asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have received from the International Organisation of Migration, or other sources, concerning traffic in young women taking place in Kosovo; what is the policy of KFOR on this matter; and what do they consider to be the best means for protecting persons subjected to violence in this way. [HL936]

We have noted reports of these incidents with concern and will support action by UNMIK and KFOR to tackle the problem. The main aim of the international presences in Kosovo is to provide a secure environment. UNMIK and KFOR are committed to working together to respond to the needs of all vulnerable communities and individuals.The regional centre of the OSCE in Pristina intends to establish a women's victim support system to facilitate UNMIK police assistance to vulnerable young women and children who had been victims of abduction, rape, trafficking or prostitution.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will instruct British ambassadors in Belgium that the Union flag should be flown each day over each British embassy in Brussels. [HL949]

We have reiterated the general rules of flag flying: British missions are expected to fly the Union flag on working days during office hours. Ambassadors have discretion not to fly the flag where this could pose a security risk or offend local sensitivities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will discuss with the Government of India the Orissa State Government Order of November 1999 concerning religious conversions and the Uttar Pradesh Bill concerning the use of buildings for religious purposes; and whether they will raise the compatibility of these measures with the constitution of India and international covenants. [HL958]

We regularly raise our concerns over incidents of religious intolerance with the Indian authorities. We will continue to press them to uphold the values of secularism enshrined in the constitution.

asked Her Majesty's Government:By what criteria they decide to support or oppose the holding of weapons of mass destruction by another sovereign state. [HL964]

The UK works to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) with the ultimate aim of a world free of all WMD. The UK supports universal adherence to the relevant WMD treaties: the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapsons, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Who will represent the United Kingdom at the inauguration of President Lagos of Chile next month. [HL1128]

My honourable friend John Battle, Minister of State for Latin America, will represent Her Majesty's Government.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which bicameral democracies in Europe and North America possess a wholly or mainly non-elected second chamber. [HL1037]

The following states of Europe or North America have second chambers which are wholly or mainly non-elected.Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Dom Naroda has 15 Members who are all appointed (10 from the Federation of Bosnia and 5 from the Republika Srpska).Germany: the 69 Members of the Bundesrat are appointed by the Länder.The Russian Federation: the Soviet Federatsii has 178 Members who are high ranking regional authorities appointed within their constituencies.The United Kingdom: of the 666 Members of the House of Lords, 92 are hereditary peers, 548 are life peers and 26 are archbishops or bishops.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people were (a) killed, (b) wounded and (c) rendered homeless in each of Serbia and Kosovo during the periods 1 November 1998 to 21 March 1999, 21 March 1999 to 10 June 1999 and since 10 June 1999 respectively. [HL1039]

We do not have any reliable figures for numbers killed, wounded or displaced in Serbia for the dates given. We would not expect the Serb authorities to release reliable figures.In Kosovo, we estimate that at least 10,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were killed between June 1998 and June 1999. Most of these deaths occurred in the period between March and June 1999. Up to the start of the NATO campaign, according to the UNHCR, 200,000 Kosovo Albanians were displaced internally, with around 70,000 refugees outside Kosovo. As a result of Serb repression around 850,000 Kosovo Albanians were forced to leave Kosovo between March and June 1999; up to half a million more were made homeless within Kosovo. NATO's intervention made possible the return within weeks of over 90 per cent of the refugees.There were 430 murders reported in Kosovo between 12 June 1999 and 25 December. There are no figures available for woundings. KFOR's presence has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of reported major offences from over 300 in the last week of June to fewer than 50 in the last week of November last year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Pursuant to the letter of 31 January from the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Hain, to the Chairman of the Select Committee on the European Union, what is their estimate of the number of kilometres of roads and electricity transmission lines together with hectares of land which remain to be cleared of landmines and other explosive devices in Mozambique and the Zambezia Province. [HL1044]

There has been no comprehensive landmine survey of the entire territory of Mozambique and the National Demining Institute in Mozambique has no reliable information on the total area affected by landmines. A Canadian sponsored survey of the entire country is in progress and should be completed by the end of this year. Reliable information should then be available.

