asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Warner on 9 October 2006 (WA 38), whether the guidance given to strategic health authorities on monitoring the health of populations receiving fluoridated water has now been issued; and whether the health indices referred to include the potential adverse effects that were noted in the recommendations from the reports on fluoridation by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York (2000), the Medical Research Council (2002) and the National Research Council of the US Academy of Sciences (2006). [HL891]

We plan to issue this guidance early in 2008. I can confirm that these reports are being taken into account in its development.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in the light of the potentially misleading account of the scientific evidence on water fluoridation described by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in Sections 7.43 to 7.47 of its recent report Public Health: Ethical Issues, they will provide for the updating of the 2000 York review and its incorporation into the Cochrane Library.[HL894]

We award higher priority to implementation of the recommendation in the York review for new primary research into the effects of fluoridation. Proposals for a study on the cost-benefits of fluoridation and the extent to which any benefits continue into adulthood are currently being considered for inclusion in the National Health Service research programme.