asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have on the demographics of nvCJD, referrals to the CJD surveillance unit, sporadic CJD and dementia; whether they will provide demographic data for the United Kingdom as a whole; and whether they will also provide these data renormalised. [HL740]

The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit (CJDSU) monitors the characteristics of all forms of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD) in the United Kingdom, to identify trends in incidence rates and to study risk factors for the development of disease. The unit undertakes epidemiological research in relation to sporadic, familial, iatrogenic CJD and the new variant of CJD (vCJD) and studies regional variations, and analyses by age and sex. CJDSU publishes all these data in an annual report, which is placed in the Library. It will publish its report for 2000 later this year.The Department of Health publishes, on a monthly basis, figures on the numbers of cases of all types of CJD in the UK. The press release includes the number of living patients suffering from "probable" variant CJD and the number of referrals to the CJDSU. Copies are placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath of 1 March (

The texts of Protocol 12 and Article 14 are similar in that both are silent on differences of treatment which have a reasonable and justifiable discrimination. The jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights indicates that discrimination for the purposes of Article 14 excludes differences which have such a justification, but the Court's interpretation of the Convention evolves and it is not bound by previous judgments.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they intend to support the autistic community in the United Kingdom. [HL 1115]

It is the responsibility of local statutory bodies to determine the provision of services to autistic people based on their knowledge of local needs and priorities.The Department of Health has issued guidance to encourage the development, at a local level, of a range of well co-ordinated health and social services for people with learning disabilities, many of whom also have autism, and their carers. Our strategy for services for people with a learning disability will be published as a White Paper in the next few weeks. Our increased investment in health, education and personal social services in England over the next three years will benefit people with autism as well as everyone else who needs them. Services for people with autism in other parts of the United Kingdom are a matter for devolved administrations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have considered assisting the National Autistic Society in organising a major conference on autism and the issues surrounding the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. [HL 1117]

We recognise the valuable work of the National Autistic Society in raising awareness of the needs of children and adults with autistic spectrum conditions and have funded a number of their activities over the years. As rigorous scrutiny by the Department of Health and a number of independent expert advisory groups has established that the present evidence does not support any association between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination and autism, we would not view a conference on this subject as a priority for public funding.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to addresses the shortage of specialist teachers and specialist speech therapists needed to deal with autistic children. [HL1118]

Autism is a significant area of work in speech and language therapy. It is, however, a specialised area, and as a consequence there are only a limited number of therapists with the highly developed skills required to work effectively with this client group.We need to see further increases in the number of speech and language therapists employed within the National Health Service. The NHS Plan commits the Government to 6,500 more therapists and other health professionals, with 4,450 more therapists and other key professions being trained each year by 2004. We have made good progress in the past two years. However we are currently conducting a labour market analysis in order to inform future education commissioning decisions and this report will be available in the late spring.An increase in the total number of speech and language therapists working in the National Health Service will have a positive impact in all areas. It will also increase the number of therapists currently able to develop the more specialist skills required with particular client groups such as people with autistic spectrum disorder.The Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) is providing significant levels of financial support for the training and professional development of teachers and other staff working with children with special educational needs (SEN), including those children on the autistic spectrum. Under the Standards Fund 2000–01, DfEE is supporting expenditure of £26 million on SEN training and development—an increase from £21 million in 1999–2000. In 2001–02 DfEE envisages that £30 million of the overall SEN Standards Fund allocation of £82 million will be spent on SEN training.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they plan to meet the needs of autistic children from ethnic minority backgrounds, and, in particular, the need for additional language support. [HL1119]

It is the responsibility of local statutory authorities to determine the pattern of services in their area in the light of their knowledge of local needs and priorities. Health and local authorities should ensure that the particular health, education and social care needs of each child with autism, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds, are met with genuine choices.Every child with an autistic spectrum disorder should benefit from the Government's commitment to improving health and reducing inequality in the health service under the NHS Plan. Many children with autism also have a learning disability and will be covered by our national learning disability strategy, which we intend to publish as a White Paper in the next few weeks.Under the Standards Fund 2001–02, the Department for Education and Employment is supporting expenditure of £82 million on special educational needs. We envisage that local education authorities will spend £10 million of this on enhancing speech and language therapy provision in conjunction with the NHS and the voluntary sector. This would include enhancing facilities available to ethnic minority pupils.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their policy towards autistic children and adults from minority ethnic communities. [HL1128]

