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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 11 July 1989
HOME DEPARTMENT
Police (Initiation Rites)
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has of initiation rites in police forces ; and what procedures there are for ensuring that young recruits are able to complain to an independent person.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I have no evidence that this kind of conduct is widespread but, where it occurred, it would be likely to constitute a disciplinary offence. A police officer who was the victim of such an offence would be expected to bring the matter to the attention of a supervising officer or his Police Federation representative. In addition, every police officer has the right to ask for an interview with HM inspector of constabulary, during the annual inspection of the force, to discuss any grievance over his treatment.
Wandsworth Prison (Staffing)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present position of staffing levels at Wandsworth prison ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : There are 445 officers, including principal and senior officers, at Wandsworth compared with 437 at 1 April 1989. The total full and part-time staff at the prison now stands at 584.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department expects to reply to the current year's report by the board of visitors of Wandsworth prison ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I shall be writing shortly to the chairman to thank him for the 1988 report of the board of visitors. The recommendations of the board are receiving detailed consideration.
West Midlands (Chief Constable)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the chief constable of the West Midlands ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friend last met the chief constable on 16 September 1988 in the course of a visit to the West Midlands police force. A range of topics was discussed as is usual in such occasions.
Passport Applications
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport applications by United Kingdom citizens now remain uncleared.
Mr. Renton : The latest available figures are for the week ended 2 July, when about 500,000 applications remained
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outstanding, a reduction of over 36,000 from the previous week. Following the settlement of the recent industrial dispute at the passport offices, efforts are being made to reduce the backlog of applications as quickly as possible, and a number of special measures are being taken to ease the difficulties facing the travelling public. These were described in the reply given by my right hon. Friend to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 4 July, at columns 99-100.Nazi War Crimes
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the report he has now received regarding allegations of Nazi war crimes committed by those now resident in the United Kingdom.
Mr. John Patten : I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Mr. Wheeler) on 27 June 1989 at column 399.
Section 11 Money
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much section 11 money has been made available to (a) local education authorities and (b) other bodies ; and for what purposes in the past year, five, 10 and 15 years ago, respectively ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : The amount of grant paid under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 for 1987-88, the most recent year for which actual expenditure figures are available, and for five, 10 and 15 years previously was as follows :
Year |Total grant|Education |Other
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------
1972-73 |7,787,873 |5,904,346 |1,883,527
1977-78 |24,745,627 |20,777,102 |3,973,525
1982-83 |65,817,318 |51,342,459 |14,474,859
1987-88 |72,851,394 |55,052,417 |17,798,977
The majority of section 11 funded posts involve educational expenditure and are mainly concerned with the teaching of English as a second language. Grant is also paid for posts concerned with bilingual classroom assistance, adult education, youth work, education welfare and home-school liaison.
Other principal users for section 11 apart from education span the range of local authority responsibilities including social services, business development, housing and environmental health, translation and interpretation services. The Government are presently considering the results of the scrutiny report into section 11 funding and will announce its conclusions in due course.
Summer Time
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing the times of sunrise and sunset on the first day of each month in 1992 in (a) Dumfries, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Dundee, (d) Aberdeen, (e) Inverness, (f) Thurso and (g) Lerwick, respectively, under (i) the status quo and (ii) single-double summer time as described in his Department's Green Paper on summer time.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is not immediately available. I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library.
Drinking (Public Places)
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the safer cities initiative and the ban on drinking in public places.
