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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 13 December 1993
HOME DEPARTMENT
Police Surveillance
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if citizens making their houses available to the police for surveillance are individually identified in court.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Where there is a prosecution in a case in which individuals have assisted the police by
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making their houses available for the purpose of surveillance it is open to the prosecution to apply to the court before trial for a ruling that this fact should not be disclosed to the defence. The court's duty is then to balance the public interest of non- disclosure against the interest of securing fairness to the defendant. If the court decides against disclosure the identity of the house occupier would not then be revealed in court. If an order for disclosure is made it is open to the prosecution to abandon the case.Leave to Enter
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arriving on a cross-channel ferry have been refused leave to enter the United Kingdom and removed each month since May at (a) Dover western docks, (b) Dover eastern docks, (c) Folkestone, (d) Ramsgate and (e) Newhaven.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information requested is given in the table.
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Passengers refused leave to enter, and removed from, selected ports
Number of persons
|Dover West|Dover East|Folkestone|Ramsgate |Newhaven
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1993
May |21 |284 |2 |9 |15
June |18 |295 |1 |7 |2
July |41 |367 |2 |13 |15
August |33 |338 |1 |7 |12
September |34 |333 |5 |5 |34
October |13 |332 |5 |3 |14
November |4 |n/a |4 |n/a |7
n/a=not yet available.
Prisoner Discharges
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the money allowance-grant that is given to a prison inmate who is discharged from a prison in England and Wales.
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 Mr. Tom Cox, dated 13 December 1993 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the grant paid to prisoners discharged from prisons in England and Wales.
Most prisoners serving sentences over 14 days are eligible for a discharge grant. Exceptions include those with substantial resources or discharged to hospital. The rate of the grant generally corresponds to one week's Income Support and is currently £44.00 (age 25 and over) or £34.55 (age 18 to 24). Prisoners who need accommodation arranged for them on release are eligible for a higher rate, currently £90.05.
Prisoners (except deportees) not eligible for a discharge grant receive payment of fares and a subsistence allowance to cover their journey to a destination in the British Isles.
Deportations
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported, so far, in 1993 ; and how many people were deported from the United Kingdom in (a) 1991 and (b) 1992.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : The number of persons removed from the United Kingdom under the deportation process was 2,220 in 1991, 2,453 in 1992, and 1,654--provisional figure--for January to September 1993.
Requirement to Leave
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of EC countries were made subject to a requirement to leave the United Kingdom for (a) each of the three years preceding 1993 and (b) for each month since May 1993.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information available is given in the table.
EC nationals<1> require to leave the United Kingdom
Number of persons
|Passengers refused leave to enter and removed |Illegal entrants removed<2> |Persons removed under the deportation process<2>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |145 |8 |59
1991 |88 |7 |51
1992 |229 |3 |76
1993
January to
March |49 |3 |30
April |10}
May |23} |1 |18
June |12}
July |17}
August |28} |.. |11
September |19}
not yet available.
<1> Including persons who claimed to be EC nationals.
<2> Including persons who departed voluntarily.
Life Sentences
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average life sentence served by (a) men and (b) women who were sentenced to life imprisonment since 1970.
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 A. J. Butler to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 13 December 1993 :
Average time served by life sentence prisoners sentenced since-- 1970 The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the average time served by (a) men and (b) women sentenced to life imprisonment since 1970.
The available information is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (Tables 8.4 and 8.5 of the latest volume, for 1991, Cm. 2157), a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. Information for men and women released in 1992 was given in response to a question from Mrs. Mahon MP (Vol. 229, Col. 856, Written Answers on 27 July 1993) and I attach a copy of the reply for ease of reference.
Shotguns
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a table showing the major occupation of shotgun certificate holders.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not available centrally.
Firearms
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms, by category, are registered as being in private ownership.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The estimated number of firearms which were held on a firearm certificate in England and Wales on 31 December 1992 is 358,000. Information as to the categories of firearms held on certificate is not available centrally.
Baroness Thatcher
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those police authorities which have asked publisher Harper Collins for a contribution to the cost of policing visits made by Baroness Thatcher to promote her memoirs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not held centrally.
