asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements they have made to ensure that immigration officers exercising the new powers of search, entry and seizure in Part VII of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will have regard to the codes of practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. [HL979]

The new powers of entry, search and seizure will come into force on 14 February 2000. In accordance with Section 145 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, a Direction has been made which will ensure that immigration officers exercising these powers, and their existing powers of arrest under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971, must have regard to the relevant provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 codes of practice. A copy of the Direction is being placed in the Library. It is also being sent to members of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) User Panel and will be made available more widely via the IND website.The use of the new powers will be restricted initially to a team of immigration officers involved in a joint pilot scheme with the Metropolitan Police. This pilot scheme will enable the powers to be tested in the operational arena before more widespread use of the powers is considered.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the report of the review by the Immigration and Nationality Policy Directorate of the full capacity requirement both for renunciation of British citizenship and applications for it under the British Nationality Act 1981; and whether they will consult organisations concerned with mental health on the need for any changes to the law or regulations, before deciding finally on any such changes. [HL827]

The review is continuing and we shall consult relevant organisations in the course of it.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Working Group Against Racism in Children's Resources is financed by public money. [HL844]

We know of no such group.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many men and women respectively were serving custodial sentences for sexual offences in June 1998 and June 1999. [HL836]

The information requested is given in the table. Information on persons serving custodial sentences for sexual offences up to 1998 is published in successive volumes of Prison statistics England and Wales (tables 1.5, 3.1 and 4.1 of the 1998 edition, column 4430), copies of which are in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many sex offenders are currently serving determinate custodial sentences imposed before 1 October 1992. [HL837]

The latest available information is for 31 December 1999. On that date there were 24 persons in prisons in England and Wales serving sentences for sexual offences who were sentenced before 1 October 1992.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people were, respectively, convicted and cautioned for (a) indictable sexual offences and (b) non-indictable sexual offences in 1998. [HL835]

Available information for 1998 is given in the tables.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In the light of the recent trial involving Gary Glitter, what steps they propose to take to implement the recommendations made by the National Heritage Committee in their Report on Press Activity affecting Court Cases. [HL975]

The Government announced on 27 February 1998 that they accepted in principle the recommendations of the National Heritage Select Committee. As I said in the House on 22 November, Official Report, col. 169, legislation will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows. I am setting up an inter-departmental working group of officials to review the law relating to the payments to witnesses in criminal proceedings and the publication of information in advance of criminal trials. The review will inform the Government's decisions about the form of legislation required to implement the National Heritage Committee's recommendations. The review will consider how the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights affect the law of contempt.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the concordat on statistics between the United Kingdom administrations has been agreed; and, if not, when agreement on it is likely to be reached. [HL857]

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:To what extent, if at all, they intend that the Census Statistician and Statistics Commission will have responsibility for the 2001 Census; and[HL855]Whether, to the extent that responsibility for the 2001 Census is transferred to the National Statistician and the Statistics Commission, adequate funding will be made available for this purpose over and above the provision that has been made for setting up this new arrangement in the Comprehensive Spending Review.[HL856]

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:How much the United Kingdom has contributed to the European Union each year since joining in 1972; how much the European Union has returned to the United Kingdom; and what was the net total of both sums. [HL870]

The United Kingdom became a member of the European Community in 1973. Details of gross contributions, abatement, public sector receipts and net contributions for the period 1973–74 to 1997–98 can be obtained from various departmental reports of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments or, previously, Government Expenditure Plans. The net contribution figure for 1998–99 was published in the footnote to Table B12 of the pre-Budget Report (Cm 4479).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they finance in any way the Britain in Europe organisation; and whether any government subsidy is provided to organisations campaigning for the United Kingdom to join the single currency or further European economic and political integration. [HL878]

No.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that the political balance of the second Chamber of the Parliament of Westminster should match the proportion of votes cast at the previous general election. [HL842]

The Government set out in their manifesto the broad principle which we believe should govern the appointment of life Peers, which was that over time their balance should more accurately reflect the balance of votes cast at the previous general election. In the White Paper Modernising Parliament Reforming the House of Lords (Cm 4183 January 1999) we said that our intention in relation to the transitional House was to move toward broad parity between Labour and Conservative. We also said that the principle of broad parity and proportionate creations for other parties would be maintained throughout the transitional period. Our most important principle with regard to membership of the House of Lords is that no party should seek a majority of members.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps are being or will be taken to ensure that human rights issues will not be subordinated to party political considerations by the proposed Joint Committee on Human Rights. [HL751]

