asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their policy on the proposed international criminal court. [HL749]

We fully support the creation of an effective international criminal court to try those accused of the most serious crimes of international concern. We are continuing to play an active part in the negotiations which aim to agree the establishment of such a court at the diplomatic conference in Rome this summer. To assist the negotiating process we are convening, as the EU Presidency, a group of EU experts on the subject at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 25–26 February. We are also contributing 100,000 dollars to a UN trust fund to assist representatives of the 48 least developed countries to attend the diplomatic conference and the remaining meeting of the preparatory committee. I have today placed in the Libraries of the House a paper setting out our policy on the court in greater detail.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many consultants are employed by the Department for International Development; what were the dates of their appointment; what is the duration of their contracts; what are the terms of reference of their employment; and what will be the total sum payable in fees to these consultants. [HL692]

The Department for International Development currently employs 5 consultants paid for from its running costs budget. The information you require on each including outline terms of reference is:

Name	Outline terms of reference	Start date	Duration	Estimated cost (£)
Philip Howard	advice on the competitive tender and selection of freighting agent	11/09/1997	30 days	12,000
Richard Curaton	advice on the development and introduction of (staff) assessment centres	28/04/97	40 days	23,000
B I inform	feasibility study on making available UK accounting systems to overseas offices	16/02/98	20 days	16,000
London Economics	advice on private sector investment in infrastructure	01/11/1997	3 months	15,000
Sue Webb	advice on the Investors in People Initiative	01/01/1997	24 days	18,800

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the response to the United Kingdom Round Table on Sustainable Development's Second Annual Report will be published. [HL744]

The Government's response to the UK Round Table on Sustainable Development's Second Annual Report has been published today. We have been able to respond positively to many of the Round Table's recommendations and that action has already taken in a number of areas, for example:

• the Government have announced a 10-point plan to help secure reliable, efficient and environmentally sustainable water supplies;
• draft guidelines have been issued to local authorities on meeting their obligations under the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997;
• the Government have consulted widely on proposals to develop an integrated transport policy and will issue a White Paper in the spring;
• the Government have published a statement on their strategy for modernising the planning system, and a consultation paper on reform of regional planning guidance;
• legislation has been proposed to establish regional development agencies;
• the Government have established a review of renewable energy policy.

The Government value the Round Table's important contribution to the achievement of sustainable development. I am placing copies of the response in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will issue a circular to local authorities, extending the advice contained in Department of the Environment Circular 18/94 (Gypsy Sites Policy and Unauthorised Camping) dealing with evictions conducted under Sections 77 to 80 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, so that it applies also to Order 113 of the Rules of the Supreme Court: summary proceedings for possession of land. [HL729]

I refer the noble Lord to my reply to Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 26 January 1998 (Hansard vol. 585, col. WA 16).

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the gross annual costs of the Public Carriage Office and the London Taxicab Enforcement Office respectively; and what proportion of those costs is offset by licence fees received in respect of London black taxis and their drivers. [HL682]

The estimated gross annual cost of the Public Carriage Office in 1997–98 by each of its constituent sections is:

	£
The Public Carriage Office	2,001,900
Cab Rank Liaison Officer	22,400
Lost Property Office	307,600
Cab Enforcement Section	278,900
Total	2,610,800

The cost of the Public Carriage Office itself is entirely recovered from fees charged for taxi driver licences, taxicab licences and lost badges. The other costs are met from the Metropolitan Police Fund.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many persons are employed in the Public Carriage Office and the London Taxicab Enforcement Office. [HL683]

The number of persons employed in the Public Carriage Office by each of its constituent sections at 18 February 1998 was:

Public Carriage Office	65
Cab Rank Liaison Officer	1
Lost Property Office	12
Cab Enforcement Section	5
Total	83

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the gross cost to the Public Carriage Office and the London Taxicab Enforcement Office of the extra staff and resources needed to regulate private hire passenger vehicles under the current provisions of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Bill. [HL684]

The Explanatory and Financial Memorandum to the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Bill estimates the overall annual cost of administration and enforcement at about £4 million. Further work is being done on costs, but there must be uncertainty about any estimate, as there are no reliable statistics as to how many operators, drivers and vehicles there are in the London private hire vehicle trade. It is intended that the costs of administration of the London private hire vehicle licensing system and its enforcement by Public Carriage Office staff should be met by licence fees authorised by provisions in the Bill.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of the income from passengers using London's black taxis is derived from plying for hire, as distinct from bookings made in advance of the journey. [HL685]

This information is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the annual MoT test for motor vehicles will satisfy their requirements for the testing of London private hire vehicles under the current provisions of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Bill; or whether they recommend an MoT at more frequent intervals. [HL686]

The Bill provides for testing of London private hire vehicles to be required up to three times a year. Decisions on the content and frequency of these tests would be taken if and when the Bill becomes law.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What financial target has been set for the London Dial-a-Ride service. [HL772]

We have set a new financial target for the London Dial-a-Ride service for achievement for the financial year 1998–99. The new target will be £10.50 per trip at current 1997–98 prices and will replace the previous target set in 1996.The new target will allow the Dial-a-Ride companies sufficient flexibility to provide a wider range of trips and ensure that the grant is spent in a way which improves services for users.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to publish the report from Mr. J. J. Rowe, QC on the operation in 1997 of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989; and whether they will make a statement on the future of the Act in the light of Mr. Rowe's report.

