asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will request the Court of Appeal to issue guidelines to all courts on appropriate sentencing for convicted women, in accordance with the Crime and Disorder Act 1998; and, if not, why not. [HL3692]

The relevant provisions in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 relate to sentencing guidelines for specific offences, rather than particular categories of offenders. The Home Secretary therefore has no power under the Act to direct the Sentencing Advisory Panel to propose to the Court of Appeal that it issue guidelines on the sentencing of women.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why detainees held in immigration and asylum centres, pending determination of their cases, are denied access to the Internet. [HL3702]

Immigration Act detainees held in Immigration detention centres have no access to the Internet. However they do have unrestricted access to postal services and telephones and in case of emergency can use fax facilities. Internet access has been considered in consultation with detention centre contractors but has been rejected as we do not believe that the current level of access control and restrictions are sufficient to meet our security requirements. This decision is subject to review should access controls be tightened satisfactorily to ensure that no information which could compromise the security of detention centres and the safety of detainees, visitors and staff would be available to detainees.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their assessment of the cost of ad ministering the voucher scheme proposed in the Immigration and Asylum Bill compared with the cost of the present arrangements; and what account they have taken of overseas experiences with voucher schemes in introducing a voucher scheme in the United Kingdom. [HL3703]

We have made no detailed assessment of the cost of administering the voucher scheme. However, one of the reasons we are contracting out the voucher scheme and subjecting it to competitive tender in the Autumn is to ensure that the administrative costs are kept as low as possible but consistent with the need for effective delivery of the service. It is not possible to make a comparison with the support arrangements provided by local authorities' social services departments because of the varying nature of those arrangements. Comparison of voucher schemes in other countries is of limited value, but the asylum support project team hopes to learn lessons from the experience in Germany.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many persons had access to the summary of the findings of the Macpherson Inquiry into the Lawrence murder and its associated commentary before their general publication. [HL3377]

In announcing the outcome of the inquiry on 13 May the Home Secretary said that only a small number of officials and advisers had access to the relevant papers. Twelve people (apart from the Home Secretary) were interviewed by the independent investigator as having had access to both the summary and associated correspondence.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the report of HM Inspectorate of Prisons' visit to HM Prison Risley in December 1998. [HL3751]

The report was published on 14 May 1999. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to replace the current application forms for foreign nationals wishing to apply for leave to remain in the United Kingdom. [HL3898]

The current application forms expire on 14 October 1999. Revised versions of the seven existing forms will be prescribed during September and it is planned to make them available before the end of that month. From the time they are issued until 14 October 1999, applications may be made on either the newly prescribed forms or the present versions. Only the new forms may be used for applications made on or after 15 October 1999. Copies will be placed in the Library as soon as they are available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What approach they are making to the European Court of Human Rights over the cases of Euan Sutherland and Christopher Morris. [HL3899]

With agreement of the applicants, a further extension has been sought from the European Court of Human Rights in the stayed cases of Sutherland and Morris versus the United Kingdom.We have informed the Court, in the context of this request, that the Government intend to re-introduce the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill next session and if necessary the Parliament Acts will be used to secure its passage.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to submit to the relevant international bodies their latest periodic reports under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. [HL3950]

The United Kingdom's Fifteenth Report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and its first report under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities were submitted to the United Nations and Council of Europe respectively on 23 July 1999. Copies of the reports have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the United Kingdom Passport Agency business plan 1998–99 and annual report will be published. [HL3901]

Proof copies of the Passport Agency's annual report have been placed in the Library. The report will be printed and issued by September.The Agency's business plan has, exceptionally, been deferred to later in the year in order that it will more accurately reflect the agency's position in light of the difficulties experienced earlier this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What were the costs of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, including the costs arising from the publication by the inquiry of the names of witnesses in Appendix 11 of the inquiry's report. [HL3902]

The final costs of the inquiry have yet to be determined as there are outstanding bills for settlement in terms of legal fees. However, the costs incurred to date are:

	Costs
Pay and allowances: Inquiry team, advisers and civil servants	£667,000
Accommodation and associated costs	£710,000
Legal representation and Treasury Solicitors costs	£2,045,000
Miscellaneous running costs	£777,000

