asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is (a) the estimated cost in 2009-10 of extending child benefit to mothers-to-be from week 29 of their pregnancy; and (b) where in table B4 of the Pre Budget Report published in December 2006 such costs are to be found. [HL1569]

The estimated cost of the extension of child benefit to mothers-to-be from week 29 of their pregnancy is £120 million in 2009-10. It was not published in documents relating to the Pre-Budget Report 2006. I refer the noble Baroness to paragraph B.33 in the Pre-Budget Report 2006.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they will ratify the optional protocol of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibiting the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. [HL1559]

The Government made clear that, before we could ratify the optional protocol, it would be necessary to conduct a thorough assessment to ensure that the measures needed to comply with it had been established. This assessment has been carried out and we are now in a position to commence the process of ratification. Steps are being taken to ensure this process is commenced as soon as possible.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why they are disbanding the Assets Recovery Agency in Northern Ireland. [HL1383]

The Government believe that there are operational advantages in bringing together the work of the Assets Recovery Agency and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Nothing in the new proposals set out in the Serious Crime Bill will take away from our efforts in tackling organised crime in Northern Ireland through the recovery of assets. Our aim is that it will improve and enhance our efforts to do so. In recognition of the high profile, public confidence and success achieved by ARA in Northern Ireland in tackling organised crime and dealing with organised criminals, SOCA will have a designated officer responsible for asset recovery work in Northern Ireland, and there will be no diminution in the resources available for assets recovery work there.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many offences were committed in England and Wales by individuals from other member states of the European Union in each of the past five years, broken down by the country of origin of the individuals. [HL1312]

The latest available information was set out in the Home Secretary's Statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the level of gun crime has increased over the past year. [HL1079]

Provisional figures for recorded crimes involving firearms other than air weapons for the 12 months to September 2006 (released on 25 January 2007) showed 9,728 firearms offences in that period. This was a decrease of 1,643 offences, or 14 per cent, compared with the previous 12 months. Firearms are taken to be involved in an offence if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person, or used in a threat.

In the year to September 2006 the provisional figures also showed a fall of 9 per cent in the number of serious injuries involving firearms, and 29 per cent in the number of slight injuries. The provisional figures showed a 10 per cent fall in the use of handguns.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many cases dealing with the issue of rape were referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in each year since its establishment. [HL1254]

The Criminal Cases Review Commission has provided the data below. Data are not available prior to 2002 because the offence data held are incomplete. Generally, the commission receives applications not referrals.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether in any review of the law they will examine the arrangements for the disclosure of the sums paid in compensation by the criminal cases compensation authority to false accusers of rape. [HL1654]

We have no plans to change the law in this regard, but are keeping the matter under review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the accusers in the cases of Warren Blackwell and Leslie Warren are being treated as victims by the criminal cases compensation authority in the payment of compensation. [HL1655]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 23 January (col. WA 219). The CICA cannot release any information as to whether any applications for criminal injuries compensation have been made in the cases of Leslie Warren and Warren Blackwell.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

At what stages during and after the investigation of a rape case and the trial of a person accused of the offence the DNA of the accuser, taken for elimination purposes, can be destroyed. [HL1656]

A DNA sample taken from a victim of rape for elimination purposes would normally be kept until the end of a trial. It may then be destroyed. The DNA profile from the sample cannot be loaded on to the National DNA Database unless the victim has given specific written consent for this.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are aware of, or have commissioned research into, the relative efficacy of flashing and non-flashing lamps on cycles; and whether they will take this into account when formulating advice given in the revised edition of the Highway Code. [HL1665]

The Department for Transport commissioned research from ICE Ergonomics Ltd to compare the relative conspicuity of flashing and non-flashing cycle lamps.

The research concluded that, while flashing lamps do not improve conspicuity relative to steady lamps, neither do they impair it. Following public consultation, an amendment was made in 2005 to the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 to permit the use of flashing lamps on pedal cycles.

The revised edition of the Highway Code, due to be issued in mid-2007, will refer to the use of flashing lamps on pedal cycles, explaining that they are permitted, but recommending that, where there are no street lights, a steady light be used at the front of a pedal cycle.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in the light of the judgment in the City of Westminster magistrates’ court on 22 January in Regina v Brian Haw, they will amend legislation concerning public demonstrations. [HL1584]

We are considering the implications of the judgment carefully. I understand that in the light of the judge’s ruling, the Assistant Commissioner has re-imposed conditions on Mr Haw.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How they will vote on any proposal from the German presidency of the European Union or any other European Union member state to make holocaust denial a criminal offence throughout the European Union.[HL1444]

We will carefully consider the full text of any proposal and its implications for the UK.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What stage of development each of the proposed enrolment centres for the national identity register has reached; and where they have been sited. [HL1635]

At present, the planning for the enrolment network for the national identity register remains at a high level and on a national basis. Detailed planning for implementation at individual locations will take place in due course. However, the Identity and Passport Service is already putting in place an extended local office network in order to meet and interview first-time applicants for passports and to prepare for recording biometrics for passports and identity cards in due course. This network consists of 69 offices throughout the UK in the following proposed locations:

Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, Andover, Armagh, Barnstaple, Belfast, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Birmingham, Blackburn, Boston, Bournemouth, Bristol, Bury St. Edmunds, Camborne, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Coleraine, Crawley, Derby, Dover, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh, Exeter, Galashiels, Glasgow, Hastings, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Kendal, Kilmarnock, King’s Lynn, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool, London, Luton, Maidstone, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Newport, Newport (Isle of Wight), Northallerton, Northampton, Norwich, Oban, Omagh, Oxford, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Scarborough, Shrewsbury, Sheffield, St Austell, Stirling, Stoke-on-Trent, Swansea, Swindon, Warwick, Wick, Wrexham, Yeovil and York.

These offices will open in 2007 and the local office network will subsequently be used as the basis for the national identity scheme. Where the network of enrolment centres needs to be further expanded, we will first seek to use high street offices that are already used by central and local government. We will also look at options for the private sector providing outlets. The extent to which this will be done and the offices involved will be determined following further analysis of the needs of the scheme.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the date after which individuals will have to provide information for the national identity register when they renew their passports. [HL1636]

It is currently planned that the first identity cards will be issued to British citizens in 2009. However, those applying to renew British passports will be required to provide information for registration on the national identity register only once a passport becomes a designated document under Section 4 of the Identity Cards Act 2006. No precise date has yet been set for the designation of a passport which would be subject to secondary legislation under the Identity Cards Act 2006.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether discrimination against Dalits was discussed at the European Union-India Human Rights dialogue in December 2006 and at the last European Union Troika-India consultations on human rights; what progress by the Government of India was recorded; and what position they have taken at these meetings. [HL1651]

The issue of minorities, including Dalits, was discussed at the last EU (Troika)-India human rights dialogue meeting in New Delhi on 12 December 2006. Both sides agreed to continue discussions on this issue and have agreed to organise a seminar in New Delhi in March 2007 on the discrimination faced by various minority groups in both the EU and India.

The UK did not take part directly in the above meeting, but shares the concern of others about discrimination against Dalits and continues to press for their equal treatment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received representations from the public advocating a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq; and, if so, what response they have made. [HL1638]

I can confirm that we have received representations from the public advocating a withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. Equally, we have received representations stressing the need for British troops to remain in Iraq until their task is complete. Our response has been consistent. The withdrawal of British troops will not be driven by arbitrary timetables. We will leave once the conditions are right; that is when we, the Iraqi Government and our coalition partners are confident that the Iraqi security forces can operate without our support.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What systems of consultation they will use with the general public in relation to any proposals for new unitary authorities which they take forward for consideration. [HL1347]

It was up to councils to provide details of public support in their proposals. During the consultation on those proposals that we are preliminarily minded to implement, it will be open to anyone to make representations about them. We intend to hold such consultation between the end of March and end of June 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham on 22 January (WA 206), in what way the 10 Millennium Commission documents destroyed in the Iron Mountain fire in July 2006 contained references to the Millennium Dome; and with what subjects those documents were concerned. [HL1662]

They each had file references or titles relating to the Millennium Experience, most of which took place at the Millennium Dome, or the New Millennium Experience Company, which built and operated the Millennium Dome. It is not known exactly what information the documents contained but the document titles were as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What presents, gifts or mementoes purchased with public funds the Prime Minister has given to foreign dignitaries either while overseas or within the United Kingdom in the past year; and, in each case, what was the name of the recipient, the nature of the gift and its approximate value. [HL1501]

The Government will be publishing a list of gifts given by Ministers since 2001 costing over £140 and the name of the recipient, as soon as possible after the end of the current financial year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations they have received on the concerns of local voluntary organisations that costs to the National Lottery of funding the 2012 London Olympics could affect assistance for those organisations; what replies they are sending; and what action they will be taking. [HL1586]

We have received a number of representations from local voluntary organisations on concerns that costs to the National Lottery of funding the 2012 London Olympics could affect assistance to their organisation. We will be responding individually to the correspondence received and will be giving this careful consideration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether there is evidence to support claims in the Evening Standard on 24 November 2006 that radioactive waste in 40 gallon drums has been buried on the Olympic Park; if so, what are the contents of the drums; and from where did they originate. [HL1507]

Information about the potential for radioactive contamination to have been buried under a specific part of the Olympic Park site is referred to in an internal memo by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority in 1972, following information received from the London Borough of Newham. The memo referred to “radioactive material” of,

“brickwork, metal etc. from a local factory contaminated by an isotope of Thorium with some derivatives”,

buried in 40 gallon drums, with an attached plan showing an “approximate” position in an area formerly used as a waste tip area.

A 1994 study (by WS Atkins on behalf of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority) was commissioned to assess radiological contamination risk in a small area of the Eastway Cycle Circuit identified in the 1972 memo. This concluded that there was no positive indication of the existence of the reported levels of buried radioactive material. The only elevated levels of radioactive activity were localised and attributed to the presence of varying lumps of granite and fuel ash.

The results of the 1994 survey were provided to HM Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Both organisations reviewed the findings and neither identifies the need for further work.

When this information came to light in July 2006 the London Development Agency reviewed all of the documentation available including the report and correspondence mentioned above and consulted the borough environmental health officer and the Health and Safety Executive, both of whom were satisfied that no immediate action was required. At the point when this area needs to be disturbed for remediation purposes the Health and Safety Executive and other regulatory bodies will be consulted. This work is not scheduled to happen until after July 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will take steps to ensure that the UK Passport Agency is informed of the reception into prison of any convicted persons who are United Kingdom citizens and is also informed of the final discharge of such persons. [HL1353]

The role of the Identity and Passport Service (which has succeeded the UK Passport Agency) is to issue passports to British nationals who are in the UK. In most cases there would be no purpose in notifying IPS of the reception and discharge of prisoners because having served a prison sentence is not a bar to holding a passport. Arrangements have been made for IPS to be notified of the release in the UK of prisoners subject to travel restriction orders (which are available to the courts when sentencing drug offenders to four years’ or more imprisonment).

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 26 January (WA 267), why the Home Office did not answer the Question asked by Lord Jopling. [HL1708]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 26 January (WA 267).

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will make widely available the results of the pilot scheme in the north-west region for new styles and methods for managing and resettling offenders sentenced to prison, together with their assessment of the problems and possibilities arising from the pilot. [HL1082]

The findings from the action research, which was the first stage of the evaluation strategy for the North-West Offender Management Pathfinder, have already been published and are available on the Home Office website at www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsoir3205.pdf.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the statement by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on 20 July 2006 (HC Deb, col. 473) that vulnerable women should not be in prison, what is their estimate of the number of vulnerable women currently in prison. [HL1221]

It is not possible to put a figure on the number of vulnerable women in prison. There are women in prison who may be considered vulnerable for a number of reasons, such as mental health problems, drug addiction, histories of abuse and victimisation or who are at risk of self-harm or suicide.

