| Home Page |
Column 169
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 23 June 1993
HOME DEPARTMENT
New Age Travellers
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the preparations he has taken to ensure full and effective co-ordination by police forces in the west of England to deal with possible breaches of the law, trespass and blocking of the highway by new age travellers in the summer months.
Mr. Charles Wardle : These are operational matters for the police. The Association of Chief Police Officers has set up a national intelligence -gathering network on the activities of travellers with co-ordinating centres in the Wiltshire constabulary and Cumbria constabulary. Forces have also reviewed their contingency plans for dealing with the problems caused by new age travellers. These have proved effective so far this year.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to ensure, in conjunction with the police, that convoys of new age travellers do not block the public highway.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Enforcement of road traffic and highways legislation is an operational matter for the police.
Racist Crimes
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the incidence of crimes in each of the last five years in which there has been a racist element.
Mr. Maclean : The only information currently available relates to the number of reported racial incidences and I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) on 26 April, at column 266.
Metropolitan Police Cab Enforcement Scheme
Dame Angela Rumbold : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the resources of the Metropolitan police cab enforcement section have been increased ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The section has been maintained at the same staffing level for the past five years. The Commissioner has no plans to make any increases.
Police (Stress-related Illness)
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) custody officers, (b) custody sergeants and (c) rota sergeants have taken five or more days off work through stress-related illnesses in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1990.
Column 170
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information requested is not held centrally and could be collected from individual forces only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners (Police Cells)
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) remand and (b) convicted prisoners were held in police cells in each prison service region for each month in 1993.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated June 1993 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners held in police cells in each Prison Service region for each month in 1993.
The following table shows the total number of prisoners held in police cells on each Friday this year up to 12 February, which is the last day prisoners were held in police cells. It is not possible to separate remand and convicted prisoners although most would have been on remand. All the prisoners concerned should have been in establishments in the Prison Service's Directorate of Inmate Programmes which covers establishments in the north of England.
Date |Number of prisoners
|in police cells
------------------------------------------------------------
8 January |279
15 January |252
22 January |236
29 January |166
5 February |119
12 February |20
Voting, Christchurch
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the numbers of people at the last election who used (a) proxy, (b) absent and (c) postal votes in the parliamentary constituency of Christchurch.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There were 1,356 electors on the postal voters list in the Christchurch constituency at the last general election, and 1,220 postal ballot paper covering envelopes were returned. Information about the number of electors voting by proxy is not collected centrally.
Side-handled Baton
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will agree to a pilot project on the use of the expandable side- handled baton taking place in specific areas within three police forces in England and Wales.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 21 June, at column 2.
Column 171
TRANSPORT
Auto Care Europe
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much British Rail is investing in the new joint venture company Auto Care Europe.
Mr. Freeman : I have authorised BR to invest up to a maximum of £1.33 million.
Minibuses
Ms Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what plans he has to introduce legislation which would require all passengers in minibuses to wear safety belts ;
(2) what measures are being taken to improve the design of minibuses in the interest of greater passenger safety.
Mr. Key : We are making a continuing effort to improve the safety of all road vehicles including minibuses. Seat belts are already required to be fitted to the front seats of all new minibuses. We have sought agreement within the European Community for the mandatory extension of this requirement to all seats in minibuses.
Where seat belts are fitted, they must be worn by passengers travelling in the front seat of any minibus and by a passenger travelling in a rear seat of a smaller minibus with an unladen weight not exceeding 2,540 kg.
Motor Insurance
Mr. Duncan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has consulted the motor insurance industry on the feasibility of requiring evidence of insurance to be displayed on a vehicle's windscreen.
Mr. Key : Following wide-ranging discussions with representatives of the insurance industry, the police and the Home Office, we have decided not to require evidence of insurance to be displayed on a vehicle windscreen. Under our present driver-related insurance system, the enforcement benefit would be little more than is already provided by the check on insurance which is made when renewing vehicle excise duty. The display of an insurance disc would provide no assurance that the driver was covered by an insurance policy or complying with policy conditions, nor would it protect against the insurance being cancelled once the disc has been issued.
The enforcement potential of a windscreen display would be greater under a vehicle-related insurance regime, where cover is taken out for a particular vehicle regardless of who drives it. However, this would require all vehicles to be insured for any driver and so remove an insurer's ability to take account of the risks associated with different drivers. Because every insured vehicle could be driven by a high-risk driver, the contribution that the present insurance system makes to road safety would be undermined. It could lead to a substantial increase in motor premiums, especially for safer drivers who would, for example, find themselves contributing to the cost of insuring all cars to be driven by novice drivers or by drivers with a poor accident record. Premium increases could in turn encourage further evasion and render the measure self-defeating.
I deplore the irresponsible behaviour of the minority of drivers who fail to take out insurance. But I am sceptical
Column 172
about imposing further regulations on all drivers, particularly when we cannot be confident that insurance evasion would be significantly reduced. The police already have wide powers to inspect insurance certificates, and there are over 200,000 convictions for uninsured driving every year. The maximum for this offence was increased to £5,000 in October 1992. We have decided as a result of our discusions that the format of insurance certificates should be reviewed and simplified where possible to assist the police in checking them. This will speed up this important aspect of enforcement. A further check on insurance certificates is made with applications for vehicle excise duty.The decision not require the display of windscreen insurance discs has no effect on the compensation received by those involved in road accidents. Victims of uninsured drivers will continue to be compensated by the Motor Insurers Bureau under a long-standing agreement between the bureau and the Secretary of State for Transport.
Transport and Works Act Orders
Mr. Streeter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further consideration he has given to the means of notifying to hon. Members his receipt of application for orders under part I of the Transport and Works Act 1992.
Mr. Freeman : Yes. My Department has arranged with the House of Commons Library that applicants will supply a full set of their application documents for the information of hon. Members. The House of Commons Public Information Office will note in the "Weekly Information Bulletin" the receipt of such documents, together with a contact point from which further information may be obtained.
East London River Crossing
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the actual or estimated cost of the Ironbridge to Canning Town improvement schemes on or adjacent to the A13 trunk road in the boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham in respect of (a) East India Dock road, interim junction scheme as now completed, (b) the East India Dock tunnel link, (c) the completed Abbott road, Leamouth road and A13 Ironbridge widening scheme, (d) the widening of the Canning Town flyover from four to six lanes and associated road works and (e) works associated with the re-aligned east- bound slip road to the A13 ; and what plans he has for improvements for pedestrian crossing of the A13, Newham way, between these works and the proposed Freemasons road underpass.
Mr. Norris : The actual or estimated construction costs for the roads schemes listed by the hon. Member are as follows :