asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the powers of the Attorney-General will be included in the review of constitutional powers. [HL3533]

I will be publishing a consultation document in September which will set out the issues to be addressed in relation to the Lord Chancellor's roles that do not relate to the Speakership, his functions as departmental Minister or his judicial capacity. There are no plans to review the powers of the Attorney-General.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements they propose to make concerning the Lord Chancellor's patronage of Church of England benefices when the office of Lord Chancellor no longer exists. [HL3655]

I will be publishing a consultation document in September setting out the issues to be addressed in relation to the roles of the Lord Chancellor that do not relate to the Speakership, his functions as departmental Minister or his judicial capacity. This will include his ecclesiastical patronage. For the present the arrangements concerning the Lord Chancellor's patronage of Church of England benefices remain unchanged.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are all the duties of the Lord Chancellor other than his parliamentary and government duties. [HL3711]

My noble and learned friend the Leader of the House set out 11 broad categories of function of Lord Chancellor (excluding his sitting as a judge) when he responded to the debate on the Motion to appoint a Select Committee to consider the future arrangements for the Speakership (Official Report,3/7/03; col. 1000). These are:Speakership of the House of Lords.Judicial appointments, conduct and discipline in England and Wales.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which, defining each, of the Lord Chancellor's functions relative to the administration of justice and in particular criminal justice do they propose to transfer to (a) the Home Office and (b) the Department for Constitutional Affairs. [HL3740]

I expect that all of the Lord Chancellor's ministerial functions which continue to be necessary will be transferred to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. None of the administration of justice functions will transfer to the Home Office.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is their view that an increase in the number of black, Asian and female persons and persons of different sexual orientation would improve the overall quality of the judiciary. [HL3754]

The principle of appointment on merit is central to the judicial appointments process. Those appointed should be those who are best qualified for the job, irrespective of gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation, However, it is important to be able to make appointments from the widest possible pool of applicants, and the judicial appointments process should seek to bring forward the most talented candidates for appointment from the diverse groups within our society. A judiciary which better reflects the diversity of the population it serves will enhance public confidence in the justice system. The creation of a judicial appointments commission will provide a fresh opportunity to look at the ways in which the appointments processes work.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the cost of the paybill for special advisers in 2003–03, what are the pay bands for 2003–04 and how many special advisers are in each pay band, by department. [HL4072]

The pay bands and pay ranges for special advisers for 2003–04 are as follows:

	£
Scheme Maximum	131,008
Pay Band 4	78,606 to 94,326
Pay Band 3 and Premium	58,693 to 91,181
Pay Band 2	46,116 to 60,278
Pay Band 1	35,635 to 47,362
Pay Band 0	Up to 35,634

At 14 July 2003, the number of special advisers in each pay band by department is as follows:

Department	Pay band
	0	1	2	3	4
No 101	—	5	6	11	2
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister	—	—	22	1	—
Chief Whips' Offices (Commons and Lords)	—	1	2	—	—
Constitutional Affairs	—	—	—	—	1
Culture, Media and Sport	—	—	—	1	—
Defence3	—	—	2	—	—
Education and Skills	—	—	1	1	—
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	—	1	1	—	—
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	—	—	—	2	—
Health	—	—	2	1	—
Home Office	—	—	42	—	—
International Development3	—	1	—	—	—
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords	—	14	—	—	—
Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons5	—	2	—	—	—
Northern Ireland Office	—	—	1	—	—
Secretary of State for Wales	—	1	—	—	—
Trade and Industry6	—	1	1	1	—
HM Treasury7,8	—	1	1	1	1
Transport3	—	—	1	1	—
Work and Pensions	—	—	2	—	—
Minister without Portfolio5	—	2	—	—	—
Total	—	16	26	20	4

The cost of special advisers in 2002–03 is £5.4 million

asked Her Majesty's Government:(a) What was their expenditure on ministerial overseas visits for the financial years 1996–97 to 2002–03 and (b) what visits overseas were taken by Cabinet Ministers between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003 which cost in excess of £500 and what the cost, destination and purpose of each of these visits were. [HL4073]

Expenditure on ministerial overseas visits for the period requested is estimated as follows:

Year	£ million
1996–97	7.9
2 May 1997 to 31 March 1998	6.4
1998–99	4.9
1999–2000	4.6
2000–01	4.7
2001–02	5.6
2002–03	5.7

