asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 15 December 2004 (

The Northern Ireland Office has spent the following on "publication" in each of the past three years. However, identifying how much of the expenditure was on "glossy" documents is not possible as records of the specific type or format of publication produced are not held.

	£
2001–02	290,572
2002–03	323,101
2003–04	331,291
2004–05 (up to Dec 2004)	204,634

The annual accounts of the 11 departments of the NI Administration do not identify expenditure on "publications" as an individual activity. Such spending is accounted for under a variety of headings such as advertising, public awareness campaigns, consultations or is incorporated into general day-to-day administration.When producing a document, especially for public use, consideration is given to the intended audience. Issues such as aesthetics and quality are therefore taken into consideration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there will be sufficient places in integrated schools in Northern Ireland by September 2005 to satisfy all parental requests; and, if not, what shortage of places there will be in (a) primary schools; and (b) secondary schools. [HL1362]

The total number of places available in the integrated sector in the 2005–06 school year for year one pupils is 1,179 and 1,920 for year eight pupils. Information on applications for 2005–06 is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which agreement provided for practical co-operation in education between Northern Ireland and Eire; who were the signatories to such agreement; and when it was signed. [HL1400]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 24 February 2005 (Official Report, col. WA 224)

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

Any such apology would be a matter for the Minister concerned and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many canvassers are employed by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland in connection with the annual canvass of electors; what are their duties; and what is the cost of this operation. [HL1455]

In 2004 930 canvassers were employed by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Their duties were:to call at each household within a specified area to hand deliver pre-addressed individual electoral registration forms;where contact with a member of the household was achieved, to explain the registration process, to provide new or additional forms to accommodate changes to the information for that household on the then current register, and to obtain a signature as proof of delivery;where no contact was made, to deliver the individual electoral registration forms for that household and guidance notes;

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many of the 83,000 voters missing from the electoral register in Northern Ireland have been successfully visited by canvassers in order to ascertain if they still wish to register; whether the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland has put in place pilot trawls to establish reasons for non-registration; and, if so, what the results have been. [HL1456]

This issue is an operational matter and is, therefore, the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland. He will be writing to the noble Lord in due course.A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What monitoring systems exist to assess the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the Department for International Development-funded reconstruction projects in Montserrat; and what measures are in place to ensure that awards of contracts and grants meet the requirements of the code of practice for the United Kingdom and Montserratian Ministers and public officials. [HL1382]

All DfID-funded projects in Montserrat are carefully appraised during preparation, and regularly monitored during implementation by DfID staff and appropriate independent experts. These include a full-time engineering sector manager, who is based in Montserrat. DFID internal audit systems are also applied as appropriate. The procurement practices of DfID and the government of Montserrat are regularly reviewed to ensure effectiveness and value for money. For example, the government of Montserrat's practices were recently assessed by independent specialists as part of a wider review of Montserrat's budget system; and the European Commission has examined them as part of its process of administering allocations to Montserrat from the European Development Fund.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What will be the United Kingdom's contribution to the International Development Association over the next three years; what percentage increases this will represent; and how this compares with other donors. [HL1528]

The United Kingdom will be contributing £1,430 million to the fourteenth replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA 14). This represents a 59 per cent increase over our contribution to IDA 13 (equivalent to a 83 per cent increase in terms of special drawing rights, the currency basket in which IDA replenishments are denominated). The increase will give the UK a 13.18 per cent share in the total replenishment. Shares for other major G7 donors are as follows:

	Per cent
USA	13.78
Japan	12.24
Germany	8.23
France	7.11

In addition, the UK has set aside a further £250 million over the IDA 14 period to support the World Bank in scaling up its development assistance to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the likely cost of the United Kingdom's presidency of the G8; and how that cost is broken down between (a) security; (b) travel; (c) entertainment; and (d) accommodation. [HL1366]

