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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 27 July 1989
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prison Dog Handlers
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the prison department has withdrawn payment of the grooming or care allowance to those prison officer dog handlers obliged to care for the dogs at home in their own time.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Prison officer dog handlers used to receive one hour plain time overtime per day to cover the time spent grooming, exercising and feeding the dog.
Fresh start working abolished overtime beginning in 1987. We accept the need to recompense dog handlers for their continuing responsibility for the care and maintenance of their dog and have made two offers to the Prison Officers' Association, both of which have been rejected. Negotiations should be resumed in the near future.
Conservative Party Conference 1988
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Sussex on the number of individuals upon whom he has records on computer relating to the 1988 Conservative party conference ; for how long it is proposed to keep them ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : No. This is an operational matter for the chief constable.
Immigration
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any circumstance applies, which is neither exceptional nor compelling under his guidelines, but which has arisen because of (a) a mistake or (b) a misrepresentation of a relevant fact by an immigration officer, resulting in a proposed removal, in which he will accept representations from right hon. or hon. Members ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (i) a mistake or (ii) a misrepresentation of a relevant fact is an exceptional and compelling circumstance enabling
representations to him from right hon. or hon. Members.
Mr. Renton : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his previous question, on 16 June 1989 at column 565.
Political Asylum
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Immigration Service Union about the granting of exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom to political asylum seekers as a result of his Department's backlog criteria ; and what has been his response.
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Mr. Renton : Officials in the refugee unit have corresponded with the metropolitan liaison officer at the union's national executive committee, answering inquiries about a range of issues relating to asylum procedures, including the granting of exceptional leave to remain.
Statutory Instruments
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each of the last five parliamentary Sessions, including the 1988-89 Session, if he will list the number of statutory instruments that were issued by his Department ; how many were negative and how many affirmative ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : From the beginning of the 1988-89 parliamentary Session to 26 July 1989, 107 statutory instruments were issued by the Home Office, of which 10 were subject to affirmative resolution, and 44 to the negative resolution, procedure. For the four preceding parliamentary Sessions, I refer the hon. Member to the respective Journals of the House.
Prisons (Pin-up Pictures)
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all offensive pin-ups have now been removed from prison offices, particularly from rule 43 units for sex offenders.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Circular instruction 12/1989 (a copy of which is in the Library) advised governors in March this year that regional directors would be consulting and issuing guidance on the action which should be taken to prevent the display of offensive material in public and shared areas of prisons. This work is being carried forward, but information is not available centrally on the present position in individual establishments.
Prisons (Drug Addicts)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the available facilities in gaols in England and Wales for the treatment of known drug addicts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : As the hon. Member is aware, the possibility of history of drugs misuse is one of the factors medical officers enquire into during the course of their examination of inmates being received into prison custody. The nature and extent of medical help offered is determined by the medical officer's clinical assessment of the individual case.
The policy statement and guidelines, copies of which are in the Library, referred to in answer to the question from the hon. Member on 9 February at column 760 describe the framework for the development of help for drug misusers in prison.
Prisoners (Ethnic Minorities)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the percentage of male and female prisoners in England and Wales who derived from ethnic minority origin in (a) 1985, (b) 1986, (c) 1987, (d) 1988 and (e) at the latest available date ; and if he will make a statement ;
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(2) what is the total number of female prisoners currently being held under sentence or on remand in a gaol in England and Wales who derive from ethnic minority origin ; and if he will make a statement.Column 796
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information for each of the years 1985-88 was published in table 6 of "The Prison Population in 1988" (Home Office statistical bulletin, issue 12/89), a copy of which is in the Library. The latest readily available information is given in the table.
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Population in Prison Service establishments on 31 March 1989: by ethnic origin, and sex
|White |West Indian, Guyanese,|Indian, Pakistani, |Chinese, Arab, Mixed |Other, not recorded |All persons in Prison
|African |Bangladeshi |origin |(including refusals) |Service establishments
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Males |39,204 |4,812 |1,287 |877 |1,226 |47,406
Females |1,202 |341 |29 |63 |139 |1,774
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |40,406 |5,153 |1,316 |940 |1,365 |49,180
Females by type of prisoner
Remand |292 |84 |4 |19 |77 |476
Sentenced |906 |253 |25 |44 |61 |1,289
Civil |4 |4 |- |- |1 |9
Prisons (Heroin)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the total number of heroin finds in gaols in England and Wales for each of the last two years for which figures are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : For the years to 31 May 1988 and 31 May 1989 there were, respectively, 17 and 31 reported finds of heroin. Measures to prevent and detect illicit drugs are kept continuously under review.
