To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will list the occasions in the last 12 months when (a) he and (b) his staff have made (i) written and (ii) oral representations to the BBC about news and current affairs coverage;. [153268](2) if he will list the occasions in the last 12 months when

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what improvements in health care have taken place in Afghanistan since the end of the war. [150623]

Since April 2002 72 hospitals, clinics and women's healthcare centres have been rebuilt. The Ministry of Health has established a Child and Adolescent Health Department and a Department of Women and Reproductive Health to tackle high infant and maternal mortality rates.The World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development and the European Community are helping the Afghan Ministry of Health, through NGOs, to provide a basic healthcare service to the entire population. The package consists of services for (i) maternal and newborn health; (ii) child health and immunisation; (iii) nutrition; (iv) communicable disease; (v) mental health; (vi) disability; and (vii) supply of essential drugs.Immunisation is having a real impact. 12 million children have been immunised against polio and to broadcasters other than the BBC about news and current affairs coverage. [153269]

In the last 12 months, my office will have had many discussions with all sections of the media, including the BBC, as part of their normal day-to-day duties. A list of all such discussions is not maintained centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the Arts Council funding for the Adzido Pan-African Dance Ensemble was in each of the last three years; how many staff are employed by the ensemble, broken down by (a) dancers and (b) others; and how many performances it has put on in each year since 2000. [152252]

The following table provides a breakdown of the information requested.16 million against measles since 2002, saving 30,000 lives. Cholera and diarrhoeal diseases are being tackled through health education, water chlorination and the construction of wells throughout the country.Recruiting, training and deploying health care workers (especially women) is a real challenge, especially in rural areas. The absence of female health workers is being addressed by the World Health Organisation, which is running a variety of health courses to boost the number of skilled birth attendants, nurses and midwives.Despite the substantial investment in the provision of basic health care in Afghanistan, the effective delivery of services across the whole of the country will take many months. But efforts to improve the health of people in Afghanistan will need to continue for many years and will require the support of the international community over the long term.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the devolved offices the Department has overseas which are able to take decisions on local spending policy. [152081]

I have listed the devolved DFID offices that take decisions on local spend and policy. Based on wide experience, DFID considers that country programmes are best planned and managed within the country concerned, subject to the size of programme being such as to warrant the costs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2004, Official Report, column 570W, and in connection with the 28^th Report of the Committee of Public Accounts, Session 1999–2000, HC 431, Inland Revenue/EDS Strategic Partnership, Re-tendering the contract in 2004, Paragraph 54, and Minutes of Evidence (HC 431-i) Questions 14 and 40, who the board member responsible for Mr. John Yard's division on 12 April 2000 was; on what date he commenced planning for retendering the Inland Revenue's information technology service; and on what date it was decided that a market-making exercise would be held prior to retendering that contract. [153408]

The Board member responsible for Business Services on 12 April 2000 was Tim Flesher, who at that time was the Inland Revenue's Deputy Chairman. As I stated in my answer of 16 December 2003, Official Report, column 803W, planning for the ASPIRE project began in January 2001. In addition, as I stated in my answer of 14 October 2003, OfficialReport, column 141W, the Market making exercise was conceived by the Inland Revenue between August and October 2001; it was also committed to at that time.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy not to collect national insurance contributions from individuals who will reach state pension age during the course of a financial year where those individuals will be unable to accrue any additional rights to contributory benefits in respect of those contributions. [153409]

The UK national insurance scheme operates on the "pay as you go" principle so that the contributions paid by people of working age fund the benefits of people who are currently claiming benefit. The Government believes that it is right that working people between the ages of 16 and the state retirement age should contribute to the payment of benefits of those not in work and to the funding of the NHS.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the size of the surplus on the national insurance fund has been in each of the last 20 years; and how much of this surplus was borrowed by the Government, and at what rate of interest, in each of those years. [153407]

The following table shows the excess of receipts over payments for the National Insurance Fund for the past 20 years. Negative figures indicate an excess of payments over receipts.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many seizures by Her Majesty's Customs of ivory and items containing ivory resulted in successful prosecutions in each year since 1997; and what percentage of such seizures those prosecutions represented in each year. [153011]

There have been no prosecutions relating to Customs seizures of ivory or ivory products in this period.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has for the training of personnel in multi-agency roles in civil contingency. [153039]

The Emergency Planning College, which is part of the Cabinet Office, has been the long-standing primary provider of training in emergency planning. All of this training is conducted in a multi-agency environment and students are drawn from the local, regional and national levels.The College's forward plan is based on a progressive expansion of its current programme designed also to meet the growing demand for training arising from the Civil Contingencies Bill. This expansion programme will include the recruitment of additional instructors, a wider range of courses and the exploitation of its new teaching and accommodation facilities.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how he intends to ensure that there will be a common training programme for those involved in contingency planning at regional and national level. [153040]

The Emergency Planning College, has been the long-standing primary provider of training in emergency planning. Government delivered or sponsored training in contingency planning, including that of the College, accords with the common doctrine laid out in 'Dealing with Disaster' produced by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat within the Cabinet Office. This publication, revised and re-issued in Summer 2003, gives the overall guidance on terminology, practice, procedure and principles for the management of major emergencies.Once the Civil Contingencies Bill passes into law, 'Dealing with Disaster' will be replaced with new guidance.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how he intends to ensure that those responsible for competence and continuity in regional and national contingency planning fully discharge their responsibilities to the public. [153041]