New Prisons
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list any sites being considered for new prisons in south Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
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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 Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 13 December 1993 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the sites being considered for new prisons in South Wales. Long term projections of prison population indicate that 800 additional prisoner places will be required in South Wales by the end of the decade. A new prison is needed, therefore, which will provide relief for Cardiff and Swansea prisons and reduce the need to send many prisoners from this area to other prisons, sometimes as far as Dartmoor and The Verne in Dorset. The Prison Service recognises that it should, wherever possible, hold prisoners close to their homes. A new prison in South Wales is vital to this key long -term objective. A search was undertaken to find a suitable site for a new prison in South Wales. In addition to being of an adequate size and shape, together with suitable ground conditions for substantial buildings, it had to be well located in terms of the distribution of population, access to the major road and motorway system in South Wales and public transport. The Parc Hospital site at Bridgend was identified as an ideal location and will be available for use later next year. The purchase of the site is being negotiated and a planning notice for the proposed prison has been served in compliance with Welsh Office Circular 37/84. This is now being considered by the local planning authority, Ogwr Borough Council.
Prisoners (Benefits)
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions are made for prisoners to apply for social security benefits before release, to enable any such benefits to be received immediately upon release ; and if he will make a statement.
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 Mr. Robert Maclennan, dated 13 December 1993 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what provisions are made for prisoners to apply for social security benefits before release.
Governors are encouraged to ensure that, whenever possible, prisoners are given the opportunity prior to discharge to seek advice about their entitlement to social security benefits on release. There are no arrangements for prisoners to make a claim while still in custody. Prisoners are advised to visit their local benefits office as soon as possible after release. They are provided with a form to introduce them to the Department of Social Security. Many qualify for a discharge grant, which provides financial assistance until they are able to lodge a claim.
Guidance on benefits is given in the Prisoners Information Pack, which is available to all prisoners. The Prison Service are currently considering with the Benefits Agency whether the arrangements for providing advice to prisoners on benefits to which they may properly be entitled on release can be improved.
Murder
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of individuals convicted for murder since the abolition of the death sentence who, on release, have committed murder again.
Mr. Maclean : From the information to date seven individuals convicted of murder in England and Wales
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since the abolition of the death penalty had been convicted again of murder in England and Wales following release as follows :Case |Date of first murder |Date of second murder ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First |1969 |1986 Second |1971 |1990 Third |1972 |1988 Fourth |1972 |1992 Fifth |1974 |1985 Sixth |1979 |1989 Seventh |1980 |1992
In addition, a further case involved a murder in England in 1972, with a subsequent murder taking place in Scotland in 1983. One person convicted of a murder which took place in 1981 in Northern Ireland was subsequently convicted of a second murder in England which took place in 1992.
Inquests (Multiple Deaths)
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances a coroner may adjourn an inquest into multiple deaths without reconvening its sitting to complete his investigations.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Under section 16(1) of the Coroners Act 1988, if a coroner is informed that a person has been charged with the murder, manslaughter or infanticide of the deceased, or with an offence directly involving or alleged to have been committed in circumstances connected with the death of the deceased, he must, in the absence of reason to the contrary, adjourn the inquest until after the conclusion of the relevant criminal proceedings. Under section 16(3) of the Act, the coroner may resume the adjourned inquest after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings if, in his opinion, there is sufficient cause to do so.
Electoral Boundaries
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to respond to the final suggestions for boundaries made by the European Parliamentary Committee for Wales.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend will pay prompt attention to the report of the Committee when he receives it. I understand that that is likely to be later this month.
Police Statistics
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for each police authority in England and Wales, (a) the increase in authorised police establishment requested and (b) the increase granted by him in each of the past five years, in both cases making it clear whether supernumeraries are included or excluded from each figure.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I will write to the hon. Member.
National Public Alert System
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a national public alert system.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : It was announced on 12 November 1992 that the obsolescent national siren warning system was to be closed down and that future national arrangements for warning the public would use radio and television broadcasts. Work is in hand on the new system.
Re-entry Visas
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Government's policy on issuing re-entry visas to those settled in the United Kingdom and who intend to return within short periods ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Re-entry visas were abolished in May 1991. Those settled in the United Kingdom are however exempt from the requirement to obtain a visa if they return to the United Kingdom for settlement within two years of departure.
