asked Her Majesty's Government:

Following BE (Iran) v Secretary of State for the Home Department ([2008] EWCA Civ 540), whether they will issue an asylum policy instruction stating that when an asylum seeker has deserted the Armed Forces of a state rather than committed abuse of human rights under orders, a fear of persecution for holding political opinions is established, regardless of the punishment that faces him. [HL4529]

The UK Border Agency is considering the effect of the Court of Appeal's judgment and the guidance to be issued to decision-makers as a result.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they will make an announcement on the control of bovine tuberculosis and a possible badger cull. [HL4628]

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State (Hilary Benn) announced on 7 July that Defra’s policy will be not to issue any licences to farmers to cull badgers to prevent bovine TB.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many beaches in the north-west of England did not achieve Blue Flag status in 2008. [HL4575]

Eighty-two English beaches received the Blue Flag award for 2008. No beaches from the north-west region applied for the award.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What funding was allocated into honeybee disease research in each of the past seven years. [HL4626]

I refer the noble Baroness to the reply given to the honourable Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 3 June, (Official Report, col. 855W.)

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 30 June (WA 2) concerning the cost of naturalisation as a British citizen, whether there were any instances in which the fee for naturalisation was not levied in the past 10 years. [HL4597]

No. Prior to its amendment by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, the British Nationality Act 1981 provided that a certificate of naturalisation could not be granted to any person who had not paid the prescribed fee. The current law renders invalid any application for a certificate of naturalisation that is not at the outset accompanied by the appropriate fee.

asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham on 23 June (WA 204–5) concerning revenue lost due to fuel laundering in Northern Ireland, why the report was lodged only in the House of Commons Library; why the figures requested were not published in the Official Report; and what “PBR” stands for. [HL4508]

The document concerned was provided to the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament and was also made available to Members of the House of Lords through the Printed Paper Office at the time of the October 2007 Pre-Budget Report (PBR).

The most recent published figures for both the petrol and diesel revenue not collected in Northern Ireland are given in the tables below. The revenue not collected relates to both illicit consumption and legitimate cross-border shopping. It is not currently possible to distinguish between these two elements.

¹ Figures are rounded to the nearest £10 million or 1 per cent.

² Estimates include duty and VAT.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why cyclists were banned from cycling through the car park at the west end of Serpentine Road in Hyde Park on 2 July unless they were in possession of a disabled driver's badge. [HL4592]

The Triangle car park to the west of the Serpentine Road is reserved for disabled badge holders on days when there are major events in Hyde Park. This is to allow good accessibility for people with disabilities. The car park remains open to cyclists.

A steward is employed at the car park on events days to control access of non-badge holders. Cyclists should not be stopped and the Royal Parks Agency will remind those stewards on duty at the car park of this.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs research sections have been closed in each of the past 10 years; and when. [HL4629]

None of Defra’s research teams or divisions has been closed. Inevitably there has been reorganisation of science management over the past 10 years, not least due to the formation of Defra in 2001 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). More recently, there have been some significant changes within Defra, which have led to the formation of policy groups for food and farming, the natural environment, and climate change.

Additionally, in line with recommendations from the 2004 Gershon review, there have been reductions in the total number of Defra staff, including specialist staff. Defra's research and development budget has also fallen over recent years.

These changes will obviously have an impact on the number and type of research projects that Defra is able to commission.

Our focus will continue to be on ensuring that the science the department procures and uses is both fully relevant to our needs and of the highest quality.

The Defra chief scientific adviser, Professor Bob Watson, is leading efforts to improve how Defra strategically manages and uses evidence, including scientific research and development.

asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Which department has responsibility for ensuring compliance with Article 9 (access to justice) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, ratified by the United Kingdom in February 2005. [HL4576]

Defra has overall responsibility for related legislation and compliance with the convention.

asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham on 4 June (WA 57–8), whether the extra funding for flood recovery will be available only for damage to public sector buildings. [HL4456]

The Government have been able to make available an additional £31 million to assist flood-affected areas following a successful bid to the European Union Solidarity Fund. Local authorities that receive a restoration fund grant will have the discretion to spend their allocation as they see fit, according to their local priorities. They may well choose to make payments to third parties, but this will be a decision made at a local level.

The Government will make announcements shortly on how the fund is to be allocated.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many foreign nationals have been excluded from entering the United Kingdom on grounds of (a) national security, and (b) unacceptable behaviour in each year since July 2006. [HL4543]

Between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2007, 105 foreign nationals were excluded from the United Kingdom on national security grounds and a further 23 were excluded on unacceptable behaviour grounds.