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary chairs Cabinet Committees overseeing this work. Their membership includes Ministers representing the Government Departments that have responsibilities in this area as well as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which is responsible for Regional resilience, and senior representatives of the emergency services and intelligence and security services. These Committees drive and monitor both contingency planning and the resilience capability building programme. The Cabinet Secretariat, under Sir David Omand, provides central co-ordination for this activity, including monitoring relevant training and exercising of emergency capabilities.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Government Departments are involved in civil contingency co-ordination at (a) national and (b) regional level. [153042]

The Home Secretary has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the Government's response to major emergencies at both national and regional levels. He chairs the Civil Contingencies Committee.At the national level, the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) in the Cabinet Office, under the Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator, Sir David Omand, has the task of driving, monitoring and coordinating the range of departmental work necessary to develop the UK's resilience and contingency planning ability. The core frameworks through which the CCS co-ordinates the contingencies planning of Government Departments are the Capabilities Programme, announced by the Home Secretary in a statement to the House on 3 March 2003, and the Lead Government Department list, announced in answer to a Parliamentary Question on 23 July 2002.At the regional level, the Government has established a new civil protection tier designed to provide a strong bridge between civil contingency planning at national and local levels. This activity is co-ordinated through the Government Offices for the Regions and the Regional Co-ordination Unit in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what percentage of staff employed within the Office are over 55 years of age; and what (a) number and (b) percentage of staff recruited over the last 12 months are over 55 years of age. [145769]

[pursuant to his reply, 20 January 2004 Official Report, c. 1130–32W]: The following answer should be used.Table A shows the number and percentage of staff in departments and agencies aged 55 and over at 1 April 2003. Table B shows the number and percentage of recruits to departments and agencies over the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 who are aged 55 years and over. The figures in both tables are based on the headcount of permanent civil servants. The numbers and totals are rounded to the nearest 10 from the raw data, while the percentages shown are calculated using the raw data alone. Hence the percentage does not always appear as if calculated from the rounded numbers. Any numbers and percentages less than five have been suppressed and are displayed as a dash.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the reduction in Children's Fund money for projects on jobs and services for young people. [151429]

[holding answer 27 January 2004]: The 2003–04 mid-year review of expenditure found that the Children's Fund was underspent in the first half of the year.The Department met representatives from the main voluntary sector organisations involved in the Fund, the LGA and the ADSS on 18 December to discuss the review and assess its impact. Officials then wrote to all Children's Fund partnerships on 19 December 2003. We advised partnerships that where our decisions at the mid-year review had compromised their ability to meet contractual obligations, we would revisit them. Furthermore, we set aside some money to assist where there was a likelihood of staff redundancy or premature closure of services. The Children's Fund regional teams discussed this in detail with partnerships during January, identifying where we should restore funds taken back in the mid year review. This process was completed at the end of January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) on what basis he deemed it appropriate to state ahead of (a) the Appeal Court judgment in the case of R v. Angela Cannings and (b) the subsequent review of cases announced that children taken away from birth parents as a result of judgments where expert witness testimony from Sir Roy Meadow has been instrumental should not be returned to them if judgments are found to be unsafe; [151025](2) what directions he has issued to local authority departments to

[holding answer 26 January 2004]: The Appeal Court announced its judgment in the case of R v. Angela Cannings on 19 January 2004. I am now studying the judgment carefully, in the light of the Attorney-General's statement in the other place on 20 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the schools in West Derbyshire which ran a budget deficit in the year ending 31 March 2003; and how much this deficit was for each school. [150880]

The information requested is submitted to the Department according to local education authority areas, rather than districts within an area: West Derbyshire is a district of Derbyshire local education authority. The information for Derbyshire LEA is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many school drugs advisers are in post in each local education authority; and what estimate he has made of how many will be in post after April; [151430](2) what funding has been made available for employment of school drugs advisers

The Department does not collect information centrally on the number of school drug advisers within each local education authority.Funding for school drug advisers (£7.5 million per year) has been made available through the Standards Fund since 2001. From April 2004 it will be up to local education authorities and schools to support drug education, including school drug adviser posts, out of the total resources available to them.Young people will continue to receive advice and support on drug issues from schools, the Connexions Service and a range of local agencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with (a) other departments and (b) local education authorities to promote the consumption of milk in English schools. [152802]

Following a 20 per cent. reduction in the European Union (EU) subsidy on school milk from January 2001, this Department, the Department of Health and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, agreed to meet the annual £1.5 million shortfall from their budgets.In addition, DfES officials discuss school milk policy with other Government Departments, local education authorities and schools whenever there are issues of common interest to resolve.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average time spent by pupils per week on (a) physical education and (b) after-school sport was in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [152698]

[holding answer 3 February 2004]: Historically, the Department has not collected data annually on the average time per week spent by pupils on physical education and school sport. Data collected during the autumn term 2002 suggested that about a third of schools at Key Stages 1, 3 and 4 and two fifths at Key Stage 2 offered their pupils two hours of high quality PE and school sport each week within and beyond the curriculum.Data is currently being collected on the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high-quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent (a) per primary school pupil and (b) per secondary school pupil in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 2001; and what plans there are to increase this figure. [148406]

