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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 3 February 1989
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
International Organisations
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those international organisations on which his Department is represented and the total cost of those commitments.
Mrs. Rumbold : The activities of the European Community, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe each have an education component and this Department provides the United Kingdom representations. In addition, the Department participates appropriately in the scientific activities of these organisations. The Government's contribution to the budgets is provided through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In addition, this Department makes specific contributions to the centre for educational research and innovation of the OECD (£97,143 in 1987-88) to the International Baccalaureate organisation (£16,100 in 1987-88) and to the European university institute (£1,232 million in 1987-88).
Boarding Schools (London)
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about the establishment of a London special boarding schools trust to take over responsibility for these schools after the abolition of the Inner London education authority ; and what response he has given.
Mrs. Rumbold : Representations have been received from representatives of the London special boarding schools trust to establish a trust which would take responsibility for all ILEA's residential special schools. Representations in support have also been received from the heads of the residential special schools and in correspondence to the Department. The trust is one of the options being considered by the working party that my right hon. Friend set up to consider the future of the schools.
Departmental Offices
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has for alternative locations for his Department's offices, following the sale of the property currently occupied in York road, London SE1.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department is currently planning to relocate its headquarters staff in Sanctuary Buildings towards the end of 1990. The new headquarters will not provide for all London-based staff and some supplementary accommodation is being sought. Studies are being undertaken to examine the feasibility of relocating some London based staff outside the London area. The lease of
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the present headquarters is held by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. He is considering its future.ATTORNEY-GENERAL
European Court of Justice (Advocacy)
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Attorney-General whether under the proposals in the Green Paper "The Work and Organisation of the Legal Profession", it is envisaged that advocacy before the European Court of Justice will require a full or limited advocacy certificate.
The Attorney-General : Under article 17 of the protocol on the statute of the Court of Justice of the European Economic Community, parties other than the states and institutions of the Community must be represented by a lawyer entitled to practise before a court of a member state. Under the proposals in the Green Paper on the work and organisation of the legal profession, advocates with both limited and full advocacy certificates would have rights of audience before the courts, although the extent of these rights would depend on whether their certificates are full or limited. If the proposals in the Green Paper are implemented, lawyers with either full or limited advocacy certificates should be entitled to practise before the European Court of Justice.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
ODA (Outstanding Debt)
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list by country the amounts of debt outstanding to the Overseas Development Administration as at 31 March 1988.
Mrs. Chalker : Amounts due to be repaid to the Overseas Development Administration as at 31 March 1988 are shown in the table. Repayments of past aid loans are added to the annual public expenditure survey provision for overseas aid and are thus available for new aid spending.
|£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antigua |145,033.72
Barbados |561,770.30
Belize |10,630,803.02
Bolivia |270,856.48
Brazil |3,416,096.55
British Virgin Islands |2,480,774.86
Cambodia |118,498.47
Cameroon |83,967.58
Cayman Islands |989,582.42
Colombia |2,847,924.56
Costa Rica |3,214,041.25
Cyprus |371,322.97
Dominica |5,601,561.30
Ecuador |7,557,273.24
Egypt |6,599,586.12
Falkland Islands |211,771.03
Fiji |2,123,799.52
Ghana |388,706.65
Gibraltar |1,011,047.10
Grenada |2,499,586.02
Guyana |25,041,467.13
Honduras |3,352,298.07
India |<1>224,423,946.91
Ivory Coast |1,814,770.77
Jamaica |49,180,720.59
Jordan |39,335,226.08
Laos |30,653.00
Liberia |77,749.50
Malta |8,307,651.86
Malaysia |15,124,721.87
Malawi |400,775.67
Mauritius |9,394,024.71
Nicaragua |584,705.62
Nigeria |5,175,084.04
Paraguay |4,220,000.00
Peoples' Democratic Republic of Yemen |4,162,899.66
Peru |4,194,608.68
Philllipines |5,481,634.67
St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla |853,094.63
St. Lucia |56,843.78
Senegal |916,329.67
Seychelles |10,763,427.49
Singapore |8,333,320.00
Solomon Islands |4,655,107.25
Swaziland |11,115,470.54
Thailand |1,120,392.08
Tonga |1,826,041.29
Trinidad and Tobago |120,000.00
Tunisia |381,782.01
Turkey |77,475,430.46
Vanuatu |128,880.00
Vietnam |196,798.37
Zambia |45,207,629.42
Zimbabwe |28,165,170.40
|-------
Total |642,742,659.38
<1> India has benefited from Her Majesty's Government's policy of
retrospective terms adjustment through the provision of aid to meet the
local costs of projects as an equivalent measure.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Fixed Capital Formation
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give total gross domestic fixed capital formation for the United Kingdom at market prices as a percentage of GDP(E) at market prices for each year since 1959 to the most recent available date, together with the average for (a) 1974 to 1979 and (b) 1979 to 1987 inclusive.
