asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any goods on the United Kingdom Military List have recently been approved for export to Iraq. [HL583]

Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved a licence to export 160 protective vests to Iraq for use by UN personnel in a humanitarian demining programme. The export of the equipment to Iraq was approved under the Oil for Food Programme by the UN Sanctions Committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have received any proposals from the Danube Commission or from the United Nations Environment Programme for removing obstructions to navigation in the Danube within the former Yugoslavia; and, if so, in what terms. [HL533]

The European Union has encouraged the Danube Commission to work on a solution and has expressed its willingness to consider an EU contribution to the clearance work. I understand that the EU was due to receive a report by the Danube Commission on 24 January. The question of EU funding will be considered in the light of this report.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to cap the numbers of those who work in 10 Downing Street and the expenditure on them. [HL392]

There are no such plans.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Who are the current members of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee; and what were the dates of their appointment. [HL285]

The current members of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee are:The Right Honourable Lord Thomson of Monifieth KT, appointed a member on 9 November 1992 (Chairman, 16 April 1999).The Right Honourable Baroness Dean of Thornton-Le-Fylde, appointed 24 March 1998.The Right Honourable Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE, appointed 16 April 1999.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 8 December, whether they are satisfied that "impartiality and political balance are maintained" in the event that a trustee of or contributor to a ministerial blind trust is appointed to the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee. [HL286]

I refer the noble Earl to the Answer I gave on 8 December 1999 (Official Report, 8 December 1999, col. 90).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Who are the current members of the Media Monitoring Unit together with the dates of their appointment. [HL370]

The Media Monitoring Unit is staffed by eight civil servants ranging in grade from B1 (Executive Officer) to A (Grade 7/6). These staff were appointed between April 1998 and November 1999.

asked the Leader of the House:What is her response to the Royal Commission Report on House of Lords Reform to be published on 20 January. [HL662]

The Royal Commission was set a complex and difficult task to be completed within a demanding timetable. I am grateful to Lord Wakeham and to all the Commissioners for their hard work and commitment in producing this carefully considered and thoughtful report and for meeting the Government's tight deadlines.The Government will need time to consider the recommendations made by the Royal Commission. However, it is very welcome that the Commissioners have produced a unanimous report, as this provides a sound platform for moving forward on a genuine cross party basis.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

(a) How many responses they received to their consultation document on residential care home standards Fit for the Future?;

(b) Whether they will publish a summary of those responses;

(c) What plans they have to refine their estimates of the cost to care homes providers of the proposed new standards the light of the consultation;

(d) Whether their proposals will form the basis of a study by the Better Regulation Task Force;

(e) What form their final proposals will take; and

(f) When their final proposals will be published. [HL521]

We have received 733 responses to date. The consultation period for Fit for the Future? ends on 21 January. We have no plans at present to publish a summary of the comments received.We will carefully consider all comments before we finalise the standards and there may be scope for differentiating between individual standards when deciding on implementation. The standards will be implemented by the National Care Standards Commission, which will assume its regulatory role in 2002. We intend to publish the final standards later this year so that providers will know what standards they will have to meet and users will know what standards they can expect as a minimum, well in advance of the implementation of the Care Standards Bill provisions for the new regulatory framework. A revised Regulatory Impact Assessment will be published with the finalised standards.It is for the Better Regulation Task Force to decide what areas of statutory regulation it wants to study. However, our regulatory reforms, which include national standards, have been designed to meet the principles of good regulation—transparency, accountability, targeting, consistency and proportionality—as set out by the Regulation Task Force.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many additional beds in secure wings of mental or general hospitals have been provided, for use by mentally-ill prisoners, in each of the last three years; and how many they expect to provide this year and in the coming three years. [HL535]

The information requested is not available. Psychiatric beds for treatment of patients transferred from prison are not specifically designated within general or secure hospitals. The number of remand and convicted prisoners who were directed by the Home Secretary to hospital for assessment and treatment under provisions in the Mental Health Act 1983 in the past three years is shown in the following table:

Section of Menial Health Act	1997	1998	1999 (provisional)1
Section 47	251	254	247
Section 48	508	493	442
Total	759	747	689
1 The 1999 figures have not yet been fully updated, and are expected to rise.

