asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will make changes to the authority responsible for making arrangements for the classification of video works under the Video Recordings Act 1984. [HL695]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today designated Mr. Andreas Whittam Smith under Section 4(4) of the Video Recordings Act 1984. Mr. Whittam Smith was appointed as President of the British Board of Film Classification on 1 January 1998, and my right honourable friend has designated him, in that capacity, to replace the Earl of Harewood and Lord Birkett of Ulverston.Copies of the Notice of Designation and the text of a letter my right honourable friend has sent to Mr. Whittam Smith confirming the designation have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have received any criticisms concerning the handling by coroners of recent cases of deaths in custody; and whether they consider that any changes are needed in the procedures and methods of coroners. [HL544]

Criticisms regarding inquests into deaths in custody are received from time to time. There are no current plans to amend coroner legislation in relation to the need to sum up evidence and give directions to a jury, but we are considering the recent recommendation from the Home Affairs Select Committee regarding the disclosure of relevant information in advance of such inquests.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have studied the report by the Penal Affairs Consortium entitled

The Government fully share the conclusions of the report that mentally disordered people who commit offences should have ready access to treatment and care, and that they should not be imprisoned unnecessarily. Effective inter-agency arrangements around the country are essential if the needs of mentally disordered offenders are to be addressed appropriately. The Home Office and the Department of Health are working together to encourage local agencies and services to develop the most suitable arrangements in the light of local circumstances.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their policy on the teaching of music in state schools in Scotland. [HL541]

The curriculum in Scottish state schools is not prescribed by statute but guidelines on the content of the curriculum are issued by the Secretary of State. Guidelines on the expressive arts, for pupils between the ages of 5–14, include music, and music is also available at Standard Grade and Higher Grade. A wide range of music options will also be available under the new Higher Still arrangements.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is, for each local authority in Scotland:

The available information is shown below:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was, for each local authority in Scotland, the turnout at the last local government election. [HL596]

The information is set out in the table below. The figures relate to the elections held in 1995 except in relation to the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Western Isles Areas, where the last elections were held in 1994.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they intend to take in the light of the observations of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, contained in his fourth report, published on 3 February 1998, concerning:

In his annual report for 1996–97, HM Chief Inspector of Schools in England did not focus on the issue of teacher incompetence. He emphasised that more teachers were teaching more effectively.In the

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to introduce measures to implement the European Union Working Hours Directive. [HL496]

Our aim is to publish draft regulations for consultation around the end of March and complete consultation in time to have regulations in force by 1 October.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in the light of the announcement by the Attorney General on Tuesday 3 February in relation to the use of DTI transcripts in future trials, they intend to continue to oppose the application to the European Commission on Human Rights of Messrs. Ronson, Parnes and Lyons in connection with the use of such transcripts in the first Guinness trial. [HL547]

Under the Rules of Procedure of the European Commission of Human Rights, pleadings before the Commission are confidential. It would therefore be wrong of the Government to answer questions about their pleadings.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their current scientific advice on whether depleted uranium munitions and other depleted uranium materials used by British troops, both for training purposes and in combat conditions, are hazardous. [HL385]

Details of our current scientific advice on Depleted Uranium were given in my letter to the noble Countess on 2 February, and subsequently published on 9 February (Official Report, col. WA 138) and repeated on 17 February at col. WA 17.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What controls were instigated by British Commanders at the end of Operation Granby regarding the collection and retrieval of materials from the battlefield, including those regarded by British troops as souvenirs, and whether there was any risk assessment conducted of the possible hazards associated with these materials. [HL437]Whether they have any records of items, not issued to British troops for the purpose of carrying out their official duties during Operation Granby, which were brought back to the United Kingdom at the end of hostilities as trophies or souvenirs; whether any of these items were tested for depleted uranium contamination, either chemical or radioactive, at the time they were transported to the United Kingdom; and whether they are aware of the current location of these items. [HL471]

Surviving contemporary departmental records indicate that MoD instructed Headquarters British Forces Middle East, HQ BFME, to set up procedures for the collection, cataloguing and securing of captured Iraqi equipment to be considered for possible return to the UK or Germany. Precise details of these procedures and the extent to which they were followed, or disseminated to troops other than those specifically involved in recovering such equipment, are not known. Units arriving at Al Jubail prior to returning to the UK or Germany were instructed to declare certain items of captured Iraqi equipment in their possession. However, it is likely that some captured Iraqi equipment left the Gulf undeclared. In the time available, the Ministry of Defence has been unable to determine the current location of items of recovered captured Iraqi equipment.Further guidance, concerning the collection and retention of war souvenirs by individual Service personnel, was also issued by HQ BFME to subordinate formations. This guidance explained which items individuals were permitted to take out of theatre without restriction, which items required the permission of an officer not below the rank of Major, and which items could not be taken out of theatre by individuals in any circumstances, such as weapons, explosives and live ammunition. The Ministry of Defence has no knowledge of the whereabouts of personal souvenirs which may have been removed either in accordance with or in breach of these instructions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Henley on 6 December 1994 (

I am advised that the Written Answer to which the noble Countess refers was given in the context of dosemeters issued to those who were involved in the handling of DU ammunition in the Gulf, rather than to British troops generally. Dosemeters were not issued specifically to personnel who handled DU ammunition during Operation Granby. However, radiation dosemeters, designed to detect the high level radiation exposures expected in nuclear warfare rather than the very low level of radiation which is characteristic of depleted uranium, were issued to some British troops by units in the Gulf. These dosemeters would have been of no use for monitoring the very low levels of radiation emitted by DU ammunition.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the review of the nationality criteria for entry into the Armed Forces will be completed. [HL696]

A comprehensive review of all nationality issues for employment in the Armed Forces has just been completed. It has now been agreed that, with effect from 1 April 1998, the rules relating to nationality extraction, that is the nationality of an applicant's parents, should be relaxed in line with the changes made for Civil Servants. In the majority of cases parents of applicants will no longer need to be British or Commonwealth citizens, or Republic of Ireland nationals. In certain circumstances, where security is of paramount importance, applicants will be looked at on a case by case basis.It has also been agreed that the residency rules should be changed. The five year UK residency requirement for most applicants is to be relaxed to allow those who have spent less than five years in the UK entry into the Armed Forces.We believe that these rule changes will ensure that the Armed Forces become more open for potential recruits, particularly among the ethnic minorities.We have concluded that the existing rules relating to an applicant's own nationality should remain, namely that an applicant should be a British, British Dependent Territories or Commonwealth citizen or a Republic of Ireland national.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What quantities of meat and meat products were supplied to British servicemen at home and overseas in each of the last 12 months, and whether they can break the figures down; (a) by type of meat or product, and (b) by country of origin. [HL481]

I regret the information sought is not available for the past 12 months, but our new contractor, Booker Foodservice, has estimated that the quantities of meat expected to be supplied to the Armed Forces for the 12 month period ending September 1998 and its country of origin to be as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, since the publication in September 1997 by the Policy Studies Institute of its report,

In the five months since the Policy Studies Institute report was published, I have not commissioned further research on the practice of conditional fees. As the noble and learned Lord will know, the Policy Studies Institute report concluded that many of the potential problems identified with conditional fees before they were introduced appear to have been successfully addressed. I accept that further research, at the appropriate time, may be necessary and I plan to seek views on what further research might prove useful in the consultation paper that I plan to issue shortly.