This provides a total cost to date of £4.199 million. We have accepted the recommendation of Sir William Macpherson, chairman of the inquiry, that the Metropolitan Police Service should, in accordance with Section 49(5) of the Police Act 1996, meet the full costs of setting up and establishing the inquiry, together with all costs which directly accrued from part 1 of the inquiry relating to the police investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. These costs amount to £3.170 million to date of the total costs and these have been met by the Metropolitan Police.We have also accepted Sir William's recommendation that the costs of part 2 of the inquiry, on the future handling of racially motivated crime, should be met by the Home Office as the findings were of more general application.We have always made clear that we would take steps to remedy the serious problems caused to a number of people by the inquiry's error in publishing Appendix 11 of the inquiry's report in full. Arrangements have, therefore, been made to reimburse the costs arising from the need of 18 families and individuals to be moved by Greenwich Council or to sell their houses. The final amount spent for this purpose, including staff costs incurred by the council, is not yet known but is likely to be about £650,000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When a decision will he made on whether the exclusion from the United Kingdom of Mr. Louis Farrakhan is to be maintained. [HL3903]

Last year, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary informed Mr. Farrakhan that he was minded to maintain his exclusion from the United Kingdom on the grounds that his presence here would not be conducive to the public good for reasons of race relations and the maintenance of public order. Mr. Farrakhan was offered the opportunity to make further representations before my right honourable friend made his final decision.My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has carefully reviewed the case for his continued exclusion in the light of Mr. Farrakhan's representations and other relevant material. My right honourable friend has concluded that it remains the case that the exclusion of Mr. Farrakhan from the United Kingdom is conducive to the public good. Mr. Farrakhan's representatives have been informed of the decision.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In view of the Bank of England's announcement in May that gold sales would be conducted in an orderly manner so as not to disrupt markets, what assurances were given by them in the letter delivered to President Mbeki in June concerning the adverse effects on jobs in South Africa and neighbouring countries caused by the fall in gold prices. [HL3699]

As the Prime Minister said in a Written Answer today, the Government announced on 7 May that we were undertaking the sale of gold to produce a better balance in the portfolio of UK reserves. We have carried out the sale on a clear and transparent basis in order to minimise market uncertainty. The Prime Minister wrote to the South African President on 11 June to set out these reasons in some detail and to follow up discussions we had already had with his Government.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Treasury has agreed to consider, as part of the comprehensive spending review, representations from the National Assembly of Wales about the public spending implications of objective 1 status for a substantial part of Wales. [HL3741]

Yes. I can confirm that the Treasury will consider on their merits representations from the National Assembly for Wales about the public spending implications arising from objective 1 status as part of the next spending review.

Labour market status for people of working age1, by Government Office Region, spring 1996 and spring 1999, not seasonally adjusted
Thousands
	Economically active						Economically inactive
							Wants a job
								Wants a job and seeking but not available to start2	Wants job but not seeking in last 4 weeks
	Total	Total	In employment	ILO unemployed	Total	Does not want a job	Total		Total	Available to start	Not available to start2
Spring 1996
United Kingdom	35,535	27,764	25,450	2,314	7,770	5,435	2,335	227	2,108	863	1,245
Great Britain	34,566	27,075	24,829	2,246	7,491	5,212	2,279	224	2,055	844	1,212
England	29,695	23,392	21,468	1.924	6,303	4,407	1,896	190	1,706	709	996
North East	1,571	1,163	1,035	128	408	285	122	14	108	36	72
North West	4,158	3,152	2,883	269	1,005	759	246	23	224	88	135

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Barnett formula is applicable to the allocation of funds to Wales to support expenditure under objective 1 status; and, if so, how it will be applied. [HL3744]

The next spending review will be the process for considering Wales' overall spending plans.Under the Barnett formula, Wales receives a population-based proportion of changes in planned spending on comparable United Kingdom government expenditure in England.The Treasury has said that it will consider representations from the National Assembly of Wales about the implications for Wales of objective 1 status as part of the next spending review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish statistics for the 12 labour market regions of the United Kingdom for the periods March to May 1996 and March to May 1999 concerning the total number of people:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics who has been asked to reply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the local authority wards of Great Britain, as existing in 1991, ranked by the level of unemployment. [HL3801]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics who has been asked to reply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to give effect to the report of the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege which reported on 30 March. [HL3640]

The Government are considering the report and will seek the views of both Houses when time permits.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will support the appointment of a joint committee on human rights with effect from the beginning of the next Parliamentary Session; and, if riot, why not. [HL3762]

The Government have already announced that they will invite both Houses to appoint a joint committee. This is in the context of the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act will come into force on 2 October 2000. It remains the intention to set up the joint committee before the Human Rights Act comes fully into force, but no decision has been taken on when exactly both Houses will be asked to approve Motions to appoint such a joint committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will ensure that any joint committee on human rights will examine statements of compatibility made by Ministers under Section 19 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and report to both Houses of Parliament; and, if not, why not. [HL3763]

