asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the latest membership of the Security Commission. [HL3159]

The Prime Minister has recently appointed Sir John Foley and Sir Clive Whitmore to serve as members of the Security Commission. They have succeeded Sir Derek Boorman and Sir Christopher Curwen.The current membership of the Commission is:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the drivers of Continental tourist coaches and heavy goods vehicles are required to show a reasonably thorough knowledge of United Kingdom traffic law and the Highway Code before being allowed to drive in this country. [HL3070]

Drivers of coaches and lorries from other countries, whose driving licences are valid for temporary visits to the UK under long-standing international arrangements, must abide by British road traffic law and the conventions set out in The Highway Code. As with British drivers in other countries, foreign drivers are expected to familiarise themselves with the traffic rules of the country they are visiting. The Department issues advice for visitors to this country. A leaflet, available at entry points, stresses to visiting drivers the importance of understanding the rules of the road in the UK, and explains some of the most fundamental of them. Copies of the leaflets are in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action, if any, they are taking to ensure that all vehicles recalled by manufacturers for safety checks are checked. [HL3081]

I have asked Mr. Maurice Newey, the Chief Executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate Agency, to write to the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will produce a formal response to the 5th Report of the House of Commons Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee,

The Government aim to respond to this report, which was published on 24 June 1998, before the end of September.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide figures listing the annual cost of providing Customs and Immigration facilities at the principal international seaports, airports and railway stations in the United Kingdom; and by how much these costs are reduced by charges levied on the operators of those installations. [HL2814]

As part of the port or airport approval process, carriers or port-airport operators are required to provide, at their expense, accommodation for passenger and cargo control facilities to enable Customs and the Immigration Service to carry out certain statutory duties. The operators do not provide Customs or the Immigration Service with details of the costs of these control facilities.In addition, Customs pay for other facilities (primarily office accommodation and other operational facilities in terminal buildings). The cost of these facilities at the principal international seaports, airports and railway stations in the United Kingdom is about £5.7 million a year. The equivalent cost for providing Immigration Service facilities at all ports and airports at which the Service operates is about £8.4 million a year. These accommodation costs are not reduced by any charges levied on the operators of ports, airports or railway stations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to lay before Parliament the Report covering 1997 by Dame Elizabeth Anson, the Independent Monitor, of refusal of Entry Clearance where there is no right of appeal. [HL3153]

The Foreign Secretary has arranged for copies of Dame Elizabeth's Report on 1997 to be placed in the Libraries of the House today. I welcome the Report and note Dame Elizabeth's recommendations, which will receive careful consideration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the latest situation in Burma. [HL3154]

Her Majesty's Government continues to deplore the authorities' disregard for human rights and democracy. Ministerial statements have unequivocally condemned abuses. We continue to exert pressure on the regime to engage in substantive dialogue with opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi. We used our Presidency to renew EU measures against Burma and to draft the tough resolution agreed by the UN Commission on Human Rights in April.We do not encourage trade with or investment in Burma: in present circumstances we will include in any responses to enquiries about the market from British companies a very clear statement about the nature of the regime; and any briefings will emphasise the Burmese political and human rights situation and the state of the economy.We also wish to draw attention to the views of the pro-democracy leaders in Burma that it would be inappropriate for tourists to visit Burma at present.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How the Wilton Park Executive Agency performed against the targets agreed for 1997–98; and what are the agreed targets for the current year. [HL3155]

Wilton Park exceeded all four of the agreed targets set for the 1997–98 financial year, for the number of conference participants, income, cost recovery and cost per head to the FCO overall. The 1997–98 targets were:

• Income: £1,554K
• Recovery of costs from commercial activities: 78%
• Number of Wilton Park Conference participants: 1,750
• Costs to FCO per conference participant: £247

The following key targets have been agreed for the financial year, 1998–99.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When Panel 2000 will be making public any recommendations. [HL3157]

Panel 2000 is in the final stages of producing a Consultation Document. This is intended to stimulate public debate on how Britain's identity is projected abroad. The Panel will welcome comments from all those with an interest in how Britain is perceived overseas. As soon as the document is finalised it will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have approved an export licence for the supply of two Bedford Trucks to Church Ecumenical Action in Sudan (CEAS). [HL3158]