PRIME MINISTER
European Union
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government in respect of the admission of states in the Visegrad group into the European Union ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : The Copenhagen European Council agreed in June that the Central European associate countries--including the four states in the Visegrad group--should be admitted to the European Union, if they so wished, as soon as they are ready to take on the obligations of membership. The Government had worked hard to achieve this outcome, and warmly welcomed it.
The associate countries are now beginning to prepare themselves, economically and politically. The United Kingdom is helping this process both bilaterally and through the European Union.
Honours System
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the progress of his proposals for the honours system announced on 4 March.
The Prime Minister : The changes to the honours system outlined in my statement to the House on 4 March have been put into effect. I plan to report to the House shortly on the review of the numbers and distribution of honours.
Northern Ireland (Investment)
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the companies from other EC countries which have brought inward investment into Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the last 10 years.
The Prime Minister : According to records maintained by the Department of Trade and Industry's Invest in Britain Bureau, 879 EC-owned companies have set up in the United Kingdom in the last 10 years. These figures are based on information provided by the companies at the time of the announcement to invest. There is no requirement to notify the Department, and so the figures include only those projects where the Invest in Britain
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Bureau and its regional partners were involved, or which have come to their notice. They take no account of subsequent developments. At the request of the companies concerned, some names are commercially confidential, and cannot be quoted. However, a list of quotable companies has been placed in the Library of the House.Cash Limits
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Prime Minister what will be the cash limit on the cost of running his office in 1994-95.
The Prime Minister : Financial provision for the running of my Office in 1994-95 is subject to the budgetary planning arrangements operated jointly by the Cabinet Office and Office of Public Service and Science. Internal allocation of the 1993 survey settlement is not yet complete. Provision is expected to be similar to that for the current financial year.
Special Advisers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister what information ministerial special advisers who resign or retire are required to provide concerning their subsequent employment ; and to whom.
NATO
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister if it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to support the admission of states in the Visegrad group into membership of NATO ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : We and our NATO allies have repeatedly stated that NATO is not a closed shop. We do not therefore rule out the possibility of new members at some time in the future. But the question of NATO enlargement is a complex one. Our overriding objective in considering it must be to enhance security and stability across the whole of Europe, while at the same time ensuring that we do not create new divisions or erect new barriers.
Morality
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Prime Minister which of Her Majesty's Government's policies since 1979 have attempted to influence moral behaviour ; and what assessment he has made of each of those policies.
The Prime Minister : Policies are designed to influence moral behaviour where it is in the national interest that they should do so. Our policies on law and order are perhaps the most obvious example.
No. 10 Downing Street
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister how much has been spent on decorating and furnishing No. 10 Downing street since November 1990.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 30 November 1993] : Figures are available only on a financial year basis. The expenditure on new works, furniture and fittings in the state rooms, on the catering facilities, and in the offices and other rooms in 10 Downing street from April 1991 to March 1993 was £292,000.
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EDUCATION
Assisted Places
Mr. Purchase : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 6 December, Official Report, column 31 , what information his Department has on the place of residence of pupils under the assisted places scheme at the time of their original application for an assisted place ; what steps his Department takes to ensure that applicants for assisted places are genuinely entitled to a place under the scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : Information about the place of residence of pupils at the time of their application for an assisted place is not held by the Department. It is for participating schools themselves to select pupils for assisted places, but the Department ensures that they target able children from families with low incomes, and also that a substantial majority of assisted pupils in any school have previously attended a maintained school.
To ensure that participating schools carry out assessments of income correctly, the Department also issues regular comprehensive guidance and carries out random audit surveys of income assessments. These surveys, together with the statistical information collected, show that schools are indeed administering the scheme properly and targeting the pupils for whom the scheme is intended.
Mr. Purchase : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 6 December, Official Report, column 31 , what was the total cost to public funds of the assisted places scheme at Wolverhampton grammar school in each year since 1981.
Mr. Forth : The information requested for the past five years is given in the table. Data for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Academic year |DFE expenditure
|£000s
------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |485
1989-90 |507
1990-91 |600
1991-92 |702
1992-93 |<1>760
<1> Estimate pending final claim.
School Inspectors
Ms Estelle Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will list by local education authority area (a) the number of Office for Standards in Education formal inspections and (b) the number of unannounced visits carried out so far.
(2) if he will list by local education authority area the number of formal inspections planned till the end of 1994.
