asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider the compensation arrangements for the compulsory slaughter of cattle over 30 months to be fair; and whether they will consider raising the current weight ceiling on slaughtered cattle to compensate at a price reflecting open market value. [HL1241]

The Over Thirty Month Scheme provides a voluntary outlet for cattle which are excluded from the food chain by virtue of their age and for which there is no market. The Government consider that payments under the scheme are fair to taxpayers and producers. The weight limit and other payment terms are set by the European Commission.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

• How many health care trusts in the Northern Region Health Authority refuse people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease the drug Aricept on National Health Service prescription; and [HL1517]
• Which health care trusts make the drug Aricept available on National Health Service prescription; and [HL1518]
• Which health care trusts refuse patients the drug Aricept on National Health Service prescription; and [HL1519]
• How much money is saved by health care trusts which deny patients the drug Aricept on National Health Service prescription. [HL1520]

Information about local policies on the treatment of Alzheimer's disease is not routinely collected and assessed centrally, but we understand that there is some prescribing of Aricept in all health authorities.Aricept and other pharmaceutical treatment for Alzheimer's disease will be reviewed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence as part of its first work programme. This work is expected to be completed by December 2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:On how many occasions since 6 January the Jubilee Line service has been disrupted by signal failure. [HL1400]

I understand from London Underground that between 7 January and 4 March 2000 there were in total 55 incidents of delay attributable to failure of Jubilee Line signalling equipment. Of these, nine were of over 15 minutes' duration and the rest between two and 15 minutes.As you know, work is in hand aimed at improving performance significantly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will commission a review of the number and location of piers on the River Thames, with particular reference to the convenience of existing piers and their proximity to public passenger transport on land. [HL1404]

The Government fully appreciate that the provision of high quality piers in convenient locations is essential to the development of sustainable Thames passenger services. That is why our Thames 2000 initiative includes the construction of new or replacement piers in at least four key locations (Blackfriars, Tower, Waterloo and Westminster). The transfer of the management of key central London piers to the London Transport subidiary London River Services Ltd was an important step towards integrating piers and river services fully into the capital's public transport network.Responsibility for managing river services after July 2000 will fall to the new Mayor of London. The mayor will have a statutory duty to have regard to the desirability of promoting and encouraging use of the river and especially river passenger services. It will be for the mayor to consider whether to carry out a review of piers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress they are making in implementing the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998. [HL1456]

Ministers in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Public Carriage Office have carefully considered the responses to last year's joint consultation on proposals for licensing private hire vehicle operators in London. Draft regulations are now being drawn up; we intend to conduct a further joint consultation on them as soon as possible. Further consultations on proposals for regulating private hire drivers and vehicles will follow.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the present position of the order proposed to have been made under Section 31 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to forbid increases of more than 7.5 per cent (plus the Retail Price Index) being made by landlords in rents being paid by tenants with fair rent registrations under the Housing Act 1988. [HL1432]

The Court of Appeal ruled in a judgment handed down on 20 January that the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999 is ultra vires, unlawful and of no effect. The order has been quashed. The position is that fair rent registrations by rent officers and rent assessment committees will be dealt with in the way they were prior to the introduction of the order in February 1999.We remain committed to protecting tenants who pay a fair rent against excessive increases. We have petitioned this House to grant leave to appeal the Court's decision.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Whitty on 21 February (

My right honourable friend the Minister for the Environment expects to make an announcement soon about measures to conserve and enhance designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What analysis they have made of worldwide natural disasters during the past 10 years; what conclusions they have reached; and what are the implications for the priority of environment policy in Government Action. [HL1468]

My department works alongside the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development, exploring methods for predicting the impact of environmental stresses on stability and defining the options for UK government response through, for example, environmental policy, aid programmes or defence diplomacy. The seriousness of these issues is reflected in the high priority that environment is given in government policy, domestically and internationally.In addition, we support multilateral work to mitigate the effects of natural disasters. The UK is the second largest donor of the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP), which takes a leading role in assessing the environmental impacts of natural disasters. Its recent activities include work in Venezuela and Mozambique. UNEP's most recent assessment of the effect of natural disasters is contained in its

asked Her Majesty's Government:What considerations are taken into account by the Royal Mail in the selection of an important event as a theme suitable for celebration on postage stamps. [HL1411]

