asked Her Majesty's Government:How many officials of the Afghan Government and of the United Nations are stationed in the province of Badakhshan. [HL1353]

According to the Deputy Governor of Badakhshan, there are 12,112 paid employees of the Afghan Government working in the province. The UN has six international and 50 Afghan staff working in Badakhshan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress they have made to improve access to higher education for disabled students since the National Audit Office's finding in 2002 that an 18-year-old with a disability or other health problem has a 40 per cent chance of access compared with other students; and what impact they expect their new proposals for higher education funding will have in improving that figure. [HL1415]

The Government are keen to ensure that students with disabilities receive the best support possible so that they are able to study alongside their fellow students on an equal basis.HESA figures for 2001–02 suggest the proportion of higher education students with self-declared disabilities has grown from 4.6 per cent in 1996–97 to 6 per cent in 2001–02.The disabled students' allowances (DSAs) are available to students with disabilities attending or undertaking courses of higher education, who by reason of their disability, incur additional expenditure as a result of their attendance on the course. DSAs are paid in addition to the existing standard support package.The extension of DSAs to part-time undergraduates and full and part-time postgraduates in 2000–01, including Open University students, has enabled more students with disabilities to enter higher education. An additional 3,235 DSAs were awarded in 2003–04 compared to the previous year. Recently, the department has reviewed the administration of the DSA scheme and engaged with representatives from the sector so that disabled students are able to access the scheme more quickly and efficiently.We have done much to increase awareness of the financial assistance available to disabled students. The booklet

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 10 December 2002

Data for the number of first degree graduates in 1993 were published by the Universities Statistical Record and give figures for the total number of first degrees and the number of first class honours degrees only. These and figures for first degree graduates in 1998 and 2003, which are taken from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, are given in the tables.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether—

As at September 2002, 19 per cent of qualified nurses employed in the National Health Service were aged 50 and over. This is in line with the expected age profile of the workforce. Information is not collected centrally on when nurses intend to retire.Extending the participation of older staff is a key part of our strategy to meet our workforce targets. The Department of Health is promoting flexible retirement through the Improving Working Lives initiative to encourage nurses to consider alternatives to retiring, such as reducing their commitment or taking on new roles.The latest complete information on attrition from nurse training courses relates to the 1997–98 cohort and was 20 per cent. The Human Resource Performance Framework published in October 2000 sets a target of 13 per cent attrition for students entering nurse training in 2000–01. Workforce development confederations are working with higher education institutions to ensure that this target is achieved.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What would be the effect upon the health of the public of the addition of 1.2 tonnes of Temik (10 per cent Aldicarb) to the public water supply; and what measures are in place to deal with such an incident. [HL1280]

There are safeguards in place to protect the safety and quality of public water supplies. The effects on public health would depend on the concentration and the amount ingested from any contamination of public water supplies. Nationally agreed medical and public health briefings on aldicarb, and a public information sheet, are available to healthcare professionals through the National Poisons Information Service. The National Health Service has plans for major incidents and would be supported by advice from appropriate experts.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Following campaigns in 1999 and 2002 to raise awareness of organ donation among south Asian and black communities, what success they have had in raising the level of donation among these communities; and whether they have any plans for future campaigns [HL1382]

The campaigns launched in 1999 and 2002 to raise awareness of organ donation among the south Asian and black communities are ongoing.End of year figures are not yet available but there are early signs that donation rates for Asian, black and mixed race donors are improving.The number of deceased organ donors in the United Kingdom since 1999, by financial year and ethnic origin, (percentage of total where ethnic origin recorded) is as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:For the most recent year for which statistics are available, how many men and how many women were employed mainly or wholly in the United Kingdom by FTSE 100 companies. [HL961]

A breakdown of this information is not maintained within government statistics.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether Ofcom has been given any statutory duties or powers under the Communications Act 2003 to receive or act upon complaints about pornographic and paedophilic images shown on the internet. [HL1229]

Ofcom has no direct duties or powers to receive or act on complaints about images of child abuse or other pornographic images shown on the Internet. However, Ofcom has responsibility for approving the industry code for premium rate services, which is administered and enforced by the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS). Ofcom also has the power to enforce breaches of the approved code by imposing fines or ultimately suspending the right to provide services.The Government believe that co- and self-regulation are more appropriate than statutory regulation of content specific to the Internet. We support the role of the Internet Watch Foundation, which was established by the Internet industry in consultation with the Government. The Internet Watch Foundation works in partnership with Internet service providers, telecommunications companies, mobile operators, software providers, police and Government, to minimise the availability of illegal Internet content, particularly child abuse images. Its Internet hotline deals with reports of potentially illegal Internet content, such as websites, newsgroups and online groups that contain images of child abuse anywhere in the world; adult material that potentially breaches the Obscene Publications Act in the UK; and criminally racist material in the UK.One measure of the success of this self-regulatory approach is that less than 2 per cent of the illegal content reported to the IWF relates to material hosted in the UK.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 11 February (HL Deb, col. 1100) that it would be "quite improper" for him as a Minister to answer the question put to him by a Member of the House, whether they will publish in the

Lord Sainsbury of Turville refused to answer the question put to him on 11 February by the noble Baroness on the grounds that he disagreed profoundly with the assumption on which it was based. If he had answered it, it would have been foolish rather than improper.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the locations of the nearest alternative 50-metre swimming pools and 10-metre Olympic diving platforms to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. [HL1269]

The nearest alternative 50-metre swimming pools are located in Ealing, Aldershot and Norwich.The nearest alternative 10-metre Olympic diving platform is located at Southampton.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that the existence of a single-track line with passing places on the railway between Salisbury and Yeovil is compatible with the demands of a modern railway system. [HL1466]

South West Trains will be introducing an hourly service from Waterloo to Yeovil in December but has not found it necessary to reinstate double track west of Salisbury. The Strategic Rail Authority has agreed with local authorities that this will be followed by an assessment of the likely demand for extending the hourly service to Exeter. The study will also consider whether any infrastructure improvements would be needed to allow thus to happen.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What they estimate to be the cost to business of new regulations introduced in each year since 1997; and how those figures are calculated. [HL1332]

The information required is not held in the form requested. All regulatory proposals likely to impact on business are subject to regulatory impact assessment (RIA). RIAs are published and placed in the Libraries of the House. In addition a series of Command Papers list RIAs for each six-month period, the most recent being No 5981.RIAs contain a wide range of information on the costs and benefits of each proposal.