asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the work of Book Aid International in sub-Saharan Africa. [HL4048]

The Department for International Development (DfID) undertook an independent review of the work of Book Aid International (BAI) in 2006. The review recognised the valuable role of BAI in helping Governments in sub-Saharan Africa to develop library and information services.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What plans the Department for International Development has regarding the future funding of Book Aid International. [HL4049]

Funding is available to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Book Aid International (BAI) through DfID's civil society challenge fund and partnership programme agreements. Although it is recognised that there is strong competition among NGOs for the resources available, BAI has been encouraged to apply for funding under these schemes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How they monitor the ways in which the Border and Immigration Agency handles gender issues; whether they are planning any improvements to current practice; and, if so, what kind of improvements. [HL3992]

The Border and Immigration Agency's approach to gender issues is set out in its three-strand equality scheme, which came into effect on 30 April 2007.

The scheme sets out specific outcomes which must be achieved, and these will be monitored internally. The agency will also collect data to ascertain whether and where avoidable disadvantage occurs as a result of its practices on the grounds of gender. Improvements to current practice will be made when these are identified as necessary, though it is not possible at present to be specific.

The progress of the scheme will be reported annually, and the report published, which will ensure transparency.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their estimate of the extent to which current rates of world deforestation will produce greenhouse gas effect above the long-term ceilings for global warning set out in the Kyoto protocol, expressed in gigatons of supplementary carbon emission. [HL4021]

According to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, deforestation is responsible for the emission of about 5.9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) each year, which represents about 18 per cent of global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. These data highlight the importance of reducing deforestation as part of the global effort to combat climate change.

Developing countries can help to tackle climate change by hosting clean development mechanism projects. Unfortunately, the current scope of the Kyoto Protocol does not allow accreditation of projects that seek to avoid deforestation because of the risk that the deforestation would simply be displaced rather than prevented. However, the UK is working through international negotiations to find a solution that would allow the crediting of projects that aim to avoid deforestation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much coral is imported into the United Kingdom each year; what proportion of the coral they estimate dies in transit; in which regions corals imported into the United Kingdom arrive; and what assessment has been made of the sustainability of those sources. [HL3930]

In 2006, the latest period for which figures are available, some 44,118 pieces of live coral were imported into the UK from outside the European Union. None was recorded as dead. Similarly, 73,907 kilograms of dead coral were imported. Most trade enters via the London airports.

All applications to import hard corals and the one soft coral listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) require the relevant scientific authority to be able to say that,

“the competent scientific authority, after examining available data and considering any opinion from the Scientific Review Group, is of the opinion that the introduction into the Community would not have a harmful effect on the conservation status of the species, or on the extent of the territory occupied by the relevant population of the species, taking account of the current or anticipated level of trade. This opinion shall be valid for subsequent imports as long as the above mentioned aspects have not changed significantly”.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to the comments of the president of the Confederation of British Industry that the United Kingdom infrastructure asset base is contracting through inadequate capital formation. [HL3973]

Public sector net investment (PSNI) includes all public spending on capital after accounting for the depreciation of the asset base. In real terms, PSNI is now at its highest point since 1976-77, increasing from 0.4 per cent of GDP in 2000 to an expected level of 2¼ per cent of GDP in the forthcoming spending review.

Much of this increased investment has been focused on those areas with large amounts of infrastructure in order to address backlogs from previous underinvestment. Between 2001-02 and 2007-08 central government capital expenditure on:

transport has more than trebled, from £1.5 billion to £5 billion;

education has more than doubled, from £1 billion to £2.2 billion;

science and technology has more than doubled, from £280 million to £610 million; and

environmental protection has more than trebled, from £360 million to £1.1 billion.

In addition to increasing public sector investment, the recent planning White Paper outlines new procedures to eliminate barriers or disincentives for private sector investment in infrastructure.

First, Ministers will issue national policy statements about the infrastructure that the country needs for the next 10 to 25 years. Secondly, we are replacing the sometimes overlapping “consent regimes” for major infrastructure projects with a single system. This will provide a clearer and more accessible application process than at present. Thirdly, we propose to create a new, independent infrastructure planning commission to oversee the planning inquiry process on specific major developments and take the final decisions on whether they should go ahead.