The figure for 2002–03 reflects payments made so far for travel undertaken in this period. A few bills have yet to be submitted to departments for payment.A list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 has been placed in the Libraries of the House. The list provides details of the date, destination and purpose of all such visits and the costs of Ministers' travel and accommodation where appropriate.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Attorney-General intends to publish a Report following his review of the role and practices of the Crown Prosecution Service in cases arising from a death in custody. [HL4040]

The report of my review has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and sent to those who contributed their views to the review or who were invited to do so. A copy has also been placed on the website of the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, which can be found at www.lslo.gov.uk.The fundamental objective of my review has been to improve public confidence in the decisions of the CPS and the way the Crown Prosecution Service takes decisions and carries out its statutory role in cases arising from a death in custody. Some important themes have emerged from this review, and the Director of Public Prosecutions and I have agreed that changes to CPS practice are needed in a number of respects.The core themes that emerged from the review and in relation to which changes are being implemented clustered around the following: the role of the CPS during the criminal investigation; how the Crown Prosecution Service can best deliver high-quality, efficient decision-making that commands public confidence; and how the CPS can communicate more effectively with the families of people who die in custody where there is a criminal investigation into the circumstances in which that person died.The review sets out a package of measures to improve the practice of the Crown Prosecution Service in its handling of deaths in custody. The following measures are being or have been implemented:

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the director of the Serious Fraud Office will publish his annual report. [HL4074]

The Serious Fraud Office annual report 2002–03 has today been published and laid before Parliament. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they plan to publish the independent review of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). [HL4028]

We are pleased to inform the House that we have today published the key findings from the report of the independent review of the operation of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). The review was established in March this year to consider the ways in which NASS operates and provide me with recommendations to improve its performance. We are grateful to the review team for the work they have undertaken.The review team found that NASS was established to undertake a much simpler role than the complex one which they now perform. That role is made even more complicated by being a very visible part of the asylum system. Despite that, the review team found that NASS was showing signs of improvement in its operational performance, strategic planning and relationships with partner organisations.However, they also found that some key issues still need to be addressed. They found that NASS had faced real difficulties in getting on top of its job. External pressures such as Sangatte, an upsurge in asylum applications in 2001 and significant ongoing recruitment and training gaps contributed significantly to NASS's current problems and it had failed to establish a clear strategy to provide purpose, direction and governance of its activities. It had been established as a distinct part of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, (IND) something which had contributed to a lack of proper integration with other parts of the asylum process and unrealistic expectations surrounding issues such as social integration.The review team found that there were still considerable gaps in NASS's ability to deal effectively with its external partners such as local authorities or the voluntary sector. Partly, this was a lack of understanding of the roles of these other organisations, but also a simple lack of effective and agreed processes to ensure that issues ran smoothly. The review team also found weaknesses within some of NASS's core operations. IT was critical to the business but was neither fully exploited, nor properly integrated with the IT used elsewhere in IND. The review team said that specific improvements to processes or resolution of long-standing policy impasses were possible which would provide much-needed service improvements. The basic customer service provided to NASS's wide range of stakeholders needed to improve. Within this were concerns such as the difficulties with telephone contact with NASS. The review team supported NASS's regionalisation project and pointed to a need for many more aspects of NASS's business to be handled at a local level.Looking across the range of issues covered, the review team said that for NASS to perform at its best it needs to:be clear what is expected of it and how its success will be judged;have the financial and managerial resources to do the job;have a thorough understanding of its own strengths and weaknesses;have a clear view of what it needs to do to improve its performance;understand its impact on the whole end-to-end asylum process;sort out some of its key business processes and procedures; andget better at working with the rest of IND in a fully joined-up operation.Since completion of the review, NASS's senior management team has been strengthened, as has the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's ability to deal more effectively with social integration issues. More widely, NASS and other IND staff are currently analysing the proposals contained in the report and will submit an action plan to us shortly. This action plan will form the basis of a major programme of work designed to improve NASS's performance. We shall make a further statement about the action taken in the light of the review in due course.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether either of the two vehicles suspected of involvement in the production of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was purchased or obtained from the United Kingdom or the United States. [HL3435]

