asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have about the CIA's report some weeks ago of a Russian nuclear weapons test in the Arctic.

It is for individual governments to announce their own assessments. We believe that the seismic event in the Kara Sea in northern Russia on 16 August was an earthquake measuring about four on the Richter Scale.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they will take, bilaterally and with the EU, to persuade the Democratic Republic of the Congo to rescind the ban on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' operations in North and South Kivu; and how many refugees from DRC still remain to be repatriated from Tanzania.

On 9 September 1997, Mrs. Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, suspended UNHCR activities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on the grounds that DRC actions had made it impossible to carry out their protection mandate. On 5 October the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo issued an order expelling UNHCR from North and South Kivu. Implementation of the expulsion order in South Kivu is uncertain, and UNHCR are seeking written clarification of the situation. We have given full support bilaterally, through the EU and in the UN, to UNHCR efforts to fulfil their mandate in the DRC. At this stage, however, UNHCR regard the negotiation of their re-entry to the country as their own responsibility. A new draft Memorandum of Understanding has been prepared, which UNHCR are currently discussing with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.UNHCR estimate that the original number of DRC refugees in Tanzania was 74,000. Of these, 35,000 had registered for repatriation and 7,000 had been repatriated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo before the suspension of UNHCR operations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made in establishing a cattle traceability system for Great Britain.

We are continuing to make good progress towards getting this system in place. My honourable friend the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced to the House on 30 July that the organisation responsible for administering the system, the British Cattle Movement Service, (BCMS), will be based in Workington, Cumbria. He also announced subsequently that BCMS will take over responsibility for cattle passports. There are now two further developments to report.First, the Government consider it very important for there to be as much reporting of cattle movements to the new cattle traceability database by electronic mail as possible. This should reduce the paperwork burden on businesses which move large numbers of cattle, such as livestock markets and abattoirs. To help such businesses, we are issuing a protocol today for them to follow in order to communicate with the database by e-mail. Copies are being sent to all livestock markets and abattoirs in Great Britain. We very much hope that markets and abattoirs will invest in the relatively small changes needed to their IT systems over the next few months. This work needs to start now if it is to be completed by the time the new computerised system goes live in 1998.Second, the Government have decided to charge for the cattle traceability system via cattle passports. Farmers applying for cattle passports will pay a fee which will cover the costs of the new computerised system. This follows consideration of a wide range of alternatives, including charging on the basis of the number of movements for which a business is responsible, charging via eartags, charging at slaughter and charging via an annual registration fee for cattle producers. Charging via passports was chosen because it should be easy to enforce, since cattle without passports cannot go for human consumption. Because it is simple, administrative costs will be kept down, so benefiting industry directly. The fee is expected to be in the range £5 to £10 per animal. The livestock industry will be involved in how this method of charging will be implemented, for example through its representatives on the Project Board which is managing the introduction of the computerised system.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What they propose to do to make quangos more open, accountable and effective.

The Government are determined to make quangos more accountable for what they do, more open in how they do it and more effective in achieving their aims. My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has today announced the publication of the consultation paper "Opening up Quangos", which builds on the valuable work done by the Committee on Standards in Public Life under Lord Nolan's chairmanship.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the recent record of Ministers in writing frequently to newspapers is consistent with paragraph 102 of the Ministerial Code which says that Ministers "are advised not to engage in controversy in the correspondence columns of either the home or overseas press" except to correct serious errors or misstatements of fact, when such letters should be brief.

Ministers have a duty to explain government policies to the public. If these are being misconstrued in the media it is wholly consistent with paragraph 102 of the Ministerial Code for the record to be set straight.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Answer of Lord McIntosh of Haringey given on 27 October (

The reason is to avoid the risk of politicisation of the Civil Service by publicly associating civil servants with specific policies.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the rate of unemployment in May 1997 in (a) the United Kingdom; (b) Canada; (c) France; (d) Italy; (e) Japan; (f) the United States of America; (g) Germany; (h) the former West Germany; and (i) the former East Germany.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much revenue they have received from inheritance tax in each year since 1990 and what is the cost of collecting it.

Net receipts of inheritance tax together with the costs of collection for each financial year since 1990 are given below:

asked Her Majesty's Government:How long former handgun owners can expect to wait for compensation for loss of handguns and ancillary equipment under compensation schemes A, B and C; and whether this is in line with the Government's previous expectations.

The average time to settle claims under options A and B is currently 13 weeks. Claims under option C, which require individual assessment of the evidence of value provided, are being deferred to allow faster processing of claims submitted under the first two options. Many option C claimants have also claimed under other options and so will receive a part payment of their claim first. This position is in accordance with our earlier expectations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How long after the proposed ban on 22 pistols the hand-in period will last; and how soon people will receive compensation for loss of equipment and weapons.

No decision about the implementation of the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill will be taken until the draft compensation scheme has been laid before both Houses and approved. As more than 26,000 small-calibre pistols have already been handed in voluntarily it is unlikely that the hand-in period will need to be as long as three months, the time allowed for surrender of large-calibre handguns prohibited by the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What public expenditure savings would accrue from the establishment of a single management executive in the place of the current health and social services boards.

The Government are currently considering what changes should be made to existing health and social services organisations in order to abolish the internal market. No specific proposals for organisational change have yet been made, nor have there been any estimates made of the costs or benefits of any particular change.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have recently received representation relating to the payment of fees for students from Northern Ireland attending universities in Scotland; and what steps they will take to ensure that students from Northern Ireland are treated fairly in relation to the payment of those fees.

No.Further discussions are taking place at ministerial level in relation to the issue.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations they have received regarding the implementation of Directive 97/11/EC on the assessment of certain public and private projects on the environment.

