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Rape
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the conviction rate and clear up rate for rape cases expressed as a percentage and in total in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [20593]
Mr. Michael:
The Government are very concerned about the low proportion of reported rapes that result in a conviction. The Research and Statistics Directorate in the Home Office is undertaking a study to discover what factors influence whether or not a recorded rape leads to a conviction for rape and whether such factors have changed since a similar study of 1985 cases. I am today placing in the Library copies of an interim report on the processing of rape cases in the criminal justice system.
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The interim report provides some useful information on where reported rape cases drop out before they reach court. We now need to know precisely why so many cases fail to result in a conviction. This will be covered in the final report, which should be available in the second half of next year.
My right hon. Friend has already announced a number of wide-ranging reforms to make the criminal justice system more swift and effective. In July, he also set up an inter-departmental working group to look at further ways of assisting vulnerable witnesses, including rape victims, which is due to report shortly.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reduce the length of time taken to process applications for British citizenship. [20460]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Working practices and organisation in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are currently being looked at internally in order to improve the service to applicants. Next year, the introduction of the Caseworking Programme in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will produce efficiency savings which will speed up the processing of these applications.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conditions would have to be satisfied for a drug classified as Schedule 1 in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to be reclassified as Schedule 2. [20627]
Mr. George Howarth:
The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1985 allow and govern activities in relation to controlled drugs which would otherwise be unlawful under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. They divide those drugs into five schedules, with those in Schedule 1 being subject to the most stringent controls.
The drugs in Schedule 1 are generally acknowledged to have no therapeutic applications and their use is accordingly confined by international convention and domestic law to research and other special purposes.
Reclassification from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 would depend upon the therapeutic benefits of a medicinal form of the drug being satisfactorily demonstrated in the United Kingdom, or the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs reducing the international controls on the drug.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been found not guilty as a result of the operation of the presumption of doli incapax in each year for the last 10 years. [19814]
Mr. Michael:
This information is not collected centrally. However a not guilty outcome as a result of the presumption of doli incapax is neither in the interests of the child or children concerned nor in the interests of the public. It is clearly important that the court is not prevented from dealing with the youngster when there is no doubt about the facts of the case.
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Yvette Cooper:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements she has made to ensure the continued supply of concessionary fuel to ex-employees of British Coal. [21817]
Mr. Battle:
My Department took over liability to supply concessionary fuel to ex-employees of British Coal in March 1995. Contracts were placed then with two companies to supply and deliver concessionary fuel over the period from March 1995 up to March 1998.
Following a competitive tender, two-year contracts have recently been awarded to T. H. Fergusson Ltd. in Scotland and Coal Products Distribution Ltd. in England and Wales, to take effect from 30 March 1998. Both companies already supply and deliver solid fuel to other domestic customers.
All fuel supplied will continue to be of high quality and approved for use by HETAS, the solid fuel industry's Heating and Testing Approvals Scheme.
My Department's agents, the National Concessionary Fuel Office (NCFO), will continue to administer the concessionary fuel service, handling all inquiries and claims about entitlements from the beneficiaries.
Because European law on public procurement requires one manufacturer not to be favoured over another, and because fuel prices have changed in relation to each other and the mix of fuels bid into the tender is different from the last tender, it will be necessary to revise the entitlement levels for some brands of manufactured smokeless fuels to ensure that cost of supplying fuel to each beneficiary is equivalent. Higher prices for some brands means this rebalancing will reduce annual entitlements from present levels for those beneficiaries who receive those brands. However, all beneficiaries will have the opportunity either to remain with those brands or to switch to broadly equivalent fuels which will generally provide the same or higher entitlements. Anyone switching to a cheaper brand will receive more than they receive at present.
No-one need change from the fuel they receive now. No-one will be made to change, everyone will be able to make their own decision. Fuller details are being provided to the mining unions this month and to the recipients of concessionary fuel early in the New Year so that they can make their wishes known and stocks can be ordered.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps she will take to ensure that class 1 and 2 laser pens are not sold to children under the age of 18 years. [20487]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths
[holding answer 12 December 1997]: The Consumer Protection Act 1987 contains a power to make regulations prohibiting the supply of goods to particular classes of people; for example to children under the age of 18 if the goods would be unsafe in the hands of those people. However, to do this we would require clear evidence that there was a safety problem arising from the sale of Class 1 or Class 2 laser pointers
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to children under 18 years. To date there is no such evidence since all incidents appear to involve Class 3 lasers and above.
On 28 October I acted swiftly in urging Trading Standards Departments to remove from general sale all Class 3 and Class 4 laser pointers as specified under BS EN 60825-Part 1: 1994 (Safety of laser products), because these pointers present an unacceptable risk to consumers. I have been advised by the National Radiological Protection Board that there is no evidence that laser pointers in Class 1 or Class 2 of the BS EN standard can cause a direct risk to health.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will examine the case for supporting the heat exchanger recently invented by Bristol University within the Government's space programme. [21128]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 16 December 1997]: Innovative research into heat exchangers has been underway at the University of Bristol in recent years and is known to my officials at the British National Space Centre. I am advised that there is a possible application of this research in the field of space transportation.
I can confirm that BNSC will consider the merits of this research as part of an ongoing reappraisal of the prospects for our satellite industry to retain cost effective access to space.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment she has made of the advantages and disadvantages of exempting disabled people from her minimum wage legislation. [20901]
Mrs. Beckett
[holding answer 15 December 1997]: The National Minimum Wage Bill does not treat disabled people differently from the able bodied.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what impact the proposed changes to corporation tax will have on forecast net returns on capital in each of the next four years. [20879]
Mrs. Beckett
[holding answer 15 December 1997]: Overall, the changes will have little impact on companies' post tax profits, which are of course computed on an accruals basis rather than by reference to cash flow. No company will pay more corporation tax in total as a result of the changes, and from 1999 companies will be free to take a whole range of business decisions without having to worry about ACT and, more particularly, surplus ACT.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade who are the trustees of her blind trust for research expenses; and if she will publish its trust deed. [20892]
Mrs. Beckett
[holding answer 15 December 1997]: The structure of the blind trust which is used to pay the salary of a member of staff in my parliamentary office was discussed in advance with the relevant House of Commons authorities, who confirmed that it was in full
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conformity with the rules. I have declared in the register of member's interests the information required about the trust and I have nothing further to add.
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