The working estimate of the organisational cost of the G8 Gleneagles summit is £8.9 million. This figure excludes the cost of the security operation. The Treasury and Scottish Executive will assess what these additional costs will total, but it is unlikely that an accurate estimate will be available until much nearer, or soon after, the event.With regard to the organisational cost, it is not possible to publish how this is broken down as detailed contract negotiations continue which remain commercially confidential. However, the figure covers the cost of the summit itself, including travel, entertainment, catering, venue etc. It also includes the cost of providing facilities for the media as well as technical management of the Gleneagles Hotel site.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the projected costs of the G8 summit, to be held at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, in July; and how those costs are broken down. [HL1368]

The working estimate of the organisational cost of the G8 Gleneagles summit is £8.9 million. It is not possible to publish a breakdown of this figure as detailed contract negotiations continue which remain commercially confidential. However, the figure includes the cost of providing facilities for the media as well as technical management of the Gleneagles Hotel site. It also covers the cost of the summit itself, including venue, transport, interpretation, etc.This figure excludes the cost of the security operation. The Treasury and Scottish Executive will assess what these additional costs will total, but it is unlikely that an accurate estimate will be available until much nearer, or soon after, the event.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assistance has been sought by the government of Bangladesh from the Metropolitan Police in the investigation of:

After the attack in Sylhet on 21 May 2004, which killed three and injured many including the British High Commissioner, the Bangladeshi authorities agreed to our proposal that a Metropolitan Police team deploy to Bangladesh immediately to assess the circumstances of the attack and to provide assistance and advice to the Bangladeshi authorities. The Metropolitan Police team visited Bangladesh again in July 2004 and provided further ad hoc assistance from London.The Bangladeshi authorities have recently requested the deployment of a further Metropolitan Police team to assist with the investigation. The Metropolitan Police do not consider that this would be productive but remain ready to offer specific advice or assistance to the Bangladeshi investigators. The Bangladeshi authorities have not made requests for assistance in any of the investigations listed at (b) to (e).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will propose that at the 2005 meeting of the Bangladesh Development Forum a discussion should be held of the impact of terrorism on development in Bangladesh. [HL1392]

In response to a request from the Bangladeshi Government the World Bank has agreed that the Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) take place on a two yearly basis. The next BDF will therefore be in 2006. We are concerned about the increasing level of political and extremist violence in Bangladesh and the dangers this holds for Bangladesh. We raise these concerns and the need for effective action to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice on a regular basis with the Bangladeshi authorities and will continue to do so.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking to initiate a review of the implementation and enforcement of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council in the light of the report

The Government welcome the emphasis in the high level panel report on its review of the implementation and enforcement of sanctions. The recommendations in the report reflect some of the work already in progress in the United Nations system to develop better sanctions measures. The Government have no plans to initiate a further review but will remain active in discussions on the implementation of the high level panel's recommendations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will commit themselves to the emerging norm, as set out by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, that "there is a collective responsibility to protect, exercisable by the United Nations Security Council authorising military interventions as a last resort, in the event of genocide and other large-scale killing, ethnic cleansing or serious violations of humanitarian law which sovereign governments have proved powerless or unwilling to prevent"; and, if so, by what action. [HL1406]

The Government welcome this recommendation of the high level panel. The proposals are similar to those outlined by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in his speech in Chicago in 1999 and the report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2001. The UK will work with like minded countries to take forward this recommendation at the Millennium Review Summit in September 2005.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking to strengthen the role to be played by civilian police in peace keeping and security operations undertaken by the United Nations. [HL1407]

