asked Her Majesty's Government:How many Immigration Act detainees are held in each of the prisons or detention centres in use for this purpose, at the latest convenient date; and, of the total, how many were detained from the port of entry to the United Kingdom. [HL3338]

The available information, relating to persons held in detention solely under Immigration Act powers as at 31 August 1998 by place of detention, is given in the table. Regrettably, information on the number of those persons detained from arrival at a United Kingdom port of entry could only be obtained at disproportionate cost through the examination and cross referencing of individual prison detention and immigration records.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list those occasions since the war on which Royal Assent to a Bill has been given prior to a Bill passing all its stages through both Houses of Parliament. [HL3304]

The Royal Assent Act 1967 provides that Royal Assent is achieved when it is either (a) "pronounced in the presence of both Houses in the House of Lords" or (b) "notified to each House of Parliament, sitting separately by the Speaker of that House". There have been no occasions on which Royal Assent has been given prior to a Bill passing through all its stages in both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will set out in detail the normal procedures for obtaining the Royal Assent to a Bill, indicating which documents are submitted to Her Majesty for this purpose and which documents Her Majesty is required to sign before a Bill becomes an Act. [HL3306]

The procedure is set out in Erskine May, Parliamentary Practice (22nd Edition) pages 563–565 (copy attached).I draw the noble Lord's attention to the following passage: "When Royal Assent is wanted, the Lord Chancellor submits to the Sovereign a list of those bills which are ready for Royal Assent or which are likely to have passed by the time Royal Assent is to be declared. The list is prepared by the Clerk of the Parliaments" (p563). It is this list, in the form of Letters Patent prepared by the Crown Office, that the Queen signs.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are still reviewing their proposal to tax credits on dividends for people with small incomes who do not pay income tax, in particular the elderly [HL3291]

Yes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Given the July 1997 budget decision to halve the tax credit paid on investment income from 20 per cent. to 10 per cent. with effect from April 1999, what plans they have to allow non-taxpayers, many of whom are pensioners who will lose income, to reclaim a notional tax credit of 10 per cent. on dividends from April 1999. [HL3241]

The Government have under review the situation of non-taxpayers affected by the withdrawal of payable tax credits from April 1999.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What role they see for the International Court of Justice in resolving the range of disputes between Greece and Turkey; and [HL3316]What is their estimate of the possibility of armed confrontation between Greece and Turkey; and what action they are promoting with others to defuse the situation. [HL3318]

Her Majesty's Government believe that it is for Greece and Turkey to agree upon the most effective forum in which to discuss their bilateral issues. We continue to urge both sides to adopt an open and flexible approach, including over recourse to the International Court of Justice.Her Majesty's Government encourage all efforts aimed at the reduction of military tension between Greece and Turkey. In this context, we welcome the efforts of the NATO Secretary-General to work with Greece and Turkey to build confidence in the region. In particular, we welcome the Secretary-General's announcement of 4 June 1998 that Greece and Turkey had agreed to the implementation of the 1998 Yilmaz/Papoulias agreements to reduce tension and avoid incidents in the Aegean.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made on the follow-up, both nationally and internationally, to the initiatives on nuclear disarmament set out in the Strategic Defence Review; and whether the possibility of establishing a Five Power Nuclear Forum is becoming a reality. [HL3329]

Reduction of the number of warheads deployed on each Trident submarine should be completed before the end of the year, as planned. Adjustments are being made to future warhead production refurbishment and decommissioning plans to maintain an operationally available stockpile of fewer than 200 warheads. Surplus nuclear material is being placed under Euratom safeguards. Work on publication of past defence missile material production and the study on verification technologies, skills and techniques are both under way.Internationally, we welcome the establishment by the Conference on Disarmament of an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, and will play an active part in getting negotiations off to a good start. We continue to consider further ways to achieve progress towards our goal of global nuclear disarmament, building on the steps we have taken in the Strategic Defence Review and bearing in mind the commitment by the Nuclear Weapon States to work together for the success of the preparatory process for the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the conference itself and related issues.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their latest estimate of the Russian Government's ability to control and protect the safety of their 23,000 nuclear weapons; and what negotiations are taking place between NATO and Russia on measures to de-alert nuclear forces. [HL3330]

Russia has assured us that it continues to maintain robust command and control arrangements for, and to ensure the security of, its large numbers of nuclear weapons. It is clear that the Russian authorities are themselves very aware of the potential dangers of any diversion of nuclear weapons. We are watching the situation closely.The NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council has discussed reductions in tactical nuclear weapons, detargeting and nuclear weapons safety and security. There are no plans for NATO-Russia negotiations on nuclear issues.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What studies they have made of the impact of sanctions on children in Burundi; what their conclusions are; and what action they are consequently promoting. [HL3332]