I expect to be in a position to send the noble Lord a substantive reply by 10 March 2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to alter the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 1995. [HL1179]

A clear framework for charity accounting is important for the public's confidence in the integrity of charity. In general, the 1995 regulations have worked well. My right honourable friend the Minister of State at the Home Office (Mr Boateng) is today publishing a consultation document about how to keep the regulations up to date. The proposed changes reflect the new exposure draft of the statement of recommended practice (SORP) for accounting by charities, as well as proposals for some charities that follow other SORPs. My right honourable friend would welcome views by 30 April.I have arranged for copies of the consultation document to be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to implement nationally the youth justice provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which have been piloted. [HL1180]

Pilots of most of the youth justice provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 have been operating in 10 areas since September 1998. They cover the operation of the multi-agency youth offending teams; the final warning scheme, which will replace cautioning for young offenders; and the reparation order, action plan order, child safety order and parenting order. The pilots have helped to identify good practice in delivering these measures and are being evaluated by a team from Sheffield. Hull and Swansea Universities. A copy of its most recent report, published in December, is in the Library. Building on the experience of the pilots the Government have decided to implement the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 provisions for youth offending teams on 1 April 2000 and for the final warning scheme and four community-based orders on 1 June 2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the first annual report of progress on the implementation of the action plan they published in March 1999 as part of the Government's reponse to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report. [HL1181]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary will publish the first annual report tomorrow. It will set out details of progress made on each of the areas covered by the recommendations of the inquiry and will identify action still to be taken. It will show that there has been substantial progress across the criminal justice and education systems. But there is much more to be done and it is vital that all the public services covered by the inquiry's report maintain their determination to deliver the highest standards of service to all members of society regardless of their race.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What level of support will be provided under the new asylum seeker support arrangements. [HL1182]

Subject to assessment on a case-by-case basis, the weekly levels of voucher support for asylum seekers under the new arrangements are given in the table:

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect to publish the first of the six-monthly reports on the systematic literature review of Gulf War illnesses. [HL1005]

The systematic literature review is being carried out over a period of three years by a team led by Professor Glyn Lewis at the University of Wales and funded by the Ministry of Defence through the Medical Research Council (MRC). Professor Lewis has provided two progress reports to the MRC. The MRC has explored whether those reports can be made public, but it is Professor Lewis's view that this would prejudice the publication of the full study in a peer reviewed journal. The "gold standard" for dissemination of MoD funded Gulf health research is publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It does not therefore appear at this stage that it will be possible for the MRC to make the progress reports public as the MoD had originally expected when the work was announced. The MRC will encourage Professor Lewis to publish once a reasonable body of work has accumulated on each of the issues. In addition, a University of Wales website will be established this summer to list the details of the references that have been identified in the literature search.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How frequently the Medical Research Council Gulf Health Research Steering Group has met since its inception. [HL1006]

The Medical Research Council Gulf War Illness Research Programme Steering Committee has met five times since its inception in early 1997.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the local authority or the Defence Housing Executive (DHE) is responsible for dealing with infestations of rats where there is evidence of their presence in service quarters or their gardens managed by the DHE. [HL1007]

The Defence Housing Executive (DHE) is responsible for arranging for the treatment of infestations of rats where there is evidence of their presence in service families accommodation (SFA) or gardens. Any infestation is dealt with either by the local authority or a local specialist contractor and funded by DHE.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the net annual change in the Army's manpower for each of the last three years. [HL820]

The net annual change in the trained strength and requirement of the Army over the three-year period to 1 April 1999 is shown in the table.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to introduce statutory regulation of estate agents. [HL1103]

The Estate Agents Act 1979 regulates the conduct of estate agents in the course of estate agency work. Its purpose is to ensure that agents act in the best interests of their clients and that both buyers and sellers are treated honestly, fairly and promptly. The Act also gives the Director General of Fair Trading the power to issue warnings or ban those persons whom he considers to be unfit to carry on estate agency work and he has shown that he is ready to use these powers where he considers such action is justified.The director general also has a duty to keep under review the working and enforcement of the Act.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What agreement they have reached with the European Union Commission over the introduction of the