The Government do not have a majority on the Select Committees of this House, and Select Committees in the Commons are appointed in proportion to party representation in that House.Joint Committees and Select Committees in both Houses have long had a reputation for political impartiality; there is no reason to believe that the Joint Committee for Human Rights will not work in that tradition.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the total cost to date to the taxpayer of the Millennium Dome and all works directly associated with it at the Greenwich site. [HL770]

The Millennium Dome at Greenwich and its contents are being paid for partly out of Lottery funds and partly by private sector sponsorship, commercial income and visitor revenue—not from tax revenues. English Partnerships, the Government's urban regeneration agency for England, which owns the land on which the Dome is sited and which is grant aided by the Exchequer, through the Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions has incurred £15.53 million in costs in respect of works directly associated with preparing the site for the Millennium Dome, north of the Jubilee Line and North Greenwich Transport Interchange. These works have consisted of the remediation of the site together with the provision of roads, footpaths, services, landscaping, river wall works and associated fees.

asked Her Majesty's Government:On which task forces, policy reviews and similar advisory bodies, external (that is, non-Civil Service and non-ministerial) members were serving on 1 January; and for each of these bodies:

My answers to the noble Lord, the Lord Roberts of Conwy on 11 November [Official Report, cols. WA 245–248], and 1 February [Official Report, col. WA 20] provided details of all task forces, review groups and other ad hoc advisory groups with external members established since May 1997. The lists provide a breakdown of membership, remit, reports published and dates bodies wound up, where appropriate. These lists will be updated and published every six months. I am not prepared, on grounds of cost effectiveness, to commission further work outside these six-monthly periods.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to take any measures to respond to and address the tenor of opinion expressed on the website www.domevote.co.uk. [HL720]

Within the New Millennium Experience Company's (NMEC) marketing strategy there is a rolling programme of promotions which highlight the many positive aspects of the New Millennium Experience both nationally and regionally. The company also promotes the positive reactions from the "exit polls" of the majority of visitors to the Dome. Where there are serious factual errors in media reports, NMEC seeks to corrrect them. In addition, the Millennium Experience has its own website www dome2000.co.uk, from which people can obtain information—both promotional and factual.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will ask the United Nations Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance to conduct an urgent assessment of the persecution of the Falun Gong in China, so that an informed discussion of the problem can take place at the forthcoming meeting of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva; if not, what other courses they are pursuing, in upholding the rights of Falun Gong members to carry on their peaceful activities, and, in particular, what steps they are taking to ensure that the freedom of the Falun Gong is upheld in Hong Kong. [HL755]

We have been concernd about the treatment of Falun Gong adherents and leaders since the group was banned by the Chinese authorities in July 1999, including reports of excessive sentencing of 32 adherents in a mass trial in Beijing on 31 January. This has been raised during ministerial level contacts with Chinese Ministers and through our high level bilateral human rights dialogue. The EU Presidency carried out a demarche on 14 January expressing our concern at the detention and excessive sentencing of political dissidents, and Falun Gong leaders. We will continue to press the Chinese Government for a satisfactory response.It is for the United Nations Special Rapporteur himself—as an independent expert—to decide whether he should investigate the case of Falun Gong within the terms of his mandate.We note that Falun Gong practitioners have been permitted to hold demonstrations in Hong Kong in accordance with the law even though the organisation has been declared illegal on the mainland. This is in accordance with the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What the total cost of the "Your Britain, Your Europe" roadshow was; and what proportion of that was covered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and what proportion was covered by the local authorities of the locations visited. [HL757]

The overall budget was £60,000 plus travel and accommodation. This was financed entirely by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the percentage decline in real terms of the grant to the British Council in Italy since 1993. [HL812]

Between 1993–94 and 1998–99 the grant-in-aid to the British Council declined by 13.62 per cent in real terms. However, in the current CSR period, starting this financial year, the council is receiving an uplift (in real terms) of some 2 per cent over the 1998–99 figure in line with the FCO settlement. The British Council determines how it spends the grant-in-aid allocated to it by the FCO. The allocation by the council for Italy over this period has declined by 55 per cent—a reduction resulting from the redirection of resources to other areas, mainly East Asia and Pacific, the expansion of various human rights and governance programmes and the development of IT infrastructure.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What they consider to have been the main achievements of the British Council in Italy since 1993. [HL813]

Since 1993 the British Council has organised seminars for senior civil servants addressing public sector reform, including tertiary education. It has also held a series of international conferences, including the annual bilateral Pontignano conference, for senior public figures.The council has introduced new performers and artists to Italy and exhibits regularly at the Venice Biennale.The council opened a new Teaching Centre in Turin in 1998; since 1997 it has worked with the Italian Government to improve English teaching in schools.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What were the results of the annual post questionnaires in relation to the work of the British Council in Italy since 1993. [HL814]

