Nigel Sheinwald, the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the European Union, represented the United Kingdom at the 28 September Council. The main matters dealt with at the Meeting were as follows:The list of A points was adopted in full, except items on the Schengen Information System, Sirene, on which one member state maintained a parliamentary scrutiny reserve, and on minimum standards for the security of passports.

We are currently working towards an implementation date for the Terrorism Act 2000 of 19 February 2001. Certain powers required in advance of the Terrorism Act taking effect have already been brought into force by Commencement Orders under section 128 of the Act. On 12 October 2000, provisions relating to United Kingdom-wide and Northern Ireland specific codes of practice were brought into force, paving the way for consultation on those codes. Today further provisions, such as those setting out the procedure for the making of secondary legislation, including the orders to bring the codes of practice into force, have been commenced. The provisions brought into force today also include provision for rules of court dealing with certain procedures under the Act and for the establishment of the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission.

Copies of the Immigration Services Commissioner's Rules, Code of Standards and Complaints Scheme have now been published on the internet at http:www.oisc.org.uk. A copy of these documents will be placed in the Library.The Commissioner has also published guidance to advisers on competencies in relation to the provision of immigration advice or immigration services. The Commissioner will be making an announcement in the near future as to the process for making a case for exemption or an application for registration.

The Government has no power to issue sentencing guidelines.Powers in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 empower the Home Secretary to direct the Sentencing Advisory Panel to propose to the Court of Appeal that it issue guidelines for specific offences or categories of offence. This power does not extend to making directions that the Panel should propose guidelines for particular categories of offender.

The sentencing framework now contained in the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 sets out the criteria which must be met before it is appropriate for an offender to be imprisoned for a given offence: broadly, the offence (or the offence and one or more offences associated with it) must be so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified for the offence.There are a number of property and other non-violent offences for which the maximum available penalty is imprisonment because of the possible seriousness of the worst examples of offending falling within that offence. It is for the courts to use their discretion when deciding whether imprisonment is justified, taking into account all relevant aggravating and mitigating factors relating to the offence and any previous convictions of the offender or failure to respond to previous sentences.Additionally, the Government have concluded that there are certain types of persistent offending for which a sentence of imprisonment is invariably necessary. We introduced provisions requiring an automatic minimum sentence of seven years' imprisonment for third-time traffickers in Class A drugs and of three years' imprisonment for third-time burglars. In each case, such a sentence must be imposed unless the court is satisfied that there are particular circumstances relating to any of the offences or to the offender which would make it unjust to do so.Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their policy concerning mothers with children under three years old who receive custodial sentences. [HL4233]

Mother and Baby Units are provided in four women's prisons. In two of these, mothers may have their babies with them up to the age of nine months. The other two have facilities for babies to remain with their mothers up to the age of 18 months. Currently there are plans to provide additional places for mothers and babies at two existing women's prisons and at two new-built prisons for women. There are no plans at present to extend the age limit of babies remaining with their mothers in prison beyond 18 months. It is proposed to run a small pilot scheme at a mother and baby unit with a flexible age limit up to four years of age. A full feasibility study will be carried out before this pilot can start.

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer to his Question of 16 October 2000, Official Report, col. WA71, and would add that it applies whether or not the political party forms the Government of the United Kingdom.

It is too early to say whether the contracted Millennium Volunteers projects will achieve the end year targets that have been agreed with them for the number of young people taking up Millennium Volunteers opportunities. Seven thousand five hundred have already joined Millennium Volunteers and we expect that number to increase rapidly over the coming months, particularly with the impact of the national radio advertising campaign to encourage young people to get involved, which was announced on 26 October.

My right honourable friend Tessa Jowell and my honourable friend Alan Johnson, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, represented the UK at the Employment and Social Policy Council meeting on 17 October.The Commission introduced the Autumn Employment Package, comprising the draft Employment Guidelines for 2001, the draft Joint Employment Report for 2000 and the Commission Recommendation on member states' employment policies. The Council gave its first reactions to the package, which will be discussed again by the Council on 27–28 November.The Council reached political agreement on a directive to implement the agreement on working time between the European social partners and the civil aviation sector.Outline political agreement was reached on a common position for a directive that will set minimum standards for the selection and use of scaffolding, ladders and ropes.The Council reached political agreement on a series of objectives in the fight against poverty and exclusion. These will be forwarded to the December European Council in Nice for approval.The Council adopted Conclusions on the structural indicators for employment and social cohesion. These will be included in the annual synthesis report for the Stockholm European Council.Political agreement was reached by the Council on the Employment (anti-discrimination) Directive brought forward under Article 13. This establishes a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. All the UK's negotiating objectives were achieved.Political agreement was also reached on another proposal brought under Article 13, a Decision to establish an action programme tackling all forms of discrimination.The Presidency introduced its summary paper on the current state of play of the negotiations on the proposed directive establishing a national framework for informing and consulting workers. The UK stated its continued opposition to the proposed directive on the grounds that it breached subsidiarity. The Presidency will consider written comments from delegations in preparation for renewed discussion at the Council on 27–28 November.