Mr. Robin Squire : The arrangements for inspecting schools under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 are a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.
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Government Car Service
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990-91 ; and how many vehicles were involved.
Mr. Forth : In the financial year 1990-91, the Government car service for Ministers cost the Department £134,191.00, including value added tax, for five vehicles. There will in addition have been a cost to the Department in transporting ministerial boxes and other papers to Ministers ; it is unfortunately not possible to disaggregate this figure from other costs.
ENVIRONMENT
Homelessness
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hostel spaces for the homeless in Doncaster have been supported by his Department in (a) 1990-91, (b) 1991-92, (c) 1992-93 and (d) the current year ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir George Young : The Government provide resources, through the programmes of the Housing Corporation, for capital and revenue funding towards housing associations schemes for people with special needs. The information which follows gives the number of bed-spaces in such schemes in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster which have received revenue funding for that year and the amount of capital funding which has contributed to the addition of new bed-spaces in that year.
|Bed-spaces |Revenue funding|Capital funding
[NL] |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |37 |92,000 |206,000
1991-92 |43 |137,000 |128,000
1992-93 |54 |144,000 |382,000
1993-94 |58 |158,000 |116,000
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of hostel accommodation beds available for elderly homeless people at risk in central London in November 1991, November 1992 and November 1993.
Sir George Young : This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, what discussions he has held regarding provision to replace the beds for the homeless lost in Central London on the closure of the Salvation Army hostel in Great Peter street.
Sir George Young : The responsibility for the funding of new provision through housing associations is vested in the Housing Corporation, which I understand has had discussions with the Salvation Army about the future of the Great Peter street site. More generally, under the Government's rough sleepers initiative, the Housing Corporation is planning to provide funding for about 1,500 new bedspaces in Central London over a three-year period beginning this year.
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Ministers (Foreign Visits)
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the Ministers in his Department who since June 1987 have visited (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Malaysia, (c) Singapore and (d) South Africa on official business ; and which such visits included party political activities in addition to official duties.
Mr. Gummer : My Department's central records, which only go back to 1 April 1990, show that the only such visits were by my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) to Malaysia and Lord Strathclyde to South Africa.
As far as I am aware these visits included no party political activities. The visit to Malaysia was to attend a meeting with developing countries prior to the UNCED summit in Rio de Janeiro, whilst Lord Strathclyde's visit to South Africa was to promote export opportunities for the United Kingdom water industry.
Sustainable Development
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has received on the matters discussed and decisions taken at the workshop on national plans for sustainable development held by the Development Assistance and Environmental Policies Committees of the OECD in Ottawa in October.
Mr. Yeo : The workshop was attended by representatives of OECD and other Governments, including officials from my Department and the Overseas Development Administration, and by non-governmental organisations (notably the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development and the Overseas Development Institute) and by international agencies.
It was not a decision-taking forum. It compared the experience of different OECD countries (a) in preparing sustainable development strategies to follow up the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and (b) in giving assistance with such plans to developing nations. The general view was that countries were likely to produce a variety of types of strategies and plans dealing with sustainable development, economic development, and environment and conservation policies, reflecting their different circumstances ; the OECD however could try to assist international discussions, for example in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, by drawing up its own guidelines on the common features that it might expect to find in strategies or plans that were intended as contributions to sustainable development. Another conclusion was that governments must integrate their policies for economic development and environ-mental protection.
Packaging Waste
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for monitoring the implementation of the voluntary plan which he has asked the packaging industry to draw up to recover between 50 per cent. and 75 per cent. of packaging waste ; what action he proposes to take in the event of the packaging industry failing to meet the targets drawn up by him ; and if he will introduce legal targets for the avoidance, minimisation and recycling of packaging waste and measures to boost markets for recycling products.
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Mr. Yeo : We believe that a voluntary approach, such as the producer responsibility initiative for packaging waste, will enable industry to devise the most cost effective and flexible methods for securing the Government's objectives for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste and for the reduction at source of packaging. Under producer responsibility we have asked industry to present by Christmas a phased plan to achieve our targets and we will examine their proposals very closely to satisfy ourselves that they are feasible. However, we have also made it clear to industry that if they are not able to satisfy us that they will succeed on a voluntary basis we will consider legislation.
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