asked Her Majesty's Government:What measures they are taking to alleviate the suffering of people living in Baghdad-controlled Iraq. [HL,1058]

The UK co-sponsored UN Security Resolution 1153 allows for $5·256 billion of oil to be sold over 180 days. The Department for International Development will be co-hosting a meeting with the Foreign Office to discuss how the European Union and others can help the UN to implement effectively the expanded oil-for-food programme to meet the most pressing needs of the Iraqi people.Bilaterally, we have announced a new £7 million programme to relieve the suffering of the ordinary people in Iraq, particularly the children. This will be for humanitarian assistance in Baghdad-controlled Iraq, directed through UN agencies, international agencies and NGOs which have continued to work in the area.This new package is in addition to the Department for International Development's (DFID) existing £3 million programme, which is concentrated in the north. It focuses on de-mining and vulnerable groups such as working children, children with disabilities and widow-headed households.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What decisions have been reached on unimplemented Law Commission reports within the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department. [HL1084]

As previously indicated, the Government intend to bring forward legislation on Delegation by Individual Trustees (Law Conc. No. 220) and the first part of Restitution for Mistake of Law: Ultra Vires Public Authority Receipts and Payments (Law Com. No. 227) when time permits. They will also bring forward legislation on Privity of Contract: Contracts for the Benefit of Third Parties (Law Com. No. 242), again when time permits. The Government's Green Paper on mental incapacity includes proposals in Mental Incapacity (Law Com. No. 231); the consultation period ends on 31 March.The Government have decided not to implement

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any plans to increase public access to Forestry Commission land, and what are their plans for the future of the moratorium on large scale sales of Forestry Commission land. [HL1128]

We have made clear that we are determined to increase public access to the countryside, including woodlands. As Britain's largest landholder, and as the country's largest single provider of outdoor recreation, the Forestry Commission has an important role to play in this; one of its key objectives is the development of opportunities for woodland recreation.We are still considering the commission's future activities as part of its Comprehensive Spending Review. Nevertheless, we have agreed that in the coming year the commission should offer to buy suitable areas of land where it can provide additional public access and recreation facilities, especially in the National Forest, the community forests and the Central Scotland Forest. In addition, we wish to ensure that as many of the commission's woods as possible are open to the public, and so the commission will also offer to buy out freeholds where the leases currently restrict access to its existing woods.The Forestry Commission, like any large landowner, needs to be able both to buy and to sell land in order to manage its estate efficiently and effectively, and to carry out its activities within its budgetary provision.For the coming year, therefore, while the moratorium on large-scale sales of forest land will stay in place, the commission will be able to sell a small amount of land which is surplus to its requirements. This will include agricultural land, unplantable land, and relatively small and isolated blocks of forest land which do not make a significant contribution to the commission's objectives. Areas of forest land which are important for public access will not be sold unless an access agreement is in place. The commission will also be prepared to sell areas for development where this is in the public interest.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the published report by Det Norske Veritas on the risk of possible BSE infectivity in dorsal root ganglia, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at the request of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC). [HL856]

The report Assessment of Risk from Possible BSE Infectivity in Dorsal Root Ganglia was published by Det Norske Veritas. It is not normal procedure for the department to place in the Library of the House reports of this nature. Exceptionally the department has arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House. However, it is also available on the Internet at: http://www.dnv.com/html/news/pressrel/bse/dnv_bse.pdf

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there have been any new exceptions to the arms embargo on Argentina. [HL1103]

We have recently granted an exception to the embargo relating to the sale of spare parts for the Argentine icebreaker, the "Almirante Irizar". This represents an exception but not a change to the embargo.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will continue to impose an arms embargo on Afghanistan in line with the EU's Common Position of 17 December 1996. [HL1104]

We remain committed to the EU arms embargo against Afghanistan, which the UK interprets as covering all goods and technology entered on Part III to Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods Order 1994, as amended.Following consultation with this department and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved a licence for the export of mine clearance equipment for use by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan in its de-mining operations. The grant of this licence is for humanitarian purposes, and is consistent with the purpose of the embargo.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assessment they have made of the cost of NATO enlargement. [HL1123]

I have today placed in the Library of the House a paper prepared by the Ministry of Defence which describes various previous studies of the costs of NATO enlargement and explains why all NATO countries accept the official NATO assessment as a realistic estimate.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the results of the investigation of the incident in which suspected Iraqi chemical warfare agent was found in Kuwait after the end of the Gulf conflict. [HL1127]

We are today making public the results of a joint UK/US review of what has become known as the "Sabahiyah" incident, in which a large tank of liquid, initially thought to contain Iraqi mustard agent, was found in Kuwait after the end of the Gulf conflict. The review has concluded that the tank did not contain chemical warfare agent, but rather inhibited red fuming nitric acid to fuel Iraqi Silkworm anti-ship missiles.This is the first of three reviews of events during the Gulf conflict which we pledged to carry out last July. Preparation of the case narrative, which is also being published today in the US, has involved close and detailed co-operation between MoD and the US Department of Defense. A copy of the case narrative will be placed in the Library of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will allow those asylum applicants whose claims have remained undecided for 10 years or more to remain in the United Kingdom exceptionally. [HL1126]