We currently assess that the vehicles were built in Iraq using Iraqi components and standard industrial components that had been obtained from several different countries including the United Kingdom. The components of British origin would not have been restricted under the sanctions regime. Our investigations into the vehicles continue.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many deaths by suicide were recorded among members of the Armed Forces since January 2003, and for each year for the past five years. [HL3614]

In the period 1998 to 2002 there were 78 suicide and open verdict deaths among UK regular service personnel. The Ministry of Defence does not currently have information on verdicts made by coroners (England & Wales and N. Ireland) or the Procurator Fiscal (Scotland) for accidental or violent deaths that have occurred in 2003. A breakdown of the suicides and open verdict deaths by year of occurrence is given below.

Suicide and open verdict deaths in the UK regular Armed Forces, 1998–2002
Year of Death	Number
1998	16
1999	18
2000	27
2001	10
2002	7
Total	78

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will ensure in Iraq that British forces searching private or religious premises are always accompanied by an interpreter. [HL3758]

The policy of United Kingdom forces in Iraq is. as far as possible, always to include interpreters on searches where locals were involved. The vast majority of interpreters are locally employed civilians, often accompanied by colloquial speakers. In rare circumstances—such as emergencies—there may be instances where an interpreter is not present, but these are not the normal practice.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people, other than prisoners of war, have been captured by British forces in Iraq and are still being held by them. [HL3803]

United Kingdom forces have transferred individuals they have captured to the custody of the United States. As at 15 July, the United States were holding, on behalf of the UK one prisoner of war and 71 other persons captured by British forces who are either suspected of committing criminal offences or are interned where necessary for imperative reasons of security in accordance with the fourth Geneva Convention.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 12 June (

The Ministry of Defence last month passed to the local planning authorities an environmental and land use report giving details of the work involved in the upgrade of the radar at RAF Fylingdales, to support its conclusion that the upgrade does not require formal planning consultation. This report is available to the public on the Ministry of Defence website. Details of the separate bilateral agreement regarding the roles and responsibilities of each government in respect of the upgrade remain confidential while negotiations are in progress and are being withheld under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice to Government Information.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements exist betwen SERCo Aerospace and the RAF for the provision of sponsored reserves. [HL4042]

On 14 April 2003 a contract was signed between SERCo Aerospace and the RAF for the provision of sponsored reserves (contract support personnel who may be called out for service). SERCo Aerospace is a commercial company contracted to provide engineering support to the BAe 125 aircraft of the Comms Fleet, 32 (The Royal) Squadron, based at RAF Northolt. The new arrangement enables personnel to be deployed to an operational theatre with the protection of reserve status. Individual voluntary contracts have been signed and four personnel have been issued with call-out notices to deploy overseas.The use of sponsored reserves is designed to cover specialist support roles where the call-out is riot dependent on a level of crisis. Delegation of call-out powers has been authorised to the Air Secretary and authorised officers on his staff, in the same way as for other sponsored reserves. Call-out notices are served routinely every few weeks under existing delegated powers, and there are currently other sponsored reservists under contract with the Royal Navy as well as with the RAF. Naval sponsored reserves exist as part of the Strategic Sealift project, as well as providing hydrographic support to survey vessels, and RAF sponsored reserves have signed agreements with the Mobile Meteorological Unit.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assessment has been made of the review of initial training in the Armed Forces. [HL4081]

On 10 February 2003 we published the report of an appraisal of the care of recruits in initial training, carried out by an independent team. Today we are publishing the report of a follow-up appraisal carried out by the same team, which has continued to monitor progress, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.The overall assessment arrived at by the re-appraisal is that the initial training system is proving highly successful in continuing to deliver a large number of high-quality, motivated young people for service in the Armed Forces, most recently in the very demanding combat and environmental conditions of the Gulf. All three Services' training organisations, however, are still very tautly resourced, notably in the area of supervisory and instructional manpower, for their very high throughput of trainees. The most significant risks are carried in the larger Army training establishments. The team concludes that a good deal has been done, but that further progress will require additional investment of manpower and resources.Alongside the re-appraisal report, we are publishing a departmental progress report, which provides an overview of the action we have taken since February. A wide range of measures has been set in hand to improve processes and procedures, in line with the recommendations of the first appraisal report. These have included work to identify the resource implications of the recommendations. One of the most significant criticisms in February was of inadequate numbers of instructors, especially at some of the large Army training establishments. The Army has identified a requirement for additional instructors and support staff. One hundred and six of these vacancies were assessed as urgent. Most have been filled already and all will be filled by 11 August. This is a significant achievement on the Army's part, at a time of major operational commitment overseas, and reflects the very high priority that the Army puts on the initial training and care of its soldiers.Inevitably, however, as the re-appraisal indicates, it takes time for all the policy changes that we are putting in place to be implemented, especially where extra resources or new infrastructure are required. As the reappraisal notes, the increased numbers of instructors and supervisory staff are still building up. They and other improvements we are putting in place have the potential to significantly improve the training environment. But we are certainly not complacent and recognise that progress must be maintained and extended. In line with the latest recommendation of the team, we will carry out a further assessment of progress in summer 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made in establishing a multinational division in Iraq. [HL4079]

