To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which their actions in Afghanistan fully take account of Afghan culture. [HL2043]

Prior to deployment, UK troops undergo cultural awareness training specific to Afghanistan. Once in theatre, all NATO forces follow guidance issued by Commander ISAF in September 2008 on how to conduct themselves when working with the Afghan people. ISAF forces also work closely with their Afghan counterparts and political and tribal leaders to ensure that the planning and conduct of operations fully takes account of local cultural conditions.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 17 December (WA 42–43), whether the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes has responded to the request for advice from the Food Standards Agency in relation to the safety of genetically modified crops; and, if so, with what results. [HL2031]

The committee considered the scientific reports referred to in the previous Written Answer at its meeting on 20 February 2009 and advised that, although some differences were reported between laboratory animals given diets that contained a genetically modified (GM) crop variety and those given a non-GM variety, no conclusions can be drawn from these reports about the safety of GM crops. The minutes of the meeting will be published in due course on the committee's website at www.acnfp. gov.uk.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the reasons for the delay in providing replacement fuel seals for the Nimrod fleet. [HL2191]

The work to replace fuel seals on the Nimrod fleet was delayed by the requirement to manufacture a large number of new seals which the manufacturer did not hold in stock. In the case of one particular type, known as the AVIMO seal, it was also necessary to remanufacture the item from a more modern material.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when all aircraft in the Nimrod fleet will be able to return to operations after modification to fuel seals and engine bay hot air ducts. [HL2192]

Nimrod aircraft will not fly after 31 March 2009 unless the engine bay hot air ducts have been replaced. There will be sufficient Nimrod aircraft available to continue to support all anticipated homeland defence and SAR operations and, on current planning, Nimrod aircraft will return to overseas operations by early summer 2009. During this period we will use other UK and coalition assets to maintain an effective surveillance capability overseas.

The replacement of fuel seals does not affect the availability of Nimrod aircraft for operations either in UK or overseas.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with United Kingdom airlines operating Boeing 777 aircraft about passenger safety, in particular the accident investigator's conclusion that there is a high probability of further accidents caused by icing on aircraft's fuel-oil heat exchanger (FOHE). [HL2223]

The Air Accident Investigation Branch, which is investigating the accident at Heathrow in January 2008, has not concluded that there is a high probability of further accidents caused by fuel icing on the B777. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also investigated an incident of engine power loss on the B777 which did not result in an accident. NTSB technical reports about this incident did not in fact conclude that there was a high probability of further incidents of power loss cause by fuel icing, although this was suggested in its press statements.

Since the accident at Heathrow in January 2008 Boeing has developed a range of changes to operating procedures to ensure that aircraft crews can minimise and manage any risk associated with potential ice accumulation in the fuel system. These procedures have been approved by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (US FAA) and have been made mandatory for all US and European airlines. Both EASA and the US FAA are content that, subject to the application of these procedures, B777 aircraft with Rolls-Royce Trent engines are safe to remain in service. The new procedures were shown to be effective in the incident investigated by the NTSB referred to above when thrust control was successfully recovered following an uncommanded power reduction in a single engine on a Delta Airlines Boeing 777 on 26 November 2008.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to license additional medications for controlling the varroa mite. [HL1950]

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) within Defra is working closely with bee representatives to improve the availability of authorised medicines for controlling the varroa mite. The VMD has received an application for the authorisation of a new varroa medicine and has identified two veterinary medicines for bees authorised elsewhere in the EU. The VMD is encouraging the manufacturers of these products to apply for an authorisation to market them in the UK and has offered a 50 per cent reduction on application fees for these products.

Veterinary surgeons already have the authority to import and administer veterinary medicines to animals under their care under the prescribing cascade. This can be done using the VMD's special import certificate scheme. As most beekeepers do not consult veterinary surgeons, the VMD is working with bee representatives and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to identify veterinary surgeons who would be able to provide this service.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 4 March (WA 156), how many patients were admitted to hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning in each of the past five years. [HL2242]

The department does not have data on how many patients were admitted to hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning in each of the past five years. However, data are held on finished admission episodes, which are given in the table below. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider.

Note: ^* Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

The total admission figures includes cases where the carbon monoxide poisoning was accidental (such as a gas fire that leaked in the home and caused poisoning) and also cases where the poisoning was intentional (such as attempted self-harm by poisoning).

