asked Her Majesty's Government:What were the main results of the recent Small Arms Conference, jointly sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence; and why there was no agreed communiqué. [HL2196]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave my noble friend Lady Golding on 20 January (WA 74).A few states attending the conference could not agree the proposed consensus communiqué, despite a clear majority in favour of the recommendations and great efforts by the chair to find common ground. Therefore, the chairman, having consulted the participants, decided to issue a chairman's summary that outlined the key findings of the conference.Her Majesty's Government are keen to build on the notable gains and momentum of the conference. In addition to a follow-up meeting, under UK auspices, to exchange information in the margins of the UN biennial meeting in July, we are also supportive of other efforts in this field, such as the Dutch-Norwegian conference on brokering in Oslo in April. Over the next few years, the UK aims to forge partnerships across regions, promoting common understanding and widening and building support for the UN process in this important area.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will agree with the British representatives to the European convention that (a) the new treaty should enhance the powers of the committee of the regions and give stronger recognition to the regional and local dimensions of Europe; and (b) the new treaty should contain positive and negative mechanisms enabling national parliaments to uphold subsidiarity. [HL2198]

The Government agree on both counts. We submitted a paper to the convention on Europe and the Regions which proposed a number of ideas for strengthening the role and recognition of regions and localities. The paper also identified the need to make the Committee of the Regions more effective. We have also pressed for a strong and credible mechanism to enable national parliaments to monitor and enforce compliance of EU legislative proposals with the principle of subsidiarity.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to (a) the Committee of the Regions' opinion on the role of the regional and local authorities in European integration; and (b) the resolution of the European Parliament of 14 January 2003 on the same subject. [HL2222]

The work of the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament on the future role of regions in the EU are important contributions to this debate. The Government's position on the matter is set out in the paper we submitted to the Future of Europe Convention on Europe and the Regions. This is available on the convention's website at http://european-convention.eu.int.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that the Committee of the Regions should be empowered to refer matters which may infringe the principle of subsidiarity to the European Court of Justice. [HL2223]

The Future of Europe Convention's Working Group on Subsidiarity recommended that the Committee of the Regions be given the right to bring, ex post, actions before the European Court of Justice for violation of the principle of subsidiarity as regards legislative acts on which it was consulted. The Government's thinking on this matter is set out in our paper on Europe and the Regions, which was prepared in consultation with the devolved administrations. The paper was submitted to the convention and is available on its website (http://european-convention.eu.int).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that membership of the Committee of the Regions should be reviewed; and, if so, what improvements they would suggest. [HL2224]

The Committee of the Regions has itself expressed the desire better to reflect the diversity of local and regional governance by ensuring a better balance of regional and local representation in the composition of national delegations.The Government acknowledged this in our paper on

asked Her Majesty's Government:What legal sanctions and remedies are available under the laws of the United Kingdom and the United States for any breaches of international humanitarian law committed during the military action against Iraq. [HL2248]

Breaches of international humanitarian law can be prosecuted in the UK in accordance with the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 and the International Criminal Court Act 2001 or the International Criminal Court (Scotland) Act 2001. As a state party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the US would have its own laws and procedures to enable breaches of the conventions to be prosecuted there.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any of the following companies and individuals have been responsible, since January 1991, for supplying weapons, directly or indirectly, to the Iraqi Government: Euromac Ltd UK; Endshire Export Marketing, Matrix Churchill; Ali Ashour Dagin XYY Options, Meed International, TMG Engineering, International Computer Systems, International Computers Ltd, Walter Somers Ltd, International Military Services, Terex Corporation; Sheffield Forgemasters, Technology Development Group. [HL2200]

The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation does not record actual exports. It records details of all relevant export licence applications issued and refused, which since 2 May 1997 are published in the Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.Previous administrations have not considered it appropriate to publish information on individual licensing decisions. Information on export licence applications issued and refused prior to May 1997, where the end users were in Iraq, is not held centrally and a manual search of all the case files would incur disproportionate costs.The details of export licence applications from particular companies are normally commercially confidential and exempt from disclosure under exemptions 13 and 14 of the

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answers by Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 11 March (