Custody and the Community"
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those organisations and individuals who responded to his Department's document entitled "Custody and the Community" published in July 1988 ; if he will indicate which of those listed organisations and individuals favoured a supervision and restriction order, and which favoured the creation of a new sentence that combines probation and community service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : I have nothing to add to the replies given to questions from the hon. Member on 2 May at column 31 and from the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman) on 22 June at column 187.
Female Prisoners (Drug Offences)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of female prisoners currently being held under sentence or on remand in a gaol in England and Wales whose area of origin is either west Africa, Latin America or Pakistan, and who have been convicted or are charged with a drug-related offence ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The offences with which remand prisoners are charged are not recorded centrally until the completion of court proceedings. On 30 June 1988, the latest date for which information is readily available, about 90 females serving custodial sentences in prison service establishments for drugs offences were known to be citizens of Pakistan or west African or Latin American countries.
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Prisoners (Drug Users)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of prisoners currently remanded or sentenced in gaols in England and Wales who are known to be drug users ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The number of inmates reported by medical officers as having some degree of dependence on drugs at the time of their reception into custody is included in the medical statistics on page 78 of the report on the work of the prison service April 1987-March 1988 (Cm. 516) a copy of which is in the Library. They show that 2,628 were so reported during that year.
Prisoners (Drugs Offences)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of prisoners in England and Wales who have been sentenced to a period of custody for a drug-related offence ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The latest readily available information, for 30 June 1988, was published in table 8 of "The Prison Population in 1988" (Home Office statistical bulletin, issue 12/89), a copy of which is in the Library.
Prisoners (Suicide Attempts)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of prisoners who attempted to commit suicide during 1987-88 in gaols in England and Wales who were known to be drug addicts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This information is not available.
Prisoners (Suicides)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of prisoners who committed suicide during 1987-88 in England and Wales who were known to be drug addicts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given on 25 July to a question from the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) at column 613 .
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Contaminated Goods (Prosecutions)
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been initiated in accordance with section 38 of the Public Order Act 1986 concerning the contamination of or interference with goods with intention of causing public alarm or anxiety ; how many persons have been convicted (a) on indictment and (b) summarily ; and what penalties were imposed.
Mr. John Patten : Information available to me, which may be incomplete, shows no persons prosecuted in 1987 under section 38 of the Public Order Act 1986. Figures for 1988 are not yet available.
CS Gas and Water Cannons
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is considering use of (a) water cannons and (b) CS gas by police forces ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Following an evaluation of water cannon, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham (Mr. Hogg) announced on 18 March 1987 at column 529 in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Sir M. McNair-Wilson) that it was not proposed to add water cannon to the range of equipment available to the police. That remains the position.
As the House was informed at the time, plastic baton rounds and CS equipment for use in dealing with serious public disorder were made available to police forces in Great Britain following the riots in 1981. My right hon. Friend announced the arrangements for supply of this equipment to police forces and the issue of guidelines covering its use in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 19 May 1986 at columns 15 and 16.
Aid
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all countries which received assistance from his Department during the past 12 months.
Mr. Hurd : We have provided assistance to a number of countries in a variety of fields including the fight against drugs ; training of police officers, prison officers and immigration officers ; forensic science service assistance and training ; and the provision of equipment.
The countries we have assisted in this way include Bermuda, Colombia, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Finland, France, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Lesotho, Oman, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and the United States of America. In addition, one of Her Majesty's inspectors of fire service led a small team of London fire brigade officers to help in the aftermath of the earthquake in Armenia. A full list of the countries which we have assisted could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
London Fire Stations (Closures)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has regarding proposals to close six London fire stations ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Hurd : I understand that London fire brigade's chief fire officer has recently completed a review of fire risk categorisation and standards of fire cover. The chief fire officer has yet to present his report and findings to the London fire and civil defence authority. Her Majesty's chief inspector of fire services was consulted by the chief fire officer about the methodology used in the review.