Her Majesty's Government are sympathetic to the plight of the most vulnerable sections of Burundi society, particularly women and children, many of whom are directly affected by the sanctions. We have pressed for the exemptions covering humanitarian supplies to be fully implemented.Under the UK Presidency, the EU underlined its hope that there will soon be sufficient progress at the Burundi peace talks for regional states to re-examine the sanctions issue.Her Majesty's Government have not carried out studies on the impact of sanctions on children in Burundi. But the United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations that we support have based their applications for funding on detailed needs assessments and studies. We have provided £5 million for bilateral humanitarian assistance programmes in Burundi since 1995.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give details, including dates, of any official communications they have had with the regime of Denis Sassou-Nguesso in Congo-Brazzaville, which came to power through a military coup. [HL3340]

Since Sassou Nguesso took power in October 1997 we have kept official contact with the authorities in the Republic of the Congo to a minimum. These low-level technical contacts have included discussions of consular cases, immigration and visa matters, debt reclamation and over-flight clearances and permission for British troops to land in Brazzaville to facilitate a possible evacuation of British citizens from Kinshasa.On 30 June 1998, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Africa Director met Congolese Foreign Minister Adada in London. He left Mr. Adada in no doubt of the importance the UK and the international community place on free and inclusive electoral process in which all the key players, including former leaders Lissouba and Kolelas, could participate if they wished. He also called for the immediate withdrawal of Angolan troops from the Republic of Congo.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What evaluation the Department of Health has carried out, or is considering, of the combined impact on patient care, hospital organisation, clinical practice and use of resources in the NHS of the "New Deal" on junior doctors' hours and the training requirements resulting from the Calman report on specialist medical training. [HL3368]

The New Deal on junior doctors' hours is closely linked to the Calman reforms. The New Deal has brought about significant improvements to the living and working conditions of junior doctors by ensuring that their hours are restricted and that they receive appropriate rest. This means that they are better able to deliver patient care and to benefit from their training. The Government have commissioned an in-depth national evaluation of the Calman reforms of specialist medical training, which is being undertaken by the Joint Centre for Education in Medicine. The evaluation, which is being conducted over a three-year period, includes an investigation of the effects of the reforms on service delivery capacity and quality of patient care.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What work is being carried out by the Department of Health with NHS Direct pilot areas to agree common standards and protocols for the operation of the service in different areas; when it is envisaged that such protocols and standards will be applied; and what monitoring and performance review processes will be put in place and by when. [HL3369]

The Department of Health is currently working on a set of national standards and protocols for the NHS Direct service. These will be published early in the year 2000 in good time for national roll-out at the end of that year.The National Health Service Executive Regional Offices are responsible for the performance management of

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the results of the evaluation of the NHS Direct pilot schemes will be made publicly available. [HL3370]

The Medical Research Unit at Sheffield University is undertaking an independent evaluation of the first wave pilot areas of NHS Direct. It will be presenting an interim report to the Department of Health in December of this year and its final report in the autumn of 1999. We plan to publish the findings from both reports.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of directly or indirectly government funded research into myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) has used the "Oxford", or the Centre for Diseases Control criteria, as opposed to the "Dowsett", or "London", criteria to define the condition. [HL3388]

The Government fund health and medical research in a number of ways:The Department of Health funds a range of research and development to support its work on policy development and evaluation in health and social care. The department also manages the National Health Service Research and Development Levy, which is used both to support R&D of relevance to the NHS both in NHS hospitals, general practice and other health care settings, and to fund the NHS R&D Programme. In addition, the MRC (Medical Research Council—which receives most of its income via grant-in-aid from the Office of Science and Technology in the Department for Trade and Industry) funds medical research as part of the Government's funding of the research base.Information is not currently held centrally on all projects funded through the NHS R&D Levy, but the NHS R&D Programme has been funding a research project entitled "Should GPs manage chronic fatigue syndrome? A controlled trial", which has now reported. This project used the "Oxford" or Centre for Diseases Control criteria. Further work is about to be commissioned on the topic of Management Strategies for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The research methods and definitions to be used have not yet been agreed.The MRC is funding one study in relation to myalgic encephalomyelitis which is about to be completed. The work is being undertaken at the University of Manchester and the project is entitled "The role of noradrenaline in the neuropsychological pathogenesis of the chronic fatigue syndrome". This project also used the "Oxford" or Centre for Diseases Control criteria.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Hayman on 3 September (

Priorities for funding research in the department are set very carefully, based on the burden of disease and other criteria. Bids for conducting research into chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) are therefore always considered on that basis. The department continues to fund research into the management and treatment of CFS/ME through the National Health Service Research and Development Programme.