The information requested is given in the following table.Our plans for funding increases for the next two years are that recurrent funding for schools in 2004–05 will increase by £1.6 billion, with a further increase of £2.2 billion in 2005–06. Capital funding is rising—this year it is £3.8 billion and will rise by £1.2 billion to £5 billion by 2005–06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many business link operators did not satisfy the independent audit of their finances and management information systems in each year since 1997. [152046]

Independent audits of Business Link Operators (BLOs) began in 2001 following re-engineering of the Business Link Operator network.By their very nature independent audit reports contain recommendations for improvements in the financial and management control systems. To date there has been one instance where these reports have identified serious weaknesses in a BLO's financial and management systems. This was a identified as part of the current financial year's independent audits and we are developing with the BLO concerned an action plan to address the issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Business Link operators did not achieve the performance levels required for their key performance indicators in each quarter since 1997; and what steps have been taken to address this. [152051]

The Business Link Operator (BLO) Performance Management Framework was introduced in the 2002–03 financial year. As a result of a review of quarter 3 2002–03 performance levels, three BLOs were identified as seriously underperforming and their contracts were not automatically extended. Another two BLOs were identified as underperforming, but to a less serious extent.All five have been required to undergo a Business Performance Review (BPR) which focused upon areas of weakness and which has resulted in a remedial plan. The appropriate Small Business Service Regional Team/ Regional Development Agency contract manager is monitoring the implementation of these plans.Following their performance results for Quarter 4 2002–03, a further two BLOs have been required to undergo BPRs. These have also resulted in the production of a remedial plan which is being monitored by the appropriate contract manager.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to encourage co-defendants to sign up to the Coal Health Handling Agreement; and if she will make a statement. [147199]

The small number of outstanding issues is principally a matter for resolution between the claimants' solicitors and the co-defendants.The two main groups of co-defendants are small private mines, which produced coal during the nationalised period and who have concurrent liability with British Coal and the successor companies, such as UK Coal who have consecutive liability. Negotiations with both groups are advanced. At the end of January, representatives of the DTI, the Claimants Solicitor's Group (CG) and the small mines will take part in a three-way mediation exercise to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues between them.The Department has been working with its claims handlers to develop a mechanism for paying interim awards to men who worked for small mines. The first payment went out in December 2003.Discussions with the successor companies to sign up to the Claims Handling Agreement have also reached an advanced stage. UK Coal and the CG have recently

produced new information regarding dust levels in successor mines. The parties' experts are currently reviewing these reports and further negotiations will take place shortly. If the remaining issues cannot be resolved through negotiation, mediation will be explored.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company insolvencies there have been since 1997, broken down by region and industry. [152009]

Table 1 records the number of company compulsory liquidations by region classified according to groupings of Official Receivers' Offices from 1999 to 2002 and the first three quarters of 2003. Statistics have not been provided prior to 1999 because of boundary changes.Table 2 records total company insolvencies by industry from 1997 to 2002 and the first two quarters of 2003.Company insolvencies consist of company compulsory liquidations and creditors voluntary liquidations. Only compulsory liquidations are available on a regional basis whereas the industrial analyses are available for total company insolvencies, but creditors voluntary liquidations cannot be separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with her Irish counterpart about the potential for electricity blackouts with reference to the problems identified by the Irish electricity regulator and the Irish National Grid. [152551]

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures have been taken to publicise the joint Public Consultation on Modernising the Policy for Decommissioning the UK's Nuclear Facilities being undertaken by the Department in association with the Treasury, DEFRA, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly and the Ministry of Defence. [147999]

[holding answer 15 January 2004]: A Public Consultation on Modernising the Policy for Decommissioning the UK's Nuclear Facilities was issued on 28 November 2003. Copies of the consultation were circulated to MPs, MEPs, Welsh Assembly Members, MSPs, local authorities, members of the nuclear industry, relevant Trades Unions, environmental organisations, and a wide variety of stakeholders. Copies were placed in the Libraries of the House.The consultation document was publicised by a national press notice released on the day of publication. This was sent to relevant newswires, national and regional newspapers, and posted on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk/nuclearcleanup/pdfs/decomcondoc.pdf

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Office of Civil Nuclear Security has been asked by (a) the United States and (b) French nuclear or transport authorities to assist in the security plans for the transhipment of weapons-usable plutonium from the United States to France. [150832]

[holding answer 5 February 2004]: The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is in contact with US authorities over the proposal for the transportation of plutonium from the United States to France and is in the early stages of discussions with them regarding the security requirements. OCNS, the UK's civil nuclear security regulator, would expect to be asked to approve a transport security plan prepared by the UK registered shipper Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd. (PNTL), which the US authorities would like to undertake this transportation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will provide a substantive reply to the written question tabled on 15 January from the hon. Member for Perth, reference 147999. [152522]

[holding answer 3 February 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today to question No. 147999.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications for pneumoconiosis benefit have been received under the Workmen's Compensation Act 1979 in each year since the passage of that Act; and how many cases have been successful. [151494]

I have been asked to reply.The information is in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she will take to ensure that local communities in Huddersfield are adequately served by post offices. [152726]

