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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 28 November 1988
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Cathedrals (Maintenance Costs)
77. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, how much money the Church Commissioners expect cathedral authorities to raise for the maintenance of their fabric and towards their running costs ; how much is contributed to each of these costs by the Church Commissioners ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alison : Each cathedral is independently responsible for raising the money required for the maintenance and repair of the cathedral's fabric. The Commissioners give the cathedral authorities some assistance with staff salaries and clergy housing.
PRIME MINISTER
Surplus Food and Wine
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the impact on world food prices of the European Economic Community's disposal of food and wine at very low prices ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so. The Montreal mid-term GATT meeting is taking place the following week and will be addressing agriculture as a key element in negotiations.
Excise Duties
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the proposal by the Commission to harmonise excise duties.
The Prime Minister : No. I understand that this matter will next be discussed at the meeting of the Economic and Finance Council (ECOFIN), on 12 December.
Economic League
Mr. Madden : To ask the Prime Minister if she will issue instructions that no Government contracts be given to companies which subscribed to the Economic League.
The Prime Minister : No. The Government will continue to award their contracts on the basis of value for money.
Design Seminar
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Prime Minister what progress has been made in implementing the 25 suggestions for action which she made to the design seminar in 1982.
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The Prime Minister : The first design seminar at 10 Downing street held in January 1982 marked the start of a substantial programme of Government activity to promote design awareness.
Recommendations made by senior industrialists, designers and educationists at the seminar fell into two broad themes : industry and education. These have been the centre of our design policy and objectives.
Our records show that 31 separate recommendations were made at the 1982 seminar. Of these, 27 could be said to be addressed to the Government or agencies close to them (for example the Design Council). Of those 27, activities and initiatives have been pursued in respect of 23.
Examples are :
design consultancy support for over 6,000 projects in small and medium size firms ;
measures to improve and assist the teaching of design in primary and secondary schools ;
measures to improve design education at tertiary level and introduce design modules into management and business courses ; major awareness campaigns aimed at industry involving DTI Ministers ;
encouraging closer collaboration between the teaching of product design and engineering design ;
assisting a greater volume of research and reports on design issues ;
support for a wide variety of non-Government bodies to help in the task of spreading design awareness.
At a second design seminar I held in January 1987 our efforts were welcomed by a similar audience who urged the Government to continue with them. We have done so.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Mozambique
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is (a) the estimated expenditure on aid to Mozambique in the current year, (b) the breakdown of that expenditure by programme and project and (c) the degree of priority currently being given to Mozambique within the Government's overall aid programme.
Mr. Chris Patten : Gross British bilateral aid to Mozambique in 1987, the latest year for which figures are available, was £22.8 million, including expenditure on Southern African Development Co- ordination Conference (SADCC) projects in Mozambique. The main elements were programme aid (£5.2 million), project aid (£5.1 million) disaster relief (£4.6 million) and food aid (£4.5 million). Mozambique was our seventh largest bilateral recipient last year.
Vietnam
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what is his policy on the provision of development aid and food aid to Vietnam.
Mr. Chris Patten : We do not provide bilateral development aid or food aid to Vietnam.
Through the European Community we are contributing our share (about £540,000) of the cost of emergency food aid for Vietnam supplied this year.
Development Assistance
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the United
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Kingdom's net official development assistance as a percentage of gross national product for each calendar year from 1978 to 1987 ; and what is his estimate for 1988 and 1989.Mr. Chris Patten : The information for the years 1978 to 1987 is as follows :
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1978 |0.45
1979 |0.51
1980 |0.35
1981 |0.42
1982 |0.37
1983 |0.35
1984 |0.33
1985 |0.33
1986 |0.31
1987 |0.28
It is not possible accurately to predict the percentages of gross national product which net official development assistance will constitute in 1988 or 1989.
International Development Association
Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will propose to the World Bank that all funds from the International Development Association should be free rather than loans.
Mr. Chris Patten : No. The International Development Association lends at no interest on highly concessional terms for 35 to 40 years and repayments are recycled to increase the funding available for new lending. Moreover, agreement on the present lending terms for IDA was an essential element in achieving the last replenishment level of well over $12 billion.
Aid Programme (Cost)
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the expected cost to the aid programme of (a) Britain's contribution to the International Monetary Fund enhanced structural adjustment facility and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer's debt initiative in each of the years 1988-89 to 1990-91 inclusive for which an estimate has been made by his Department.
