To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of serving military personnel in (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy, and (c) the Royal Air Force, are (1) single, (2) married without children, (3) married with children, (4) divorced without children, and (5) divorced with children. [HL5779]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many members of (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy, and (c) the Royal Air Force have changed from married status into marital category (1) decree absolute, (2) separated, and (3) annulled, in each year since 2000; what proportion of each service's strength this represents in each year; and what proportion of each service's married strength this represents in each year. [HL5780]

This information is not held in the format requested.

Following the phased introduction of joint personnel administration, marital category data are no longer available. Personal marital status is recorded in order to determine entitlement to allowances and service families accommodation. These status categories are:

PStat Cat 1—a legally married member of the services or a member of the services who has registered a civil partnership;

PStat Cat 2—a member of the services who has parental responsibility in terms of the Children Act for a child(ren) and is regarded as the centre and prime mover in the life of the child(ren), provides a home where they normally live with the child(ren), accepts financial responsibility for the child(ren) and where the child is unable to care for itself, provides a carer, who is not the natural parent of the child(ren) during absences attributable to service life;

PStat Cat 3—a member of the services not in PStat Cat 1 or 2 and provides financial support to their former spouse/partner by way of a voluntary agreement;

PStat Cat 4—a member of the services not in PStat Cat 1 or 2 and provides financial support to their former spouse/partner by way of a court order; and

PStat Cat 5—all other members of the services.

The following table provides a breakdown into which personal status category Armed Forces personnel have declared themselves belonging to on their service record:

Joint personnel administration has for the first time allowed service personnel to take responsibility for their own administration. All service personnel are encouraged to notify the service authorities if a child, for which they have responsibility, begins to live with them. However, this is not always done, particularly if they do not reside in service accommodation or the notification of such information does not generate an entitlement to a particular allowance.

As a result data that could be provided for children against specific personal status categories do not give an accurate representation of the numbers of children for which our service personnel have responsibility.

Information relating to marital categories on legacy personnel systems could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what marriage counselling and support is available to (a) Armed Forces personnel and their families, and (b) Armed Forces personnel serving in theatre. [HL5781]

Support for non-deployed Armed Forces personnel and families is available through comprehensive individual service welfare resources, which offer varying degrees of relationship counselling and direct people to professional advice services such as Relate or local counselling services overseas.

Provision of appropriate pastoral care in theatre is a fundamental command responsibility and commanders take their duties in this regard seriously. While there is no bespoke marriage counselling service in operational theatres, those providing support and advice from the chain of command will be able to signpost individuals in need of particular assistance to where that assistance may be found. There are currently 13 chaplains deployed to Afghanistan as well as a number of mental health professionals, all of whom can provide advice as required. If a commander becomes aware that there is a specific marital issue the unit rear party can be advised in order to assist the family at home. In particularly serious cases, commanders have the discretion to grant compassionate leave to send a service person home in order to assist in resolving marital difficulties, but any such decision has to be balanced against operational imperatives.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to comments made on the Today programme on 17 September, by Harold Peters, an Ascension Island councillor, concerning an alleged shortfall in the island's tax revenue due to the Royal Air Force paying £497,000 rather than the £1 million that is believed to have been due each year since 2002. [HL5845]

The decision by the Ascension Island Government to remove a variation in the Ministry of Defence's annual property tax liability, which had the effect of almost doubling the amount, is currently being disputed. The MoD, therefore, has not paid this new tax liability in full.

Discussions are ongoing in order to seek an agreement that is fair and equitable, and assurance that the services received from the Ascension Island Government represent best value for money. The Ascension Island Council has commissioned an HMRC-led study, supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, into tax arrangements on Ascension Island. The Ministry of Defence is being consulted as part of this study.

To ask Her Majesty's Government under what legislation and in what circumstances developers are required to make provision for bats to cross roads, railways or other infrastructure. [HL5970]

Bats are protected under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended)¹ , and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)². It is an offence to injure or kill a bat, or significantly to disturb bats. Derogations may be granted through licence from Natural England where proposals will not be detrimental to the favourable conservation status of the species.

Public authorities also have a duty under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006)³ to have regard for the conservation of biodiversity in exercising their functions.