To ask Her Majesty's Government what ethnic groupings they propose to list on the 2011 census form. [HL2087]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Lord Laird dated March 2009.

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Question asking what ethnic groupings are proposed on the 2011 census form. (HL2087)

The format of the ethnic group question proposed for the 2011 census in England and Wales is as set out in the White Paper Helping to Shape Tomorrow published on 11 December 2008. This is available on the website at www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-census-project/legislation/index.html.

The proposals have been determined by the requirements of users of census statistics, identified through a programme of extensive consultation which began in 2005. Users are predominantly from central and local government, the health service, education authorities, the academic community, professional organisations, and commercial businesses, but the views of a wide range of other stakeholders were also taken into consideration in designing the question content for the 2011 census. Detailed information about how decisions were made about tick-box categories in the ethnic group question is available on the website at www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-census-questionnaire-content/question-and-content-recommendations-for-2011/index.html.

For information the proposed ethnic group questions to be asked in England and in Wales are attached.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average legal bill for criminal cases in Northern Ireland in the past three years; and what is the average legal bill for criminal cases in England and Wales in the past three years. [HL2001]

The information requested is not maintained in this format in Northern Ireland. Accordingly, the information has been presented in the format in which it is retained in the two jurisdictions. This point was made to the Assembly Committee. The arrangements for handling very high cost cases are also different in the two jurisdictions. In Northern Ireland the costs for very high cost cases are reported as part of the overall Crown Court costs whereas in England and Wales, with the separate contracting arrangements, colleagues maintain a separate cost line which they wish to report on.

The average bills paid to solicitors and counsel in Crown Court cases in Northern Ireland for the past three years was as follows:

This means that typically the average defence cost for a Crown Court case in Northern Ireland in 2007-08 would be between £9,015 and £13,887 depending on the number of legal representatives assigned to the defendant.

In England and Wales the estimated average legal aid bills paid for a case during each of the past three years in the Crown Court was as follows:^*

^* The figures exclude appeal and committal for sentence hearings

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Tunnicliffe on 9 March (WA 200), what changes in forecast spending resulted in £917,000 being transferred back to the Ministry of Defence. [HL2231]

The tri-departmental Stabilisation Aid Fund (SAF) seeks to manage numerous projects, across a broad range of strands, in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Money transferred at parliamentary estimates reflects latest forecast expenditure by departments, based on judgments made in theatre on the likelihood of spend in-year and in accordance with priorities set by the tri-departmental programme board. While best efforts are made to ensure that estimates of forecast expenditure are robust, the operational environment in which SAF projects are delivered means that these can be subject to variation over time.

By the Spring Supplementary Estimate (SSE), estimated forecast expenditure indicated an imbalance between DfID, MoD and the FCO, which transfers at SSE sought to correct. Any reduction in forecast DfID project expenditure was matched by a reallocation of funds to other Iraq SAF projects.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 October 2008 (WA 167–68), what non-reproductive applications would benefit from nuclear transfer that have not been superseded by the use of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. [HL2052]

The Government believe that the question of whether one technique in stem cell research has superseded another is, at this stage, entirely premature. Advances over the past decade in embryonic stem cell research have fed into advances in induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Therefore, it is impossible to predict what the relative contributions of nuclear transfer and PS cell technology might ultimately be to medical needs. That is why the Government continue to support all forms of stem cell research.

To ask Her Majesty's Government which licensed centres and research projects have expressed interest in outgrowing human embryos; what were the purported intentions behind such proposals; and whether the stated objectives were achieved. [HL2054]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many human embryos have been used in research to date; what percentage of those were specifically created for research purposes; and what percentage were cultured for more than 14 days as outgrowing embryos. [HL2055]

I have been advised by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) that information on the number of embryos created from the commencement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 until 2006 has been published by the HFEA in A long-term analysis of the HFEA Register data (1991-2006) which is available on the HFEA website at www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/HFEA_long_ term_data_91-06_versionl_revision4.pdf.

A copy has been placed in the Library.

