Funding for the Children's Fund has not been stopped. Resources previously allocated to projects remain allocated to those projects. In the draft priorities and budget the proposed allocation to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety includes £9.5 million and £5.4 million in 2005–06 and 2006–07 respectively, for projects under the Children's Fund.

An evaluation of the achievements and considerations for the future of the Northern Ireland Events Company was carried out in 2000. A further review was carried out in 2003. Both reviews recognised the importance of events to Northern Ireland and the contribution of the Northern Ireland Events Company. The 2003 review pointed out that the full potential for an events strategy was not being realised due to the lack of a coherent integrated events and tourism strategy. Excellent Events now features as one of the five winning themes within the NITB Tourism in Northern Ireland strategic framework for action 2004–07. Ongoing discussions about the future arrangements for events are taking place with DETI and NITB.

In relation to Sprucefield Retail Park, Lisburn there are three current planning applications for development. Consideration of the applications is ongoing and it is not possible at this stage to be precise about a timescale for the determination of these applications, but each application will be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

The Department of Education in Northern Ireland does not hold statistical information on the religious breakdown of teachers employed in schools. The various employing authorities that are responsible for employing teachers hold this information. However, the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

The Police Ombudsman's Office has advised the following information:Cases referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions:

Year
2000–01	0
2001–02	78
2002–03	184
2003–04	179
2004–05 (to date)	39
Total	475

Cases where action was recommended by the Police Ombudsman:

Year
2000–01	0
2001–02	12
2002–03	16
2003–04	10
2004–05 (to date)	6
Total	44

In the cases referred for action, the DPP has recommended prosecution in 18 cases, no prosecution in 10 cases and all others await direction. In the cases that have been to court four have resulted in conviction, all in the last year; five have resulted in no conviction. The DPP has also directed prosecution in three cases where the Police Ombudsman had not recommended prosecution.

The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is the body responsible for overseeing decommissioning of paramilitary weaponry. The Prime Minister has stated clearly that all arms must be put beyond use through the IICD. The Government are actively working to create the conditions where complete decommissioning can take place.

Orphans and vulnerable children are a high priority for DfID. We are particularly concerned with support for children who are affected by AIDS or infected with HIV in Africa, where the situation in the worst affected countries is reaching crisis level, but are also concerned to step up our work in Asia.DFID has endorsed the UNICEF

The six North/South Implementation bodies were established by an international agreement between the British and Irish Governments, and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the equivalent legislation in the Republic of Ireland.However, the Implementation Bodies Agreement 1999 provides that a code of practice on access to information held by the bodies will be drawn up by the Irish and Northern Ireland Ministers with responsibility for freedom of information for approval by the North/South Ministerial Council. That code is in preparation.

The total number of recorded instances of sexually transmitted diseases in Northern Ireland is shown in the table below for the years 2000 to 2004. Information is not recorded according to parliamentary constituency.

Year	Number of instances of sexually transmitted diseases
2000	10,139
2001	10,208
2002	10,782
2003	10,470
2004*	5,188

There is no note by the Attorney-General on the exercise of his powers under Part III of the Public Order Act 1986 dealing with incitement to religious hatred. There was only an early draft of a note produced for the purposes of debate on such a proposed offence. A Written Ministerial Statement relating to the proposed offence in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill was published by the Home Secretary on 7 December 2004 and was agreed by me.

It is for the courts to decide what prohibitions should be set out in the ASBO. The conditions should be reasonable and proportionate but protect all persons within a defined area from the anti-social acts of the defendant. The conditions are proposed to the court by the applicant agency and care should be taken to the formulation of the conditions so that individuals are not denied access to medical services or from visiting relatives, unless those relatives were party to the anti-social behaviour and the community needs further protection from their association. Local partnership working should ensure that the prohibitions set out in an ASBO application are workable and appropriate. Individuals may apply to discharge or vary the conditions of their ASBO.

The Government are working with the police and the alcohol industry to prevent the sale of alcohol to, and the purchase of alcohol by under-18s. This includes the wider use of fixed penalty notices for staff who sell to under-18s, confiscation of alcohol from minors and working with the industry on a social responsibility scheme which will include a protocol around seeking proof of age. A Christmas alcohol misuse enforcement campaign is also under-way in all 43 police force areas in England and Wales. Town centres across the country are being targeted in an effort to crack down on under-age drinking and alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder.The Government also acknowledge that enforcement alone is not sufficient to tackle these problems and that a more holistic approach to tackling the misuse of alcohol is needed if we are to challenge current attitudes to drinking. That is why we launched the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England on 15 March 2004 which outlines a programme of work based on 41 recommendations covering actions on prevention, communication, education, and identification and treatment to tackle alcohol misuse and ensure that both consumers and retailers have a healthy and responsible attitude to alcohol.

The numbers and projected numbers, of schools within school sport partnerships in England for the years in question are as follows:

September 2003	8,030 schools
September 2004	10,750 schools
September 2005	15,900 schools
September 2006	all maintained schools will be within a school sport partnership.

There were 228 specialist sports colleges in operation from September 2003 and 283 from September 2004. Subject to sufficient high quality applications coming forward, we are on target to achieve the designation of 400 specialist sports colleges by January 2006. Beyond then, any school which applies for specialist sports college status will be designated, subject to them meeting the standard for designation.Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:How much funding was made available for specialist sports colleges from the physical education, school sport and club links budget head for the two years since 2003–04; and what is the projected budget for each year until 2007–08. [HL524]

Funding made available for specialist sports colleges from the physical education, school sport and club links budget was £32.3 million for 2003–04 and £38.5 million for 2004–05. Future funding for specialist sports colleges will depend upon the number of schools designated. Sufficient funding has been set aside to ensure that all schools applying for sports college status which meet the standards for designation will be designated.

The information requested is not available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Department for Education and Skills is fully committed to managing its sickness absence effectively and to reducing the amount of sickness absence from its current levels. We have introduced specific strategies to improve attendance rates and tackling the underlying issues causing sickness.10.3 working days were lost through sickness absence for each staff year in the department in 2003. The average across the Civil Service was 10.0 days.

Overall there have been no additional costs incurred by the DfES to date as a result of the recent ministerial changes in the department.

Article 11 of the Berne Convention requires contracting parties to control strictly the introduction of non-native species. But grey squirrels have been present in Great Britain since the end of the 19th century and were already widespread by the time the UK ratified the convention in 1982.Article 8(h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity indicates that contracting parties should "as far as possible and as appropriate …" prevent the introduction of, control and eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats and species. Decision VI/23, agreed at the sixth conference of the parties to CBD, recommended that parties incorporate invasive alien species considerations into national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The most serious impact of the grey squirrel on native biodiversity is covered in the species action plan for the red squirrel. Targeted control of grey squirrels to protect threatened populations of red squirrels is part of the recommended actions of the UK Red Squirrel Group, set up as a partnership to lead the species action plan.

While it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the cost to the national and local economy of the traffic accident on the A34 near Oxford on 14 December, using the Department for Transport's transport analysis guidance it is estimated that the cost of delays to the travelling public on the A34 was approximately £250,000.

The new six-lane dual carriageway sections of the A13 are inside London and form part of the Greater London Authority road network — now known as the Transport for London road network — and are the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London. This includes the setting of speed limits. Further information concerning the speed limits on the road may be obtained from:

• Keith Ollier
• Director of Street Management
• Transport for London
• Windsor House
• 42–50 Victoria Street
• London SW1H0TL

As the Prime Minister announced to Parliament on 18 November 2004, (Official Report, col.105 WS) the current list of Cabinet committees, their membership and terms of reference are available in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Cabinet Office website. The terms of reference of the Ministerial Committee on Public Health (MISC 27) are:"To oversee the development and implementation of the Government's policies on public health and reduce health inequalities."We do not disclose information relating to the proceedings of the Cabinet and its committees.