asked Her Majesty's Government:On what date the lift to the Jubilee Line platforms at Westminster Underground station became unserviceable; and on what date they expect it to be back in service. [HL1603]

This is an operational matter for London Underground. However I understand from LU that the lift from the Jubilee Line to the District and Circle Line at Westminster station has not yet been approved by the LU Chief Engineer for handover to the extended Jubilee Line and is awaiting some remedial work which will facilitate this.London Underground hope to have the lift in service by the end of March.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the powers for local authorities to promote and improve the well-being of their area contained in the Local Government Bill will, when enacted, enable local authorities to take steps to enforce controls on aircraft noise connected with airports in their area; and, if not, why not. [HL1600]

The powers proposed in the Local Government Bill to enable local authorities to promote and improve the well-being of their area do not include new powers to regulate aviation activities.The Government's White Paper,

asked Her Majesty's Government:In the light of their policies for freedom of information, what their response is to the recent survey by the Society of Editors that reveals that an increasing number of new "cabinet" governments at local authority level are not allowing the public or press to witness their deliberations. [HL1594]

Ministers have not seen the survey by the Society of Editors. The arrangements we are proposing under Part II of the Local Government Bill would enhance efficiency and ensure more transparent and inclusive decision-making. Experiments which local authorities are carrying out are within the existing statutory framework that was not designed for executive arrangements. In some cases, these experiments do not yet match up to what the Bill, if enacted, will require.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many civil servants' deaths over the last five years were attributable to their service. [HL1469]

In the period 1 April 1994 to 1 April 1999, 2,420 civil servants died. Information on the cause of death is not held centrally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Falconer of Thoroton of 3 March (

None.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they believe that the public have a right to open and frank probing of both government Ministers and government policy by media interviewers; and [HL1573]Whether, in the context of freedom of the press and freedom of information, Ministers and their advisers should be permitted to define the scope and range of questions put to them by media interviewers; and [HL1571]Whether, in the context of freedom of the press and freedom of information, the quality of political debate is improved by the practice of Ministers and their advisers being permitted to predetermine the scope and range of questions put to them by media interviewers. [HL1572]

The Government welcome the opportunity to explain their policies and programmes to the public through the media. The media decide what questions to put to Ministers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 9 March (

I see no need to do so.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect the post of Senior Adviser Ethnic Minorities to be filled; and what has been the cause of delay since the post was advertised in September 1999; and [HL1535]What procedure has been used in the recruitment process for the post of Senior Adviser Ethnic Minorities; and how many referees candidates are required to provide; and [HL1536]Whether their Equal Opportunities Policy allows the Cabinet Office to seek references from referees not provided by the applicants; and whether such references are discussed with candidates. [HL1537]

As part of its response to the Modernising Government White Paper, the Cabinet Office instituted an open competition in September 1999 to recruit a Senior Adviser who will work across government departments on taking forward diversity issues in the context of the Civil Service reform agenda. My right honourable friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office is today announcing an appointment to this very important post.As with all appointments to posts in the Civil Service, the recruitment process used in this case has been selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, in accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code, the related guidance on senior recruitment, and the provisions of the Civil Service Management Code as they relate to recruitment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they still expect BSE to "dwindle to insignificant proportions by the year 2001"

Projections of the number of BSE cases, derived from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency's (VLA) computer model, indicate that the epidemic will continue to decline. The latest VLA forecast as at 4 January 2000 is given in the table:

		95% confidence intervals
Year	Central estimate of confirmed cases	Lower	Upper
1999	2,083	1,774	2,392
2000	1,114	889	1,339
2001	470	325	615

The expectation is that the outcome, as in recent years, will tend to be closer to the upper 95 per cent confidence interval. Because of their increasing unreliability, neither the VLA nor the Wellcome Trust Centre for Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases makes predictions beyond 2001.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How far they have fulfilled their pledge to match the United States' commitment to write off 100 per cent of the bilateral debt of the poorest countries. [HL1576]

The UK Government announced in December last year that the UK will be providing 100 per cent relief on the debts of countries qualifying under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.In making this announcement, the UK has gone beyond the commitment made by the US by stating that the relief applies to all debt (the so-called "pre cut-off date" debt and "post cut-off date" debt), that the relief will commence from the time the country reaches its decision point under the HIPC initiative, and that it also applies to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries likely to have sustainable levels of debt after traditional relief mechanisms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of any proposals under consideration in the machinery of the European Union relating to the size of cinema and theatre seats. [HL1599]

No.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What will be the positive and negative effects over the next decade on the British tourism industry of the advent of the euro, whether or not the United Kingdom adopts the euro. [HL1541]

It is notoriously difficult to predict trends in visitor numbers and expenditure by tourists one year ahead, and we would be unwise to try to do so for the next decade. We are not able to forecast the possible effects of exchange rates on the tourism industry in or out of the euro zone in this way.We are working hard, however, to ensure that tourism businesses in the UK are fully informed about the euro and the introduction of euro currency. My department chairs a working group which seeks to raise awareness of the impact of the euro on tourism businesses and to disseminate information to the industry.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the targets set in paragraph 36 of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Social Inclusion Action Plan, whether the department has developed evaluation and monitoring criteria which can be made integral to regeneration and community-based programmes and projects; if so, whether those criteria have been published on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website; and how they may be assessed via the site's search facility. [HL1551]

The principal criteria against which a project's success will be judged will be its impact on one or more of the following social exclusion risk factors: employability, vulnerability to crime (as victim or perpetrator), educational achievement, and health. The methodology of evaluation and monitoring will be developed by a researcher whom DCMS expects to appoint next month. DCMS will have initial findings from a sample of projects after 12 months and will also undertake some longer-term research. The research programme will continue to be discussed with an advisory group, and conclusions reached following the research programme will be published, including on the DCMS website, and shared with DCMS sponsored bodies, other departments, local authorities and the voluntary and private sectors.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which organisations they consulted regarding the establishment of the Spoliation Advisory Panel with regard both to its remit and to its composition. [HL1356]

