asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there has been any progress on resolving the dispute over the Western Sahara. [HL2580]

With the support of the UN Security Council, James Baker, the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy on the Western Sahara, recently visited several north African countries to assess the prospects for resolving the long-standing dispute over the Western Sahara.Following these visits, Mr Baker invited the two main parties, Morocco and the Polisario Front, and the two front-line states, Algeria and Mauritania, to meet in order to consider the options for moving discussions forward. The UN asked the British Government whether we could provide a venue for 14 May. We agreed, and the UN accepted our offer of Lancaster House.We welcome the willingness of the two parties to engage. We hope they will respect the spirit and aims of Mr Baker's mission and work with him to secure an early, durable and agreed resolution of this dispute.The 14 May talks were private and conducted throughout by Mr Baker and his United Nations team. The UK's role was limited in this instance to logistical support. But I hope it sends a clear signal of our continuing willingness to support UN efforts to resolve conflicts on the African continent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What were the circumstances in which Mr McLennan-Murray, Governor of HM Prison Blantyre House, was recently removed from his post. [HL2442]

Mr McLennan-Murray's career move to a different type of prison had been planned for some time. The Director General of the Prison Service decided that this move should take place to coincide with the recent security operation, so that the programme of action required to take the establishment forward could be driven through from the outset by the new governor.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What notice Mr McLennan-Murray was given of the recent decision to remove him from his post as Governor of HM Prison Blantyre House before he was required to leave. [HL2443]Who authorised the recent decision to remove Mr McLennan-Murray from his post as Governor of HM Prison Blantyre House; and what notice was given to him that his removal from post had been authorised. [HL2444]

Mr McLennan-Murray's career move to a different type of prison had been planned for some time. The decision to effect this move was taken by the Director General of the Prison Service. Mr McLennan-Murray was told of the actual date on 5 May and officially took up his new post on 7 May.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Over how many hours was a prison search carried out at HM Prison Blantyre House in May; and what contraband, if any (identified by quantity and category), was discovered. [HL2445]

The search took just under six-and-a-half hours. The search made 98 finds of unauthorised articles, including cash to the value of £370, nine mobile telephones, 25 bank and credit cards and bank books, a small quantity of illicit drugs, 12 cameras, two computers, two televisions, a set of building tools, seven examples of hard core pornography, tattooing equipment, computer disks, screwdrivers and blank visiting orders for Elmley prison.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the record in recent years of H M Prison Blantyre House by reference to the proportion of its inmates who have been reconvicted within two years of their discharge or to any other stand and measure of recidivism; and comparing that record with other establishments of the same category in England and Wales. [HL2464]

Recent two-year reconviction rates for Blantyre House, all closed category C establishments and all prisons are shown in the table. The reconviction rates are produced by analysing a stratified random sample of discharges from all prisons during a given year. The numbers in the samples who were discharged from Blantyre House are small but the rates are consistently over 35 percentage points lower than the national rates.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to reform the law relating to involuntary manslaughter and in particular corporate manslaughter. [HL2578]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today issued a consultation document containing the Government's proposals on how the law on involuntary manslaughter might be reformed. The paper accepts and builds on the Law Commission's proposals contained in its report No. 237 Legislating the Criminal Code: Involuntary Manslaughter.Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Library.This is an important document dealing with a complex area of the law but one which most commentators accept is in need of reform. The Government are deeply indebted to the Law Commission, not only for the detailed consideration it gave to this subject in its report No. 237 but also for its continuing help by participating in the interdepartmental working group we set up to consider its proposals.The consultation document concentrates on those areas of the Law Commission's proposals which are more contentious or where, for the reasons set out in the document, we have taken a different view from the Law Commission. In a number of areas we have not come to any conclusion but are seeking comments on possible options.We wish to clarify and rationalise the existing law relating to individual involuntary homicide and we agree with the Law Commission that the law relating to corporate liability for involuntary manslaughter is in need of radical reform. Our proposals in this respect raise important and difficult issues of policy, principle and practice.I would urge all those who are concerned about the reform of the law on involuntary manslaughter to read this paper and respond to it.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will announce the results of the consultation process on the design of a pilot study for financial bonds for visitors under Sections 16 and 17 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. [HL2605]