Mr. Major : This information may be obtained from the Central Statistical Office databank, a collection of macroeconomic time series in computer readable form to which the House of Commons Library has direct access.
Profit-related Pay
Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for take-up of profit-related pay ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Brooke : Profit-related pay has just completed its first full year of operation, under the innovatory scheme for tax relief which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced. At the end of 1988, a total of 830 schemes were registered, covering well over 120,000 people.
The progress of PRP is encouraging, but experience has suggested that one of the rules has discouraged some employers from setting up schemes and complicated things unnecessarily for others. This is the rule that PRP should
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be at least 5 per cent. of total pay if profits are unchanged from the base year. The Government have therefore decided to abolish it. I am authorising the Inland Revenue to operate an extra-statutory concession to this effect from today. This means that employers whose accounting years begin on 1 April will be able, if they wish, to register schemes before then without having to meet the 5 per cent. test. We shall put forward the necessary legislation in the Finance Bill.This change should simplify considerably the operation of profit-related pay. I hope that it will help those who have already opted for PRP, and encourage others to follow in their footsteps. Full details of the changes are available in a press release published by the Inland Revenue today.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Milk Quota
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he intends to set a date limit for the notification of milk quota transfers in England and Wales.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Following discussion with the industry, I have decided to make use of the powers provided by the Dairy Produce Quotas (Amendment) Regulations 1989. Quota transfers notified after 21 April, even if they are notified as having occurred in the previous quota year, will not affect the calculation of supplementary levy liability until the start of the new quota year on 1 April. I hope that this will encourage producers to notify transfers of quota in good time, which should in turn facilitate the smooth running of the quota system.
Milk and Dairies Regulations
Mr. Gill : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about charges for work in connection with the enforcement of the milk and dairies regulations.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Following consultations with interested parties about the recommendations on the efficiency scrutiny report published last year, my right hon. Friend the Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales propose to make certain adjustments which will enable us to reduce the charge for work in connection to the enforcement arrangements with a scheduled dairy farm inspection visit. We are proposing that this should be set at £78 with effect from 1 April 1989. The existing charge is £90 but it would otherwise have had to be increased to £105 to take account of increased costs since April 1987. We also propose to increase the concession for producers with fewer than 20 cows from £10 to £18, giving a proposed charge of £60 compared with the current charge of £80.
The scrutiny report did not identify any savings in the system for sampling and testing untreated milk and private water supplies. In order to recoup costs associated with the work it will be necessary to increase these charges from £22 to £26 to take account of increased costs since 1987. The charge will also need to be increased by a further £5 if the efficiency scrutiny's recommendation for changes to the tests on untreated milk is implemented. These changes are still to be considered.
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The overall effect of the proposed changes will be to give a worthwhile reduction for virtually all milk producers.Proposals for revised regulations reflecting these changes will be circulated shortly to interested organisations.
Untreated Milk
Mr. Alexander : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ban the sale of untreated milk.
Mr. MacGregor : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I have recently been reviewing our arrangements for the sale of untreated milk, which represents 2 to 3 per cent. of milk sales in England and Wales. Effective heat treatment is the only way to minimise the risks of transmitting milk-borne diseases to the consumer. My right hon. Friend and I propose therefore to consult the interested parties with a view to prohibiting the sale of untreated milk from the earliest possible date. We shall consult also on what arrangements should be applied to sales of untreated milk in the interim period.
A consultation document will be issued shortly inviting comments on this proposal and on the detailed arrangements for its
implementation.
SCOTLAND
Education Expenditure
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much public expenditure there has been on education in Scotland in the current year ; and what are the figures for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Rifkind : Estimated outturn for total public expenditure (by central and local government) on education in 1988-89 is £2,126 million. The equivalent figures for the past 10 years are set out in the table :
|£ million
------------------------------
1978-79 |901
1979-80 |1,051
1980-81 |1,273
1981-82 |1,432
1982-83 |1,505
1983-84 |1,574
1984-85 |1,616
1985-86 |1,676
1986-87 |1,802
1987-88 |1,948
Enterprise Allowance Scheme
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland are presently on the enterprise allowance scheme ; and what are the figures for each year since its inception.
Mr. Rifkind : On 24 January 1989, the latest date for which information is available, there were 7,979 people participating in the enterprise allowance scheme in Scotland. The number of people entering the scheme in Scotland in each year since its inception in August 1983 is set out in the table.