The terms of reference of the joint committee have yet to be finalised and proposed to both Houses. It is envisaged that they will include the examination of draft legislation where there is a doubt about compatibility with the incorporated convention rights. It will be for the joint committee to decide how it carries out its responsibilities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 5 July (

Access to papers and information for any individual acting as a personal representative of a Minister is at the discretion of the Minister concerned. The normal rules relating to security clearance and confidentiality apply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Who were the 14 respondents who replied in the affirmative to the question in the internal report by the Government Information and Communication Service dated January 1999 entitled

A number of government departments have secured sponsorship, direct and in-kind. In many cases sponsorship takes the form of campaign extension; for example, using retail outlets to distribute leaflets. Sponsorship is sought in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Cabinet Office.The 14 departments listed in the annual report of the Government Information and Communication Service that used sponsorship in their campaigns were:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 12 July (

Successive governments have taken the view that the effectiveness of both leak investigations and the security procedures employed to prevent leaks could be seriously undermined by the disclosure of information about the conduct and outcome of investigations. This view is in accordance with exemptions 4 and 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.In a small number of cases, such as that involving the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report, Ministers have decided to announce the outcome of a leak investigation on the basis that disclosure of some limited information would be justified in the public interest. Such decisions are made by Ministers on a case-by-case basis. There has been no change to the normal practice as a result of the White Paper

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which Ministers in the House of Lords have visited the European Commission since 31 December 1998. [HL3662]How many visits have been made by each individual Minister in the House of Lords who has visited the European Commission since 31 December 1998. [HL3663]What was the purpose of each visit made by a Minister in the House of Lords to the European Commission since 31 December 1998. [HL3664]What has been the total cost, broken down by department, of ministerial visits by Ministers in the House of Lords to the European Commission since 31 December 1998. [HL3665]

Since 31 December 1998 the following Ministers in the House of Lords have visited the European Commission:

Dates	Department	Minister	Purpose of visit	Cost of visit
22–23 February 1999	Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland	Lord Dubs	Attend Agriculture Council	£460
22–26 February 1999	The Scottish Office	Lord Sewel	Agriculture Council meeting	£708
5 March 1999	Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland	Lord Dubs	Attend Agriculture Council	£329
8–11 March 1999	The Scottish Office	Lord Sewel	Attend forestry and agriculture meetings	£513
28–29 April 1999	Foreign and Commonwealth Office	Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean	EU/OCT partnership meeting	£819
10–11 June 1999	The Scottish Office	Lord Sewel	Attend meeting of Fisheries Council	£522
9 July 1999	Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions	Lord Whitty	Discussions on EU enlargement and transport issues	£174

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which departments had not, on 13 July, provided replies to Questions for Written Answer within 14 days of them being tabled. [HL3659]

Department	Number of QWAs Outstanding
Ministry of Agriculture	41
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions	4
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	4
Ministry of Defence	2
Cabinet Office	1
Home Office	1
Northern Ireland Office	1

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether all members of the Territorial Army and the reserves were fully informed of the correct procedures, including rights of appeal, for medical discharge prior to their discharge from service in the Gulf War; and, if they were, in what form this information was provided. [HL3497]

Arrangements were made for reservists to complete medical questionnaires and to be medically examined at the place of demobilisation following their service in the Gulf conflict. A reservist who was considered to have suffered from a serious injury or front ill health should normally have been referred to a medical board for further examination and subsequently informed of the board's findings. A reservist recommended by a board for medical discharge should also have been advised about financial benefits that could be claimed if the injury or illness was considered to be attributable to service.So long after the cessation of hostilities, it is no longer possible to give a categorical assurance that proper procedures were in fact followed in respect of all members of the reserve forces who served in the Gulf. However, reservists who believe that their case was not handled fairly, or that there had been some other form of maladministration, are welcome to make a formal redress of complaint in accordance with the provisions set out in Queen's Regulations. Advice and clarification on the procedures and regulations are available, if requested, from their unit or, in the case of ex-regular reservists, their manning and records authority.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What extent they consider that it is time for a revision of the foreign policy-led Strategic Defence Review in order to avoid overstretch of the British Armed Forces. [HL3654]

The Strategic Defence Review does not need revision. The MoD's new strategic planning process ensures that there is now a policy-led re-evaluation of defence plans every year.The problem of overstretch is a key priority which is being addressed urgently both as part of this process and through the introduction of measures such as those announced by the Secretary of State on 19 July.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many orthopaedic surgeons are now working in the Royal Navy; and what is the estimated number of orthopaedic surgeons who will be left in post in the Royal Navy by the end of this year. [HL3675]