A fire authority which proposes to close a fire station is required to seek my approval to the closure under section 19 of the Fire Servcie Act 1947. No application for approval has yet been made. I remain committed to maintaining nationally recommended standards of fire cover.
Police National Computer
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any private limited company has ever had access to police files or to the police national computer.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No non-Government organisations have ever had direct access to the Police National Computer, but arrangements exist for information from police records, including records held on PNC, to be disclosed to selected organisations where this is clearly in the public interest. Access to force records is a matter for chief officers.
Tamils
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the Tamils referred to in his answer of 3 December 1987, Official Report , column 682 have (a) since left the United Kingdom, (b) been given leave to enter and (c) have their cases still under consideration.
Mr. Renton : I shall write to the hon. Member and deposit a copy of the reply in the Library.
Football Matches (Arrests)
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the total arrests at, and ejections from, football matches in England and Wales in each of the last five seasons ; and of these how many were (a) women, and (b) persons aged 65 years or over ; and what information he has as to comparable statistics for Scottish League clubs over the same period.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Committal Procedure
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any proposals for reform of committal procedure.
Mr. Hurd : I am placing in the Library a copy of a consultation paper which my Department is issuing today, jointly with the Lord Chancellor's Department, on possible reform of committal proceedings. The purpose of the paper is to obtain comments from practitioners and others on the suitability, practicability and implications for resource use of a possible new scheme to replace existing arrangements for mode of trial procedure and committal. Comments are requested by 3 November. In
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the light of the comments received, we shall consider further whether and, if so, how to bring forward detailed proposals for legislative reform.Parking
Mr. Kirkhope : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in his consideration of the report of the parking enforcement working party.
Mr. Hurd : We have given careful consideration to the report's conclusions. We have decided that no change should be made at present to the operation of parking enforcement outside London. The problems of parking enforcement in London raise many complex issues, to which we are giving urgent consideration.
Durham Prison
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many strip searches have been carried out on women in Her Majesty's prison, Durham, in each of the last six months ; and how many forbidden or dangerous items have been found.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Comprehensive records of strip searches are available only in respect of category A women prisoners, of whom there were four in Durham during the last six months. These records show that from 1 January 1989 to 30 June 1989 each category A prisoner was strip-searched 2.4 times per month on average. No unauthorised article was found.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received the report on Durham H wing by Anthony Lester, QC and Dr. Pamela Taylor, commissioned by Women in Prison, Prison Reform Trust, National Council for Civil Liberties and the Howard League ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have received the report and its recommendations are currently being considered.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will authorise an increase in the amount of time allowed for exercise to women prisoners in Her Majesty's prison, Durham.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I will consider this in the light of the recent report by Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average number of prisoners who are employed ; and what is the average working week, in Durham H wing.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Of the 37 women held in H wing of Her Majesty's prison, Durham, 36 are employed. The average working week is 25 hours.
Women Prisoners
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will establish a full Home Office review of women prisoners' needs, environment and management.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The nature and requirements of the female prison population are already kept under regular review.
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Phan Ngoc Lan
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Phan Ngoc Lan, a Vietnamese refugee, wife of Di Quang Tri of 6 Gosport way, North Peckham estate, SE15, will be admitted to the United Kingdom from China.
Mr. Renton : Instructions for the issue of a visa have now been sent to the British embassy in Peking. Arrangements will be made through UNHCR as soon as possible for Phan Ngoc Lan to travel to the United Kingdom.
Litter
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions for leaving litter there have been in each of the past three years (a) in the borough of Taunton Dene, (b) in the London borough of Lambeth and (c) in England.
Mr. John Patten : The information available to the Home Office, which may be incomplete, is given in the table. Figures for 1988 are not yet available.
Persons proceeded against for litter offences
|1985 |1986 |1987
-------------------------------------------------
Taunton Dene, petty
sessional division |1 |4 |2
Lambeth, petty sessional
division |- |- |-
England |1,354|1,392|1,671
WALES
Correspondence
Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters were received from, and sent to, hon. Members by his Department in (a) January and (b) the whole of this session up to 1 July.