Mr. Chris Patten : I refer my right hon. Friend to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Eccles (Miss Lestor) on 25 November, at column 13.
Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will propose to the European Community that all past aid to the poorest countries be converted to grants and all new aid in the form of a gift.
Mr. Chris Patten : Most European Community aid to the poorest countries is already given as grants. Loans are provided generally to the better-off developing countries, and on generous terms. Repayments on past loans provided under the European development funds for the poorest ACP countries have recently been recycled as a contribution to the Community's special programme in favour of low-income, debt-distressed countries in sub -Saharan Africa.
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Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government will consider asking both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to adopt the six guidelines agreed by Ministers at the development assistance committee meeting in December 1987.
Mr. Chris Patten : As the guidelines agreed at the development assistance committee propose, the IMF and World Bank are paying increasing attention to designing structural adjustment programmes with safeguards to protect the poor. The World Bank is increasing support for special compensatory lending programmes in a number of countries in order to preserve basic social services during periods of adjustment. We welcome these developments. But the decisions on how to implement adjustment programmes, and how to protect vulnerable groups, must ultimately be for the Governments of the countries concerned.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Mental Illness (Prisons)
Mr. Goodlad : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what have been the findings of the study by the Institute of Psychiatry, London on (a) schizophrenia and (b) mental illness in the prison population ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : As I said in my reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad) on 25 January, at column 1 , this important study, which is intended to provide a sound basis on which the Department is able to consider the further development of its policies on mentally disordered offenders in the prison system, will take three years. The report from the Institute of Psychiatry is expected in October 1990.
Mr. Goodlad : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new arrangements have been made for patients in prison suffering from mental illness to be assessed by National Health Service medical staff prior to release back into the community ; what has been the extent of such assessments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The desirability of developing such arrangements for facilitating the continuity of care of a mentally disordered inmate on release from prison was included in the recommendations of a joint Home Office/Department of Health working group and accepted by the Government. Progress is as follows.
The Departments are in discussion about guidance to regional and district health authorities and also with the professions on how this ought to be given effect. Revised prison department instructions and a model letter for use by prison medical officers, both presently in draft, will provide an administrative framework for NHS medical staff to be invited to visit an inmate and to discuss his case with the responsible medical officer.
Mentally Disordered Offenders
Mr. Goodlad : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made as to
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whether the courts are fully aware of the non -custodial options open to them, particularly their powers of remand to hospital for report or treatment under sections 35 and 36 of the Mental Health Act 1983, and of the facilities available in the health system ; what trends in exercising such options have taken place since the report by the director of prison medical services on mentally disordered offenders ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. John Patten : Statistics on the extent to which courts have made use of their powers under sections 35 and 36 of the 1983 Act since the publication of the report of the interdepartmental working group on mentally disordered offenders will be available in due course. We are also considering research into the remand prison population, with particular reference to the procedures for courts to obtain medical reports and the working of these provisions. A handbook for the courts on the treatment of offenders already describes their powers under the 1983 Act, and we are preparing further guidance to the courts and other criminal justice services.
Schizophrenia
Mr. Goodlad : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what information he has as to how many of those convicted of crimes in England and Wales in each of the last two years had previously been admitted to National Health Service mental illness hospitals with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses ; (2) how many of those convicted of crimes in England and Wales in 1987 have ever been admitted to National Health Service mental illness hospitals and units with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses.
Mr. John Patten : Information is not collected centrally about the medical history of persons found guilty by the courts.
Immigration Detention Centres
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are in place to stop Securicor staff at immigration centres and on immigration escort duty, from giving to outside agencies names and other information about those in detention and being escorted, and those associated with them.
Mr. Renton : Securicor staff are instructed to regard all information provided for the performance of their duties and all other information gained by them in the course of their duties as confidential and not to be discussed with any unauthorised person.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what undertakings have been given by Group 4 on rights of appeal for existing Securicor staff employed at immigration detention centres against a refusal to employ them by the Group 4 security company.
Mr. Renton : Any such arrangements would be matters for the companies concerned and not for my right hon. Friend.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will cancel the contract recently awarded to the Group 4 security company to administer immigration detention centres and provide escorts.
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Criminal Justice Act
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy, when laying a commencement order for section 35 and 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, to provide that it should cover all cases decided since Royal Assent.
