asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Lord Chancellor has discussed with representatives of the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, the Lord Chief Justice and the senior judiciary criteria for the size, security and configuration of the Supreme Court building; and, if so, what conclusions they have reached. [HL796]

I have consulted with representatives of the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary over their requirements for the new Supreme Court. Any views expressed by the senior judiciary during the consultation period and since have also been taken into account.In broad terms, the new building for the Supreme Court will need to provide a secure working environment for judiciary and staff and contain state-of-the-art hearing rooms and ancillary accommodation and facilities. It will also have to provide value for money.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect a Supreme Court to be created; and when they will publish a business plan setting out the projected total costs of fitting out and managing a Supreme Court building. [HL797]

The Government's intention is for the necessary legislative provision creating the Supreme Court to be in place by the end of this parliamentary session and for those provisions to be brought into force as soon as practicable thereafter.Estimated costs of the new Supreme Court will be included in the Financial Memorandum to the Constitutional Reform Bill due to be laid before this House on 24 February.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the current estimate of the likely cost of a Supreme Court building. [HL798]

As part of the appraisal of the building solutions currently under consideration, we are completing a full Treasury "Green Book" style economic appraisal which evaluates the financial implications of the various options. This will include both a value-for-money and an affordability assessment.Until this has been completed, it is not possible to provide a reliable indication of cost. Estimated costs will, however, be included in the Financial Memorandum to the Constitutional Reform Bill.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many, and which, measures enacted in 2001, 2002 and 2003 have been, or it is intended will be, subject to programme evaluation. [HL640]

All legislation is subject to evaluation by the departments responsible, but whether a particular programme of evaluation has been, or will be, followed in the case of each of the Acts passed in 2001, 2002 and 2003 could be established only at disproportionate cost. The noble Lord will be aware that the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 has recently been reviewed by a committee of Privy Counsellors.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether persons who have been issued with birth certificates under the proposed gender recognition legislation will, if sentenced to imprisonment, be accommodated in prisons alongside those of their biological sex or that stated on their reissued birth certificates. [HL616]

In accordance with legal obligations, Her Majesty's Prison Service will accommodate prisoners who have been granted a gender recognition certificate in prisons appropriate to their acquired gender.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will lay before Parliament their second stage evaluation of the Children Act Sub-Committee guidelines regarding cases of parental contact where there is domestic violence. [HL723]

We are currently considering the results of the second survey. The results will be published at the same time as the Government's final response to the Children Act Sub-Committee (CASC) report, Making Contact Work. A copy of the results of the second survey will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and a copy sent to the noble Baroness.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress they have made with the full evaluation of specialist domestic violence courts; and when the evaluation will be completed. [HL726]

The Crown Prosecution Service and the Department for Constitutional Affairs have undertaken an evaluation of five specialist magistrates' courts operating in Cardiff, Derby, Leeds, West London and Wolverhampton. The results of the evaluation will be presented at a national conference, in London, on 22 March 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have reports from Her Majesty's Embassy in Khartoum, or from their Special Representative in the Sudan, on the collapse of the ceasefire in Darfur province, large displacement of population and destruction of villages; and whether they are in communication with the United Nations Special Envoy Tom Vraalsen. [HL740]

We remain concerned about the situation in Darfur. Our ambassador in Khartoum and the UK Special Representative are in contact with all parties, including the Government of Sudan at senior level and the UNSG's Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, Tom Vraalsen, on this matter. We are pressing for the re-establishment of a ceasefire, preferably with international monitoring, which would permit humanitarian access to those in need and which would lead to talks about how the problems of Darfur can best be addressed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which cases they have lost in the European Court of Human Rights since a right of appeal was permitted; which cases have been appealed; and whether they will consider a policy of settling more cases out of court. [HL733]

Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights (as amended by Protocol 11) allows any party to a case in which there has been a judgment of a Chamber of the Court, in exceptional circumstances, to request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber.Since the entry into force of Protocol 11 on 1 November 1998, the Grand Chamber has issued judgments in two cases to which the United Kingdom was a party following a request by the Government under Article 43 (

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they are taking to celebrate the tercentenary of British rule of Gibraltar in 2004. [HL781]