¹ Part III (39) Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended)

² Part I (9) Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)

³ Part 3 (40)(1) Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006)

To ask Her Majesty's Government with regard to section 3 of the declaration of support in the Belfast agreement of 1998, what are the definitions of equality, partnership and mutual respect governing relationships between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. [HL5939]

The concepts of equality, partnership and mutual respect are not defined specifically in the context of the Belfast agreement.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate the BBC in relation to the discharge of its public duty responsibilities under the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Equality Act 2006; and whether they will ask the commission to investigate the BBC under those Acts in respect of its decision to invite the British National Party to participate in Question Time on 22 October. [HL6016]

The Equality and Human Rights Commission operates at arm's length from Government and makes its own independent decisions as to whom it investigates and on what grounds.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Crawley on 13 July (WA 183–4), why providing options for Christian denominations in the 2011 census would not enable comparability with the 2001 census figures; what duties in relation to religious affiliation need to be fulfilled by public authorities under the Race Relations Act 1976; what are the extra Welsh religious categories that would be required were there a question on Christian denominations; whether religions other than Christianity have difficulty with their single question; and what form of equality monitoring and service planning users of census statistics undertake in relation to Christians and Buddhists. [HL5953]

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

Letter from Jil Matheson, National Statistician, to Lord Laird, dated October 2009.

Further to my predecessor’s letter to you of 14 July, as the new National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary questions asking i) why providing options for Christian denominations in the 2011 Census would not enable comparability with the 2001 Census figures; ii) what duties in relation to religious affiliation need to be fulfilled by public authorities under the Race Relations Act 1976; iii) what are the extra Welsh religious categories that would be required were there a question on Christian denominations; iv) whether religions other than Christianity have difficulty with their single question; and v) what form of equality monitoring and service planning users of Census statistics undertake in relation to Christians and Buddhists. (HL5953)

i) An expanded religion question would be likely to affect comparability with the 2001 Census data due to the different way that the question may be interpreted and answered. Testing of a religion question with expanded Christian denominations showed that some people thought of the new question in terms of religious practice rather than religious affiliation (which is the concept we are trying to measure) because of the specific tick-boxes for denominations, and there was evidence that some people chose ‘No religion’ when they would otherwise have picked ‘Christian’.

In addition, if detailed Christian options were provided the lack of space on the questionnaire would require a double-banked format of the question where tick-boxes were listed side by side in two columns rather than in a longer list. Such questions are normally avoided where possible because the tick-boxes on the right, in this case the Christian denominations, frequently get missed by respondents. However, encouraging respondents to notice the Christian breakdown boxes could have the unintended effect of drawing respondents’ attention away from the remaining religion tick-boxes and making them less visible. This could lead to incomplete and incorrect data and a possible undercount for the remaining religions.

These and other concerns about including an expanded religion question are set out in an information paper which details the religion question development which led to the final recommendations for the 2011 Census. This is available on the website:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-census-questionnaire-content/question-and-content-recommendations-for-2011/index.html.

ii) Respondents to the Office for National Statistics 2007 consultation on user requirements for information on ethnicity, identity, language and religion from the 2011 Census emphasised the use of religion data to enable better understanding of the social and economic position of different religious and ethnic groups, and to help to identify cases of social exclusion. This information would be used to inform policy development and monitoring and enable public bodies to meet their statutory obligations under the Race Relations Act and other equality legislation. The Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) (the Act) gives public authorities a general duty to promote race equality. The duty means that, in everything they do, public authorities should aim to:

eliminate unlawful racial discrimination;

promote equality of opportunity; and

promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

The Act gives public authorities a general duty to monitor policy and service delivery for different ethnic groups. Definitions of what constitutes an “ethnic group” are subject to much discussion. This is because membership of any ethnic group is something that is subjectively meaningful to the person concerned, and can be based upon a combination of categories such as country of birth, nationality, language, skin colour, national/geographical origin, racial group and religion.