Post Office Ltd. has undertaken that, on completion of its programme to rationalise the urban post office network, in the UK as a whole 95 per cent. of the urban population will still live within one mile of the nearest post office and it is expected that the majority will live within half a mile.The Government have also placed a formal requirement on Post Office Ltd. to maintain the rural network. The Government have made available £450 million to underpin this obligation, in the first instance to 2006.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) rural post offices and (b) urban post offices have closed in Wales in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) constituency and (ii) local authority area. [151755]

Decisions on post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the post offices which have been closed since 1997 in the North Essex constituency; and when each closed. [152014]

[holding answer 30 January 2004]: Decisions on post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the reasons for the closure of the sub-post office in Southill in South Dorset, with particular reference to its distance from other post offices. [152402]

Decisions on post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what public consultation was held with the local community about the proposed closure of Stanhope Street Post Office in Abergavenny; and what the outcome was. [150637]

Decisions on post office closure proposals following public consultation are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the responsibility of the Government under UK and EU law to provide an adequate postal service to the community. [152791]

The Government consider the maintenance of a universal postal service in this country to be of the highest importance. That is why the obligation is enshrined in primary legislation in the Postal Services Act 2000 and why Postcomm has the primary statutory duty to ensure the provision of a universal postal service at an affordable uniform tariff.We wrote the universal service into law—Clause 4, section 1 of the Act guarantees:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what level of funding her Department has given to Small Business Europe in each year since its inception; and what level of funding she plans to give to the organisation in future financial years. [152528]

Up to the end of January 2004, Small Business Europe had received £346,926 from the Department of Trade and Industry for delivering the Brussels-based SME liaison office service. A further £170,000 is scheduled to be paid in monthly instalments for continued delivery up to the date of contract completion on 31 May 2005.The payments broken down by financial year, and excluding VAT, are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken to ensure that support is provided by the wider business support infrastructure to assist Smart award-winners to take the outputs of their projects into the market place. [152056]

The Smart scheme in England has now been replaced by Grant for Research and Development. All potential applicants for the grants are urged to discuss their plans with their local Business Link operator before making an application and grant recipients are strongly encouraged to maintain a dialogue with Business Link throughout the period of the project and beyond. Business Link acts as a gateway to most of the services the Government offers to small and medium-sized businesses in England and Business Link Advisers can offer information and advice on all aspects of setting up and running a business. Business Link provides advice to over 300,000 small businesses every year at start up and growth stages with the quality and reach of that advice increasing all the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in encouraging the use of solar panels on residential dwellings. [152868]

[holding answer 5 February 2004]: Under the Clear Skies initiative, which supports the installation of solar hot water heating systems among other small-scale renewables, 1,585 individual household grants have been approved with a total value of £792,000. Of these, 622 with a value of £311,000 have been paid to date.Under the Community stream of Clear Skies, funds offered for solar hot water heating have a value totalling £968,734. It is difficult to give an exact number of dwellings that this equates to but it is estimated at approximately 560.Under the Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme, which provides grants for the installation of solar electric panels, 408 Stream 1 individual small-scale (0.5 kWp to 5 kWp) applications have been approved at a total value of £2,843,496. Of these 221 with a value of £1,436,978 have been paid to date. Approximately 80 per cent. of these are for residential dwellings.Under Stream 2 (medium and large-scale) of the Programme, 25 group-housing (5 kWp to 100 kWp) applications have been approved with a total value of £2,684,866. These applications equate to approximately 500 roofs/dwellings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the Stop Now Orders that were issued in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; whether any of these were for traders based in the area of Dudley metropolitan borough council; and if she will make a statement. [152462]

Since June 2001 when the Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) came into force, seven stop now orders have been sought and obtained from the Courts. In 2001 one was obtained by a Trading Standards Department. In 2002 two were obtained by Trading Standards Departments and two by the Office of Fair Trading. In 2003 one was obtained by a Trading Standards Department and one by the Office of Fair Trading. None of the orders were concerned with traders based in the area of Dudley metropolitan council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 9 December 2003, Official Report, column 454W, on the US-UK Energy Dialogue, on what dates the Commercial Working Group of the Dialogue has held meetings since March 2003; and where each of these meetings was held. [152982]

The commercial working group was developed by the US Department of Commerce and the Department of Trade and Industry as a forum to give US and UK energy companies a voice in discussions between the two Governments on bilateral energy cooperation, security and supply issues. It has met on two occasions—on 16 December 2002 in London and 26 February 2003 in Washington.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment she has made of whether large-scale wind farm development will affect the risk of large-scale electricity blackouts, with particular reference to more remote parts of the U K; [152550](2) what assessment she has made of the impact of large-scale intermittent windpower generation on the operation of conventional back-up; [152552](3) what assessment she has made of the risks to security and stability of supply from