My right honourable friend has today arranged for copies of Mr. Rowe's report to be placed in the Library. Mr. Rowe recommends that the legislation should be renewed in its entirety for a further 12 months. A draft order is being laid before the House today which continues in force most provisions of the Act for a further 12 months. In accordance with the announcement my right honourable friend made in another place on 30 October 1997, he has decided not to renew the exclusion order powers under Part II of the Act. This recognises the limited use which has been made of the powers in recent years. Two hundred and forty eight orders were in force in 1982, falling to 74 in 1994. No exclusion order has been in force in Northern Ireland since February 1995. No order was made in 1996 or 1997 against anyone who had not been previously excluded despite the fact that the ceasefire had ended. By May 1997, 22 orders were in force. No orders are in force now. It has long been our view that the powers are of limited value and objectionable on policy grounds. There is nothing in Mr. Rowe's report which leads my right honourable friend to change that view, nor has it been the practice of this or previous administrations automatically to follow the recommendations of reviewers. In 1987, a recommendation by the noble Viscount Lord Colville, as part of his fundamental review of anti-terrorist legislation that exclusion orders were "draconian" and should be removed from the statute book was rejected by the government of the day. The consultation document which is being prepared on future permanent United Kingdom-wide counter-terrorism legislation will provide an opportunity for discussion on whether the powers should be retained permanently or abolished. Our overall aim will be a framework of laws that are both effective and proportionate to the threat. This Government will never drop their guard in the fight against terrorism.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any 16 and 17 year-olds are currently held in prisons in Northern Ireland; if so how many; and how many persons under:

There are no 16 or 17 year-olds held in prisons in Northern Ireland.There are no persons under the age of 18 held at the Secretary of State's pleasure in Northern Ireland prisons. There is one person under the age of 21 held in prison in Northern Ireland at the Secretary of State's pleasure.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many persons of each sex are currently held at the young offenders centres in Northern Ireland. [HL581]

There are 153 males and three females currently held at the two young offenders centres in Northern Ireland.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many children and young people are currently held in each of: Lisnevin, St. Patrick's, Rathgael and the Lakewood Centre in Northern Ireland. [HL582]

	Male	Female	Total
Lisnevin	31	—	31
St Patrick's	12	—	12
Rathgael	28	9	37
Lakewood Centre	26	6	32
	107	15	112

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have examined the entry assessment of all young people now in the Training Schools in Northern Ireland; whether they are able to determine the proportion who suffer from physical or learning disabilities; and whether special provisions are being made for such disabilities. [HL600]

All young people are medically examined by professionally qualified staff at the time of their admission to a training school to identify medical or physical problems and appropriate treatment is prescribed or arranged as required. Within a few days of admission an assessment is carried out by a member of the teaching staff to help determine the particular educational needs of each newly admitted young person. Each young person in the training schools is placed on an education programme commensurate with their ability.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the outcome of the tender for the new export sales lead service. [HL746]

I received 71 initial expressions of interest from which 21 organisations sought to pre-qualify. A shortlist of six firms were then invited to submit bids and of these four organisations actually did so. I am pleased to announce today that the contract to operate the new export sales lead service has been awarded to the Dialog Corporation Plc. I expect to make a further announcement shortly giving details about how the new service will operate.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the membership of the Civil Justice Council. [HL748]

I have appointed the members of the Civil Justice Council. They are:

• Chairman: Lord Woolf, Master of the Rolls
• Vice-Chairman: Sir Richard Scott, Vice-Chancellor
• Vicki Chapman
• Stephen Cragg
• Carlos Dabezies
• Professor Robert Dingwall
• District Judge Godfrey Evans
• David Gladwell
• Hilary Heilbron QC
• Lord Justice Henry
• Henry Hodge OBE
• Ashley Holmes
• Peter Jacob
• Vicky Ling
• Michael Napier
• Professor Martin Partington
• Judge Sessions
• District Judge Monty Trent
• Owen Tudor
• Tim Wallis
• Ashton West
• Marlene Winfield