The Royal Mail selects events and themes for celebration on postage stamps which:

• commemorate important anniversaries;
• celebrate events of national and international importance;
• reflect the British contribution to world affairs, in particular to the Commonwealth and Europe, in a variety of fields of activity including the arts and sciences;
• reflect the many varied aspects of Britain and the British way of life;
• extend public patronage to the arts by encouraging the development of minuscule art;
• fit in with the Post Office's commercial target for philately.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What further progress they have made in their welfare reform programme. [HL1577]

Welfare reform is central to this Government's agenda of modernisation, and to its goals of tackling poverty and social exclusion. Today the Prime Minister is announcing plans for the next stage of welfare reform, which will radically change the way the Government provide support for people of working age. The aim is to accelerate the move from a welfare system that primarily provides passive support to one that provides active support to help people become more independent, based on work for those who can and security for those who cannot.During 2001, a brand new, modern agency will be established with a clear focus on work. This will draw together the Employment Service and the parts of the Benefits Agency which support people of working age. It will deliver a single, integrated service to benefit claimants of working age and to employers. The agency will continue and develop the partnership approach to working with local authorities and the private and voluntary sectors which the Government have adopted in implementing its welfare to work policies.Already the New Deal has helped around 260,000 people back into work. The national minimum wage and tax credits are helping work pay. And the ONE pilots are showing how, working together, the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service can provide a radically improved service to clients and employers alike. The new agency will have a new culture, and will be firmly focused on helping people to become independent. It will help further to embed a culture of rights and responsibilities within the welfare system. Personal advisers will steer clients towards work or training, help them claim the benefits they need, and provide additional support tailored to their needs. Help will be directed to those who genuinely need it, while fraud will be squeezed out of the system.The agency will provide a proactive and responsive service to employers—helping people to find jobs and helping employers to fill their vacancies with the right people.The agency will also help and support working age people who are out of the labour market for whatever reason. A single agency will provide a better and more responsive benefits service to all people of working age, tailored to individual needs and asking the question: what can we do to help you become independent? Fraud will be squeezed out of the system.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What advice has been given to civil servants on the conduct of government business during the forthcoming elections to the Greater London Authority and to local councils on 4 May. [HL1578]

The Government have issued guidance to civil servants on the principles which they should observe in relation to the conduct of government business in the period before the forthcoming elections.The guidance stresses that civil servants should conduct themselves in accordance with the Civil Service Code and is based on the need to maintain the political impartiality of the Civil Service and the need to ensure that public resources are not used for party political purposes.The guidance will come into force on 13 April.Copies of the guidance have been placed in the Libraries of the House, and are also available from the Vote Office.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of those who are unemployed and receiving benefit have convictions for standard list offences; and what estimate the Government have made of the extent to which the fact of those convictions prevents them from finding work. [HL1450]

People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) are not required to disclose any previous convictions. It is therefore not possible to provide information about the number or proportion of JSA claimants who have convictions for standard list offences.My department is keen to have better information about the employment position of ex-offenders. For this reason we have commissioned the National Institute of Economic and Social Research to work with the British Market Research Bureau and the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders to produce a definitive assessment of the position of offenders in the labour market. The research will be reported at the end of the year and will inform further policy development.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the number of asylum seekers who are living in Kent who are awaiting decisions on applications; and [HL1445]What is the number of asylum seekers who are living in Kent who are awaiting appeals on decisions concerning their applications for asylum; and [HL1446]How many people living in Kent have been given asylum. [HL1447]

The requested information is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will announce the criteria for detention of asylum seekers at Oakington Reception Centre. [HL1579]