The Government want to ensure that custody is used only for women offenders who really need to be there because of the seriousness of their offending or because they present a risk. That is why we are taking forward the women's offending reduction programme which focuses on improving community-based services and interventions to support greater use of community sentences wherever possible. This includes the £9.15 million we are investing in new initiatives to demonstrate how an integrated multi-agency approach in the community can be more effective at tackling the multiple needs of women offenders and avoid the use of custody.

The noble Baroness, Lady Corston, is completing her Review of Women in the Criminal Justice System with Particular Vulnerabilities which may suggest further action that could be taken to prevent women with vulnerabilities ending up in prison.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the photographs of Jason Croft and Michael Nixon, who absconded from Sudbury open prison, which were released to the media on 5 January, met Home Office quality standards specified for photographs of convicted prisoners; and, if so, what steps they propose to raise the quality of such photographs. [HL1152]

There are no minimum standards or quality thresholds for the provision to police of prisoners’ photographs when they escape or abscond. The governor of Sudbury prison has confirmed that the photographs of the two absconders provided to the police were of good quality.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they expect to provide Answers to Questions HL184–HL188, tabled on 20 November 2006. [HL1195]

I refer the noble Lord to the Answers given on 15 January (WA 124-26).

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the recent regulatory impact assessment into the workings of the Security Industry Authority examined the option of reducing operational costs to achieve greater economy and increased efficiency, rather than raising the licence application fee by over 30 per cent. [HL1504]

A regulatory impact assessment (RIA) on the SIA licence fee was published on 12 January. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is expected to be self-funding through the income received from licence fees.

The proposed new licence fee of £245 is an increase of 29 per cent over the current fee of £190, and was calculated by the SIA on the basis of the forecast licensable population and operational expenditure for 2007-08 and 2008-09. The SIA has reduced its costs—for example, by reducing its workforce by 30 per cent and moving to new, cheaper offices. The SIA’s cost-saving measures have reduced the initial fee increase forecast of £281 by £36 to £245.

The proposed fee increase is conditional upon the making of a Section 102 order under the Finance (No. 2) Act 1987, followed by the appropriate negative regulations under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The updated regulatory impact assessment on the SIA licence fee increase can be found on the Home Office website at www.home office.gov.uk/documents/ria-sia-industry-licence-fee/.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the imposition of a 30 per cent rise in the licence application fee on employees in the private security industry imposes a disproportional burden on those employees. [HL1505]

The 29 per cent proposed increase in the SIA’s licence fee from £190 to £245 was announced on 12 January. It is intended that the increase will come into force from 6 April, conditional upon the making of the necessary secondary legislation. This will be the first increase in the SIA licence fee since the SIA was set up nearly four years ago. The proposed increase takes into account inflation over the last three years and the next two years, the latest estimates about the SIA’s expenditure and the size of the licensable population.

It is considered that in terms of overall costs of licensing this fee increase does not impose a disproportionate burden on the industry. Further information about the SIA licence fee increase can be found in the updated regulatory impact assessment on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ria-sia-industry-licence-fee/.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What long-term lessons have been learned by the United Kingdom maritime and coastal supervision authorities from the MSC “Napoli” accident off Branscombe Beach. [HL1677]

Given that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and other authorities are continuing to deal with the salvage of the MSC “Napoli”, it is still too early to make definitive statements about future lessons at this time.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many 50-metre long swimming pools are available for public use in the United Kingdom; and where each is located. [HL1509]

There are currently 41 50-metre swimming pools available for public use in the UK. The table details where they are located.

A further three 50-metre indoor pools in Sunderland, Leeds and Liverpool are under construction and another in Portsmouth is at the planning stage.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will give an assurance that the digital switchover will not lead to extra difficulties for deaf and hard of hearing and visually impaired people in receiving or accessing television access services.[HL1588]

Digital switchover should bring advantages to those who are deaf, hard of hearing or visually impaired. For example, digital television offers subtitling and enhancements such as audio description, the latter being unavailable on analogue television services.