asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the number of prisoners, broken down by ethnic group, who obtain employment within a year of release. [HL2706]

The Government do not collect data on the number of prisoners, broken down by ethnic group, who obtain employment within a year of release. A survey in late 2001 of prisoners in the last three weeks of their sentence showed that 29 percent of white prisoners had employment or training arranged after release. This compared with 47 per cent of Asian or Asian British prisoners, 33 per cent of black or black British prisoners and 27 per cent of "mixed ethnicity" prisoners.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they plan to publish a Command Paper listing the regulatory impact assessments published during the latest six-month period. [HL2953]

The Government are committed to ensuring that regulations are necessary, give effective protection, balance cost and risk, are fair and command public confidence. In accordance with this, we require departments to produce and publish regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) for all regulatory proposals likely to have an impact on business, charities and the voluntary sector.I have today presented to Parliament a Command Paper listing RIAs published between 1 July and 31 December 2002. Copies of those listed have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This is the 18th such Command Paper.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the European Convention on Human Rights has been incorporated into the domestic legislation of each of the Crown Dependencies; and, if not, when such incorporation will take place.[HL2725]

Each of the Crown Dependencies—the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and the Isle of Man—have passed legislation similar to the United Kingdom Human Rights Act 1998: the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000, the Human Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2000 and the Human Rights Act 2001 (of Tynwald). In each case the legislation is expected to come into force before the end of this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What advice they have given to local authorities with regard to the disposal of fallen stock following the burial ban coming into force on 1 May. [HL2696]

Trading Standards, who enforce the regulation, have received guidance notes and training on the new rules. In addition, information on the disposal of animal carcases is available on the Defra website, at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/bv-prods/default.htm., and from local Defra animal h ealth offices.In the meantime, Defra will enforce the regulations in a reasonable manner, with a light-touch approach to the legislation to allow farmers time to adjust to the new rules. We expect farmers to make every effort they can to comply with the regulation, but we will take a pragmatic approach particularly in winter and poor weather conditions in upland areas and we will give advice to enforcement agencies accordingly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What response has been received by the Minister for the Environment, Michael Meacher, to his letter to the chairman of the Food Standards Agency, Sir John Krebs, concerning the environmental benefits of organic farming; if no reply has yet been received, when one is expected; and whether they will place a copy in the Libraries of both Houses. [HL2748]

I am arranging for copies of the correspondence so far to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many life support ventilators are currently available for operation in each of the private and public sectors; how many trained staff are estimated to be available to operate them; what estimated percentage of severe acute respiratory syndrome sufferers need to be put on ventilators; and how many beds are estimated to exist in United Kingdom hospitals which would be suitable for patients with SARS where suitable isolation could be provided. [HL2772]

The Department of Health does not collect information about the number of life support ventilators available for operation in each of the public and private sectors. There are currently 3,097 adult critical care beds in the National Health Service in England. As a minimum standard there will be one mechanical ventilator for each bed area. Each critical care unit will have additional ventilators available to be used in rotation for cleaning, decontamination, and maintenance purposes.Trusts have contracts for purchasing and maintenance of ventilators with their preferred manufacturers.it is likely that additional ventilators could be made available quickly should a trust require additional equipment in the case of a sudden influx of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) needing respiratory support.Nurses working in critical care units are trained to look after patients needing mechanical ventilation. Generally, patients requiring mechanical ventilation require one to one care and supervision. Critical care units normally operate with an overall establishment of 6.0—7.0 whole-time equivalent nurses per bed. There will be local variations in staffing levels depending on the size of the unit and case-mix.None of the four probable SARS cases reported so far in the United Kingdom has required ventilation. The number estimated to require ventilation would depend on a number of factors such as the length of time the patient had been ill, along with any other secondary illness. Patients admitted to hospital with suspected or confirmed SARS will be transferred to a cubicle in the critical care unit, and isolation procedures will be put in place.The Department of Health does not collect information on the number of cubicles or isolation facilities available. This information will be available to local major incident planners.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they will monitor and report the effectiveness of the new arrangements for specialised commissioning. [HL2790]