While each asylum claim is considered on its individual merits, it has been a long-standing practice (since the early 1990s) to consider the grant of exceptional leave, on account of the length of stay here, in those asylum cases where a decision had not been taken seven years after the application was made. There are criteria for considering such cases and the grant of exceptional leave is not an automatic outcome. We will publish the relevant guidance to caseworkers shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why they are reducing the grant to the Immigration Advisory Service by £500,000 in 1998–99; what effect this will have on clearing the backlog of applications for asylum; and how appellants are to be fairly treated if they have no legal aid and their cases cannot be presented by the Refugee Legal Centre or the Immigration Advisory Service. [HL1014]

There is no reduction in core funding for the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS): in fact, it is being increased by 3 per cent. for the coming financial year after three years of standstill. The £500,000 referred to was allocated to IAS in each of the financial years 1996–97 and 1997–98 under the Spend to Save arrangements, which were designed to reduce the burden on public funds by funding measures to reduce the backlog of asylum cases. This was a time-limited initiative under which funds are not available for the IAS in 1998–99. This will not affect the backlog of asylum applications since the IAS is funded under Section 23 of the Immigration Act 1971 to provide assistance only to those with rights of appeal under immigration and asylum legislation. Funding under Section 23 is one method by which assistance is available to immigration and asylum appellants but it is also open to them to seek assistance from other voluntary organisations or from representatives, including solicitors.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their reasons for deciding not to release to the Public Record Office until the year 2010 file BT 271/83 concerning the release of assets to victims of Nazi persecution; and [HL871]Whether they will reconsider their decision not to release to the Public Record Office until the year 2010 file BT 271/83 concerning the release of assets to victims of Nazi persecution; and, if not, why not. [HL872]

The DTI leads on this subject as the successor to the Board of Trade, which administered the Trading With the Enemy legislation during the Second World War. All the records that are over 30 years old relating to Holocaust victims and the treatment of enemy assets may be seen by the public in the Public Record Office (PRO). In response to a letter from Lord Janner to the Lord Chancellor, the DTI has agreed to consider the early release to the PRO of any records less than 30 years old up to the point where the last Custodian of Enemy Property was wound up in 1988. I am sure that the noble Lord will appreciate that this will take a little time but we will carry this out as soon as current resources permit.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will allow public access to all records in their possession concerning the release of assets to victims of Nazi persecution. [HL1013]

The DTI leads on this subject as the successor to the Board of Trade, which administered the Trading With the Enemy legislation during the Second World War. All the records that are over 30 years old relating to Holocaust victims and the treatment of enemy assets may be seen by the public in the Public Record Office (PRO). In response to a letter from Lord Janner to the Lord Chancellor, the DTI has agreed to consider the early release to the PRO of any records less than 30 years old up to the point where the last Custodian of Enemy Property was wound up in 1988. I am sure that the noble Lord will appreciate that this will take a little time but we will carry this out as soon as current resources permit.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many cars are exempt from paying road tax and displaying discs and for what reasons. [HL1052]

Approximately 1·3 million vehicles of all types are exempt from paying Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Exemption from VED is restricted to vehicles used for humanitarian, emergency or police purposes, vehicles used by or for the severely disabled, agricultural vehicles used for short distances only, vehicles over 25 years old and diplomatic, consular and visiting forces vehicles. All of these are required to license annually and to display a (NIL) VED disc.Twenty thousand vehicles are registered to Crown bodies. These are exempt from VED and the requirement to display a VED disc, but must display a Crown Exemption Certificate.Foreign vehicles (licensed in their country of origin) on short visits to the UK, vehicles being exported and those on their way to a prearranged roadworthiness test are exempt from VED and from displaying a Vehicle Excise Duty disc.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the names of the local authorities to be included in the programme for housing transfers by councils in 1998–99. [HL1129]

We have today announced the names of the 23 local authorities which will be able to proceed, on a voluntary basis and subject to the approval of their tenants, with proposals to carry out 28 transfers of all or part of their housing stock to registered social landlords (RSLs) in 1998–99. The programme will involve over 85,000 dwellings in large-scale voluntary transfers, generating capital receipts of over £482 million. Sixteen of the transfers will be supported by Estates Renewal Challenge Funding.This reflects the Government's commitment to a continuing programme of transfers as a means of generating private finance to repair and improve the condition of social housing.The authorities which have successfully gained a place on the programme, together with the intended recipient RSL are as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what basis it was decided which Northern Ireland peers should be invited to the recent demonstration in the Palace of Westminster by the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture. [HL934]

Officials from the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland demonstrated their computerised cattle traceability system in the Palace of Westminster on 19 February.Members of this House with Northern Ireland links were identified and received invitations to the demonstration. Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, a number of peers did not receive an invitation, including the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the recent decision of the European Court of Justice with respect to European equal pay and sex discrimination law in the case

No.