Although the ethnic group question was designed to capture information relevant to the Race Relations Act including colour and ethnic and national origins other concepts or groups relevant to this Act and other pieces of legislation may be captured more easily with other questions creating a suite of ethnicity questions including country of birth, citizenship, national identity, religion and language. For this reason, when prioritising groups for inclusion as new categories in the ethnic group question we considered whether one or more other Census questions provided similar information to an ethnic group tick-box, (in which case there would be less need to include this tick-box in the ethnic group question).

For some ethnic minorities, religion is one of the important defining characteristics and for this reason a question on religion was first included on the 2001 Census. Since the 2001 Census a number of laws to protect religious freedom have been passed, including the freedom to have no religion or belief. The Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Act 2003 places a duty on all local authorities to monitor employment practices and to address the needs of religious groups. Other laws include the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 and the Equality Act 2006. One of the main needs for religion data expressed by users was to assist legal obligations to prevent discrimination and promote equality.

iii) The different Christian categories which would be required in Wales were there an expanded religion question have not been ascertained from Census users. However they are likely to include non-conformist chapels such as Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists and Methodists since, in Wales, their memberships are higher than those of the Anglican or Catholic Churches.

iv) Some Census users expressed a requirement for information that would break down the Muslim category but there is no evidence of difficulty with a single category for religions other than Christianity.

v) It is not possible to comment on what form of equality monitoring and service planning that users of Census statistics may undertake in relation to Christian and Buddhists—respondents to our consultations generally articulated their need for religion data in general rather than with reference to specific groups. In addition to meeting legal obligations, users emphasised the use of data on religion to enable better understanding of the social and economic position of different religious and ethnic groups, to help identify cases of social exclusion, and to aid decisions relating to the provision of services in areas such as health, housing and education.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask the Office for National Statistics to produce a time series of the statistical relationship between gross domestic product growth and emissions of carbon dioxide. [HL6080]

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

Letter from Jil Matheson, National Statistician, to Lord Lea of Crondall, dated November 2009.

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for a time series of the statistical relationship between gross domestic product growth and emissions of carbon dioxide (HL6080).

ONS Environmental Accounts produce estimates of air emissions, including carbon dioxide annually.

The ONS Environmental Accounts measure greenhouse gas emissions on a UK resident basis, in order to be comparable with National Accounts economic data. Therefore, they include emissions generated by UK residents in the UK and emissions from UK residents’ transport and travel activities abroad. They exclude emissions generated by non-residents' transport and travel in the UK.

As such, these data are on a different basis from estimates published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change under the UK’s Kyoto Protocol obligations. The Kyoto Protocol basis covers emissions from UK territory only and excludes emissions from international aviation and shipping.

The most recent publication was on 12 June 2009 and statistics for the period 1990 - 2007 are available on the National Statistics website at the following address.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/environmental/.

Consistent with this publication, the annex presents an index of carbon dioxide emissions created per unit of output by the UK economy (excluding households) between 1990 and 2007.

Source: AEA Energy and Environment, Office for National Statistics

1 Output is based on the chained volume measure of Gross Value Added, the contribution of individual industries to Gross Domestic Product.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many disputes there were over mapping between farmers and the Rural Payments Agency in relation to the single farm payment scheme in (a) 2007, and (b) 2008; and how many are unresolved. [HL5743]

RPA does not hold information in a readily accessible manner on the number of changes to mapped areas that have been challenged by farmers and as a result have been changed. This information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 21 July (WA 312), whether they will consult the Northern Ireland Judicial Studies Board to seek a review of the current guidelines on the assessment of general damages in personal injury cases in Northern Ireland with a view to aligning them with England and Wales. [HL5957]

The assessment of general damages in personal injury cases in Northern Ireland is a matter for the independent judiciary. The guidelines are a matter for the Northern Ireland Judicial Studies Board, as the judicial-led body responsible for judicial training in Northern Ireland. The guidelines are already subject to regular review by the board and the Government have no plans to consult them in this regard.