The HFEA does not hold information centrally about the percentages of embryos specifically created for research and which were cultured as outgrowing embryos. HFEA inspection reports record information about the research projects being undertaken at any particular centre. The inspection reports are available on the HFEA website.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 9 March (WA 204–5), why an embryo that has been left to outgrow for more than 14 days is no longer considered to be an embryo by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, if every embryo created in the laboratory otherwise falls within regulation, regardless of its potential for development. [HL2056]

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 21 April 2008 (WA 233–34) and 9 March (WA 204–5), why a relationship between extra-embryonic and embryonic tissue is considered by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to be pivotal to the definition of an embryo grown for more than 14 days when a cloned embryo that lacks the potential to form extra-embryonic tissue is considered as an embryo within the HFEA's regulatory remit. [HL2057]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 10 February 2009 (WA 176). I have nothing further to add to that Answer.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many couples leave human embryos for research or for the use of other couples. [HL2127]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many human embryos are destroyed or experimented upon in the United Kingdom each year; of those, how many are destroyed when couples terminate their relationship; and how many are destroyed after one partner in a relationship withdraws their consent for embryos to remain stored. [HL2129]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many human embryos are currently stored in the United Kingdom; and what research they have commissioned about the effects of long-term storage of human embryos on the viability of the embryo. [HL2130]

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised me that the information requested is not collected for retention on its register.

The department has conducted a literature review and has consulted a researcher in the field as to the safety of the cryopreservation of embryos.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 9 March (WA 204–05), how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has demonstrated that embryos cultured for more than 14 days could not develop a primitive streak when the authority's Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee is of the view that primitive streak-cells may be detected. [HL2128]

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised me that its Scientific and Clinical Advances Committee is of the view that although the embryonic masses that form when embryos outgrow their structure would not develop a primitive streak, it is possible that primitive streak like cells may be detectable. The HFEA and its Scientific and Clinical Advances Committee are as one on this question.

Minutes of the committee's meetings are published on the HFEA's website.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 24 February (WA 40) concerning their policy to promote anti-discrimination measures in other countries, what representations they have made to the Republic of Ireland since 1997 concerning human rights in that country. [HL1824]

The Government have made no formal representations to the Government of Ireland since 1997 concerning human rights. However, human rights issues have been discussed, at ministerial and official level, during meetings of the British-Irish Inter-governmental Conference since its establishment in 1999.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of origin labelling of food products through (a) voluntary supermarket reporting schemes; and (b) new laws. [HL2177]

The Food Standards Agency published voluntary best practice guidance on origin labelling in 2002. This guidance aims to establish clear and transparent origin labelling across the food sector. Uptake of the guidance was reviewed in 2006 and the guidance was revised and re-issued in 2008. The Government are keen to encourage further uptake of this guidance and as part of this will be commissioning further work this year to assess industry uptake of the guidance.

Food labelling is an area of European Commission competence. A food information regulation was proposed by the Commission in 2008 and is being discussed in both the European Parliament and the European Council. Discussions are at an early stage on the origin labelling elements of the proposal.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are accountable to Parliament for their foreign policy decisions; and whether they have considered alternative additional mechanisms to increase accountability. [HL2288]

Ministers are held to account for foreign policy decisions through all the normal mechanisms: debates in both Houses; Parliamentary Questions; the work of Select Committees, security committees and the Intelligence and Security Committee. It would be for Parliament to decide whether additional mechanisms are needed.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that fair trade and economic justice for poor countries is on the agenda of the G20 meeting in London on 2 April. [HL1972]

We are keen to ensure that the voices of developing regions are heard at the London summit of G20 leaders. That is why we decided to invite Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia as chair of New Economic Partnership for African Development and Prime Minister Abhisit in his capacity as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Jean Ping, of the African Union (AU) Commission, and Dr Surin, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, will also accompany further to extend the representation from developing regions. I attended the AU summit at the end of February to seek views from African Leaders directly.

We recognise the importance of protecting the poorest during the economic downturn and are pushing for a renewed and strengthened commitment to refrain from protectionist measures, with a monitoring mechanism to hold countries to account for this pledge. Actions at the London summit to stabilise the financial system and build foundations for sustaining and strengthening global growth are essential in order to achieve this. In that sense it will be more important to ensure that growth during the economic recovery helps the poor as well as helping more developed countries.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will respond to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust's campaign to enhance management of game and wildlife rather than traditional protection. [HL2123]

The Government are aware of the work that the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust does in promoting the conservation of game and wildlife, and conducting research into game and wildlife management.