Between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2008, 18 foreign nationals were excluded on national security grounds and a further 18 were excluded on unacceptable behaviour grounds.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much revenue was generated for the Exchequer from vehicle fuel duty in each year from 1997–98 to 2007–08; and how much revenue they estimate will be generated in each year from 2008–09 to 2010–11. [HL4309]

Historic excise duty from road fuels revenues in previous years are published in the Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin. The full bulletin can be found at: www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=bulloil.

The forecast revenue from fuel duty for 2008-09 is £25.7 billion. This is published in table C.6 of the 2008 financial statement and Budget report. The full table can be found at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget/budget_08/report/bud_bud08_repindex.cfm.

Forecast receipts from road fuel duty are £27.1 billion in 2009-10 and £28.7 billion in 2010-11.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer from Lord Darzi of Denham on 2 June (WA 14) concerning strategic health authorities and the objectives in the service level agreements attached to the multi-professional education and training levy for 2007–08, whether the information requested is now available. [HL4556]

The information requested is still not available but should be available at the end of July. This information will be placed in the Library in due course.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 25 June (WA 253) concerning 34 Questions on human rights, whether the letter containing the Answers will be printed in the Official Report; if not, why not; and when they will answer the Questions. [HL4507]

I refer the noble Lord to my previous Answer on 25 June 2008 (Official Report, col. WA 253). I shall write to him before the House rises for the summer.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many responses were received to the public consultation on the proposed eco-town at Elsenham; and what proportion of these were (a) in favour of, and (b) against, the proposals. [HL4453]

We have received a range of representations on Elsenham and all the shortlisted locations during the consultation on Eco-town: Living a greener future, and will issue our response to the consultation with a summary of comments received in due course.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 19 June (WA 197) concerning the disproportionate cost of answering Written Questions, why the current level is set at £700; and when that figure was set. [HL4664]

Since 1991 the disproportionate cost threshold (DCT) has been set at eight times the average marginal cost of answering Written Parliamentary Questions, marginal cost being taken as the direct cost of civil servants' time. Average marginal cost is based on a one-month sample of all Written parliamentary Questions answered by those departments with the highest volume of questions. Such samples are taken on a quinquennial basis, the next being due in 2009. In years between quinquennial samples, the Treasury applies indexation to the DCT, but only increases it in £50 steps to avoid the need for frequent small changes. The DCT has been set at £700 since the last such increase, in November 2006.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they take into account unacceptable tax planning and behaviours, as set out in HM Revenue and Customs' Varney report, in determining public procurement policy; and, if not, whether they will consider how this could be done. [HL4521]

Public procurement is regulated by the Public Contracts Regulations, which implement the EU Public Procurement Directive. The regulations contain provisions that allow public authorities to seek information on bidders' tax payments and to exclude them if they have not met their obligations.

Advice has also been given to purchasing authorities that they may make it a contract condition, notified in advance when advertising the contract, that the successful bidder will be prohibited from using particular tax arrangements, including offshore tax havens, provided such a restriction would not discriminate against other bidders from the EU and other countries which have access agreements under the World Trade Organisation government procurement agreement.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

In what circumstances they deport Darfuri asylum seekers to Sudan; what assessment they have made of the likely treatment of such asylum seekers by the Sudanese authorities on their return; how many have been returned in the past six months; and how many are scheduled for deportation in the near future. [HL4524]

We only remove those asylum seekers who have been found not to be in need of international protection.

Allegations of mistreatment of non-Arab Darfuri returnees to Sudan contained within a recent Aegis Trust report have been carefully investigated. No evidence has been found to establish that unsuccessful non-Arab Darfuri asylum seekers are at real risk of mistreatment by the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum upon their return there from the United Kingdom.

Between October 2007 and March 2008, the latest six-month period for which published figures are available, 15 Sudanese principal asylum applicants were removed to Sudan. Of these, 10 left under assisted voluntary return programmes and five were persons refused entry at port and subsequently removed (including cases dealt with at juxtaposed controls), persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them and those who, it is established, have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities.

Figures are rounded to the nearest five and are provisional. It is not possible to say, within these statistics, how many were from the Darfur region of Sudan.

Details of how many are scheduled for removal in the near future could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual records, at disproportionate cost.

asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 4 June (WA 66), whether they are aware that the solicitors representing the Environment Agency Wales now claim that they have never been in receipt of any of Mr Gowan’s original documents; and whether they can explain what has happened to Mr Gowan’s documents and other data sent by Mr Gowan to the Environment Agency Wales between January 2006 and August 2007. [HL4479]

I have been informed by Environment Agency Wales that it is aware that its solicitors stated that they had not been in receipt of Mr Gowan’s original documents. This is not correct, and they have subsequently retracted this statement.

The original documents received from Mr Gowan were returned to him by the solicitors representing Environment Agency Wales in December 2007. All copies of those documents were destroyed on Mr Gowan's instructions.