The Answer given on 19 November 2001 (WA115) referred to the initial assessment of a minimum data transfer speed to define higher bandwidth technologies, as made in UK Online: the broadband future, published in February 2001. Since then, we have taken advice from the broadband stakeholder group which defines broadband as "always on access, at work, at home or on the move provided by a range of fixed line, wireless and satellite technologies to progressively higher bandwidths capable of supporting genuinely new and innovative content, applications and services and the delivery of enhanced public services". [BSG Second Annual Report and Strategic Recommendations, November 2002].The broadband statistics that Oftel collects are based on information provided voluntarily from operators such as ntl, Telewest and BT. The operators provide data relating to higher bandwidth, always-on services, offering data rates of 128kbps and above, which are targeted to the mass-market as broadband.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How the outcome of the GM public debate will be evaluated; and whether the methods suggested will be an accurate measure of public opinion. [HL2130]

The independent Public Debate Steering Board, set up to manage the GM public debate, has announced its own indicators against which it will assess the success of the debate. These include the extent to which people felt they were able to participate, their awareness of the debate, whether it was credible and innovative, and whether it improved the present understanding of public views. The methods by which the public's responses during the debate will be evaluated have yet to be developed by the steering board but every effort will be made to ensure that the reported outcome of the public debate accurately reflects public opinion.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs foot and mouth disease contingency plan. [HL2313]

We have laid before Parliament Defra's foot and mouth disease contingency plan, in accordance with Section 18 of the Animal Health Act 2002, which came into force on 24 March 2003.This plan sets out the operational arrangements Defra will put in place to deal with any occurrence of foot and mouth disease.It replaces the version placed on Defra's website on 6 November 2002, announced to the House in a Statement made on the Government's response to the foot and mouth disease inquiry reports.Defra's contingency plan is very much a living document. It will be subject to ongoing revision taking on the latest scientific advice, developments in policy and comments from operational partners and stakeholders.To meet the provisions of the Animal Health Act, the plan will also be subject to formal annual review.Copies of the contingency plan are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What bodies can undertake a risk assessment of farm work liable to be undertaken by a pregnant shepherdess who cannot handle ewes and lambs due to risks of infection. [HL2207]

Where women of childbearing age are employed, it is the responsibility of the employer to assess the risks to new and expectant mothers and to introduce measures to protect their health and safety. Employers and the self-employed also have a responsibility to assess and minimise the risks to those not in their employment, such as members of the public. The self-employed have a similar duty to protect their own health and safety.The Health and Safety Executive provides guidance to assist employers and publishes an annual news release with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to alert farmers and others to the risks to pregnant women who come into close contact with ewes during lambing periods.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What interim results from the vaccines interactions research programme being carried out at the Defence Scientific and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down will be published. [HL2342]

The Ministry of Defence's vaccines interactions research programme is studying whether the combination of vaccines and nerve agent pre-treatment (NAPS) tablets used to protect United Kingdom personnel during the 1990–91 Gulf conflict can give rise to adverse health effects. The study involves four groups of 12 marmosets. One group was given the full range of vaccines which could have been administered during the 1990–91 Gulf conflict (anthrax, plague, pertussis, yellow fever, cholera, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, typhoid and meningitis); one was given pyridostigmine bromide, which is the active ingredient of NAPS; one was given both vaccines and pyridostigmine bromide, and the last was the control group, which received neither. The marmosets are being monitored over a period of 18 months and a number of indices, such as cognitive performance, EEG, sleep, endocrine functioning and immune responsiveness, are measured at regular intervals.Preliminary results from the first three months of the study are now available and are being presented by means of scientific poster at the British Toxicological Society's annual conference at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. These preliminary results provide data on behaviour, sleep, EEG, body weight, cholinesterase inhibition and muscle function and indicate no apparent adverse health consequences three months following the administration of 'vaccine and/or pyridostigmine bromide. We have placed copies of the abstract and poster in the Library of the House. They will also be available on the Ministry of Defence's website.In addition, preliminary immunology results will be reported at the 3rd international meeting of the Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccines Research from 12 to 16 April. Copies of the abstract and poster presentation will then be placed in the Library of the House and will be made available on the Ministry of Defence's website.The study as a whole is due to complete in December 2003 and the results are expected to be published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature thereafter.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements are in place to allow reservists to continue to be called out to support operations in the former Yugoslavia. [HL2365]