United Kingdom forces continue to make good progress in helping Iraq become a stable and united state.The vast majority of Iraqis welcomed the fall of the Saddam regime. The newly formed Governing Council has given Iraqis a representative voice after decades of oppression. The coalition will work with the Governing Council to rebuild Iraq. It will hand over to an elected government as soon as possible. The UK is playing a major role, and has seconded experts to work in the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad in a wide range of fields: political, financial, legal, security, health, education, roads, forensics, war crimes, prisons, culture and communications. We are also assisting in the training of a new Iraqi army and the Iraqi police.Since the collapse of the former regime and the announcement of the end of decisive combat operations on 1 May, the coalition's main effort has been directed towards establishing a safe and secure Iraq. Security is an essential part of the political and economic rehabilitation of the country, and coalition stabilisation operations continue. Those who violently oppose the coalition represent a desperate minority. In the south, UK forces have developed close links with local communities, and have helped to improve the availability of water, food, power and medical supplies, which had previously been used as a means of control by Saddam Hussein. Iraqis are making the most of their new freedoms. However, the security environment remains difficult in places, particularly in Baghdad and the surrounding area. We are assisting our coalition allies in a number of ways, including sharing British expertise in urban operations, derived from many years' experience in Northern Ireland and the Balkans.The roulement of UK forces set out in my Written Answer to the noble Lord, Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract, of 11 June (

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the latest figures for deaths of 1990–91 UK Gulf War veterans. [HL4080]

Mortality figures for the United Kingdom veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict from 1 April 1991 to 31 December 2002 were published on 9 January 2003 (Official Report, cols. WA 158-WA 160). The latest data, as at 30 June 2003, are shown in Table 1 below. As before, the data for Gulf veterans are compared to that of a control group, known as the era cohort, which is made up of Armed Forces personnel of a similar size, age, gender, service, regular/reservist status and rank who were not deployed. Table 2 provides a detailed breakdown of deaths from cancer (neoplasm) by anatomical site.

(Note: 1) 1 April 1991–30 June 2003 Causes (coded to ICD-9) (Note: 2)

Mortality Rate
ICD Chapter	Cause of death	Gulf	Era3	Ratio4
	All deaths	600	613	0.97
	All cause coded deaths	586	599	0.97
I-XVI	Disease-related causes	243	300	0.81
I	Infectious and parasitic diseases	4	2	1.99
II	Cancers	105	124	0.84
III	Endocrine and immune disorders	1	6	0.20
V	Mental orders	13	15	0.86
VI	Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs (Note 5)	10	11	0.90
VII	Diseases of the circulatory system	82	106	0.77
VIII	Diseases of the respiratory system	11	6	1.82
IX	Diseases of the digestive system	15	18	0.83
IV, X-XVI	All other disease-related causes (Note 6)	2	12	0.17
EXVII	External causes of injury and poisoning	343	299	1.14
	Railway accidents	4	1	3.98
	Motor vehicle accidents	118	100	1.17
	Water transport accidents	5	1	4.98
	Air and space accidents	25	19	1.31
	Other vehicle accidents	0	1	0.00
	Accidental poisoning	14	15	0.93
	Accidental falls	8	8	1.00
	Accidents due to fire/flames	0	2	0.00
	Accidents due to natural environmental factors	2	2	1.00
	Accidents due to submersion/suffocation/ foreign bodies	17	7	2.42
	Otheraccidents	31	29	1.06
	Late effects of accident/injury	0	2	0.00
	Suicide and injury undetermined whether	110	103	1.06
	accidentally or purposely inflicted Homicide	6	5	1.19
	Injury resulting from the operations of war	3	4	0.75
	Other deaths for which coded cause data are not yet available	11	10
	Overseas deaths for which cause data are not available	3	4