Working through its mission to the UN in New York, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) cooperates closely with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) on the role civilian policing plays in UN peace support operations (PSOs). Already a key element of PSOs, we are working proactively to ensure civilian policing needs are considered at all stages of the establishment of a mission, including pre-mission needs assessment, definition and development of mandates, intelligence gathering, rapid deployment —on which we await further information on the DPKO's proposal to establish a standing civilian policing capability and pre-deployment training. In particular, we strongly support the DPKO's efforts to develop integrated mission planning, combining three closely interconnected pillars of the criminal justice system— police, judiciary and penal institutions. To that end, a UK secondee to the DPKO helped in the development of a handbook on integrated planning last year.At an operational level, the UK contributes police officers to two UN missions, with 93 officers currently deployed to UNMIK (Kosovo) and six to UNAMSIL (Sierra Leone). Building on our commitment to the 2000 Brahimi Report on Peacekeeping Operations, we support the development of other member states' international civilian policing capability, and have to date delivered 11 "Train the Trainer" courses around the world. We are also in the process of developing a G8 initiative to help build African civilian policing capability. In addition, we continue to play an active role in the development and delivery of civilian police standardised training module workshops to assist in the training of military and police officers who are likely to serve in specialised functions in PSOs.As far as the UK's own civilian policing contribution is concerned, the FCO is leading cross-Whitehall and Police Service consultation aimed at improving the UK's approach to international policing, and better prioritising and strengthening our response to calls for contributions from the UN and other international organisations. A strategic task force is expected to submit recommendations to Ministers in July 2005.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the proposals on the reform of the United Nations Security Council, as put forward by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. [HL1408]

The UK welcomes the proposals that the high level panel has put forward on possible reform of the United Nations Security Council. The UK supports enlargement of the Security Council to make it more representative of the modern world, transparent and effective. We would support an increase in the permanent and nonpermanent membership, increasing overall membership from 15 to about 24. The panel has put forward two possible models for expansion: its model A is very similar to the UK approach.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the proposal for "a Peacebuilding Commission" of the United Nations, put forward by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. [HL1437]

The Government welcome the high level panel's proposal to establish a peacebuilding commission at the United Nations (UN) and look forward to agreement on this proposal at the Millennium Review Summit.The high level panel identified an important shortcoming in the international community's ability to take concerted action to prevent conflict and build peace. A peacebuilding commission, bringing together UN member states and agencies and a broader set of international institutions and regional partners to share analysis and plans, could strengthen our collective ability to deliver earlier and better conflict prevention, management and resolution.At this stage, we envisage the peacebuilding commission playing an advisory role at the strategic level to ensure coherent, integrated and sustained international engagement in a country or region. It could also provide a forum to address cross-cutting issues relating to peacebuilding.We will be considering carefully the views of our UN partners on issues such as how to achieve an appropriate membership of the commission, the relationship between the peacebuilding commission and the Security Council, and how to take forward the idea of a peacebuilding support office within the UN Secretariat.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the proposal for the use of regional organisations by the United Nations, put forward by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. [HL1438]

The panel has produced a series of interesting proposals on the role of regional organisations. We agree that collaboration between the UN and regional organisations needs to be strengthened to mutual benefit. We see the importance of building the capacity of regional security organisations, and recognise that their peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions must have adequate financing. These issues are also being addressed through the EU and G8.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the proposal for the future of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, put forward by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. [HL1439]

We support the work of the high level panel, and welcome the emphasis given to human rights issues. In particular, we welcome the proposals to improve links between the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Security Council/Peacebuilding Commission, and to increase the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights' funding from the regular budget. On the other recommendations, our position is as follows:Universalising membership of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR): this could potentially remove accusations of lack of representation, and the need for divisive elections. But we are not convinced it would address issues of legitimacy. And we would need to consider how this would work in practice, to ensure it would not have a counter-productive effect on the overall handling of human rights in the UN system.Human rights figures to head CHR delegations: we agree with the principle that there should be human rights expertise throughout CHR delegations. However, it is for governments to send who they wish—many governments will wish to keep their head of delegation as a government representative.Advisory council or panel to advise the CHR on country-specific issues and thematic mandates: the UK would like to see more detail on this. It would be important that this does not duplicate the current CHR sub-commission.The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights' annual report on the situation of human rights worldwide: we welcome the aim of providing a neutral and objective basis for discussion at the CHR. However, this should not be seen as a substitute for country action, but an objective basis on which the UN can choose to take action.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the proposals on the future of the United Nations Secretariat on Human Rights, put forward by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. [HL1440]