The Government are committed to ensuring that people from ethnic minority communities have equal access to all public services.Children and adults with an autistic spectrum disorder will benefit from the Government's commitment to improving health and reducing inequality in the health service under the NHS Plan. Many people with autism also have a learning disability and will be covered by our national learning disability strategy, which will be published as a White Paper in the next few weeks.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they intend to ensure that local education authorities and National Health Service trusts fund basic educational services and specialist speech therapy for all autistic children. [HL1131]

Our increased investment in health, education and personal social services in England over the next three years will benefit people with autism as well as everyone else who needs them. We have demonstrated our commitment to improving the recruitment and retention of the allied health professions, including speech and language therapists, in Meeting the Challenge: A Strategy for the Allied Health Professions, which I had the pleasure of launching on 25 November 2000.Funding is not made available for specific categories of special educational need. Rather, funding is allocated and distributed via local education authorities (LEAs), which have a duty to provide appropriately for all children in their area. This includes the duty to identify children's individual special educational needs and to deliver the most appropriate provision to meet those needs.Under the Standards Fund for 2001–02, the Department for Education and Employment is supporting expenditure of £82 million on special educational needs. We envisage that local education authorities will spend £10 million of this on enhancing speech and language therapy provision in conjunction with the NHS and the voluntary sector. The grant is also available for training staff on special educational needs issues.At the individual pupil level, we are also working to promote better and more consistent practice towards all pupils with special educational needs. In particular the revised SEN Code of Practice should promote more consistent practice by schools and LEAs. Whilst individual pupils with SEN will vary in their needs, it is important that schools and others adopt a consistent and rigorous approach in identifying and providing for these needs.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are proposing to support the expected increase in numbers of autistic children in five years time. [HL1132]

To help local authorities with their service planning responsibilities, we first need to establish whether an increase in the numbers of autistic children is expected. We are therefore examining a number of potential sources of health and social care data on autism. On a pilot basis, autism will be included in the next Children in Need Survey, to be carried out in the autumn.We have also asked the Medical Research Council (MRC) to obtain a clear and comprehensive picture of the current knowledge about the incidence, prevalence and causes of autism and how strong is the evidence which underpins that knowledge. The MRC will submit a report to the Department of Health in autumn 2001. This will be circulated more widely to a range of policy-makers, patients, interest groups, the research community and the public.Our increased investment in health, education and personal social services in England over the next three years will benefit people with autism as well as everyone else who needs them.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 20 December 2000 (

No. Air Marshal Day stated in the Board of Inquiry report that Master Air Loadmaster Forbes and Sergeant Hardie were probably stationed in the aircraft's cabin during the overseas transit. From the positions of the casualties relative to the wreckage, we cannot be certain where the two crewmen were at impact. It is possible that one of the crewmen was either sitting in the jump seat or standing behind the pilots. The jump seat, which folds up so that a member of the crew may also stand in this position, is in a small gap between the back of the two pilots' seats and the main cabin area, with large cabinets to each side. It takes but one step to move from the main cabin to the folded-seat area.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether PAY 2000 will increase or decrease the Army's expenditure on pay and allowance. [HL1027]

The implementation of PAY 2000 will increase the Army's expenditure on pay by £29 million in the financial year 2001–2002. PAY 2000 will have no effect on expenditure on allowances. The move to PAY 2000 is fully supported by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Burlison on 13 February (