No agreement has been reached with the Commission.The proposal for a directive harmonising

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assessment they have made of the reduction in the number of part-time jobs in the hotel and restaurant sector as a result of the introduction of the Part-Time Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000; and what advice they have been given about the impact of such regulations upon the equivalent sector in Germany. [HL1119]

The economic analysis carried out in preparing the Regulatory Impact Assessment indicates that there is unlikely to be any shift away from using part-time staff in the hotel and restaurant sector as a result of the addition to labour costs arising from the Part-time Work Regulations.The Government regularly monitor the effect of employment law changes in other member states. The changes in Germany are not directly comparable with the proposals for the UK, since they also included changes to the tax and social security position of part-timers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:For the ballot which is currently being held to end selection at Ripon Grammar School, whether they will list: (a) the names of each of the feeder schools where parents are eligible to vote; (b) the number of eligible parents at each school; (c) the total number of eligible parents at fee paying feeder schools; and (d) the number of eligible parents at fee paying feeder schools as a percentage of the total number of eligible parents. [HL1063]

The feeder schools whose parents are eligible to vote in the current ballot are listed below with the number of eligible parents at each school. The total number of eligible parents originally identified at the three independent schools is 772. This is 25 per cent of the overall number of parents originally identified as eligible. It is not possible to give more precise figures, as some parents may have children at both maintained and independent schools.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the proportion of all primary school pupils in private education in each local education authority in England. [HL1064]

The proportion of pupils of primary school age in independent schools situated in each local education authority area in England is given in the table.Independent schools are allocated to a local education authority if the school is geographically located within the local education authority area. The area of residence of the pupils attending an independent school may be different to the local education authority area to which the school has been allocated.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the objective one status moneys allocated for South Yorkshire are likely to be paid, especially for Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield; and what is their estimate of these payments. [HL993]

The single programme document for the South Yorkshire objective one programme was received by the European Commission on 15 November 1999. Under the regulations, the Commission has five months to agree the document. Negotiations are now taking place and the aim is to have provisional approval for the end of March. The programme could therefore begin in May, with projects receiving funding after that time. The value of the programme is £780 million in grants over the period 2000–06.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they have taken in response to the

My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister launched a "Movement for Innovation" to implement Rethinking Construction in November 1998. We established four task forces or boards made up of leading representatives of clients and the supply side: they are the M4I Board, covering non-housing construction; the Housing Forum; the Treasury-led Central Government Task Force covering central government departments and agencies; and the Local Government Task Force. Their role is to promote innovation and the sharing of innovations and best practice and to raise awareness and improve practice among public sector clients with a view to delivering the targets set out in Rethinking Construction. Co-ordination of these four strands is overseen by a steering group chaired by my honourable friend Nick Raynsford MP, which includes my right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Sir John Egan; the chairs of each of the four strands; and the chairman of the Construction Industry Board.The Construction Best Practice Programme, launched in November 1998, promotes dissemination of best practice and provides advice and support. Innovation and sharing of experiences are encouraged through demonstration projects: there are now more than 230 projects worth perhaps around £3.5 billion (figures are still being collected from the latest projects). This compares with the target in

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman on 11 January (

Licences for the organophosphorus sheep dips were reviewed in 1992–93. Applications supported by data were required for each product. Data considered included those submitted in support of the original licence applications and any new data considered by applicants to be appropriate. Where data were considered by the Veterinary Products Committee to be insufficient, further data were requested. In addition, the then current scientific data on the toxicity of the active ingredients were summarised and presented to the Veterinary Products Committee.It is not practice to speculate on manufacturers' motivation and the previous Answer made clear that the reason for the withdrawals was a matter for the companies involved. The additional information given was intended to be helpful and as full as possible within the constraints of the confidentiality requirements of the medicines legislation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is still the practice to extract pituitary glycoproteins from the glands of slaughtered sheep and pigs in the United Kingdom; and, if so, by what means the animals are slaughtered and under what conditions the extracts are recovered. [HL679]