To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances High Court Enforcement Officers are permitted to charge debtors who owe hundreds of pounds costs of several thousand pounds; and what assessment they have made of the impact of such costs. [HL5980]

The fees chargeable by a High Court enforcement officer are contained in Schedule 3 of the High Court Enforcement Officers Regulations 2004. The regulations provide for reasonable costs to be charged as the individual circumstances of the case dictate. Any such reasonable costs can be the subject of detailed assessment upon application to the High Court. The Ministry of Justice is undertaking a detailed examination of the cost of High Court enforcement with the intention of setting a new fee structure with the implementation of Schedule 12 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

To ask Her Majesty's Government who paid for the United Kingdom contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in the latest year for which figures are available; and what was the United Kingdom's contribution.[HL5960]

As at 27 October 2009 there were 288 personnel deployed on Operation TOSCA, the UK contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The cost for this deployment is charged to the tri-departmental (FCO, MoD and DfID) peacekeeping budget. In the financial year 2008-09 the cost was £16 million. The United Nations reimburses the UK £2.5 million for our contribution to UNFICYP.

To ask Her Majesty's Government with reference to the Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care Together, whether monies levied under a Government insurance scheme or a comprehensive scheme will be held in a fund earmarked for care and support, or whether they will be paid into HM Treasury in the same way as other revenue. [HL5949]

Detailed decisions on how the funding options would work have not yet been taken.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 14 July (WA 198), how they define “as soon as possible” for the purposes of holding a public consultation on the impact of removing the edited version of the electoral register. [HL5878]

The Government remain committed to holding a public consultation to establish how removing the provisions that govern the edited register would impact not just on individuals but the economy as a whole. The precise date of publication has not yet been finalised but it is our intention to do so shortly.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the comments by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 October 2008 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 1624) and with reference to the articles in Nature (vol. 461) and Cell Stem Cell on 23 July 2009, whether, if chimaeric embryos were produced by combining human induced pluripotent stem cells and animal tetraploid embryos, they would be classified as “human admixed”, rather than falling under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. [HL6020]

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) assesses all research licence applications for the production of embryos with both animal and human material and determines whether the proposed embryos fall within the definition of “human admixed embryo” (as outlined in Section 4A(6) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended)). In the case of the chimaeric embryos described, the authority would assess whether or not animal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is predominant, based upon the particular research proposed. In making this decision, the authority would bear in mind the House of Lords debate of 29 October 2008 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 1624), in particular the assumption that “predominant” refers not only to the percentage of DNA but also to its location and functionality.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Equality and Human Rights Commission will publish its annual report and accounts for 2008–09. [HL6017]

The commission's annual report and accounts for 2008-09 is currently with the National Audit Office for clearance. Once this has been completed the commission will proceed with formal approval at its board meeting followed by publication.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Equality and Human Rights Commission will spend during the current financial year on interim staff and external consultants; how much of that would comprise overspending against its approved budget; and what are the reasons for any overspending. [HL6018]

The commission's forecast spend on interim and agency staff in 2009-10 is £6.6 million. £1.8 million of this represents an increase over the initial budget because of increased cost of interim staff who were employed to support the delivery of its strategic priorities. The forecast spend on consultants is £2.3 million. This includes advisory consultancy services, research and the provision of other services to the commission.

To ask Her Majesty's Government following the report of the National Audit Office saying that £620 million spent by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Rural Payments Agency in administering European Union support to farmers was a “masterclass in mis-administration”, what steps will they take to penalise those responsible and to prevent a recurrence. [HL5851]

The issues raised in the NAO report reflect the legacies of the problems faced by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in implementing the single payment scheme (SPS) in 2005. Ministers have apologised to the House for those past issues. Subsequent improvement in RPA's performance has been evidenced by the significant speeding up of SPS payments to farmers. The successful negotiation and implementation of the new EU scheme rules arising from the CAP health check last year also signifies an increased capacity to manage change. But, as highlighted in the NAO report, costs are still too high and work to recover overpayments has been proved more difficult than anticipated. Those are some of the drivers for the current review of the RPA that the department announced in September which will seek to identify where the agency may be able to make further improvements and efficiencies in its activities.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what efforts the Black and Minority Ethnic Women Councillors' Taskforce has made to involve Gypsy and Traveller women; and with what success. [HL5858]

One of the key objectives of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women Councillors’ Taskforce programme was to ensure that a diverse range of delegates from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and communities were able to participate and attend the outreach awareness raising events. Overall 53 per cent of people who attended the BAME outreach events provided details about their ethnic background. Of those that responded, 4 per cent reported being from the “other ethnic group”, and of these, two respondents (0.4 per cent) reported being from the Gypsy and Traveller community. We have no information on the ethnic background of the remainder of people who were at these events and did not complete a feedback form (47 per cent of attendees).