A consultation paper was issued on 30 July setting out in broad terms the Government's proposals for implementing the amended Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (97/1 I/EC). To date, 170 responses have been received from business, government and environmental organisations in the UK, as well as members of the public. A list of the responses has been placed in the Library of the House. Copies of all the responses have also been placed in the department's library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What response they have given to the Association of London Government's request for further help, discussed at a meeting on 5 November, over the 7,000 adults, 4,000 families and 450 unaccompanied children currently being supported by the London Boroughs.

The Department of Health is in regular contact with the Association of London Government and appreciates the financial and logistical burden facing local authorities as a direct result of the High Court and Court of Appeal rulings about asylum seekers. This is why three special grants will be made available to local authorities to contribute to the cost of accommodating asylum seekers in 1997–98. The local authority associations will be given the opportunity to comment on the terms of the grants which will be laid before Parliament.The Department of Health maintains that community care legislation is not the appropriate way to be providing for the needs of adult asylum seekers and for that reason we are appealing to the House of Lords on this issue. At the same time the Government are carrying out a fundamental review of the asylum process, including the way asylum seekers are cared for, looking at all the possible options available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many X-ray mammography facilities are operated by the National Health Service; and where each of them is sited.

This information is not held centrally. It is a matter for health authorities in partnership with trusts to decide how many X-ray mammography facilities to operate and where to site them, based on clinical need among the local population.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will introduce legislation to require National Health Service X-ray mammography screening facilities to obtain a certificate of approval, to be prominently displayed and renewed at yearly intervals, covering equipment, procedures, methodology, film processing, operator and consultant qualifications, keeping of records and monitoring of screening plans for women in eligible age brackets and susceptible categories.

There are no plans at present to introduce legislation to require National Health Service X-ray mammography screening facilities to obtain a certificate of approval.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many X-ray mammography facilities used in the National Health Service are certified as having ISO 9002 Quality Assurance Standard approval.

This information is not held centrally. It is not a requirement of the National Health Service that X-ray mammography facilities are certified as having ISO 9002 Quality Assurance Standard approval.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many different types of X-ray mammography equipment are used by the National Health Service and whether the National Health Service has now selected a preferred type of equipment which will improve image definition and reduce the radiation dose.

This information is not held centrally. It is a matter for individual health authorities to decide what mammography equipment to use, taking account of the Department of Health's Revised Guidance for Health Authorities on Mammographic Equipment (STD 90/46). Further guidance on mammographic equipment is included in the Breast Screening Programme's Guidance notes on mammographic X-ray equipment: Selection, maintenance, suspension from use, and replacement. There is no preferred type of equipment so long as STD 90/46 is complied with, and the equipment is maintained and checked to standards set out in the above guidance.Copies of the documents are available in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they support and promote the fluoridation of the water supply; whether they agree with the previous government about the impossibility of listing fully the scientific publications underpinning the effectiveness and safety of fluoridation (5 March 1997,

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of fluoridation of water supplies does not rest on the results of a few principal studies, but on the assessments of the very extensive relevant published scientific literature on the effects of fluoride (including human exposure to fluoride present naturally in drinking water), and on the results of more than half a century of fluoridation. We continue to monitor progress. Recent reviews, which contain lists or references, include:WHO Technical Report Series 846:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the daily cost, from the 14 October to date, for the maintenance and housing of asylum seekers arriving from Eastern Europe.

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.Between 17 and 27 October, 224 Czechs and 59 Slovaks arrived at the Port of Dover. Of these, 110 have been refused entry and removed. The Dover office of the Benefits Agency has received approximately 100 claims from the Czech and Slovak arrivals. A very broad estimate based on estimated average weekly benefit costs for asylum seekers is that the weekly benefit costs of these cases is in the region of £15,000 per week.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many medical consultants, as opposed to general medical practitioners, are employed by the Benefits Agency Medical Service to assess medical incapacity for War Pensions' purposes.

None. For the purpose of claims for War Pensions, the question of whether disablement is due to or is aggravated by service, and the degree of disablement, are matters for Medical Advisers employed by the War Pensions Agency. The advisers are fully registered medical practitioners, some of whom have postgraduate medical qualifications and are trained to assess any such disablement arising from both physical and mental conditions. In order to make their assessment they call upon a variety of sources of medical evidence, including reports from consultants.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made with the Ministry of Defence's plans for the modernisation of the Main Building in Whitehall.

The Ministry of Defence continues to examine options, under the Public Private Partnership scheme, for the long overdue modernisation of Main Building and its subsequent support. The building was constructed in the 1950s and does not meet today's needs. A major programme of work is required to correct the many current deficiencies and to provide a modern working environment, flexibility for the future and more cost effective use of space.Following the recently completed evaluation of outline proposals, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence approved the next stage of the project, which involves the issue of an Invitation to Negotiate to a shortlist of three consortia: Amey/Kvaerner, MoDeM (led by the Bucknall Group) and Mapeley Defence (led by the NationsBank).We are keen to see the project proceed, and we are encouraged by the outline proposals put forward by the three selected consortia. The next stage challenges the consortia to work closely with the Ministry of Defence to demonstrate their ability to come up with a winning and good-value-for-money scheme.Detailed responses from the consortia will be closely reviewed in the course of the next year as the competition proceeds. Final approval to sign a contract for the scheme will, of course, depend on satisfactory evidence that overall value for money can be achieved.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their policy on the Trident fleet and what is its relationship to their policy of seeking the elimination of nuclear weapons.

As the Government have frequently made clear, we are committed to retaining Trident to provide a minimum, but credible and effective, nuclear deterrent. This is wholly consistent with our objective of developing the stability in which we can take forward our commitment to achieving global, mutual, verifiable reductions in nuclear weapons.