asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their proposals for the amalgamations of divisions of the General Commissioners of Income Tax in Buckinghamshire, Dorset and West Sussex. [HL1843]

On 21 February 2003 I made an order under Section 2(6) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 amalgamating a number of divisions in Buckinghamshire, Dorset and West Sussex as follows.From 1 March 2003, the Amersham and High Wycombe divisions shall be merged into a new division to be called the South Buckinghamshire division. The divisions of Blandford and Wareham; New Forest West; Poole and Wimbourne shall be merged into one new division to be called the Wessex division. That order also gives effect from 1 April 2003 to the merger of Chichester; Worthing and Shoreham into one new division to be called West Sussex, Western division and the divisions of East Grinstead, Horsham and Haywards Heath to be merged into a new division to be called West Sussex, Northern division.All the amalgamations were made at the request of the General Commissioners in all the divisions with the aim of improving the organisational efficiency of the divisions concerned. I have placed a copy of the order amalgamating the divisions in the Library of this House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will respond to the Intelligence and Security Committee's inquiry into intelligence, assessments and advice prior to the terrorist bombings on Bali 12 October 2002. [HL1876]

The Prime Minister has today laid before the House the Government's response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's report.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What guidance will be given to the National Health Service regarding the purchase of clinical and medical services from St George's Medical School, Grenada. [HL1246]

The National Health Service is able to purchase care from international healthcare providers by either referring patients to overseas hospitals or inviting overseas clinical teams to provide services within the United Kingdom. Recent changes to the NHS Act 1977 give primary care trusts the opportunity to purchase care on a global basis. General guidance on the purchasing of treatment and the use of medical teams from overseas is available to all NHS trusts and to potential providers via the Department of Health's website. PCTs and lead commissioners are encouraged to consider proposals from all interested providers explaining to them what is required to meet their specifications.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 27 January (

The recovery periods, where appropriate, are given in the following table. There are 50 National Health Service trusts listed in the Answer, of which 31 had deficits that exceeded 0.5 per cent of turnover. Of these, five were merged/dissolved at the end of 2001–02 and a further four while reporting an in-year deficit, had offset this with surpluses in previous years and therefore did not require a recovery period.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to increase funding for drug and alcohol treatment centres, whether statutory or voluntary, in the coming financial year; and what provision is being made for increasing staff numbers in such centres. [HL1465]

In this financial year (2002–03), to ensure both increased availability and also higher quality drug treatment services, the Government made available £195.7 million for the pooled drug treatment budget. This meant that all health authorities received an increase of at least 30 per cent on the previous year's drug treatment allocation. In 2003–04 primary care trusts, who will be acting as bankers for the pooled drug treatment budget will receive a further average increase of 23 per cent.The Government in April 2001 established the National Treatment Agency (NTA), with the remit of increasing the effectiveness and availability of drug treatment. The NTA recognises the importance of both increasing the numbers and the skills of those working within the drug treatment sector and that is why it has identified workforce issues as one of their priority work areas. Latest reports from drug action team (DAT) treatment plans suggest that the workforce is currently growing ahead of target.The treatment plan envisages growth of 350 posts between 2002–03 and 450 between 2003–04. DATs are currently reporting growth of 1,088 posts 2002–03 and are projecting a further 680 between 2003–04.The majority of the funding for alcohol treatment is spent via the general budgets of primary care trusts and local social services departments, which is consistent with provision being determined following a local consideration of need. This method of funding means that it is not possible to give details of current or planned future spending on alcohol treatment, but latest estimates indicate that around £95 million is spent each year on treatment in England, and that most of this funding is provided by the Government.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What measures they intend to introduce to encourage pregnant women to stop smoking. [HL1524]

