asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will raise the case of Mordechai Vanunu with President Weizman during his visit to this country.

We have no plans to do so.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the outcome of their investigation into whether the Indonesian Government have broken undertakings given to the United Kingdom by allowing British manufactured water cannon to be used to crush peaceful dissent.

Water cannon do not fall into the category of equipment for which we have sought assurances from the Indonesian government. Nonetheless we have ensured that they are aware of our concern that UK-supplied water cannon should not be used to disperse peaceful demonstrations. We continue to investigate reports of an incident in Bandung in June 1996.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the United States Regional Airspace Initiative, which is intended to develop the sharing of both civil and military flight-plan and radar-tracking data in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Albania and Slovenia under a NATO inter-operable command, control and communications structure, has been discussed with the European Commission; and whether this initiative intrudes on the responsibilities of the European Union or has a bearing on European Union enlargement.

The US has previously discussed its Regional Airspace Initiative for airspace management modernisation with its NATO Allies. As far as we are aware there has been no contact with the European Commission. The initiative does not intrude on EU responsibilities. It does not have any effect on EU enlargement.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why they consider that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights should continue to be directly secured in the domestic law of Hong Kong after the resumption of sovereignty by the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997, but that the International Covenant and the European Convention on Human Rights should not be directly secured in the law of the United Kingdom.

Our policy that the ICCPR and the European Convention on Human Rights should not be incorporated into the domestic law of the United Kingdom arises from the particular nature of our constitutional arrangements, whereby Parliament determines public policy on the rights and freedoms of the individual.Article 39 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong's future constitution, provides that the provisions of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Region. Hong Kong's Bill of Rights Ordinance incorporates the provisions of the ICCPR into Hong Kong law.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in the event of the United Kingdom joining the single European currency, British oil and gas reserves will be pooled and put on the asset side of the single currency's pan-European balance sheet; and, if not, which Article, Protocol or Declaration in the Treaty on European Union safeguards these assets.

The EC Treaty provides for the European Central Bank (ECB) to hold some foreign exchange reserves transferred from member states participating in the single currency, in order to allow the ECB to carry out some of the tasks currently performed by their national central banks. The treaty does not provide for the pooling of other assets such as gas and oil reserves. The treatment of the United Kingdom's oil and gas reserves in balance of payments data or other statistics has no implication for the ownership or control of those reserves.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many basking sharks have been caught by Norwegian fishermen in British waters in each of the last four years.

None has been caught in the territorial waters of the United Kingdom because Norwegian fishermen do not have access within our 12-mile fishery limits.Figures are not available for Norwegian catches of basking sharks in the 12- to 200-mile zone of the United Kingdom's fishery limits, but Norwegian fishermen took 5.8 tonnes of basking shark liver in the waters of EU member states in 1993. No catches were recorded in 1994 and 1995, and data for 1996 are awaited.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied that the continued use of lindane is consistent with protection of the environment.

A full review of the agricultural uses of lindane was completed by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) in 1996. The Committee concluded that, when formulated and used properly, lindane poses no unacceptable risks to the environment. The Committee therefore recommended, and Ministers accepted, that approvals should continue.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What amount is budgeted for 1997–98 for the promotion of breast feeding in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively, and how this compares with the actual for the year 1996–97.

The Government remain committed to promoting breast feeding as the best way of feeding a baby. Allocations for centrally funded breast feeding promotion in 1997–98 are expected to be broadly comparable with those in 1996–97 in those United Kingdom health departments which identify this expenditure separately (some do not). But the precise figures have not yet been decided.These budgets do not include the cost of any local activity (e.g., by health professionals in clinics and general practitioner surgeries) to promote breast feeding, or the costs of the time of National Health Service staff who support mothers to breast feed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Scottish Environment Protection Agency are licensing the use of the persistent and toxic pesticide Ivermectin in Scottish salmon farms to control sea lice and whether this will put at risk crustaceans, invertebrates and fish in those waters.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has indicated that it has adopted a policy under which it is prepared under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 to grant discharge consent under certain strict conditions in respect of Ivermectin use for the control of sea lice in farmed salmon. I understand that the agency considers it would on balance be of benefit to the environment to phase out the main existing treatment for sea lice—that is, the use of dichlorvos. I understand the purpose of this policy is to gather adequate information on the environmental effects of Ivermectin and accordingly such consents would only be granted under strict conditions on a two-year trial basis.My right honourable friend the Secretary of State has received a number of requests to call in certain applications for such discharge consent for his own determination. This matter is being given careful consideration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the statutory authority for the appointment of a "nominating authority" for each of the religions which provide visiting ministers at prisons in England and Wales; by whom the nominating authority is appointed; and what consultations are undertaken when there is a request by any new body to be appointed as a nominating authority.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the fourth Written Answer given by Baroness Blatch on 10 February (

Instructions issued when the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1996 received Royal Assent made clear to staff that any detainee with a right to apply for bail should be informed of this. Leaflets issued to illegal entrants and those subject to deportation action are being updated and will, among other things, include advice on entitlement to bail. All detainees have access to legal advice, and information about this is available in detention centres.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many reports by the Chief Inspector of Prisons remain to be published, and on what dates each such report was submitted to Ministers.

Twenty inspection reports have been received from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons but have not yet been published. The establishments concerned, and the date on which the report was received from the Inspectorate by the Home Secretary, are set out in the table below:

Establishment	Date inspection report was received by the Home Secretary
Acklington	16 December 1996
Albany	22 October 1996
Belmarsh	17 December 1996
Channings Wood	22 October 1996
Chelmsford	16 December 1996
Dartmoor	29 August 1996
Dover	7 October 1996
Eastwood Park	6 January 1997
Everthorpe	14 November 1996
Featherstone	15 August 1996
Gloucester	22 October 1996
Lancaster Castle	18 November 1996
Onley	19 June 1996
Ranby	15 August 1996
Shepton Mallet	6 November 1996
Styal	12 February 1997
Usk/Prescoed	14 November 1996
The Verne	15 August 1996
Whitemoor	29 November 1996
Wormwood Scrubs	31 October 1996

The reports of the inspections of the following 10 establishments in the above list are expected to be published during February and March: Channings Wood, Dartmoor, Dover, Featherstone, Gloucester, Lancaster Castle, Onley, Ranby, The Verne and Wormwood Scrubs.

asked Her Majesty's Government:To what extent the building of a new Royal Yacht would be affected by European Community public procurement rules.

There is an exclusion from the European Community Public Procurement Rules in this instance as, on security grounds, the future Royal Yacht can only be designed and built in a British shipyard. An invitation to tender for construction of the vessel will be advertised in the MoD Contracts Bulletin in the usual way.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the cost of setting up the Defence Secondary Care Agency, and what are its annual operating costs, including salaries.

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Secondary Care Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my noble friend.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Eurofighter 2000 has been conceptually matched against (a) electronic and information warfare developments; and (b) warfare as it may be conducted by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by the time it is delivered.

The key parameters of Eurofighter's performance are defined in the European Staff Requirement for Development (ESR-D). The ESR-D takes into account likely developments in the fields of electronic warfare and future air systems in order to ensure that the RAF will have the best possible combat aircraft to meet future needs.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Royal Navy's definitions of its requirements for a Joint Strike Fighter take into account developments in (a) electronic and information warfare; and (b) warfare as it may be conducted with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by the time a Joint Strike Fighter is delivered.

The Staff Target which defines the Royal Navy's anticipated requirement for a Future Carrier-Borne Aircraft, which may be met by the Joint Strike Fighter, takes account of the various potential threats such an aircraft might encounter while in service. The final procurement decision will take into account our latest assessment of these threats and their implications for the Royal Navy's requirement.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many medical officers are serving in each rank and professional grade of the Territorial Army and other reserve forces.

Information on the rank and professional grade of medical officers in the TA and other reserve forces is set out in the following tables:

Medical Officers on the Retired and Emergency Lists of the Royal Navy
Consultants	Surg Capt	Surg Cdr	Surg Lt Cdr	Surg Lt
Pathology	1	3	1	0
General Surgeon	2	3	0	0
Occupational Medicine	2	10	3	1
Gynaecologist	1	1	0	0
Orthopaedic Surgeon	1	2	1	1
Radiologist	0	4	1	0
Anaesthetist	0	8	2	0
Applied Physiology	0	3	0	0
Dermatology	0	1	0	0
General Medicine	0	5	1	0
Ear Nose and Throat	0	4	0	0
Accident & Emergency	0	3	2	0
Ophthalmology	0	1	0	2
Neuro Psychiatrist	0	2	2	0
Nuclear Medicine	0	0	1	0
Rheumatology & Rehab	2	0	0	0
Specialists/Registrar
General Surgeons	0	1	1	0
Occupational Medicine	0	4	1	0
Anaesthetists	0	1	0	3
Ear Nose and Throat	0	0	1	0
Radiology	0	1	0	0
General Medical Practitioners	4	16	36	12
Non-specialist
Occupational Medicine	0	0	3	0
General Duties MO's	0	1	13	6
Total	13	74	69	25

Royal Naval Reserve Medical Officers
	Surg Capt	Surg Cdr	Surg Lt Cdr	Surg Lt
Consultants
Neuro Surgeon	0	0	1	0
Occupational Medicine	0	1	0	0
Gynaecology	0	1	0	0
Orthopaedic Surgeon	0	1	0	0
Oramaxillofacial	0	0	1	0
Paediatric Surgeon	0	0	1	0
Anaesthetist	0	1	2	0
General Medicine	0	0	4	0
Accident and Emergency	0	0	2	0
Neuro Psychiatrist	0	0	1	0
Neurologist	0	1	0	0
Staff Grade
Accident & Emergency	0	0	1	0
Specialist/Registrar
General Surgeon	0	0	1	0
Gynaecology	0	0	0	1
Orthopaedic Surgeon	0	0	0	1
Anaesthetist	0	0	0	2
Ear Nose and Throat	0	0	0	1
General Practitioners	1	1	16	1
Junior Hospital Doctors	0	0	0	2
Total	1	6	30	8