Wildlife management, which necessarily encompasses elements of both protection and control, is vital to maintain healthy populations of our native species. We support all efforts to manage other interests, such as game, in a way that is mutually beneficial to both that interest and wildlife.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the results for the health of Gypsies and Travellers from the Pacesetters programme. [HL2188]

Through the Pacesetters programme, the department is working with 18 National Health Service organisations and local communities in different parts of England to improve the health status of Gypsies and Travellers. The work is based on a range of projects aimed at raising the awareness of NHS staff to the needs and circumstances of these communities, improving access to primary and secondary care, and ensuring that individual health records for community members are up-to-date. The projects are being evaluated by the University of Sheffield and results will become available in 2010-11. Evidenced good practice and learning will be disseminated widely throughout the NHS.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in providing training for all clinicians in primary and relevant secondary care settings to identify risk and the early symptoms of HIV infection, in line with new United Kingdom national HIV testing guidelines. [HL2027]

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in light of the new United Kingdom national HIV testing guidelines, training will be provided for all healthcare professionals in primary and relevant secondary care settings on HIV testing to increase the numbers of people diagnosed and decrease the proportion of those diagnosed late. [HL2028]

The department funded the production of a guide, HIV for non-HIV specialists: Diagnosing the undiagnosed, published in 2008, by the Medical Foundation for AIDS And Sexual Health (MedFASH) . Following this publication, the department is also funding MedFASH for a linked project Tackling HIV testing in healthcare settings, aimed at increasing HIV testing in non-HIV specialist settings.

To support the rollout of the UK National Guidelines for HIV Testing 2008, produced by the British HIV Association, the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV and the British Infection Society, the department is funding eight new pilot projects to explore HIV testing in a variety of settings, in order to reduce the level of undiagnosed HIV and late diagnosis of HIV in the population.

The department also supported the publication of HIV in Primary Care, an essential guide to HIV for GPs, practice nurses and other members of the primary care team, also produced by MedFASH in 2004.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the result of the Ministry of Defence inquiry into the collision in early February of the nuclear submarine vessels HMS “Vanguard” and “Le Triomphant” in the Bay of Biscay; and whether the conclusions will be made public. [HL2124]

The report of the inquiry into the incident involving HMS “Vanguard” and “Le Triomphant” is expected shortly. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence will then consider what and how to report to Parliament, bearing in mind the need to protect information in the interests of national security.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 11 March (WA 257) concerning their assessment of human rights in foreign countries, what representations they have made to the Government of the Republic of Ireland concerning that Government's policy of only allowing Irish speakers to live in certain areas of the country and to obtain employment in the public sector. [HL2208]

The Government have made no representations to the Government of Ireland on this matter.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham on 13 March (WA 287), which stakeholders they work with to promote human rights in the Republic of Ireland. [HL2262]

The Government have not worked with any stakeholders in promoting human rights in Ireland.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many radicalisation websites they, or the police authorities, have taken down. [HL2076]

The legislation that allows a request to be made that unlawfully terrorism-related material is modified or removed from the internet is Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006. Section 3 allows for the service of a notice by a constable, where he or she is of the opinion that unlawfully terrorism-related material is available on an electronic service such as a website, on the person(s) responsible for that material. The notice requires that the unlawfully terrorism-related material is removed or modified within two working days.

However, the preferred route of the police is to use informal contact with the communication service providers to request that the material is removed. To date no Section 3 notices have been issued as this informal route has proved effective but statistics covering the number of sites removed through such informal contact are not collected.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ban the filming of media interviews while the interviewee is driving a vehicle on a public road; and what representations they have made to the television industry on that issue. [HL2136]

Under current broadcasting arrangements, responsibility for what is broadcast on television and radio rests with the broadcasters and the organisations that regulate broadcasting—the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the BBC Trust and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C). It is a long-standing principle that the Government do not interfere in programme matters, either on arrangements for scheduling or on content.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 10 March (WA 236–37) concerning passports issued in the Republic of Ireland, in what form the records of applications for British passports received at the British embassy in Dublin are held; who calculated that the cost of providing the information would be disproportionate; what is that cost; and on what basis it was calculated. [HL2140]

The records of passport applications received at our embassy in Dublin are held in paper form and also on the electronic passport issuing system.