Existing electricity trading arrangements incentives market participants to deliver secure supplies and to manage the effects of intermittent generation, along with other risks, in so doing. Our proposals for BETTA will ensure that market participants in all parts of Great Britain face a uniform set of trading arrangements.Analysis carried out as part of the White Paper process shows that the electricity system could cope with an increasing reliance on renewable generation, including wind. The White Paper analysis also highlights that as the proportion of intermittent generation increases, so does the cost of maintaining stable supplies. These costs need to be managed and new ways found to minimise them. We are already funding research into this through the DTIs Renewable Energy programme and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's SUPERGEN programme. In addition, as part of our current capital grant programme we allocated in 2002 an additional £4 million to facilitate the demonstration of new control, storage and metering technologies.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many representations he has received from Devon constituents in support of plans for an elected regional assembly for the South West. [153075]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 11 responses from Devon constituents in support of plans for an elected regional assembly for the South West.In addition, the Government's soundings exercise, which was held last year, sought to determine the levels of interest in holding a referendum on establishing elected regional assemblies. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 61 responses from individuals in Devon, 20 of whom wanted a referendum, 40 of whom opposed such a referendum, and one of whom expressed no opinion. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister believed that there is not a high level of interest in the South West and has not initiated the local authority reviews that are the precursor to a referendum.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of discussions between NATO and the EU regarding a European Security and Defence Policy mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. [153324]

The UK's vision for Bosnia is a sovereign, independent and united country, with a democratic and accountable government, a free market economy and tolerance of minority rights. We expect it to fulfil its obligations to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. We wish to see Bosnia on an irreversible track towards European and Euro Atlantic integration. Getting there will require an evolution in the presences of the international community, including the EU and NATO. NATO Foreign Ministers agreed in December 2003 that the Alliance should start work with the EU on planning a possible EU mission under Berlin Plus arrangements. The Brussels European Council also in December 2003 endorsed this. Against this background, NATO and EU officials are taking forward planning on a possible EU mission, without prejudice to any formal decision at the June Istanbul summit to terminate SFOR.The UK fully supports this process and wants to see NATO successfully terminate its SFOR mission in Bosnia, probably at the end of 2004, while maintaining a limited military operational presence in the country. This would be a significant step in Bosnia's development towards a self-sustaining future. We want to see an EU-led presence, which is robust, credible and able to provide a safe and secure environment allowing the EU to take forward its objectives in Bosnia. The UK has offered to take the first lead of this EU-led mission.The UK wishes to see the residual NATO presence run defence outreach activities such as defence reform and Partnership for Peace programmes. We also believe it should retain some operational activities, such as hunting for indicted war criminals and counter-terrorist operations.Bosnia provides an opportunity for NATO and the EU to put their commitment to co-operation into practice in the first major Berlin Plus operation. Effective consultation at all levels will be crucial. The EU will need to develop a joined-up approach, linking its economic, civil, development and military instruments. The UK looks forward to supporting these efforts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps have been taken in relation to the European Council's decision to begin the improvement of the preparation of European Union operations having recourse to NATO assets and capabilities; when such steps were taken; what further steps are envisaged; and if he will make a statement; [153325](2) what steps have been taken in relation to the establishment of a cell with civil and military components in line with the European Council's decision of 12 December 2003; what future steps are planned; when he expects such a cell to be completed and operational; and if he will make a statement. [153326]

The Conclusions of the 12–13 December 2003 European Council welcomed the Presidency paper on "European Defence: NATO/EU consultation, planning and operations." This sets out how the European Union's collective crisis management capacity can be strengthened, particularly in the field of planning. The European Council invited the Secretary General/High Representative, Javier Solana, to propose measures for the improvement of the preparation of European Union operations having recourse to NATO assets and capabilities, and for the establishment of a cell with civil and military components. The European Council concluded that these measures should enter into force as early as possible in 2004.We look forward to the Secretary General/High Representative's initial report, which will be a basis for discussion among EU member states and with NATO and will lead to further, more detailed work. The Government supports the strengthening of NATO/EU planning links and of ESDP planning capacity, particularly in the civilian/military area. The Presidency paper reflects UK priorities and we will remain in touch with the Council bodies and other member states as work to implement it is taken forward.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2004, Official Report, column 1415W, on Iraq, what the timetable is for the International Advisory and Monitoring Board completing the report on the income and expenditures of the Development Fund for Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority. [152413]

No timetable for completion of the report on income and expenditures has been published by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB). The IAMB is an independent body, with membership drawn from the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which companies were represented on the trade mission to Pakistan in December 2003 which was joined by the Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs. [152854]

Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) led a Trade mission to Pakistan, on 7–12 December 2003. The mission was funded by UK Trade and Investment under the outward mission scheme; 12 UK companies took part in the mission.NCCI have asked us not to release the names of the companies owing to commercial sensitivities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he expects to take in order to implement the recommendations of the Solana paper adopted at the European Council of 12 December 2003; what changes he expects to make to the UK security posture; and if he will make a statement. [153327]

The Government expects initial implementation of the Strategy to concentrate on the four priority areas tasked by the European Council when it adopted the European Security Strategy at its December meeting: effective multilateralism with the UN at its core, the fight against terrorism, a strategy towards the region of the Middle East and a comprehensive policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Government are committed to the full implementation of the Strategy to help bring coherence and greater robustness to the EU's external policies.The UK's security posture is already in line with the analysis behind the European Security Strategy. As outlined in the Strategic Defence Review New Chapter, we have already taken steps to ensure our forces are configured to respond to the new global threats of the post September 11

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are employed by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible. [153233]