The Government intend to play a full part in celebrating the warm relationship that we have enjoyed with the people of Gibraltar for the past 300 years. There is an extensive programme of commemorative events to take place in Gibraltar this year.The bands of the Royal Marines, the Royal Engineers and the Royal Air Force, and the pipes and drums of the Royal Irish Regiment, are planning to participate in four major events. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment and military units from the United Kingdom, including Royal Navy ships and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will take part in a total of more than 20 events throughout the year.His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent will attend a Thanksgiving Service at St Clement Danes on 2 March. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal will visit Gibraltar later this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they propose to prevent law enforcement officers and other public servants from holding membership of known racist organisations proscribed by law. [HL257]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has recently agreed with the view that membership of groups such as the British National Party (BNP) by police officers should be a disciplinary offence.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many police officers have been dismissed for racist behaviour since the publication in 1999 of the Macpherson report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. [HL464]

Central records are not currently held on the number of police officers who are dismissed for racist behaviour.We are arranging for data to be collected from police forces in England and Wales, and I will send you a substantive response and place copies of the letter in the Library of the House when this information has been collated.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many police officers dismissed for unacceptable racist behaviour have been reinstated by the Home Secretary since 2000. [HL467]

Under Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999, the Secretary of State is no longer the appellate authority for disciplinary action taken against police officers. Under those regulations appeals are determined solely by Independent Police Appeals Tribunals. Records indicate that three police officers dismissed for unacceptable racist behaviour have appealed successfully and been reinstated since 2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many work permits for the United Kingdom have been "sectors based scheme", since they came into office; and how many were temporary. [HL496]

Work Permits (UK) had issued 3,878 Sectors Based Scheme (SBS) permits up to 30 September 2003.Works permits issued under the SBS may be granted for a period of up to 12 months and are therefore considered to be "temporary". While individuals are permitted to participate in the SBS on more than one occasion, successive periods of SBS employment do not lead to permanent settlement in the UK.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to introduce amending legislation:

I refer the noble Lord to the Statement made by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary on 18 December, when he undertook to consider carefully the recommendations of the Newton report.The Home Secretary also stated that he would ensure that the statistics, already in the public domain, relating to the individuals detained under the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Security Act 2001 Part 4 powers and the figures on terrorist arrests would be placed on the terrorism website which the Home Office has developed to ensure greater public information is available on terrorism matters.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Terrorism Act detainees in HM Prison Belmarsh include a double amputee; and whether he also suffers from mental illness. [HL707]

An order, issued by the Special Immigration Appeal Commission, prevents the publication of the names of the detainees or other information that would enable them or their families to be identified.It would also be inappropriate to comment on the individual's mental health for reason of medical confidentiality.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the provisions for physical and mental health at HM Prison Belmarsh are sufficient to deal with the needs of long-term detainees under the Terrorism Act. [HL708]

The Government are satisfied that the level of medical care both within Belmarsh Prison and through its links with local hospital providers is sufficient to deal with the physical and mental needs of both the detainees and other persons held in custody.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many persons, of what nationalities, are now held under the terrorism Acts in maximum security prisons; whether some detainees are held in other prisons; and how long in all cases they expect to detain them. [HL551]

Fourteen people are currently detained under the powers contained in Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. All of them are categorised as standard risk Category A detainees.Thirteen of the detainees are held in high security prisons whilst the 14th detainee is held at Broadmoor high security hospital.In relation to the nationality of the detainees, we do not disclose these details as to do so could enable the identification of the detainees in contravention of anonymity orders issued by Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).The Act allows the Home Secretary to detain suspected international terrorists who pose a threat to our national security for an undefined period. However, under the terms of the Act, the legislation needs to be renewed annually by Parliament and has a sunset clause of November 2006, meaning that further legislation would be required if the Government were to detain any individual under these powers beyond that date.In addition, the SIAC is charged with reviewing individual cases six months after determining the appeal and every three months thereafter. It is open to the detainees to make a voluntary departure from the United Kingdom at any time. In addition, the detainees may apply for bail at any time. In the first 10 cases so far reviewed by the commission, SIAC has upheld the Home Secretary's certification in every case.It should also be noted that under the terms of the derogation, the powers applied by the Government should be no more than is strictly necessary. As a result, the Act includes the provision that the Home Secretary may repeal it during its validity if he considers this to be appropriate.To date, six people have been convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000. Of these, four have now left detention. The two remaining prisoners are detained in high security prisons.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people were arrested in November and December 2003 on suspicion of terrorist offences, and what were their nationalities and immigration status. [HL583]