These new procedures, set out in the White Paper, and the increase of investment over the past decade will help the public and private sectors to ensure that infrastructure is adequately maintained and expanded over future years to meet the country's social and economic needs.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is their intention, as intimated at Clause 16(5) and (6) of the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, to permit the possibility of reproductive cloning; and [HL3999]

Whether the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill will supersede the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001 by permitting the placing of a human embryo in a woman if the regulator deems that the embryo has undergone a process designed to avoid mitochondrial disease; and in what way this new provision would prevent reproductive cloning. [HL4000]

The Government are committed to a ban on reproductive cloning, and nothing in the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill is intended to permit it. Provisions in the draft Bill, however, supersede the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, which was introduced to prevent reproductive cloning. In updating the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, the draft Bill now prohibits reproductive cloning so the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001 is accordingly repealed.

The Bill has been published in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny by a parliamentary committee. Clause 16(5) introduces new Section 3ZA into the 1990 Act and defines which eggs and embryos can be placed in a woman. Only permitted eggs and embryos can be used in treatment. This excludes embryos created by reproductive cloning techniques.

New Section 3ZA(5) allows for regulations to include, in the category of permitted eggs and/or embryos, those which have had applied to them in prescribed circumstances a prescribed process designed to prevent the transmission of serious mitochondrial disease. Any such regulations would be subject to affirmative resolution in both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the cost of the research commissioned by the Department of Health, and currently being carried out by Thompson Intermedia, to review the changes in the nature and balance of food advertising. [HL3971]

The cost of the 12-month Thompson Intermedia contract is £334,117.01.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What help they are providing to the independent public inquiry into contaminated National Health Service blood products. [HL4002]

Officials met members of the inquiry team on 25 April 2007 to discuss what information the department may be able to provide to the inquiry. We have also made available a recently completed document, Review of Documentation Relating to the Safety of Blood Products 1970-1985 (non-A, non-B Hepatitis), and the supporting references. These documents have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 3 May (WA 236), what plans they have to extend blood cord banking beyond the four National Health Service hospitals currently collecting cord blood to the rest of the United Kingdom; how much of the £10 million allocated thus far has been used; what percentage of this will be used to meet the requirements of the European Union tissue directive; and what plans they have to meet the recommendation of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to consider the future funding of cord blood banks. [HL3858]

To support the clinical need, the number of cord blood donations required in the bank is finite: around 20,000 is the long-term target. Further collection sites will be added if it is necessary to achieve the target stock. All established quality standards and procedures used at the Cord Blood Bank comply with the requirements of the European Union Tissue and Cells Directive (EUTCD). So far, £1 million of the allocated funding has been spent. Separate information is not collected on what percentage of this spend is on the requirements of the EUTCD.

NHS Blood and Transplant is developing strategic and business plans for the funding and development of the British bone marrow registry and the Cord Blood Bank beyond 2009. These are due to be submitted to the department this autumn.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why the Department of Health’s audit review of the alleged shredding by civil servants of documents relating to the supply of infected blood-clotting products to people with haemophilia has not been published; and whether they will now place a copy of this document in the Library of the House and make it available to the independent public inquiry headed by Lord Archer of Sandwell. [HL3935]

The Review of Documentation Relating to the Safety of Blood Products 1970-1985 (non-A, non-B Hepatitis) was issued on 22 May, together with referenced documents. The referenced documents made available include the internal audit report carried out by the department in 2000. These documents have been placed in the Library and made available to the independent public inquiry.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps are being taken to ensure that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on the use of erythropoietin to treat pre-dialysis kidney patients with anaemia are being implemented. [HL3995]

The National Service Framework for Renal Services (Renal NSF) sets out the steps the National Health Service can take to support the delivery of the standards and markers of good practice. Part one of the NSF says that all stakeholders will need to draw upon National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and appraisals. Part two highlights, as a marker of good practice, implementation of the forthcoming, as it was at the time of publication, NICE guideline on the treatment of anaemia in chronic kidney disease. This guidance was published in September 2006. The NHS has to implement the NSF, but it is up to the NHS locally to decide how to do this.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

To what extent the large increase in patients being identified and treated for chronic kidney disease is a result of the general practitioner contract. [HL3996]

The increase in the number of people with chronic kidney disease is likely to be due to a number of factors: better diagnosis by general practitioners since the inclusion of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the quality and outcomes framework, an ageing population and an increase in other illnesses, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which can be associated with CKD.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they intend to increase expenditure on research into kidney disease and its detection and treatment in its early stages given the number of people identified with chronic kidney disease under the kidney disease outcomes quality initiative guidelines. [HL3997]