The high level panel report makes suggestions to increase the authority of the United Nations Secretary-General and to increase resources available to him. We generally support these, in line with our overall objective for more transparent and efficient human resource management in the United Nations (UN). The Secretary-General needs to have powers to redeploy staff and resources to deliver the objectives that the international community sets for the UN.We are still considering the proposals for increased staffing at the secretariat. We believe a decision should not be taken until the recommended review of the secretariat has been carried out. The review should elaborate further on streamlining and redeployment, before any increase in staffing is agreed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:By what criteria and method they believe the Security Council of the United Nations should in future be selected. [HL1409]

The role of the United Nations Secretary-General requires exceptional skills and experience in a number of areas. Ideally the candidate should have a proven track record in international affairs, management skills and the aptitude and vision to drive forward change in a large organisation.The UN Charter sets out that the appointment should be made by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. We believe this is the most appropriate method of appointment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking to encourage member states of the United Nations to sign, ratify and effectively implement the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. [HL1410]

We encourage UN member states at every appropriate opportunity to sign, ratify and implement the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its three supplementary protocols including the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What they expect the future role of the military staff committee of the United Nations to be; and how the United Nations Secretary-General's need for independent intelligence and analysis will be met. [HL1441]

The recent report of the United Nations Secretary-General's high level panel has recommended the deletion of the provision for a military staff committee in Article 47 of the United Nations Charter. The Government would support this change as part of a package of amendments to the United Nations charter, as the staff committee has never functioned as envisaged.The United Nations charter gives the Secretary-General the power to bring matters to the attention of the Security Council where he believes that there is a threat to international peace and security. He also provides analysis to the council of situations which are already on its agenda. It is clearly vital that the secretariat should have the capability to provide accurate analysis to the Secretary-General to underpin these responsibilities. The High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change recommended that the secretariat's capacity should be strengthened in this area, and that responsibility for such analysis and information should rest with a second Deputy Secretary-General. We support the panel's view that the secretariat's performance in this area could be strengthened, and we look forward to the Secretary-General's response in his report on implementing the high level panel's recommendations in March.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which of the following five basic criteria of legitimacy for the authorisation by the United

Nations Security Council of the use of military force, as spelt out in detail by the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, they endorse:

These criteria are similar to those set out by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in his speech in Chicago in 1999. We support the development of such principles as a tool to assist the Security Council in deciding when to authorise the use of force. We also note that the high level panel identifies that the Security Council needs to be more proactive in dealing with threats and that in certain circumstances force may be justified not just reactively, but preventively.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In the light of the assurances given to the European Union by Croatia in order to start talks for European Union membership, whether they are satisfied with Croatia's co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and their efforts to arrest the alleged war criminal General Ante Gotovina. [HL1415]

No.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the legal advice on which they base their decision not to sign the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its present form. [HL1468]

The Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is still under negotiation. Like most other members of the working group, the UK has a number of concerns with the original text. Only two out of 64 articles of the original text have been agreed, and there are alternative proposals on the table for much of the remaining text. The issue has therefore been one of discussion and negotiation, not signature. However, we were encouraged by the progress made in negotiations in the September and November/ December 2004 working group sessions. We will continue to work with UN partners and indigenous representatives to reach agreement on a strong and meaningful declaration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What results have been achieved through the European Union human rights dialogue with Algeria; when the next round of such dialogue will take place; and whether they have any plans for enhancing the dialogue as part of the United Kingdom's presidency of the European Union. [HL1483]