Mr. John Patten : The experimental byelaw in Stockton-on-Tees, which makes it an offence to drink alcohol in designated public places, came into force on 5 April. The byelaw is in force in five other local authority areas--Bath, Coventry, Restormel (Cornwall), Rushmoor (Hampshire) and Scarborough--and will be in force in Chester shortly. The experiment is due to run for two years and will be closely monitored by participating local authorities, the police and the Home Office. Preliminary results are encouraging. The byelaw has been shown to be popular in most places and public drinking on the streets has largely stopped : the relatively few number of police requests to desist have almost always been heeded. There have been just six prosecutions, three in Bath and three in Coventry. A Home Office crime prevention unit paper containing the results of a survey, of Coventry city centre users, on the byelaw has recently been published. The survey shows that nine out of 10 users of the city centre who were questioned welcomed the introduction of the ban. The safer cities programme is making good progress. Three projects are fully operational, at Bradford, Nottingham and Wolverhampton. They have already started crime prevention work there, most of it improving physical security but some directed to lessening the fear of crime and to preventing offending by young people. Projects at Lewisham and Birmingham begin this month. Five further projects are due to begin operating by the end of September, and six more by the start of the new year.
Community Radio
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the names of the people and of the stations that have been granted a community radio licence.
Mr. Renton : The incremental local radio scheme is administered by the IBA. To date they have offered franchises to the following :
Name of applicant |Proposed station name|Coverage area
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clement Mclarty |FTP |Bristol
Ravinder Jain |West London Radio |Hounslow/Ealing/
| Southall
Mike Shaft |Sunset Radio |Manchester
Daniel Macleod |Stirling Community |Stirling
| Radio
Ashok Joshi |Radio Harmony |Coventry
Dr. Zannetos Tofallis |London Greek Radio |Haringey
| in association with
| WNK Radio
Stephen Oates |Isle of Wight Radio |Isle of Wight
Alan Fry |Sunderland Com- |Sunderland
| munity Radio
John Simpson |Belfast Community |Belfast
| Radio
Pervez Akhtar |Bradford City Radio |Bradford
Lester Cowling |KNBC Radio |Kettering
Charles Turner |KFM Radio |Stockport
Des Shepherd |North East Essex |Tendring
| Community Radio
Broadcasting
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing (a) how many cable franchises have been granted, (b) which communities they serve, (c) how many cable franchises are switched on, (d) which communities they serve, (e) the estimated subscribers in each case and (f) whether interactive services are provided.
Mr. Renton : I understand from the cable authority that a total of 41 cable franchises have been granted, of which 16 have been licensed by the cable authority, and 11 of which are operational. A further 30 franchises have been advertised by the authority. The granting of a cable franchise has no standing in law. It is simply an indication that the cable authority intends to award a licence under the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 to the franchise holder provided it meets certain conditions.
Franchises granted but licence not yet awarded
Andover (IVS Enterprises)
Barking, Dagenham, Bexley, Redbridge (East London Telecoms Ltd.) Barnet, Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham (City Centre Comms Ltd.) Birmingham and Solihull (Birmingham Cable Ltd.)
Bolton (Bolton Telecable Ltd.)
Bristol, Bath, Weston Super Mare etc. (West Country Cable Ltd.) Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, Newmarket etc. (Cambridge Cable Ltd.)
Cardiff and Penarth (British Cable Services Ltd.)
Chatham, Gravesend, Maidstone etc. (South Estuary Cable Ltd.) Cheltenham and Gloucester (Cotswold Cable Ltd.)
Crawley, Horley and Gatwick Airport (Mid Downs Cable Ltd.) Cumbernauld, Kilsyth, Airdale and Coatbridge (Cable North Ltd.) Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven (Cable North Ltd.)
East Lancashire (East Lancashire Cablevision)
Edinburgh (Cablevision Scotland plc)
Greenwich and Lewisham (South East London Cable Co. Ltd.) Kingston and Richmond (United Cable Television (London South) plc)
Lambeth and Southwark (Lambeth and Southwark Cable Ltd.) Merton and Sutton (United Cable Television (London South) plc) Motherwell, Hamilton, East Kilbride etc. (Cable North Ltd.) Northampton (Cable Television Ltd.)
Preston, Chorley and Leyland (Lancashire Cable Ltd.)
Reading, Basingstoke, Bracknell etc. (Cable Thames Valley Ltd.) Southend, Brentwood, Chelmsford etc. (North Estuary Cable Ltd.)
