asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have conducted, or will now conduct, a cost benefit examination of the advantages and disadvantages of full United Kingdom accession to the Schengen agreement, including the benefits to United Kingdom citizens and third country nationals legally resident in the United Kingdom of rights of free movement within the European Union. [HL4313]

There has not been a full cost benefit examination of joining Schengen. The Government have considered this previously and remain of the opinion that a detailed study would not be a proper use of resources given their position on Schengen. Our decision not to participate in Schengen is based on our geography. Common travel arrangements are sensible for countries with land borders. However, the United Kingdom has a unique island position and traffic is naturally channelled to ports where immigration controls are most effective. Signing up to Schengen and abolishing our border control would conflict with this.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What stage has been reached in the review of legislation on the rehabilitation of offenders; and when announcements or decisions may be expected. [HL4320]

The review of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is expected to report in the summer.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the outcome of the study into the employment of women in the Armed Forces. [HL4435]

Women play a vital role in the Armed Forces. They have made, and continue to make, a valuable contribution to recent and current operations. The great majority of posts in the Armed Forces are already open to them. Only posts in the Royal Marines General Service, Household Cavalry, Royal Armoured Corps, the Infantry and Royal Air Force Regiment remain closed for reasons of combat effectiveness.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the extent of the demand on schools for places by newcomers into particular areas: and what steps are being taken to secure education provision for all children now out of school because of failure to provide a place in any chosen school. [HL4230]

The department does not collect statistics on demand for school places by newcomers. Local education authorities (LEAs) have a statutory duty to ensure that sufficient school places are available for all pupils of compulsory school age and will take account of trends of pupil movement in their planning arrangements.Parents have a right to express a preference for a school but not a right to a place in a particular school. They also have a duty to ensure their children receive a suitable education in school or otherwise. If parents have been offered a school place for their child, the LEA has met its duty. If parents do not accept the place offered and do not make alternative provision, it is for the LEA to consider whether to take school attendance proceedings.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the result of consultations inside and outside the Department for Education and Skills on the participation of young people in decisions which affect them in schools and the need for statutory requirements which reflect this. [HL4374]

The Department for Education and Skills has consulted young people on the current Education Bill and on possible changes to the 14–19 curriculum. Some young people who took part in these consultations indicated that they would like a stronger voice in decisions that affected them in schools. The department has also received representations from organisations that have consulted young people, including some of those that comprise the Children's Consortium on Education, seeking a greater role for young people in the running of schools. In the debate on 9 May this Government set out their commitment to set out through statutory guidance a range of measures that schools should adopt to secure greater pupil participation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any evidence that personation of voters is a problem in any part of the United Kingdom outside Northern Ireland. [HL4336]

We have no evidence to suggest that personation is a significant problem in England, Wales or Scotland. It is for the police to follow up any allegation of personation, and we recognise the importance of doing so to preserve the integrity of the poll.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their assessment of the cost of the restructuring reviews of local government which would be required if regional government was to be introduced by region. [HL4369]

We are currently discussing the cost of reviews with the Boundary Committee. Costs are likely to vary significantly, depending on the number of county and district councils in a region.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the explanation for the monthly increase in cost of maintaining the Millennium Dome from £251,000 in January to £287,000 in February. [HL4371]

The monthly cost of managing and maintaining the dome site fluctuates according to variations in regular outgoings and routine maintenance cycles. The monthly costs include rates, utilities, security and maintenance and English Partnerships' staff costs on management and maintenance of the dome.The difference between the January and February figures is a result of such routine fluctuations and is mainly as a result of particular maintenance works that were required in February but not in January. It should be noted that costs rose from October (£229,000) to November 2001 (£275,000) but were lower between November 2001 and December 2001 (£266,000) and between December 2001 and January (£251,000) this year, all reflecting routine fluctuations.All dome related costs incurred by English Partnerships will be recovered from eventual sale proceeds.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the cost of the telephone calls made from the Millennium Dome during January and February 2002; by whom they were made; and for what purpose. [HL4373]

No calls were made from the dome itself during January and February apart from in relation to the Ministry of Sound event on New Year's Eve 2001, for which English Partnerships received full reimbursement of costs.The bills for telephone services to the dome site have not yet been finalised in relation to January and February due to ongoing delays by the service provider, particularly in transferring accounts formerly held by the New Millennium Experience Company to English Partnerships.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will place a limit on the compartment size for single storey warehouse, distribution or storage premises within the Building Regulations and Approved Document B in the interests of the fire service and firefighters. [HL4393]

There are currently no plans to change either Part B of the Building Regulations or the approved documents that support this part so as to limit the compartment size in single storey warehouse, distribution and storage premises.However, we are continuing to keep this issue under review. As with any new guidance within an approved document, any decision in the future with regard to single storey premises of this type would need to take account of a range of views, expert advice and of course a full regulatory impact assessment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the guidance on the use of sandwich panels contained in the 2000 edition of Approved Document B is mandatory; and what powers are provided to building control authorities and approved inspectors to control the selection and use of such panels. [HL4394]

