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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 5 July 1990
HOME DEPARTMENT
Correspondence
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the reason for the delay in replying to the letter to him from the chief constable of Staffordshire on 8 May concerning residency qualifications for applicants to the police force.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The chief constable's letter concerned a citizen of Nigeria who wishes to join the police. His residency qualifications and his later application for leave to remain in this country have been the subject of detailed inquiries. This was explained to the chief constable in an interim reply on 24 May. A substantive reply will be sent as soon as practicable.
Begging, London
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the steps he is taking to protect the public from intimidatory begging on the streets of London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Decisions about the deployment of resources to tackle crime are an operational matter for the commissioner. I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the police will arrest for begging where there is some element of threatening or intimidating behaviour.
Irish Terrorism
Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the level of co-operation between police forces in the United Kingdom and those in Belgium in the fight against Irish terrorism ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waddington : Police forces in the United Kingdom are co- operating fully with those in Belgium and will continue to do so.
Homosexuals
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department has any plans to require police forces to monitor and record areas of violence against homosexuals where there is evidence of homophobic motives.
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals for police action to protect lesbians and gay men from violent attacks.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Decisions about police action against specific offences are an operational matter for chief officers of police, but they attach a high priority to tackling violent crime.
Bomb Incidents
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has held discussions with the Metropolitan police following the recent bomb incidents in London.
Mr. Waddington : As I told the House in my statement on 26 June, I had a discussion with the commissioner that morning.
Vagrancy Act
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions were brought under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in 1989 (a) in the Metropolitan police district and (b) in other parts of England and Wales.
Mr. Waddington : Information for 1989 will not be available until the autumn.
Security Service
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Security Service Act.
Mr. Waddington : The Security Service Act 1989, which came into force on 18 December last year, provides for effective oversight of the service.
Fine Defaulters
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average cost of imprisoning a fine defaulter in England and Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waddington : The average cost of imprisonment in 1988-89 was £288 per inmate per week. No separate records are held for different categories of offender.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fine defaulters were committed into custody in England and Wales during 1988 and 1989 ; what is the current daily population of fine defaulters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waddington : Information on persons received into prison service establishments in default of payment of a fine is published anually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales"--table 7.3 of the volume for 1988, Cm. 825--copies of which are in the Library. The provisional receptions figure for 1989 is 17,700 and the average population was about 460.
Psychiatric Hostels
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many psychiatric hostel places were available for offenders in England and Wales for the latest date available ; what percentage were occupied ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Waddingdon : There are no places specifically designed for offenders in need of psychiatric support in the statutorily approved probation/bail hostels, but only those suffering from severe subnormality or psychopathic disorder are statutorily precluded from admission to these hostels. There are 212 bed spaces specifically available for discharged prisoners in need of psychiatric support within the Home Office voluntary after-care accommodation grants scheme (VACAGS). The latest available figure, which relates to 1989, for occupancy of these bedspaces is 72 per cent. I am aware that a number of other projects within VACAGS occasionally accept such residents, as do other special needs accommodation projects not funded by the Home Office.Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average weekly cost for the latest available date of a psychiatric hostel place in England and Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waddington : The Home Office gives a contribution to the total income received by accommodation projects within the voluntary after-care accommodation grants scheme. The average weekly cost of a psychiatric hostel place requires information on total costs and cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Prison Statistics
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category A, category B, and category C places were available in each prison region in England and Wales for the latest date available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waddington : The certified normal accommodation of category B and category C training prisons in each of the four regions in England and Wales on 31 March 1990 was as follows :