Various categories of overseas tours are recorded on an individual's record of service, and these records are held centrally. However, searches can be made only on one category at a time and no single search would produce all the information relevant to the widest definition of "overseas tour". To put together such a record would, therefore, entail a disproportionate cost.Monitoring deployments at unit level gives a clearer picture of the pattern of deployment and operational commitment within the Army. Some 22 per cent of the trained Army is currently committed to operations; this figure includes units preparing for, deployed on and recovering from operations. Within this, 15 per cent of the trained Army is currently deployed on operations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Prime Minister's statement in the House of Commons on 11 December 2000 (HC Deb, col. 349) that the United Kingdom's net contribution to the European Community would be roughly equivalent to that of France and Italy, what is the estimated United Kingdom annual net contribution as a percentage of total European Community's own resources in each year during the period 2001 to 2006; and what has been the comparable United Kingdom net contribution as a percentage of the European Community's total own resources income during each year in the period 1980 to 2000. [HL887]

Government estimates of the United Kingdom's net contribution as a percentage of total EC own resources for the period 2001 to 2006 are set out below:

• 2001: 5.08%
• 2002: 4.46%
• 2003: 5.25%
• 2004: 6.31%
• 2005: 5.27%
• 2006: 5.67%

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the average rate of inflation in the year 2000 of the three best performing member states of the European Union; and what was the comparable rate of inflation in the United Kingdom in the same year. [HL1086]

The average inflation rate in 2000 was 1.3 per cent. The comparable rate of inflation in the UK was 0.8 per cent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the average nominal long-term interest rate of the three best performing member states of the European Union in the year 2000; and what was the comparable long-term interest rate in the United Kingdom in the same year. [HL1087]

The average nominal long-term interest rate in 2000 was 5.5 per cent. The comparable rate for the United Kingdom was 5.0 per cent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether VAT is payable in regard to the donation of £1 million made by the Hinduja family to the Faith Zone at the Millennium Dome; and, if so, why it is payable, how much is payable, when and by whom. [HL1081]

It is a long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on the VAT affairs of individual businesses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much money was allocated under the Barnett formula for each of the last five years, per head of population, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. [HL1200]

Public expenditure figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over this period were published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses in April 2000 and the Spending Review in July 2000. The arrangements for determining the budgets of the devolved administrations were set out in the Statement of Funding Policy in July 2000, including the population figures used in the 2000 Spending Review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress the Government have made in implementing the recommendations of Sir Leonard Peach's independent scrutiny report on the appointment processes for judges and Queen's Counsel in England and Wales. [HL1236]

I am pleased to announce that Her Majesty yesterday made Orders in Council defining the functions of her Commissioners for Judicial Appointments and appointing Professor Sir Colin Murray Campbell, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, as her First Commissioner for Judicial Appointments. The Commission has commenced its work today. The recruitment of Deputy Commissioners will begin shortly and I hope the first of them will be appointed in the autumn.Sir Leonard also recommended that a pilot scheme be produced for an assessment centre for judicial appointments. The tendering process will commence shortly to identify consultants who will advise on the design and development of the pilot scheme. Several of Sir Leonard's other recommendations—such as improvements to the forms used in consultations on candidates for judicial appointment, and to the procedures for appointment to Silk—have already been implemented.

asked Her Majesty's Government:To whom the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors is accountable; how many complaints the office dealt with in 1999 and 2000; and what was the average time taken to process a complaint. [HL1042]

The Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) is directly accountable to the Chief Executive of the Law Society. In 1999, the OSS resolved a total of 21,647 complaints. This figure rose by 7,326 in 2000, when a total of 28,973 cases were closed. Information received from the OSS about the time taken to resolve cases is set out below, and shows an improvement in each category from 1999 to 2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many serving police officers per 100,000 population there are in England and Wales today; and how many there were in 1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995. [HL956]

The numbers of serving police officers per 100,000 population are given in the table.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which are the terrorist organisations recommended for inclusion in Schedule 2 (Proscribed Organisations) to the Terrorism Act 2000 whose objectives could have been achieved by lawful and democratic means if they had succeeded in attracting sufficient support; and [HL1101]Which are the terrorist organisations recommended for inclusion in Schedule 2 (Proscribed Organisations) to the Terrorism Act 2000 whose objectives cannot be achieved by lawful and democratic means because they demand changes unachievable within the present state structure; and [HL1102]Which are the terrorist organisations recommended for inclusion in Schedule 2 (Proscribed Organisations) to the Terrorism Act 2000 whose objectives cannot be achieved by lawful and democratic means because they are not free to compete by those means on equal terms. [HL1103]

