asked Her Majesty's Government:What further progress has been made in establishing the Commission for Judicial Appointments since the First Commissioner was appointed in March 2001. [HL2017]

I am pleased to announce that Her Majesty yesterday made Orders in Council appointing 7 new Deputy Commissioners to assist Sir Colin Campbell, the first Commissioner for Judicial Appointments, in conducting an ongoing audit of the appointments procedures for judges and Queen's Counsel. The remit of the commission also extends to investigating individual complaints about the way these procedures are applied. The Deputy Commissioners are:

• Urmila Banerjee
• Tony Boorman
• Jane Drabble
• Frances Heidensohn
• Sir Duncan Nichol
• John Simpson
• Jean Tomlin

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made towards the implementation of the recommendations made in the quinquennial review of Her Majesty's Land Registry. [HL1979]

The Government have approved a wide-ranging programme of work in response to the review. Details will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.HM Land Registry is committed to providing the world's best service for guaranteeing ownership of land, and for facilitating property-related transactions. As a fourth time Charter Mark winner, the Land Registry already delivers excellent service to its customers. Further improvements to its internal operations recommended by the review are being pursued vigorously. By bringing forward this wider work programme, the Land Registry can, with the help of other government departments and stakeholders, develop innovative and customer focused services for an even better service.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has the power to interfere in the work of the Consensia Partnership on police recruiting; and, if so, where this power may be found in the Northern Ireland Act 1998. [HL1283]

There is no specific role for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in the work of the Consensia Partnership under either the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 or the Police Recruitment Regulations 2001. However, Section 69(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 places on the commission a general duty to keep under review the adequacy and effectiveness of practice relating to the protection of human rights in Northern Ireland.

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the publication on 19 November of draft service flags for the Police Service of Northern Ireland:

The chairman and vice-chairman of the Policing Board met the Minister, Jane Kennedy, on 11 October. At this meeting, they were told that work had been undertaken on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office by design consultants.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What measures they have adopted to ensure that a balanced approach is taken and seen to be taken, by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; and how the commission plans to explain its composition and role to the unionist community. [HL1638]

As a designated public authority, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is subject to the statutory equality duties set out in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Its compliance with these duties is monitored by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in line with the procedures prescribed in Schedule 9 to that Act. This provides an important framework to ensure that the Human Rights Commission adopts a balanced approach to its work.Appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission are a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In making these appointments, the Secretary of State made clear that he was satisfied that lie had fulfilled his statutory obligation to "secure, as far as practicable, that the Commissioners as a group are representative of the community in Northern Ireland".Once appointed, it is for the commissioners collectively to decide how best to explain their work and develop their relationships with all sections of the community in Northern Ireland.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Where a document is made subject to a public interest immunity ruling by the High Court, on whose authority and in what circumstances such a document could be made publicly available. [HL1726]

Where the High Court upholds a public interest immunity certificate, the effect is that the documents covered by that certificate should not be disclosed in the proceedings in question. Disclosure for other purposes is a matter for the party having control of the documents, but where the nature of the documents is such that PII has been claimed for them, it follows that voluntary disclosure would be highly unlikely. If documents for which PII had been claimed successfully in one set of proceedings subsequently became relevant, and so in principle disclosable, in other proceedings, any further PII claim would fall to be determined by the court or tribunal hearing those proceedings.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to report on their work on women and public services. [HL2015]

The reportBetter Services-Better Working Lives has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.This document reports back on the work undertaken to look at how health and education public services are delivered for women. We know that the proportion of women with dependent children working full time has risen from 59 per cent in 1991 to 65 per cent in 2001. But women are still the people responsible for accessing services—91 per cent of women with school-age children say they normally take them to the GP and 61 per cent take them to school.In this publication we report back on what women have told us during a series of regional evidence-gathering visits supported by a wide range of good practice examples, new research findings and recommendations for national and local action.Copies of

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have made any representations to the Israeli Government about Israel's proposal to establish a new settlement named Ma'ale Rehavam in memory of the late Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi and about the planned addition of 3,000 new housing units at Ma'ale Adumin, beside East Jerusalem. [HL1706]