Mr. Peter Walker : The information is as follows :
|Number
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Letters received from hon. Members during January
1989 |257
Letters sent to hon. Members during January 1989 |246
Letters received from hon. Members during the whole
of this session up to 1 July 1989 |2,233
Letters sent to hon. Members during the whole of this
session up to 1 July 1989 |2,169
Inward Investment
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends to publish the Government's response to the report by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on inward investment into Wales.
Mr. Peter Walker : I am pleased to announce that the response has been published today.
Rural Initiatives
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has reached a decision on the future of the DRIVE grant scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Peter Walker : The evaluation of the DRIVE grant scheme has demonstrated that the scheme has made a positive contribution to overcoming the problems of rural Wales. I have therefore decided that the scheme will be re-introduced from 1 September and will continue to be operated by the Development Board for Rural Wales and the Welsh Development Agency. The relaunched scheme will be competitive and will have the aim of increasing private sector investment on economic projects which create jobs and help to overcome deprivation in rural Wales. The scheme is expected to run until 1994-95 with up to £5 million of grant assistance available, and the scheme has the potential to generate more than £20 million of private sector investment and create over 1,000 jobs.
Statutory Instruments
Dr David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, for each of the last five parliamentary Sessions including the 1988-89 Session, if he will list the number of statutory instruments that were issued by his Department ; how many were negative and how many affirmative ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : The total number of statutory instruments issued by my Department from November 1984 to 26 July 1989, for each calendar year, is as follows :
|Number
-----------------------------------------
November and December 1984 |20
1985 |96
1986 |110
1987 |80
1988 |83
1989 |48
Total figures are not readily available for each parliamentary Session.
The number of negative and affirmative statutory instruments issued by my Department for each of the last five parliamentary Sessions is detailed in the following table :
|Negative |Affirmative
------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |8 |-
1985-86 |2 |-
1986-87 |12 |13
1987-88 |14 |4
1988-89 |6 |-
These figures are in respect of statutory instruments issued solely by my Department relating only to Wales and do not include statutory instruments made jointly which cover England and Wales.
National Curriculum
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many national curriculum documents he has despatched to local education authority schools by heading and by volume ; what is the estimated cost of (a) production and (b) despatch ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The following documents in connection with the national curriculum have been distributed to local education authorities and schools by the Welsh Office. Most of the documents are produced and distributed by the Department and costs cannot be separately identified :
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Circular 14/89 : National Curriculum Mathematics and Science Orders.Circular 15/89 : The School Curriculum and Assessment.
Circular 32/89 : Modern Foreign Languages in the National Curriculum.
Draft Circular and draft Regulations : National Curriculum Temporary Exceptions for Individual Pupils.
Draft Circular and draft Regulations : Information for Parents. Draft Regulations : Exemptions from English at Key Stage 1. Circular letter to Headteachers : National Curriculum Implementation.
Guidance Note : LEA Training Grant Scheme and ESG--National Curriculum Development Plans.
Education (National Curriculum) (Attainment Targets and Programmes of Study in Mathematics) Order 1989. Preceded by the Proposals of the Secretaries of State and consultation documents.
Education (National Curriculum) (Attainment Targets and Programmes of Study in Science) Order 1989. Preceded by the Proposals of the Secretaries of State and consultation documents.
Education (National Curriculum) (Attainment Targets and Programmes of Study in English) Order 1989. Preceded by the Proposals of the Secretaries of State and consultation documents.
Design and Technology for ages 5-16. Proposals of the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales.
English for ages 5-16. Proposals of the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales. Welsh for ages 5-16. Proposals of the Secretary of State for Wales.
TVEI and the National Curriculum in Wales : The Way Forward. Teachers Guide to the National Curriculum.
National Curriculum : Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT)--report.
English for ages 5-11 : booklet.
English and the National Curriculum Key Stage 1 : booklet.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he will take to assist those schools and local education authorities who are having difficulty in obtaining in good time national curriculum documents ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The distribution of national curriculum documents from the Department to schools normally takes place through local education authorities but some urgent documents have been distributed to local education authorities and all schools directly. Both methods have involved tight delivery schedules and material has been distributed as quickly as possible. Officials continue to seek improvements in the efficiency and speed of the distribution network.
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