The outreach events were promoted widely and included engagement with the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as organisations and networks with links to the Gypsy and Traveller community such as Voice 4 Change and the Travellers Advocacy Service. Two women from the Gypsy and Traveller community who attended the Leicester outreach event were also invited to participate in the follow-up evaluation which took place on Thursday 10 September 2009.

On two occasions the Government Equalities Office also approached a speaker from the Gypsy and Traveller community to speak at the outreach events, but she was unable to participate.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people receive NHS continuing care in each primary care trust each year; and what proportion of the population of each primary care trust those figures represent. [HL6103]

The requested information is provided in the following table.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of people receiving NHS continuing care each year do not live at home. [HL6104]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people they forecast will need to be supported by the NHS continuing care funding stream each year until 2031; and what proportion they forecast will be cared for (a) in their own homes, and (b) elsewhere. [HL6105]

Information on the proportion of people receiving National Health Service continuing care each year that do not live at home is not collected centrally.

We have made no forecast of future NHS continuing care funding, or of the proportion who will be cared for in their own homes, or elsewhere.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the cost of funding NHS continuing care has been included in the overall care costs for older people to be funded as part of the proposed national care service. [HL6106]

The cost of funding National Health Service continuing care is included in the general funding allocation made to primary care trusts, and is therefore not included in the proposed national care service costings.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 20 October (WA 60), how requests from patients for hydration are communicated to health care professionals if they are not made in writing. [HL5947]

There is no set procedure for requesting artificial nutrition or hydration, or any other form of treatment. The requests may be made verbally by the patient, or, if they do not have the capacity to make a request, by those close to the patient. In accordance with professional guidance, decisions on artificial hydration should be recorded and be accessible to the patient, team members and others involved in providing care to the patient.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards the measures of success highlighted in the Chief Medical Officer's “Stopping Tuberculosis in England” action plan. [HL5967]

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards the 10 recommended actions in the Chief Medical Officer's “Stopping Tuberculosis in England” action plan. [HL5968]

In October 2004, in response to an increase in tuberculosis (TB), the Chief Medical Officer published an action plan, Stopping Tuberculosis in England, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library. Work is under way to implement the 10 actions considered essential to bring TB under control.

The plan outlined four measures of success:

a progressive decline in rates of TB in population groups born in England. Data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) indicate that while rates in these groups have not decreased, they have remained stable at four per 100,000 population between 2002-07 (latest data);

a reduction in the incidence of disease among people who entered the country and became resident here within the previous five years. TB data collected by the HPA report only rates of TB among non-United Kingdom born people, and those rates for the years 2002-07 have been 88, 92, 96, 102, 94 and 87 per 100,000 population. The department did not expect an immediate decline in rates because of improved TB detection following implementation of the TB action plan;

no more than 7 per cent of new cases resistant to the anti-TB drug isoniazid and two per cent multidrug resistant. HPA data show 6.8 per cent of cases were resistant to isoniazid, and 1.2 per cent were multidrug resistant; and

a reduction in the number of human cases of bovine TB in people under age of 35 years born in the UK. HPA data from 2002-07 show the numbers of case per year in England as 17, 15, 14, 24, 26, and 23, with the peak in 2005-06 due to an unusual cluster outbreak in the West Midlands.

The strategy to effective TB control is awareness and early detection and completion of treatment, and key actions taken by the department to provide the National Health Service with the tools to improve services include: local awareness-raising through funding to TB Alert; the TB Toolkit for commissioners; the Find and Treat pilot in London to actively find cases among hard-to-reach groups; the provision of free TB drugs for all patients and a more targeted Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination programme.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases have been heard by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in each year since it was established; and how many cases are now listed for consideration or pending a final decision. [HL5772]

The number of cases heard and determined since SIAC is shown in the table below.

Records showing in which years the cases prior to 2003 were heard and determined are not readily available following the fire at Field House.