1 April 1991–30 June 2003Major anatomical sites (coded to ICD-9)

asked Her Majesty's Government:When there will he public consultation on the current review of the balance of funding for English local authorities. [HL4070]

Following a commitment in the 2001 local government White Paper, we are carrying out a wide-ranging review of the balance between central and local sources of funding for local government in England. This review is being steered by a high level group, chaired by my right honourable friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich in the other place, which includes senior representatives of central and local government as well as business, the unions, the academic world and the accountancy profession.To inform the work of the group my right honourable friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich is today issuing an invitation to all those interested to submit comments by 30 September 2003. Copies of the invitation letter will be available in the Libraries of the House, the Printed Paper Office and on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the average degrees of consanguinity between brother and half-sister, and that between blood uncle and niece, are identical. [HL3471]

The average degree of consanguinity between brother and half-sister is equivalent to that between blood uncle and niece. In both cases, on average the two related individuals will have one quarter of their genes in common.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What recent representations they have received from the National Association of Health Stores in relation to the provisions of the Food Supplements Directive and the Food Supplements (England) Regulations; and what response they have made to those representations. [HL3481]

Ministers have received a number of recent written representations from, and on behalf of, the National Association of Health Stores (NAHS) expressing NAHS's concerns over the impact of the Food Supplements Directive and the implementing regulations. In particular, NAHS voice particular concerns over the current composition of the lists of permitted substances in the annexes to the directive and asked that the United Kingdom seek an amendment to the directive.Ministers have responded recognising those concerns and setting out the Government's view that there was no possibility of negotiations on the directive being reopened. Many member states wanted a much more restrictive regime.No aspect of the directive needs to be implemented by the industry until 1 August 2005 and the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 make use of flexibility in the directive that means marketing of some products may not be affected until 1 January 2010.Food supplements containing vitamins and minerals and their sources missing from the positive lists that were on the market when the directive came into force may continue to be marketed beyond 1 August 2005 provided that dossiers to support their addition to the positive lists have been submitted to the European Commission before 12 July 2005 and provided that the European Food Safety Authority has not given a negative opinion on such use.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assessment they have made of the impact upon consumer choice and the United Kingdom food supplements industry of the possible setting by the European Union of maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements at levels substantially lower than those which are currently permitted in the United Kingdom. [HL3484]

The Government's firm position is that safety should be the primary concern, and that maximum limits should be set at levels that are based on scientific risk assessments and not limited by considerations of nutritional need, thus protecting public health without unnecessarily limiting consumer choice or unduly restricting trade.Article 5 of Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements sets out principles for setting EU maximum limits for vitamins and minerals in food supplements, although no specific figures have yet been set. Discussion on maximum limits at EU level will follow publication of advice from the European Food Safety Authority. We do not expect the European Commission to issue its proposal on maximum limits before the end of this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will enable new United Kingdom graduates who have been unable to register with the Health Professions Council while the register has been closed from 27 June to 9 July to have immediate registration to allow them to take up employment as registered professionals after 9 July. [HL3737]

In the interests of public protection it is necessary for all applications for registration to be properly processed. All applications for Health Professions Council (HPC) registration are assessed on an individual basis and judged on their merits.The HPC will open its new register on 9 July 2003 following the closure of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine system to UK applicants on 27 June 2003. However, new application forms for the HPC register have been available and directly downloadable from the HPC's website since 2 July 2003. This minimal period of closure of 12 days (7 working days) is to allow time for the essential administrative task of effecting the transfer from the old register, which has been operating for the past 33 years, to the new HPC register.The HPC has endeavoured to minimise disruption to the services and will continue to process all applications in a timely and efficient manner so that there will be no unreasonable delay. Where possible the HPC informed all potential stakeholders of the situation in advance of the closure of the old system.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities there are in the United Kingdom; and [HL3745]