The information is in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 28 January 2004, Official Report, column 367W, on Bugaled Breizh, if he will give the locations of the other military vessels from other nations involved in the international exercise at the time of the sinking of the Bugaled Breizh. [153399]

From information provided by the vessels at the time, the locations of the foreign warships involved in the international exercise were:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps his Department has taken to identify the number of civilians killed as a consequence of UK military action in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq; and what measures it adopts to address the needs of dependants; [143595](2) what his estimate is of the number of civilians killed

We make every effort to minimise any impact of the coalition's military action on the Iraqi and Afghanistan populations. We have no reliable means of ascertaining the numbers of Iraqi military personnel or civilians killed during major combat operations in either country.Since the end of major combat operations in both countries, UK forces have reported all fatalities which arose from incidents in which they were involved and of which they are aware. In cases where we are able to confirm that a civilian fatality has been caused by UK forces, local officials have access to advice to help them assess the needs of dependants.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the budget for the Defence Fire Service was in 2003; what the anticipated outturn is; how much is budgeted for 2004; and what additional costs have been incurred as a result of Operation Telic. [146167]

There is not a single central budget for the Defence Fire Service, the costs of which are disaggregated to lower level budget holders. Information on the total cost of the Defence Fire Service is therefore not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.The total additional costs to date of the Defence Fire Service deployment for Operation Telic has been £3.28 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Defence Munitions Depot at Dean Hill is still in use; and if he will make a statement. [147178]

[holding answer 14 January 2004]: The Defence Munitions Depot at Dean Hill is no longer in use. All munitions tasks have been transferred to other sites as part of the closure plan, which remains on schedule for completion by 1 April 2004.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received from non-governmental organisations of their estimates of Iraqi (a) civilians and (b) military casualties (i) during and (ii) since the recent conflict. [140788]

The Ministry of Defence has recently received reports from Human Rights Watch and Medact both of which contained their estimates of the numbers of military and civilian casualties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will allow (a) hon. Members and (b) others wishing to investigate human rights violations in Iraq full access to British military personnel stationed in southern Iraq. [141740]

Requests made by an hon. Member or any other person to speak to a member of the British Armed Forces stationed in Southern Iraq or elsewhere are a matter for the individual concerned and his Commanding Officer. The individual must personally agree to the request. The Commanding Officer considers whether to allow access taking into account a range of factors including the reasons why access has been requested, operational security, the existence of any investigation or proceedings involving the individual concerned and the physical security situation at the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether complaints have been received from Iraqi lawyers acting on behalf of the families of the alleged victims of actions by British forces in Iraq with regard to the (a) conclusions and conduct of investigations and (b) alleged incidents. [147678]

We are not aware of any complaints from Iraqi lawyers acting on behalf of families of the alleged victims of actions by British Forces in Iraq about the conclusions, or conduct, of investigations or about alleged incidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents of alleged or possible civilian fatalities involving British forces in Iraq since the end of the conflict have been recorded by the units involved. [147700]

UK forces report all fatalities of which they are aware arising from incidents in which they were involved but it is not always possible to confirm whether fatalities have occurred during a particular incident. For example, in some incidents we believe Iraqi dead may have been taken away by their compatriots before UK forces could investigate. In other incidents UK forces have been forced to withdraw before any Iraqi fatalities could be confirmed.As at 2 February, since the end of major combat operations 37 alleged fatalities had been reported by British units of which 18 have been the subject of investigations. All those not subject to investigation involved assailants attacking British forces and in defending themselves the soldiers involved were acting clearly within their Rules of Engagement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many Challenger 2 tanks went into action in Operation Telic without their operational nuclear, biological and chemical filters having been fitted; [152767](2) what individual protection the crews of Challenger 2 tanks had against nuclear, biological and chemical attacks other than NBC suits when in action during Operation Telic; [152769]

All Challenger 2 crew members are equipped with a full set of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) Individual Protective Equipment (IPE), which includes boots, gloves, a respirator and NBC suit. Crews are also trained to operate their vehicles whilst wearing this equipment. In addition to the NBC IPE issued to each Challenger 2 crew member during Operation Telic, further individual protection was provided through the issue of a prophylactic drug (Nerve Agent Pre-treatment System (NAPS)). NAPS is to be taken orally, when ordered to do so, during preparations for operations. Further protection against the-effects of nerve agents was provided in the form of atropine injectors. Atropine is self-administered following exposure to nerve agent poisoning.The length of time personnel could wear NBC IPE while in armoured vehicles and the effect on their operational efficiency would vary according to the circumstances.As stated in the National Audit Office's report, none of the Challenger 2 tanks that went into action in Operation Telic was fitted with operational Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) filters. NBC filters were available in theatre but, owing to difficulties with asset tracking, were not issued to front line units in time to be fitted during the war-fighting phase of the operation. By the time NBC filters were issued to front line units, the NBC threat was deemed to have reduced significantly owing to the attrition of possible means of delivery.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the crews of Challenger 2 tanks which went into action in Operation Telic without their operational nuclear, biological and chemical filters fitted (a) wore individual NBC suits continuously and (b) had NBC suits with them for immediate use if attacked. [152768]