There are 14 pending cases that have yet to be heard and determined for 2009-10.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the reply by Lord West of Spithead on 22 October (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 809), what are the net migration figures in 2007 and 2008 that showed a 44 per cent reduction; and how those figures were calculated. [HL5991]

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

Letter from Jil Matheson, National Statistician, to Lord Roberts of Conwy, dated October 2009.

As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question concerning the figures that showed a 44 per cent reduction in net migration from 2007 to 2008 and how they are calculated. (HL5991).

The figures relate to the provisional 2008 International Passenger Survey (IPS) data released on 27 August 2009.

The net migration estimate is the difference between the immigration and emigration estimates.

In 2008 net migration was 118,000. This was 92,000 or 44 per cent lower than the 2007 net migration figure of 209,000.

Care should be taken when interpreting changes in net migration since a small change in net migration may mask large changes in immigration and emigration flows. There is also not a unique set of circumstances that result in a particular change to net migration. In this case the reduction is mainly the result of an increase in emigration of over 77,000 with a smaller decrease in immigration of over 14,000.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether immigration detainees who are pregnant are provided with dietary supplements. [HL5897]

Pregnant women in detention have access to all appropriate services relating to pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, including the provision of adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. These services are delivered in accordance with the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidelines on Maternal and Child Nutrition and the Department of Health's Child Health Promotion strategy.

Pregnant women in detention are seen and reviewed by registered midwives from the community and are offered antenatal classes and scans at the same stages as they would be offered in the community. All women who are intending to get pregnant or are at less than 12 weeks gestation are offered folic acid supplements. All pregnant women at any stage of the pregnancy, or who are breast feeding, are routinely offered Vitamin D and also receive extra fruit and an additional fresh milk allowance.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether prophylactic medicines are offered sufficiently in advance to detainees about to be deported to malarial countries. [HL5901]

UK Border Agency guidance concerning the offer of prophylactic medicines to detainees about to be removed to malarial countries is in place and available to healthcare staff in removal centres.

The guidance, which is based on advice from the Health Protection Agency's Advisory Committee on Malarial Prevention and is currently under review in liaison with the Department of Health, requires prophylactic medicines to be offered to detainees, subject to medical advice, and time allowed for them to take effect before their removal from the UK.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they keep records of prosecutions of motorcyclists for vehicle noise offences; and, if so, how many there have been in each county in each of the past three years. [HL6111]

Her Majesty’s Government do not keep such records. The only offences identified by the statistical collection held within the Ministry of Justice (on outcomes of court proceedings) that are specific to motorcycles are “failing to wear a crash helmet” and “unlawful pillion riding”. Other offences committed by motorcyclists cannot be identified from the centrally held data, either because the offence is not specific to motorcycles (eg noise offences) or because it is grouped together with other miscellaneous motoring offences.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much time is required for a full review of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom. [HL5850]

Under Section 3 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, the separate, independent Boundary Commissions for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are required to conduct a general review every eight to 12 years of the constituencies within their respective areas.

There is no specified duration for a boundary review. The duration of any parliamentary boundary review is entirely a matter for the relevant Boundary Commission. The last general review of parliamentary constituencies from announcement to completion in each part of the UK took six years and eight months in England, four years and four months in Northern Ireland, three years and five months in Scotland and two years and one month in Wales.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the code of practice on the management of police pursuits will be issued to police forces. [HL6009]

The Home Office, NPIA and ACPO have begun work to draw up the code of practice. This will include a formal consultation period once a draft code has been produced. The timetable for producing the draft code will be discussed by the HO-chaired project board later this month.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what projections they have for the population of the United Kingdom for each 10 years up to 2050. [HL6044]

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

Letter from Jil Matheson, National Statistician, to Lord Laird, dated October 2009.

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question to Her Majesty’s Government regarding what projections they have for the population of the United Kingdom for each ten years up to 2050. (HL6044)

The most recent national population projections, based on the population at the middle of 2008, were published by the Office for National Statistics on 21 October 2009. The table below shows the projected total population of the United Kingdom for the years requested.