Information specifically related to adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities in the United Kingdom is not available centrally.The learning disability White Paper

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will enforce the law if attempts are made to use the eggs of aborted unborn babies in fertility treatments. [HL3810]

The use in fertility treatment of eggs taken from an aborted fetus is prohibited in the United Kingdom under Section 3A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The Government will require the law to be enforced should any attempt be made to breach the Act.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What support they are giving to the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre in Manchester: and whether they have any plans to increase their support. [HL3813]

Major equipment for the centre is being provided via the Government's North West Science Initiative and will be funded jointly by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The North West Science Initiative funding will provide cyclotron and radiochemistry facilities to support PET (positron emission tomography) imaging, an animal PET scanner for tracer development, a high field (3T) MR scanner for functional imaging, support for developing novel PET detectors and exploring the clinical potential of monochromatic X-ray imaging, and support for building and testing two new medical imaging systems. The applicants Professor David Gordon (Manchester) and Dr Christopher Hall (Daresbury Laboratory) refer to this investment forming an institute for functional and molecular imaging (IFMI). Co-applicants include Professors Pat Price and Terry Jones, and also researchers from Liverpool and Salford. Total investment is £5.7 million split equally between MRC and EPSRC. The applicants are also involved in an MRC e-science award of a little over £1 million and a MRC co-operative.There is no direct NHS involvement in the funding of the Wolfson Centre. However, the centre has received funding from National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC) Manchester to appoint three core posts, radiochemist, radiographer and a data analyst/modeller. Further funding from NTRAC Manchester will be decided at local level. In 2002 the Department of Health announced that NTRAC nationally will receive £11.16 million over 5 years.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will arrange a ministerial visit to the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre in view of its role in cancer treatment and the investigation of brain disorders. [HL3873]

The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Public Health) at the Department of Health (Ms Hazel Blears) visited the site of the Wolfson Centre on 16 April 2003 during a visit to the Christie Hospital.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What consultations have taken place with primary care trusts, voluntary-aided organisations and charities, following the closure of the bidding on the contract for digital television access to NHS Direct, to ensure best value, best practice and that the potential of emerging technology is exploited for real operational use. [HL3814]

As part of a programme to expand the range of services offered by NHS Direct, work has begun to develop and run an NHS Direct information service across all digital TV platforms in England. This service will complement the existing NHS Direct services accessed via the telephone, the Internet and at electronic information points. The development of the service by the Department of Health follows a series of successful pilot projects conducted during 2001–02, which explored possible health applications of digital interactive television. The NHS Direct digital TV service, which will be launched in 2004, will provide information on health conditions and treatments, healthy living, medicines, health advice for travellers, health and safety advice and details of local NHS services, including performance information.Reports on the independent evaluation (by City University & Sheffield University) of the Department of Health's pilot projects exploring possible health applications of digital interactive television (a summary and a full report) are now available at:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will accept the advice of the British Medical Association to ban the advertising of alcohol. [HL3834]

The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, in close collaboration with other government departments, including the Department of Health, is currently developing the national alcohol harm reduction strategy. The Strategy Unit is due to publish an interim analysis paper in the summer. The final report, which will set out the cross-governmental alcohol harm reduction strategy, is planned for publication in the autumn. It will be implemented according to timetable by 2004.As part of this project the Strategy Unit project team and the sponsor Minister, Ms Hazel Blears, Minister of State for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety, have had ongoing discussions with all relevant stakeholders and carefully examined the evidence. The final report will consider a wide variety of issues including the advertising of alcohol.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they reconcile their opposition to the legalisation of euthanasia with their decision to adopt a neutral position on the Patient (Assisted Dying) Bill. [HL3897]

The Government are aware of a wide range of views on the subject of euthanasia, ranging from those for whom any form of euthanasia is abhorrent to those who believe that there is a need to allow assisted suicide and euthanasia in very limited and carefully regulated situations in which traditional palliative care is unable to bring relief to self-selected individuals. The Government have no plans to change the current law in this area but will listen carefully to the public debates.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will ensure that consumer goods that comply with the European Union directive on medical devices are also subject to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1998. [HL3954]

Products placed on the market as medical devices must meet the requirements, including those related to flammability, of the Medical Devices Directive (transposed in the United Kingdom by the Medical Devices Regulations 2002).