The Government recently approved the export of two Bedford trucks to CEAS to help with the distribution of humanitarian aid in southern Sudan. While the trucks were once owned by the MoD, they have been stripped of all military hardware and painted white. They will now be used to help ease the terrible crisis in southern Sudan of which we are all aware. We were therefore glad to be able to approve this export as an exception to our interpretation of the EU arms embargo on Sudan. This decision does not affect the Government's continued support for the EU common position on arms exports to Sudan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any further decisions have been reached on unimplemented Law Commission reports within the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department. [HL3160]

I refer the noble Lord to my answer of 19 March (Hansard, 19 March, WA 213) which mentioned the Government's intention to bring forward legislation arising from a number of Law Commission reports as well as explaining why a number were not to be implemented. It has been further decided that the following three reports will not be implemented. Breach of Confidence (Law Commission Report No. 110) was published in 1981. Since then, developing case law has clarified the scope and extent of the breach of confidence action, a view confirmed by the European Commission of Human Rights. Liability for Chancel Repairs (Law Commission Report No. 152) sought to deal with an open-ended liability to repair the chancels of some very old churches. The liability can cause hardship, but it is often reflected in the sale price and is enforced in relatively few cases. There is also a risk that any scheme to bring this liability to an end might encourage enforcement where it still exists. Although continuing the liability carries the risk of breaching the European Convention, so does its abolition. Contributory Negligence as a Defence in Contract (Law Commission Report No. 219) has been overtaken by developing case law. A Bill to implement the report would make little difference in practice and Parliamentary time should not be spent on it.Work is continuing on three further reports and part of a fourth. On 25 March, the Government announced that it is conducting a Review of the Enforcement of Civil Court Judgments. One of the terms of reference is to consider whether, and if so, how, the present power to distrain for rent should be abolished, as recommended by the Law Commission in

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements they make to ensure that disabled prisoners are kept in establishments with appropriate facilities. [HL2928]

The Prison Service aims to comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and to do everything that is reasonably possible to make its services available to prisoners, staff and visitors.A Prison Service Order (PSO) giving further guidance on the management of prisoners with physical, sensory

or mental disabilities will be issued by the end of this year. The PSO will develop the current practices whereby disabled prisoners are allocated on an individual basis, taking account of the individual's disability. Work has already been undertaken at a number of prison establishments to make physical changes such as widening cell doorways and building wheelchair ramps. The PSO will also give further guidance on:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they propose to take to reduce the high level of absenteeism in the Police Service; and what further measures are being taken to ensure that no police officer is allowed to take ill-health retirement when facing a disciplinary investigation. [HL2945]

The Home Office has issued extensive guidance on the management framework and monitoring, and has provided an open learning package, to help police service managers to improve their management of sickness absence and to reduce the numbers of days lost as a result of sickness absence.Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary also made a number of recommendations in their report:

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many prisons (a) have opened and (b) are currently planned under the Private Finance Initiative; and what are the lengths of the contracts in each case. [HL3066]

Three prisons—Altcourse, Lowdham Grange and Parc—have opened, and four further prisons are planned to open, under the Private Finance Initiative. The length of the contract in each case is, or will be, 25 years.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect to make additional appointments to the Metropolitan Police Committee. [HL3202]

I have today appointed the following as members of the Metropolitan Police Committee:

• Councillor Lincoln Beswick (Labour, Brent)
• Councillor Toby Harris (Labour, Haringey)
• Councillor Barbara Hughes (Labour, Camden)
• Councillor Tim Joiner (Conservative, Westminster)
• Councillor Serge Lourie (Liberal Democrat, Richmond upon Thames)
• Councillor Maggie Mansell (Labour, Croydon)
• Councillor Derek Sawyer (Labour, Islington)
• Councillor Michael Slaughter (Conservative, Bexley)
• Councillor Ala Uddin (Labour, Tower Hamlets)
• Councillor Ron Gee (Independent, Epsom and Ewell)

They will join the eleven existing members, who are Sir John Quinton, who will remain Chair, Miss Maria Callaghan, Mr. Thomas Chan, Councillor Maurice Heaster (Conservative, Wandsworth), Major General Malcolm Hunt, Councillor Margaret O'Neill (Labour, Bexley), Mrs. Shahwar Sadeque, Mr. Mark Souhami, Mr. Inder Uppal, Mr. Reginald Watts and Ms Rachel Whittaker.Nine of the new members were nominated by the Association of Local Government, in response to my right honourable friend the Home Secretary's request for nominations reflecting the current make-up of London Boroughs. The tenth is the representative of the Outer London Metropolitan Police Group.The new members will take up their appointments on 1 September. The Committee's task will continue to be, to advise my right honourable friend in relation to the discharge of certain of his functions as Police Authority for the Metropolitan Police. The functions in question are based on those which, outside London, are the responsibility of the police authorities established under the Police Act 1964, as amended by the Police Act 1996.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide further information about files held by the Security Service. [HL3203]