None of the guidance contained within Approved Document B is mandatory. There is no obligation to adopt any particular solution contained in an approved document if the person carrying out the work prefers to meet the relevant requirement in some other way. Approved documents are intended to provide guidance on ways of meeting the requirements of the Building Regulations for some of the more common building situations. It is for the Building Control Body, on a case-by-case basis, to satisfy itself that the requirements of the Building Regulations have been met. In relation to sandwich panels, its considerations in such matters can be assisted by referring to the relevant guidance contained within Appendix F of Approved Document B, along with any other suitable sources of information. The powers of enforcement of the Building Regulations are set out in various sections of the Building Act 1984. Sections 35 and 36 provide the main powers for enforcement by a local authority and paragraph 52(1)(c) stipulates the course of action to be taken by an approved inspector who is of the opinion that there is a contravention of a provision of the Building Regulations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What were the total numbers of animals culled following tuberculosis testing for each of the years 1997 to 2002; and in which countries is the current infection at large. [HL4026]

The information requested is not available in the format requested, in that county figures for 2002 are not yet available. All of the following information is available on the Defra website http://www.defra.gov.ukThe following table shows the number of cattle compulsorily slaughtered from 1997 to 2002.

Year	Total Cattle Compulsorily Slaughtered
1997	3,669
1998	5,884
1999 (prov)	6,772
2000 (prov)	8,353
2001 (prov)	6,229
Jan-Mar 2002 (prov raw data)	3,779

The following table shows the number of herds affected by new confirmed incidents of bovine TB in England and Wales from 1996 to 2001, broken down by county.The number of herds affected by new confirmed incidents of bovine TB data as at 15 March 2002.

	1996	1997	1998	1999*	2000*	2001*
England
Avon	19	13	23	22	32	12
Bedfordshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Berkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Buckinghamshire	0	0	0	1	2	0
Cambridgeshire	0	0	0	0	1	0
Cheshire	0	0	2	2	3	0
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cornwall	84	68	132	125	158	60
Cumbria	0	0	0	1	1	0
Derbyshire	3	0	7	19	10	7
Devon	68	87	100	134	183	73
Dorset	6	15	8	20	10	9
Durham	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Sussex	1	4	1	5	2	1
Essex	0	1	0	0	0	0
Gloucestershire	56	90	130	133	170	37
Greater London—E	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greater London—SE	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greater Manchester	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hereford & Worcester	59	79	111	128	145	63
Hertford	0	0	1	0	0	0
Humberside	0	0	0	0	0	0
Isle of Wight	0	0	0	1	0	0
Isles of Scilly	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kent	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lancashire	0	0	3	0	0	0
Leicestershire	1	0	0	0	0	0
Lincolnshire	0	0	1	0	0	0
Merseyside	0	0	0	0	0	0
Norfolk	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Yorkshire	0	0	0	1	0	0
Northamptonshire	1	0	0	0	1	0
Northumberland	1	0	2	1	2	1
Nottinghamshire	0	0	1	0	1	0
Oxfordshire	0	0	3	1	2	0
Shropshire	1	5	3	2	18	9
Somerset	14	25	36	42	67	15
South Yorkshire	0	0	0	0	1	0
Staffordshire	9	24	34	36	27	38
Suffolk	0	0	0	0	0	0
Surrey	0	0	0	0	0	0

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (a) overtime and (b) time

The number of cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain during each week of 2001 and in the current year to 10 May, and the moving annual totals of "confirmed" and "reported" cases for each 52-week period
2001				2002
Week number	Number confirmed each week	52-week total confirmed	52-week total reported	Week number	Number confirmed each week	52-week total confirmed	52-week total reported
1	20	1,561	1,836	1	0	1,032	1,207
2	38	1,566	1,813	2	19	1,031	1,209
3	14	1,520	1,802	3	22	1,015	1,208
4	12	1,519	1,780	4	63	1,064	1,200
5	11	1,505	1,760	5	23	1,075	1,201
6	12	1,504	1,743	6	54	1,118	1,184
7	35	1,476	1,732	7	45	1,151	1,185
8	14	1,434	1,705	8	16	1,132	1,182
9	14	1,416	1,689	9	31	1,149	1,174
10	11	1,394	1,674	10	14	1,149	1,160
11	7	1,355	1,637	11	45	1,183	1,151
12	14	1,362	1,614	12	19	1,195	1,153
13	5	1,291	1,597	13	46	1,227	1,146
14	21	1,271	1,572	14	0	1,222	1,152
15	13	1,258	1,564	15	39	1,240	1,154
16	6	1,239	1,557	16	31	1,258	1,156
17	13	1,227	1,541	17	20	1,272	1,162
18	19	1,220	1,525	18	29	1,288	1,169
19	16	1,207	1,495	19	11	1,280	1,162
20	16	1,193	1,472
21	16	1,171	1,443
22	15	1,160	1,433
23	9	1,152	1,426
24	16	1,146	1,410