Under the Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997 (as amended), the heads of sheep (including the pituitary) are designated as SRM. They must therefore be removed, stained and disposed of in accordance with the regulations.We are not aware that pituitary glycoprotein is removed from the glands of slaughtered pigs in any licensed slaughterhouse in Great Britain.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there are any controls on veterinary or medical researchers or other individuals obtaining tissue extracts or other materials from licensed slaughterhouses in the United Kingdom. [HL680]

The following controls apply:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What consultations they have had with regard to early retirement schemes for farmers. [HL953]

We sought views on the option within the Rural Development Regulation for an early retirement scheme for farmers as part of its consultations on a New Direction for Agriculture last year. These included inviting written responses to two consultation documents: Towards a New Direction for UK agriculture—Agenda 2000 CAP reform (January 1999) and A New Direction for Agriculture—a consultation document (August 1999), together with widespread regional consultation meetings.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the recommendations of the Veterinary Products Committee that manufacturers be approached with a view to improving the safety of the designs of containers for organophosphate sheep dips in 1994, in January 1995 and in July 1999 were acted upon; if so, what proposals for changes to container design were made following those approaches and with what results; and whether there have been any requests for the decision that all organophosphate sheep dip formulations be withdrawn, announced on 20 December 1999, to be rescinded. [HL969]

The Health and Safety Executive holds discussions with the holders of sheep dip marketing authorisations about matters within the remit of the executive's responsibilities. This includes the use of organophosphorus (OP) compounds and the design of containers of concentrated dip. Changes in container design were made following the VPC's recommendations in 1994 and 1995. However, the report of the Institute of Occupational Medicine in July 1999 clearly highlighted inconsistencies in the wearing of protective clothing, recorded instances of careless handling and drew attention to difficulties faced by operators in opening and pouring concentrated dip. The Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) therefore advised Ministers that manufacturers should be required to bring forward proposals for improved container design which conforms to industry best practice. Plans were considered by the VPC in November 1999 and the decision that all OP sheep dips should be withdrawn until improved containers were available, which the Government announced on 20 December 1999, was made on the basis of the VPC's advice.Marketing authorisation holders have co-operated with the withdrawal of products from the market. Representations have been made by farming interests and marketing authorisation holders drawing attention to potential sheep welfare problems that might arise due to the unavailability of OP dips and arguing that the current suspension of authorisations should be lifted for a period while work on improved container design is undertaken.

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what date in 1993 Ciba Geigy withdrew epichlorohydrin from its formulations of Top Clip Gold Shield sheep dip; whether the Veterinary Products Committee was advised of this change to the formulation; and whether they were aware of the reasons for the withdrawal. [HL1086]

The stabiliser, epichlorohydrin, was replaced in the production of diazinon, the active ingredient of Top Clip Gold Shield sheep dip, in 1981 when it was removed from the formulation by the manufacturers of the active ingredient due to its suspected carcinogenicity. There is no record that the change was reported to the Veterinary Products Committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman on 15 February

Publication of individual grant awards would reveal the investment made by beneficiaries, as match-funding is the norm under the Agriculture Development Scheme 1999. SMEs in particular are often concerned that knowledge of the level of their financial commitment would afford competitors an insight into the scale and potential impact of their project, even before it had started. We therefore respect the commercial sensitivity of the size of individual awards, not least to avoid creating a disincentive to apply for support. Beneficiaries are, however, free to publicise their awards if they so wish.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the written and oral evidence presented to the Royal Commission on Reform of the House of Lords is to be published in written form; and, if not, whether this decision was taken by the Royal Commission itself with or without the Government's approval. [HL1074]

All the decisions about the publication and presentation of the report of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform were taken by the commission itself without reference to the Government. The written and oral evidence submitted to the Royal Commission has been published on CD-ROM, making it highly accessible at minimal cost. I understand that there are no plans to publish that evidence in written form.