My honourable friend the Minister of State at the Home Office (Mrs Roche) has today placed in the Library a detailed analysis of responses to our recent consultation paper on bonds for visitors, together with an analysis of responses to this proposal in the 1998 White Paper on Immigration and Asylum. She is grateful to all those who responded to our consultation document. We have taken full account of their views, and of the many other representations made to us, in considering how the pilot study should run.The pilot study on financial bonds will begin in October at two posts overseas, Manila and Casablanca. It will run for six months, followed by a further six months to monitor departure from the United Kingdom, and a further, brief period for analysis of the results.The scheme is intended to enable more people to visit the United Kingdom by providing an additional facility to prospective visitors in borderline cases where their intention to return is in doubt. It will enable a British citizen or overseas national settled in the United Kingdom who is a family member to provide a financial bond in the form of a cash payment in advance as an additional guarantee that the visitor will leave the United Kingdom at the end of their stay. The scheme will be open to those seeking to visit close family members in the United Kingdom. The amount of the bond will be set at £3,000. The bond will be returned when the visitor leaves the United Kingdom.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to publish the criminal justice system business plan. [HL2579]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary, my noble and learned friend the Attorney-General and I will today be publishing jointly a business plan for the criminal justice system in England and Wales.The plan describes the aims, objectives and performance targets that the Government expect the criminal justice system as a whole to work to deliver.Copies of the plan will be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the implications for the parliamentary accountability of the Financial Services Authority of the statement by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 9 May (H.L. Deb., col. 1378) that the consideration of the Financial Services Authority's treatment of the merger between the London Stock Exchange and the Deutsche Borse "is not a responsiblity of the Government and [it] is not my responsibility as the Minister for steering the Bill through the House". [HL2423]

The statement to which the noble Earl refers concerned the question of the Financial Services Authority's making public the results of its discussions with its German counterparts on the regulatory implications of the proposed London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Borse merger. Regulatory decisions concerning the recognition of UK investment exchanges and the continuing compliance of such exchanges with the recognition criteria are matters for the FSA rather than the Government. The Financial Services Authority is accountable to Parliament through Treasury Ministers, and the Financial Services and Markets Bill provides that an annual report by the authority on the discharge of its functions must be laid by the Treasury before Parliament.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their definition of the present economic cycle and the last economic cycle; what has been the annual deficit or surplus as a percentage of gross domestic product each year of the present cycle; and what was the annual United Kingdom general government deficit or surplus in each year of the last economic cycle. [HL2492]

As set out in paragraph 2.37 of the Budget 2000 Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report (HC346), present indications are that the economy may have completed a full economic cycle starting in the first half of 1997 and ending in the middle of 1999. This assessment would imply that the current cycle started in the middle of 1999. However, given the closeness to trend and possible measurement errors, this conclusion can only be provisional at this stage.Over the period 1997–98 to 1999–2000, the current Budget, by which performance is measured against the golden rule, was in surplus by -0.7 per cent of GDP in 1997–98, 0.9 per cent in 1998–99 and 1.9 per cent in 1999–2000 (i.e. an average surplus of 0.7 per cent over the cycle, consistent with meeting the golden rule). For 2000–01 the projection is for a current surplus of 1.5 per cent of GDP. General government net borrowing was 0.9 per cent of GDP in 1997–98, -0.6 per cent in 1998–99 and -1.3 per cent in 1999–2000, and is projected to be -0.6 per cent in 2000–01 (where a negative number implies a net repayment).

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people in England and Wales are estimated to be working on a Sunday in the year 2000 compared with the year 1990; what percentage of the working population this represents; how many are estimated to be women; and how many are estimated to have children. [HL2344]

The latest available figures show that about 4.3 million people [n England and Wales said they usually worked on a Sunday in spring 1999, just under 20 per cent of all those in employment. Of this number, 1.8 million were women while 40 per cent of those who usually worked on Sunday had dependent children under 16 years of age. Full estimates are provided in the table below. Comparable information is not available for earlier years.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many companies are estimated to have drawn up contracts since the passage of the 1994 Sunday trading legislation requiring their employees to work on a Sunday. [HL2345]

My department collects no information on this subject.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assessment has been made of the impact on health and stress and on the unity of family life since workers have been unable to take a shared day off from work following the 1994 Sunday trading legislation. [HL2346]

My department has conducted no assessment of the kind suggested. When the Sunday Trading Act 1994 deregulated Sunday shopping, it included provisions—now consolidated into the Employment Rights Act 1996—to ensure that all shopworkers, with the exception of those employed to work solely on Sundays, have the right to refuse to work on Sundays and to be protected against dismissal, selection for redundancy or other detrimental action for such refusal.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will require the Post Office to publish the major events in the history of the United Kingdom, including its defence of freedom, the Industrial Revolution and its contribution to world sport and culture for which a special stamp issue was made available during the last 10 years. [HL2350]