Passport Office
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will implement the recommendations of the Rayner efficiency scrutiny report to increase the number of staff working in the passport office by a minimum of 326.
Mr. Renton : No such recommendation appears in the report of the 1982 Rayner scrutiny of the Passport Office. The trade union's claim for 326 additional permanent staff derives from an outdated formula for matching staff resources to peaks in demand. This bears no relevance to present-day requirements, particularly in the light of computerisation. Staffing levels at the United Kingdom passport offices are closely monitored, and have in general kept in step with the increasing demand for passports. Officials are in consultation with the trade unions about them.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the increase of the number of staff working in the passport offices in (a) Scotland, (b) Glasgow, and (c) Edinburgh, for each year since 1982.
Mr. Renton : The information for the Glasgow passport office, which is the only one in Scotland, is given in the table.
------------------------------------------ 1982 | 90 | 85 |14 | 99 1983 | 89 | 89 |11 | 100 1984 |<1>83 | 85 |6 | 91 1985 |83 | 79 |9 | 88 1986 |83 | 83 |11 | 94 1987 |83 | 84 |9 | 93 1988 |83 | 82.5|21 | 103.5 <1> Six posts transferred to Belfast in June 1983 together with work on postal applications from Northern Ireland.
The recently computerised Glasgow office is gradually taking on the work of dealing with postal applications from the London area and by mid-1989 its complement will have increased by some 100 posts.
Television
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what national and international measures he is seeking to guarantee that television companies and the interests they represent will not interfere in the free and open political process once companies are allowed to transmit their programmes from other countries into the United Kingdom ;
(2) what international agreements Her Majesty's Government are seeking to enter into for the safeguarding
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of the quality, standards and balance of the variety of television programmes once satellite and other television systems produced or broadcast from abroad are allowed into the United Kingdom.Mr. Renton : We hope that, following the successful outcome of a conference of Council of Europe Broadcasting Ministers in Stockholm last week which I attended, it will be possible within the next two or three months to finalise work on a draft Council of Europe convention on transfrontier television. This will establish a European code of minimum standards for transfrontier services, whether transmitted terrestrially or by satellite or cable, covering both programme content and advertising. The convention will ensure that programmes meet certain fundamental requirements on matters such as taste, decency, objectivity and balance. Discussions are also continuing in the European Community on a draft directive on broadcasting which is intended to provide a limited harmonisation of member states' law on advertising, the protection of children and copyright in the broadcasting field. It will remain open to individual countries to impose on their own broadcasters stricter requirements than those contained in the convention of directive if they so choose, and we have recently set out our own proposals for future broadcasting legislation in our White Paper "Broadcasting in the 90s : Competition, Choice and Quality."
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list all the representatives of (a) television viewers' associations, (b) education authorities, (c) experts and (d) members of unions representing television workers, consulted by his Department prior to the publication of his White Paper on broadcasting ;
(2) if he will list all the Scottish journalists, broadcasters, producers, entertainers, presenters and administrators with experience in television consulted by him prior to the publication of his White Paper on broadcasting.
Mr. Renton : The development of the proposals in the White Paper was informed by the many representations received and by the lively public debate on broadcasting matters. Representatives of the groups mentioned, including those involved in broadcasting in Scotland, have played an important part in this process. The Government would welcome any comments on its proposals by 28 February 1989.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what specific research was carried out and information gathered by his Department regarding the comparative standards and quality of the present television systems of Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, prior to the publication of his White Paper on broadcasting.
Mr. Renton : I made visits to the United States, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Federal Republic of Germany specifically to study the broadcasting systems in those countries. During the visits I had discussions with broadcasters and others about the nature of the services provided and the arrangements concerning the quality and standards of programming. More generally, we have kept in touch with developments
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in other countries through bilateral contacts, discussions in fora such as the Council of Europe and the European Communities, and by studying the available relevant material.Police Training Centres
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider the decision to develop additional accommodation at the police training centre at Ryton rather than at the district police training centre at Cwmbran.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Police Training Council, whose membership includes representatives of the police service, local authorities and the Home Office, unanimously agreed at its meeting on 17 November, inter alia, that Ryton police district training centre should be the main site for the provision of additional police probationer training places. We do not propose to reconsider that decision. Some redevelopment at Cwmbran is currently under way to provide an additional 39 training places.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to improve the staffing levels at Wakefield prison in order to enable the Wednesday communion service to be reintroduced, and to enable category A prisoners to attend the service in the prison chapel on Sunday evenings.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The governor and chaplaincy can offer a full programme of religious activities, including a monthly Wednesday communion service. Providing extra discipline officers to allow category A prisoners to attend chapel twice on Sunday would be disproportionately costly.