During the course of 2005, the European Union (EU) intends to hold human rights sub-committees with all Mediterranean partner countries that have a functioning association agreement. During our EU presidency, we will co-chair these human rights subcommittees with the Commission. We expect Algeria to ratify its association agreement this year. Pending ratification of the association agreement, the EU has reminded Algeria of its ongoing interest in Algeria's human rights situation.During our presidency we will co-host with Spain an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona process. Political and economic reform will be major themes of discussion at that event.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which members of the European Union have obtained a derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of court martial proceedings for military personnel. [HL1515]

No members of the European Union have made a derogation under Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of their systems of military discipline.Although there have been no derogations under Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of their systems of military discipline, the following members of the European Union have made a reservation:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will send observers to the next parliamentary elections in Lebanon, scheduled for May 2005. [HL1564]

The UK would consider any invitation from the Lebanese Election Commission to send observers to the forthcoming elections in Lebanon.It is important that elections are held in a secure atmosphere, free from intimidation. In this context the UK calls for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559.Before elections can be held the Lebanese Parliament needs to assent to a new electoral law. We hope this law will provide for a credible electoral process.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the Paris Declaration of the International Commission of Jurists dated 10 November 2004; and in particular, whether they are considering de-listing the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran as a terrorist group. [HL815]

As a matter of policy, the Government do not comment on whether a particular organisation is being considered for proscription or de-proscription under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Such decisions are taken only after the most careful consideration and on the basis of the best possible security advice.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many gun crimes in England and Wales involved legally-held weapons in each of the past 20 years and what percentage they formed of all gun crimes, in each case excluding those crimes in which only air weapons were used. [HL1177]

From 1984–85 until 1996–97 these data were not collected centrally. In respect of 1997–98 to 2003–04 attempts were made to collect the data but there were concerns over the quality of these data and, as a result, they have not been published. Because of these concerns, and following consultation with the police service, this data item ceased to be collected centrally from 1 April 2004.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many women aged (a) 21 years; and (b) 18 years, serving custodial sentences, are currently pregnant; whether they will provide similar figures for women remanded in custody; and what percentage these represent of the total number of women held in each case. [HL1430]

Information on the number of females in prison establishments who are pregnant is not recorded centrally.On 31 December 2004 there were 108 females aged 21 years and 55 females aged 18 years under immediate custodial sentence in prison establishments in England and Wales. On the same date there were 31 females aged 21 years and 21 females aged 18 years on remand. This information is as recorded on the Prison Service IT system.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether pregnant women in custody receive prenatal and post-natal care and services equal to those available to other mothers. [HL1431]

That will be the position in all women's prisons from 1 April 2005. Under the partnership between the Prison Service and the NHS, responsibility for the provision of primary healthcare services in public prisons, including pre-natal and post-natal care, is being assumed by local primary care trusts. PCTs began taking on this responsibility from 1 April 2004 and by 1 April this year they will cover all public prisons for women. Equal standards of care apply in those private prisons that hold or will shortly hold women prisoners.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, having regard to the amendments to Section 4(1) of India's Citizenship Act 1955 now brought into force, they will update paragraph 4 of Annexe H to Chapter 14 of the Home Office Nationality Instructions to make clear that, following the commencement of India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, a person shall not be a citizen of India by descent, unless birth is registered at an Indian Consulate within one year or the commencement of the 2003 Act, whichever is later; and [HL1464]Whether, having regard to the amendments to Section 4(1) of India's Citizenship Act 1955 now brought into force, a child would be born a British Overseas citizen or British subject by virtue of Schedule 2 to the British Nationality Act 1981 in the following circumstances:

We shall update Annexe H of Chapter 14 of the Nationality Instructions as soon as possible to reflect the changes made to Section 4 of the Indian Citizenship Act. Prior to doing so, however, it will be necessary for further inquiries to be made to determine exactly how the new legislation works in practice. Until we have this further information we cannot give definitive answers to these detailed questions. My honourable friend the Minister of State for Citizenship, Immigration and Nationality will write to the noble Lord as soon as we have the clarification required.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that media coverage of certain football matches as "grudge fixtures" has increased crowd trouble at recent games; and how they will work with the Football Association to prevent the return of football-related violence. [HL1481]

