asked Her Majesty's Government:On what occasions since the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed has the United Kingdom under Article 44 of the Protocol on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland notified the European Community that it wished to accept a measure of the Council pursuant to Title IV (formerly iii a) of the European Community Treaty. [HL332]

The Protocol on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland consists of eight articles and it is assumed that the noble Lord intended to refer to Article 4 rather than Article 44 of the Protocol. The United Kingdom has never notified the Council and Commission under Article 4 of the Protocol on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland that it wishes to accept a measure previously adopted by the Council pursuant to Title IV of the European Community Treaty.The UK has, however, notified its intention, in accordance with Article 3 of the Protocol, to participate in the adoption and application of a number of proposals under Title IV in the areas of asylum, combating illegal immigration and civil law, in accordance with the Government's general policy on Title IV.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many staff are employed by the National Asylum Support Service; and of these how many are employed centrally and how many in each region of England, in Scotland and in Wales. [HL527]

As at the end of December 2000, there were 492 staff employed by the Home Office in the NASS. In addition there were 42 agency staff.Of the total of 534, 523 are employed centrally and 11 in the regions; one in each of the following areas: Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the North West, York shire/Humberside, the West Midlands, the North East, the East Midlands, the East of England, the South West, the South Central/East.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of employees in tin' National Asylum Support Service are full-time and on permanent contracts, full-time and on temporary contracts, part-time and on permanent contracts, and part-time and on temporary contracts. [HL528]

All of the staff currently employed by the Home Office in the NASS are on permanent contracts, almost 18 per cent of whom are part time.A further 8 per cent of staff in NASS are employed by agencies. These staff are not contractually bound to the Home Office.In addition, there is a small number of contractors and secondees (about eight at present) whose contracts are with their agencies and original departments respectively.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What language support and training are provided to prison officers in prisons that are used to detain asylum seekers; and what translating and interpreting services are provided to such asylum seekers. [HL529]

The Prison Service has recently re-negotiated its contract with Language Line, a 24-hour telephone interpreting service available to all prison establishments. A training day for staff on the use of the service was held at the Prison Service College in September 2000 and further sessions at the Race Relations Liaison Officers National Conference in November 2000. The Prisoners' Information Book, jointly produced with the Prison Reform Trust, is available in 21 languages.Establishments have access to an

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 15 January (

I understand that air weapons of the type used in competitive target shooting such as the Commonwealth Games shooting events are restricted in power to give muzzle energies of less than 12 foot pounds for rifles and 6 foot pounds for pistols. They are classed as low powered air weapons and do not require any form of certification.High powered air rifles with muzzle energies greater than 12 foot pounds and air pistols with muzzle energies of greater than 6 foot pounds are classed as being of a type declared by the Secretary of State to be specially dangerous, and this moves them into the same classification as conventional cartridge firing weapons. This means that high powered air rifles come under the control of Section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended) and must be kept on a police-issued firearm certificate or visitor's permit. High powered air pistols are prohibited under the terms of Section 5(1)(aba) of the Act and may not be possessed without the express authority of the Secretary of State. In addition, they would also need to be kept on a firearm certificate or visitor's permit.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made on the introduction of the casework programme of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [HL640]

In 1996 Siemens Business Services Ltd and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) of the Home Office agreed a specification and contract for the development and operation of an integrated casework system. For a number of reasons delivery in the timescale originally anticipated did not occur.Officials have however worked closely with Siemens to ensure that the Information Technology (IT) provided by it supports the expansion of immigration casework and current priorities. The systems already operating as an interim solution, with which the directorate has achieved 110,000 asylum decisions this year, provide the practical support needed. The original full casework application now seems over-complex and out of touch with current working practices. IND has accordingly agreed with Siemens that it should stand down the resources it is using to develop the full casework application.Siemens continues to work actively in partnership with IND on a programme of further improvements to IND's current IT, to be completed over the next year. IND and Siemens will together work through the consequent changes to the contract and payment schedule. At present, there is no change to the current contract, which runs to October 2003.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the application of the civil penalty for carrying clandestine entrants to rail freight trains will be extended; when the amount of such a penalty will be set; when a code of practice for rail freight will be brought into operation; and whether a report on the consultation process will be published. [HL641]

Following a formal consultation period, which ran from 13 November to 25 December 2000, the main set of regulations extending the civil penalty to rail freight (the Carriers' Liability (Clandestine Entrants) (Application to Rail Freight) Regulations 2001) has been laid before Parliament today, along with a draft code of practice. The main regulations come into force, for the purposes of making and laying two related instruments—namely the Carriers' Liability (Clandestine Entrants and Sale of Transporters) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and the Carriers' Liability (Clandestine Entrants) (Code of Practice for Rail Freight) Order 2001—on 7 February 2001. The remaining provisions of the main regulations and the two related instruments will come into force on 1 March 2001.The purpose of the main regulations is to enable penalties to be imposed in respect of clandestine entrants who arrive in the United Kingdom concealed in a rail freight wagon. The other two instruments provide respectively for the amount of the penalty (and certain procedural matters), and for the coming into operation of the Code of Practice.A copy of the report, summarising the main responses to the consultation process, has been placed in the Library. Copies are also available on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list, for each school, college or university having a combined cadet force (CCF), (a) its name, (b) its postcode, (c) the services with which it has connections, and (d) the number of cadets linked with each service; and what is the total annual cost to the Government of maintaining such CCFs. [HL464]

The details requested are in the following table.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 20 December (

The Food Standards Agency has made specific representations to the European Commission arguing for the establishment of an effective and practical system for the verification and approval of health claims at European Union level. It has made the case for allowing valid disease risk reduction claims as an integral part of these arrangements. These initiatives form part of the Food Standards Agency's wide-reaching Food Labelling Action Plan to improve the quality and clarity of information available to consumers. Copies are available in the Library.I understand the Commission is now reviewing this area of legislation with a view to making proposals later this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many litres of milk have been imported from France since 1 April 2000. [HL485]

Provisional Overseas Trade Statistics show that 4.9 million litres of liquid milk were imported from France from 1 April to 31 October 2000, the latest month for which figures are available.The latest figures, given in the table below, show that the quantity of milk imported from France, expressed as a proportion of UK production of raw milk in the period April to October 2000, was lower than in the same period of the previous year. The quantities of milk imported from France are very small, amounting to less than 0.1 per cent when compared to UK production.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether milk imported from France meets the same standards in every respect as required for milk produced in the United Kingdom. [HL486]

The European Union lays down rules on hygiene and composition for milk. Products must comply with these rules in order to be traded in the single market.Over and above those rules, buyers may choose to apply stricter criteria based on commercial considerations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What separation distances will apply to the GM farm-scale evaluations this spring. [HL619]

Following the scientific review and public consultation on separation distances that the ministry commissioned last year, Ministers have asked the industry representative body, SCIMAC, to apply the separation distances set out in the following