The electronic system is not configured to calculate the number of people with addresses in the Republic of Ireland granted British passports, as requested by the noble Lord in his earlier Question. This would have to be done manually by checking all 53,222 of the paper applications for British passports issued by our embassy in Dublin over the past five years.

The disproportionate cost threshold is set at £700. Consular Directorate at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office assessed that the additional work required to manually search for this information would breach this threshold.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average time between application and payment of pension credit in each month of the past two years; and what was the average time taken to complete the processing of pension credit claims from when the initial application was received in each month of the past two years, broken down by pension centre. [HL1693]

Data on the clearance times of pension credit, measured from the initial date of contact, are currently not reported.

The tables below detail the average actual clearance time (AACT) for pension credit, monthly for the past two years, by pension centre. The AACT is calculated by dividing the total number of working days taken to clear cases by the total number of cases cleared.

Source: Management Information System Programme

To ask Her Majesty's Government what expertise exists in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to inspect workforce issues from a race and gender perspective; and what account is taken of the views of stakeholders and interest groups representing black and minority ethnic and women's equality interests. [HL2108]

The workforce productivity inspection in the Police Service “Working for the Public” will be conducted by HMIC in 2010. During 2009 HMIC will be designing the methodology for this major inspection. Stakeholders will be consulted, and staff with the appropriate skills and background will be recruited.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to ensure that the training and skills of police officers working as part of (a) the British Transport Police, (b) the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, and (c) the Ministry of Defence Police are consistent with those of other police forces. [HL2103]

Training is available to these non-Home Office police forces via the National Policing Improvement Agency. However, there are no specific mandatory training programmes.

To ask Her Majesty's Government which hospitals have been constructed under the private finance initiative, or its successor schemes, in the past ten years; on what dates the construction of each such hospital started and completed; what was the total cost of each; and what are the current annual interest payments due to the financiers. [HL2194]

Information on the capital value and estimated revenue payments for the lifetime of each completed private finance initiative (PFI) scheme together with the start on site and opening dates has been placed in the Library.

The revenue payments are the annual payments made by National Health Service trusts to their private sector partners. This is to cover the cost of the funding raised by the contractors on the project (known as senior debt) in terms of financing charges and repayment of principal, building maintenance, lifecycle costs and, in many cases, non-clinical support services such as cleaning, laundry, catering, portering and security. On an annualised basis, the cost of the funding, comprising finance charges and principal in varying proportions, accounts for approximately 50 per cent of the annual payment for a scheme including non-clinical services.

PFI schemes are normally funded by two types of senior debt finance; traditional fixed rate project finance (a bank loan) and index linked bonds, priced by reference to bank and gilts rates respectively. Each source of debt finance has its relative merits and their prices move in relation to each other depending on market conditions. Decisions on the preferred source are made as part of the value for money calculation by the trust and its private sector partner at the time of preparing the full business case (FBC). To these rates is then added a margin, which is an annual charge pricing the risks in the project. Both funding routes also involve a number of costs associated with arranging and maintaining the funding for a scheme such as arrangement and commitment fees. The combination of rates, margins and fees is the overall financing charge—the equivalent of an interest payment.

The overall financing charges therefore vary from scheme to scheme and depend on several factors. Information on financing charges is contained in the FBC for each scheme, which must be made publicly available following its approval. The financing charges are modelled for each year of the term of the loan in the financial models which are contained in the FBC and are fixed for the public sector, but these may differ from the actual charges incurred in any year by the private sector (the risk sits with the senior debt provider and contractors). The information on the actual finance charges paid in any one year for all PFI schemes which have opened could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask Her Majesty's Government which Members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under “Ministry of Defence” in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration. [HL1887]

Information on board membership and remuneration is published in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the litter was last cleared from the verges of (a) the M25 between the junctions 28 and 30, and (b) the A13 between the M25 and Dagenham; and when they are next scheduled to be cleared. [HL2196]

The Highways Agency cleared litter from the verges of the M25 between junctions 28 and 30 between 17 and 21 January 2009 and has been picking litter again since 9 March. This work is due to finish on 20 March 2009.

The Highways Agency has programmed to pick litter between these locations again in April 2009.

Thurrock Council is responsible for picking litter on the A13 between the M25 and Wennington. The litter on this section of road was last picked between 2 and 10 March 2009. Thurrock Council has programmed to pick litter again between 23 March and 2 April 2009.

