announced on 2 April 2001, Official Report Column 372W, that the Government were continuing with a programme to establish whether an acceptable...

I would like to report to the House on the relief effort following the earthquake in Indonesia on 28 March 2005.On 28 March an earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale hit northern Sumatra at 22:09 local time...

Last November, following substantial overspends by the Belfast and the South Eastern education and library boards in 2003–04, I announced that a statutory inquiry would be held into financial management and control...

Today we have published for consultation draft regulations setting out our detailed proposals for the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). In our previous statement on 22 February, Official Report Column 16–18WS...

Underage drinkers who buy alcohol will face a £50 on-the-spot fine from this week. The new fines are part of an ongoing Government campaign to tackle drink-related violence.