The readily available post questionnaires rate the council as making an important contribution to post objectives in 1995–96 to 1997–98 and an essential contribution in 1998–99.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have for the future funding and development of the work of the British Council in Italy. [HL815]

The future funding and development of the British Council in Italy will depend on the results of the current Spending Review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will announce decisions on whether insulin pen needles and reusable insulin injection pens can be prescribed on the National Health Service. [HL951]

I have agreed that, with effect from 1 March, insulin pen needles and certain reusable insulin pens should be prescribable by general practitioners on the National Health Service.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What will be the future conduct of human gene therapy experiments in the United Kingdom following the decisions, arising from the death of an American teenager, of health officials in the United States to end all gene experiments at the Pennsylvania Institute for Human Gene Therapy and to inspect all other American gene therapy centres. [HL760]

The present system of detailed evaluation of applications to conduct gene therapy clinical trials and the monitoring of safety of ongoing trials by the Medicines Control Agency and the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) will continue.GTAC is currently reviewing the 11 existing United Kingdom gene therapy studies involving adenovirus vectors similar to those used in the trial in Pennsylvania. Unlike the Pennsylvania trial, no study active in the UK introduces adenovirus directly into the patient's circulation and doses used in the UK are lower. There have been no reports of unexpected serious side-effects as the result of treatment with any gene therapy product in the UK.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 25 January (

Professor Blain has not acted as an expert witness for Dundas and Wilson since 1994, four years before the Working Group was established. During the time he served on the Working Group he was not involved in any pending litigation relating to organophosphates.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What effect upon the diversity of animal and plant wildlife they expect consequent upon the change in regulations concerning the Arable Area Payments Scheme by which fields will no longer be measured to the middle of boundary hedges but to the centre line of an assumed hedge of only two metres in width. [HL780]

Applicants for subsidy under the Arable Area Payments Scheme (AAPS) have recently been notified about guidance from the European Commission concerning the width of field margins. Where a field is fully utilised according to normal practice and field margins do not exceed two metres in width, measured from the recognised Ordnance Survey (OS) boundary (for example, a fence, or the mid-point of a hedge) to the edge of the cropped area, an applicant will, as in previous years, be able to claim under AAPS for the total OS area of the field. Should a field margin exceed the two metre threshold, the applicant will instead need to claim on the actual cropped area (i.e. the OS measured area minus the total uncropped area around the field margin). We are concerned that this clarification of the AAPS rules might be detrimental to wildlife, and we are currently analysing what effect it might have and evaluating the options for minimising any problems which may arise. Moreover, MAFF's guidance urges farmers that, if they need to adjust the width of a field margin, they should seek advice on minimising the environmental impact of any such change.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What discussions have been held with English Nature, and similar statutory environmental organisations, on the environmental effects of changing the rules on the maximum width of field margins allowed under the Arable Area Payments Scheme (AAPS) of the European Commission Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). [HL768]

Ministry officials met English Nature and the Countryside Agency on 19 October 1999 to discuss the environmental implications of the latest guidance on field margins applying in the context of the Arable Area Payments Scheme. It is hoped that a further meeting with English Nature will be held shortly. The topic has also been raised at various meetings with environmental organisations attended by MAFF Regional Directors and other officials.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will now take action to prevent or discourage the destruction of hedgerows by those who may consider this to be desirable or necessary in order to comply with the policies or arrangements of the European Union. [HL845]

Under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997, it is against the law to remove most countryside hedges without first notifying the local planning authority. If the hedgerow qualifies as important, the authority may prohibit its removal. Guidance has been given to farmers encouraging them to seek advice about minimising the environmental impact of any action they may propose taking to adjust the width of a hedge or other field margin in order to be able to continue claiming arable area payments on the full area of their fields.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will incorporate the study undertaken by the National Pollen Research Unit for the Soil Association into their recommendations on the distances that pollen from genetically modified plants can travel. [HL605]

Separation distances between GM and other crops have been set out by the industry group SCIMAC in the light of scientific knowledge and long-standing experience in maintaining the purity of certified seed. The report from the National Pollen Research Unit confirms existing knowledge about the distances which pollen can travel. However the findings are relevant to the dialogue between the GM and organic sectors which MAFF has promoted, and we have asked SCIMAC to take them into account in reviewing separation distances.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, as reported in the