Football disorder will not be tolerated. Tough legislation is in place and targeted and public order policing operations will continue to identify troublemakers for banning order purposes. The Home Office works closely with the police, football authorities and fans in taking forward a comprehensive multi-agency strategy designed to minimise the threat of English football disorder at home and overseas. That strategy is working and football stadia in England and Wales are now among the safest and most secure in the world. There was a 10 per cent. decrease in the number of football related arrests last season with, on average, fewer than two arrests inside and outside of grounds at each match. Statistics for the current season show a continuing decline in the number of football-related arrests and incidents. However, there is no complacency. Football disorder may have been marginalised but it has not been eradicated. Clearly some matches pose a higher than average degree of risk due to local and other rivalries. These matches are easy to predict and there is nothing to suggest that the level of risk is significantly increased by media coverage.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much money was spent by them on UK e-Universities Worldwide (UKeU) between its establishment in 2001 and its winding down in June 2004. [HL1476]

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) reports that £42.5 million was spent on UKeU during the period specified. Of that total, HEFCE anticipates that there will be a residual value of about £12.8 million, primarily from developing learning programmes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In each of the past 10 years, how many pupils previously excluded by governing bodies in all types of maintained schools in England and Wales were reinstated by an independent appeal panel. [HL1488]

The department has collected data on the reinstatement of excluded pupils only for the school year 2002–03. We do however have data on the numbers and percentages of exclusion appeals determined in favour of the pupil for each school year from 1994–5 to 2002–03. This information is in the following table.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide extra funding for the implementation of the manifesto for outdoor education to ensure that every pupil can experience outdoor learning, including school visits. [HL1518]

We are at the early stages of developing a manifesto for "education outside the classroom" and have so far scoped the idea with about 30 non-governmental organisations. We will work and consult with them and with many others to develop a manifesto with real meaning and usefulness for schools and providers. We need to establish the nature and content of a manifesto before making decisions about whether additional implementation funding is needed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to respond to the concerns expressed by the chair of the Arts Council, Sir Christopher Frayling, in his Royal Society lecture 2005 on the erosion of the arm's length principle by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. [HL1543]

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport does not agree with the assertion that the arm's length principle is being eroded. She believes in the importance of the principle that decisions on funding for the arts continue to be taken free from political interference.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will place in the Library of the House the minutes of the discussions they have had with Child Support Agency management over its corporate governance action plan and assurance statement. [HL1493]

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State holds regular meetings with the chief executive of the Child Support Agency to discuss all aspects of Child Support Agency performance—including key risks and governance.The detail of the corporate governance action plan and assurance statement is a matter for the Child Support Agency chief executive.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the framework for phase I of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme contains separate targets for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and for greenhouse gas emissions, against which any progress can be measured. [HL1521]

Carbon dioxide is the only greenhouse gas covered by the Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Directive in phase I (2005–07) of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. However, there is provision for the expansion of the scheme to include other greenhouse gases in phase II (2008–12) and beyond.The Government's proposed amendment to the UK national allocation plan increases the level of effort required from operators covered by the scheme. The allocation of allowances is around 5 per cent below the finalised emission projections in the amended NAP, compared to 0.7 per cent below the provisional projections in the NAP approved in July 2004. This puts the UK ahead of most other member states in terms of effort against business as usual.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many European Union member states have submitted their national allocation plans under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme; and how many have been approved by the European Commission. [HL1522]

All 25 member states have submitted their national allocation plans for phase I (2005–07) of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. The Commission has approved 21 national allocation plans (eight on 7 July 2004, eight on 20 October 2004 and five on 27 December 2004). The Commission has yet to announce decisions on NAPS from Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy and Greece.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What percentage reduction from 1990 levels of carbon dioxide emissions across Europe will be achieved by the national allocation plans for phase 1 of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme that have been submitted so far; and whether this represents satisfactory progress towards the 2012 target set in the Kyoto protocol. [HL1523]

The Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Directive states that prior to 2008, the total quantity of allowances to be allocated shall be consistent with a path towards achieving or overachieving each member state's target under the EC burden sharing agreement (the joint fulfilment of commitments under the EU's Kyoto protocol target) and the Kyoto protocol.The Commission has not published information on progress made by member states in meeting their Kyoto targets. However, the UK Government have commission consultants, Ecofys, critically to analyse member states NAPs within which an assessment of the cap compared to emissions in 1990 has been made. Information on member states on which we have information is detailed in the following table. The information alone is not sufficient to determine accurately what percentage reduction on 1990 levels is being achieved through phase I of EU ETS across the EU as a whole, as information is not available for all member states.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people have been killed or seriously injured on the single carriageway portion of the A3 at Hindhead in each year since 1997. [HL1459]

The figures are as follows:

Year	Killed	Seriously injured
1997	1	2
1998	1	7
1999	0	3
2000	3	5
2001	1	0
2002	1	5
2003	5	8
2004	0	3

The 2004 figures are for the first 10 months of the year only.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many serious accidents there have been on the single carriageway portion of the A3 at Hindhead in each year since 1997. [HL1460]

The figures are as follows:

Year	Number of accidents with killed or seriously injured casualties
1997	3
1998	6
1999	2
2000	5
2001	1
2002	5
2003	7
2004	2

The 2004 figure is for the first 10 months of the year only.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether (a) United Kingdom; (b) European Union; and (c) United States official trade delegations now fly into Ercan airport in Turkish Northern Cyprus; and whether the isolation of Northern Cyprus is likely to decrease following the general election there on 20 February. [HL1451]

I am unable to comment on whether official trade delegations from the EU or the US now fly into Ercan Airport in the north of Cyprus, but I can confirm that no official UK trade delegations have done so.The EU has already made clear its determination to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. We support this and believe that it will make a Cyprus settlement more likely, less costly and easier to consolidate—something that is undoubtedly in the interests of all Cypriots.The Government's objective remains the reunification of Cyprus, and we continue to support all efforts to achieve this aim in a manner that is fair, viable and lasting for the benefit of all Cypriots. We therefore welcome the continued strong support for settlement and re-unification among Turkish Cypriots as reflected in the outcome of their elections on 20 February.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to institutionalise human rights dialogues with partners in the Euro-Mediterranean process during their presidency of the European Union, or otherwise mark the tenth anniversary of the Barcelona declaration. [HL1484]

During the course of 2005, the EU intends to hold human rights sub-committees with all Mediterranean partner countries that have a functioning association agreement: Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Once the EU-Lebanon and EU-Algeria association agreements are ratified, similar structures will come into force. During our EU presidency, we will co-chair any sub-committees that fall under our presidency with the Commission. We also look forward to co-hosting with Spain the Euro-Med 10th anniversary event, scheduled to take place in Barcelona in November.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have assessed the extent to which the principles of equality in geo-strategic relations between the European Union and the United States have been accepted by President Bush on his current visit to the European Union's institutions and heads of government in Brussels. [HL1505]

The visit of President Bush to Europe, so early in his second term, confirmed the importance he attaches to the transatlantic alliance. All leaders agreed on the need for the EU and US to continue to work in partnership on the challenges that face us in the 21st century. As President Bush himself said in his speech in Brussels on 21 February, our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In which countries they believe that slavery is still in existence. [HL1514]

We do not maintain a comprehensive list of countries we think are involved in slavery, either as traditionally understood or in contemporary forms, including people trafficking, child labour and bonded labour. But we do address these issues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Annual Report on Human Rights, which highlights a number of countries where we have particular concerns and describes the actions we are taking in response. Copies of the report are laid before the House and are available in the Library of the House, and may also be found on the FCO website, www.fco.gov.uk.