At present there are five consultant orthopaedic surgeons in the Royal Navy. Current predictions are that by the end of the year there will be four.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the intensive care unit at Haslar Hospital is due to be closed; and, if so, whether this means there will be no military hospital in the United Kingdom with an intensive care facility. [HL3673]

As the result of further integration between the MoD and the NHS, the intensive care unit at the Royal Hospital Haslar is to close. That is likely to happen during August. Services will be transferred to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham. Haslar will retain a high dependency unit that will be able to administer to all critically ill patients other than those requiring ventilated life support. The level of intensive care provision within the Portsmouth area will remain the same.The four NHS trusts, in which Ministry of Defence hospital units are situated, all have intensive care units. Military medical staffs contribute to the operation of these units which are available for the treatment of military personnel.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the current premature voluntary retirement rate for senior medical personnel in the services; and what measures, if any, are being taken to retain senior medical officers. [HL3677]

In the year ended 31 March 1999, the rate of premature voluntary retirement among senior medical officers, namely those of major or equivalent rank and above, was 4.3 per cent. A number of measures have been taken, or are being taken, to help improve retention of medical officers generally. These include: the Government's acceptance of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body's recommendations for a pay award of 4.5 per cent. for 1999, which is 1 per cent. higher than the awards for NHS doctors and dentists and for the rest of the Armed Forces and a significant increase in trainer pay for general medical practitioners who supervise trainees in general practice and the forthcoming introduction of a distinction awards scheme for consultants, as well as further work to identify the causes of overstretch and more effective ways of reducing it. Work also continues on the harmonisation of different terms of service for medical officers from the three services. We are making good progress with our project to establish the new centre for defence medicine which is to be the professional focal point for the Defence Medical Services at an NHS centre of excellence and an important academic institution undertaking clinical research and teaching.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many service men and women currently waiting for secondary care medical treatment expect to receive their treatment within (a) four weeks and (b) 13 weeks of referral to their consultant; and how many may expect to have to wait for over six months. [HL2717]

It is not possible to provide a precise forecast of expected waiting times for service personnel waiting for secondary healthcare at any particular time. However, extrapolating from performance in 1998–99, we estimate that, of the 4,211 service patients who on the 30 March 1999 were waiting for their initial outpatient appointment at units of the Defence Secondary Care Agency, 1,642, or 39 per cent., will have been seen within four weeks and a further 1,685, or an additional 40 per cent., within 13 weeks.No statistics are maintained of longer waiting times, but very few cases would have involved a wait of more than six months.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking to ensure that the non-religious point of view is included in the school curriculum. [HL3770]

The school curriculum requires schools to offer a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and opportunities exist for teaching about a breadth of religious and non-religious views. The Government have no plans to bring religious education into the national curriculum or to remove the statutory framework for religious education.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether control over the conduct of public policy by government and Parliament has been reduced by the privatisation of the arms industry. [HL3721]

The UK's defence industry is now one of the most competitive. As a major customer the Ministry of Defence has developed a close relationship with its suppliers; a relationship that the Smart Procurement Initiative aims to bring closer to help ensure value for money in defence acquisition. Applications for licence to export goods entered in Part III of Schedule Ito the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 are assessed using the criteria announced by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 28 July 1997 and the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, and both sets of criteria are also used to assess applications for licences to export dual-use goods to end-users in the Armed Forces or internal security forces of the country concerned. The defence industry, like any other, is normally also subject to the usual regulatory mechanisms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the wards in Annex C to