The Government will continue to take positive action to encourage pregnant women to stop smoking. A health education campaign specifically designed to reach pregnant women and their partners is supported by the NHS Pregnancy Smoking Helpline. Operated on behalf of the Department of Health by the charity QUIT, the helpline not only offers confidential advice but offers callbacks to women to support them through their pregnancy. In 2001–02 and 2002–03 a total of £6 million was allocated to fund the appointment of champions of services for pregnant smokers. An additional strand of this campaign involves publicity aimed at the partners of pregnant women to encourage their support.The Priorities and Planning Framework published on 2 October 2002 includes a key inequalities target for the reduction by one percentage point a year through the period 2003–04 to 2005–06 in the proportion of women continuing to smoke throughout pregnancy.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 15 January 2002, what progress they have made on a healthy eating campaign for young adults. [HL1661]

The Food Standards Agency commissioned research involving young people to identify appropriate ways to reach this group. In light of this and other expert opinion, the agency is currently considering the potential to undertake work to promote healthy eating to this group, possibly on a pilot basis in the first instance.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What guidance they issue to doctors on respecting Muslim patients' objections to abortion. [HL1687]

Under the Abortion Act 1967, as amended, a woman is legally entitled to an abortion, regardless of her religion, if two registered medical practitioners agree there are grounds for one.The Department of Health funded the publication

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are still committed to encouraging the Nursing and Midwifery Council to establish a third part of its register under the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 dedicated to particular public health practitioners, including health visitors; and [HL1694]Whether the Department of Health has ruled out, or the effect of any relevant regulation is to rule out, any particular names for the third part of the register under the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, should one be established; and [HL1695]Whether any names for the third part of the register under the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 have been particularly required or recommended by the Department of Health; and [HL1696]Which titles of practitioners in the public health field, regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Department of Health believes should be protected; and what steps they are taking in conjunction with the Nursing and Midwifery Council to ensure this. [HL1697]

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has recently had a public consultation that covers the issues raised by the noble Lord. The Department of Health has responded on behalf of the Government to that consultation. Copies of the response are available in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether paediatric continence will be addressed in the proposed children's national service framework. [HL1701]

Early development of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services has shown that the standards set will be relevant to, although not specifically about, the management of paediatric continence. One key theme being developed is improving the management of common childhood illnesses and health concerns.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Food Standards Agency annual report and accounts for 2001–02 will be published.[HL1875]

The Food Standards Agency's annual report arid accounts 2001–02 was laid before Parliament today.Copies have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to their reply to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee's seventh report on illegal meat imports published on 24 October 2002, whether the risk assessment promised for the autumn has been published and, if so, when; whether the prohibition of personal imports of meat and meat products extends to the diplomatic community; and when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs intend to publish the action plan for 2003–04. [HL1641]

We had hoped to deliver the results of the risk assessment on illegal meat imports in the autumn. However, it is an innovative piece of work. The project is a complex task that has required the gathering and modelling of a vast quantity of information, which has taken longer than anticipated to complete. The report is therefore currently undergoing final quality assurance arid peer review, prior to publication in the next few weeks.The European Community rules on the personal importation of meat and meat products do extend to the diplomatic community. As the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Optional Protocols of 18 April 1961 states: "Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state."

asked Her Majesty's Government:In view of the new European decision by which equids will have to have a passport, whether it would be preferable for the decision to require that no equid be sold into the meat trade unless it has a passport. [HL1702]

Requiring only equidae sold to the meat trade to have a passport would not meet the requirements of Commission Decision 2000/68/EC, adopted in December 1999, which requires all equidae to have a passport.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many transactions by the British Cattle Movement Service were recorded in 2002; and how many were queried by producers. [HL1722]

The British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) recorded 18.95 million transactions with its customers during 2002. During this year it received 386,000 phone calls, 97,000 letters and 18,000 e-mails from customers. Assuming that virtually all of these communications will have been, in one way or another, about transactions recorded it should be noted that at worst only 2.6 per cent of transactions were queried. Some will have been replies to queries raised by the BCMS and the remainder will have been spontaneous inquiries from customers. Any of these contacts could have given rise to a series of further queries being raised by either side. We cannot identify from within these totals the number of transactions spontaneously queried by keepers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How a producer is to know whether his cattle movement card has arrived and been satisfactorily registered by the British Cattle Movement Service.[HL1725]