Strategic health authorities and collaborative commissioning groups and associated service-specific consortia will report regularly to their member primary care trusts (PCTs) and should report at least annually on a formal basis to them. In addition, individual PCTs will report on the commissioning of specialised services in their annual reports.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Answer by the Baroness Andrews on 7 May (HL Deb, col. 1092) and in the light of the report

Survey data contained in the reportContraception and Sexual Health 2001shows that women aged 18 to 19 had the highest proportionate use of emergency contraception followed by women aged 16 to 17. However, a large number of women aged 20 and over also reported using emergency contraception and the data in the report can be used to calculate an average age of all women using emergency contraception, which is 26.5 years. In my Answer of 7 May about the average age of women using emergency contraception I was referring to research commissioned by Schering, the manufacturer of Levonelle (emergency contraception pill), which found that the average age of a woman purchasing Levonelle was 28 years. As both the surveys were based on relatively small samples of women, the data need to be interpreted with caution. However the average age of women supplied with emergency contraception in both surveys were broadly similar.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Answer by the Baroness Andrews on 7 May (HL Deb, col. 1092), whether they believe that the possibilty of sexually transmitted infections will not be detected by general practitioners if women visit them for the purposes of obtaining emergency contraception. [HL2803]

Most testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is currently undertaken in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics. We understand, though, that an increasing number of general practitioners are offering testing for STIs and may choose, where appropriate, to test for infection during a request for emergency contraception. However the incubation period for the most common STIs is often longer than the 72 hours within which requests for emergency contraception should be made. For example the incubation period for gonorrhoea can be up to 10 days and for chlamydia up to three weeks. Any infection resulting from the incident of unprotected sex leading to a request for emergency contraception is not likely to be detected at that time. GPs who do not provide STI testing, and other health professionals who supply emergency contraception, should advise women of the risk of infection from unprotected sex and provide appropriate advice on attendance at a GUM clinic for screening at a later date.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress they are making in providing National Health services for convicted prisoners suffering from treatable mental ill-health. [HL2845]

All prisons and their National Health Service partners are working to implement the improvements to mental health services set out inChanging the Outlook, a Strategy for Developing and Modernising Mental Health Servicesin Prisons published in December 2001. Prisoners who need inpatient treatment for mental disorder may be transferred to psychiatric hospitals. In addition, NHS-funded, multi-disciplinary, mental health in-reach teams are already in operation, or being developed, at 48 establishments in England and Wales and should be introduced at another 46 by 31 March 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What research has been undertaken to ascertain whether areas of hard water in England and Wales have fewer cases of heart disease than other areas; and, if such is the case, what further related health research has been carried out in these areas. [HL2850]

Most of the relevant epidemiological studies, from many countries, report that death rates from cardiovascular disease tend to be lower in areas with hard water. The explanation remains unclear. The published scientific papers on relevant studies in England and Wales include the following:Chipperfield B, Chipperfield JR. Relation of myocardial metal concentrations to water hardness and death-rates for ischaemic heart disease.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What further measures, beyond consultation with the Magistrates' Association, they are taking to tackle the conviction rates for those caught smuggling illegal meats into the United Kingdom. [HL2739]

HM Customs and Excise, which took responsibility for anti-smuggling controls on meat from 11 April 2003, will deploy additional mobile anti-smuggling detection teams and trained dogs with particular responsibility for tackling smuggling of meat and animal products from non-EU countries. Its existing detection staff also include illegal meat in their responsibilities. Customs will prosecute in the most serious cases. Conviction on indictment for offences under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 attracts a higher maximum sentence than the previous legislation—seven years as opposed to two.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will consider collecting centrally information on the number of convictions made each year for the smuggling of illegal meat. [HL2740]

HM Customs and Excise already maintain a central database that records all smuggling convictions. This will record any convictions for the smuggling of illegal meat after 11 April 2003.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the measures they are taking to combat illegal meat imports will deter potential smugglers, particularly when only a small number of those that are caught are prosecuted. [HL2741]

The Government believe that, by transferring responsibility to Customs for detecting illegal meat imports smugglers will face an increased risk of detection, seizure of the goods and higher maximum sentences. Measures to deter and detect smuggling will be kept under review to ensure their effectiveness, including those cases where smugglers are prosecuted.