asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make available explanatory memoranda about international conventions awaiting ratification to the House in hard copy as well as on the Internet. [HL545]

Explanatory Memoranda (EMs) are already available to the House in hard copy. The FCO sends two sets of a treaty command paper and its accompanying EM to the Clerk of the Parliaments on the day of laying. One of these sets is marked for the attention of the Printed Paper Office so that copies can be made for distribution to Peers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations they have made over the past month to the Burmese authorities about the continued imprisonment of Jame. Mawdsley; and what news they have of his ability to receive and send letters. [HL638]

The British Embassy secured a call or the Minister of Home Affairs for Mr David Mawdsley, James' father, to discuss James' case on 10 January. He was accompanied by HM Consul.Only one in five of the letters that James has written has been cleared by the Burmese authorities. The Embassy has spoken to the prison authorities at each of its regular consular visits about this, and has now written formally to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest. It is awaiting a reply.James has received over 150 letters and cards, which are shown to him by Embassy staff during consular visits. These are returned to him after they have been censored by the Burmese authorities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking to ensure that genocide charges are preferred against those members of the Burmese military responsible for the killing of civilians and the continued violation of their human rights. [HL639]

We take every opportunity, for example through the EU Common Position, UN resolutions and the ILO, to make clear to the regime that the human rights situation in Burma is deplorable and they must take urgent steps to improve it. At present there is no international criminal tribunal with jurisdiction over Burma. The UK strongly supports the establishment of a permanent international criminal court which will have jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the public spending on higher education as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product from 1979–99; and what is the forecast for 2000 and 2001. [HL622]

The proportion of GDP spent on higher education for each financial year is given in the following table. The spending figures are UK higher education spending, including the science budget. Figures for 2000–01 and 2001–02 are current spending plans. The proportions will vary depending upon the performance of the economy, which determines the level of GDP.Funding for higher education in England will increase by 11% in real terms over the four years to 2001–02.

Year
1979–80	1.23%
1980–81	1.33%
1981–82	1.33%
1982–83	1.30%
1983–84	1.28%
1984–85	1.23%
1985–86	1.16%
1986–87	1.14%
1987–88	1.11%
1988–89	1.07%
1989–90	1.08%
1990–91	1.10%
1991–92	1.19%
1992–93	1.28%
1993–94	1.29%
1994–95	1.31%
1995–96	1.29%
1996–97	1.19%
1997–98	1.16%
1998–99	1.12%
1999–2000	1.13%
2000–01	1.14%
2001–02	1.14%

asked Her Majesty's Government:For what purposes sand eels are caught in European Waters. [HL565]

The bulk of the sand eel catch is by the Danish fleet. The uses to which processed sand eels are put include animal and fish feedingstuffs and food ingredients. Other sand eels are caught for use as bait for recreational and other fisheries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which European Union member states have been recorded as taking greater catches of fish than have been agreed; and which species have been over-fished. [HL566]

According to final catch data for 1998 made available to member states by the Commission, nine member states (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and, United Kingdom) overfished one or more quota stocks for which they had a national allocation. These overfishes may not have resulted in an overfish of the EU Total Allowable Catch.The stocks for which the EU Total Allowable Catch was exceeded are as follows:

Species	Area
Cod	IIId—Russian Federation waters Norwegian waters of the North Sea (South of 62 degrees N)
Herring	IIIa—Skagerrak and Kattegat IIId—Polish waters
Mackerel	Norwegian waters of the North Sea (South of 62 degrees N), Faroese waters of ICES Vb IIa (EC zone), IIIa Skaggerak and Kattegat, IIIb, c, d (EC zone). North Sea
Nephrops	IIIa Skagerrak and Kattegat, IIIb, c, d (EC zone)
Plaice	VIId, e
Saithe	Norwegian waters of the North Sea (South of 62 degrees N), IIa (EC zone), IIIa Skagerrak and Kattegat, IIIb, c, d (EC zone). North Sea
Sprats	IIa (EC zone). North Sea (EC zone)
Blue Whiting	Vb (EC zone), VI. VII

Final catch data for 1999 are not yet available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What guidance they have given to health authorities as a result of the

We have issued interim guidance. This requires health and local authorities, in consultation with each other and, where appropriate, involving primary care groups, to satisfy themselves that their continuing and community care policies and eligibility criteria and other relevant procedures are in line with the Court of Appeal judgment on the Coughlan case and existing guidance, and to take further legal advice where necessary. The interim guidance also states that where authorities revise eligibility criteria following any review, they should consider what action they need to take to reassess service users against the revised criteria [HSC 1999/18: LAC(99) 30].