The Intervention Board followed its established procedures in awarding slaughtering contracts for the provision of the Over Thirty Month Scheme (OTMS) and in carrying out the tender process fairly. The bids received for the work were evaluated against published objective criteria, including quality of service, price, ability to offer a dedicated service, ease of supervision, throughput and location.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide details of when, to their knowledge, seeds of a genetically modified plant variety have been marketed, sold or otherwise supplied under arrangements specified in Regulation 31 of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982. [HL775]

Regulation 31 of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) requires that, except as provided for in Regulation 32, seed of agricultural and vegetable varieties shall not be marketed unless the variety in question is on a National List or a EC Common Catalogue. GM plant varieties may be entered on the UK National List only if a marketing consent has been promulgated under Directive 90/220/EEC on the Deliberate Release into the Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms and an authorisation has been issued, where appropriate, under the Novel Food Regulations.There are no GM plant varieties on the UK National List and no marketing has, therefore, taken place from that source. Two GM chicory varieties (FIRESTONE and SAM) were added to the EC Vegetable Common Catalogue on 15 June 1999 under marketing consent reference C/NL/94/25, which restricts marketing to plant breeding activities and excludes their use for human or animal feed. There is no requirement under that consent to notify member states of such marketing activity.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In connection with the pet travel scheme, when a system of documents will be put in place for French residents bringing pets to this country in relation to rabies; and [HL838]When under the pet travel scheme veterinary surgeons in France will receive documents relating to certification that ticking and worming have been carried out; and [HL839]

We have provided the French veterinary authorities with details of the pilot Pet Travel Scheme, which we have asked them to pass on to veterinary surgeons in France. The French Government has sent us copies of a rabies certificate for use by French residents wishing to take part in the Pet Travel Scheme, and a tick and tapeworm treatment certificate. Their printing and distribution to veterinary surgeons in France is a matter for the French Government. Discussions with the French authorities on the surveillance of carrier activities in relation to the scheme are continuing.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they are honouring their obligation under EC Treaty Article 33(1)(b). [HL828]

Article 33 of the Treaty of Rome sets out the five objectives of the common agricultural policy, of which ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural community is one. Responsiblity rests with the European Commission to propose legislation and with the Council of Ministers, and in some cases the European Commission, to adopt legislation to meet the objectives in the Treaty.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle Tuberculosis will publish its second report. [HL902]

We are pleased to tell the House that the second report by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB is published today. The report sets out progress made so far on the wide-ranging research measures being taken to combat cattle TB as well as plans for work to be undertaken in the future. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress the Environment Agency has made in implementing its action plan in response to the independent report on the Easter 1998 floods. [HL901]

While there were no further specific actions timed for completion by the end December 1999, the Environment Agency has nevertheless kept the Ministry informed of progress up to that date.For flood forecasting, all the Environment Agency's regions are working on delivering the first phase of their hydrometric monitoring network improvement programmes by April 2000.The work relating to flood warning is progressing well. The National Flood Warning Centre is established and the necessary relationships with other national bodies are being actively developed.Flood risk maps have been produced and were disseminated to local planning authorities and emergency planners in September 1999. The agency is using the maps to identify high-risk properties on a consistent basis to aid targeting of direct warnings and public awareness material. Local authorities are using the maps for both development control and emergency planning purposes. The information in the maps will be made publicly available so that people can make informed decisions about flood risks.The agency has further improved liaison arrangements with local authorities and emergency services at both local and national level to ensure effective response to flooding incidents.A flood warning public awareness campaign commenced in October. Plans are being developed for revised flood warning codes to be introduced in September 2000, with appropriate publicity.Visual inspection of all flood defences continues against a deadline of April 2000. The agency has set up meetings to resolve isolated problems where local authorities have not always been able to identify the location of defences on ordinary watercourses.The agency continues its work in implementing the recommendations in the independent report on its management and skills.We are pleased to note the agency's continuing progress in implementing the Easter Floods report, contributing to achievement of the ministerial priority of a seamless and integrated service of flood forecasting, warning and response.We shall ensure that the House is updated on progress in implementing the final phases of the action plan, including the introduction of new flood warning codes in September 2000.

asked. Her Majesty's Government:What grants have been offered under the Agriculture Development Scheme. [HL882]

We are pleased that offers of some £2 million in marketing grants have been made under the Agriculture Development Scheme. Around 35 per cent of the money will benefit the pig sector directly and some of the other projects directed at the livestock sector will also help pig producers. Overall, we are assisting a wide range of sectors and regions. The following organisations have been offered grant aid: