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Punishment in the Community
110. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on his policy on punishment within the community.
Mr. John Patten : The Government's legislative proposals for punishment in the community will be explained in a White Paper on criminal justice, which we hope to publish shortly.
Sunday Trading
111. Mr. Couchman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has considered the implications of the judgement of the European Court of Justice on Torfaen borough council against B and Q concerning Sunday trading ; and if he will make a further statement.
Mr. Mellor : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Swindon (Mr. Coombs) on 7 December 1989 at columns
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463-64 . It is now for the courts which made referrals to the European Court to determine their cases in the light of the judgment of the court.Vandalism
115. Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he collects on the current annual number of prosecutions in the United Kingdom against vandals using paint spray aerosol cans to deface walls in public places.
Mr. John Patten : No information is separately collected on such prosecutions. Such offences are included as criminal damage in the statistics collected by the Home Office.
Police Manpower
118. Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional police posts are to be created for 1990-91 ; and what proportion of these will be allocated to provincial forces.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Mr. Tredinnick) on 23 November 1989, at column 12.
13. Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the adequency of the present strength of the Devon and Cornwall police force.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend with advice from Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, has decided to approve an increase of 17 posts for the Devon and Cornwall constabulary with effect from 1 April 1990.
Drink-related Crime
12. Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of criminal offences by young adults are drink- related.
Mr. John Patten : A total of 9 per cent. of young adults (those between 17 and 20) convicted in 1988, the latest year for which figures are available were convicted of drunkeness or drink-driving offences. No reliable estimate can be made of the extent to which the offences for the remaining 91 per cent. convicted were alcohol related.
Regional Crime Squads (Drugs Investigations)
121. Mr. Andrew Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are now employed in regional crime squad drugs wings.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There were 232 officers on the strength of regional crime squads drugs wings on 16 January. In No. 9 region, which covers the Metropolitan police district, drugs investigation is not undertaken by the regional squad but by the Metropolitan police central drugs squad. Its strength on 16 January was 110.
My right hon. and learned Friend announced on 23 November at columns 12-13 that he is prepared to approve a further 51 police posts for regional crime squads specifically for their work in connection with drugs.
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Terrorism
131. Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will report on progress in the fight against international terrorism.
Mr. Waddington : We continue to work vigorously with like-minded countries to strengthen the international co-operation which is crucial in preventing and combating international terrorism. The 44th United Nations General Assembly recently reaffirmed its unequivocal opposition to terrorism and urged all Governments to act firmly against it. Practical measures are being developed in bodies like the International Civil Aviation Organisation, which as part of its continuing work to improve aviation security is making good progress on a new international regime for marking explosives for detection. In the Trevi Group, EC member states have strengthened their procedures for informing one another about terrorist threats and incidents and counter terrorist measures. The group is studying further measures such as action against the financial base of terrorist groups.
The fruit of such co-operation can be seen in the current prosecutions in Europe and the United States of a number of people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities threatening United Kingdom interests.
Religious Broadcasting
132. Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received about religious broadcasting ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : We have recently received written and oral representations on these matters from a number of groups and individuals, and we are taking careful account of the views put to us. The Broadcasting Bill retains certain safeguards, closely based on provisions in existing legislation, against abuse of religious broadcasting. But it provides for a less restrictive regime for religious sponsorship and advertising, and would also allow Christian and other religious groups to own radio stations in the United Kingdom for the first time. More generally, it proposes a framework under which the number of outlets for religious broadcasting could increase significantly.
Police Rent Allowance
135. Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement concerning the outcome of representations he has received on his decision to set aside certain elements of the police negotiating board's recommendations on rent allowance.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Draft regulations that would give effect to my right hon. and learned Friend's decisions on the police negotiating board's recommendations were sent to the board for comment on 4 January. The board was asked to submit any comments by 26 January and my right hon. and learned Friend met representatives of the staff side of the board on 17 January. We shall carefully consider their representations before laying regulations before Parliament.
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Television Shopping
140. Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the European directive on broadcasting in so far as it relates to television shopping.
Mr. Mellor : The EC directive on broadcasting, which was adopted on 3 October 1989, provides in article 18 that member states shall limit to no more than one hour per day the broadcasting of forms of advertisements such as direct offers to the public for the sale, purchase or rental of products or for the provisions of services. Article 20 enables member states to lay down different conditions in respect of broadcasts intended solely for reception within their national boundaries and which may not be received, directly or indirectly, in one or more other member states.
The Government are currently considering the detailed implementation of the directive, which must be complied with by 2 October 1991 at the latest.
Prison Medical Officers
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prison hospital officers have nursing qualifications ; what is the complement of full-time and part-time prison medical officers in England and Wales ; and how many posts in each category are currently filled.
Mr. Mellor : About 13 per cent. of hospital officers hold a recognised nursing qualification. Of 117 authorised full-time medical officer posts 110 are currently filled. The corresponding figures for part- time medical officer posts are 129 and 112.
Deaths
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by year since 1980, the number of persons who have died (a) while in police care and (b) through police shootings.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The number of persons who died while in police care has been published, since 1980, in the annual reports of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, in respect of the Metropolitan police district and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, for all other police forces. Since 1982 the statistics have included brief details of the circumstances surrounding the death, and from 1987 information about persons who have died as a result of injuries caused by police officers acting in the execution of their duty. Information which is not recorded in the annual reports is not available centrally.
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Dr. Sinha
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on when Dr. Sinha, a constituent of the hon. Member for Newham, North-East, will be told of the further allegations to be made against him or informed that no charges are to be made.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : It is understood that a meeting has been arranged for 25 January, at which time Dr. Sinha, in the presence of his solicitor, will be interviewed by police officers about the further allegations that have been made against him.
Forensic Science
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on shortages in the forensic science available to the police and to his Department.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : In its reply to the Home Affairs Select Committee report in May the Government accepted the difficulties facing the Home Office forensic science service in keeping pace with the demands on it. Eighteen additional staff have been recruited to the service and at least 10 more have been approved for 1990-91, bringing the total staff in post up to 598. Work is also in hand to improve the way in which the service's available resources are used to meet the needs of its customers.
Horserace Betting Levy Board
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in the Official Report the names of the chairman and members of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, their periods of office, their annual remuneration and the organisations and associations from which they were recruited, selected and appointed.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Section 24(2) of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 provides that the levy board shall consist of a chairman and seven other members, of whom the chairman and two other members shall be appointed by the Secretary of State. Following is the information requested as to the names, periods of office and remuneration of the chairman and those two other members :
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sir Ian Trethowan (Chairman) | 1 October 1982 |31 December 1990|£33,300 Sir Patrick Meaney (Deputy Chairman) |18 March 1985 |28 February 1991|£13,300 Mrs. Anna McCurley | 1 April 1988 |31 March 1991 |£ 9,950
Those appointed to the board by the Secretary of State are to be persons who he is satisfied have no interests connected with horseracing which might hinder them from discharging their functions as members of the board in an impartial manner. At the time of their respective appointments, Sir Ian Trethowan had recently been the Director-General of the BBC, Sir Patrick Meaney was (and is) chairman of the Rank Organisation, and Mrs.
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McCurley was a public relations executive with Dewe Rogerson and formerly the hon. Member for Renfrew, West and Inverclyde. Section 24(2) of the 1963 Act further provides that the other members of the levy board shall comprise three appointed by the Jockey Club, one of whom is now customarily the chairman of the Horseracing Advisory Council (HAC), and the chairmen for the time being of theColumn 885
Bookmakers' Committee and of the Horserace Totalisator Board (the Tote) respectively. In their capacity as members of the levy board, these members receive expenses only. The names of these five members, and information as to the capacities in which they sit as members of the levy board and their periods of appointment, are as follows :Column 885
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. M. E. Wates |The Jockey Club | 1 January 1987 |31 July 1990 Captain H. M. Gosling |The Jockey Club | 1 July 1989 |31 July 1992 Sir Nevil Macready Bt. CBE |The Jockey Club (ex-officio) | 2 September 1986 | 1 September 1990 (Chairman, HAC) Mr. L. P. Cowburn |Chairman of the Bookmakers' Committee|24 October 1989 |23 October 1991 Lord Wyatt of Weeford |Chairman of the Tote | 1 May 1976 |30 April 1991
Mr. Kevin Taylor
Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Greater Manchester as to what measures are being taken to ensure the security and preservation of all police operational logs, notebooks and diaries relating to the case of Mr. Kevin Taylor.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the chief constable that all possible steps have been taken to secure the material relevant to the case.
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the Greater Manchester police as to whether he was involved directly or indirectly in the decision of the Greater Manchester police to investigate the affairs of Mr. Kevin Taylor.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No. The chief officer of any force is responsible for all operational matters.
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors are taken into consideration when deciding whether a chief constable is the appropriate person to determine alleged serious misconduct by senior officers of his force.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The police authority, not the chief constable, is the disciplinary authority for officers above the rank of chief superintendent in police forces other than the Metropolitan police force.
BOM Holdings
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received any representations about proposed land sale transactions by BOM Holdings plc.
Homosexuals
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men are currently imprisoned in the United Kingdom for consenting homosexual acts with males between the ages of 16 and 21 years ; and what is the average sentence being served by such men.
Mr. Mellor : The information requested is not recorded centrally.
Deportation Orders
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each of the last 12-month periods from October 1986, how many deportation orders were found
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to be invalid subsequent to the signing of the order ; and for what reasons and in how many cases the orders were revoked or withdrawn following representations.Mr. Peter Lloyd : This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each year for which records are available how many times senior executive officers or members of the Home Office case working section have changed decisions to deport when they have been authorised by immigration inspectors.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A study of the cases handled by the immigration service between 1 August 1988 and 31 July 1989 has shown that up to 5 September 1989, a total of 22 of the 2,096 decisions taken by inspectors had been changed by members of the Home Office deportation section.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each 12-month period from June 1985 how many notices of intention to deport have been issued under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971 (a) for working in breach of condition and (b) for breach of limited leave to enter ; of these, how many have been initiated by the deportation case working section of the Home Office ; how many by immigration officers and/or inspectors ; of the total, how many resulted in removal from the United Kingdom ; and how many deportees were then permitted to remain.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The readily available information about the number of notices of intention to deport issued and the number of deportation orders enforced under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971 is published in table 24 of the Home Office volume "Control of Immigration : Statistics United Kingdom 1988" (Cmnd. 726) and in table 14 of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 45/89 "Control of Immigration : Statistics-- Third Quarter 1989", copies of which are available in the Library.
The breakdown of information between overstayers and workers in breach is not available before August 1988. In the 12 months ending June 1989, a total of 2,666 notices of intention to deport were issued under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971, of which 713 were authorised by the deportation section for overstaying ; 1, 953 were authorised by inspectors of which 1,295 were for overstaying and 658 for working in breach. Information about these subsequently permitted to remain is not available.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how immigration officers and inspectors
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obtain access to Home Office information and representations in respect of intended deportees ; and when the officers seek authorisation from inspectors to serve a notice of intention to deport.Mr. Peter Lloyd : In some cases information is available to the immigration service before inquiries are initiated. In other cases it may be obtained by telephone, or the decision will be deferred until the information is available. All members of the immigration service engaged in enforcement work are aware that they must not reach a decision until satisfied that all the relevant information has been taken into account.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) of cases referred by immigration officers to immigration inspectors for authorisation to serve a notice of intention to deport for breach of condition or overstaying under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971, on how many occasions immigration inspectors have declined to give authorisation in each six-month period for the last five years ;
(2) of cases referred by immigration officers to the Home Office deportation case working section for authorisation to serve a notice of intention to deport under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971, on how many occasions the case working section has declined to give authorisation in each six-month period for the last five years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This information is not available.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to which Home Office office the head of the immigration service reports.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The chief inspector of the immigration service reports to one of the two assistant under-secretaries in the immigration and nationality department of the Home Office.