Transport for London is responsible for picking litter on the A13 between Wennington and Dagenham. The litter on this section of road is picked twice a week, with the last dates being 10 and 16 March 2009. Transport for London has programmed to pick litter at these locations again on 18 and 19 March 2009.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they use clearing litter from Britain's roads as a job creation opportunity. [HL2197]

Local authorities have a legal duty to keep all public land and roads within their boundaries clear of litter and refuse with the Highways Agency having similar duties for the motorway network. These duty bodies make decisions on the numbers of staff required to deliver effective service.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any proposals to representatives of United Kingdom ports and shipping services to increase job creation through public sector initiatives during the present slowdown in economic activity. [HL2225]

The United Kingdom ports and shipping industries operate in a competitive international environment. The Government recognise the vital role that ports and shipping play in supporting the economy and delivering a sustainable transport system. They provide support to the sector by minimising regulatory burdens rather than promoting public sector initiatives.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 12 January (WA 127), to what extent the Answer took account of the General Lighthouse Fund annual report and accounts 2007–08 in respect of the number of Trinity House board members paid more than £70,000 and less than £100,000 and the number of board members of the Commissioners of Irish Lights paid more than £100,000. [HL2273]

My reply to the noble Lord on 12 January 2009 reported the position of salary levels for board members of Trinity House and the Commissioners of Irish Lights in post as at 31 March 2008.

The General Lighthouse Fund annual report and accounts 2007-08 published subsequently relate to the whole financial year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. The 2007-08 report and accounts included an additional termination payment to a former board member of Trinity House who retired in May 2007.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to research into the use of probiotics to rebalance human skin microflora. [HL2075]

Neither the department's National Institute for Health Research nor the Medical Research Council (MRC) is currently funding research into the use of probiotics to rebalance human skin microflora.

The MRC contributes to the Diet and Health Research Industry Club. This is a £10 million, five-year partnership between the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and a consortium of leading companies, aimed at helping the food industry to develop products that deliver enhanced health benefits for consumers. The MRC has committed to fund research projects that fall within its remit although to date none has covered probiotics.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to reduce the amount of on-screen smoking in television dramas in the United Kingdom. [HL2135]

Under current broadcasting arrangements, responsibility for what is broadcast on television and radio rests with the broadcasters and the organisations that regulate broadcasting—the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the BBC Trust and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C). It is a long-standing principle that the Government do not interfere in programme matters, either on arrangements for scheduling or on content.

The depiction of smoking in television programmes is already strictly controlled. Section 1.10 of Ofcom's broadcasting code sets out the rules on the portrayal of smoking on television. Under these rules smoking must not be featured in programmes made primarily for children—unless there is strong editorial justification. Similarly smoking must generally be avoided and in any case must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in other programmes broadcast before the watershed, or in other programmes likely to be widely seen or heard by under 18s unless there is editorial justification.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they have taken forward the proposal to establish the post of Independent Commissioner for Terrorist Suspects, as agreed during the passage of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008; and when they will announce an appointment. [HL2215]

We are continuing to consider how to meet the commitment to establish an independent commissioner for terrorist suspects.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the “quality concerns” that resulted in the decision by the National Statistician and Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser to postpone publication of Statistical Bulletin on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes (Great Britain), 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008, which was originally to be published on 12 March 2009. [HL2216]

The National Statistician and the Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser have professional responsibility for the quality of statistical information published by the Home Office. The report was postponed in the light of concern expressed to them in the final quality assurance process about the accuracy of some information included.

The bulletin will be published once these data have been verified.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 14 November 2007 (WA 20), what progress has been made since that date in satisfying the conditions for ratification of the International Covenant for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; what conditions remain to be fulfilled; and how long it will take to fulfil each condition. [HL2226]

The Government are currently examining the potential impact of the convention against enforced disappearance on the law of the UK.

In particular, lawyers are analysing the extent to which common law provisions may need to be replicated in statute law, and the introduction of one or more specific criminal offences. If the Government decide to ratify the convention, these changes to the law would require primary legislation, which would be introduced when parliamentary time allowed. Decisions would also need to be taken in due course on whether the UK required any reservations or declarations upon ratification. These are complex issues requiring further consideration and analysis which will take some time to complete.