All UK military personnel deployed in Iraq were issued with NBC Individual Protective Equipment (IPE) which they were required to carry with them at all times. Challenger 2 tank crews would have carried their NBC suits inside their vehicles during operations and would have worn them if the National Contingent Commander or local commanders deemed it necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures were in place during Operation Telic to alert the crews of Challenger 2 tanks to nuclear, biological and chemical attack. [152770]

UK forces have well established procedures for the dissemination of NBC information to all locations, units, sub-units, down to individual sections and vehicles. This applies equally to static locations and manoeuvre units, and relies on the transmission of appropriate warnings and alarms over the normal Combat Net Radio, backed up with visual and audible warnings and alarms.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who is entitled to make a request for an urgent operational requirement; what procedures are followed when a request has been submitted: how long it should take for an urgent operational requirement request to be considered; and if he will make a statement. [151348]

[holding answer 27 January 2004]: Frontline commands, theatre commanders or Directors of Equipment Capability (DECs) can each generate requests for Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR). These are passed to the Permanent Joint Headquarters for endorsement. DECs, in co-operation with Integrated Project Teams in the Defence Procurement Agency or Defence Logistics Organisation, investigate if it is possible to fulfil the requirement through the purchase of new equipment or the modification of existing equipment. Where this is so a business case is drafted. This is then passed through an accelerated approvals process, which allows procurement action to be taken in the minimum amount of time. In most cases, the approvals process can be carried out in around a week (and in some cases as little as 24 hours). The need to ensure coherence of UORs with operational plans and priorities, to explore alternative ways of meeting the requirement or to confirm that a feasible solution can be delivered within acceptable timescales can in some instances add to the length of time needed to approve individual business cases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the Questions tabled by the hon. Member for Norwich North on 8 December 2003, refs 143594–6. [153241]

I have today answered two of the questions referred to by my hon. Friend, references 143594 and 143595, and I expect to answer the third, reference 143596, shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 505W, to the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr. Tyler), on Sea King helicopters, if he will place copies of the Board of Inquiry report in the Library. [153398]

It is not our practice or that of previous governments to place copies of the reports from Service Board of Inquiry in the Library of the House.A Service Board of Inquiry is an internal fact finding investigation undertaken by the services for their own use, into the circumstances surrounding a particular accident or incident. There is a principle of confidentiality associated with BOI proceedings, which is intended to encourage the provision of forthright evidence. Accordingly, external distribution of BOI reports is usually limited to the next of kin of service personnel killed in in-service accidents, to HM Coroners to assist in their preparations for Inquests, and to other bodies with statutory duties to investigate incidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what instructions she has issued to (a) local authority environmental health departments, (b) the State Veterinary Service and (c) the Meat Hygiene Service in respect of actions to be taken to limit the spread of avian flu; [152171](2) how much imported food has been

As soon as the outbreak of avian influenza in Thailand, the only affected country with which we have regular commercial trade, was notified we put in place a prohibition on imports of poultry meat and uncooked poultry meat products from Thailand derived from animals slaughtered after 1 January 2004. Details were sent to all Border Inspection Posts, local authorities, the State Veterinary Service, Meat Hygiene Service and to HM Customs. All the enforcement bodies concerned deal with such safeguard measures on a regular basis and are familiar with the procedures and vigilance necessary for dealing with affected products. On 28 January a further prohibition on imports of live birds from affected countries was issued in line with action agreed by member states in the EU and guidance issued to The State Veterinary Service and HM Customs. Prior to this precautionary measure live captive birds, such as falcons and finches, could be imported from the region on the basis of strict controls, including 30-day post import quarantine and testing for avian influenza.We are not aware of any food having been condemned as a result of avian influenza. Currently 31 consignments amounting to 489 tonnes of Thai poultry meat are detained at Border Inspection Posts, awaiting the required additional health certification.The World Health Organisation are investigating a `possible' human-to-human transmission of the disease in two sisters in Vietnam, but it is too early to say for definite whether or not this is the case. Human-to-human transmission of avian influenza is in any case rare and there have been no known cases of human-to-human transmission in this outbreak. The most likely source of infection resulting in human deaths from avian influenza remains in those known to have had direct contact with infected poultry.Controls on production of poultry meat for export from Thailand, in place before the outbreak was confirmed, mean that the risk of infected meat being imported is very low. The normal tests for avian influenza are used to detect the disease in live animals, not meat. Testing of foods for microbial pathogens is seldom helpful in protecting public health because, if present at all, they are likely to be present in very small numbers and are not distributed evenly throughout foods. This means tests would be unlikely to detect the virus unless the level of sampling was impractically high and very expensive.Defra has had no discussions with the World Health Organisation on this but the global strategy recommended by WHO includes the following:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the sensitivity of the test used on translocated badgers is in (a) positive response and (b) negative response. [150583]

The test, which is generally used, for the detection of TB in translocated badgers is a test for antibodies (the Brock Test). This is generally accepted to have a low sensitivity (the ability to detect diseased animals). However it is difficult to give accurate values for the sensitivity because euthanased animals are not always subject to laboratory culture.Where a badger translocation is carried out under licence (from Defra or English Nature) each individual badger is tested three times. If any of the three results are positive, the badger is euthanased. Any other badger that has been in contact with the positive testing badger is also euthanased, regardless of the results of its own testsWhere an orphaned or previously injured badger is translocated by an animal centre or similar body they follow a voluntary code of practice (drawn up by the RSPCA, National Federation of Badgers Groups and Secret World Wildlife Rescue). Any animal to be relocated is tested three times and, if it tests positive, is euthanased. This protocol does not advise in the destruction of badgers who have had contact with a test positive badger. It should be emphasised that this voluntary protocol was not devised or approved by Defra.The Veterinary Laboratories Agency is trying to develop a range of TB tests for badgers with improved accuracy, including a gamma-interferon test.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many herds were placed under TB restriction in December 2002; and how many of those same herds were still under restriction in October 2003. [150571]