We regularly remind the Israeli Government that we consider settlement activity illegal. We support the recommendations of the Mitchell committee, accepted by both parties, that all settlement activity, including natural growth, should be frozen. According to our information, the Defence Ministry approved 496 new units in Ma'ale Adumim on 28 May 2001 and 38 on 25 June 2001. We are not aware of any proposed new settlements to be named after Rehavam Ze'evi, but understand that two existing settlements might be renaming themselves in his memory.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware that vigils for ending the solitary confinement and for the release of Mr Mordechai Vanunu, long imprisoned in Israel, took place in September in some 10 countries; when they last discussed this matter with the Government of Israel; and whether any progress was then made. [HL1878]

We regularly raise Mr Vanunu's long detention with the Israeli authorities and the British Embassy in Tel Aviv monitors the conditions in which he is held.We do not, however, have any formal

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will undertake to refuse to endorse the proposed European arrest warrant unless it is:

The Government believe that the threshold for the European arrest warrant should be a sentence of 12 months' imprisonment. If the prosecuting authorities in the issuing state had decided not to prosecute someone in their own country, then any subsequent decision to prosecute the same person in seeking their return from abroad by means of a European arrest warrant would be governed by national law in the issuing state. If the issuing state makes a request for the return of someone on a European arrest warrant, and the judicial authorities of the executing state have decided not to prosecute for the offence in which the European arrest warrant is based, then, as currently drafted, the framework decision makes provision for the executing judicial authority to refuse to execute the European arrest warrant.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What evidence they have that heavy goods vehicle operators pay the whole of the direct and indirect costs for the use of the road system through taxes and duties. [HL1763]

The Government take account of relevant economic, environmental and social factors when forming taxation policy. The Government's Statement of Intent on environmental taxes, which was published alongside Budget 1997, stated that taxes are set to take into account the principle that the polluter pays, but it also recognised market circumstances, such as the effects on competition, and social considerations.Foreign lorries do not currently have to pay any taxes to operate in the UK. To address this, the Government launched a consultation document with the Pre-Budget Report on the options for the possible introduction of a lorry road-user charge.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people now living in the United Kingdom are not United Kingdom citizens. [HL1787]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the statistics of the 2001 population census will be published; what are the latest estimates of the present populations of the United Kingdom, and of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and of each of the regions of England respectively; and what was the population of the United Kingdom in 1991 and in 1996. [HL1789]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What the population of the United Kingdom is estimated to be in 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. [HL1790]

The latest set of national population projections give the projected total mid-year population of the United Kingdom for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 as follows:

:Whether they agree with the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission that Iraq could have the ability to reconstruct its missile launchers; and, if so, what action they intend to take. [HL1671]

Yes. The UK Government agree with the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission that Iraq could have this ability. However, since the withdrawal of UN weapons inspectors in December 1998, there have been no independent inspections of Iraq's weapons programmes. We cannot, therefore, state categorically that it does have the ability. Together with our P5 partners, the UK is actively engaged in producing a revised, more tightly-targeted regime to control Iraqi imports of the equipment required for its research development and rebuilding programmes.We continue to urge Iraq to allow the entry of UN weapons inspectors as required under UN Security Council Resolution 1284.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Al-Fath and Al-Raad missiles have a potential range beyond the limit of 150 kilometres prescribed under United Nations Security Council Resolution 687; whether those missiles were on display at the annual Iraq Army Day Parade in July; and, if so, what action they intend to take. [HL1672]

Following the withdrawal of UNSCOM inspectors from Iraq in December 1998, there has been no independently-verifiable inspection or monitoring of Iraq's weapons programmes. It is not possible, therefore, to assess whether there has been any development work on these missile systems that might extend their range beyond the 150 kilometre prescribed limit.We continue to urge Iraq to allow UN weapons inspectors into Iraq to monitor and verify its ballistic missile and other weapons of mass destruction capabilities as required under UN Security Council Resolution 1284.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer tabled on 23 October [HL936], whether they have made an estimate of civilian casualties in Afghanistan as an indirect result of aerial bombardment since 7 October; and whether they can confirm a report that up to 250 such casualties occurred in three villages at Shalwalikot near Kandahar. [HL1708]

