asked the Chairman of Committees:What events have taken place in the Royal Gallery in the past five years. [HL5506]

The Royal Gallery is part of Her Majesty The Queen's residual estate in the Palace of Westminster, and as such is administered on Her behalf by the Lord Great Chamberlain. Its use, other than as a working/ meeting area for Peers, is largely limited to state, royal and major parliamentary occasions. Events held in the Royal Gallery in the period 1998 to the present day were as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many lorries have hit the railway overbridge at Langley (near Slough) in the past 12 months; how many minutes of delay have been incurred by trains as a result; whether any lorry drivers have been prosecuted; and what action is being taken to improve the situation. [HL5483]

Network Rail advises that over the past 12 months (from 11 November 2002) there have been 17 bridge strikes at Station Road bridge in Langley; and that the total minutes delay to trains over the last year amounts to 6,749 minutes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether special advisers are empowered to perform executive functions on behalf of Ministers of the Crown; if so, what is the source of such powers; and what are the executive functions. [HL5152]

Special advisers are appointed under Article 3(2) of the Civil Service Order in Council, for the purposes of providing advice to any Minister. Article 3(3) of the Order in Council removes the advice restriction for up to three posts in the Prime Minister's office thereby conferring executive powers on them. Only one post in the Prime Minister's office currently has executive powers under the Order in Council.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the report on regulatory impact assessments published between January and June 2003 will be issued. [HL5552]

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 or voluntary bodies.The Minister for the Cabinet Office (Douglas Alexander MP) has today presented to Parliament a Command Paper listing RIAs published between 1 January and 30 June 2003. Copies of those listed have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This is the 19th such Command Paper.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their most recent forecast of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the European Community's budget; and what that contribution would be if the United Kingdom's abatement were withdrawn (a) in total and (b) per head of the population. [HL5328]

Details of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the EC Budget for the period 1997–98 to 2002–03, and the abatement which is included within these figures, can be found in Table 3.1 of Her Majesty's Government's 2003 European Community Finances White Paper (Cm 5800).The estimated UK net contribution for 2002–03 was shown as £3,097 million. Excluding the UK abatement (£3,234 million) would increase this to £6,331 million.Per head of population for 2002 (60 1 million), these figures would be some £51 and £104 respectively.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the National Statistician is appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and who appoints the head of the national statistical service in each member state of the European Union. [HL5360]

As specified under the Framework for National Statistics, the Chancellor, as Minister responsible for national statistics, will, with the agreement of the Prime Minister and normally following open competition, appoint the National Statistician. In this way, the Chancellor remains ultimately responsible, and answerable to Parliament, for national statistics.I have asked the National Statistician to write to the noble Lord separately with details of how the heads of the national statistical services in other member states of the European Union are appointed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the scope and definition of the retail prices index are matters for the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and who is responsible for the scope and definition of the national index of retail prices in each member state of the European Union. [HL5361]

The Retail Prices Index (and its derivatives) is an indicator of the utmost economic importance which is used for many different purposes including: inflation targeting; the uprating of pensions and social security benefits; wage bargaining; price-setting formulae applied by regulated industries; and the indexing of tax thresholds and allowances, Excise duty rates and index-linked gilts. In view of its unique importance, it is only right that, in line with long-standing arrangements, ultimate responsibility for the scope and definition of the RPI lies with the Chancellor. This means that on matters of scope and definition there is direct accountability to Parliament.This position is mirrored in the governance of the leading national consumer price indices of a number of other European countries including Austria, Belgium and Sweden.