A total of 725 herds were placed under movement restriction in December 2002. This includes 294 herds placed under movement restriction following disclosure of a new TB incident. The remainder were herds placed under movement restriction because the routine herd test was overdue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many herds require 60-day testing for tuberculosis; and what the estimated annual cost is for this testing programme in 2003–04. [150587]

All herds suffering a TB breakdown are subject to at least one short interval ("60-day") test. A total of 7,275 short-interval tests were carried out from April to December 2003, at an estimated cost (including administration costs) of £3,485k. The forecast cost for 2003–04 is £4,600k.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) pursuant to her answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 215W, what epidemiological inferences can be drawn from the observed seasonal trends in the incidence of TB in cattle; [150596](2) what further research she is planning into seasonal trends in the incidence of TB in cattle. [150712]

The absolute number of new TB incidents disclosed every month is closely correlated to the rate of testing. Hence, the majority of incidents are detected in the winter months (October through March), when most herds are tested.However, if the data are adjusted to take into account the seasonality of TB testing, there does not appear to be a clear seasonal pattern in the rate of new TB incidents disclosed each month (i.e. it is not possible to conclude that the herd incidence of bovine TB in certain months of the year is consistently higher than in other months).Because of the difficulty in studying seasonality of TB infection, there are few reports investigating this aspect of the disease. However, the results of one such investigation was reported in a paper by Wilesmith et al (1982)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of M. bovis was isolated from (a) carcases and (b) faeces from wildlife species tested in studies carried out by or on behalf of her Department and its predecessor since 1974. [150611]

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, columns 21–18W, under what circumstances genetic structures of M. bovis undergo mutation following sequences of transmission, with particular reference to transmission between species; at what rate mutations occur; whether techniques and facilities are available to detect these changes; and whether back-mutation of bacilli from final host species would assist in the determination of the direction of inter-species transmission. [150847]

As Mycobacterium bovis is transmitted over time there is evidence that hyper variable regions of its genome change, although most of the genome remains stable. Changes can be identified using molecular biological techniques. Hyper variable regions may change in both intra and interspecies transmission. There is no reason to believe that, except for very rare adaptive changes, the rate of mutation will increase as a strain moves between species.The rate at which mutations occur depends on the region of the genome. Hence, single nucleotides have an average rate of change of about 10

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will commission research into broiler chicken welfare. [152150]

Defra funds an extensive research programme into broiler chicken welfare. This includes projects on key issues such as leg health and stocking density. Defra will continue to assess proposals for research.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the report from the EU Scientific Committee for Animal Health and Animal Welfare on chicken welfare. [152151]

The report of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare is the first step in enabling the Commission to bring forward proposals on specific welfare standards for meat chickens. The Commission has held discussions with an expert working group and other interested parties. The UK has been involved in this process and will continue to play a full role. The Commission expects to issue proposals later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the proposed timetable for the introduction of the fallen stock scheme to the pig and poultry sectors. [151645]

[holding answer 2 February 2004]: The Board of the National Fallen Stock Company is actively working with the relevant trade organisations to agree arrangements which will meet the specific needs of the specialist pig and poultry sector. The Government have made clear that it will ring fence a proportion of the Government funding so that these sectors will not lose out if they join the Scheme a little later than other livestock sectors. This has been accepted by the industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the effect of (a) a plentiful food supply and (b) the absence of a relative abundance of competitive fish species on the predation habits of large cod. [150914]

Robust conclusions about such questions are difficult to make because the ecology of the North sea is complex and variable, and cod can eat a broad spectrum of food items. The current low level of cod abundance suggests that over the North Sea as a whole cod are unlikely to be food limited, although one cannot exclude the possibility of periodic local effects. As top predators, there are relatively few species with which large cod are likely to be in direct competition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department will carry out simulation modelling of cod stocks, in respect of ICES areas IVa and IVb, which show the effect of (a) reducing the numbers of large adult cod from the overall biomass, (b) reducing inter-species competitive pressure and (c) increasing food supplies. [150915]

Existing models already show that the removal of large fish from the stock increases the threat to recruitment and hence further increase the threat of stock collapse. Multi-species models are still being developed by ICES. Results to date suggest that cannibalism, predation and food supply may have some affects on the cod stock, but they do not affect the overall conclusions of the North sea cod assessment, or the associated advice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the optimal stock level of cod in a fishery, relative to the carrying capacity of the fisheries, which will (a) produce the highest rates of biomass increase and (b) optimise the economic yield of the fishery. [150917]

Optimal exploitation and economic yield require a low fishing mortality rate which for North sea cod is likely to be about F=0.20 to 0.25. This is three to four times lower than the average fishing mortality assessed over the last decade.