Oakington Reception Centre will strengthen our ability to deal quickly with asylum applications, many of which prove to be unfounded. In addition to the existing detention criteria, applicants will be detained at Oakington where it appears that their application can be decided quickly, including those which may be certified as manifestly unfounded. Oakington will consider applications from adults and families with children, for whom separate accommodation is being provided, but not from unaccompanied minors. Detention will initially be for a period of about seven days to enable applicants to be interviewed and an initial decision to be made. Legal advice will be available on site.If the claim cannot be decided in that period, the applicant will be granted temporary admission or, if necessary in line with existing criteria, moved to another place of detention. If the claim is refused, a decision about further detention will similarly be made in accordance with existing criteria. Thus, detention in this latter category of cases will normally be to effect removal or where it has become apparent that the person will fail to keep in contact with the Immigration Service.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements exist for asylum seekers to submit material in support of their claim for asylum. [HL1581]

The White Paper Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum, published in July 1998, standardised the period allowed for asylum seekers to submit further material after a substantive interview at five days. We have decided that some adjustment to this policy is needed to deliver faster asylum decisions while at the same time ensuring that asylum seekers have a proper opportunity to establish their claim.In the case of applications considered at Oakington Reception Centre, we are arranging for the Refugee Legal Centre and Immigration Advisory Service to provide legal advice on-site. It has been agreed with those organisations that the consideration process should operate so that such advice may be provided both before and after the substantive interview. Other than in very exceptional circumstances, the substantive interview will take place on the third day at the centre and so there will normally be two more days after the interview in which to submit additional representations. The five-day period for submission of supporting material will in these cases therefore commence as soon as the asylum application has been made, rather than from the date of the substantive interview.We have also decided that the five-day period for submission of further supporting evidence will not apply to asylum claims where no substantive interview is conducted at the time when the claim is made. In those cases, applicants are issued with a Statement of Evidence form, which they are required to submit to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate within 14 days. We think this gives applicants a reasonable period to set out their claim, and time to seek legal representation if they wish. Where an application is not granted on the basis of the evidence in the Statement of Evidence form, applicants are interviewed and in these cases a decision will be made immediately after this substantive interview.The five-day standard period for applicants to submit further material after substantive interview, as set out in the White Paper, will continue to apply in all other cases.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether Prison Service areas are to be reorganised so as to improve alignment of criminal justice boundaries. [HL1580]

The response to a consultation document issued in December 1999 was overwhelmingly supportive of Prison Service proposals to continue its predominantly geographic structure but to realign its boundaries so that they match those of police areas and planned probation areas, the English regions and Wales. From April 2000, 12 area managers will manage establishments grouped by police areas within the boundaries of the nine English regions. Three regions—the South East, the North West and the East Midland—will have two area managers each. There will be a further, thirteenth manager for Wales. Two functional managers will continue to manage the higher security estate and the women's estate.These arrangements will improve alignment of criminal justice boundaries around the nine Government Offices for the Regions and Wales and provide the Prison Service with a platform for further joint working regionally and locally with other agencies. The move to a criminal justice focus on the 42 police areas is accelerating. The Crown Prosecution Service is organised on that basis already. Crown Courts Circuits are being reorganised on the basis of groups of police areas, and 42 criminal justice strategy committees and trial issues groups are being established this year. Forty-two magistrates' courts' committees and probation areas are planned from April 2001.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will announce the implementation by the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man of the Edwards Report on Financial Regulation in the Crown Dependencies. [HL1582]

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have produced reports setting out the steps that they have taken and are continuing to take to give effect to the conclusions of the Edwards Report. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today placed copies of the Islands' reports in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect to complete their current review of sexual offences; how they will publish their views; and whether they intend to enhance the legal protection available for children against sexual exploitation. [HL1439]

The Sex Offences Review is due to make its report to Ministers shortly, and it should be published for public consultation in the early summer. The review is preparing a detailed report together with a volume of supporting papers. These will be available in hard copy and on the Home Office website. The review has been asked to recommend coherent and clear sex offences which protect individuals, especially children and the more vulnerable, from abuse and exploitation. The report will set out is proposals to increase the protection given to children.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made towards remitting Government external debt and rescheduling commercial debt in (a) Mozambique and (b) Ecuador; and when they expect payment of (a) interest and (b) capital on government debt to be cancelled in each case. [HL1440]