I refer the noble Earl to the note I sent to all parliamentary colleagues, following the Home Secretary's announcement on 28 February that the draft order had been laid listing the organisations intended for addition to Schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000. This draft order was debated in the other place on 13 March, and will shortly be the subject of debate in your Lordships' House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the case of

If the noble Lord has a specific case in mind in which this judgment has been involved, perhaps he would give me details. The United Kingdom National Central Bureau (NCB) for Interpol, based in the National Criminal Intelligence Service, is responsible for co-ordinating all requests from overseas law enforcement agencies for information on an individual's previous convictions. Subject to receiving proof of identity of the individual seeking disclosure of such information, the NCB will confirm what information about his/her convictions was provided in response to a request from overseas. However, the NCB would not provide information about messages sent relating to another individual with the same name as the enquirer. Although they share the same name, they do not share right of access to information held about each other's previous convictions. All information held on previous convictions is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many manufacturing jobs have been lost in Wales since May 1997. [HL545]

The latest ONS statistics (September 2000) show that total employee jobs in manufacturing in Wales stood at 202,000 compared to a figure of 210,000 in the June 1997 ONS statistics. ONS statistics are compiled quarterly and therefore June 1997 is the closest available month to that requested.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the decline in average farm incomes in Wales since May 1997. [HL546]

Since 1 July 1999 this has been a matter for the National Assembly for Wales. The latest farm income figures were published on 4 December 2000 and are available from the Economic Advice Division of the National Assembly for Wales. They showed that average Net Farm Income (NFI) for all full-time farms in Wales was estimated to be £5,700 in 1999–2000. NFI is a measure of the economic return to these with an entreprenurial interest in the farm. It incorporates allowances for depreciation and for rent (on a notional basis if the farmer is an owner-occupier). Cash income for 1999–2000 was estimated to be £20,500. The index of NFI at current prices for all full-time farms in Wales shows a decline of 57 per cent between 1997–98 and 1999–2000. The equivalent decline for cash income is 6 per cent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have about local reference rents, determined under the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997, for payments in respect of the site on which a caravan or mobile home stands; and whether they will publish a table giving H and L for these rents within the meaning of Schedule 1, paragraph 4(1), for each area for which the information is available. [HL870]

Information on local reference rents in respect of sites on which caravans or mobile homes stand is not centrally available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that the 40 per cent brownfield/60 per cent greenfield housing programme constitutes a sustainable strategy for large post-industrial cities. [HL1156]

The Government are committed to minimising the amount of greenfield land taken for development. The target in England is that, by 2008, 60 per cent of additional housing should be provided on previously-developed land and through conversion of existing buildings. Paragraph 23 of Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing, advises English regions and planning authorities each to set their own land recycling targets which contribute to achieving the national target, and which reflect the extent to which housing development can be accommodated within urban areas.Recycling targets for other parts of the United Kingdom are a matter for the devolved administration concerned.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to make regulations on alternative arrangements for local authorities under Section 32 of the Local Government Act 2000. [HL1251]

We have today laid before Parliament a draft of the Local Authorities (Alternative Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2001.It is now for the House to consider this draft. To assist the House, I have placed in the Library and the Printed Papers Office copies of a draft of the guidance on alternative arrangements which we propose to issue to English local authorities if the draft regulations are approved by the House and the other place.

asked Her Majesty's Government:If they have carried out an assessment of the risk due to BSE infectivity from burning cattle during the present outbreak of foot and mouth disease. [HL1235]

An independent risk assessment from DNV Consulting which we have commissioned is today being published on the MAFF Foot and Mouth Disease internet site. Copies have also been placed in the Libraries of the House.The model used by DNV estimates that a pyre of 100 dairy cattle aged over five years old could result in a total of 7 × 10

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect the latest volume of

Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2000 was published today and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.