asked Her Majesty's Government:How many officers have left or retired from the police service in Northern Ireland each year since 1998; and how many were recruited in the same periods, including the Reserve Force. [HL5809]

The number of officers that have left or retired from the police service in Northern Ireland each year since 1998 and the number of officers recruited in the same periods, including the Reserve is illustrated in the tables below:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What measures they have taken in recent months to improve the quality of initial decisions individual asylum seekers. [HL5794]

Action to maintain and improve the quality of initial decisions on asylum applications is a continuous, iterative process. Recent initiatives include extra training on human rights and seminars by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture to better equip caseworkers to interview asylum applicants. Guidance to caseworkers and training needs are informed by, and updated in the light of, random sampling of initial decisions, emerging caselaw, policy changes, and feedback from internal and external stakeholders.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which Ministers have visited the sites of proposed accommodation centres; which sites they visited; and on which dates those visits were made. [HL5810]

My honourable friend the Minister of State, Home Office (Beverley Hughes) visited the proposed sites at DSDC Bicester on 26 June 2002, RAF Newton on 2 July 2002 and Throckmorton Airfield, Pershore on 8 October.

asked Her Majesty's Government:(a) what progress has been made by the advisory group on naturalisation chaired by Sir Bernard Crick in determining the content of the naturalisation test; (b) what reports have been presented by the group to the Government; and (c) when the committee's final report will be published. [HL5813]

The "Life in the United Kingdom" Advisory Group has now held its inaugural meeting and has agreed to seek to publish an interim report by January 2003, followed by its final recommendations by Easter 2003. Sir Bernard Crick aims to provide me with the group's early thoughts on a programme structure which I shall share with noble Lords at Report stage of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In the context of the draft mental health Bill, which of the academic studies of the prevalence of personality disorder (a) in the general population; (b) in primary care; and (c) in prisoners they believe to be most reliable. [HL5448]

An expert advisory group, set up with the agreement of Ministers to advise on delivering a strategy for the treatment of people with personality disorder, has reviewed a paper produced by Dr Paul Moran on the epidemiology of personality disorder, and ratified its findings. The studies quoted as follows, which are taken from Dr Moran's paper, provide the latest and most reliable information on the prevalence of personality disorder.These are as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many (a) cancelled operations in total; (b) operations cancelled on the day planned for the operation; and (c) operations cancelled and not rescheduled within one month, there were in each health authority in England for quarter three and quarter four of 2001–02. [HL5620]

Data on the number of operations cancelled on the day of surgery during Q3 and Q4 2001–02 are not available. However, the number of operations cancelled, by the hospital, for non-clinical reasons, on, or after the day patient was due to be admitted; and the number of those patients who were not readmitted within 1 month of cancellation, broken down by health authority, are available in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there are any circumstances in which strategic health authorities will enter into contracts for the supply of acute hospital services in England. [HL5622]

Primary care trusts are responsible for planning and securing the provision of all the care and services that their population needs. This includes commissioning all acute services for their populations. Normally, the strategic health authorities' role is to ensure that each primary care trust has appropriate arrangements in place both for commissioning by itself and with others through consortia. It will also be represented on commissioning consortia for specialist services and provide support and experience as well as ensuring consistency across primary care trusts. In cases of extreme failure by PCTs to fulfil their duties/functions, provision is made for an intervention order under Section 84A or a default order under Section 85 of the National Health Service Act 1977 as a result of which strategic health authorities could be directed to undertake the duties on behalf of the PCT.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What consideration they have given to the findings of the British Liver Trust's report

The Department of Health published a consultation document Hepatitis C Strategy for England on 14 August 2002, in recognition of the importance of hepatitis C as a public health issue. The Chief Medical Officer's infectious disease strategy, Getting Ahead of the Curve, has also highlighted hepatitis C as a priority area requiring intensified action.The hepatitis C strategy addresses many of the issues raised by the British Liver Trust report and proposes developing professional and public awareness of hepatitis C and strengthening services for its prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The proposals in the strategy are intended to form the basis of an action plan for hepatitis C, which is due to be produced by the end of 2002.Services for hepatitis C in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What consideration they have given to the endorsement by the Scottish Medicine's Consortium of an advanced pegylated alfa interferon treatment for use in the National Health Service in Scotland for patients infected with hepatitis C; and whether they will make it available to patients elsewhere in the United Kingdom. [HL5775]

We have asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to appraise the clinical and cost effectiveness of pegylated interferons compared with conventional interferons in the treatment and management of chronic hepatitis C infection. The institute expects to issue guidance in November 2003.In August 1999, the Department of Health issued Health Service Circular 1999/176, which asks the National Health Service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where there is no guidance from NICE at the time the technology first becomes available. These arrangements should involve a local assessment of all the available evidence.Treatment for hepatitis C in Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the attendance figures for each of the tourist attractions that are the subject of brown signs on motorways. [HL5691]

Information giving a full list of tourist attractions, which are the subject of signage from motorways, is not currently held centrally. However, Visits to Visitor Attractions 2001, which gives visitor figures for over 2,400 individual attractions in the UK, has been published by the English Tourism Council. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will request the National Rivers Authority, in consultation with those enterprises or publicly owned bodies responsible for the transport of sewage and its purification, to review within each river catchment the adequacy of flood defences for their installations; the risks of surcharge of foul and surface water draining systems; and their emergency plans related thereto, against the possibility of higher intensities of precipitation than experienced so far in 2002. [HL5783]

Ofwat has recently undertaken a consultation on flooding from sewers and in publishing the results has said that it will consider proposals from sewerage undertakers to spend more in carrying out more flood alleviation schemes in the period up to 2005. This should help to reduce the risk of sewer flooding cases. The report also said that for the period beyond 2005, consideration for increased expenditure will be taken account of in the periodic review of water prices. The Environment Agency, which incorporates the former National Rivers Authority and Pollution Inspectorate, will be involved in the periodic review process. The agency will also be required to assess the potential pollution from flooding of sites storing or processing toxic material, which would include sewage treatment facilities, as part of their future responsibilities under the Water Framework Directive.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they last undertook a survey of the extent of rural poverty in England and Wales. [HL5801]

The Countryside Agency's report The State of the Countryside 2002 was published on 28 May 2002. The report uses 20 indicators to assess the condition of rural life—including employment characteristics, income levels and distribution of income—alongside the government headline and rural indicators set out in the rural White Paper.The

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 24 July (

There is nothing that can be added to previous Answers. The Government have made no plans to commemorate either anniversary.

asked Her Majesty's Government:By what means they oversee the

The Scotland Act 1998 established a Scottish Parliament and devolved to it the power to pass legislation within the boundaries of that Act. Her Majesty's Government do not oversee the vires of Scottish Parliament legislation for that is properly the function of the courts. Rather, Her Majesty's Government work closely with the Scottish Executive to ensure that legislation is prepared so as to be within the competence of the Scottish Parliament. The Government have a strong interest in ensuring that devolution works, and checking that legislation is within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament plays a vital part in ensuring it keeps working. In the event that any legislative provision is thought to be ultra vires, then the Scotland Act provides that the matter may be referred by the Attorney-General, the Advocate-General or the Lord Advocate to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to decide on the issue. No such references have been made to date.