In response to the severe flooding, the UK has relieved Mozambique of all its bilateral official debt obligations under the Chancellor's policy for countries qualifying for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. The Government look forward to a multilateral treatment of the bilateral official debt of Ecuador once a satisfactory programme has been agreed with the International Monetary Fund.Her Majesty's Government are not party to discussions between countries and their commercial creditors.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they foresee any social consequences of the decision by Barclays Bank plc to close branches in Northumberland, with the result that elderly and disabled individuals living in remote rural areas may no longer have access to banking facilities; and, if so, whether there is any action which they can take. [HL1418]

The Government recognise that some people may be faced with difficulties when banks close branches. The Treasury Policy Action Team (PAT 14) Access to Financial Services recommended the further development of new banking services and new ways to access them. The Government are contributing almost £500 million to the capital costs of computerising the Post Office network, to enable a wider range of services to be offered. The Post Office has recently announced plans to install more ATMs mainly in rural branches. A number of banks already have agreements with the Post Office to provide banking services through post offices.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide figures showing how their commitment to revise expenditure in Scotland under the "Barnett Formula" to take account of population changes on an annual basis has been met. [HL1474]

The arrangements for funding the Scottish Parliament, including the application of population changes, are described in the Statement of Funding Policy published by the Treasury on 31 March 1999. This set out the population estimates for Scotland for 1996 and 1997. The estimates for 1998, which will be used in the 2000 Spending Review, are 10.34 per cent for the Scotland population as a proportion of England and 9.77 per cent as a proportion of England and Wales.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What concessions will be given in regard to the imposition of the Climate Change Levy upon electricity generated by combined heat and power stations. [HL1448]

The Chancellor announced in the Pre Budget Report that there would be an exemption from climate change levy (CCL) for energy and heat generated by "good quality" Combined Heat & Power (CHP) plants. CHP plants will also benefit from inclusion as a qualifying technology in the proposed system of Enhanced Capital Allowances for energy saving investments and exemption from Non-Domestic Rates.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will exempt all electricity generated from combined heat and power (CHP) plant of good quality from the Climate Change Levy in line with their stated intention to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by treating sales of electricity from CHPs in the same way as electricity generated by renewable means. [HL1449]

It is not proposed to treat the sales of qualifying electricity generated from "Good Quality" CHP in the same way as electricity generated from renewable sources. As renewable energy sources are environmentally the most benign, it is appropriate for them to be treated more favourably than CHP for levy purposes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they blocked the draft Common Position on a European armaments policy in December last; and, if so, what additional elements, if any, they wish to include in such a policy; or whether their present policy is that there should be no European armaments policy. [HL1367]

We supported the conclusions reached by the 15 November 1999 General Affairs Council, which stressed the importance of European armaments cooperation and asked the Union's competent bodies to pursue their work, including the possibility of establishing a common position on European armaments policy in the light of future developments in the field of European Defence and Security policy. We considered that this was the right approach, given the pace of developments both in the restructuring of the European defence industry, and the progress being made in the Prime Minister's initiative to strengthen the European capability to undertake military crisis management.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the procedures by which the UN-Iraq Sanctions Committee reaches decisions on applications under the Oil for Food programme or under other humanitarian programmes. [HL1364]

The UN-Iraq Sanctions Committee established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 661, comprising all members of the UN Security Council, reaches decisions on applications under the Oil for Food programme or under other humanitarian programmes by consensus in accordance with the relevant resolutions on Iraq. A significant number of applications, for essential civilian needs, medical supplies and foodstuffs are circulated under a no objection procedure and medicines are generally exempt from committee approval.Under the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1284, it has been agreed that an even wider range of humanitarian items will no longer require Sanctions Committee approval. These items include foodstuffs, pharmaceutical and medical supplies, medical equipment and educational items. These items require notification to the UN's Office of the Iraq Programme.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In the most recent year for which figures are available, (a) how many applications were made to the UN-Iraq Sanctions Committee under the Oil for Food programme or under other humanitarian programmes; (b) how many of these applications were approved; (c) how many were refused; (d) how many are still outstanding; (e) what was the average length of time taken to consider each application. [HL1365]

