asked Her Majesty's Government:Which interpretation of international law concerning the territorial sea is observed by NATO navies exercising together in northern waters.

As my noble friend Lord Trefgarne explained in his Written Answer on 29th February, we recognise a breadth of 12 nautical miles as the maximum limit for the territorial seas. Carrying out of exercises (such as weapons practice or manoeuvres) by the Royal Navy within foreign territorial seas, as opposed to exercising the right of innocent passage, would require the consent of the coastal state concerend.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many claims for backdated payments of invalid care allowance were received between the original deadline of 31st December 1986 and the revised deadline of 31st August 1987, and what was the total amount paid out in backdated benefit on those claims.

Some 30,250 invalid care allowance claims were received from married and cohabiting women in the period from 31st December 1986 to 31st August 1987. I regret that figures for the amount of backdated arrears paid on those claims are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many paediatric nurses trained in intensive care are currently in post; how many have left the National Health Service during 1987; how many completed intensive care training in 1987 at Great Ormond Street and the Birmingham Children's Hospitals, and how many are currently in training at these two hospitals.

Information on the number of nurses holding specific qualifications and the numbers who leave the National Health Service is not collected centrally. However, the total number of nursing staff employed in paediatric intensive care units in England at 30th September 1986 was 360 in whole-time equivalent terms—an increase of 127 per cent. since September 1981. Similar information for September 1987 is not yet available.In 1987, 18 nurses completed paediatric intensive care nurse training at Great Ormond Street Hospital and 15 are currently in training. A further intake of 15 is expected in July 1988. It is expected that the course will be introduced at the Birmingham Children's Hospital later this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether documents relating to the Magnox reprocessing line at Sellafield are being kept from the European Parliament Energy, Research and Technology Committee and if so what reason is given for this refusal.

I am aware of the committee's interest in obtaining from the Commission details of safeguards arrangements at Sellafield. It is, however, on security grounds not the custom to publish these details. The Commission has accordingly declined to give the information to the committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:To what extent the International Atomic Energy Agency has exercised its right to make ad hoc inspections as provided under the 1977 Agreement (Cmnd. 6730).

The IAEA have carried out occasional ad-hoc inspections.