The State Veterinary Service adheres to the departmental policies which govern overtime and time off in lieu:prior approval to work overtime must be obtained in all cases;managers are asked to make every effort to avoid overtime working and as far as possible ensure that it occurs only at time of exceptional pressure of work;wherever possible, volunteers are sought and weekend overtime avoided;a long hours culture is not encouraged, nor are regular calls on particular groups of staff; andas an alternative to payment, time off in lieu may be taken.Staff in the Senior Civil Service, and those who do not work set conditioned hours or whose pay already includes payment for working overtime, and fee paid staff are not eligible for overtime payments.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish an updated table showing the number of cases of BSE confirmed in Britain each week during the calendar year 2001 and the year 2002 to date, together with the moving annual total of cases for each 52-week period. [HL4296]

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the report produced by the deVeber Insitute in Toronto, Canada, entitled

The safety and psychological effects of abortion were considered by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in its evidence-based guideline The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (2000). The college's report concludes that immediate complications are uncommon and that possible long-term effects, including breast cancer, infertility and psychological sequelae, are rare or unproven.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the total cost of the Customs and Excise service in preventing the smuggling of illegal drugs into the United Kingdom, and [HL4272]

Details of the resources allocated by HM Customs and Excise to detect and deter the smuggling of illegal drugs and other prohibited goods are published in its annual departmental report. Separate figures for Heathrow Airport are not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Question by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 8 May (HL Deb, col. 1223), which Minister or Ministers will attend the World Conference on Women in Sport to be held in Canada 16–19 May; what are their objectives; and how they will report directly to each House of Parliament upon their return from Canada. [HL4262]

No Minister will be attending the World Conference of Women in Sport in Montreal between 16–19 May.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Question by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 8 May (HL Deb, col. 1223), what action have they taken to encourage sporting bodies to sign up to the Women's Sports Foundation's National Action Plan and to put their principles into practice. [HL4263]

The Women's Sport Foundation (WSF) recently briefed Richard Caborn, and its Chief Executive will be meeting government officials at the end of May to discuss how the Department for Culture, Media and Sport can support the WSF's new strategic plan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many historical sites in England are at present undergoing excavation and exploratory work. [HL4356]

There is no organisation that keeps an overview of all archaeological work that is presently being undertaken in England. The Government can only provide data in relation to projects supported by English Heritage. In 2001–02 its Archaeological Commissions Programme provided grant aid and advice to 342 projects. The Archaeological Investigations Project, which is funded through English Heritage's Archaeological Commissions Programme, does collate year-on-year information on all archaeological projects undertaken in the commercial sector. The results of this are published in a series of hard-copy reports each year, a summary of which is available through the Archaeological Data Service website.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, following his acceptance of the recommendations of the recent quinquennial review of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, the Attorney-General has made or plans to make any changes in that agency's framework document. [HL4420]

In his quinquennial review of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, Sir Quentin Thomas recommended that the framework document for the Treasury Solicitor's Department should be revised to provide the agency with the flexibilities it required to continue to meet the growing demand for efficient and high quality legal services from government departments and other publicly funded bodies in England and Wales. I am pleased to announce the publication of a revised framework document, a copy of which I have placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 10 April (

The early release scheme was an integral part of the Belfast Agreement. What the British and Irish Governments said in their proposals of 1 August 2001 was that it would be a natural development of the scheme for relevant prosecutions and extraditions not to be pursued.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider any murders and beatings to be linked to the Provisional IRA since 31 August 1994; and, if so, how many. [HL3928]

Statistical information is held only under the general categories of Republican and Loyalist. The following table provides figures to date for both categories.

31 August 1994 to 15 May 2002
Number of security related murders	By Loyalist	72
	By Republican	73
	Total	145
Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary-style assaults	By Loyalist	677
	By Republican	637
	Total	1,314
Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary-style shootings	By Loyalist	410
	By Republican	233
	Total	643

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether involvement in the international drug trade on the part of a paramilitary organisation is compatible with being on ceasefire; and [HL4016]What they consider is meant by the expression "ceasefire"; and [HL4082]Whether they will define in the Northern Ireland context what they understand by the concept of an organisation which is considered to be no longer on ceasefire. [HL4108]

Section 3(8) of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 requires the Secretary of State to specify any organisation which he believes (a) is concerned with terrorism in connection with the affairs of Northern Ireland or in promoting or encouraging it; and (b) has not established or is not maintaining a complete and unequivocal ceasefire. The meaning of terrorism for the purposes of the Act is defined in Section 13. No definition is given for ceasefire, but Section 3(9) lists four considerations which the Secretary of State must take into account in judging whether a complete and unequivocal ceasefire is being maintained. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland will continue to endeavour to meet the obligations placed on him by the legislation as interpreted by the courts.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many Northern Ireland prison officers or their properties have been subject of attack in each month since 1 January 2000. [HL4084]

During the period 1 January 2000 to April 2002 there have been three attacks on prison officers and 14 attacks on prison officers' properties. The monthly breakdown is listed in the table below.

Attacks on officers and their property
Month	Officers	Homes/Property
January 2000		1
February 2000
March 2000		1
April 2000
May 2000

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 1 May (

The position is as the Prime Minister made clear in the Register of Members' Interests.