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Wandsworth (Wandsworth Cable Ltd.)Licensed Cable Franchises
*Aberdeen (Aberdeen Cable Services Ltd.)
Belfast (Ulster Cablevision)
*Camden (Cable Camden Ltd.) (pilot scheme only)
*Coventry (Coventry Cable Ltd.)
*Croydon (United Cable Television (London South) plc)
*Ealing (Cabletel Communications Ltd.)
*Glasgow (Clyde Cablevision Ltd.)
*Guildford, West Surrey and East Hants (British Cable Services Ltd.)
Kingston and Chelsea (City Centre Communications)
Luton and South Bedfordshire (Cablevision Bedfordshire Ltd.) *Newham and Tower Hamlets (East London Telecommunications Ltd.) *Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead etc. (Windsor Television Ltd.) Southampton and Eastleigh (Southampton Cable Ltd.)
South Liverpool (Merseyside Cablevision Ltd.)
*Swindon (Swindon Cable Ltd.)
*Westminster (Westminster Cable Co.)
*Operational system
I understand that about 66,000 households are connected to broadband cable systems. The figures for individual cable systems are commercially confidential.
Interactive Services
Windsor Television, Cable Camden and East London
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Telecommunication offer an alternative telephone service. Westminster Cable offers areas to Prestel and also, for some subscribers, remote access to a videodisc library.West Midlands Police
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to during which years the following officers served in the west midlands serious crimes squad : Detective Chief Inspector John Moore (retired), Detective Superintendent James Kelly, Detective Superintendent Alan Watson, Detective Sergeant Michael Hornby, Detective Constable Rex Langford, Detective Chief Inspector Roger Ball (retired), former Detective Sergeant Michael French, former Detective Constable John Brand, former Detective Sergeant Roy Bunn, former Detective Sergeant Ray Bennett, former Detective Constable Alan Buxton (retired), former Detective Sergeant David Millichamp, former Detective Constable Thomas Sutcliffe, former Detective Constable Terence Woodwiss and former Detective Sergeant Colin Morris.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that the information is as follows :
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Name |Dates of service with the
|Serious Crimes Squad
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detective Chief Inspector (later Detective Superintendent) Moore |1 April 1974 to 9 February 1975
|25 December 1979 to 21 November 1982
Detective Superintendent Kelly |13 May 1974 to 9 January 1977
Detective Superintendent Watson |14 October 1974 to 9 January 1977
Detective Sergeant Hornby |14 August 1973 to date
Sergeant Langford |no service with the Squad
Detective Chief Inspector Ball |1 February 1977 to 22 January 1978
Detective Constable French |10 June 1974 to 5 February 1978
Detective Constable Brand |13 May 1974 to 7 May 1984
Detective Sergeant (now Chief Inspector) Bunn |no service with the Squad
Detective Sergeant (now DCI Bennett) | 1968 - 1976
| 1988 to date
Detective Constable Buxton |no service with the Squad
Detective Sergeant (now Superintendent) Millichamp |8 September 1970 to 31 October 1971
Detective Constable Sutcliffe |6 January 1969 to 28 October 1979
Detective Constable Woodwiss |no service with the Squad
Detective Sergeant (now DCI) Morris |no service with the Squad
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to whether Detective Sergeant Brian Morton was in Queen's road police station when the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings were being interviewed.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that general records that would show the whereabouts of officers are destroyed after seven years. The information requested is therefore not available.
