---

Public Record Office

Lord Denning asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Answer of Earl Howe on 25th July (col. WA 165), what is the "framework document" and whether it has been authorised by Parliament or has some other authority; what is the agency referred to in the Answer and whether it is what is called by government departments an "executive agency" and, if so, what is the authority of such an agency.

Earl Howe: The agency referred to is Property Advisers to the Civil Estate also known as PACE. It is an Executive Agency of the Office of Public Service and reports to my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Its main aims are to enable departments to achieve best value for money in the management of their property assets by providing advisory and co-ordination services, and to carry out residual functions of disposing of inherited vacant property and collecting opportunity cost rents.

The agency's framework document, to which the answer referred, lists these aims and its objectives and describes its accountability to Ministers and to Parliament. When the agency was established on 1st April this year my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster placed copies of this framework document in the Libraries of the House.

Determining the future use of the Public Record Office falls to PACE because the building is among those temporarily owned by the agency under its residual responsibility for vacant property.

Woolf Report Recommendations: Implementation

Lord Peyton of Yeovil asked Her Majesty's Government:

What plans have been made for the implementation of Lord Woolf's Final Report on Access to Justice.

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern): I have today placed in the Library a copy of my strategy for implementing Lord Woolf's recommendations. The strategy proposes that the major elements of the reforms, the Fast Track, the Multi Track and the new costs regime, will be in place by October 1998. The new Civil Procedure Rules to underpin these changes will also be in place in time for implementation.

Coastal Zone Management

Baroness Berners asked Her Majesty's Government:

When it will issue the proposed best practice guide for coastal zone management.

The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Earl Ferrers): The Department of the Environment has today published Coastal Zone Management--Towards Best Practice. The guide takes a practical look at the main issues which arise in coastal

31 Oct 1996 : Column WA28

management and it highlights numerous examples of good practice which are at present being used.

We have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House, and the guide will be extensively distributed to interested organisations and individuals.

Landfill of Waste Directive

Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they will be taking following the rejection by the European Parliament of "the common position on the draft directive on the landfill of waste".

Earl Ferrers: The European Commission is expected to publish a proposal for a Council Directive on the landfill of waste in the next few weeks. The Commission's Communication on the Review of the Community Strategy for Waste Management suggests that all waste going to landfill should be pre-treated. We expect, therefore, that the proposal will include new provisions requiring the pre-treatment of all waste going to landfill. These would be unacceptable to the United Kingdom and we shall oppose them.

Hazardous Wastes: Basel Convention

Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the latest position on the ratification of the 1989 Basel Convention and the 1995 amendment to that convention banning all toxic waste exports from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries; what arrangements have been made to implement that ban so far as the United Kingdom is concerned, and what action they are taking to resist any attempts to modify the list of hazardous wastes covered by the convention.

Earl Ferrers: Her Majesty's Government signed the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in 1989 and ratified it in February 1994.

In September 1995, the Third Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention adopted an amendment to the Convention to prohibit the export of hazardous wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries. The amendment bans exports for disposal immediately, and bans exports for recovery as from 31st December 1997. The amendment will, however, only enter into force when it has been ratified by the required number of Parties.

The provisions of the convention are implemented in the European Community by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 259/93 ('the Waste Shipments Regulation'). The Community and its member states will not be in a position to ratify the amendment until the Waste Shipments Regulation has been amended. The Council of Ministers reached a Common Position in March on proposals to amend the regulation. The European

31 Oct 1996 : Column WA29

Parliament gave its Opinion at second reading in September, which is now with the Council for consideration.

It is already the Government's policy, reflected in the United Kingdom Management Plan for Exports and Imports of Waste which was published in May, that wastes on the so-called 'amber' and 'red' OECD lists should not be exported to non-OECD countries for recovery, other than under very limited exceptions which are prescribed in the plan. The United Kingdom became self-sufficient in waste disposal in 1992, and has not exported any waste for disposal since then.

The Technical Working Group of the Basel Convention is currently drawing up, at the request of the Contracting Parties, a list of wastes characterised as hazardous for the purposes of the convention. The United Kingdom is playing a full part in these discussions.

Counter-terrorism Legislation: Lord Lloyd's Report

The Viscount of Oxfuird asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they intend to publish the report of Lord Lloyd of Berwick's Inquiry into legislation against terrorism.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): My right honourable friends the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland have today published Lord Lloyd's report into legislation against terrorism. We have placed a copy of the report in the Library.

In December 1995 we invited Lord Lloyd to carry out an Inquiry with the following terms of reference:

"To consider the future need for specific counter-terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom if the cessation of terrorism connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland leads to a lasting peace, taking into account the continuing threat from other kinds of terrorism and the United Kingdom's obligations under international law; and to make recommendations."

We are very grateful to Lord Lloyd for his comprehensive report on this complex and difficult subject. He has looked in detail at the threat posed by terrorism of all kinds, the current legislative framework and in particular at the powers and the procedures of the police. He concludes that, even with the establishment of a lasting peace in Northern Ireland, there would still be a need for permanent legislation to counter the threat from other forms of terrorism. With this in mind, he suggests a framework for new, permanent counter-terrorism legislation covering the whole of the United Kingdom.

Lord Lloyd makes a number of specific recommendations about counter-terrorism legislation. The Government will study his recommendations carefully and will issue a formal response in due course.

31 Oct 1996 : Column WA30

AIDS Deaths

Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many people have died in (a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland in each of the last ten years for which figures are available from AIDS related illnesses.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege): The number of deaths in reported AIDS cases by the end of September 1996 are shown in the table. These data are affected by reporting delays and under reporting. [The figures given exclude deaths reported in HIV infected individuals who either died without reaching the AIDS case definition or whose AIDS status at the time of death has yet to be confirmed].

Year of death	England and Wales	Scotland
1986	261	10
1987	335	12
1988	395	17
1989	628	29
1990	736	41
1991	892	94
1992	1,013	68
1993	1,192	86
1994	1,236	100
1995	1,130	101
Total	7,818	558

NHS Health Advisory Service

The Earl of Lindsey and Abingdon asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether a decision has been made on the findings of the review of the NHS Health Advisory Service.

Baroness Cumberlege: We have decided to merge the NHS Health Advisory Service, from April 1997, with a consortium led by the Royal College of Psychiatrists research unit and comprising members from the Royal College of Nursing Institute, Office for Public Management and British Geriatrics Society.

We believe this decision develops and builds on the work of the review team. It is the basis for an up-to-date and proactive advisory service, equipped with a multi-disciplinary team able to help organisations improve and develop services.

Under a separate contract, the work of the Drug Advisory Service will also change. It will take a more active role in alcohol misuse services and it will develop as a resource for health and local authority purchasers of substance misuse services.

31 Oct 1996 : Column WA31

MOX Fuel

Lord Jenkins of Putney asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the ingredients of the MOX fuel produced at Sellafield for export to Japan and for what purposes is it used in that country.

The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie): Mixed Oxide

31 Oct 1996 : Column WA32

(MOX) fuel is manufactured from a mixture of uranium and plutonium. MOX fuel is used to generate electricity in civil nuclear power stations. It would only be exported from the UK under stringent international standards of safeguards and physical protection. The UK and the governments of all THORP's reprocessing customers are committed to these arrangements, which are designed to protect against theft, sabotage and diversion of nuclear materials. BNFL have not, as yet, made any shipments of MOX fuel to Japan.

---

---