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HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisons
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give capital expenditure on prisons for each year since 1974.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : Figures for total capital expenditure are given in the "Report on the Work of the Prison Service" which is published annually. Total capital expenditure on the Prison Service, net of receipts, in the financial years from 1974 was as follows :
Financial year |Capital expenditure<1> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1987-88 |108 1986-87 |110 1985-86 |105 1984-85 |74 1983-84 |61 1982-83 |46 1981-82 |32 1980-81 |33 1979-80 |26 1978-79 |26 1977-78 |27 1976-77 |28 1975-76 |32 1974-75 |22 1973-74 |19 <1> £ million to the nearest million at outturn prices.
It should be noted that the definition of total capital expenditure has changed during the period covered : the figures are not, therefore, directly comparable.
AIDS
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list all dates on which persons have been refused admission to the Unied Kingdom on the grounds of actual or suspected infection with HIV and the citizenship or country of origin of each such arriving passenger.
Mr. Renton : Government policy is that evidence of HIV infection is not of itself justification for a recommendation by a port medical inspector that a passenger should be refused entry to the United Kingdom on public health grounds. Passengers coming here for medical treatment, or who are likely to require treatment during their stay, including treatment for AIDS or for symptoms associated with HIV infection, are required to satisfy the immigration officer that they can meet any charges which might be made for such treatment and show that they can otherwise support themselves without recourse to public funds.
Identity Cards
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will initiate a study into the practicality of extending the plastic national insurance card into an identity card containing name, address, date of birth, sex, photograph and place for signature.
Mr. John Patten : The information recorded on the plastic national insurance card is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.
Police National Computer
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private survey and other research organisations have access to the police national computer.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Organisations of this kind do not have direct access to the PNC. But chief officers of police
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may, from time to time, provide information from police records, including records held on the PNC, to assist such organisations in particular projects, where this is clearly in the public interest.Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what safeguards there are against non-governmental organisations and private organisations using the police national computer.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Measures taken to prevent access to the PNC by unauthorised bodies, such as non-governmental and private organisations, include restrictions on access from public telephone lines, and regular checks centrally and in forces on accesses to the information held on the PNC. These measures are being reviewed in the light of recent cases, although these cases involved the misuse of the PNC by personnel who were authorised to have access.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons British Telecom has access to the police national computer.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : British Telecom does not have direct access to the Police National Computer. It does, however, receive from the police details of convictions of members of its staff, and some of this information is held on the PNC.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the BBC has access to the police national computer.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The BBC does not have direct access to the PNC. It may, however receive from the police information held on the PNC in the course of carrying out the security procedures referred to recently in my hon. Friend's reply to questions from the hon. Member for Brent, East (Mr. Livingstone) on 1 February 1989 at column 254.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-governmentalorganisations have access to the police national computer.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No non-governmental organisations have direct access to the PNC, but arrangements exist for information from police records, including the records held on the PNC, to be disclosed to selected organisations where this is clearly in the public interest--for instance, the arrangements which enable local authorities and other bodies to obtain information on those seeking to work with children.
Police Stations
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will invite environmental health officers to inspect police stations, including cells and canteens.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No. Environmental health officers already have powers to inspect police kitchens and canteens in the provinces. In the Metropolitan police district, the premises are regularly inspected by the public health engineers branch of the Metropolitan police. Lay visitors are already invited to visit police cells to ensure that the conditions of detention conform to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 codes of practice.
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Race Relations
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, when considering the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis' annual strategy document, he will take into account the recommendations made in Greater London Action for Race Equality report "Fair Cop, Policing and Racial Equality", on the case for a policy to tackle discrimination in police services to black Londoners.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friend discussed the Commissioner's strategy statement with him on 18 January and it was published on 24 January. Copies are available in the Library of the House. The strategy recognises the duty of the Metropolitan police to meet the policing needs of all sections of the community and gives priority to preventing and detecting offences such as racial attacks. In formulating his strategy, the Commissioner takes into account the views of a wide range of organisations, including Greater London Action for Racial Equality. The Metropolitan police maintain regular contact with GLARE, and the Commissioner met representatives of GLARE on 20 June 1988 to discuss the "Fair Cop" report.
Contracts
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all his Department's contracts with (a) Zeus and (b) Securipol Ltd. since 1979 ; and if he will give the purpose of each contract.