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) bans signatory states from the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons. The UK takes a leading role in implementing the treaty and takes all allegations of non-compliance seriously. We would only consider requesting the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to undertake a challenge inspection where this was warranted by the circumstances of an individual case.Sudan acceded to the CWC on 24 May 1999 (entry into force being 23 June 1999). Following allegations of the use of Chemical Weapons (CW) in Lainya in southern Sudan in July 1999, 17 environmental samples obtained from the area by Mr Damien Lewis were analysed by DERA, Porton Down for the most likely CW agents and their breakdown products. Although traces of the explosive TNT and its breakdown products were present in eight of the samples, no evidence was found of the CW agents tested for. Low levels of arsenic were measured in 15 of the samples at concentrations well within the expected natural limits for environmental samples. We understand that samples from the same site analysed in both Finland and the United States confirmed the UK analyses. The UK therefore concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations that chemical weapons were used in Sudan. The UK has informed the OPCW and the Sudanese Government of these findings.

The Government cannot make public the details of confidential discussions with Security Council partners. But we can assure the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, that we have made all our Security Council partners aware of our concerns.Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:What new policy initiatives they intend to take to "turn up the international heat on the regime in Burma" and "to make it realise that the international community will not stand idly by while that regime brings a potentially prosperous nation to its knees", as stated by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 2 October (H.L. Deb., col. 1224). [HL4329]

Our policy is to press the Burmese regime at every opportunity to enter into substantive dialogue with democratic parties, including ethnic minorities, and to improve their appalling human rights record. We believe continued pressure forces the regime to take note of the international community's concerns, as witnessed by their recent release of the British prisoner, James Mawdsley. We will continue with this policy: forthcoming opportunities include the UN General Assembly resolution, the ILO Governing Body, and the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting. We also support the work of Razali Ismail in his good offices role as the UN Special Envoy for Burma.

Licences to export arms and other goods controlled for strategic reasons are issued by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, acting through the Export Control Organisation of the DTI. All relevant individual licence applications are circulated by DTI to other government departments with an interest, as determined by those departments in line with their own policy responsibilities. These include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development.In the reply given by my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary to Stephen Timms MP on 28 July 1997, he set out the criteria which would be used in considering advance approvals for promotion prior to formal application for an export licence, applications for licences to export military equipment and dual-use goods where there are grounds for believing that the end-user will be the armed forces or internal security forces of the recipient country. As the Minister said then, Her Majesty's Government are committed to the maintenance of a strong defence industry as part of our industrial base as well as of our defence effort, and recognise that defence exports can also contribute to international stability by strengthening collective defence relationships, but believe that arms transfers must be managed responsibly.We have since taken a range of measures designed to ensure the highest standards of responsibility in our export control policies. These include the adoption during the UK's Presidency of the EU of a Code of Conduct on Arms Exports; the publication of Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls which are among the most transparent of those of any arms exporting country; the ban on the export of equipment used for torture; the ratification of the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines and the passage of the Land Mines Act; and our many efforts to combat illicit trafficking in and destabilising accumulations of small arms.Since the Council of the European Union adopted the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports on 8 June 1998, all relevant licence applications have been assessed against the UK's national criteria and those in the Code of Conduct, which represent minimum standards that all member states have agreed to apply. The criteria in the EU Code of Conduct are compatible with those which were announced by my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary in July 1997. At the same time there is a large degree of overlap between the two. It is clearly in the interests of government departments involved in assessing licence applications, British exporters and other interested parties that the criteria which are used should be set out as clearly and unambiguously as possible.With immediate effect, therefore, the following consolidated criteria will be used in considering all individual applications for licences to export goods on the Military List, which forms Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994; advance approvals for promotion prior to formal application for an export licence; and licence applications for the export of dual-use goods as specified in Annex 1 of Council Decision 94/942/CFSP when there are grounds for believing that the end-user of such goods will be the armed forces or internal security forces or similar entities in the recipient country, or that the goods will be used to produce arms or other goods on the Military List for such end-users. The criteria are based on those in the EU Code of Conduct, incorporating elements from the UK's national criteria where appropriate. As before, they will not be applied mechanistically but on a case-by-case basis, using judgment and common sense. Neither the fact of this consolidation, nor any minor additions or amendments to the wording of the two sets of criteria used before, should be taken to imply any change in policy or in its application.An export licence will not be issued if the arguments for doing so are outweighed by the need to comply with the UK's international obligations and commitments, by concern that the goods might be used for internal repression or international aggression, by the risks to regional stability or by other considerations described in these criteria.CRITERION ONE