Between December 1998 and 6 March 2000, 2,443 applications were submitted to the UN Iraq Sanctions Committee under the Oil for Food programme. One of these applications was refused. The Committee raised no objection to 1,883 of these applications and additional information was requested on 560 applications.Detailed information on all Oil for Food applications submitted over the last year can be found on the UN website at

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether tests that were conducted on blood and urine samples collected by personnel of Operation Lifeline Sudan and provided to the United Nations confirmed allegations that the government of Sudan had used chemical weapons in southern Sudan in July 1999. [HL1371]

In October last year, the UN Secretary General's spokesman announced that blood and urine samples from people in southern Sudan complaining of burning sensations had been sent for analysis to the Center for Disease Control, an independent laboratory in Atlanta. The results of the measurements, as reported to the United Nations, indicated no evidence of exposure to chemicals.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any evidence that oil revenues are being used by the government of Angola for the purchase of arms. [HL1396]

Oil accounts for approximately 80 per cent of Angolan government revenue. Defence spending forms the largest part of the Angolan budget. There is no doubt that oil revenues are used to fund the purchase of arms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any Ministers have expressed sympathy, support or understanding for the communist regimes in China, North Korea or the former Soviet Union before they took office; and, if so, whether the appointment of these Ministers is consistent with government policy towards Austria. [HL1403]

Ministerial appointments are always consistent with government policy.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 29 February (

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office consulted other government departments, including the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office before replying to this Question. Among factors taken into account in giving the previous answer on 29 February were the Government's overall policy towards marking anniversaries of this kind; the current political situation in Northern Ireland; and our relations with the Irish Government. The last of these factors explains why the FCO took the lead in answering this question.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What support and advice has been offered to the range of organisations in the Irish Republic which are proposing to mark the bicentenary of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland which created the United Kingdom. [HL1409]

We have not been approached by, nor are aware of, any organisations in the Irish Republic who are proposing to mark the bicentenary of the Act of Union.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations they or UNMIK have received from the Bar Human Rights Committee about justice in Kosovo. [HL1441]

We have received the Bar Human Rights Committee's 16 February report on Kosovo 'Kosovo 2000—Justice not Revenge'. We are in touch with its authors about how to take forward its recommendations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the European Convention on Human Rights applies in Kosovo; and whether they will seek to ensure that its provisions concerning the fairness of trials will be upheld in that territory. [HL1442]

Regulation No. 1999/24 issued by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative (SRSG) for Kosovo specifies that among the internationally recognised human rights standards to be observed by public bodies in Kosovo is the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols. The UN Mission in Kosovo attaches high priority to the fair conduct of trials. As part of its efforts to ensure this, the SRSG has issued a new regulation (2000/6) on the appointment of international judges and prosecutors to strengthen the working of the legal system in Kosovo.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied with the proposed composition of the Kosovo Court for War Crimes and Ethnically Motivated Crimes. [HL1443]

The latest report on Kosovo from the UN Secretary-General described UNMIK's efforts to establish a war and ethnic crimes court. The Government support this proposal, in particular the intention that the court should involve international as well as local representatives.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made towards the creation of a sufficiently large and well-trained police service in Kosovo. [HL1444]

Good progress has been made so far. Three hundred and forty-nine recruits have graduated from the OSCE Police School and a further 250 recruits are currently undertaking their training. Following their academic training, each recruit will receive a further 17 weeks of field training with an UNMIK police officer, and an additional 80 hours of advanced classroom training. Having successfully completed the three phases of instruction, the recruit is eligible for certification and independent assignment.The OSCE training mandate is to develop and deliver democratically oriented, basic police training for approximately 3,500 locally recruited students within the next 16 months. On completion of the refurbishment of the Police School, it is anticipated that 500 students will be housed and trained at the same time.