asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the judgment delivered at Cambridge Crown Court on 11 September 1997, and all other papers and documents submitted to the court, in case A970014, the appeal of

The Question concerns a matter which has been assigned to the Court Service under the terms of its Framework Document. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many individual service personnel and military training teams from the United Kingdom Armed Forces will be deployed throughout 1998, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which were formerly occupied by the Soviet Union, to assist with the training of their Armed Forces.

The Ministry of Defence currently expects to deploy six individual Service personnel and 10 military Short Term Training Teams to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 1998. All are deployed at the specific request of the countries concerned, who seek to benefit from the expertise of the United Kingdom's Armed Forces. The aim of the training teams is to advise on the conduct of either officer or non-commissioned officer training. The individual Service personnel, all officers, are deployed to provide expertise in specific areas of defence management.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the allegations contained in the recently published book

It has always been the policy of this and previous governments neither to confirm nor to deny where nuclear weapons are located either in the UK or elsewhere, in the past or at the present time. Such information would be withheld under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of reports from the United States Air Force personnel that nuclear weapons stored in the Weapons Storage Area at RAF Woodbridge were struck by light beams fired from an unidentified craft seen over the base in the period 25–30 December 1980, and if so, what action was subsequently taken.

There is no evidence to suggest that the Ministry of Defence received any such reports.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have on the suicide of the United States security policeman from the 81st Security Police Squadron who took his life at RAF Bentwaters in January 1981, and whether they will detail the involvement of the British police, Coroner's Office, and any other authorities concerned.

MoD has no information concerning the alleged suicide. Investigations into such occurrences are carried out by the US Forces.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have on the medical problems experienced by various United States Air Force personnel based at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge, which stemmed from their involvement in the so-called Rendlesham Forest incident, in December 1980.

Information on medical matters relating to US personnel is a matter for the US authorities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have made provision for those detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure to have their cases considered by the Parole Board at oral hearings.

The Parole Board Rules 1997, which were made on 6 October 1997 under Section 32(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, came into force on 6 October. A copy of the Rules has been placed in the Library.The Rules apply to those detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure and to all discretionary lifers, including those sentenced under Section 2 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.Apart from minor changes to statutory references and interpretation, the Rules are identical to their predecessors, the Parole Board Rules 1992.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the Business Plan for the Prison Service for 1997–98.

We are publishing today the Prison Service's Business Plan for 1997–98, including the key performance targets I have set.We recognise the pressure under which the service is now operating. The audit of resources which we published on 25 July made it clear that the key assumptions on which the service had been planning for the current year, particularly the size of the prison population, have already been overtaken. We announced on 24 July an increase in Prison Service funding this year and next year to help meet these pressures. At the same time, work under way as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the study of ways of closer working between the Probation and Prison Services which we announced on 16 July, and other policy developments in the criminal justice field, will all have long term implications for the service, which makes long term planning difficult.For these resons, we have decided to publish a three-year Corporate plan this year. Instead we are publishing a Business Plan which sets out clear targets and priorities for this year but does not significantly change the longer term objectives previously set for the service and focuses on the need to accommodate the prison population safely while maintaining balanced, positive regimes so far as possible. We will shortly discuss with the Director General the priorities and direction for the service for the next three years, which will be reflected in the Corporate Plan for 1998–2001.The plan includes the performance targets against which the service has been operating so far this year. The majority will require some improvement on last year's performance, but we recognise that the further rapid rise in prisoner numbers so far this year, well ahead of the assumptions made when the plan was drafted, will have an impact on performance.The targets are:

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what basis prisoners will be transferred between United Kingdom jurisdictions and the Islands, following the introduction of Schedule 1 to the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.

The Government attach considerable importance to enabling prisoners to maintain family ties while serving their sentences. As part of a number of measures to facilitate family contact, there is provision for prisoners to transfer to another United Kingdom jurisdiction, or to one of the Islands, where they have close family members.The 1961 Criminal Justice Act provided for inter-jurisdictional transfers to be made on either a permanent or a temporary basis. Permanent transfers were normally refused where, as a consequence of differing early release provisions applying in the various jurisdictions, a reduction in time to serve would have been likely to result.In 1992, an inter-departmental working group recognised the particular difficulties posed in relation to the permanent transfer of long term prisoners to Northern Ireland because of differing early release provisions, and recommended that consideration be given to amending the legislation to overcome this problem. This recommendation was accepted and has been given effect in the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 (Section 41 and Schedule 1) brought into force on 1 October 1997.The new provisions provide for prisoners to be transferred to another jurisdiction on either an unrestricted or a restricted basis. In the case of an unrestricted transfer, the administration of the prisoner's sentence will become a matter entirely for the receiving jurisdiction. A restricted transfer will be subject to conditions whereby the sending jurisdiction will continue to administer certain specified aspects of the sentence.Transfers will continue to require the consent of the Secretary of State of both the sending and receiving jurisdictions. Normally, transfer requests will be approved only where the prisoner has at least six months left to serve in the receiving jurisdiction before his or her release date at the time of making the request, and where the prisoner has no outstanding appeal against conviction or sentence, is not charged with further criminal proceedings, and is not liable to any further period of imprisonment in lieu of payment of any outstanding monetary orders made by a court.Each application will be assessed on its individual merits, taking into consideration:

asked Her Majesty's Government:If they will publish the 1996–97 Annual Report of the Director of Transport Security.

Copies are available in the House Libraries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide rating relief for riding schools, racecourses and other equestrian establishments.

Riding schools, racecourses and other equestrian establishments are subject to non-domestic rates to the same extent as property used by other businesses, sport and leisure interests. We see no case for treating them more favourably. However, we are currently reviewing the non-domestic rating system as part of our wider review of the local government finance system. In that context we will consider the extent to which certain property, including that of non-profit making sports clubs, should receive rate relief.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are considering the use of the shortly to be decommissioned "Canberra" as accommodation for homeless people after being moored in a city.

We have not and are not considering such a use for the "Canberra". We have been advised that the vessel has been sold for scrap and is currently on its way to a breaker's yard in the Indian sub-continent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they approve of the interest rate change made by the Bank of England on Thursday, 7 August 1997.

The Bank of England raised interest rates by a ¼ percentage point on 7 August. The Government are satisfied that the new monetary policy arrangements will deliver long-term price stability, and prevent a return to the cycle of boom and bust.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are resisting the latest proposal of the European Commission to include British fishermen in their new working time proposals, in view of the present exemption of sea fisheries from the working time directive.

The Government have consulted the fishing industry on the proposals set out in the European Commission's White Paper on Sectors and Activities excluded from the Working Time Directive. The industry's views will be carefully considered in drawing up the Government's response to the White Paper.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the outcome of the Agriculture Councils held on 22 to 23 September 1997 in Brussels and on 20 to 21 October 1997 in Luxembourg.

My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food represented the United Kingdom at meetings of the European Union Agriculture Council on 22 to 23 September and 20 to 21 October. He was accompanied at the October Council by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office, Lord Sewel.At the September Council, EU Agriculture Ministers followed up their informal discussions of early September on the Commission's proposals to reform the common agricultural policy which have been made as part of Agenda 2000. On this occasion, discussion focused in particular on rural development, environmental and structural policy. Member states reaffirmed the importance of an active rural development policy to assist the transformation of European agriculture; there were however differences of view in the Council on the funding of rural and structural measures in the future. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food stressed the importance to the United Kingdom of setting the proposals on rural development clearly in the context of changes to the market mechanisms of the CAP, on which the Commission's Agenda 2000 proposals represented an important first step. He also emphasised the need to foster alternative rural enterprises as the source of new employment possibilities in the countryside in the future.The Council of Ministers also heard reports from the Commission on progress in negotiations on veterinary and plant health equivalence agreements with third countries; and noted the Commission's intention to lodge an appeal in the WTO dispute concerning hormones in beef. In a brief discussion of BSE, my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food reported to the Council the steps he has taken in the United Kingdom, both legislative and administrative, to tighten up our measures to counter illegal exports of beef and beef products from the UK. These were welcomed in the Council.My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food pressed the Commissioner and the Presidency to provide an early opportunity for the Council to discuss the present state of the beef market, on a basis of the Commission's promised report, to decide whether the short term market adjustment schemes agreed in 1996 were working effectively.My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food also raised in the Council the UK's serious concerns about the impact of the recent WTO Appellate body ruling on the EU bananas regime in so far as it affects access by ACP Caribbean banana producers to EU markets. He urged the Commission to reach a rapid and equitable solution to the problems flowing from the WTO ruling which would not only respect WTO obligations but would allow the EU to meet its commitments to the ACP and in particular to Caribbean trading partners under the Lomé agreement.At the October Agriculture Council, discussion concentrated on the market reform proposals contained in Agenda 2000. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food argued for the removal of production controls in the form of quotas and compulsory set aside and for a lowering of support levels to bring EU prices closer to world market prices and that transitional arrangements should begin soon. The Council will resume its discussion on this crucial issue in November. A letter from the President of the Agriculture Council to the President of the European Council on employment policy in rural areas was approved by Ministers.In a debate on the Commission's report on the beef and veal markets, my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food expressed doubts about the efficacy of the early marketing scheme for veal in reducing production on the EU market, and urged the Commission to make a further cut in the premium paid under the calf processing scheme. The Council reached political agreement upon changes to the system of support for producers of durum wheat. Under the compromise which was agreed by qualified majority (Greece, Sweden and Denmark opposing), the additional aid paid for durum wheat in traditional producing areas was reduced, and the maximum area eligible for aid in each member state determined: 5,000 hectares will be eligible in the United Kingdom.The Council discussed the Commission's green paper on the general principles of food law in the EU, in which my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food emphasised the UK Government's commitment to attaining very high levels of food safety. The Council also took note of Commission reports on genetic resources, BSE, and the state of play on veterinary and plant health negotiations with third countries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What financial provision, support and encouragement they contemplate for those wishing to return, as part of the current peace process, to homes and property they had been forced to vacate in border areas of Northern Ireland.

Under Sub-Programme 6 of the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, Fermanagh District Partnership has agreed in principle to award £10,000 to "Fear Encouraged Abandoning Route." FEAR, a not for profit company, seeks to support and encourage those contemplating a return to homes and property which they were forced to vacate in the border regions of Fermanagh.