Identity Cards
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Association of Chief Police Officers on the introduction of an obligatory national identity card ; what response he has made ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have asked the Association of Chief Police Officers for a considered and updated view on the reintroduction of a national identity card system, and we are awaiting their response.
Electronic Surveillance
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future role of electronic surveillance in the handling of offenders.
Mr. John Patten : The Government have not reached any final conclusions on the role of electronic monitoring in the handling of offenders. The Green Paper, "Punishment, Custody and the Community," (Cm. 424) suggests a possible use in helping to enforce curfews. This will be considered in the context of the other proposals in the Green Paper. Meanwhile, we are setting up a pilot project using electronic monitoring on unconvicted volunteers who have been remanded on bail. This will give us practical experience of the benefits and limitations of monitoring.
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Punishment, Custody and the Community"
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the introduction of supervision and restriction orders, as outlined in the Green Paper, "Punishment, Custody and the Community."
Mr. John Patten : We have invited comments on the Green Paper proposals by 31 January 1989 and we shall consider them carefully.
Magistrates and Probation Officers (Liaison)
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to improve the liaison and dialogue between magistrates and probation officers.
Mr. John Patten : This is indeed important. It is one of the key themes of the paper, "Tackling Offending : An Action Plan," which was issued by the Home Office in August to promote community-based punishments for young adult offenders. It asks the probation service to consult the courts on local "action plans" and suggests that communication between the probation service and the courts should be improved especially in the areas of social inquiry report writing and content of supervision programmes. We hope that local action plans will take effect next year.
The Home Office has recently taken part in discussions with the Magistrates' Association on working relations between the probation service and the magistrates' courts and on the work of probation liaison committees. Guidelines on both these subjects have been adopted by the Magistrates' Association as a result.
Lunar House
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extra staff have been employed at Lunar house since 19 May ; and in what capacities.
Mr. Renton : In my reply to the hon. Members for Motherwell, North (Dr. Reid) and for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) on 19 May, at column 533, I said that vigorous steps would be taken to recruit some 100 additional staff for the immigration and nationality department at Lunar house during the current financial year. As a result of these efforts, a net additional total of 83 staff have so far been recruited for general administrative work.
I also said on 19 May, at column 533, that we planned to recruit more than 100 staff outside London to deal with the influx of citizenship applications. We have recruited 121 staff to man the new nationality office which was opened on 22 August at Liverpool specifically for this work.
Student Demonstration
Mr. Chris Smith : 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 as to how many (a) police vans, (b) police officers, (c) boats, (d) helicopters and (e) horses were deployed by the Commissioner of Police in responding to the demonstration of students in and around Westminster on the afternoon of Thursday 24 November ; and what was the cost to public funds of the operation.
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Mr. Hurd : I understand from the Commissioner that the information is as follows :
|Numbers
--------------------------------
Police vans |36
Police officers |1,500
Boats |2
Helicopters |1
Horses |47
I shall reply on the matter of additional costs as soon as possible.
Mr. Chris Smith : 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 as to which officer was in overall charge of police strategy and tactics on the afternoon of Thursday 24 November in deciding the police response to the demonstration of students in and around Westminster, and as to who gave the order for a charge of mounted police to take place across Westminster bridge and as to what prior warning was given to demonstrators before this charge occurred.
Mr. Hurd : I understand from the Commissioner that the senior officer in overall charge at the scene of the demonstration was the deputy assistant commissioner of No. 8 area. It was the commander (operations) No. 8 area who authorised the advance of mounted officers on Westminster bridge. He did so only after repeated announcements by megaphone that this action would be taken if the demonstrators failed to disperse.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
City Technology Colleges
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether the establishment of the Nottingham city technical college will lead to the closure of any maintained secondary schools in Nottingham.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Nottingham city technology college has a strictly defined catchment area, served by a number of maintained secondary schools. It is unlikely that its establishment will lead any of these to close although it may reduce the demand for places.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the latest total estimate of the amount of public funds necessary to establish the Nottingham city technological college ; and what is the latest total estimate of private investment available to establish this city technology college.
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