asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider references to the British Empire in public honours to be appropriate in the post-imperial age. [HL4706]

The Government recognise that some people think the name anachronistic but the order itself is generally regarded with affection by a great many people.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Where are the recognised copyright libraries; and which of them they consider to be appropriate to serve Northern Ireland. [HL4714]

There are six recognised copyright libraries. These are the British Library, the Bodleian Library (Oxford), the University Library (Cambridge), the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales and the Library of Trinity College in Dublin.Which is most convenient to users in Northern Ireland will depend on particular circumstances. In 1997 the then Department of National Heritage, Scottish Office, Welsh Office and Department of Education for Northern Ireland issued a joint consultation paper on legal deposit which included questions relating to the use of legal deposit material in Northern Ireland. The responses revealed almost no demand for a separate legal deposit library in Northern Ireland.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What were (a) the mean average and (b) the median average gross salary for special advisers (1) within each of the special adviser pay bands and (2) overall for (i) 1998–99, (ii) 1999–2000, (iii) 2000–01 and (iv) 2001–02. [HL3426]

The information requested for the relevant years is:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the answer by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 2 July 1999 (HC Deb, cols. 283–84), whether they will provide the information given in that answer in respect of the number of special advisers in each pay band, broken down by department, for (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02. [HL3428]

The Government have already announced the introduction of a new pay system for special advisers from June 2001 based on individual job evaluation. Information on the outcome of this review will be provided once the process of job evaluation is complete. The figures for 1 April 2000 and 1 April 2001 are as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What further safety consultation, if any, they intend to bring forward regarding jet ski water sport. [HL4687]

Her Majesty's Government are committed to continuously improving maritime safety. The approach adopted for personal watercraft safety is to pursue a programme of education rather than regulation. Along with national sporting bodies, manufacturers, local authorities and other water safety organisations, they are conducting an ongoing safety campaign to encourage the users of personal water craft (including jet skis) and other powered craft to get better training to make them aware of their responsibilities to other water users. Foremost is a code of conduct for non-regulated pleasure vessels, produced as a series of waterproof pocket-sized cards, which is publicised at national events such as boat shows and is freely available to members of the public.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much nuclear waste is transported on average through (1) Merseyside and (2) Lancashire each year; and [HL4766]How much nuclear waste is transported on average by air over (1) Merseyside and (2) Lancashire each year. [HL4767]

Information of this nature is not held centrally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the current membership of each Cabinet committee. [HL4897]

The Prime Minister has revised the composition of Cabinet committees in the light of the recent machinery of government changes, and has also established three new committees: a sub-committee, CJS(IT), on information technology In the criminal justice system; MISC20 on social and economic aspects of migration; and MISC21 on the Government's response to parliamentary modernisation. MISC16, having fulfilled its specific remit to review the practice on tackling illegal working and policy on managed migration, has been wound up. These issues will now be taken forward by MISC20. The full list of committees, their terms of reference and their membership has been placed in the Library of the House and will shortly be available on the Cabinet Office website (www.cabinet-office.gov.uk).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are currently promoting training for the development of minority language based television, radio and film programmes; if so, how the training scheme was made available; what languages are benefiting; and to what extent. [HL1735]

The Radio Authority is currently supporting a variety of training through the Access Radio pilot project. The information is shown in the table:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there are any changes in the current policy on the voluntary registration of charities. [HL4923]

The current regulations which made registration voluntary for charities connected with a number of religious bodies expire on 1 October 2002. I am today laying a new statutory instrument to extend those regulations until 1 October 2007. The Performance and Innovation Unit, as part of its review of the legal framework for charities, is considering the matter of exception and its report will be published in due course. The extension of the regulations will allow time for the implementation of any changes which the report may recommend.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How the generating capacity of Chapelcross power station (75MW) will be replaced, given the imminent closure of that power station. [HL4749]

It is for the market, not government, to decide if and by what means the generating capacity of Chapelcross should be replaced.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Hollis of Heigham on 13 May

People defer taking their state pension for a variety of reasons and it is their choice. We have advised in our literature that people who are considering deferring should seek independent financial advice.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why they failed to provide the Printed Paper Office with original copies of

The State of the Countryside report 2002 is a Countryside Agency publication. It was announced by way of a Press Release on 28 May and was freely available on the Countryside Agency's website from this date.The final fully bound report is not due to be published until early July and a copy will be placed in the Printed Paper Office at that time.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proof they have that their efforts to reduce the burden of regulation, as identified in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' departmental report 2002, are successful. [HL4808]

The departmental report identified the mechanisms by which we try to minimise the burden of regulation. These include the necessary checks and balances required under the regulatory impact system to ensure that regulation is necessary and proportionate and the risks, options, benefits and costs are fully explored. Such procedures are subject to review and refinement to ensure that all relevant issues are considered.Implementation of the majority of the Red Tape Review recommendations, and those in the Better Regulation Task Force report on environmental regulations and farmers can be regarded as a success since they addressed issues identified by industry. Money has been saved in direct costs to industry as well as time saved in paperwork; for example, by implementing a simplified procedure for granting "own use" approvals for imports of pesticides with a reduced fee, by streamlining intervention procedures, by better co-ordinated cattle inspections and the introduction of electronic IACS forms. The abolition of glucosinate testing of oilseed rape will save industry £1 million. From questionnaires completed by farmers participating in the 2002 slaughter premium scheme, 47 per cent of those returning the questionnaires found the form better than the previous year, whilst only 2 per cent found it worse. Better forms play an important role in reducing the administrative burden on farmers.More recently the department contributed 59 proposals for regulatory reform in the Government's regulatory reform action plan published in February 2002, covering all aspects of DEFRA's responsibility. Many of these will be implemented in the next two years; others will be in the longer term. They involve changes to EC legislation, reform of some domestic legislation, major reviews of whole areas of enforcement, inspection and information handling to ease the burden of compliance.While some regulation is necessary, we have a long-term strategy (2007) to introduce risk-based environment regulation across all sectors including agriculture. New risk-assessments, standardised permits, better reporting arrangements will keep charges down and reduce the bureaucracy of regulation. We are working towards an integrated solution to the problems of regulation and agriculture by developing a whole farm approach. This is a long-term strategy that will be developed in close consultation with industry and other stakeholders.