A new call-out order has been made under section 56 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to allow reservists to continue to be called out into permanent service to support operations in the former Yugoslavia. This replaces the existing order that expired on 31 March. The new order is effective until 31 March 2004.Since 1995 when NATO operations commenced in the former Yugoslavia, the reserve forces have historically provided around 10 per cent of the total UK manpower in theatre. At present, there are around 230 reservists from all three services serving in Bosnia and Kosovo. They are providing specialist skills in fields such as logistics, signals and medical support.I am also announcing two compulsory mobilisations under the new order. One is an extension of the existing deployment of small numbers of specialist medical personnel (anaesthetists and surgeons) to provide critical support to our forces in theatre. Since April 2002, we have called out 17 personnel to serve three-month tours. This will continue for another 12 months. We anticipate a requirement for around six personnel at any one time. Given the small numbers involved and our intention to spread the burden across the NHS, we are confident that the impact on patients in the UK will be minimal.The second compulsory mobilisation will be of further specialist medical and logistics personnel from the Territorial Army. They will provide general practice, ambulance, and postal and courier capabilities in theatre. In total, we will call out 150 personnel from 251 and 253 Field Ambulance (Volunteers) and up to 20 personnel from 87 and 88 Regiments Postal and Courier Services. Personnel will serve for up to seven months, with the first deployments in June.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to relaunch Defence Estates. [HL2366]

Defence Estates (DE) is being relaunched today as an agency of the Ministry of Defence with new responsibilities. This follows consideration, within Project Alexander, of how the defence estate should best be managed as a corporate asset. In particular, the new arrangements will clarify customer/supplier relationships.The changes are in line with the overarching and comprehensive strategy for the defence estate set out in

asked Her Majesty's Government:Who has been appointed to the chairmanship of the Financial Services Authority. [HL2364]

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced that Callum McCarthy has agreed to be the next chairman of the FSA. With experience of the public sector, as a senior practitioner in the financial services industry and as chairman of a highly successful regulator, he will prove invaluable to the FSA as it tackes the regulatory challenge of the future. Callum McCarthy will take up his new duties in September.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there are plans to replace the exceptional leave system. [HL2367]

On 7 October 2002 my right honourable friend the Home Secretary announced the ending of the routine granting of exceptional leave on a country basis and a review of its use and scope to focus it on those who really need special humanitarian protection but do not qualify as refugees.In the past, exceptional leave has been used far too widely. It was only ever intended to be granted to those able to demonstrate compelling compassionate or humanitarian reasons for staying in the United Kingdom. Instead, the widespread use of exceptional leave has acted as a pull factor, encouraging economic migrants to apply for asylum in the United Kingdom in the belief that they will be given exceptional leave when their claim is rejected.That is why we have decided to replace the exceptional leave system with a new humanitarian protection system. From now on the UK will only offer international protection to those who really need it.From today humanitarian protection will he granted only to those who, though not refugees would, if removed, face in the country of return a serious risk to life or person arising from the death penalty, unlawful killing or torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.Under the new system those who qualify for humanitarian protection will be granted leave for three years, at which point a person with a continuing need for protection will be eligible to apply for settlement in the United Kingdom. A person with no continuing need will not get any further leave.The Secretary of State will also retain the discretion to grant limited leave to those who do not qualify for humanitarian protection or leave under the Immigration Rules. The circumstances in which discretionary leave will be granted will be defined and tightly focused. This leave will normally be granted for two periods of three years, but there is scope to grant shorter periods depending on the individual circumstances. Again, it will not be renewed unless a person continues to qualify for such leave.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many pregnancies arising out of licensed fertility treatment have been selectively terminated in each of the past five years; at what stage of gestation was each pregnancy terminated; and on what ground of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended) was each abortion performed. [HL2146]

Information on whether selective terminations of pregnancy were performed following licensed fertility treatment is not collected centrally as it is not a requirement of the Abortion Regulations 1991.Information is collected on gestation and grounds and is shown in the following table. Data are for all selective terminations performed in England and Wales in the past five years.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What consideration they have given to the future funding of the Tizard Centre, University of Kent. [HL1865]