The assumptions underlying national population projections are demographic-trend based. They are not forecasts and do not attempt to predict the impact that factors such as future government policies or changing economic circumstances might have on the population. The projections also become increasingly uncertain the further they are carried forward.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance or advice to the Crown Court about whether judges should take account of the prison population in their case management or in issuing directions to juries; and, if so, what guidance or advice they issued. [HL5917]

No. The prison population has no direct impact on case management. Nor does it impact on whether an offender should be found guilty or not guilty, which is the matter for the jury.

However, the Criminal Procedure Rules provide a framework for managing criminal cases. Within that framework the management of individual cases is a matter for the judiciary, taking account of custody time limits set by the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. Listing guidance laid down by the judiciary highlights the importance of minimising time spent on remand by those awaiting trial or sentence.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the ventilation system in the Hatfield Tunnel on the A1 is coping with vehicle exhaust fumes. [HL6048]

The ventilation system in place in A1(M) Hatfield Tunnel is maintaining air quality in accordance with the Highways Agency standards.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the budget for 2010–11 of the Research and Radionavigation Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland. [HL5919]

The budget for the Research and Radionavigation Directorate in 2009-10 was £2,227,000. The budget for 2010-11 will be determined in the light of ongoing discussions between the Department for Transport and the General Lighthouse Authorities as part of the normal process of reviewing budgets for the next financial year.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a cost-benefit analysis has been carried out of the Research and Radionavigation Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland; and, if so, whether they will place a copy in the Library of the House. [HL5920]

The Research and Radionavigation (R&RNAV) Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) has taken forward development projects including the solarisation of aids to navigation, LEDs, automation of lighthouses, differential global positioning system and the vessel automatic identification system. While a cost benefit analysis has not been carried out, it is estimated that over the past 10 years the GLAs have, partly as a result of these advances in technology, been able to cut light dues as well as the costs to ship owners associated with AtoN provision by £167 million.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are employed in the Research and Radionavigation Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland. [HL5918]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff there will be in the Research and Radionavigation Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2010–11; and how many there are in 2009–10. [HL5921]

There are 12 people currently employed in the General Lighthouse Authorities’ Research and Radionavigation Directorate.

The directorate’s staff complement for 2009-10 and 2010-11 is 14.

To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions personnel from the Research and Radionavigation Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland visited the United States on business relating to the e-Loran project in (a) 2007, and (b) 2008; how many visits are planned for (1) 2009, and (2) 2010; and what the costs of the visits were or are projected to be. [HL5922]

Personnel from the General Lighthouse Authorities’ Research and Radionavigation Directorate visited the United States on business relating to the e-Loran project once during 2008, and twice in 2009. No visits were made in 2007. The total cost was £21,393.

No further trips are currently planned for the rest of 2009 or during 2010.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether pirates arrested off Somalia by the Royal Navy have been brought to justice; and, if so, where. [HL5872]

Suspected pirates detained by the Royal Navy, and for whom it was assessed there was sufficient evidence upon which to prosecute, have been transferred to Kenya and are currently on trial.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will introduce to ensure that parents can meet childcare costs; and whether they will ensure that the working tax credit is adequate for such purpose and to keep more parents in work. [HL5795]

The tax credits system provides significant support to working parents with childcare costs. 470,000 families currently benefit from the childcare support available through the childcare element of working tax credit; 15 times more families than were helped by comparable support in 1997. The majority of claimants receive 80 per cent of their childcare costs; the average amount of support that each family receives is £68 per week.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the Institute of Race Relations report Spooked: How not to prevent violent extremism, which suggests that the Prevent programme for tackling extremism fosters division, mistrust and alienation. [HL5793]

Prevent, which is our long-term strategy to stop people becoming or supporting violent extremists, is an essential element of our counterterrorist strategy, CONTEST. We do not accept that it fosters division, mistrust or alienation.

We are currently reviewing the report and will be providing a detailed response in due course.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many young people aged under 18 were remanded in custody in each year since 1992. [HL5905]

The decision on whether to grant bail or remand a defendant to custody is one for the courts to make, in each case, in line with the statutory framework primarily set out in the Bail Act 1976. The table below sets out the number of remand episodes in each year since 2001. Earlier data are not available.

These figures have been supplied by the Youth Justice Board and have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.