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in the light of the recent survey by the Royal College of Nursing, they are satisfied that all health authorities are now complying with the decision in the

We have asked all the health authorities to review their eligibility criteria for continuing healthcare following the Coughlan judgment. We are continuing to monitor the situation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey (

The new draft Social Inclusion Action Plan is a working document which will be changed and developed over the coming months; it is not intended for publication. I have, however, placed copies in the Libraries of the House. The department intends to publish, at the end of this year, a progress report on promoting social inclusion through sport and the arts.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the revenue for the United Kingdom tourism industry generated by sports tourism. [HL519]

There is currently no reliable economic information available on which to estimate the revenue generated by sports tourism. However, on 11 January, the British Tourist Authority launched their Sports Tourism Action Plan for Britain together with Janet Anderson, Minister for Tourism and Kate Hoey, Minister for Sport. One of the aims will be to better estimate the economic impact made by sports tourism in Britain. It will also identify ways for Britain to take advantage of the wealth of opportunity which is offered through sport.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish their strategy for sports tourism. [HL520]

My department has no plans to publish a strategy for sports tourism. However, on 11 January, the British Tourist Authority launched their Sports Tourism Action Plan for Britain together with Janet. Anderson, Minister for Tourism and Kate Hoey, Minister for Sport.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have been recorded since the commencement of the Knives Act 1997. [HL641]

Sections 1 to 7, 9 and 10 of the Knives Act 1997 came into force on 1 September 1997.Data for England and Wales are given in the table:

Number of defendants prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Knives Act 1997, England and Wales, 1997–1999*
Offence description/Year	Prosecutions	Convictions
Unlawful marketing of knives—Selling or hiring [s 1 (4) (a)]
1997	1	1
1998	1	1
1999*	—	—
Unlawful marketing of knives—Offers or exposes to sell or hire [s 1 (4) (b)]
1997	—	—
1998	2	1
1999*	5	—
Publication of any written, pictorial or other material in connection with the marketing of any knife—the material suggests or indicates that the knife is suitable for combat [s 2 (1) (a)]
1997	—	—
1998	—	—
1999*	1	—
* Provisional (Quarter I and Quarter 2 only).

For Scotland, such offences are not separately identifiable within the Scottish Executive's classification database of crimes and offences.For Northern Ireland, there have been no prosecutions brought under the Act up to 31 December 1997. Data on prosecutions from January 1998 are not available.

asked Her Majest y's Government:When they intend to introduce legislation to reform the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. [HL642]

We hope to do so as soon as parliamentary time can be found.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Home Office Criminal Law Revision Committee last met; when it last made any recommendations to Ministers; and whether it is still in existence. [HL643]

The Criminal Law Revision Committee has not been active since its 1986 report Conspiracy to Defraud. The committee has never been formally disbanded.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Answer by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton that "the move towards task forces … makes for more transparent government and provides a much wider source of advice" (H.L. Deb., 11 January, col. 525), how such an analysis can be reconciled with their intention that information pertaining to the formulation of government policy should be a specific exemption from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Bill. [HL573]

I expect to be in a position to send you a substantive reply by 4 February.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to reform attendance centres. [HL790]

In January last year, we set up a small working group, including attendance centre representatives and other experts, to consider the centres' future operation. It made a number of useful proposals for reform of their management and operation, including developing more individual programmes to tackle offending problems.For the 84 junior attendance centres we have decided to combine reforms on these lines with organisational changes to match the philosophy of the youth justice reforms launched in the Government's November 1997 White Paper

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will respond to the Home Affairs Committee's Third Report of Session 1998–99 on the accountability of the Security Service. [HL792]

The Government will respond tomorrow by way of a command paper.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they plan to allocate police grant in 2000–01 and what the final funding allocations for police authorities will be for that year.[HL791]

My right honourable friend, the Home Secretary, has today laid before the House the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2000–01 (HC 169). The report sets out his determination for 2000–01 of the aggregate amount of grants that he proposes to pay under Section 46(2) of the Police Act 1996, and the amount to be paid to each police authority including the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District.Funding allocations for each police authority in England for 2000–01 are set out in the table. The table also shows allocations approved by Parliament for 1999–2000. Final funding allocations for police authorities in Wales will be announced shortly when the National Assembly for Wales publishes standard spending assessment determinations for Welsh authorities.