asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether grey squirrels can be infected with foot and mouth virus; and, if so, what contingency plans they have made if grey squirrels become infected with the virus. [HL990]

Grey squirrels are not known to become infected or play any part in the epidemiology of foot and mouth disease.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any plans to submit the appointment of judges and Queen's Counsel to scrutiny by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. [HL935]

Judicial appointments are outside the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. I have, however, accepted a recommendation from Sir Leonard Peach—himself a former Commissioner for Public Appointments—that I should establish a Commission for Judicial Appointments. The new Commission will conduct an ongoing scrutiny of the procedures for making judicial and Queen's Counsel appointments, and will investigate complaints about the way those procedures have been applied in individual cases. I intend to announce the appointment of the First Commissioner this month.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In view of the Arts Council's concern about the lack of venues for local live music, in what percentage of public houses it is currently an offence for the landlord to allow more than two people to sing at the same time. [HL998]

It is not an offence. However, premises which provide public entertainment including performances by more than two musicians or singers need a public entertainment licence, and an offence is committed if a licence is not obtained or its terms complied with. The Government's White Paper Time for Reform (Cm 4696) set out proposals for changing the alcohol and entertainment licensing laws.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there is adequate legislation to ensure public safety in public houses that provide satellite television sport for their customers; and, if so, who is responsible for checking licensees' compliance with this legislation. [HL999]

Pubs need a justices' licence for the sale of alcohol to their customers; and it is open to the justices to attach conditions to licences or seek undertakings from licensees with a view to ensuring that public safety is maintained, whether or not satellite television is provided for customers. The police are responsible for enforcing licensing law. The Government are not satisfied that the present law is satisfactory, and set out proposals for reform in a White Paper (Cm 4696) last year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will undertake a further review of the provision of multi-faith accommodation in the prisons of England and Wales; and the acceptability of this provision to visiting ministers of non-Christian religions. [HL1003]

The Prison Service is committed to providing the necessary facilities for prisoners to practise their faith, including suitable accommodation for worship. Questions on accommodation for worship (including whether the room has met with approval from the appropriate ministers) were included in the annual checklist completed by Race Relations Liaison Officers in 2000. The results, which are currently being collated, will be published in the 10th annual report by the Prison Service Race Relations Group to the Prison Service Management Board, due out in early summer. The Prison Service will also be discussing this issue further with members of the Advisory Group on Religion in Prison, in particular to consider drawing up guidelines for prisons on the requirements and use of such rooms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the number of physically disabled and infirm life sentence prisoners; and what plans the Prison Service has to meet the needs of these prisoners. [HL1004]

The number of physically disabled and infirm life sentence prisoners is not collected centrally. Following the publication of the Joint Thematic Review of Lifers, by HM Inspector of Prisons and Probation, which highlighted the needs of elderly life sentence prisoners, funding has been allocated for 2002–03 to improve services for this group, some of whom will be disabled or infirm. A Prison Service Order on the Management of Prisoners with Physical, Sensory or Mental Disabilities has been published to ensure that the Governors of all prison establishments, including those holding life sentence prisoners, are aware of the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. A working party has been set up to develop a strategy for the reasonable adjustment of prison service premises in order to remove physical barriers to access to services and facilities by 2004, as required by the third stage of the Act.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any evidence that Saddam Hussein has sent belly dancing assassins to murder Iraqi opponents in London as claimed in the

We have no evidence to corroborate this report. We have no information on the location of the "Maleen" reported in this article.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What further replies have been received from the Algerian government to inquiries about individual human rights cases raised by the United Kingdom and other European Union Member States through the European Union, as reported in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's annual reports for 1999 and 2000. [HL974]

We have received a limited response from the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to some of the cases raised by the UK. We will continue to press the Algerian authorities, via the EU Presidency, for a full reponse to the cases raised by the UK.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to co-sponsor a Resolution on the human rights situation in Algeria at the forthcoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. [HL975]

We are discussing the forthcoming session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR) with EU partners. At present there are no plans to table an EU resolution on Algeria. However, the EU is considering inclusion of Algeria in its statement on violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any plans to increase the resources that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office devotes to international science and technology work. [HL1096]

As part of its contribution to the Government's competitiveness agenda, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funds and manages a science and technology network currently based in 10 countries. As a result of the 2000 spending review, it can now allocate an additional £3 million to science and technology work over the next three financial years (2001–04). This will mean doubling the number of countries in which our diplomatic posts have specialist science and technology staff, and the creation of a dedicated Science and Technology Unit in the FCO.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency will publish its framework document. [HL1066]

I am pleased to announce that the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's framework document has been published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many air traffic controllers were in post at the latest available date; what was the number in each of the previous 10 years; what is their estimate of the current shortage; and what arrangements are in hand for closing the supply gap. [HL965]

At the end of January 2001 National Air Traffic Services Ltd employed 1,957 air traffic controllers, including student air traffic controllers. Corresponding figures for the previous 10 years, as at 31 March each year, were:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of the funds provided for Olympic athletes is made available by government from tax financed resources. [HL878]

No funds are provided directly for Olympic athletes from tax financed resources.Funding for sport, in general, is provided from the exchequer and from the National Lottery and is distributed by UK Sport and the home country sports councils. Many Olympic sports benefit from exchequer grants which are directed towards developing the sporting infrastructure. Funds specifically for Olympic athletes are made available from the Lottery.Our elite athletes, including Olympians, benefit from funding from the Lottery through programmes such as the World Class Performance Programme, which is administered by the Sports Council's UK Sport for UK governing bodies and includes athletes from all parts of the United Kingdom; and Sport England is responsible for English governing bodies and English athletes. In addition, the home country sports councils also provide lottery support to our top athletes in home country based sports through Wales' Elite Cymru and Scotland and Northern Ireland's Talented Athlete Programmes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the provision in Article 122(2) of the European Treaty, requiring the Council to report at least once every two years on the economies of member states with a derogation from Article 121(1), applies to the United Kingdom; and when the first such report is likely to be published. [HL1048]

Under the Protocol on certain provisions relating to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, the provisions of Article 122(2) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community do not apply to the United Kingdom.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether OFTEL's decision to scrap the so-called "bow wave" process of allocating space in British Telecom's local exchanges will accelerate the delivery of local loop unbundling; and what implications this has more generally for the delivery of broadband Internet connectivity. [HL910]

The agreement to suspend the Bow Wave Process is welcomed as it indicates that Local Loop Unbundling is moving into a more settled phase. BT has stated that it is able to resource all requests for unbundling facilities on a "business as usual" basis. This will allow operators to implement their business plans on a more flexible basis and make it more straightforward for operators to achieve the geographic footprint they need in order to launch commercial broadband services. Oftel is also working with BT and operators in order to reduce the timescales for providing unbundling facilities in order to accelerate the delivery of local loop unbundling.Requests for co-location facilities at BT exchanges are currently being progressed and it is anticipated that the construction work at the first sites will begin around Easter. Orders for distant location from operators can proceed at a faster rate than preparation of co-location space within BT exchanges. High speed Internet access is already available in many areas to consumers over the networks operated by BT, Kingston, and the cable companies.