Thirty-five people were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 in November and December of 2003: 20 of these were United Kingdom citizens, seven were Algerian, two Turkish, two Portuguese, one French, one Syrian, one Belgian and one Tunisian. Three individuals were found to have overstayed their leave to remain.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any plans for all youth offending teams to include an officer who is specifically trained in, and aware of, all aspects of issues relating to bereavement counselling. [HL665]

We do not plan to include this specialist function in youth offending teams (YOT) training. However the "Asset" assessment process aims to identify any significant bereavement or loss suffered by young offenders and as necessary the intervention plan will include appropriate arrangements with a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service or locally available specific counselling service.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements are in place for the policing of the M6 Toll, and how that policing is paid for. [HL812]

The M6 Toll road is policed by the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG), which comprises officers from Staffordshire Police, Warwickshire Police, West Midlands Police and the West Mercia Constabulary. The cost is met from normal police funds.

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what date the contract was awarded for the provision of a National Firearms Register as required by Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997; to whom it was awarded; and whether they still expect the project to be operational by 31 August 2004. [HL820]

:The contract was awarded on 24 October 2003 to Anite Public Sector. The project is still expected to be operational by 31 August 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to Annex D on page 44 of their publication

The Chemical Weapons Convention requires states parties who declare possession of chemical weapons to destroy them. The Russian Federation is therefore responsible for the programme of destruction of its declared chemical weapons stockpile, which comprises both bulk agent and Filled munitions.Russia began destruction at Gorny in December 2002 of the bulk mustard and lewisite stored there, representing 2.9 per cent by volume of Russia's total declared chemical weapon agent. Work has begun at Kambarka associated with construction of a facility for destruction of the bulk lewisite stored at that site, representing 15.9 percent by volume of Russia's total chemical weapon agent.Air-delivered munitions, comprising some 53 per cent by volume of Russia's declared chemical weapon agenl and 5 per cent by number of its munitions, are stored at three sites: Leonidovka, Maradykovskiy and Pochep. They mainly contain the nerve agents Sarin, Soman and Vx. As part of its destruction programme, Russia plans to construct facilities at each of these three sites.The remainder of the declared stockpile comprises artillery and rocket munitions stored at Kizner and Shchuch'ye. These comprise some 14.2 per cent and 13.6 per cent respectively by volume of Russia's declared chemical weapon agent, and 50 per cent and 45 per cent by number of munitions; they mainly contain the nerve agents Sarin, Soman and Vx. Russia plans to destroy the stocks from both Shchuch'ye and Kizner at the Shchuch'ye destruction facility.Dates for the start of operations at facilities other than Gorny are not yet Firm, but the Chemical Weapons Convention requires that destruction of all chemical weapons must be completed no later than 29 April 2012.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish in the

It would not be appropriate for the report of Lieutenant-Colonel Graham Howe to be published. Medical reports obtained by the Veterans Agency for the purposes of determining a claim to war disablement pension contain details of a personal and private nature regarding the individual concerned. I am therefore withholding this information in accordance with Exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Statement by the Lord Bach on 8 January (

It would not be appropriate to publish a draft report that had not gained steering group approval within the standard quinquennial review process.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office to update guidance covering social security and other benefits for those leaving violent relationships; and which organisations have been invited to work with the Government on this project. [HL728]

We are currently preparing guidance for all our staff on dealing with vulnerable people, including victims of domestic violence. The guidance is being written in consultation with a range of organisations with specialist knowledge of the different areas covered, including citizens advice bureaux and Women's Aid. We hope to issue the guidance to all front-line staff later this year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to remedy the situation where 4.9 million pensioners are eligible for pension credit this tax year, yet only 2.53 million are receiving it. [HL772]