Any registered cattle keeper can access their records on the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) cattle tracing scheme system through the BCMS website at www.bcms.gov.uk. The website allows the keepers to check the data held by the national database and contains details of any queries the BCMS has about transactions. The service is free, available 24 hours a day and requires no special software to access other than a standard web-browser.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the British Cattle Movement Service has been approved by the European Commission. [HL1727]

Representatives of the EU Commission visited the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) in November 2001 to conduct an audit to confer fully operational status with effect from 1 April 2002. We still await the publication of this decision and understand there is some discussion within the Commission about the procedures that have been used by Commission officials in conducting these audits in the UK and other member states. My officials in the department are actively pursuing the issue with the Commission.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have for publishing the findings of the cost/benefit analysis of the 20 day movement standstill. [HL1818]

The Government are publishing today the emerging findings from the risk assessment and cost/benefit analysis of animal movement standstills. The studies were commissioned in response to the recommendations made in July 2002 by the Lessons Learned and Royal Society inquiries and have been carried out for Defra by Risk Solutions and the Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics Research Unit (VEERU) at the University of Reading.In a Written Answer on 23 January (

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the estimated decline in the value of publicly quoted British companies (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in the rest of the world since 1997, both in money and percentage terms.[HL1778]

According to figures from the London Stock Exchange, the domestic market capitalisation of the UK at the end of January 2003 was £1,055 billion, compared with £1,012 billion at the end of 1996. This represents an increase of around £43 billion or 0.4 per cent.Data on the collective market capitalisation of UK companies listed overseas are not readily available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have for the future of planning policy guidance on tourism. [HL1844]

Following the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's review of Planning Policy Guidance note 21 on tourism, I am announcing today the publication of a consultation paper. This seeks views on a proposal to replace PPG21 with good practice guidance on planning for tourism. Copies of the consultation paper have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the enlargement of the European Union will result in a reduction in the numbers of the European Parliament elected in 2004, and, if so, by how many seats; what criteria will be used to decide in which constituencies the reductions will occur; and when announcement on the matter will be made. [HL1306]

The Treaty of Nice (to which the UK Government are a signatory) provides that, following the accession of all 12 candidate states, the UK be entitled to 72 MEPs—an overall reduction of 15 M EPs. The treaty also provides for an interim reduction in the number of MEPs for the 2004 elections if not all candidate states accede in time. The European Parliament (Representation) Bill, currently passing through Parliament, provides for the Lord Chancellor to ask the Electoral Commission to make recommendations about the redistribution of MEPs once the number is known. The Bill sets out (in Clause 2) the criteria for calculating the redistribution—no region shall have fewer than three MEPs and otherwise the ratio of electors to MEPs shall be, as nearly as possible, the same in each region. The Electoral Commission's recommendations will be implemented by statutory instrument. The timing of any implementation will depend on the progress of the accession of candidate states.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What guidance they give to departments as to how long they should retain copies of correspondence between Ministers and Members of Parliament relating to constituency problems.[HL1868]

Ministers' official papers, including correspondence with Members of Parliament relating to the work of departments, are public records. In common with all public records, they are reviewed for disposal or preservation in line with the requirements of the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967, the latter of which established the 30-year rule. The Public Record Office has published guidance entitled Management of Private Office Papers, which is available on the Public Record Office website at: www.pro.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/stancLards/privateoffice.Copies of this guidance will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many eyesight tests were administered by police at accidents involving motor vehicles in each of the past five calendar years in the United Kingdom. [HL1765]

