asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps have been taken by the United Kingdom and the European Union to implement the suspension of United Nations sanctions against Libya.[HL2050]

UN sanctions against Libya imposed by Security Council Resolutions 748 and 883 were suspended on 5 April, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1192 (1998), immediately the UN Secretary-General reported that the two Lockerbie accused had been delivered for trial before the Scottish court established in the Netherlands and that the Libyan Government had satisfied the French judicial authorities with regard to the bombing of UTA 772. The prohibition on payment of performance bonds in paragraph 8 of Resolution 883 remains in operation.The provisions of those resolutions were implemented in the UK by restrictions imposed in the Libya (United Nations Prohibition of Flights) Order 1992, the Libya (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1993, the Libya (United Nations Sanctions) (Channel Islands) Order 1993 and the Libya (United Nations Sanctions) (Isle of Man) Order 1993. In accordance with Article 1(2) of each order, its operation was accordingly suspended; Article 13 of the three 1993 orders, which imposes restrictions on the payment of bonds given in respect of contracts whose performance had been affected by the suspended provisions of the orders, and the provisions in those orders relating to the enforcement of Article 13, remain in operation. Details of the suspension of UN sanctions and of the orders have been published in a notice in the

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether in England, in the annual schools' census conducted by virtue of Section 92 of the Education Act 1944, they will follow the example of the Scottish Office in its 1998 school census and include a question on the incidence of autism; and, if not, why not. [HL 1972]

Provisions now consolidated in the Education Act 1996 require schools to submit information on numbers of pupils with special educational needs. In accordance with a recommendation of the Warnock Committee, there is no requirement for them to record the nature of such pupils' disability or learning difficulty and we have no current intention to require them to do so.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have considered or will consider "listing" the Severn rail tunnel as a building or structure of historic importance. [HL 1769]

The Severn Tunnel has never been considered for listing. However, we will ask English Heritage, our statutory advisers on listing matters, for an assessment as to whether it is of sufficient architectural or historic interest to be listed. I will let the noble Lord know the decision as soon as possible.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How long the organisers of the National Lottery take to disburse money to charities. [HL1757]

There are 12 Lottery distributors, each of which will make some grants to charities. However, the National Lottery Charities Board (NLCB) was set up specifically to distribute National Lottery funds allocated for expenditure by charities and organisations established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes.The NLCB runs a number of different grant programmes to suit different organisations and projects. Currently the main grant programmes are Community Involvement and Poverty and Disadvantage. They are continuous grant programmes—with no deadline for applications—with grants announced regularly. Eligible organisations applying for funding from NLCB should hear the outcome of an application within three to four months of the NLCB receiving the completed application for its main grant programmes, and two months for small grants and the joint distributor Awards for All small grants scheme. Other specialist grant programmes for Health and Social Research and International grants operate with closing dates and may take around five to six months for results to be announced.Once a grant is offered, and the successful organisation accepts the NLCB's terms and conditions of grant, the payment of the grant is arranged to coincide with the start date of the project. Most grants are then paid quarterly in advance. The NLCB monitors all projects which it funds.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that there should be greater transparency over the appointment of trustees to the national museums and galleries; and [HL1703]What trustee appointments are made by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to each of the national museums and galleries. [HL1704]

All appointments to the national museums and galleries made by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, or on which my right honourable friend advises either my right honourable friend the Prime Minister or, via the Prime Minister, Her Majesty the Queen, follow the Code of Practice and Guidance on appointments issued in 1996 (and revised in 1998) by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. These procedures were designed to embrace the principles of appointment on merit and openness and transparency.

asked Her Majesty's GovernmentWhether the European Union is empowered to require the increase in tax on sparkling cider imposed by the recent Budget. [HL1885]

The European Commission has the responsibility for monitoring and ensuring member states' compliance with treaty obligations. Where there has been a breach of any such obligation, the Commission is empowered to take action to enforce compliance, which may result in the instigation of infraction proceedings against the member state concerned.In 1995 the Commission drew to the UK Government's attention an apparent breach contrary to Article 95 of the Treaty of Rome, which prohibits the imposition on the products of other member states any internal taxation of such a nature as to afford indirect protection to other products. In its Reasoned Opinion, the Commission deemed that higher strength sparkling cider (a mainly domestic product) and lower strength sparkling wine (a mainly imported product) were in direct competition and that the UK's duty treatment, which favoured the former, was discriminatory. The legal advice taken by the previous government indicated that the UK could not successfully challenge the Commission's assertions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the European Union is empowered to require that VAT on imported works of art be raised from the present level of 2.5 per cent. to 5 per cent. [HL1884]

Under the terms of EC law that was agreed by all member states, and which came into effect in 1995, the then United Kingdom Government agreed to raise its rate of VAT in this area from 2.5 per cent. to at least the normal minimum 5 per cent. after 30 June 1999. The present Government are seeking to retain the 2.5 per cent. rate, but we need the unanimous agreement of the European Commission and all other member states to achieve that.The European Commission has the power to bring before the European Court of Justice any failure by member states to comply with their Community obligations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will intervene to ensure that the admission charges (including charges to school children) recently introduced by the British Museum for some displays drawn wholly from its permanent collection will be dropped. [HL1755]

No. The decision to charge for temporary exhibitions at the British Museum is a matter for its trustees.Charges for children aged 16 and under to temporary exhibitions at the British Museum have been removed with effect from 1 April 1999.Most of the temporary exhibitions at the museum include a major loan element and, in the few cases where this is not so, significant costs are incurred in research, presentation and promotion. The income from the nominal charges helps towards these costs. The museum intends to review this policy regularly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why it is necessary to have the Arts Council. [HL1889]

The Arts Council of England exists to ensure that decisions on funding of artists and arts organisations are based on expert independent assessment, at arm's length from government.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they will be giving to the general public about the Millennium Bug. [HL2080]

The public should look principally to goods and services providers for advice about the likely effect of the date change on supply. The Government and Action 2000 are encouraging organisations to communicate with their customers. For instance, the British Bankers Association, APACS and the Building Societies Association have published (on 5 March) Your Money and the Millennium, reassuring customers that cash machines will work and that there will be ample supplies of bank notes, so that customers do not need to hoard them.There is a role for the Government in bringing together basic information so that the public can have an overall picture of the likely impact of the Bug on their daily lives. In October 1998 Action 2000 published

asked Her Majesty's Government:What changes they have made in the composition of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee. [HL2079]

Members are traditionally Privy Counsellors who are not members of the Government. Following the resignation of Lord Pym, the Government have appointed Lord Hurd of Westwell to be a member of the committee. He will join Lord Thomson of Monifieth and Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde. Lord Thomsom has been appointed to chair the committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they continue to receive subsidies from the United States Government to promote the fluoridation of the United Kingdom water supply; if not, when was the last date such subsidies were received; and what sums were involved. [HL1963]

We can find no record of such subsidies having been received.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In view of the absence of any relevant scientific studies cited in the

We accept that dental fluorosis is a manifestation of systemic toxicity, since it is partly caused by bloodborne fluoride. There are also accounts, in tropical countries, of a type of skeletal fluorosis which is associated with dental fluorosis. However, in developed countries where the amount of fluoride in drinking water is tightly controlled, there is no evidence of any correlation between this cosmetic effect on teeth and any kind of systemic ill-health. The studies and reviews cited in my noble friend Lady Jay of Paddington's Answer to the noble Earl's Question of 12 November 1997 at columns WA 34–35 support our view that the fluoridation of water at one part per million represents no threat to general health.