The Government have set a target for at least 3 million pensioner households, corresponding to around 3.7 million individuals, to be in receipt of pension credit by 2006. We want all those eligible for pension credit to take up their entitlement. We are on course to meet the 2006 target.A direct mail pack to pensioner households remains at the heart of our marketing campaign for pension credit. We will have written to all identified pensioner households by June 2004. Our TV and press advertising campaign continues during this year, helping to ensure that both pensioners and their families are fully aware of pension credit and how to apply for it.We are supplementing this activity with follow-up direct mail contact in appropriate cases, in addition to personal contact with those identified as being particularly likely to be eligible. At local level, the local service staff of the Pension Service will continue to work with external organisations to ensure that we reach those pensioners considered least likely to apply. Our campaign is designed to produce a steady buildup of new pension credit households and we will ensure that progress towards achieving our target is maintained during 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What contact Ministers have had, since the enactment of the Communications Act 2003, with public service broadcasters who are still withholding their audio description from blind and partially sighted digital satellite customers; and whether there is any further action they are considering. [HL624]

I understand that Channel 5 is now available with audio description on digital satellite but that there remain technical and commercial issues to be solved by broadcasters, manufacturers and platform operators before the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 can be made available on digital satellite. DCMS officials have been working as part of the Digital Television Action Plan to ensure that audio description can be received on all platforms and I am writing to the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 about the issue, given the benefits of finding an early solution.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What part of the £10.5 million grant aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport allocated for domestic marketing in England for 2003–04 has had matched funding from the private sector. [HL752]

The department has allocated grant-in-aid of £10.4 million to VisitBritain in 2003–04 to fund its domestic marketing activity. This grant-in-aid is available irrespective of the amount of funding received from the private sector. Nevertheless, VisitBritain expects to receive £4.3 million in non-government funding in 2003–04 to support domestic marketing.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much of the £3.6 million allocated at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to regional development agencies in 2003–04 has been used for funding regional tourist boards in England. [HL753]

Of the £3.6 million allocated to regional development agencies (RDAs) by DCMS for support of tourism, to date £3,510,000 has been passed to the regional tourist boards (RTBs). Full details of RDAs' funding of their regional tourist boards were placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 20 January 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will review the work of the Financial Services Authority in view of its admission that it mistakenly included a company in its online comparative annuity tables which no longer existed. [HL774]

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is in the process of reviewing some of its practices as part of the two-year review of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 currently under way. While unfortunate, the incident to which the noble Lord refers does not in itself justify inclusion in the current review or any additional review into FSA practices.

asked Her Majesty's Government:At what stage, before the opening of the Millennium Dome, a business plan was prepared for the Minister responsible, assessing the total costs of fitting out and managing the building. [HL799]

Responsibility for the Dome project rested with the board of Millennium Central Limited, later the New Millennium Experience Company Limited. The earliest business plan based on the Dome was presented to the Millennium Commission by the company in December 1996. In February 1997, the Government took Millennium Central Limited into public ownership with a government Minister as sole shareholder. The business plan was revised on a number of occasions before the opening of the Dome and the shareholder was informed throughout about projections of cost.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people in England in 2001–02 have incomes of:

The information is given in the table below.

Total Income in 2001–02	Number of taxpayers (thousands) in England
over £100,000	310
over £250,000	60
over £500,000	20
over £1,000,000	6

The estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes 2000–01 and are consistent with the Pre-Budget Report 2003.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is essential for the Medical Research Council to be located in London; and, if not, when the option of moving to a cheaper location was last considered. [HL816]

The location of MRC head office was last reviewed in 1993 when a move to Swindon was considered. Independent consultants concluded at this time that, at the rental rates paid by the MRC, Park Crescent remained the most cost-effective location.The location of MRC head office is being considered as part of the current review into the relocation of public service activities outside of the London and the south-east which is expected to report in March.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why their Internet project, UK Online for Business, failed to meet its key targets and is to be disbanded in April. [HL837]

In 2000, the year the UK Online for Business programme was initiated, the Government had the following targets for business use of ICT:

(1) 1.5 million micro, small and medium-sized businesses to be online by 2002;

(2) 1 million micro, small and medium-sized businesses to be trading online by 2002;

(3) the performance of the UK's micro and small businesses to be up with the best in the world.