We cannot know for sure how many civilian casualties may have been caused indirectly by the coalition's air campaign over Afghanistan. While we investigate all such claims carefully, most cannot be verified, and I have no information about allegations of civilian casualties at Shalwalikot.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the citizenship, parenting, sex and relationship education elements in the national curriculum are adequate to ensure that young people have access to research findings on the outcomes for children of widely ranging family structures. [HL1926]

The framework for personal, social and health education for all key stages and citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 recognises that in-school provision should complement the personal and social development of pupils provided at home. We believe our framework provides teachers with the flexibility to discuss the issues. However, in line with other subjects in the national curriculum, we rely on teachers' professionalism to choose appropriate materials, including relevant research findings, to support their teaching.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the human rights of a National Health Service specialist who wishes to keep secret the fact that he is carrying the AIDS virus override the human right of his patients to know such information. [HL1441]

Following recent advice from the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS and the United Kingdom Advisory Panel for Health Care Workers Infected with Blood-borne Viruses, it is Department of Health policy to notify those patients who have been assessed as being at risk from healthcare workers found to be infected with the human-immunodeficiency virus.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the annual cost of running the Department for Education and Employment in each year from 1997–98 to 2000–01. [HL1857]

The annual net costs of running the former Department for Education and Employment in each of the years in question were:It is no longer necessary to notify every single patient who has undergone an exposure prone procedure by an HIV infected healthcare worker because of the low risk of transmission and to avoid unnecessary anxiety being caused to large numbers of patients. Every effort should be made to avoid disclosure of an HIV infected healthcare worker's identity.This new policy will bring the United Kingdom more into line with other countries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What data they have collected on the performance of hospitals in their duty to collect and use ethnic group data of all admitted patients in England. [HL1921]

The performance of hospitals in collecting ethnicity is measured by the Data Quality Indicator relating to admitted in-patient hospital statistics and published on the Hospital Episode Statistics website. Ethnic category also forms part of a data quality reporting tool made available on a monthly basis to regional offices.The ethnicity code contained a valid value in approximately 64 per cent of records in the 2000–01 Hospital Episode Statistics dataset.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How, under the terms of the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, they intend to police clinics and laboratories using cloned human embryos; how they intend to enable inspectors to distinguish between human embryos created by in vitro fertilization and those cloned by cell nuclear replacement; and what penalties will be imposed upon those who violate the law. [HL1932]

Under the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, the penalty imposed on a person who places in a woman a human embryo which has been created otherwise than by fertilisation is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or a fine or both. If a suspected crime under the Act is reported to the police, they will investigate it in the usual way. An embryo created by fertilisation is subject to the full regulation of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to provide public funds to private companies involved in developing human embryonic stem cells for experimental and therapeutic purposes; and what account they will take of a company's intention to patent any results of such research for purposes of private profit. [HL1935]

Government funding for stem cell research is primarily allocated by the research councils. The research councils do not normally allocate grants to private, for-profit companies. However, the Government announced in the Science and Innovation White Paper that targets would be set for participating departments to procure a proportion of their discretionary research and development expenditure from small and medium enterprises through the Small Business Research Initiative. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council are participating in the scheme. Applications have been invited but it is not yet known if any of this funding will be directed towards stem cell research.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 27 November (HC Deb,

There is no statutory provision for compensating farmers who are unable to move their stock. This position is consistent with policy adopted by previous governments when movement restrictions have had to be imposed to control the spread of a notifiable animal disease.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they anticipate that livestock markets will reopen for normal trade. [HL1774]

Some livestock markets have reopened in Scotland reflecting the lower number of foot and mouth disease cases there. A decision to reopen livestock markets in England and Wales will be made in the light of scientific and veterinary advice on progress with the eradication of foot and mouth disease. It is not possible to give a precise date but it is expected to be in the early part of 2002, provided there are no further outbreaks.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What advice they have issued, when and to whom, since the formal agreement of EC Regulation No. 2037/2000 on 29 June 2000. [HL1794]