Implementation of the department's research strategy Best Research for Best Health will result in an expansion of our research programmes and in significant new funding opportunities for health research. In particular, the Hammersmith, St Mary's and Imperial College Biomedical Research Centre, formed this year, proposes to undertake research on renal medicine and transplantation, for which a five-year centrally funded budget of some £6.2 million has been approved. Other biomedical research centres will undertake research on kidney disease and transplantation as part of broader-based research themes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which are the 26 National Health Service trusts that have been given funds to establish separate-sex wards. [HL3870]

No National Health Service trusts have been given funds to establish single-sex wards. A number of trusts have been receiving support from strategic health authorities (SHA) to help eliminate mixed-sex accommodation, but that does not extend to financial support.

Each SHA published a position statement on 10 May 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scotland on 8 January (WA 23), whether the average costs of deportation appeals before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal include the costs of asylum appeals (whether brought against deport decisions or non-deport decisions); what is the average cost of an asylum appeal where the Home Office is represented by (a) a presenting officer, and (b) Treasury counsel; and whether the average costs relate only to a hearing before the tribunal or, in addition to other proceedings, including case management review hearings, other “for mention” hearings, adjourned hearings, and any onward reconsideration applications and hearings. [HL3876]

The average cost of an asylum appeal before the tribunal where the Home Office is represented by a Home Office presenting officer is £2,237. The average cost where the Home Office is represented by Treasury counsel is £3,288. There is no difference between the average cost of a deportation appeal hearing and that of an asylum appeal hearing.

The figures represent an average of all asylum hearings before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal for the past financial year, including the costs incurred by the tribunal and the average cost for providing a presenting officer or Treasury counsel.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are reviewing the level of individual support, including individual supervision, for staff at Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre. [HL3881]

The levels of support and supervision for staff employed by private sector contractors who operate immigration removal centres on behalf of the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) are a matter for the companies concerned.

BIA officials in centres monitor staffing levels to ensure that the minimum requirements for each centre are met. Performance measurement mechanisms are in place to impose performance points where staffing levels are not met and result in financial deductions from the contractor's operating fees.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have encouraged the Government of Iraq to clarify the status of Palestinians in Iraq who have been victims of persecution, and to permit access to them from international agencies; and what humanitarian assistance the United Kingdom has provided. [HL3846]

We are in close contact with our international partners and aid agencies regarding the situation for displaced peoples both in Iraq and in neighbouring countries, including the Palestinian community, which the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates to number about 15,000.

In 2007, DfID has contributed £7 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support vulnerable groups, including displaced Iraqis and Palestinians living in Iraq. Both the UNHCR and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) are also providing support to Palestinians living in refugee camps on the Iraq-Syria border. In 2007, we have contributed £1.5 million to the UNHCR regional appeal and £15 million for UNRWA’s work among refugees in the Middle East.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many refugees from Iraq are now in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon; and what humanitarian assistance the United Kingdom has provided to them. [HL3847]

According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) there are 750,000 Iraqis currently in Jordan, 1.2 million in Syria and 40,000 in Lebanon.

In January, the UNHCR launched a $60 million appeal to address the influx of refugees into Iraq’s neighbouring countries and the plight of displaced people inside Iraq. DfID has contributed £1.5 million to this appeal, part of a £10 million package that we have spent on humanitarian assistance in Iraq in 2007. This contribution will help provide food, shelter, water and sanitation and legal protection mechanisms for Iraqi refugees across the region. This appeal is now fully funded. Since 2003, DfID has provided over £125 million in humanitarian assistance to Iraq.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the benefits of moving from quantification of the value of individual ecosystem services to quantification of the aggregated value of a range of services provided by different ecosystems; and what research they have commissioned to facilitate this calculation. [HL3921]

The Government have commissioned several scoping studies exploring ways of valuing ecosystem services and which valuation techniques are most appropriate under different circumstances. Defra, the lead department, has identified a range of situations where aggregation of ecosystem services valuation will be important, including:

when considering the multifunctional benefits at a given site or when calculating the likely changes in site values under different options in a decision; and

development of national accounting processes that look at the aggregate value of natural capital in adjusted measures of economic prosperity.

A current project, entitled An Assessment of the Economic Value of England's Terrestrial Ecosystem Services, aims to provide evidence on the economic value of England’s terrestrial ecosystem services that demonstrates the multi-functional values of ecosystems. This builds on a related project which is developing a methodology for analysing the state and trends of England's ecosystem services. Key outputs of this study will be an investigation of methodologies for combining and aggregating, both spatially and temporally, values based on different valuation techniques, and assessments of the suitability of existing studies for benefits transfer. This study should provide an assessment of the strength and gaps in the evidence base across England's ecosystem services, which will enable better targeting of future research to reduce the uncertainties in valuation of ecosystem services.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in the light of the United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, it is the responsibility of Governments to encourage the sustainable domestic stocking of animals such as fish and corals in order to maintain the value of ecosystem services of wild populations for future generations. [HL3922]

Under certain controlled circumstances, restocking of freshwater fish will help to maintain and improve an ecosystem. However, it is not a panacea, and great care must be taken that species are matched to the right ecosystem and that harmful non-native species are not inadvertently introduced. Improvement of the aquatic environment is often a more sustainable course of action than stocking. Permission to introduce any fish into English or Welsh inland waters must be sought from the Environment Agency, prior to their introduction.

In Scotland, in any salmon fishery district for which there is a district salmon fishery board, it is necessary for a person to obtain written permission of the board before introducing any salmon to inland waters in the district.

When it is brought into force, the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007 will make provisions for the regulation, by order of Scottish Ministers, of introductions of fish to certain marine waters for the purposes of preventing those waters becoming infected. The 2007 Act will also make it an offence for any person to intentionally introduce live fish or the live spawn of fish into inland waters, or be in possession of such fish or spawn with the intention of introducing them to inland waters, without permission of the appropriate authority. Where the fish are salmon, and the waters are in a district for which there is a district salmon fishery board, the Act specifies that the authority shall be the relevant district salmon fishery board, replacing the current provisions. Where the fish are salmon but there is no board, or where the fish are other than salmon, the appropriate authority is the Scottish Ministers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the value of ecosystem services of marine wildlife such as corals and tropical fish; and whether this value is being eroded by the trade in wild-caught specimens. [HL3923]

No assessment has been made of the value of ecosystem services or whether it is being eroded by the trade in wild-caught specimens. The Government commissioned a study, Marine Biodiversity: An Economic Valuation, as part of the evidence-base building process for the Marine Bill. It provides examples of marine biodiversity value, but such values are not identified or attributed specifically to trade in wild-caught specimens.

The effects of trade on specific corals and tropical fish are due to be discussed at the forthcoming 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in the Hague between 3 and 15 June. Those discussions will focus on data concerning trade volumes and the specific threats they pose for the conservation of the species concerned in the wild. The proposals, however, include information and references to studies, where they have occurred, into the species’ role within its ecosystem, and the threats they face, including but not limited to trade. CoP14, proposal 19 concerns the Banggai cardinalfish, while proposal 21 concerns 26 species of corrallium.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham on 20 April (WA 103), how detailed quantity surveyors’ estimates were conducted as part of the funding negotiations for the 2012 Olympics, given the cost uncertainties and other uncertainties inherent in Lord Davies of Oldham's answer on 1 May (Official Report, col. 957) that decisions on the design of the Olympic stadium are to be taken by the Olympic board over the next two to three months.[HL3577]

The design of Olympic venues is following a standard Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) staged development process. At each stage, an appropriate level of cost analysis is being undertaken to reflect the stage of design and to provide the cost estimate for the project. All the estimates include contingency to allow for the impact of potential design changes.

The current exercise, which is being overseen by the Olympic board, will complete the design work, reviewing the brief against proposals for legacy use, costs and timetable within the boundaries of the candidate file and costs review. The result will be a more detailed design and a more detailed cost analysis.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in the Home Office will install an answer-phone service at its Liverpool office for the benefit of people applying for new passports. [HL3859]

The Liverpool office of the Border and Immigration Agency has improved access to its services, opening from 9 am to 9 pm. The office does not deal with new passport applications but helps customers calling about immigration or citizenship applications, including returns of documents such as overseas national passports. There are no plans to extend the service further.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether up-to-date procedures in the Home Office will prevent the failure to pass on 27,500 DNA crime profiles to the police between 1995 and 2004, as revealed in the latest DNA database annual report. [HL3985]

In July 2005, the Forensic Science Service, which was at the time a Home Office agency, identified 26,138 profiles from individuals which had been returned to it by the National DNA Database (NDNAD) between 1995 and 2004 but which it had not then actioned. By January 2006 all these had been loaded to the NDNAD or otherwise dealt with.

The new procedure adopted since this event, as reported in the NDNAD annual report for 2005-06, is that all forensic laboratories which process individual profiles for police forces in England and Wales are now required to send weekly and monthly lists to the NDNAD data quality and integrity team (DQIT) of their individual profile records which have failed to load to the NDNAD. The DQIT checks these against PNC and returns the required information to the laboratory to assist in their resolution and resubmission of the load failures in a timely manner. The DQIT presents a quarterly trend report to the NDNAD operations group, chaired by an ACPO rank police officer, which shows the load failure rate.

The Government are satisfied that these changes will prevent any substantial backlog of unprocessed load failures building up in future.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much each driver will be expected to pay per mile under the proposed road pricing pilot scheme; and [HL3988]

Why they propose that the road pricing pilot schemes can be extended indefinitely; and [HL3989]

How many road pricing schemes they intend to set up nationally. [HL3990]

No decisions have been taken on whether to introduce a national road pricing scheme. As a result, no decision has been made on the form of any scheme. In the first instance, the Government are working with interested local authorities to bring forward local schemes as local solutions to local problems.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have expressed support for the decision of the Government of Australia to order the Australian Cricket Board to cancel the Australian team's tour of Zimbabwe; and whether they will take similar action with the England and Wales Cricket Board in the future.[HL3872]

The Government note with interest the decision by the Australian Government to threaten to ban the Australian cricket team from playing in Zimbabwe later this year.

Both the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wrote to Ehsan Mani, president of the International Cricket Council, in 2005 asking whether the ICC could reflect on the current situation and take a view on whether it sees international cricket fixtures against Zimbabwe as appropriate while such widespread human rights abuses are taking place.

An England and Wales Cricket Board team is not due to travel to Zimbabwe until 2012, and we will be discussing the tour with the ECB closer to the time.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether there is an amnesty for United Kingdom taxpayers in respect of individuals’ and companies’ income and gains that have not been brought into account for United Kingdom tax purposes; if so, when it expires; and what instructions have been given to HM Revenue and Customs as to the application of penalties and interest. [HL4016]

HM Revenue and Customs has introduced arrangements so that offshore account holders can disclose any income and gains not previously included in their tax returns. The arrangements are open to individuals and companies.

The deadline for notifying HMRC of the intention to make a disclosure is 22 June 2007. Those intending to make a disclosure then have until 26 November 2007 to submit a full disclosure and payment.

The principle of penalty mitigation for those who make disclosures is well established and, for those who meet the terms of the offshore disclosure arrangement, the penalty will be 10 per cent of the taxes underpaid. These arrangements are not an amnesty, because tax, interest and penalties are all payable.

In addition, to ensure fairness, persons who approach an HMRC office by 22 June 2007 to make a disclosure that does not involve an offshore account will receive the same treatment as is available under the offshore arrangements.

Further information is available online at https://disclosures.hmrc.gov.uk or from the dedicated helpline: 0845 302 1401.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their estimate of the cost of capital equipment invested in automatic number plate registration technology nationally from 1993 to the current date by both the police and the Home Office. [HL4001]

The Home Office has, since 1993, made a total capital investment of £37.15 million for the police use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

Police forces are responsible for managing their own budgets and expenditure therefore it is not possible to state how much capital they have invested in ANPR during the same period.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2 May on rail and water freight grants (WA 226-7), how much company neutral revenue support, track access grant, the rail environmental benefit procurement scheme and freight facilities grant were paid and to which companies during 2006-07. [HL4024]

The table below outlines the total payments of grant made through the company neutral revenue support, freight facilities grant and track access grant schemes during 2006-07. No payments were made through the rail environmental benefit procurement scheme during 2006-07 as it only came into operation from 1 April 2007.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the risks to human health, food standards and the world environment posed by the use by the state-controlled cotton sector in Uzbekistan of organophosphate defoliant butifos and other toxic chemicals, described in the Environmental Justice Foundation's report The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton. [HL3902]

We have not made any assessment of the risks to human health posed by the use of organophosphate defoliant butifos and other toxic chemicals in Uzbekistan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Environmental Protection Agency produces a standard for the residue of anaerobic digesters which can be sold; and whether that product still falls under the waste disposal regulations. [HL4062]

The Environment Agency (EA) is currently developing a standard for anaerobic digestate, with a view to providing greater regulatory certainty on the issue of when this material has been fully recovered and has ceased to be waste for the purposes of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD). The EA is the main competent authority for the purposes of implementing the WFD in England and Wales.