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Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to which officer involved in the Ronnie Boldon case was also involved in the questioning of those later convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings ;
(2) pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands police force as to which two officers involved in the Derek Gordon case were also involved in the questioning of those convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : No, in the absence of any evidence to suggest that there was anything untoward in their involvement in the matters referred to.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to how many complaints have been received against Detective Sergeant Michael Hornby since 1974 ; what action was taken in 1980 on the one occasion he was disciplined ; and what was the nature of the complaint against him.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that the recorded information relating to the earlier years covered by the hon. Member's question is not fully comprehensive and it is not therefore possible to establish the exact number of complaints made against Detective Sergeant Hornby. As discipline records are destroyed after seven years, the other information requested is not available.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands police for a report as to what reason Police Cadet Adrian Dart gave for his resignation.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that Mr. Dart was a probationary constable who resigned from the force in March 1984 and that he is now pursuing a claim for wrongful dismissal. In these circumstances, it would not be right to comment on the circumstances of his resignation.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands police on the nature of the offences for which Detective Superintendent Kelly was reprimanded.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : It would not be right to give details of the offences. I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that they have no bearing on the current allegations of malpractice within the serious crime squad, and that Mr. Kelly was not a member of the squad at the time.
Parole Decisions
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners whose parole eligibility date has passed are awaiting decisions by the parole board on recommendations by the local review committee ; and what is the current average time lapse between that date and the decision being made.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Statistics are not readily available in the form requested. For further information, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) on 4 July 1989 at column 95 .
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of keeping prisoners after their parole eligibility date whilst awaiting decisions by the parole board on recommendations by the local review committee.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : It is not possible to distinguish the cost of keeping prisoners eligible for parole from that of
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other prisoners. The average weekly cost of keeping a prisoner in a penal establishment in 1987-88, the latest period for which information is available, was £275.National Stud
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to privatise the National Stud ; and if he will make a statement.
Experiments on Animals
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the second annual report of the Animal Procedures Committee ; and when he intends to lay copies of the report before Parliament.
Mr. Hurd : I have laid before Parliament copies of the report, which is published today by HMSO as HC458.
This report reflects the continuing contribution which the Animal Procedures Committee is making towards the effective operation of the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the protection of animals used in scientific procedures and the debate over how animal procedures should be regulated.
I welcome the report's conclusion that
"this country has an up-to-date and sound legislative framework for regulating and controlling all scientific procedures involving living animals"
and I am grateful to the committee for its work.
THE ARTS
Museum of the Moving Image
Mr. Greg Knight : To ask the Minister for the Arts whether the museum of the moving image has achieved the targets set out for it at its inception.
Mr. Luce : The Museum of the Moving Image had a target of 435,000 visitors in its first year and this target is expected to be reached by the end of July, two months ahead of schedule. Over 53,000 schoolchildren have visited the museum emphasising its educational appeal.
Libraries
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will state the names of persons and their occupational posts who are to serve on the Library and Information Services Council for England working party on public library objectives, and the terms of reference of this working party.
Mr. Luce : The Library and Information Services Council (England) has appointed the following to serve on its working party on public library objectives :
Mr. Royston Brown, Management Consultant (Chairman)
Mr. A. R. Blick, Co-ordinator of Information Services, Beecham Group plc
Mr. R. Bowden, Deputy Chief Executive, the Library Association Mr. W. A. Butler, Assistant to the Chief Inspector of Audit, The Audit Commission
Mr. P. F. Cox, City Librarian, Westminster City Council Mr. A. Howson, Director of Libraries and Museums, Falkirk District Council (nominated by the Library and Information Services Council (Scotland))
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Mr. D. Leabeater, Senior Research and Development Officer, National Consumer CouncilMr. D. Lindley, Head of Library Services, Books for Students Dr. R. A. McKee, Chief Librarian and Arts Officer, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Mr. D. Welch, Chief Librarian, South Eastern Education and Library Board, County Down (nominated by the Library and Information Services Council (Northern Ireland))
Mr. W. G. Williams, County Library and Museums Officer, Clwyd County Council (nominated by the Library and Information Services Council (Wales))
The terms of reference are : to examine the present nature of current public library objectives (including unpublished material), and to develop a model set of objectives from which any library authority might select those appropriate to its own circumstances, and which could provide a starting point for the development of exclusive local objectives. The model set of objectives should preferably be in the form of a manual for publication, and the objectives should be capable of performance measurement.
To suggest ways of testing/developing/promoting the model set of objectives.
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