Since EC Regulation No. 2037/2000 gained formal agreement, the Government have issued advice in a number of ways. These include a series of guidance booklets to industry and others, covering the key elements of the regulation and advice for specific industry sectors (also available on world-wide web), letters to and meetings with stakeholders and response to enquiries from individuals.The department wrote to English local authorities in October and December to outline the requirements of the regulation, its likely impact, and to issue guidance on the storage of fridges and freezers.Retailers and other stakeholders have been kept informed of the impacts of EC Regulation No. 2037/2000 through a series of stakeholder meetings (both general and specifically for retailers). The department has also written to small retail businesses through a number of trade associations to outline the impacts of EC Regulation No. 2037/2000 on the management of waste fridges and freezers.The department's web-site

asked Her Majesty's Government:What advice they are currently giving to retailers of refrigerators and to local authorities in the light of EC Regulation No. 2037/2000. [HL1795]

Officials have had regular contact with retailers and local authorities, including through stakeholder meetings. The department has recently written to all English local authorities to issue guidance on the storage of waste refrigeration equipment, prior to CFC extraction, and to provide information for householders disposing of fridges and freezers. An information note for householders informing them of how to dispose of their fridge or freezer has been issued to retailers and local authorities for their use. The department's web-sitewww.defra.gov.ukalso contains information on the requirements of the regulation with regard to the management of waste fridges and freezers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many salmon have been caught by rod and line in the United Kingdom in each of the past five years. [HL1822]

The figures for salmon catch by rod and line in each of the past five years are as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made to end the North Sea drift net fishery; what organisations and anglers are participating; and who is funding the operation. [HL1824]

In their formal response to the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review Group report, the Government announced that they would provide up to £375,000 in each of the next two financial years, subject to match funding from private interests, towards the voluntary buyout of mixed stock salmon drift net fisheries in England. Efforts are focusing on the largest of these, that off the north-east coast.Constructive discussions between representatives of the drift netsmen and conservation and riparian interests, assisted by officials from the Environment Agency and DEFRA, are ongoing.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many letters headed "Farming Cleansing & Disinfection Log/Diary" have been despatched from the Newcastle Disease Emergency Control Centre of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [HL1828]

480 letters were sent to farmers in the area covered by the Newcastle Disease Control Centre.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which Act of Parliament or European Union directive requires a log or diary of cleansing and disinfection operations following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. [HL1829]

There is no specific United Kingdom legislation or EU directive that requires a cleansing and disinfection log to be kept on individual farms. However, for disease control purposes, there is an administrative requirement to keep detailed records of the C and D process on each affected premises. In addition, to obtain reimbursement from Community funds of 60 per cent of the costs of cleansing and disinfection, the relevant information must be recorded in order to satisfy EU auditors that all the necessary C and D actions have been completed satisfactorily.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any consideration was given or professional advice sought as to the possible effects upon their health of the receipt by farmers of the letter headed "Farming Cleansing and Disinfection Log/Diary" from the Newcastle Disease Emergency Control Centre and of their ability to provide the information requested. [HL1830]

This letter was prepared by staff at the Newcastle Disease Control Centre with wide experience of the farming community, who took into account the likely response from individual farmers. Farmers in the area had previously been advised that a cleansing and disinfection log would be required to be maintained and this letter sought farmer assistance in obtaining and presenting the details from existing farm records. For the majority of farmers this has not been a problem. In any cases where farmers had difficulty with this request, the letter offered on-farm DEFRA assistance in obtaining the information.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the latest survey available from the Traveline partners of the failures and accuracy of the information they give. [HL1740]

Traveline is subject to an on-going programme of mystery shopping. The second wave of mystery shopping has just been conducted and the Traveline partners received the report on 4 December 2001.The report suggested that Traveline had improved since the first wave of mystery shopping four months earlier. The time taken to answer calls and the customer service elements of the calls were generally satisfactory or good. Overall, the answers given to 93 per cent of test calls were completely accurate, although there was some variation between different types of calls and between different call centres. There was some scope for improvement in offering to all travellers a complete itinerary and a choice, where appropriate, between different operators. There was also room for improvement in calls that need to be transferred from one call centre to another. The Traveline parties are working to address these issues and will continue to improve their service.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In respect of the draft regulations requiring all speed cameras to be painted yellow and provided with advance warning signs:

The eight areas piloting the netting off scheme, in which programmes of promotion and information to drivers on where cameras are placed have been a part, have achieved a large reduction in deaths and serious injuries at the camera sites. There has been no transfer of accidents to sites or roads elsewhere. It would follow that an additional increase in driver awareness of the sites of cameras the new visibility rules are intended to bring would improve casualty reduction still further.The rules of entry to the netting off scheme contain guidance on where to place both fixed and mobile cameras. There should be evidence of speed-related casualties clustered around a particular location or along a stretch of road with the general guide of there being eight or more injury accidents in the preceding three years. Before cameras are placed, it should be clear that other methods of speed reduction are inappropriate.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the road safety benefits of motorists not being caught by surprise by hidden cameras. [HL1915]

Speed enforcement cameras reap most road safety benefit when placed at sites or on routes with a history of speed-related accidents. Greater awareness of the presence of cameras should encourage more drivers to comply with speed limits and so reduce collisions and accidents.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the role, the budget, membership and the date of set-up of the Safety Camera Netting-off Project Board. [HL1916]

The Safety Camera Project Board was set up in January 1999 to develop and trial a funding system for safety (speed and traffic light enforcement) cameras using fixed penalty fine revenue and, if successful, to advise Ministers on how it might be made available nationally. Following national rollout, the board continues to develop rules of entry to the netting-off scheme and recommend to Ministers new member partnerships.It has no specific budget. It is chaired by DTLR and comprises representatives of the Home Office, HM Treasury, Lord Chancellor's Department, Crown Prosecution Service, Highways Agency, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly, Association of Chief Police Officers, Local Government Association, CSS and TAG.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has so far been the cost to public funds of legal, financial and other advisers for the private finance initiative scheme for the London Underground. [HL1954]

I understand from London Transport that its expenditure on external consultants from 20 March 1998 (the date of the Government's announcement) to 30 September 2001, for work on the PPP and restructuring of London Underground, was £80.2 million.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the Green Paper on planning. [HL1975]

Following our review of the planning system, we are today publishing a Green Paper Planning: delivering a fundamental change setting out our proposals for reform.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give reasons for not calling in planning applications. [HL1976]

As part of our fundamental review of the planning system, we have decided that as from today we will give reasons for our decision not to call in planning applications. This decision, which forms part of the raft of measures in our planning Green Paper published today, is in the interests of transparency, good administration and best practice. The courts have established that there is no legal obligation to provide reasons for not calling in an application.It should be borne in mind that the issue before him for decision is not whether the application should be granted planning permission but whether or not he should call it in for his own determination. The Secretary of State's policy on calling in planning applications—which is to be very selective—is set out in the written reply by my right honourable friend, the then Minister for Planning, (Richard Caborn) to a Parliamentary Question on 16 June 1999

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the consultation paper on compulsory purchase and compensation. [HL1977]

Following the fundamental review of compulsory purchase procedures and compensation, we are publishing today a consultation paper setting out our proposals for major changes to the way that the compulsory purchase and compensation system operates. Our objective is to make the system simpler, fairer and quicker. We will simplify the law, clarify the powers available for acquiring land for planning and regeneration purposes; speed up the confirmation process; ensure that implementation follows promptly once an order is confirmed; and provide a fairer basis for assessing compensation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the outcome of the Transport Council held on 7 December. [HL1978]

