asked Her Majesty's Government:Which victims' organisations in Northern Ireland have received public funding since 10 April 1998; and how much has been allocated to each organisation. [HL3078]

Records show that support detailed in the following table below has been allocated to organisations involved in providing support for victims between 10 April 1998 and 31 March 2004.In addition to the amounts shown victims' groups may also apply for funding from any programme or scheme, such as the District Council Community Relations Programme or European Union funding through the Local Strategy Partnerships, for which they can satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria.

Victims' Organisation	Amount Allocated £
123 House	127,767
Aisling Centre	122,060
Alanna Consultancy	1,790
An Crann	63,500
Ardoyne Commemoration	9,800
Armagh Voluntary Welfare Group	5,000
Ashton Community Trust	1,327,201
Association for Family Therapy NI	6,100
Ballybone, Belfast	2,100
Ballymoney District Partnership (Victims)	16,000
Ballymurphy Centre	226,232
Bannside Community Group	5,000
Barnardo's	70,050
Base 2	25,375
Befriending and Counselling	4,397
Belfast Cognitive Therapy Centre	54,775
Breaking the Silence	4,998
Community Action for Locally Managed Stress (CALMS)	493,159
Centre for Creative Energy, Londonderry	1,310
Claudy	9,123
Co Tyrone Frontier Relief Fund	2,000
Coleraine/Ballymoney UDR	118,060
Colleague Support Group	3,100
Columba Community	123,343
Combat Stress	4,000
Community Council	2,240
Community Foundation for Northern Ireland	10,000
Community Relations Council	38,357
Conflict Trauma Resource Centre	73,165
Contact Youth	71,215
Conway Education Centre	2,500
Cookstown Colleague Support	2,165
Corpus Christi Services	387,913
Corrymeela Community	7,500
Cost of the Troubles Study	97,251
CRUSE (Foyle)	35,000
CRUSE Bereavement (NI)	74,915
CRUSE Bereavement Care (Belfast)	28,000
CRUSE (Causeway)	2,500
Cumann Tar Abhaile	22,171
Cunamh	415,688
Dairy Farm Jobclub	102,410
Democratic Dialogue	7,485

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many commissioners they have appointed to the Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission since March 1999; how many staff each body has employed since that date; and whether, for each body, they will state the gender, age, ethnic origins and community background of these staff and the part of Northern Ireland (if any) with which they regard themselves as being most closely associated. [HL3267]

Both the Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission are independent bodies and as a result are responsible for recruiting their own staff.The chief commissioners to both bodies have been asked to write to the noble Lord.I can provide the details requested for the commissioners of both bodies.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 10 June (

The phrase "occur in the Republic of Ireland" was used in reference to the activities of the implementation bodies in the Republic of Ireland. The Government consider that the phrase is self-explanatory.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What discussions they have had with the Eire Government prior to the Eire Government amending the Belfast Agreement of 1998 in the area of citizenship. [HL3366]

The Irish Government have not amended the Belfast agreement in any area. The referendum on Irish citizenship held on 11 June does not amend the Belfast agreement; both Governments have agreed a joint interpretative declaration confirming this.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations they made to the Eire Government regarding the rights of British citizens, resident in Eire, to vote in the Irish referenda. [HL3367]

Her Majesty's Government have not recently made any such representation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In the event that additional resources are made available to North/South ministerial bodies during this financial year, whether the Ulster-Scots Agency will be given priority, as its initial requirements were not met. [HL3404]

The 2004 budgets for each of the North/South implementation bodies have been jointly agreed by the two governments, in accordance with the arrangements under the agreements made by the exchange of notes between the two governments dated 19 November 2002. The provision of additional resources, above the amounts agreed in the budgets, would be considered only in response to new and specific pressures. Such issues must be the subject of a specific request from the relevant body to its sponsoring department, and it would then be considered in the context of the body's business plan for the year in question, the resource availability at the time and other competing priorities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether city academies which take over inner city secondary schools are subject to transfer of undertakings protection of employment rules in relation to staff employment. [HL3765]

Yes. Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (TUPE) has applied in all the open academies directly replacing predecessor schools.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which city acadamies' establishments have been agreed to date, and what is the respective contributions to their cost, including land values, from (a) sponsors; and (b) the public sector. [HL3766]

To date 26 academy projects have funding agreements in place with the Secretary of State. Details of these academies and the capital costs of each are set out in the table below. Academies' recurrent funding is comparable with funding for maintained schools, with similar characteristics, within the LEAs in which they are situated. LEAs, or in some cases church authorities, provide the land on which academies are established, at no cost to the academy.