During an adjournment debate in another place on 25 February, (Official Report, cols. 341–348) my right honourable friend the Home Secretary undertook to make an announcement, before the summer recess, on the subject of the Security Service's file holdings and on the Service's file destruction programme. He now fulfils that commitment. He does so having consulted the Director General of the Security Service, and having been advised by him that the information which he will be revealing for the first time today may be disclosed without detriment to the requirements of national security or to the operational effectiveness of the Service.The Security Service currently holds in total about 440,000 files which have been opened at some time since its establishment in 1909. Of these, approximately 35,000 files relate to Service administration, policy and staff. A further 40,000 concern subjects and organisations studied by the Service. About 75,000 files relate to people or groups of people who have never been investigated by the Service, such as those who have received protective security advice. This leaves about 290,000 files relating to individuals who, at some time during the last 90 years, may have been the subject of Security Service enquiry or investigation. Of this 290,000, some 40,000 have been reduced to microfilm and placed in a restricted category to which Security Service staff have access only for specific research purposes. A further 230,000 files are closed so that Security Service officers may use them where necessary in the course of their current work, but may not make enquiries about the subjects of the files.It will be apparent that only a small proportion of the Security Service's file holdings relate to individuals who may be under current investigation by the Service. The number of files which fall within that category is around 20,000. Of that number, about one third relate to foreign nationals—typically, members or associates of foreign intelligence services or terrorist groups. This leaves in the order of 13,000 active files on United Kingdom citizens. To place it in context, this compares with about 5.7 million records on individuals on the Police National Computer. It represents about 3/100ths of one per cent. of the current adult population, and only a tiny proportion of the 13,000 are likely ever to be under close investigation at any one time.Of those 13,000 files, more than half are for individuals who have come to the Service's attention in a terrorist related context, while the remainder relate to the Service's other fields of investigation, such as espionage, proliferation and serious crime. A proportion of these files is for individuals who are co-operating with the Service against these threats to national security. Following the collapse of Soviet Communism and the decline in the threat from subversive groups, the Service scaled down its counter-subversion work over a number of years to the point where it is no longer running any investigations in the field of subversion.Detailed criteria govern the opening of files on individuals and organisations. These criteria specify the circumstances in which opening a file and initiating enquiries are justified within the terms of the Service's statutory functions. They are kept under continual review and are formally checked on an annual basis for currency, relevance and propriety.It has long been the policy of the Security Service to review its file holdings and to destroy those files which it no longer requires for operational purposes and which do not merit retention on grounds of historical interest. In the period between its formation in 1909 and the early 1970s, the Service destroyed well over 175,000 files. The destruction programme was then halted in response to concern that it had impeded investigations into espionage cases. In the early 1990s, following the collapse of Soviet Communism and the associated decline in the threat from subversion, the review and destruction programme was reinstated. Since then, more than 110,000 files have been destroyed or have been earmarked for destruction.In reviewing files for destruction, the Service takes account of their operational value, their historical significance, and the Service's obligation to retain certain categories of records against the possibility of a complaint to the Security Service Tribunal. With these criteria in mind, the Security Service continues to review its holdings of closed files for destruction and will continue to destroy files which no longer need to be retained on those grounds. The rate of review and destruction is dependent upon the resources which the Service can afford to spare for the task.We have said that the Service takes account of the likely historical significance of each file before sending it for destruction. It is a matter of interest to professional historians, writers and journalists that records which might be of real historical value should be kept for posterity. It might, therefore, be helpful if I explain how that process is governed.The Security Service, as with Government departments, is subject to the Public Records Act 1958. This Act, among other things, regulates policy on the selection of files for preservation. In common with many other departments, the Service has drawn up guidance to govern this process and this has been approved by the Public Record Office. My right honourable friend published the criteria applied by the

Service on 20 January in another place. (

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to make further appointments to the Police Complaints Authority. [HL3204]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has decided to appoint Mr. Ian Bynoe and Miss Mehmuda Mian as members of the Authority.Mr. Bynoe has most recently been engaged in research work commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy Research. He was previously Legal Director of MIND (The National Association for Mental Health). He will take up his post on 3 August.Miss Mian was until recently a senior caseworker in the Solicitors Practice Unit of the Office for Supervision of Solicitors. She will take up her post in the autumn.Their appointments, which are initially for three years, bring to thirteen the number of members of the Authority, including the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the announcement in another place about the need to amend the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 in order to meet concerns expressed by the European Commission; when they expect to issue a consultation document on the Government's proposals for the amendments. [HL3205]