Consultation on the membership of the panel is taking place in accordance with government appointments procedures. The views of a range of organisations are being taken into account both on membership and on preparation of the draft Terms of Reference. To date, these include:

• DCMS Public Appointments Unit
• Northern Ireland Office
• The Scottish Executive
• The Welsh Office
• H M Treasury
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• The Lord Chancellor's Department
• The Board of Deputies of British Jews
• The Holocaust Educational Trust
• The Institute for Jewish Policy Research
• The Commission on Looted Art in Europe
• The Museums and Galleries Commission
• The National Museums Directors' Conference (NMDC)
• The NMDC Spoliation Advisory Committee
• The Enemy Property Compensation Advisory Panel

The draft terms of reference were published on 17 February, with a general invitation to all interested parties to comment within one month.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which national museums are applying, or are proposing to apply, for National Lottery grants and how much is being applied for in each case. [HL1011]

Museums applying for lottery grants (since December 1999)	Amount applied for
National Museum of Science and Industry	£4.57 million
Royal Air Force Museum	£4.56 million
Museums proposing to apply for lottery grants
Imperial War Museum	£8 million
Natural History Museum	£371,000

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which national museums have reclaimed VAT on moneys received from the National Lottery, and in each case how much VAT has been reclaimed; and how much VAT those national museums with projects currently under way will be entitled to reclaim; and [HL1010]

Table 1 Charging National Museums and Galleries
	Grants for projects1	VAT recovered to date from project costs	Estimate of future VAT recovery from project costs
National Museum of Science and Industry	£31,069,000	£4,011,370	£1,619,415
Natural History Museum	£6,000,000	£1,050,000	£0
Victoria and Albert Museum	£16,000,000	£1,225,000	£3,744,000
Imperial War Museum	£19,124,000	£4,000,000	£5,000,000
National Maritime Museum	£12,500,000	£2,187,500	£0
National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside	£24,000,000	£1,300,000	£4,294,000

Table 2: Non-charging National Museums and Galleries
	Grants for projects1	VAT recovered to date from project costs	Estimate of future VAT recovery from project costs
British Museum	£45,700,000		£8,700,000
National Gallery2	£0	£0	£0
Tate3	£72,550,000	£13,500,000	£3,500,000
National Portrait Gallery	£11,900,000	£308,424	unknown
Wallace	£7,243,000	£400,000	£220,000
1 Acquisitions and revenue grants (for example the Museum and Galleries Access Fund) are not included
2 The National Gallery has received £21,418,000 from the lottery for acquisitions and touring exhibitions. No VAT was recoverable on the acquisition, but £15,000 is recoverable on touring exhibitions.
3 The Tate has lottery awards from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Millennium Fund for capital projects to Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool.

Since, in the case of non-charging national Museums and Galleries, final VAT recovery on projects is not yet settled, the difference between that figure and notional full recovery cannot be estimated at present.The National Army Museum has not received any money from the National Lottery. The Royal Air Force Museum has, but the information is not kept in the form requested.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that, where use of a motor vehicle has been necessary in order to assist or

It is not possible to give figures for VAT recoverable on moneys received from the National Lottery, but only on the total project costs. In certain cases, this can only be an estimate, because VAT is subject to negotiation. The Heritage Lottery Fund can only grant 75 per cent. of the total project costs and the VAT may be included in the grant requestNon-charging national museums are entitled to reclaim VAT in respect of some of the costs incurred on capital and revenue projects. The table below gives the amount of VAT national museums and galleries have so far reclaimed and expect to reclaim on capital projects.enable a crime to be committed, the courts should be able and encouraged to order that such a vehicle should be confiscated. [HL1561]

Under Section 43 of the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973, courts are empowered to make an order of forfeiture of property (including a motor vehicle). This power is available where the court is satisfied that the property has been used for committing or facilitating the commission of an offence or that it was intended to be so used. Exercise of this power is entirely at the discretion of the court in the light of the circumstances of the offence and the offender.The power is available for certain motoring offences (broadly those which are punishable by imprisonment). These include dangerous driving, driving or attempting to drive when unfit to drive through drink or drugs, driving whilst disqualified and the "causing death" offences.The Home Office is conducting a review of penalties for road traffic offences, in conjunction with the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. This will include consideration of when the power of forfeiture should be available to the courts in road traffic offences.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many applicants for asylum have so far been dispersed from the points at which they originally claimed asylum; to which local authority areas; and what standards are specified for their accommodation. [HL1605]

Information on the number of asylum applicants dispersed is not available in precisely the form requested.Under the interim voluntary dispersal scheme operated by the Local Government Association and the Association of London Government/London Asylum Seekers Consortium, 1,797 households have been offered dispersal since 6 December 1999.The available information shows the number of offers of dispersa made to asylum applicants and their dependants. This information is shown in the table.The standard of accommodation provided under the voluntary dispersal scheme is the responsibility of the local authority supporting the asylum seeker. The relevant standards are the same as those applied when rehousing any homeless residents.Table showing the dispersal offers made to asylum seekers and then dependants who made an asylum application in London or Kent under the interim voluntary dispersal scheme as at 15 March 2000.

Asylum Seekers—Interim Scheme
1. Dispersal by Region
	From
	London	Kent	Total
To
North West	663	49	712
North East	256	5	261
Yorkshire/Humberside	285	186	471
West Midlands	55	12	67
East Midlands	98	0	98
Wales	0	0	0
East	0	0	0
South West	24	7	31
South Central	157	0	157
Total	1,538	259	1,797