£
Sponsors provide funding of up to £2 million towards the initial capital costs. Academy: Name	Capital Contribution in: Sponsors	Capital Contribution in: DfES
Open Academies
The Business Academy, Bexley inc. primary wing	2,450,000	35,866,940
Greig City Academy, Haringey	2,000,000	14,479,000
Unity City Academy, Middlesbrough	2,000,000	18,590,000
Capital City Academy, Brent	2,000,000	25,516,105
The City Academy, Bristol	2,599,000	25,067,644
The West London Academy, Ealing	2,000,000	27,726,458
Manchester Academy	2,000,000	13,291,971
The King's Academy, Middlesbrough	2,000,000	20,301,106
Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham	0	21,236,359
City of London (Southwark) Academy	2,000,000	31,685,332
The Academy at Peckham, Southwark	2,000,000	26,219,539
The Walsall City Academy	2,500,000	15,721,463
Academies in Implementation
London Academy, Barnet	1,500,000	29,898,939
Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney	2,150,000	25,823,726
Stockley Academy, Hillingdon	2,000,000	23,809,685
Lambeth Academy, Lambeth	2,000,000	25,450,000
Northampton Academy	2,000,000	25,359,196
Trinity Academy, Doncaster	2,000,000	22,769,433
Harefield Academy, Hillingdon	1,500,000	23,852,463
Marlowe Academy, Kent	2,462,000	24,978,111
Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College Academy, Lewisham	704,500	6,340,500

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether "ownership" of a city academy by a sponsor implies ownership of the land and buildings and other assets; and if so whether sponsors will retain ownership and development rights on the assets in the event of the subsequent failure of the academy. [HL3767]

Ownership of any existing buildings or land required for the establishment of an academy is transferred from the current owner, usually the local education authority, to the academy trust before an academy opens. The academy trust is a charitable trust set up by the sponsor which is responsible for the building and running of the academy. Should the academy close, ownership of the land and buildings would revert to the previous owner.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What qualifications are sought from sponsors of city academies to ensure that they are qualified to set the terms and conditions for the employment of teachers. [HL3768]

Academies are replacing schools which have failed to provide an adequate education for pupils over a long period, often despite a number of attempts to turn them around. The private, voluntary and faith sector sponsors of academies bring with them a wide range of skills, experience and success. Academies have the freedom to set terms and conditions for their staff and we back sponsors to make a success of academies where all else has failed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What safeguards are in place to ensure that sponsors of city academies serve the best interests of the pupils, bearing in mind the role and influence of sponsors in these academies. [HL3769]

Most academies are replacing schools which have failed to provide an adequate education for their pupils. All trustees of an academy are bound by charitable law to act in the best interests of the academy. The funding agreement for each academy sets out the framework under which the academy operates, including having admissions arrangements which comply with the code of practice and teaching the national curriculum core subjects. The funding agreement also sets out a range of interventions that the Secretary of State can implement where an academy is in breach of its funding agreement or where he has concerns about its management or performance.Academies are also inspected by Ofsted in the fifth or sixth term after they open and thereafter on the same basis as other maintained schools.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many applications each year since 1998 have been made by schools for permission to change the use of school playing fields and team game playing fields, detailing the decision in each case. [HL3789]

Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires a local authority to obtain the consent of the Secretary of State for Education and Skills before either disposing, or changing the use, of any school playing field. Section 77 applies where the playing fields are used by a maintained school, or have been used for the purposes of such a school at any time during the preceding 10 years. Consent is not required, however, where the land in question, after the change of use, becomes used in connection with the provision, by a local authority, of educational facilities for a maintained school, or any recreational facilities. A local authority, therefore, may build permanent classrooms, install mobile classrooms or build an indoor leisure centre on playing fields without the need for consent.The table below shows, for each year since 1998, the number of applications that would result in the loss of school playing fields which are capable of forming at least a small sports pitch of 2,000 m

