The comments of the Northern Ireland Probation Board on the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 were addressed by my right honourable friend the member for Westminster North during the debate on this order in another place on 10th December 1996, and also in his reply of 14th January 1997 to your letter of 30th December 1996.

There are no specific guidelines to encourage standardisation of the installation of hot and cold water taps for use of the general public to protect the safety of children and the visually impaired.No specific data are available on scalds from water taps, but data from the Department of Trade and Industry home accidents surveillance system database shows that there are approximately 530 accidents per year involving burns and scalds to children of 15 and under in bathrooms. The data do not indicate how many of these, if any, result from a lack of standardisation of taps. No data are available for such accidents involving the visually impaired.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Scottish Prison Service has refused to provide the Penal Lexicon for publication on their web site, given that the material it contains is freely available to all other information media; and whether they can explain how, as the Scottish Prison Service claims, the provision of information to the penal lexicon now could inhibit plans the Scottish Prison Service may have to develop their own web site at an unspecified future date.

The subject of the Question relates to matters undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell, to write to the Noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking on the findings of the interdepartmental committee established to examine the alleged export of arms from the United Kingdom to the Great Lakes Region of Africa; andWhat is the outcome of their inquiry into the allegations that a British firm improperly exported arms to the Great Lakes region of Africa, and what action they are taking.

Following media reports linking British companies to the supply of arms in contravention of UN embargoes to Rwandan extremists in Zaire, the Government announced on 19th November that they had established an interdepartmental committee to examine rigorously the UK's procedures in relation to trafficking in arms and to determine whether there had been a gap in controls, and if so what action needed to be taken. The committee's terms of reference were given to the House in a Written Answer from the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on 11th December.The committee's report was submitted on 17th December. It notes that Customs investigators are seeking to establish whether there have been any illegal acts coming within the United Kingdom's jurisdiction. It would not be appropriate to comment further on Customs and Excise investigations at this stage.The UN arms embargo on Rwanda was not implemented in the Crown dependencies, and there was also a delay in its implementation in the dependent territories. The gap in controls, which the report notes was a narrow one, has already been put right as recommended by the committee. Consideration is also being given to whether the precise terms of the existing Orders in Council implementing the UN arms embargo against Rwanda are adequate.The committee reached four main conclusions. First, that there had been a lack of consistency in implementing embargoes in the UK, its dependent territories, and the Crown dependencies. Second, that there were no structured arrangements for ensuring the timely and accurate imposition of embargoes. Third, there was a need for greater clarity and transparency on the scope of the embargoes. And finally, under current UK legislation, trafficking could only be prohibited in relation to binding UN arms embargoes.The committee recommended that:

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they propose to ratify Protocols 1 and 2 to the Geneva conventions, and what are the reasons for the delay, since the Royal Assent was given to the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act on 14th July 1995.

We have made clear our intention to ratify the additional protocols. The domestic legislation is now in place. Ratification has been deferred in order to resolve some outstanding issues in the context of the requests to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the legality of nuclear weapons. Our objective remains to ratify the Additional Protocols as soon as we can.

Donor states met in Brussels on 9th-1Oth January to exchange information on reconstruction needs for 1997. No decisions were taken on aid packages. The World Bank and the European Union plan to convene the next pledging conference on 4th March. This will take into account the conclusions of the London conference on conditionality.

The available information is given in the tables below.Data are given separately for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.In England and Wales detailed information on the number of persons charged is not collected centrally. The available information given shows cautions, prosecutions and convictions from 1991 to 1995, the latest available. It is not possible to identify all offences where the victim is aged under 16 years.In Scotland the available information given shows persons proceeded against and persons with charges proved. Offences are not included where the age of the victim is not clear from the nature of the charge (for example, common law offences of rape, indecent assault, shameless indecency, etc.). Data for 1995 are not yet available.In Northern Ireland detailed figures on the number of persons charged or cautioned are not available. The information given, from 1991 to 1995, shows the number of persons prosecuted and convicted for certain sexual offences where the victims are known to be aged under 17 years. Offences such as inciting a girl under 16 to commit incest and causing a girl under 17 to become a prostitute cannot be identified separately. A table is also given showing the number of victims, recorded by the police, of sexual offences aged under 17 years.