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Former Yugoslavia Peace Implementation Force: British Personnel
Lord Brougham and Vaux asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will give details of the deployment of British forces to the former Yugoslavia in advance of the peace agreement.
Earl Howe: On Monday, 4 December, some 380 British personnel should begin deployment to the former Yugoslavia as our contribution to pre-positioned troops for a NATO peace implementation force. These will include communications, logistics and engineer units together with advance headquarters elements. Their job will be to help prepare for the arrival of the main forces who will follow as soon as possible after the final signature of a peace agreement, the necessary UN Security Council Resolution and an agreed balance of forces committed to the implementation force.
President Clinton's Address to Parliament
Lord Marlesford asked the Leader of the House:
- What message the President of the United States of America gave to both Houses of Parliament on his visit to the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, 29 November 1995.
The Lord Privy Seal (Viscount Cranborne): Copies of President Clinton's Address to both Houses of Parliament are available from the Printed Paper Office.
Parliamentary and Crown Copyright Material: Public Access
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Answer by Baroness Blatch of
22 November 1995 (WA 10), whether they will consider following the example set by the
New Zealand Parliament in promoting wide public access to public information at competitive, fair and reasonable prices, by enacting Section 27 of the
New Zealand Copyright Act 1994, which provides that no copyright exists in: (a) Bills; (b) Acts;
(c) regulations; (d) bylaws; (e) parliamentary debates; (f) reports of select committees; (g) judgments of any court or tribunal; (h) reports of Royal Commissions, commissions of inquiry, ministerial inquiries or statutory inquiries; and, if not, whether they will consider introducing other effective measures to promote wide public access to such public information.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): The Government fully support the principle of widespread public access to parliamentary, statutory and analogous material, but believe it is neither necessary nor desirable to abolish copyright protection
for Crown copyright material. Policies on access to parliamentary copyright material are, of course, a matter for the House authorities."Questions of Procedure for Ministers" and Civil Service Code: Compliance
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether British citizens may reasonably expect that Ministers and civil servants will comply with the terms of Questions of Procedure for Ministers and of the proposed Civil Service code.
Baroness Blatch: It is expected that Ministers and civil servants will comply.
Boundary Commission: Interim Reviews
Lord Denham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Boundary Commission intends to conduct any interim reviews of parliamentary constituencies in England.
Baroness Blatch: The Commission has informed me that it intends to consider making a report on parliamentary constituencies in Hereford and Worcester and the West Midlands, and also in Essex and the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Waltham Forest. The Commission intends to commence forthwith an interim review of parliamentary constituencies in each of those areas.
Police Grant Allocations
Lord Denham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they intend to announce the allocations of police grant for individual police authorities in
1996/97 and the allocations of the funding for 5,000 extra officers announced by the Prime Minister; and what will be the impact of these allocations on the overall funding of police authorities in that year.
Baroness Blatch: My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today put a copy of his proposals for the allocation of police grant for 1996/97 in the Library. We intend to implement these proposals subject to consideration of any representations we receive about them.
The police service has indicated its support in principle for the continued distribution of police grant in accordance with a needs based formula, and we are therefore proposing to continue to allocate the greater part of police grant according to the police funding formula.
We are, however, proposing a number of detailed changes to the formula in response to the representations which have been made to us about the working of the formula. The principal changes which we are proposing are:
- an increase in the share of available funding allocated by the formula's pensions indicator from 9 per cent. to 12.3 per cent.;
- a reduction in the share of available funding allocated by the formula's establishment indicator from 50 per cent. to 40 per cent.; and,
- the introduction into the formula of a sparsity indicator to allocate 0.5 per cent. of available funding.
We are also aware of, and share, public concern that policing levels generally should be maintained. We therefore propose to apply an additional rule to police grant allocations which would ensure that each police authority other than the Metropolitan Police can receive 3 per cent. more funding in 1996/97 than it could have received in 1995/96. For the Metropolitan Police, the cap on its reserves will be lifted, allowing it to carry forward the substantial extra reserves it has accumulated during 1995/96.
The 3 per cent. additional rule, and the extra freedom to carry forward reserves for the Metropolitan Police, are both in addition to the £20 million which has been made available in relation to the Prime Minister's announcement concerning additional officers.
Other police funding proposals within the local government finance system are being announced today by my right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales.
The table below shows by police force area the total effect of all these proposals for 1996/97. It also shows the allocations approved by Parliament for 1995/96.
| Police Force Area | 1995/96 Funding(1) | 1996/97 Funding(1) |
| £ million | £ million | |
| English Shire Forces | ||
| Avon and Somerset | 147.8 | 154.5 |
| Bedfordshire | 55.4 | 57.3 |
| Cambridgeshire | 62.7 | 66.4 |
| Cheshire | 93.1 | 98.4 |
| Cleveland | 70.7 | 73.3 |
| Cumbria | 54.3 | 57.1 |
| Derbyshire | 88.3 | 92.4 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 146.5 | 153.1 |
| Dorset | 62.6 | 64.7 |
| Durham | 68.0 | 71.4 |
| Essex | 146.7 | 151.8 |
| Gloucestershire | 56.4 | 58.5 |
| Hampshire | 169.1 | 175.1 |
| Hertfordshire | 87.0 | 89.9 |
| Humberside | 98.1 | 103.1 |
| Kent | 158.1 | 163.8 |
| Lancashire | 155.5 | 163.2 |
| Leicestershire | 89.9 | 94.8 |
| Lincolnshire | 57.1 | 59.0 |
| Norfolk | 71.2 | 75.9 |
| Northamptonshire | 55.8 | 58.3 |
| North Yorkshire | 66.7 | 69.7 |
| Nottinghamshire | 110.2 | 115.2 |
| Staffordshire | 101.2 | 108.8 |
| Suffolk | 58.5 | 61.7 |
| Surrey | 85.1 | 88.0 |
| Sussex | 145.8 | 150.9 |
| Thames Valley | 192.8 | 202.2 |
| Warwickshire | 47.7 | 49.3 |
| West Mercia | 97.8 | 103.4 |
| Wiltshire | 58.7 | 60.7 |
| English Metropolitan Forces | ||
| Greater Manchester | 327.1 | 342.2 |
| Merseyside | 215.0 | 221.8 |
| Northumbria | 179.6 | 188.2 |
| South Yorkshire | 147.2 | 154.6 |
| West Midlands | 329.3 | 343.7 |
| West Yorkshire | 249.8 | 260.6 |
| London Forces | ||
| Metropolitan Police(1) | 1,628.7 | 1,648.4 |
| City of London(1) | 57.3 | 59.1 |
| English Total | 6,092.6 | 6,310.5 |
| Welsh Forces | ||
| Dyfed-Powys | 46.3 | 48.5 |
| Gwent(1) | 60.1 | 62.7 |
| North Wales | 66.0 | 69.3 |
| South Wales(1) | 143.4 | 150.9 |
| Welsh Total | 315.8 | 331.4 |
| Total | 6,408.4 | 6,641.9 |
(1) Rounded to the nearest £10,000.
(1) Figure for the Metropolitan Police does not include funding allocated to the Receiver under the Other Services Block SSA for school crossing patrols, magistrates' courts and the Probation Service.
(1) Figure for the City does not include Capital Financing and Other Services Block SSAs which are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions.
(1) Figures for South Wales and Gwent police authorities have been adjusted to show what they would have received in 1995/96 had the transfer of the Rhymney Valley from South Wales to Gwent, due to take effect on 1 April 1996, been effective for 1995/96. These adjustments enable valid comparisons to be made between these forces' allocations for 1995/96 and 1996/97.