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many applications for an easement in the minimum requirement for playing fields have been made by schools for each year since 1998, detailing the decision in each case. [HL3790]

The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 set out the minimum area of team game playing fields that local authorities should provide for schools. The minimum area of team game playing fields depends on the number and age range of pupils attending the school.In certain cases, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills can agree to relax the minimum standards but only under circumstances set out in Section 543 of the Education Act 1996. Briefly, these circumstances are:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they are taking to measure the effects of the campaign on alcohol crime hotspots announced by the Home Office on 8 July; and whether they will publish statistics showing the number of offences of violence against the person, ambulance call-outs and admissions at accident and emergency departments arising from incidents occurring on or in the vicinity of licensed premises in the 77 areas concerned, during the eight-week period chosen for the campaign, and for the same period in 2003. [HL3749]

The Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign is a key component of the Government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England that was published on 15 March 2004. The campaign aims to send a strong message that alcohol related violence will not be tolerated and to raise awareness of the issues affecting police and partners and our communities in towns and cities across England and Wales. Its success will be judged as part of the wider programme of work set out in the Government's strategy for tackling alcohol related harm. We will also be collecting a range of data to measure success, such as the numbers of fixed penalty notices issued and the numbers of licensees selling to underage persons. We are working with the Department of Health to ensure that accident and emergency departments collect data on alcohol-related admissions where possible. We will be publishing aggregated data from participating areas at regular intervals throughout the campaign.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What level of funding UK Sport will allocate to the British Olympic Association for programmes related to élite performance. [HL3620]

UK Sport provides both lottery and Exchequer funding support to the British Olympic Association (BOA) for programmes related to élite sport. It has recently agreed a lottery funding award of £800,000 (less VAT payable by BOA) to support the preparation camps that the BOA has established in Barcelona and Cyprus. This is a natural extension to the WCPP investment already made by UK Sport.In addition, UK Sport also provides Exchequer support to the BOA towards the Olympic Sports Development fund to help pay for travel and training costs of lower priority Olympic sports. For 2004–05, a grant for £27,333 has been provided.UK Sport also provides Exchequer funding to the BOA to manage the Athlete Medical Scheme (AMS) as a contracted out service and the OPEN (Olympic Paralympic Employment Network) programme. A budget of around £430,000 has been set aside by UK Sport for 2004–05 for these two progammes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the funding allocated to the British Olympic Association by UK Sport will be subject to the same level of scrutiny with regard to corporate governance and financial accountability as that body applies to sports national governing bodies. [HL3621]

UK Sport will scrutinise the exchequer funding provided to the British Olympic Association (BOA) in the same manner as it would any other organisation that it funds. In addition the lottery funding support for the BOA is subject to the same terms and conditions that UK Sport applies across all its lottery awards.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there is any intention to reduce the number of élite athletes in receipt of UK Sport world class performance funding over the next four-year Olympic cycle; and what level of financial support for Olympic performance comes directly from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's budget for sport. [HL3622]

The number of athletes on the World Class Performance Programme is determined by the relevant national governing bodies of sport using performance and selection criteria agreed with UK Sport.After the Athens Olympiad, UK Sport will begin its work with the national governing bodies to identify the optimum number of athletes to be supported in each sport.For the financial year 2003–04, DCMS made available £27.525 million in Exchequer funding to UK Sport, of which £9.6 million was invested to support athletes on the WCPP.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which budgets at UK Sport are being targeted to deliver funds to world-class performance funding; what total funding has been diverted to date; and what plans they have to divert funds over the next four-year Olympic cycle. [HL3623]

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has provided UK Sport with the flexibility to manage the prioritisation and targeting of the total amount of lottery and Exchequer funding it receives to deliver its goals. UK Sport has therefore used a combination of its Exchequer funding and lottery funding to provide the necessary funding to their World Class Performance Programme (WCPP). In addition to the lottery funding UK Sport invests into the WCPP. It has also invested Exchequer funding of £3.3 million and £3.5 million of the financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05 respectively.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many visitors to public libraries and how many book loans there were in the year 2003–04; and whether these figures represent an increase on the figures for 2002–03. [HL3721]

The figures requested for 2003–04 are not yet available. However, as the effects of the People's Network are felt more fully, we expect to see the upward trend in library visits reported in 2002–03 continue into 2003–04.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied with the speed and efficiency of the collection and publication of statistics on the number of visitors to public libraries and the number of book loans. [HL3722]