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Enterprise allowance scheme Year |Entrants in Scotland --------------------------------------------------------------- <1>1983-84 |2,249 1984-85 |3,794 1985-86 |5,311 1986-87 |8,260 1987-88 |9,894 <2>1988-89 |7,151 <1> August to March. <2> Up to 24 January 1989.
Part-time Work
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland are in part-time work; what is the average number of part-time workers for each of the past 10 years ; and what proportion these figures represent of the total work force in employment at the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Rifkind : Information on part-time workers in Scotland for each of the past 10 years is available only for female part-time employees in employment. These estimates, given in the table, exclude part-time male employees, the self-employed and participants on work-related Government training programmes. For the years 1978, 1981 and 1984 the censuses of employment record some 0.06 million male part-time employees in employment. In September 1988 female part-time employees comprised 20.6 per cent. of all employees in employment in Scotland and 18.2 per cent. of the civilian work force in employment.
Female part-time employees in employment in Scotland<1> Year |Annual averages millions --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1978 |0.31 1979 |0.33 1980 |0.33 1981 |0.34 1982 |0.34 1983 |0.34 1984 |0.35 1985 |0.36 1986 |0.37 1987 |0.38 September 1988<2> |0.39 <1> These estimates may be revised when the results of the 1987 Census of Employment becomes available. <2> Not adjusted for seasonal variation.
Lockerbie Air Disaster (Statements)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on behalf of the Lord Advocate on the police investigation of David Johnstone of Radio Forth for statements relating to the Lockerbie air disaster.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Lord Advocate has no intention of requiring Mr. David Johnston, head of news, Radio Forth, to be brought before a sheriff to be precognosced on oath. If Mr. Johnston has new information of value to the investigating authorities, it is to be expected that, out of a proper sense of public responsibility, he will disclose it to them.
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Forestry
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the name, location and size of each of those forest estates sold by the Forestry Commission from 21 June 1984 to date ; and if he will list the price obtained for the sale of such public assets in each case.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 17 January 1989] : In view of its length, I have arranged for copies of the list to be placed in the Library of the House. This covers the period from 22 October 1984 to 21 December 1988, the latest date for which information is available. Lists of forest areas sold between 22 June 1984 and 21 October 1984, or which were in the process of being sold at the latter date, were provided on 5 December 1984 in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) at columns 139-50.
THE ARTS
National Theatre for Dance
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he has met the chairman of the London residuary body to discuss plans to build a national theatre for dance.
Mr. Luce [holding answer 2 February 1989] : No.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received on plans to build a national theatre for dance on the south bank.
Mr. Luce [holding answer 2 February 1989] : None. The plans were put forward by the private sector.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has on the reasons for the withdrawal of plans to build a national theatre for dance on the south bank. Mr. Luce [holding answer 2 February 1989] : I am informed that a bid was made for the county hall site, which included the building of a dance theatre ; but another bid worth £20 million more from the County Hall Development Group was accepted by the London residuary body, under its statutory obligation to obtain the maximum benefit for the ratepayers, in June 1988.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Overseas Investment
Ms. Quin : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will supply figures on levels of overseas investment in the United Kingdom by region for each of the past five years.
Mr. Newton : Figures for net inward direct investment in the United Kingdom are not available by region. For the United Kingdom as a whole they are as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1983 |3,301
1984 |-246
1985 |4,123
1986 |4,078
1987 |<1>5,664
<1> Provisional.
Wireless Telegraphy (Licensing)
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what additional measures are being taken to reduce the burden of licensing requirements under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts.
Mr. Atkins : My Department is today laying a statutory instrument under section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 further to reduce licensing requirements, in line with intentions expressed in the White Paper "Releasing Enterprise" (Cm. 512), published in November 1988.
Following the outcome of the review announced on 20 December 1988 in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus (Receivers) (Exemption) Regulations 1989 will exempt from licensing requirements the use of radio equipment used for receiving--as distinct from transmitting--with one important exception. The television licence fee will continue to be charged as the arrangements for licensing users of television to receive authorised broadcasts are not affected by these proposals.
Licences for receivers are not required for radio spectrum management purposes. Reception of authorised sound radio broadcasting and of radio amateur transmissions was exempted some time ago. In particular, people will no longer need a separate licence to use television receive-only (TVRO) equipment such as satellite dishes for television broadcasts direct to the home from fixed-service satellites. Removal of licensing will, moreover, avoid the costs to users and to Government caused by changing requirements as new services develop.
The statutory instrument will come into force on 27 February 1989.