In addition, over 1,000 other offenders are admitted to hospital each year whilst on remand or on conviction on the order of the courts.By April 2001 we intend to have an extra 250 National Health Service secure places in addition to the 221 places planned this year—delivering well above the target set in the Mental Health National Service Framework of 300 extra places by April 2002.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether NHS Trusts which fail to meet their waiting list reduction targets as a result of the current influenza outbreak will forgo any financial bonuses that they might otherwise have received. [HL557]

There is no national system for giving trusts financial bonuses when they achieve waiting list reductions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will suspend their waiting list initiative until the current influenza outbreak has ceased to impose pressures on NHS hospitals. [HL558]

This Government are determined to modernise the National Health Service. Reducing waiting lists is an essential part of this modernisation process. Demand for NHS services this winter is greater than last. The NHS has planned well for these critical months since the beginning of last year. A seasonal rise in waiting lists is expected over the next couple of months, reflecting the planned priority the NHS has given to winter emergency admissions. This is anticipated in our plans to achieve our manifesto waiting list target. Trusts will continue to work to ensure the target is achieved.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the first report under the Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Act 1998. [HL625]

We have laid before the House Tackling Congestion and Pollution, our first report under this Act.We agree with the Commission for Integrated Transport that we should not set a national road traffic reduction target. The national volume of road traffic is not a good measure of our success in improving the outcomes that matter; particularly congestion and pollution. Targets for air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, health and road safety are already in place or are shortly to be published. The report invites views on our proposal to develop new benchmarks and targets for congestion for different area or road types.With widespread support from local authorities, businesses and the general public for the policies in the

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Foster design for Wembley with its 6 metre high platform and ramped access for athletics will in any way compromise the possibility of holding the Paralympics at Wembley. [HL439]

Following his statement in the other place on 1 December 1999, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport made a further announcement about the future of Wembley on 22 December 1999 which confirmed that, subject to further discussions between Wembley National Stadium Limited, the Football Association and Sport England, athletics will be removed from the new national stadium and an alternative venue sought elsewhere. Copies of that announcement have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What percentage of 15 to 24 year-olds who have committed suicide were at the time of suicide without visible, legal means of support; and [HL486]What is the percentage of 16 to 17 year-olds with no apparent source of income who:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What percentage of low birth weight babies are born to mothers who have been disentitled to social security benefits during the period of pregnancy. [HL488]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish a Keeling Schedule to show how the provisions of the Child Support Acts 1991 and 1995 are affected by the provisions of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Bill 1999. [HL532]

We do not plan to include a Keeling Schedule as part of the Bill for consideration by Parliament. However, the department is in the process of preparing a document that shows how the Child Support Acts 1991 and 1995 are affected by the provisions of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Bill, currently before Parliament. This document will be finished shortly and copies made available in the Vote Office, Printed Paper Office and the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people aged 16 or 17 are not in education, training or employment, how many of these are living independently; and, of those living independently, how many are claiming benefit and how many had no apparent source of income. [HL489]

According to the 1997–98 Family Resources Survey, which covers private households in Great Britain:1. Approximately 160,000 (or 10 per cent) of those people aged 16 or 17, living in private households, were not in education, training or employment. Of these, approximately 130,000 (or 85 per cent) were living independently.2. Of those people aged 16 or 17, in private households, who were not in education, training or employment and were living independently:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they conduct any ethnic monitoring of those disentitled to social security benefits. [HL508]

No.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Hollis by Heigham on 16 December 1999 (

The Government's recent report Opportunity for All describes the problems associated with all of those who are socially excluded. Separate information is not held for that small group of claimants unwilling to comply with the conditions of individual benefits.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What percentage of those people receiving below 40 per cent of the average annual income (a) have been disentitled to social security benefits; and (b) have been subjected to reduced benefit penalty. [HL485]

The information requested is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the level of Income Support expressed as a percentage of average earnings; and how this figure has changed since 1988. [HL487]

Examples of Income Support rates expressed as a percentage of average earnings are provided in the following table.

Income Support Rates as a Percentage of Average Earnings
Date of uprating	Rate of Income Support £pw	Rate as a percentage of average earnings %age
Single person aged 18–24
April 1988	26.05	11.91
April 1989	27.40	11.43
April 1990	28.80	10.94
April 1991	31.15	10.94
October 1991	31.40	10.70
April 1992	33.60	11.02
April 1993	34.80	10.97
April 1994	36.15	11.09
April 1995	36.80	10.90
April 1996	37.90	10.78
April 1997	38.90	10.58
April 1998	39.85	10.36
April 1999	40.70	10.15
Single person over 25
April 1988	33.40	15.29
April 1989	34.90	14.56
April 1990	36.70	13.95
April 1991	39.65	13.93
April 1992	42.45	13.93
April 1993	44.00	13.87
April 1994	45.70	14.01
April 1995	46.50	13.77
April 1996	47.90	13.63
April 1997	49.15	13.37
April 1998	50.35	13.09
April 1999	51.4	12.82
Single parent with 1 child under 11
April 1988	54.00	24.69
April 1989	57.05	23.79
April 1990	60.50	22.99
April 1991	65.40	22.97
October 1991	66.40	22.62
April 1992	71.05	23.31
April 1993	73.60	23.20
April 1994	76.50	23.46
April 1995	77.90	23.07
April 1996	80.10	22.79
April 1997	81.80	22.25
April 1998	83.40	21.69
April 1999	87.35	21.78