asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have given consideration to the doubts expressed inside and outside Parliament concerning the validity of the Parliament Act 1949. [HL4483]

The Government have of course given consideration to the doubts expressed about the validity of the Parliament Act 1949 in responding to the issue when it has been raised in debates in your Lordships' House; for example, the Bill introduced by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Donaldson of Lymington, in December 2000. The Government's view remains that expressed by the late Lord Williams of Mostyn, that "There is no ambiguity in the Parliament Acts which needs to be corrected. The Parliament Act is a valid act of Parliament" (Official Report, 19/1/01; col. 1328).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in response to doubts expressed inside and outside Parliament, they propose to introduce legislation to validate the Parliament Act 1949. [HL4484]

No.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the total United Kingdom public expenditure so far incurred in respect of (a) military action; (b) policing; (c) stabilising the interim government; and (d) reconstructing the infrastructure in Iraq. [HL4346]

My right honourable Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer set aside £3 billion in Budget 2003 as a special reserve to cover the cost of operations in Iraq; £1 billion was drawn down by the Ministry of Defence in the spring supplementary estimate for 2002–03.The remaining £2 billion of this special reserve was carried forward to 2003–04. The Ministry of Defence drew down £1,539 million in the 2003–04 winter and spring supplementary estimates.In the Pre-Budget Report 2003 the Chancellor announced a further £500 million for the special reserve in the financial year 2003–04 and a further £300 million for Iraq in 2004–05.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the total United Kingdom public expenditure that will be incurred in 2004–05 in respect of (a) military action; (b) policing; (c) stabilising the interim government; and (d) reconstructing the infrastructure in Iraq. [HL4347]

It is too early to assess the military costs for 2004–05.It is estimated that £19 million will be spent through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) on conflict prevention projects in Iraq during 2004–05. This projected spend includes projects with the Iraqi Police Service.The Department for International Development (DfID) estimates that it will spend £91 million on reconstruction assistance to Iraq during 2004–05, including projects to increase capacity in Iraqi government ministries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What activities are being conducted by the United Nations in the area of Iraq for which the United Kingdom is responsible; what numbers of personnel, sites and vehicles these activities involve; and what views the United Nations has expressed to the United Kingdom authorities as to the sufficiency or otherwise of these security arrangements. [HL4426]

The UN has one official in Basra responsible for overseeing the deployment in the immediate future of a five-to-six person UN liaison detachment. The UN has plans for an increase to 10 or 12 staff over the next two months, to include political, electoral and humanitarian staff. The UN is currently providing humanitarian assistance in the south from offices in Baghdad, Amman and Kuwait and through local staff in Iraq. Regular discussions continue between us, the UN and US officials to ensure adequate security arrangements for the UN throughout Iraq.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the study

Any initiatives which encourage Israelis and Palestinians to work together, find partners for peace and encourage a return to the negotiating table are welcome. We therefore commend the work done by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI). We have shown our support for IPCRI in the past by funding initiative projects run by it.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which European Union member states have derogated from the European Convention on Human Rights for the purposes of combating terrorism. [HL4350]

The UK is the only European Union member state to have a current derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights for the purposes of combating terrorism.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made within the European Union and the Council of Europe on establishing common standards for controlling arms brokers. [HL4376]

The European Union adopted a Common Position on the Control of Arms Brokering on 23 June 2003 (2003/468/CFSP). The Government are working for the revised EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports to subject applications for arms brokering licences to the common criteria which are already applied to export licence applications. The Council of Europe currently has no activities in this area.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they acknowledge Mr Abdullahi Yusuf as President of Somalia; and, if so, whether they will urge him to evacuate his forces from Las Anod and other parts of Somaliland. [HL4384]

The EU issued a statement on 14 October congratulating Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on his election as transitional President of the Somali Republic. We have reminded him of the importance of showing respect for existing zones of tranquility and of not resorting to military options for the resolution of differences.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations they have made to the Government of Bahrain concerning the closure of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the arrest of its executive director, Abdul Hadi Al-Khawaja. [HL4388]

Our ambassador has expressed our concerns to the Bahraini authorities. We are following events closely.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Employment Framework Directive 2000/78/EC has been implemented in Gibraltar so as to provide a general framework for combating discrimination on the grounds of religion or beliefs disability, age or sexual orientation as regards employment and occupation. [HL4391]

Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation was transposed into Gibraltar law by the Equal Opportunities Ordinance (Numbers 6 of 2004), published in the Gibraltar Gazette on 26 February 2004. Implementation of the provisions of the directive on age and disability discrimination is not required until 2006.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Ministry of Defence has let the information technology contract, JAMES 1; and, if so, what are the expected costs and benefits. [HL4287] [HL4322]

A contract was signed on 15 July 2004, with Lockheed Martin for the first increment of the Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solution (JAMES 1).The main benefit is that JAMES will enable the maintenance of operational capability during and following the reduction in land vehicle fleet sizes which will occur with the introduction of new equipment and of technical upgrades to existing equipment. Failure to manage these fleets centrally though a management information system such as JAMES would lead either to a reduction of training capability or the need to acquire more equipment.The expected full cost (including costed risks) will be £40 million over six years. The expected benefits over the same period amount to £94 million.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Ministry of Defence used the United States Department of Defense model in its estimates of the possible exposure of British troops to fall-out from the demolition of the Khamisiyah arms bunkers; and what other models, if any, were used. [HL4321]