Each proposed ward is adjacent to at least one other.The proposed wards in Angus and Dundee are contiguous with each other. The other proposed wards in Scotland and the north-east of England are contiguous. The proposed wards in Allerdale and Copeland (apart from Haverigg, Holburn Hill and Newtown) are contiguous; those three wards are contiguous with those in Barrow in Furness and South Lakeland. The proposed wards in Lancaster are contiguous. The proposed wards in Ribble Valley, Hyndburn, Burnley, Rossendale, and Blackburn are contiguous. The proposed wards in Rochdale and Oldham are contiguous. The proposed wards in Tameside, Manchester, Trafford, Salford and Bolton (apart from Blackrod) are contiguous; that ward is contiguous with the proposed wards in Wigan and West Lancashire, which in turn are adjacent to Merseyside. The proposed wards in Warrington are also adjacent to Merseyside; so too are the contiguous wards proposed in Halton, Vale Royal. Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Alyn and Deeside, Delyn and Wrexham Maelor, which are also adjacent to West Wales and the Valleys. The contiguous proposed wards in Montgomeryshire are also adjacent to West Wales and the Valleys; so too are those in Brecknock; as are the contiguous proposed wards in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Newport and Monmouth. The proposed wards in South Hams and Plymouth are contiguous and are adjacent to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The proposed wards in Lewes, Brighton, Hove and Adur are contiguous. The proposed wards in Thanet, Dover and Shepway are contiguous. The proposed wards in Swale, Gillingham, Rochester, Gravesham, Thurrock, Dartford, Bexley, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich and Newham are con tiguous. The proposed wards in Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest are contiguous. The proposed wards in Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing and Brent are contiguous. The proposed wards in Luton and South Bedfordshire are contiguous. The proposed wards in Waveney and Great Yarmouth are contiguous. The proposed wards in King's Lynn and West Norfolk and Fenland are contiguous. The proposed wards in Coventry, Rugby, and Nuneaton and Bedworth are contiguous. The proposed wards in Lichfield, Tamworth. North Warwickshire, Solihull, Birmingham, Brom sgrove, Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Cannock Chase and South Staffordshire are contiguous. The proposed wards in Newcastle under Lyme, Stoke on Trent, Stafford and Staffordshire Moorlands are contiguous. The proposed wards in North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield, Bolsover, Ashfield, Amber Valley, Gelding, Nottingham, Newark and Sherwood, Mansfield, Bassetlaw and 'West Lindsey are contiguous and are adjacent to South Yorkshire. The contiguous proposed wards in Wakefield, Selby and Boothferry are also adjacent to South Yorkshire. The proposed wards in Bradford are contiguous. The proposed wards in Beverley, Kingston upon Hull, Holderness, Great Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Glanford are contiguous.The map in Annex A of

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which of the national museums and galleries have tendered out exhibition or other ticketing services to private companies; and, where appropriate, whether they will identify the particular aspects of such services so tendered; and [HL3641]What are the private companies to whom national museums and galleries have tendered out exhibition or other ticketing services. [HL3642]

National museums and galleries have tendered out exhibition or other ticketing services in the last five years to private companies as follows:

	Company
British Museum	First Call Group, for tickets to temporary exhibitions;
Imperial War Museum	Ticketmaster, for provision of some of the ticketing services for the annual programme of air shows at Duxford, since January 1998. Such tickets may be purchased as part of combined offers with local hotels and the WAGN railway network;
National Gallery	Edwards and Edwards, First Call Group, Keith Prowse and FNAC Billetterie, for tickets to temporary exhibitions;
National Maritime Museum	First Call Group, for the Titanic exhibition 1995–96;
Royal Armouries	Ticketnet, for tickets to temporary exhibitions;
Tate Gallery	Box Office Spectacle du Monde, First Call Group, and FNAC Billetterie, for tickets to temporary exhibitions;
Victoria and Albert Museum	First Call Group, Ticketmaster. and Edwards and Edwards, for tickets to temporary exhibitions.

No national museums and galleries have contracted out ticketing services to private companies for general admission, except for the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, where they are operated by Royal Armouries (International) plc.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What distances need to be enforced to prevent pollen pollution between genetically modified maize and unmodified maize and between genetically modified oil seed rape and unmodified oil seed rape; and what distances have been arranged in trial areas. [HL3159]

The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) has advised that the information from decades of experience with producing seeds to specific purity levels can be used to estimate the level of cross-pollination which is likely to occur between crops in adjacent fields at specific distances. It is not possible to guarantee that no cross-pollination will occur, even with very large separation distances, although the amount of cross-pollination decreases rapidly with distance.In evaluating a proposed release of a genetically modified (GM) plant for research purposes ACRE always take account of pollen dispersal by all means and its likely consequences. Based on the type of GM plant, how it has been modified and the circumstances of the proposed release it may be judged necessary to minimise the potential for cross-pollination of neighbouring sexually compatible crops or wild relatives by the GM plants. The precautions taken to prevent or reduce cross-pollination may include the removal of flowers or the setting of specific isolation distances between GM and non-GM plants or borders of non-GM plants around the plots of GM plants. Where isolation distances are set these are not intended to prevent pollen spread but to reduce pollen spread as far as is practically possible.All crops in the farm-scale evaluations are being grown in accordance with the SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops) Code of Practice and Guidelines. The guidelines set out proposed separation distances between GM and non-GM crops and are based on internationally recognised criteria for ensuring high purity in seed production. The recommended separation distances in respect of oilseed rape and forage maize are as follows.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which concordats relating to Scotland have been redrafted. [HL3698]

None.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many concordats there are relating to Scotland; what areas they cover; and when they will be published. [HL3697]

The UK Government intend proposing a range of concordats. These will guide working relations between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive covering the spectrum of governmental business in which the UK Government and Scottish Executive have shared interests or the actions of one may impact on the other. They will be published once they have been agreed with the Scottish Executive.