UK Forces operate under clear cut Rules of Engagement which reflect UK domestic law. They may only resort to the use of lethal force when life is imminently threatened or when involved in an international armed conflict. The UK forces involved in recent operations in Sierra Leone resorted to the use of lethal force only when there was an imminent threat to life and only did so in a manner proportionate to the level of that threat.

The Ministry of Defence uses the services of the appropriate legal expert for the issue under consideration.

Plans for the Centre for Defence Medicine (CDM) are progressing well, with the main Service Level Agreement having been signed in early October. The CDM is due to open in April 2001 but we have already commenced the build-up of the Centre, with a small number of Service medical personnel having now taken up posts there. The CDM will develop progressively, over a period of five to 10 years, to its full strength. It is planned that the functions of the Royal Defence Medical College will transfer to the CDM, where they will be at the heart of the Centre, and that this process will be essentially complete by 2006. There are no plans for the Defence Medical Services' Training Centre at Aldershot to transfer to Birmingham.Lord Vivian asked Her Majesty's Government:What will be the shortfall of filled posts, listed by specialties, when the Defence Medical Services Centre for Excellence opens. [HL4267]

There are not expected to be any vacancies in the Centre for Defence Medicine's (CDM) complement when it opens in April 2001.

A total of 18 tenders were received, and a short list of seven were invited to interview. After taking into account a number of aspects of the bids, including risk and compliance with the planning brief, two bidders, both proposing institutional use, were asked to give presentations to Ministers from interested departments to further inform the decision-making process.

The Ministry of Defence funds the Officer Training Corps.

As the number of applications for promotional stands at the Freshers' Fair at Queen's University last month exceeded the space available, I understand that the organisers decided to give priority to organisations that subscribed at that time to the Students Union. Although the University Officers Training Corps was not therefore given space in the Freshers' Fair Hall, a recruiting stand was erected in the vicinity and members of the UOTC distributed advertising leaflets. I am pleased to report that the number of applicants for the UOTC has exceeded the number of vacancies available.

ABRO Sennybridge achieved 98.9 per cent of tasks within the agreed customer turn-round times, against a target of 95 per cent in financial year 1999–2000, and in the year to date achievement is running at 99.8 per cent. Her Majesty's Government are satisfied with the performance of ABRO Sennybridge. It provides a vital service to Land Command units stationed locally and those units utilising specialist training facilities in the vicinity.

Based on current plans we expect to dispose of the Horsham Territorial Army Centre by the end of this year.

We are very pleased to announce that the amendments to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme have now been approved with an effective date of 31 October 2000. This means that those in receipt of an attributable Armed Forces widow(er)'s pension will keep their pension should they remarry or begin to cohabit on or after this date.

The Medicines Control Agency has not been made aware of any scientific data supporting the use of Viagra in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). It is currently authorised (licensed) for use exclusively in men with erectile dysfunction. It is not authorised for use in women or in relation to IVF procedures. A doctor using Viagra for any medical situation or specific patient that does not fall within the licence (off-lable use), such as IVF in women, takes full responsibility for that particular patient. This includes the occurrence of any unforeseen side effects associated with such use of Viagra.

The Government have no plans to make all hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation and all forms of public transport and related property with public access to be non-smoking. Smoking policies are the responsibility of managers and providers of facilities. The Government hope and expect that they, like the licensed hospitality industry, will increase the availability of facilities for non-smokers.The Government have reached agreement with representatives of the licensed hospitality trade—pubs, restaurants and hotels—on the need for continuing improvement in the provision of non-smoking facilities over the coming years. The industry has developed a Public Places Charter which will ensure that consumers are better able to choose whether to eat, drink or socialise in smoky atmospheres.The Health and Safety Commission's recent announcement that it favours introducing an approved code of practice on passive smoking at work is aimed at protecting the welfare of employees from environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace.