The provision of timely and efficient provision of key public library data is important and the Committee on Public Library Statistics regularly looks for ways to enhance the delivery of these.Neverthless, the numbers of vists to public libraries and of book loans are only two of the statistics collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to inform, not only government, but also library authorities themselves. Given that this entails gathering a wide range of data from some 3,600 different public libraries across England, in addition to the libraries in other parts of the United Kingdom, the compilation of CIPFA's annual library statistics is clearly a complex and painstaking exercise.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the cost to a public library per visit for each of the past seven years, given their best value indicator. [HL3723]

The table below provides the cost per visit to public libraries in England over the last seven years for which we have figures. We arrived at these figures by dividing expenditure on all library sevices (excluding capital payments and agency services and capital accounting) by the total number of visits (Source: CIPFA annual Public Library Statistics (Actuals).)

1996–97	£2.08
1997–98	£2.19
1998–99	£2.33
1999–2000	£2.51
2000–01	£2.65
2001–02	£2.88
2002–03	£3.08

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which councils' budgetary provisions for public library services have been equal to or below retail price index inflation, itemising percentage changes for the last two years; and whether library services provided by these councils represent value for money. [HL3724]

We are not able to provide a breakdown for the 149 individual English library authorities, as this could only be prepared at disproportionate cost. The information, however, could be calculated from the CIPFA Public Library Statistics, which are available in the House Library. Total expenditure on public libraries in England (excluding capital payments & agency services and capital accounting) rose, in cash terms, from £730.7 million in 2000–01 to £845.1 million in 2002–03 (Source: CIPFA Public Library Statistics (Actuals)). This is an increase of 16 per cent compared to the retail prices index increase of 3.4 per cent for this period. Each local authority's performance at achieving value for money is reflected within its comprehensive performance assessment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the levels of spending on new book stock in public libraries in each of the following areas (a) Birmingham; (b) Cambridge; (c) Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and (d) Hampshire; and whether they are satisfied with these spending levels. [HL3725]

In 2001–02, according to the latest figures available (Source: CIPFA Public Library Statistics (Actuals)), the four authorities identified spent the following on new book stock per 1,000 population:

Birmingham	£1,535
Cambridgeshire	£1,386
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	£1,134
Hampshire	£1,578

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not assess authorities on the amount of money they spend on books, but the authorities concerned may wish to consider their book purchase provision against the averages for county councils, metropolitan districts and England.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the introduction of computer terminals has increased the number of visitors to public libraries and the numbers of books borrowed. [HL3726]

The People's Network has linked all but a few of England's public libraries to the Internet. Recently published figures show that visits to public libraries in England in 2002–03 (before the People's Network had been completed) increased to over 274 million, over 3 million more than in the previous year. The People's Network is one of a number of activities that are attracting more and new users, for example, increased reader development activity, but the timing suggests that the People's Network is making a major contribution.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In respect of each of the 25 member states of the European Union, what is the standard rate of VAT and the minimum level of turnover (expressed in both sterling and euros) at which traders are required to register for VAT. [HL3680]

The VAT standard rates and registration thresholds for the EU member states are set out in the following table:

	Standard Rate	Registration Thresholds
Member State	(%)	Sterling	Euro equivalent
Belgium	21	£3,721	5,580
Czech Republic	22	£23,345	35,000
Denmark	25	£4,447	6,667
Germany	16	£11,086	16,620
Estonia	18	£10,672	16,000
Greece	18	£6,003 (G) or £2,668 (S)	9000 or 4,000
Spain	16	None	None
France	19.6	£50,892 (G) or £18,009 (S)	76,300 or 27,000
Ireland	21	£34,017 (G) or £17,008 (S)	51,000 or 25,500
Italy	20	None	None
Cyprus	15	£10,405	15,600
Latvia	18	£11,472	17,200
Lithuania	18	£19,343	29,000
Luxembourg	15	£6,670	10,000
Hungary	25	£23,345	35,000
Malta	15	£24,679 (G)	37,000
		£16,208 (S-high inputs)	24,300
		£9,738 (S-low inputs)	14,600
Netherlands	19	None	None
Austria	20	£14,674	22,000
Poland	22	£6,670	10,000
Portugal	19	£6,654	9,976 or 12,470
		(Non standard accounting records)
		£8,317
		(Simplified regime for small traders)
Slovenia	20	£16,675	25,000
Slovak Repubic	19	£23,345	35,000
Finland	22	£5,669	8,500
Sweden	25	None	None
UK	17.5	£58,000	86,956