Water
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has had with the European Commission to establish whether the proposal of his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on merger policy with regard to the water industry of 11 January, Official Report, column 841, is likely to contravene European Economic Community competition policy and what response he has received.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 2 February 1989] : Formal clearance by the EC Commission of the proposals for mergers in the water industry is not necessary. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will, however, be keeping the Commission informed about the details of his proposals.
Chemical Weapons
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether any guarantees and conditions on the use and production of chemical weapons have been attached to the Britain-Iraq £340 million trade credit.
Mr. Alan Clark [holding answer 31 January 1989] : The UK-Iraq £340 million financial protocol makes no specific reference to imports which might conceivably relate to the production of chemical weapons. However, it can be used only to finance goods which meet United Kingdom export licence requirements, and these specifically prevent the
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supply of a number of key precursors. The protocol makes an important contribution to Government policy of developing economic and commercial relations with Iraq and is based on a commercial assessment of the risks involved. We have made clear to the Iraqi Government our condemnation of the use of chemical weapons and we expect the Government of Iraq to honour their pledge not to use these weapons in the future.HOME DEPARTMENT
Immigration Rules
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce immigration rules to consolidate the rules contained in HC 169 and all subsequent amendments of those rules.
Mr. Renton : Yes. We propose to do so on the next occasion on which changes are made to the immigation rules.
Police Surgeons
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Don Valley, 20 January, Official Report, column 352-53 about the numbers of female victims of sexual offences treated by (a) male and (b) female police surgeons, if he will list by police authority comparable figures for the other police authorities in England and Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
River Pollution
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions prosecutions have been brought under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 in relation to river pollution ; if he will list such occasions in date order and by court ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : The information held centrally for 1987, which may be incomplete, is given in the table. Provision of corresponding information for other years would involve disproportionate costs.
Persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts in
1987 under
Sections 31 and 32 of the Control of Pollution Act
1974
England and Wales |Number<1>
-------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |12
Cambridgeshire |2
Cheshire |8
Cumbria |7
Derbyshire |3
Dorset |1
Durham |1
Gloucestershire |7
Greater Manchester |1
Hampshire |3
Humberside |7
Leicestershire |10
Lincolnshire |3
Merseyside |1
Norfolk |10
North Yorkshire |12
Northamptonshire |3
Shropshire |4
Staffordshire |3
Suffolk |15
Surrey |2
Sussex |2
Warwickshire |2
West Midlands |1
West Yorkshire |6
Wiltshire |3
Dyfed-Powys |27
Gwent |3
North Wales |3
South Wales |5
|---
England and Wales |167
<1> The figures held centrally are approximate and may
be incomplete; detailed checking of individual cases
would involve disproportionate cost.
Prisoners (Ethnic Origins)
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make public the ethnic origin of prisoners held in Her Majesty's prison, Wormwood Scrubs at the most recent convenient date.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is given in the table.
Population<1> of Wormwood Scrubs prison: by
ethnic origin 30
September 1988
|Number
---------------------------------------------
White |657
West Indian, Guyanese, African |276
Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi |39
Chinese, Arab, Mixed origin |19
Other, not recorded, refused |19
|------
All persons |1,010
<1> The figures are those recorded centrally
and are approximate.
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement as to what standard classifications are used when recording the ethnic origin of prisoners.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The standard classification used to record the ethnic origin of prisoners, is that currently used in the EC labour force survey. Details are to be found in "The ethnic origins of prisoners : the prison population on 30 June 1985" and persons received July 1984 to March 1985 (Home Office statistical bulletin 17/86).
Prisoners (Training Courses and Jobs)
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how prison governors ensure that all inmates have equal access to training courses and to jobs.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : In general, inmates are informed of the opportunities for education, training, and employment, and are invited to express their preferences at the beginning of their sentence. An assessment is then made of their suitability for the activities of their choice in terms of medical fitness, educational standard, and motivation.
While the wishes of inmates are taken into account, access to a particular course or specific type of employment is dependent on the suitability or otherwise of the individual and on the constraints of local circumstances. Opportunities for choice may be more limited in local prisons and remand centres and for prisoners with special needs.
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Prisoners (Racial Discrimination)
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure that all prisoners are aware of their right to write to the Commission for Racial Equality at the same time as raising internally any complaint of racial discrimination.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Guidance was issued to establishments in 1977 about the right of prisoners to write to the Commission for Racial Equality. Specific reference to this will be included in the next revision of the information booklet for prisoners.