The first target of 1.5 million SMEs going online was reached in 2000.The second target of 1 million SMEs trading online was missed, with a total of 490,000 businesses meeting the target in 2002. Since the target was set, it has become clear that many SMEs have not seen trading online as the best way for them to use ICT most effectively. Businesses have found that they can achieve real benefits through the use of technologies that allow them, for example, to manage internal processes, communicate more effectively with customers and suppliers, and work collaboratively with partners. This fact has been reflected in the aims of the UK Online for Business programme, which now seeks to encourage more integrated, sophisticated use of ICT by business.The third target for the UK to be a world leader in e-business is one that we are still striving to reach. The DTI's international benchmarking study 2003 shows that while businesses in other countries are making a more sophisticated use of ICT than UK businesses, the gap between the leaders and the UK is not great. Other recent surveys have shown positive signs, for example, the Economist Intelligence Unit's e-readiness survey 2003 placed the UK third in the world.Rather than being disbanded, UK Online for Businesses will be integrated into the new offer on business support, to be unveiled in April. This is part of the restructuring of the existing system of support, to provide a smaller number of schemes and a simpler way for businesses to access them. The support and promotion of ICT usage by business will continue to be a key focus for DTI.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam on 15 December 2003 (WA 118), what evaluation has been undertaken of the effectiveness of the seminars in parliamentary procedure provided for members of the Bill teams. [HL637]

Delegates to the seminars are invited to complete an evaluation, from which it is clear that virtually everyone claims a useful increase in their skills and knowledge of this process.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 December (WA 75), to what extent are the services of former Ministers utilised in the induction event for new Ministers. [HL735]

Former and existing Ministers are used to help to deliver the induction event where their skills and experience can benefit participants.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the total expenditure on socal security benefits, medical treatment, research and compensation borne by the taxpayer on each life lost from (a) vCJD and (b) HIV/AIDS. [HL683]

Information on social security benefits expenditure on patients who have died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) or HIV/AIDS is not available in the form requested.The information requested for HIV treatment is not available centrally. The sums allocated by the Department of Health to the National Health Service for HIV/AIDS treatment and care in England for the past five years for which funds were separately identified are shown in the table.

Year	HIV Treatment Allocation (£Millions)
1997–98	199·7
1998–99	228·2
1999–2000	226·9
2000–01	184·31
2001–02	233·5
1After expenditure of £52.8 million on genitourinary medicine is disaggregated.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish in the

The information, as supplied by the National CJD Surveillance Unit, Edinburgh, is shown in the table. It provides information on the 103 definite cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) where the diagnosis has been pathologically confirmed. There are another 42 probable cases of vCJD, including six who are still alive, where neuropathological confirmation is either absent or pending.

Confirmed Cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United Kingdom as at 20 January 2004
Date of Death	Date of Onset	Date Confirmed
May 95	Jun 94	Sep 95
May 97	Mar 94	Sep 95
Nov 95	Jan 95	Jan 96
Feb 96	Aug 94	Feb 96
Feb 96	Mar 95	Mar 96

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many times the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV has met; and what recommendations it has made; and [HL844]What steps are being taken to implement any recommendations made by the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV. [HL845]

The Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV has met four times. The group's recommendations have been collated within its Response to the Health Select Committee Report on Sexual Health, published on 15 January 2004. Reports containing the group's recommendations will also be available on the Department of Health website.The Government are considering the recommendations made by the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health & HIV, contained within the group's

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) approved the experiment conducted in 1998 at

Inveresk Research, Scotland, in which 50 men were exposed to a dose of the pesticide Azinphos-methyl:

In 1991 the Department of Health issued revised guidelines on the establishment, role and functions of local research ethics committees (LRECs) in the National Health Service. These guidelines imposed strict criteria on how LRECs conduct their business and provided clear lines of accountability. The guidelines were replaced in 2001 by the Governance arrangements for NHS research ethics committees. Both the 1991 guidelines and the 2001 governance arrangements state that LRECs should submit to the appointing health authority an annual report that should also be available for public inspection. Departmental guidance on LRECs provides a model of good practice for research ethics committees outside the NHS. It is not the responsibility of the department to monitor such committees.The United Kingdom's draft implementing regulations to transpose the Clinical Trials Directive (2001/20/EC) into domestic law were published in February 2003 for consultation. The regulations make provisions concerning the establishment and operation of research ethics committees convened to review clinical trials of medicines.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they are ensuring that all general practitioners meet the target of carrying out annual and six-monthly reviews of medication for people aged over 75; and what is their estimate of the percentage of general practitioners that meet this target. [HL894]