Where there is reason to suspect that a driver's defective eyesight may have been a contributory factor to a road collision resulting in injuries, the police would normally request the driver to undergo an eyetest. While the police in England and Wales are required to record extensive incident data relating to road collisions resulting in injuries, the requirements do not cover eyesight tests conducted at such incidents. The information requested is therefore not available centrally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to ensure that all drivers over 45 can meet the standards of the eyesight test to obtain a licence; and [HL1766]Whether they consider that the current eyesight test to obtain a driving licence is sufficiently rigorous to maintain a proper safety standard. [HL1769]

All drivers, irrespective of their age, must be able to satisfy the visual standard for driving. The number plate eyesight test for checking drivers' vision has served its purpose well. It is the equivalent to the minimum standard laid down in the EC second Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC) and there are no plans to change the driver licensing arrangements with regard to eyesight.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proposals the European Commission have put forward to harmonise eyesight standards in the European Union in order to obtain a licence to drive a motor vehicle. [HL1767]

I am aware of no such current proposals. However, I believe that the European Commission is considering a third directive on driver licensing with a view to publishing proposals this summer. Although neither I nor my officials have seen these proposals, I understand that they are unlikely to include provisions on eyesight standards as such, or to include proposals likely to affect the majority of drivers. As soon as any such proposals are published by the Commission, I shall ensure that full consultation is undertaken to elicit views in the UK. It is also within the competence of the European Commission to adapt the eyesight standards for driver licensing to scientific and technical progress without recourse to a Council directive. The Commission is setting up a working group to review the eyesight standards. The UK will be strongly represented on that group, with a view to encouraging a helpful consensus on good practice taking account of opinion in the UK, including the results of current research sponsored by my department.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What evidence they have that eyesight below the standard required to obtain a licence has contributed to (a) fatal and (b) non fatal accidents in the United Kingdom. [HL1768]

The current eyesight standards are based on the requirements of the EC Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC). These standards are applied on the recommendation of the expert opinion of the Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Visual Disorders (which is made up of highly qualified eye specialists nominated by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists).There are no official statistics available on road traffic accidents that include the numbers of accidents which are attributable to specific health conditions. We have commissioned specific research into visual field impairment and its relevance to driving fitness.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there are plans to extend the use of the road surface employed on the Newbury bypass, which has proved effective in both reducing noise from the road and spray in wet conditions, when resurfacing major roads in the future. [HL1686]

It is the Government's policy generally to use quieter surfacing when resurfacing trunk roads in England. The type of quieter surfacing used is an operational matter and I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency, Mr Tim Matthews, to write to the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend fully to implement their 10-year plan for integrated transport. [HL1707]

The Government remain committed to delivering the increased levels of investment set out in the 10-year plan to secure the improvements in our transport system that we seek. Progress to date, along with the improvements we expect to see by 2005, were set out in the progress report, Delivering Better Transport, published in December. The report also confirmed that a full review and roll-forward of the plan will be carried out in conjunction with the next cross-government spending review in 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the original planned start date of the London Underground public/private partnership; and how far behind schedule the project now is. [HL1771]

No definitive target date was set. The first of three public/private partnership contracts completed on 31 December 2002. The second and third contracts are due to complete this spring.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will insist on the tightening up of the rules of the Blue Badge Scheme for motor vehicles intended for seriously disabled people.[HL1796]

A review of the Blue Badge Scheme has recently been concluded in which all aspects of the scheme were considered. Following initial discussions with the main stakeholders, a discussion paper was drawn up and comments were invited through a major public consultation exercise. Formal representations were made by a variety of disability groups, local authorities and individuals and their views were given due consideration during the review process.The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC, the department's statutory advisers on the transport needs of disabled people) was asked to look at the responses received and to submit its recommendations to Ministers. David Jamieson announced in the House on 18 December 2002 that the Government would be taking forward the majority of these recommendations as soon as possible.The recommendations address a number of issues, including the eligibility criteria and the enforcement of the scheme. The main emphasis is to ensure that the scheme is available to those with the greatest mobility needs and that measures are introduced to prevent the scheme from being abused. A summary of the recommendations was placed in the House Libraries and accompanied the announcement on 18 December 2002.