Metropolitan Police (Sex Discrimination)
Mr. Cohen : 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 about the extent of employment discrimination against women within the Metropolitan police and the action he is taking to counteract it.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Like the chief officers, the Commissioner is aware that, subject to the specific exceptions provided by section 17(2) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, any sex discrimination in the treatment of police officers is unlawful.
Over the last four years, the Metropolitan police has worked with the Equal Opportunities Commission on the implementation of its equal opportunities policy, as the commission recognised in its 12th annual report. The force has a dedicated equal opportunities unit, and a formal grievance procedure which can be used by officers who consider that they have suffered from sexist behaviour or language. Equal opportunities training is included in central and local training programmes. Detailed guidelines on equal opportunities legislation and practice are issued to all officers of inspector rank and above, and are available to other ranks.
Police Officers
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends removing the requirement for police officers (a) to serve warrants for non-payment of fines and (b) to act as coroners' officers.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Arrangements for service of warrants for non- payment of fines are settled locally between police forces and the courts. As much as possible should be dealt with by civilian staff rathern than police officers in order to release the latter for operational duties.
As regards coroners' officers, it has been suggested to police authorities, chief officers of police and the coroners' service that civilians rather than police officers should be appointed to such posts. This is in line with the conclusion of the Broderick committee on coroners.
Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extra police have been allocated to the West Midlands police force for each year between 1974 and 1988.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is as follows :
Year |Posts approved --------------------------------------------- 1974 and 1975 |- 1976 |38 1977 to 1980 |- 1981 |175 1982 to 1987 |- 1988 |70
Prisons
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has plans for changing the way in which the regions and headquarters of the prison service are organised.
Mr. Hurd : Fresh start has brought fundamental changes over the past two years to the way in which individual establishments in the prison service operate. I have decided that the time is now ripe for carrying this process a stage further and undertaking a comprehensive study of the organisation and location of the service's headquarters and regions. The terms of reference for the review are :
To study the organisation of the prison service in England and Wales above the level of individual establishments and the locations at which work is done and to make recommendations for changes to improve effectiveness and value for money.
The work is being done by a small team of consultants and civil servants and is due to be completed by the end of July.
Prisoners (Cruelty to Children)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were sent to prison in each of the last three years for cruelty to children.
Mr. John Patten : The information is not all available in the form requested. The number of persons given immediate custody for offences of cruelty to or neglect of children under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", supplementary tables 1.1(a) and 2.1(a). The number of offences of homicide where the victims were children is published in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", Cm. 498, tables 4.6, 4.12 and 4.13. Copies of these publications are in the Library of the House. The number of persons sentenced for other offences of violence against children is not available separately.
Wandsworth Prison
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what prison association is allowed for inmates at Wandsworth prison.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The position before the recent intensification of industrial action was that, apart from the hospital ward complex, there was no general association other than that which occurred during exercise periods and other group activities.
Remand Prisons
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average time a person on remand in custody has spent in prison during the last 12 months.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : The latest readily available information was published in table 2.1 of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1987" (Cmnd. 547), a copy of which is held in the Library.
Firearms and Shotguns
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will extend the validation period of shotgun certificates from three years to six years ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will introduce legislation to extend the validation period of firearms certificates to six years ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what representations he has received (a) supporting and (b) opposing the extension of the validation period of shotgun certificates from three years to six years ; what the percentage the latter is of the former ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have received occasional representations on this matter but details are not available in the form requested. Proposals for extending from three to six years the validity of shotgun and firearm certificates were made during the passage of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988. These were not acceptable to the Government. I remain of the view that review of the conditions attached to a certificate and the circumstances of the holder at three-yearly intervals is right, and that to extend the period to six years would represent an unacceptable relaxation of the controls. We have, however, made provision in the 1988 Act for the co-termination of firearm and shotgun certificates, which will represent a substantial saving in costs for those holding both types of certificate.
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to make the sale of live shotgun cartridges dependent upon the production of a valid shotgun certificate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Section 5 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 makes it an offence to sell shotgun ammunition to a person (other than a dealer in such ammunition) unless that person produces his shotgun certificate, or produces a certificate belonging to some other person together with a written authority from the holder to purchase the ammunition on his behalf, or shows that he is entitled to possess a shotgun without holding a certificate. This is an important strengthening of the law which it is intended to bring into force, with other relevant new provisions, by way of a second commencement order early in the summer.
Missing Persons
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable as to how many (a) men, (b) women, (c) boys under 18 years of age and (d) girls under 18 years of age were reported as missing in the Thames valley during each of the last five years for which records are available ; and how many and what percentage in each category were subsequently traced ;
(2) if he will call for a report from the chief constable as to how many (a) men, (b) women, (c) boys under 18 years of age and (d) girls under 18 years of age were
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