The running costs of hospices are currently £215 million. Of this, £65 million is provided by the National Health Service to voluntary hospices. This equates to 30 per cent of the total running costs of voluntary hospices. In addition, the NHS provides a further £34 million for NHS hospice running costs. The Government are committed to providing an additional £50 million for hospices by 2004, as announced in the NHS Cancer Plan published on 27 September. This will bring the total NHS spend on hospices up to £150 million, which will be equal to the amount provided by the voluntary sector. The £50 million investment will be used to end inequalities in access to specialist palliative care and enable the NHS to make a more realistic contribution to the cost hospices incur in providing agreed levels of service.In order to ensure that the additional funding is allocated effectively and equitably, we will work with hospices and the NHS to define the core components of palliative care services.We do not have information on the amount spent on specialised staff training courses in palliative care. However, most hospices do offer educational programmes and a national charity, Help the Hospices, plays a role in funding and organising training for all professions involved in palliative care.

We acknowledge the difficulties facing manufacturers, due to the weakness of the euro. But we note that, although low, profitability is above its long-run average and many industries and companies have made substantial productivity improvements. We are assisting manufacturing industry to improve its long-term prospects by providing a stable macro-economic framework and by pursuing policies that help firms to innovate and grow.

The export of precursors of toxic chemicals, such as triethanolamine and sodium sulphide are subject to control by being listed in the Australia Group Chemical Weapons precursor list. [The export licence concerned covered sodium sulphide flakes, not sodium sulphate flakes]. Both chemicals are listed because triethanolamine may be used as a precursor in the manufacture of nitrogen mustard, and sodium sulphide may be used as a precursor in the manufacture of sulphur mustard. However, both chemicals also have many commercial uses.All export licence applications are rigorously assessed to determine the risk of the proposed export being misused in contravention of our national export licensing criteria and those in the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, including for risk of diversion or re-export to undesirable end-users. Applications are refused if it is assessed that an unacceptable risk of diversion exists. ECO seeks advice on applications from other departments with an interest as determined by those departments in line with their policy responsibilities. All applications for Standard Individual Export Licences must be accompanied by appropriate end-user undertakings or, if the consignee is a Government body, a copy of the official purchase order or relevant part of the contract. As noted in the 1999 Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls, we regularly ask overseas posts to conduct checks to confirm the veracity of end-user information. We systematically take into account reliable information from a variety of sources, including reporting from diplomatic posts, international organisations and Non-Government Organisations.

The Government Actuary is currently finalising his report under Section 36 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. It will he published when it is completed.

The effect on child poverty of the requirement to name the father under the Child Support Act 1995 and the requirement to attend one interview is not available. However, the following information is available.Under the Child Support Act 1991, a reduced benefit direction can be imposed on parents with care who refuse without good cause to co-operate with the Child Support Agency in seeking child maintenance. There are currently around 13,000 reduced benefit directions in force.

The Scottish Environment Agency has published its fourth annual report and accounts today. The report contains details of the progress made by SEPA during the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000, the agency's fourth year of operation. A copy of the annual report and accounts has been placed in the Library.

UK Agriculture Ministers proposed the addition of Chardon LL to the UK National List in March. After objections to the proposal were raised, Mr Alun Alesbury was appointed by Ministers to hear representations in relation to the proposed listing, and a hearing is currently under way.The Government have now learned from the French authorities that the data from French trials on varietal distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS), which supported the Chardon application for National Listing in the UK, were based on 1 year's data from accredited breeders' trials and 1 year's data from government-run trials. This is apparently one of the procedures allowed by the French authorities for DUS trials of new maize varieties. The relevant directive (72/180/EEC) requires two years of official trials.Ministers are taking urgent legal advice on this issue and the implications of the information for the current hearing. MAFF is seeking further information from the French authorities and consulting the European Commission about the implications for National Listing decisions across the EU.Chardon LL will only be added to the UK National List if all the legal requirements have been fully met.

The Judicial Appointments Annual Report, covering the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000, is published today. The report includes comprehensive narrative descriptions and detailed statistics on appointments to the judiciary, Queen's Counsel, Lay Magistrates and General Commissioners of Income Tax. It also includes information on my appointments policies and procedures and recent developments such as the implementation of Sir Leonard Peach's recommendations. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The report is also available on the Internet.

asked the Chairman of Committees:Further to his Written Answer on 13 October (

There are no plans to extend the Millbank House smoking policy to the rest of the House of Lords. However, as I indicated in my previous Answers to the noble Lord, the sub-committees of the Offices Committee will review the Health and Safety Commission's approved code of practice on passive smoking at work if and when it is issued.