The European Commission have expressed some concern about our implementation of the fire safety aspects of the European Framework Directive (89/391/EEC). We expect to be in a position to publish a consultative document on our proposals for amendments, to allay the Commission's concerns, in early August. Copies of the document will be available in the Library. However, as the House will be in recess at the time of publication, the noble Lord and others may like to know that copies may also be had, free of charge, from Christians Ltd., whose details are as follows:

Orderline/telephone number:	0181 867 3434
Fax Number:	0181 867 3234
E-Mail address:	firesafe@echristians.co.uk
Freepost address: Fire Safety Consultation Document, FREEPOST HA 4441, Hayes, Middlesex, UB3 1BR.

Full-time home new entrant higher degree students (all subjects) by source of fees, GB 1994–95 to 1996–97
	Taught Masters			Research Masters			Doctorates
	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97
Source of Fees
Universities	569	584	823	606	723	567	1,160	1,035	877
Local Government	756	1,056	1,029	24	28	33	193	61	47
Government Dept. (inc. HM Forces)	2,227	1,754	2,025	181	143	160	392	427	318
Research Councils	2,711	2,650	2,443	1,170	1,201	1,114	2,523	2,436	2,263
Other UK Public Funds	846	318	260	109	131	138	215	282	231
Total	7,109	6,362	6,580	2,090	2,226	2,012	4,483	4,241	3,736

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to refer the recent acquisition by Monsanto of Plant Breeding International Cambridge Ltd. to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. [HL3018]

If my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is advised by the Director General of Fair Trading that there is or may be a merger which qualifies for investigation under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973 he will then decide in the light of advice from the Director General whether or not it should be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission for investigation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Gilbert on 26 June 1997 (

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many scholarships are currently provided by public bodies such as the Research Councils to British students working towards higher degrees. [HL2864]

There are some problems of definition, but a good snap-shot is provided by data showing source of fees for students starting their course. Figures extracted from table 5.7 of the Science, Engineering and Technology Statistics 1998 are given below. These are new entrants, not the total stock holding awards in any year. More detailed information is given in table 5.11 of the same publication, and in the Department for Education and Employment's Statistics of Education: Student Support 1995–96.

The number of regular Army soldiers from ethnic minorities serving in each regiment of the Household Division, as at 14 July 1998, is as follows:

Household Division	Ethnic Minority soldiers
Household Cavalry	1
Grenadier Guards	1
Coldstream Guards	0
Scots Guards	1
Irish Guards	5
Welsh Guards	0

asked Her Majesty's Government:How the Department of Social Security is tackling the task of evaluating the effect on rough sleeping of the housing benefit single room rent restriction; and when their conclusions are likely to be reported. [HL2893]

We are still gathering evidence from a variety of sources to gauge the impact of the Single Room Rent restriction on tenants, landlords and the private rental market as a whole. In particular, we have commissioned a joint study with the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions on Housing Benefit and the private rented sector. The study will look at the overall effects of the restriction, rather than its effects on any specific group. We expect the results in autumn.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to paragraph 4.7 of the Social Exclusion Unit's Report on Rough Sleeping, whether they will review the rules on housing benefit for prisoners. [HL2896]

The Welfare Reform Green Paper outlined the Government's intention to address the weaknesses of the current regime for housing policy and Housing Benefit. The Rough Sleepers report from the Social Exclusion Unit has confirmed that the prison and probation services will have a new focus on preventing homelessness. The Home Office will make this a key element of their performance indicators from 1999–2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements are being made to explain the working of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Office to the newly elected members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. [HL3067]

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has initiated the construction of a briefing programme—the transition programme—intended to assist newly elected Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to prepare for their new responsibilities.The transition programme is being designed, with the participation of internationally renowned advisers and in consultation with representatives of the political parties, to assist Members of the Assembly and Civil Servants in their preparations for the effective functioning of the Assembly when it takes on its full powers after the transitional period.The programme's objective is to provide as comprehensively as is practicable a background briefing about the workings of the Northern Ireland Public Services, and the Assembly's relationship with other institutions and authorities. The programme will run from July to December 1998.