The Government have received a number of representations about the future funding of the Tizard Centre. The Government's policy is to devolve as much money as possible to the front line and this is therefore a matter for the National Health Service and social care organisations which use the centre's services.It follows that the Tizard Centre must secure its own funding by designing programmes and providing services which users wish to buy.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why, when there is transfusion plasma currently available in the United Kingdom to the National Health Service which is licensed in the United Kingdom and sourced in the United States, the National Blood Service continues to provide patients with United Kingdom-sourced fresh frozen plasma which has not been virally inactivated; and [HL2132]In the light of the move announced on 12 February towards providing haemophiliacs with safer clotting factors, why they intend to continue to supply United Kindom-sourced plasma, which carries the risk of vCJD, to transfusion patients born before 1996; and [HL2133]Why, when there is transfusion plasma currently available in the United Kingdom which is licensed in the United Kingdom and sourced in the United States, the National Blood Service is still unable to implement its recommendation to provide the majority of patients born after 1 January 1996 with United States-sourced, virally inactivated fresh frozen plasma. [HL2134]

To date, there is no evidence worldwide that variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) has ever been transmitted through blood. As a precautionary measure, all fresh frozen plasma (FFP) produced by the United Kingdom blood service uses single unit plasma from UK blood donors which has been leucodepleted to remove the white cells which evidence suggests may carry the greatest risk of transmitting vCJD. Although most UK FFP is not virally inactivated, high levels of safety are achieved by using single unit, as opposed to pooled plasma, by screening out potential high risk donors and by testing every unit of donated blood for the presence of infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C before it is released to hospitals.The decision taken to import FFP from the United States for young babies and children born after I January 1996 will provide additional protection to the most vulnerable group who will not have been exposed to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy through the food chain. The National Blood Service is currently involved in negotiating for supplies of FFP for this group of patients and plans to have it available later this year. A commercially produced FFP product, sourced from the United States, is also available for the National Health Service to purchase.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in the light of the decision of the United States Senate to ban partial-birth abortion, they have any plans to prohibit abortion up to birth on the ground of disability. [HL2230]

We are not aware of the procedure referred to as "partial-birth abortion" being used in Great Britain. Methods of termination are monitored through the forms sent to the Chief Medical Officer by practitioners for every termination of pregnancy they perform.It is accepted parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion have come from Back-Bench Members and that decisions are made on the basis of free votes. The Government have no plans to change the law on abortion.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied that the recommendations of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence relating to the treatment of dyspepsia and gastro-oesophageal reflux with proton pump inhibitors are being widely implemented within the National Health Service. [HL2245]

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published its guidance on the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in the treatment of dyspepsia in July 2000. The guidance made a number of recommendations intended to achieve the most clinically and cost-effectiveness use of PPIs. NICE estimated that its advice, if fully implemented, could lead to a reduction in the use of PPIs. Such a reduction has not yet occurred. We anticipate that the impetus better to target these treatments will increase when NICE publishes its clinical guideline on the primary management of dyspepsia, due later this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the annual report on learning disability services. [HL2362]

We are today publishing Making Change Happen, the Government's annual report on learning disability services. The report describes progress made in implementing the programme of action set out in the White Paper Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century (Cm 5086) and contains a response to Making Things Happen, the first annual report of the Learning Disability Task Force, published in January this year.People with learning disabilities are among the most socially excluded and vulnerable groups in society. In March 2001 we published

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency will publish its annual business plan. [HL2363]

We are publishing today the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's annual business plan. Copies have been placed in the Library.The business plan highlights the agency's achievements in 2002–03 and sets out the key tasks and targets for the coming year.This comprehensive plan has been formulated within the context of the agency's ongoing remit to lead the modernisation of the NHS purchasing and supply function. The agency has a strategic role to set out a major development agenda for purchasing and supply in the NHS and to develop a co-ordinated implementation plan for doing so. The business plan sets out clearly how the agency will achieve these aims.

asked Her Majesty's Government:(a) when Cabinet Office vehicles were converted to use both petrol and liquid petroleum gas; (b) what was the cost of conversion for each type of vehicle; (c) how much of each type of fuel has since been used by converted vehicles; and (d) what has been the average cost per mile of the fuel used by each type of vehicle before and after conversion. [HL2195]

I refer the noble Lord to the letter written to him by Mr Nick Matheson, chief executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many staff were employed in British Rail's headquarters for the years 1990 to 1993. [HL2208]

The information is not available in the form requested. In 1992, 617 people were employed at BR Headquarters. In 1994 the number had fallen to 512.