The National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People requires medication reviews to be carried out for all people over 75 years at least once a year and those taking more than four or more medicines to have a review every six months. It is for strategic health authorities to monitor progress against delivery of the NSF milestones. The Department of Health does not collect data centrally on the percentage of general practitioners meeting the NSF target.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will consider increasing the penalty for any person attempting to clone a baby in Britain. [HL866]

The Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001 makes it an offence to place in a woman a human embryo which has been created other than by fertilisation. The Act provides for up to 10 years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine on conviction. The Government have no plans to increase the penalty.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their current prediction for the average rise in sea level around the United Kingdom over the next (a) 10, (b) 30 and (c) 100 years; how this compares with the rise over the past 10 years; and how it affects planning decisions for coastal and estuarine developments, especially in areas already subject to flooding. [HL706]

The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), published a report and set of climate change scenarios, referred to as the UKCIP02 scenarios, in April 2002. The report concludes that it is likely that relative sea level will continue to rise around most of the UK's shoreline, with the predicted rate of increase depending on the climate models and emission scenarios used, and the rate of vertical land movements due to natural geological causes or human influences. By the 2080s, sea level may be between 26 cm and 86 cm above the current level in south-east England.The report also concludes that extreme sea levels will be experienced more frequently. For some east coast locations, extreme sea levels could occur between 10 and 20 times more frequently by the 2080s than they do now, under the medium-high emissions scenario.In predicting sea level change it is important to make allowance for the natural inter-annual variability of sea level due to a number of meteorological and oceanic factors. The change of annual-mean UK sea level from year to year is approximately 5–10 cm. The Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, with funding from Defra, is the national centre for monitoring sea level. Its records suggest that the underlying increase in mean sea level over the past few decades has been some 2 mm per year for south-east England.The Defra publication

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will update the information on the number of BSE cases reported and confirmed each week during 2003 and 2004 to date, together with the moving annual totals for each week during 2003 and 2004 to date, together with moving annual totals for each 52-week period. [HL821]

:

The number of active and passive surveillance cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain during each week of 2003 and in thecurrent year to 19 January, and the moving annual totals of "confirmed" and "reported" cases for each 52-week perod
	Passive Surveillance		Active Surveillance		Reported
Week No	Number confirmed each week	Running 52 week total	Number confirmed each week	Running 52 week total	Running 52 week total
2003
1	0	508	0	598	878
2	7	496	15	613	865
3	2	476	10	623	851
4	2	466	28	600	844
5	4	468	7	586	830
6	5	448	7	564	828
7	6	439	4	538	817
8	5	435	37	568	795
9	6	425	5	558	784
10	3	418	13	567	777
11	5	409	15	551	776
12	2	392	13	564	767
13	8	388	13	543	764
14	3	391	2	545	751
15	2	367	12	544	734
16	0	366	5	519	717
17	7	353	16	535	702
18	0	337	0	522	681
19	8	338	16	530	678
20	1	324	0	529	664
21	6	323	22	539	652
22	3	310	2	532	642
23	5	315	8	539	648
24	0	298	7	524	637
25	4	294	0	519	626
26	2	291	17	520	612
27	5	296	1	521	605
28	4	293	10	512	599
29	2	294	2	514	594
30	5	295	7	510	588
31	4	295	5	508	573
32	2	275	4	496	566
33	4	270	5	492	564
34	4	267	2	484	562
35	1	263	11	490	550
36	1	261	5	487	543
37	0	253	0	483	532
38	0	246	0	478	529
39	7	246	17	476	527
40	6	241	14	483	527
41	5	240	1	479	513
42	2	234	4	472	511
43	4	229	7	477	500
44	1	226	22	492	489
45	4	217	2	476	472
46	4	216	6	480	470
47	2	205	2	470	474
48	3	186	6	453	470
49	1	184	11	433	465
50	6	179	0	427	462
51	3	177	11	429	455
52	1	177	0	429	457
2004
1	1	178	1	430	451
2	0	171	6	421	455
3	2	171	1	412	451
4	0	0	0	0	0
5	0	0	0	0	0
6	0	0	0	0	0