Mr. Hurd : Records are readily available only from April 1984. They include no contracts placed with, nor payments made to, Zeus or Securipol Ltd. by or on behalf of my Department during that period.
Abdullah Hassan Yousef
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy not to deport Abdullah Hassan Yousef pending his solicitor's representations on the grounds of the European convention on human rights.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will meet a deputation to discuss Her Majesty's Government decision to deport Mr. Abdullah Hassan Yousef.
Mr. Renton : I wrote to the hon. Member on 8 February and I have subsequently arranged to meet him on 15 February. Directions have been served for Mr. Yousef's removal on 24 February.
Illegal Parking
Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the income for the latest available year from parking fines and wheel clamps in London ; and what targets he has for the next five years.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : It is estimated that fixed penalty payments in respect of parking offences in London produced revenue of around £20 million to £25 million in 1987, and that income from fines imposed following court proceedings amounted to a further £250,000.
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The Metropolitan police received £2,710,548 from wheel-clamping charges in the 1987-88 financial year, and the City of London received £100,250 from wheel-clamping charges in 1988.We do not have targets for income of this nature.
Parking Restrictions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Griffiths) of 3 February, Official Report , column 422, concerning enforcement of parking restrictions, he will outline the safeguards for those motorists who feel they have been treated unreasonably.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Any person who has been issued with a fixed penalty notice, whether or not the vehicle in question has additionally been clamped or removed, may make representations to the appropriate chief officer of police, or may opt to challenge the matter before the courts.
Juvenile Court
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to seek to ensure that all cases relating to children in the juvenile court are heard on consecutive days.
Mr. John Patten : The date to which the hearing of a case should be adjourned is for the court to decide with the advice of its clerk, having regard to the availability of the magistrates and to other factors. Often it would not be practicable to resume a hearing on the following day.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many cases under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969, which were concluded in the inner London juvenile court during 1987 and 1988, were completed within a time scale of eight weeks ;
(2) how many cases under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and similar proceedings, which were concluded in the inner London juvenile court during 1987 and 1988, and which involved final hearings of more than one day in length ;
(3) how many cases under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and similar proceedings, which were concluded in the Inner London juvenile court during 1987 and 1988, and which involved final hearings of more than one day in length, were heard on consecutive days ;
(4) how many cases under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and similar proceedings, which were concluded in the Inner London juvenile court during 1987 and 1988, and which involved final hearings of more than one day in length, involved hearings in respect of which more than 14 days elapsed between the first day of the hearing and the last.
Mr. John Patten : Information is not available centrally on the time taken for cases under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 ; to obtain such information from individual courts would involve disproportionate cost.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases under section 1 of the
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Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and similar proceedings were concluded in the Inner London juvenile court during 1987 and 1988.Mr. John Patten : Records available to my Department, which may be incomplete, show 684 such proceedings in 1987. Data for 1988 are not yet available.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has undertaken of the types of proceeding most appropriately undertaken in (a) the domestic magistrates court and (b) the juvenile court.
Mr. John Patten : The Government's general intention is that all family proceedings (including care proceedings) heard in magistrates courts under the provision of the Children Bill should be heard in the domestic court.
Television (Ownership)
Mr. McCrindle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he has any plans to preclude one person from owning two ITV stations through control of a company which bids successfully for two contracts ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he has any plans to prevent a newspaper group from having an interest in more than one United Kingdom television company ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he has any plans to prevent a newspaper organisation from holding a stake exceeding 20 per cent. in a United Kingdom television company ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) If he has any plans to prevent non-EEC companies from holding a stake exceeding 12 per cent. in a United Kingdom television company ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : I refer my hon. Friend to paragraphs 6.48-6.53 of the White Paper, "Broadcasting in the '90s, Competition, Choice and Quality" which set out our proposals for the formulation of rules to prevent the concentration of ownership of television companies. As my right hon. Friend has made clear, the White Paper sets out a range of principles and not a full set of rules. We shall be looking particularly carefully at arguments advanced for limiting newspaper interest in regional Channel 3 licences and for preventing anyone from controlling two large regional Channel 3 franchises. We would welcome any views on the scope and formulation of these rules during the consultation period on the White Paper which ends on 28 February.
Immigration
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people currently living in Great Britain have an immigration status which would subject them to the public funds test for income-related social security benefits.
