House of Commons Hansard Debates for 1 Dec 1988

Students (Lobby)

Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to (a) the number of police on duty at the time of and in connection with the lobby on student loans on 24 November and (b) the number of police vehicles utilised at the time of and in connection with the lobby ;

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(2) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to the cost of the police operation on Thursday 24 November at the time of the student lobby of the House on student loans.

Mr. Hurd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 29 November, at columns 174-76.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to why mounted police charged into the groups of students assembled on the south side of Westminster bridge for the National Union of Students lobby of Parliament on 24 November ; and who gave the order for this action ;

(2) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to why the police completely closed Westminster bridge during the National Union of Students' lobby of Parliament on Thursday 24 November ;

(3) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police as to who was in charge of the police operation dealing with the National Union of Students' lobby of Parliament on 24 November.

Mr. Hurd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) on 28 November, at column 76, and the reply given to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 29 November, at columns 174-76.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to why on Thursday 24 November constituents of various hon. Members in possession of letters from the House of Commons outlining arrangements to meet those Members were prevented by police from getting to Parliament ;

(2) if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to why police prevented hon. Members, who had previously arranged to meet constituents involved in the National Union of Students lobby of Parliament on Thursday 24 November from meeting those constituents outside the premises of the Palace of Westminster.

Mr. Hurd : I understand from the Commissioner that arrangements were made with the organisers of the demonstration for students who wished to lobby Members of Parliament to follow a route to the House over Lambeth bridge. At various times throughout the afternoon NUS stewards and police officers encouraged lobbyists to use this route. The arrangements were used for orderly lobbying so far as was possible consistent with the duty on the police to ensure that the Sessional Order was not breached. By 6 pm the police had counted 494 students entering the Lobby. Many more were directed down Millbank but chose not to join the Lobby queue.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the policing of the National Union of Students lobby of Parliament on 24 November ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Hurd : Other than those which have been made by hon. Members by way of questions, two letters from hon. Members and two letters from members of the public of which I am aware.

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Mr. Hinchliffe : 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 whether police officers involved in dealing with the National Union of Students lobby of Parliament on Thursday 24 November were aware of which officer was in charge of the operation.

Mr. Hurd : Officers were aware of who was in charge of operations.

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 demonstrations of students in and around Westminster on the afternoon of Thursday 24 November ; and what was the cost to public funds of the operation.

Mr. Hurd [pursuant to his reply, 28 November 1988, c. 75-76] : The additional cost of policing the demonstration was £27,462.

Prison Officers (House Purchase)

Mr. Michael Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officers have purchased their prison quarters since Fresh Start.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : In the period since the introduction of Fresh Start until 14 November 1988, 1,101 prison officers have purchased their prison quarters under the Department's discount sales scheme. Information on the few properties sold to prison officers on the open market in this period is not readily available.

Mr. Michael Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many serving officers at Lindholme prison have purchased their prison quarters ;

(2) how long it takes for a prison officer serving at Lindholme prison from applying to buy his quarters to signing the final agreement.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Twenty prison officers serving at Lindholme prison applied to buy their quarters. None has yet signed a final agreement. The large number of applications for the purchase of quarters under the discount sales scheme has created delays at the conveyancing stage of the sale process which make it impossible to say how long completion of the necessary procedures will take in particular cases.

Correspondence

Sir Geoffrey Finsberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate will receive a definitive response in respect of case A424178 about which he first wrote to him in August.

Mr. Renton : I wrote to my hon. Friend on 28 November.

Conservative Trade Unionists Conference

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the additional policing costs arising from the 1988 Conservative Trade Unionists conference in Southport.

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Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the chief constable of Merseyside that the additional costs of policing the 1988 Conservative trades unionists conference in Southport were £32,014.

Trans-frontier Television

Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what part his Department's delegation played in the recent Stockholm ministerial conference on trans-frontier television in Europe ; what decisions were arrived at ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Renton : The United Kingdom delegation, which I led, played a prominent part in this conference, the theme of which was European mass media policy in an international context. We were invited to prepare one of the two main conference papers on the subject of international circulation of European audio-visual works and acted as rapporteur for the discussion of this item. Most of the time of the conference, however, was devoted to discussing the draft convention on transfrontier television, and significant progress was made towards resolving the outstanding issues of difficulty. Our delegation tabled a revised formula on advertising breaks which was generally welcomed and was incorporated into a compromise package which it was agreed could serve as a basis for the final text. The draft convention will now be submitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for finalisation, and we hope that it will be opened for signature early next year.

Mr. Errol Codling

Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Mr. Errol "Ranking Dread" Codling was deported or extradited from the United Kingdom ; and of what crimes he was accused.

Mr. Renton : The person concerned was removed to Jamaica on 8 November under paragraph 10 of schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971, having entered the United Kingdom illegally.

Electronic Tagging

Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether telephones will be provided without charge if electronic tagging schemes are introduced for each offender who does not possess a telephone ; and if he will make a statement ;

(2) how many pilot schemes of electronic tagging are being undertaken in consultation with his Department ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten : Details of the pilot project on the electronic monitoring of people released on bail are being worked out. There are likely to be schemes in two or three areas.

Dogs (Tail Docking)

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if, on behalf of Her Majesty's

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Government, he intends to sign both articles 10 and 21 of the European convention on the mutilation of animals concerning tail docking of dogs ; and if he will make a statement ;

(2) what representations he has received about signing article 10 but not article 21 of the European convention on the mutilation of animals.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Tail docking is one of the subjects covered in the European convention for the protection of pet animals. It was also raised in a report on animal mutilations by a working party of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Consultation on that report has now been completed ; I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 15 July 1988 for a list of the organisations involved. In addition, I have received representations from several hon. Members, some correspondence from members of the public and a number of petitions on this subject. We shall consult interested organisations on all the provisions of the convention before deciding how to proceed.

Breath Tests

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many roadside breath tests took place in 1986 and 1985.

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Mr. Douglas Hogg : The available information is published annually in Home Office statistical bulletins, "Statistics of breath tests, England and Wales" (table 1 of issue 23/88 gives the latest available figures up to 1987).

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce discretionary or random breath tests.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : At present a police officer may require a driver to provide a specimen of breath for a breath test where he has reasonable cause to suspect that the driver has alcohol in his body, and in certain other circumstances. The Association of Chief Police Officers has proposed that the police should in future have unfettered discretion to require breath tests and we are considering this together with proposals on related aspects of road traffic law made by the road traffic law review.

Drink-driving

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for drunken driving there were in 1986, 1987 and to date in 1988.

Mr. John Patten : The available information relates to findings of guilt for offences of driving, and so on, after consuming alcohol or taking drugs and is published annually in Home Office statistical bulletins, "Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales" ; table 9 of issue 32/88 gives the latest available figures up to 1987.

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