The Transport Council met in Brussels on 7 December and my right honourable friend the Minister for Transport (Mr Spellar) represented the United Kingdom.The main focus of the Council was on the Galileo satellite navigation project and on aviation security. We are pleased to say that on both issues the outcome was satisfactory from our point of view.On Galileo, Ministers were asked to agree to the release of funding from the Trans-European Networks (TENs) budget to enable the project to proceed to its next phase, and to agree on the management structure that the project would have. My right honourable friend was among Ministers to press for deferral of decisions on the project. He drew attention to the concerns which the recently issued PriceWaterhouseCoopers report had raised, on public sector funding, overall cost and lack of commercial benefits. The report made clear that any decision on the joint undertaking would have funding implications, so he argued that a decision on this should not be taken while funding issues were not sufficiently clear. There was also some discussion of the details of the draft regulation to establish the joint undertaking, but a majority of member states declined the Commission's request for a vote to agree the text. Decisions on the next phase of Galileo were deferred and no formal conclusions were agreed. The Presidency indicated that the Galileo project might be discussed further at the European Council at Laeken later this month.The Council reached a political agreement on a regulation establishing a Community framework for airport security standards and monitoring. The Commission had initially insisted on arrangements to oversee member states which were operating more stringent security measures. But in response to concerns which we and others expressed about the need for freedom to respond to perceived security threats, it accepted that member states should be free to apply additional measures, provided they were in accordance with Community law. This important measure should ensure that high standards are in place throughout the EU and create a safer environment for air passengers using EU airports.There was discussion of a draft directive on occurrence reporting in civil aviation, on the transposition of JAR-OPS standards into EC law, and on a draft directive on the training of aviation cabin crew. No decisions were reached on the first two issues, and the Presidency concluded that no progress was possible on the third. The UK view is that provision for cabin crew training should be included in the JAR-OPS legislation.The Council noted the difficult economic situation faced by the air transport sector. On war-risk insurance, member states wished to return to a market approach, but the industry was not ready for that yet. In the interim the Commission was prepared to continue to approve state aid measures up to end March 2002, subject to monthly reviews. Ministers also noted the need to consider urgently ways to address possible unfair competition from third country carriers; the Commission will present a proposal in the near future.The Council noted the importance of making early progress on the recent proposal for a directive to replace the hushkits regulation.The Council reached political agreement on the regulation to establish a European maritime safety agency, which was proposed as part of the ERIKA II package of maritime safety proposals. We are content with the text as agreed.The Council agreed the text of a directive to simplify reporting formalities for ships leaving and entering Community ports. It was able to accept the European Parliament's position on the proposal, and therefore reached agreement at the First Reading.My right honourable friend and the French Minister, with support from the Commissioner, stressed the need for member states to make quick progress on ratifying the Hazardous and Noxious Substances convention and other maritime pollution compensation conventions, as the December 2000 Council Conclusions had urged.The Council noted a Presidency progress report on the proposal to update Regulation 3820/85 on commercial drivers' hours and rest periods. Further consideration of this will pass to the Spanish Presidency.My right honourable friend maintained the UK s opposition to the proposal to extend the fitting of speed-limiting devices to goods vehicles above 3.5 tonnes and to coaches/buses with over eight passenger seats regardless of weight. He argued that we were not in favour of a threshold below 7.5 tonnes, but that an extension of European regulation of 7.5 tonnes would be in line with UK law. We expressed our doubt that the safety and environmental consequences of fitting limiters to lighter vehicles would be beneficial. The Presidency concluded that Council adopted the proposal by qualified majority. The proposal will now be considered by the European Parliament early in the new year.The Council reached political agreement on a draft directive setting out initial and ongoing training requirements for professional drivers.Following the recent fires in Alpine road tunnels, the Commission reported to the Council that it would propose legislation early in 2002 to improve safety. The proposals will address issues relating to technical equipment, driver information, traffic controls and training of operational staff. We await further detail of the proposals, and will need to examine them carefully.The Presidency presented its conclusions on the Commission's White Paper on transport policy, published earlier this year. The Presidency largely agreed with the White Paper's assessment of the negative impact of uneven development of different transport modes, and believed that modal shift and enhancement of quality should be promoted. It hoped the Council would further examine the White Paper and looked forward to Commission proposals to implement the priorities emerging from further discussion.Under "Other Business", my right honourable friend raised the issue of the new digital tachograph and the deficiencies in the regulation on which the specification is based. I had previously written to the Commissioner asking her to propose amendments to address these shortcomings, which would create serious enforcement difficulties. Other Ministers at the Council supported me in asking the Commission to re-examine the issue and bring forward a new proposal to amend the regulation. My right honourable friend expressed his disappointment at the Commission's response, which did not address the concerns we had put forward.Finally, the German Minister spoke of the safety benefits of ensuring that rigid bull bars were not fixed to road vehicles above 2.5 tonnes, through voluntary agreements with industry. The Commission agreed that this was a useful suggestion, but stressed that it was the responsibility of the Internal Market Commissioner.No votes were taken at this Council.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the Government's statement of policy towards the historic environment. [HL2011]

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions will tomorrow publish the statement The Historic Environment: A Force for Our Future. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and will be available at my department's website atwww.culture.gov.uk.