Mr. Renton : The immigration rules require all overseas nationals coming to this country, except those with the right of abode and asylum seekers, to be able to maintain and accommodate themselves and any dependants or to be maintained and accommodated by a sponsor here without recourse to the public funds specified in the rules. The funds specified are those which are both means-tested and non-contributory.
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Military and Police Training
Ms. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if any training was given to police or military personnel from Turkey or Chile during 1988 ; and whether there are any plans to give training in 1989.
Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 9 February 1989] : No police officers from Turkey or Chile visited the United Kingdom for training in 1988. Some 40 police officers from Turkey are at present attending English language training courses in this country, which will be followed by training programmes in various aspects of police work. I have no information on training for military personnel.
Mrs. Maltman
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects that Mrs. Maltman of 97 Carlton road, Derby, is likely to receive an answer either to the letter she wrote to him on 1 January 1988 or
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to the letter sent on to his office by the private secretary to Her Majesty the Queen on 21 November 1988, concerning her disentitlement to United Kingdom citizenship.Mr. Renton [holding answer 30 January 1989] : I believe the question relates to Mrs. Dorthy Maltman. Her application for British citizenship has been approved, as have the similar applications for her two sisters. I have written to the hon. Member to explain the position.
Prevention of Terrorism Act
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act since 1 December 1988 ; what areas of the United Kingdom and other countries they were from ; for what period they were held before being charged ; and how many were subsequently charged.
Mr. Hurd [pursuant to his reply, 13 January 1989, c. 760] : The available information relates to persons detained in December 1988 and is given in the table.
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Persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984, by country of permanent residence and period of
detention
Great Britain, December 1988 Number of detentions
Country of permanent
residence
Period of detention |England |Northern Ireland |Republic of Ireland|Lebanon |Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than two hours |- |- |- |- |-
Two hours and less than four |- |- |- |- |-
Four hours and less eight |3 |- |- |- |3
Eight hours and less than 12 |1 |- |- |- |1
12 hours and less than 24 |1 |<1>3 |- |1 |<1>5
24 hours and less than 36 |- |2 |3 |- |5
36 hours and less than 48 |- |2 |- |- |2
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total under 48 hours |5 |<1>7 |3 |1 |<1>16
Two days and less than three |1 |- |- |- |1
Three days and less than four |- |- |- |- |-
Four days and then less five |1 |- |- |- |1
Five days and less than six |- |- |- |- |-
Six days and less than seven |<2>1 |- |- |- |<2>1
Seven days |- |- |- |- |-
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total 48 hours or more |<2>3 |- |- |- |<2>3
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
All periods |<2>8 |<1>7 |3 |1 |<3>19
<1> Two of these persons were charged with an offence.
<2> One of these persons was charged with an offence.
<3> Three of these persons were charged with an offence.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Mr. Patrick Haseldine
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date Mr. Patrick Haseldine was suspended on full pay ; what further disciplinary action has been taken since that date ; what further action he proposes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : Mr. Haseldine was suspended on full pay on 7 December 1988. In accordance with diplomatic service regulations, the matter will shortly come before a disciplinary board.
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Consular Fees
Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to increase any of the consular fees.
Mr. Eggar : Yes, an Order in Council (the Consular Fees Order 1989) was made on 7 February which provides for increases in certain consular fees with effect from Saturday 1 April 1989 and a rationalisation of the consular shipping fees, reducing them in number from 30 to 10. It has been the policy of this and previous Governments that the cost of consular services should as far as possible be borne by the users.
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PRIME MINISTER
Fraud (Tax and Social Security)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister how much money Her Majesty's Government estimate has been lost in each year since 1979 as a result of fraudulent tax claims and of social security claims ; and how many persons have been successfully prosecuted in England and Wales.
The Prime Minister : Reliable estimates are not available of the cost of fraudulent tax or social security claims.