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the 2002–03 annual report and accounts of the Medical Devices Agency. [HL4085]

The 2002–03 report and accounts of the Medical Devices Agency have today been laid before the House of Commons pursuant to Section 7 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. Copies have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect the 11th annual report of the national Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance unit will be published. [HL4086]

The national Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance unit's 11th annual report has been published today. The report documents the unit's findings in relation to sporadic, familial and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), and also variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), up to 31 January 2003. Copies have been placed in the Library, and are also available on the unit's web site at www.cjd.ed.ac.uk.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the timetable for transposing the Clinical Trials Directive (2001/20/EC) into United Kingdom law. [HL4087]

The United Kingdom's implementing regulations to transpose the Clinical Trials Directive into domestic law will not be laid before Parliament until after 14 October 2003 when Parliament is due to reconvene. Member states are required to fully implement the directive by 1 May 2004.Copies of this statement have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency's annual report and accounts for 2002–03. [HL4088]

The National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency's annual report and accounts 2002–03 have today been laid before the House of Commons pursuant to Section 7 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. Copies have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the annual report and accounts 2002–03 for the NHS Estates Executive Agency. [HL4089]

We have received the report and copies have today been laid in accordance with the requirements of Section 5 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921. Copies have also been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the 2003 edition of the

I am happy to inform the House that I am today publishing the latest edition of the Forward Look of Government7funded science, engineering and technology (SET).The

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to publish a consultation paper about the operation of High Court writ enforcement. [HL4039]

A consultation paper has been published today detailing proposals for a new system for High Court fine enforcement, High Court Enforcement—The Enforcement Review: Writs of Fieri Facias and Possession. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether people, particularly pensioners, who wish to collect their pensions or other benefits in cash from their local post office will continue to be able to do so. [HL3879]

Following the move to direct payment, customers who wish to do so will be able to continue to collect their benefit or pension at the post office. They will need to choose one of the account options that can be accessed at post offices.The Department for Work and Pensions is providing customers with information (including letters and leaflets) which clearly sets out the account options as part of the move to payment direct into accounts. This information material sets out the key features of the various accounts and explains how people can access their money at the post office, if they wish to do so. Customers can choose the account which best suits their needs and circumstances.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will collect and publish statistics of the number of licensed premises and their aggregate capacity, the number of offences of violence against the person and the number of calls to the ambulance service, for every area in which corresponding figures are available in England and Wales, so that licensing authorities can pay regard to this evidence in carrying out their duty to promote the prevention of crime and disorder under Section 4 of the Licensing Act 2003. [HL3877]

No. The Government already publish statistics on the number of liquor licensed premises within petty sessions areas and will continue to publish statistics on the number of licences issued under the new licensing regime that the Licensing Act 2003 will introduce. In determining an application for a licence the licensing authority, following receipt of relevant representations, must take such steps it considers necessary to promote all four licensing objectives and consider any relevant representations made by interested parties and responsible authorities, including the police. All of the information which licensing authorities will require to carry out this function will be available to them.There is no requirement under the Licensing Act for licensed premises to have capacity limits other than where a condition attaches to the licence specifying one. The Government do not intend to publish figures on the aggregate capacity that may apply to licensed premises in a licensing authority area.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether broadcasting regulation takes account of the special status of the National Lottery. [HL4077]

The Government recognise that special regard should be given to the unique status of the National Lottery and its contribution to good causes. Although this is a matter for the broadcasting regulators, we would envisage that it should be permissible for lottery programmes to inform the public about the National Lottery, National Lottery draws and the benefits to the public from the lottery. Ofcom will he consulting on the development of its codes and we should expect it to give the National Lottery Commission and other interested parties an opportunity to comment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What agricultural commodities have been exported by the European Union to the Republic of Moldova in each of the last three years with the benefit of subsidy under the common agricultural policy; and what was the quantity of each such product and the net price in Moldova. [HL3862]

Expenditure on export subsidies and the associated volumes of exports are notified by the EU to the World Trade Organisation. However, the information is not available by destination country and thus subsidised exports to the Republic of Moldova are not separately identified. The total value of EU exports of agricultural products to Moldova was 51 million euros in 1999, 59 million euros in 2000 and 60 million euros in 2001. Information on the price in Moldova is not readily available.