The Stamp Programme is a matter for the Post Office. The Post Office tells me that it does not hold records of special stamp issues which have been made on major events in the history of the United Kingdom, and this information could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. It tells me that the "Great Britain Concise, 1999 Edition", by Stanley Gibbons, provides a definitive list of GB stamps since 1840. It has also pointed out that the Millennium Stamps programme last year covered over 1,000 years of British history and achievement. The programme included the subjects of the Industrial Revolution, equal rights and the 1966 World Cup Final.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What fees they expect in respect of the recent auction of mobile telephone licences; what were the amounts; and who were the recipients. [HL2355]

The Government expect licence fees totalling £22,477,400,000 from the recent auction of Wireless Telegraphy Act licences for third generation mobile communications. The recipient and licence fee for each licence are as follows.

		£
Licence A	TIW UMTS (UK) Limited	4,384,700,000
Licence B	Vodalone Limited	5,964,000,000
Licence C	BT3G Limited	4,030,100,000
Licence D	One2One Personal Communications Limited	4,003,600,000
Licence E	Orange 3G Limited	4,095,000,000

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in the context of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union, they are aware of any suggestions that the United Kingdom's oil reserves should become a common resource of the European Communities; and, if so, what is their reaction to such suggestions. [HL2356]

There is nothing expressed in any of the articles of the EC Treaty (or of the Treaty on European Union) to support the suggestion that the UK's oil reserves should become a common resource of the European Communities. There can be no doubt that so fundamental a matter would need to be dealt with in the articles of the treaty.The Hydrocarbons Licensing Directive (94/22/EC) recitals state clearly that "Member States have sovereign rights over hydrocarbon resources on their territories".

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many applications for compensation have been dealt with under the scheme providing payment to mineworkers suffering from bronchitis or emphysema in each of the last six months; and how many applicants have died during this period. [HL2433]

In the last six months the department has made over 5,400 expedited and interim payments totalling £25.3 million to former miners, suffering from chronic bronchitis and emphysema and their families broken down as follows:

Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	April	May to Date
627	516	1,235	956	1,012	716	349

During the last six months IRISC, the department's claims handling agents, has been informed of 1,298 claims where the claimant has died broken down as follows:

Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	April	May to Date
234	288	309	170	168	73	56

In all these cases the claims will be continued by the claimant's widow or dependants. In addition, where the claimant's death certificate shows that one of the respiratory disease for which British Coal was found liable either caused or materially contributed to the death, the department will also make a bereavement award to the claimant's widow.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 11 May

It is for the Post Office to decide whether to publish details of its market research.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Answer by Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton on 13 March (HL Deb, col. 1275), what are the terms of reference of the reconvened Lead Shot Working Group; and whether they will enable it to take into account any representations made about new alternatives to lead shot, as stated in the Answer. [HL2381]

The Lead Shot Legislation (England) Review Group's remit is specifically to review the Schedule 1 list of sites. Additionally, the group is considering other issues relating to the effectiveness of the legislation, including availability of alternative shot, compliance by shooters and police experiences. Representatives from shooting, farming, landowning and conservation organisations and gun and ammunition industry interests are included in the group.The group is not examining the properties of specific alternative shot types, although it is looking at the issue of how newly developed alternative shot types might be considered in the future and any representations to the group will be taken into account.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the volume of animal and bird carcasses currently disposed of by incineration in small capacity incinerators at veterinary surgeries, firms, hunt kennels and other private facilities, for 1999. [HL2439]

Information is not available on the volume of animal and bird carcasses disposed of in this way during 1999 since such information is recorded centrally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the members of the task forces currently operating in Wales [HL2506]

In March I informed the noble Lord that this information was being collected and would be placed in the Library as soon as possible. I promised to write when this had been done. I can confirm that this information was placed in the Library today.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the special advisers operating in Wales. [HL2507]

The Wales Office has two special advisers, Professor Hywel Francis and Mr Adrian McMenamin. Assembly appointments are a matter for the Assembly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 4 May

This is a matter for the Committee on Standards in Public Life and will depend on the nature of the evidence in question. If it were to be germane to the planning or commission of an offence or to its investigation or prosecution, the committee would no doubt refer the information to the appropriate authorities.