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what date the £50 note was first issued after World War II; what value a note with similar purchasing power would now have; and whether they will now issue a £100 note. [HL3682]

The Bank reintroduced the £50 note in 1981, following its withdrawal during the Second World War. Adjusting for inflation, the purchasing power of £50 in 1981 would be equivalent to the purchasing power of around £125 today.At present there are no plans to introduce a £100 note.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they accept the recommendation by the Statistics Commission in its annual report 2003–04 (Cm 6250) that legislation is needed to strengthen the public trust in official statistics. [HL3757]

The Government welcome the publication of the Statistics Commission report, that was commissioned in the June 2000 Framework for National Statistics, which acknowledges the progress made since the launch of the framework.The Government look forward to the wide-ranging public debate that the commission's proposals are likely to engender and are discussing the recommendations of the report with the Statistics Commission and National Statistician.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 29 March (

The Department of Health has a service level agreement with Sport England, England's national sports development agency, to fund and support the local exercise action pilot programme.The department is also in the process of concluding a funding agreement with the Federation of Disability Sports Organisations under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many pensioners have had free dental treatment in each of the past two years; and what was the cost. [HL3587]

The number of courses of National Health Service dental treatment provided to men aged 65 years or over and women aged 60 years or over, who did not have to pay a patient charge, is given in the table. The patient charge that would have been payable is also shown.

	Number of courses of treatment	Patient charge (£ million)
2002–03	914,400	40.3
2003–04	949,200	41.9

The patient charge accounts for 80 per cent of the total cost of the treatment up to a maximum charge to the patient of £372.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In which private finance initiative and public private partnership projects for the National Health Service Jarvis plc or any of its subsidiaries is:

The table shows the private finance initiative schemes on which Jarvis is the contractor and/or a shareholder in the contracting consortium's project company with the information on each as requested:

Scheme	Involvement of Jarvis	Period of Contract (from date of opening) Years	Total Value (sum of annual payments by trust over contract period £ million)
Ambulatory Care Centre for Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust	Construction contractor, FM services and 50 per cent shareholder in consortium project company	30	98 (at 2002 prices)
Redevelopment of Whittington Hospital site for Whittington NHS Trust	Construction contractor, FM services and 50 per cent shareholder in consortium project company	30	95 (at 2001 prices)
Community Hospital for Newbury PCT	Construction contractor and FM services only	30	80 (at 2002 prices)

Information is not held centrally on subcontractors which are not subsidiaries of the prime contractor or shareholders in the project company.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the current cost to the National Health Service of each type of digital hearing aid purchased by National Health Service hearing aids services digital scheme. [HL3737]

There are a number of nationally contracted hearing aid products available to the National Health Service dependent on the specific requirements of patients such as level of hearing loss. The range includes two models of moderate power hearing aids with an average price of just under £70 each including value added tax, five models of higher power hearing aids with an average price at around £150 each including VAT, and a specialised very small child's aid at around £120 including VAT.

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

It is the United Kingdom's practice not to disclose pleadings before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Therefore the Government do not intend to publish in the Official Report their observations in respect of this case.In responding to the ECJ, the UK Government's aims are to maintain that Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements is valid as a matter of EC law.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many badger and deer carcasses are collected from the roadside and tested by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Wildlife Unit. [HL3393]

Since 1 March 2004, when the Wildlife Unit took over collection of badger carcasses from the roadside as part of the road traffic accident survey in Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Dorset, 403 carcasses have been collected, of which 331 have been tested.The Wildlife Unit does not collect deer carcasses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many corrections were received in the financial year 2003–04 from landowners or tenants seeking to amend the Integrated Administration and Control System digital maps. [HL3472]

The number of edits received from IACS applicants as part of the map editing process for the Rural Land Register data capture exercise during the financial year 2003–04 was 45,586. Each edit may consist of one or more parcels of land to be amended.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What fisheries action plans have been established between the United Kingdom and neighbouring European Union countries to contain the number of cormorants; with what results; and how the United Kingdom action to control the growth in numbers compares with other European Union countries. [HL3542]