In accordance with the Civil Procedure Act 1997, I have chosen members with a wide range of experience in the civil justice field, including members of the judiciary and the legal professions, civil servants concerned with the administration of the courts, persons with experience in and knowledge of consumer affairs and the lay advice sector, and persons able to represent the interests of particular kinds of litigants. The Council will meet for the first time in March.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was: (a) the total of forestry planting; (b) replanting, and (c) new planting; for Scotland, England, Wales and Great Britain in each of the last three years. [HL597]

The areas planted by the Forestry Commission or with grant aid from the Commission are set out in the following table.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress they have made in ensuring that the boards of NHS trusts are more representative of the communities they serve and how they intend to extend this principle to the boards of health authorities. [HL751]

Substantial progress has been made to meet the Government's election manifesto commitment to make National Health Service trust boards more representative of their local communities.Working within the parameters for public appointments established by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Sir Leonard Peach, and following the Secretary of State for Health's consultation with him, a number of substantial changes were announced last June to apply to the 1997 round of appointments of chairmen and non-executives to NHS trusts to fill 1,005 vacancies out of a total of 2,509 places on trust boards:

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will announce further details of the contents of the Millennium Dome. [HL752]

The Prime Minister today addressed sponsors and other interested parties at an event at which models of a number of the zones of the Millennium Experience were displayed. Copies of the Prime Minister's speech, and of associated material on the Millennium Dome and its contents, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What level of sponsorship has to date been achieved in respect of the Millennium Experience at Greenwich. [HL753]

The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) is today announcing its first four founding partners; BT, Manpower, Sky, and Tesco. These four companies are each committing a minimum of £12 million value to the overall Millennium Experience. The Company is also announcing signed confirmation of the commitments of British Airways and BAA. Together, those six companies are making a direct private sector contribution of nearly £59 million.The New Millennium Experience Company also has commitments coming up for detailed negotiation which would add a further £16 million, taking the overall level of support to £75 million; and the Company is in serious negotiation with 40 other potential sponsors.The NMEC is also announcing today that it has reached agreement in principle with Camelot to he the official distributor of tickets for the Millennium Experience at Greenwich. This will mean that there is a ticket outlet within 3 miles of 95 per cent. of the population of the United Kingdom.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the purchasing power parity of the pound relative to the United States dollar in each of the last five years. [HL644]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied with the powers given to the Comptroller and Auditor-General and the National Audit Office to track the expenditure of public funds from United Kingdom sources. [HL636]

Parliament needs to be assured that public bodies and their finances are properly accounted for and managed. The Government are open to discussion as to whether the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor—General and the National Audit Office need to be changed to meet new challenges, and have yet to form a firm view.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Following the meeting at the end of January between HM Customs and Excise and charities representing blind people, whether they will now publish the terms of the agreement under which blind people will not be charged VAT on white canes and other such aids. [HL565]

The meeting to which the noble Lord refers established the principles for the continuation of VAT relief on these aids. Subsequently these have been developed into terms of agreement which were sent to the charities involved on 17 February. They are currently the subject of an internal consultation by those charities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been, at five-year intervals from 1945, the value of unemployment benefit expressed as a percentage of national average earnings. [HL523]

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table.

Year	Unemployment Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance as a percentage of Full Time (Male) Average Manual Earnings	Unemployment Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance as a percentage of Full Time Average Adult Earnings (All Adults)
1948	19.1 percent.	—
1950	17.3 per cent.	—
1955	14.6 per cent.	—
1960	17.2 per cent.	—
1965	20.4 per cent.	—
1970	18.7 per cent.	19.3 per cent.
1975	17.6 per cent.	18.2 per cent.
1980	18.5 per cent.	18.9 percent.
1985	18.6 per cent.	17.8 per cent.
1990	15.7 per cent.	14.2 per cent.
1995	15.9 per cent.	13.8 per cent.
1997	15.6 per cent.	13.4 per cent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many doctors who are consultants to whom the War Pensions Agency refers claimants for medical reports are also expert witnesses or advisers to the Treasury or the Ministry of Defence. [HL568]

Medical advisers employed by the War Pensions Agency may seek, for the purpose of determining claims for war pension, medical reports from consultants. Where the issue is particularly complex, or where there is a conflict of medical opinion, reports my be commissioned from consultants who, by reason of particular expertise or length of experience, are recognised authorities in their particular specialty. These consultants, known by the agency as "regional consultants", are appointed nationally by the Chief Medical Adviser to the Department of Social Security; they provide authoritative, impartial medical opinions.Information regarding the number of consultants who may also advise the Treasury or the Ministry of Defence is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give the estimate of savings expected from Clause 72 of the Social Security Bill, broken down (a) by individual benefits; and (b) by categories of claimant. [HL236]

The information requested is set out in the tables.

Estimated Savings by Benefit
£ million
	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Retirement Pension	6	8	8
Incapacity Benefit	3	4	4
Invalid Care Allowance	8	10	10