Information about the number of persons successfully prosecuted for benefit fraud in England and Wales by the Department of Health and Social Security is held only in respect of each year since 1984-85, as follows :
|Number
----------------------
1984-85 |6,132
1985-86 |6,045
1986-87 |5,462
1987-88 |6,228
The numbers of successful Inland Revenue prosecutions in respect of false accounts or returns and false claims to personal allowances, expenses and repayments in England and Wales are :
|Number
----------------------
1978-79 |59
1979-80 |58
1980-81 |56
1981-82 |38
1982-83 |20
1983-84 |34
1984-85 |22
1985-86 |23
1986-87 |19
1987-88 |15
London Underground
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Prime Minister when she last travelled on official business as a passenger on a London Underground train ; whether she will cause an inquiry to be set up into the London Underground system in the light of criticisms made of it since its removal from management and ownership by the Greater London council ; and what action she intends to take to remedy the squalor, graffiti and litter on the London Underground system and the increasing tendency of certain passengers to place their feet on the seats in the trains.
The Prime Minister : It is impracticable for me to use the Underground for official business. Immediately on taking responsibility for London regional transport from the GLC the Government charged the board to bring forward a programme of investment to modernise the public transport systems, making them more attractive to passengers and more efficient. The Government have approved steadily increasing investment in the Underground which next year will be the last year attributable to the GLC. There can be no reason for an inquiry.
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ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Children Bill
Ms. Harman : To ask the Attorney-General if the procedures to be established under clause 69 of the Children Bill [Lords] will be the same regardless of which court is hearing the procedures.
The Attorney-General : The Government are considering how far, given the different constitutions and structures of magistrates' and county courts and the high court, the procedure under the Bill in those courts can be aligned.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Attorney-General if the procedures to be established under clause 69 of the Children Bill [Lords] will follow the procedures currently followed in matrimonial proceedings and under the Guardianship of Minors Acts.
The Attorney-General : The procedures relating to proceedings under the Bill are still under consideration but will be designed to protect the interests of all those who may be affected and to ensure an expeditious disposal of the issues in the light of the fullest evidence using, where appropriate, procedures currently employed in cases affecting children.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Attorney-General if the rules to be made under clause 70 of the Children Bill [ Lords ] will provide for children and parents to be made parties automatically in all proceedings governed by the Bill.
The Attorney-General : No. Where parents wish to make an application or their legal position may be affected by proceedings they will be given the right to be joined in those proceedings. Children are to be parties automatically to proceedings relating to care, supervision and emergency orders. In other proceeding they will be parties if they are applying for an order in those proceedings and in other cases the courts will have power to join them as parties.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Attorney-General if the rules to be made under clause 70 of the Children Bill [ Lords ] will provide for all other persons who are either entitled to make applications within the Bill or given leave to make applications within the Bill, to be made parties automatically in all proceedings in which they are making the application.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to seek to ensure that all cases in all courts relating to children are heard on consecutive days.
The Attorney-General : It is the intention that all cases relating to children will be dealt with expeditiously and that a system of court management should ensure that such cases are heard on consecutive days. In the high court such a facility already exists. In the county courts the further development of continuous hearing centres and the deployment of circuit judges and registrars with special responsibilities for child care cases should also ensure that cases are heard to their conclusion.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Attorney-General if he has proposals to increase the number of magistrates and judges available in higher courts with experience of cases relating to children.
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The Attorney-General : The Government recognise that cases involving children need to be handled with particular sensitivity. There are already many magistrates and judges with experience of dealing with such cases. The judicial studies board is currently considering the need for training in this area.
Rudolf Hess
Mr. David Young : To ask the Attorney-General if the Lord Chancellor will take steps to bring into the public domain all documents bearing on the captivity and death of Rudolf Hess.
The Attorney-General : No. Any United Kingdom public records relating to Rudolf Hess that are more than 30 years old have either been made available in the Public Record Office, or are withheld from access under the provisions of the Public Records Act 1958 in accordance with the established criteria set out in paragraphs 24 to 31 of the White Paper "Modern Public Records", Cmnd. 8531, March 1982. Access to records less than 30 years old which have not yet been transferred to the Public Record Office is the responsibility of individual Departments.
Land Registry
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Attorney-General what is the average time taken by the Land Registry to (a) register a title for the first time, (b) transfer a registered title, (c) transfer a part registered title and (d) grant a new lease ; and what is the current backlog for each of the above categories.
The Attorney-General : The average completion times for the categories stated are :
(a) 34 weeks,
(b) 9 weeks,
(c) and (d) 33 weeks.
Having regard to the registry's target completion time of 14 weeks for category (a), 4 weeks for (b), and 12 weeks for (c) and (d), the backlog of applications for each of the above categories is :
(a) 240,000,
(b) 267,000,
(c) and (d) 136,000.
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