Fishery action plans (FAPs) have recently been initiated by the Environment Agency in England and Wales to provide a mechanism for fisheries development at the catchment scale (or wider), with the objective of maximising sustainable development of fisheries and associated ecological, social, economic and recreational benefits. FAPs seek to identify the main issues affecting fisheries, including bird predation, prioritise these and plan appropriate action. Such fishery action plans do not apply in the European Union.Cormorants are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which fulfils the UK's obligations under the EC Wild Birds Directive 79/409/EEC to conserve all wild birds. Results from earlier Defra-funded research on the impact of cormorants on inland fisheries support the view that this is a problem for specific fisheries rather than a general problem. Where such site-specific problems exist, licences can be granted to allow limited numbers of birds to be killed or taken as an aid to scaring. However, it must be shown that there is no other satisfactory alternative to the issuing of a licence. Nevertheless, the Government are currently looking into further measures to help resolve their conflict with fisheries.Similar provisions apply in many other European Union countries, although there is some variability in the number of birds that are killed. It is not possible to compare the effects of shooting between member states. The numbers of birds killed or taken under licence in each EU country are reported to the Commission annually.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the statement by the Lord Whitty on 23 June (HL Deb, col. 1238) that "In certain circumstances, wind farms actually enhance the landscape", whether they will set out the circumstances in which such enhancement occurs. [HL3624]

Increased development of renewable energy resources is vital to facilitating the delivery of the Government's commitments on both climate change and renewable energy.We recognise that the location of wind farms can sometimes be a sensitive issue. Our landscapes have always been influenced by ever-changing human activity. Buildings and other structures—including, for example, traditional windmills and monuments—have often been seen as enhancing the landscape and providing a point of interest. In some settings wind farms will be seen by many as aesthetically pleasing; in other less so.That is why the Government have ensured that there is clear guidance for planning authorities to follow.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their most recent estimates of the impact of vehicle emissions on the environment and of the damage which they cause to property. [HL3642]

Estimates for the environmental benefits of existing and additional measures including road transport measures proposed in the review of the national air quality strategy were published in January 1999 in An economic analysis of the National Air Quality Strategy Objectives: An Interim Report.This is available at:

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many areas in England are designated as heathland; and how many heathlands have been lost in the past 10 years. [HL3648]

Over 217,000 hectares of land in England are designated as sites of special scientific interest for heathland features, of which 179,000 ha is upland heathland, and over 38,000 ha is lowland heathland. The Countryside Survey 2000, covering the period 1990–98, reported no significant change to the "dwarf shrub heath" broad habitat area¹.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the new livestock identification and tracing programme will be in place. [HL3664]

The introduction of a single livestock register for registering and recording movements of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer is the key component of Defra's Livestock Identification and Tracing Programme. We are planning for delivery of the register by late 2006–07 but the project is still being scoped and is highly dependent on the progress of other related IT projects.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they plan to improve transparency in the dairy supply chain; and, if so, how they will seek to do so. [HL3667]

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, in its report Milk Pricing in the United Kingdom, recommended that the Dairy Supply Chain Forum look at ways of improving transparency. It is on the agenda for discussion at the Forum's next meeting on 21 July.Defra has made a grant of nearly £0.5 million for the Food Chain Centre's work to improve efficiency in the dairy supply chain. Its work on value chain analysis in the dairy sector could be helpful in improving transparency, since it should not only help participants understand the costs of others in their supply chain, but also help them work together to eliminate cost and improve margin for mutual benefit.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there have been anomalies in the reporting of livestock movements; and, if so, whether they propose to make markets responsible for reporting all relevant movements. [HL3669]

Movement anomalies are unavoidable as there are inevitable delays in updating any database as well as occasional mistakes in the information reported by keepers. Markets are already responsible for reporting all individual cattle movements and all batch movements of pigs, sheep and goats. Movement notifications are recorded on a central database.Defra is working to encourage market operators to use electronic data transfer and developing on-line systems to increase the speed and accuracy of livestock movement reporting.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 5 July (

The department does not record details of prosecutions under CITES that occurred in the European Union.