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) paper published in December 1999 entitled Review of Events Concerning 32 Field Hospital and the Release of Nerve Agent Arising From US Demolition of Iraqi Munitions at the Khamisiyah Depot In March 1991 took account of the United States Department of Defense's (DoD) modelling of the possible levels of exposure following the demolition of the weapons store at Khamisiyah. The paper also included our scientists' own assessment based on the US modelling. MoD plans to publish its own final assessment of the destruction of chemical warfare rockets at Khamisiyah by the end of the year. This will take account of the modelling work undertaken by the Department of Defense as well as the United States General Accounting (now Accountability) Office.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the United Kingdom was represented at the Meeting of European Union Defence Ministers held in September 2004 at which it was agreed to establish a European Gendarmerie Force; and whether the United Kingdom is willing to contribute to such a force. [HL4454]

The European Gendarmerie Force is not an EU force, but a multilateral initiative by five countries (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal) to create between them a joint paramilitary police force which could be made available to EU, NATO or UN operations. There are many multinational Force structures in Europe (such as Eurofor and SEEBRIG), involving different combinations of countries, which can be made available to the EU or NATO in this way. As the UK does not have paramilitary police, we are not a member of the European Gendarmerie Force.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their reasons for accepting the right of petition for women under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women while refusing to accept the right of petition for members of ethnic minorities under the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. [HL4085]

As I explained in my Answer to the noble Lord on 16 September (WA 201), the Government believe that the practical value to UK citizens of individual petition to the United Nations is unclear. They also have concerns about the levels of cost to public funds if individual petition were used extensively to explore the meaning of the provisions of a treaty. For these reasons they have decided to accede only to the right of individual petition under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to enable it to consider the merits of individual petition on a more empirical basis.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they plan to relocate Eurostar's United Kingdom maintenance and servicing facility from North Pole (London) to Temple Mills; and, if so, what use or uses are planned for the vacated sites. [HL4436]

Discussions are continuing with London and Continental Railways, English Welsh and Scottish Railway and other landowners and occupiers about proposals for a depot at Temple Mills. It is too early to say what other uses might be made of the land at North Pole should the depot there no longer be required.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much money is devolved each year by the Government and the private sector to strategic railway research on future energy sources (such as hydrogen power), advanced train control systems (such as cab-based signalling), and telematics (such as passenger ticketing, inquiry and information systems). [HL4461]

Details of funding dedicated to such specific research activity is not collected centrally. Information on government-funded science, engineering and technology is published periodically by the Office of Science and Technology. The latest edition, The Forward Look 2003: Government funded science, engineering and technology is available from the Library of House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have set a time limit for replying to the reports of Joint Committees of the Houses of Parliament, as they have with the reports of Select Committees of each House. [HL4435]

The guidance issued to departments in the Cabinet Office's Guide to Legislative Procedures, states that the target of response within two months, as is usual for Commons committees, should apply to reports of Joint Committees on draft Bills, though it notes that the committee may be willing to allow longer, perhaps to fit in with the timetable for introduction of the Bill.In the case of other Joint Committees, similarly, the Government consider that the two-month target should apply, unless a longer timetable is agreed with the committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to introduce a restriction or ban on smoking in public houses, bars and restaurants; and [HL4380]What consultations they have had with regard to a possible ban on smoking in public houses, bars and restaurants. [HL4381]

The Government launched a public health consultation, Choosing Health? which covers a wide range of issues including smoking. Representatives of the hospitality industry and their views and proposals about how health may be improved were included in an extensive range of consultations. The Government's conclusions on this matter will be covered in the forthcoming White Paper.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What evaluation they have made of the effect of the smoking ban in Ireland in public houses, bars and restaurants. [HL4382]

The Government are aware of the reports from Ireland on the effect of the smoking ban in workplaces, including those from the Office of Tobacco Control.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much public funding has been allocated to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) in each of the past five years; and whether they intend to review the basis of that funding as a result of the BPAS's collaboration in sending pregnant women to foreign countries for abortions which would be illegal under British legislation. [HL4398]

The Department of Health has not provided any funding to British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) in the last five years. We do not collect data on the amount of money BPAS receives through its contracts with primary care trusts.The Chief Medical Officer is currently investigating this matter and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the waiting times and the length of waiting lists for those discovered to be positive for hepatitis C to be seen by a consultant. [HL4417]

The information requested is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What guidance they will give to local authorities regarding the provision of carers ahead of the implementation of the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act in April 2005. [HL4456]

The Department of Health will be consulting on policy guidance to accompany the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 over the next few months with a view to publishing the policy guidance by April 2005. The Social Care Institute for Excellence will use the evidence from its current knowledge review on the participation of carers in changing and improving social care services to develop, in consultation with key stakeholders, a practice guide, which is likely to be published in the summer of 2005.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Under what statutory or other legal authority the closure order was made preventing the public disclosure for 100 years of documents submitted to the Cullen inquiry into the Dunblane tragedy. [HL4390]

There is no statutory basis for the closure of records created by Scottish public bodies. The Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937 (the 1937 Act) makes provision for the preservation, care and custody of the public records of Scotland. The terms of the legislation are permissive.By contrast, in England and Wales the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended by the Public Records Act 1967) sets a statutory "closure period" of 30 years after which records must, with limited exceptions, be made available to the public. The 1937 Act does not impose similar obligations on Scottish Executive departments, but in practice those procedures are followed in Scotland.The criteria for closures longer than 30 years were defined in the 1993 White Paper on Open Government (Cm 2290), in accordance with which it is for the department responsible for depositing the material to decide on the closure period. In Scotland, the national archives of Scotland cannot vary this closure period and cannot produce "closed records" to the public without the permission of the depositing department. The White Paper set out a clear statement of principle as to what information should be made available and what ought properly to be kept confidential in the public interest.Documents containing information about individuals, whose disclosure would cause either substantial distress or endangerment from a third party to persons affected by disclosure or their descendants, can be subject to a variable closure period of between 40 and 100 years.