Immigration Act 1988
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many training courses or seminars have been held about the operation of section 5 of the Immigration Act 1988 ; when they were held, who attended ; and what information was made available to attendants.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A seminar about the provisions of the Immigration Act 1988 was held in June 1988, attended by training liaison officers representing all immigration service ports. Local training seminars then followed and videos of the original talks were distributed for the information of all grades. In August 1988 a seminar was attended by deportation section staff and those inspectors with delegated authority to authorise the issue of a notice of intention to deport. This was followed up by a further seminar in June 1989 to review the operation of these arrangements. Immigration service law enforcement courses from September 1988 have specifically covered the
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deportation provisions of the Immigration Act 1988 and include lectures from senior officers of the immigration service and the deportation section of the relevant division of the immigration and nationality department. There have been nine such courses so far covering some 150 staff.Risley Remand Centre
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the full report of the Home Office inquiry conducted by the director of the prison service, south-west region, into the disturbances at Risley remand centre in May 1989.
Mr. Mellor : The full report was an internal management document, but a summary including the list of all the recommendations resulting from the inquiry has already been placed in the Library, and action taken as indicated in the reply of my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) to a question by the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) on 25 July 1989 at columns 607-08.
Prisoners (Psychiatric Treatment)
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners currently on remand have been psychiatric inpatients ; and how many prisoners currently on remand were unable to give a permanent address when the order for their remand was given ;
(2) if he will give the numbers of convicted prisoners who (a) have received and (b) are receiving psychiatric treatment for the latest available date ;
(3) if he will give, for the latest available date or whole year, the numbers of prisoners on remand who have previously received or are receiving psychiatric treatment, for each remand centre.
Mr. Mellor : The number of inmates who have received or are undergoing psychiatric treatment, or who were unable to give a permanent address when the order for their remand was given, is not recorded centrally.
Remand Centres (Suicide)
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for each remand centre, the numbers of inmates who committed suicide for each year since 1983 ; and if he will give similar figures for the prison officers.
Mr. Mellor : The table gives the numbers of inmates who have died in remand centres and local prisons in each of the last seven years, and in respect of whom a suicide verdict was returned at the inquest. The figures in brackets give the numbers of those inmates who were being held on remand.
Before 1 January 1990 no central record was kept of the causes from which serving prison officers died. The information requested is therefore not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Establishment |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |<1>1989
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashford |- |- |- |1(1) |1(1) |- |-
Bedford |- |- |- |1 |- |1(1) |-
Birmingham |- |- |2(2) |- |1(1) |1(1) |-
Brixton |4(4) |5(5) |2(2) |2(2) |3(3) |1(1) |1(1)
Canterbury |- |- |- |1(1) |3(3) |- |1(1)
Cardiff |- |- |- |1(1) |1 |- |-
Dorchester |- |- |- |- |- |1(1) |-
Durham |- |1(1) |2(2) |- |3(3) |1(1) |2(1)
Exeter |- |2(2) |1 |1(1) |1 |1 |1(1)
Gloucester |1(1) |- |1 |- |- |- |-
Hull |- |- |- |- |1(1) |- |-
Leeds |1(1) |1(1) |2(2) |- |2(2) |4(4) |2(2)
Leicester |- |1(1) |2(2) |- |- |- |-
Lewes |- |1 |- |- |- |- |1
Lincoln |- |- |1(1) |1(1) |2(2) |1 |-
Liverpool |2 |- |- |- |- |- |2
Manchester |1(1) |- |1(1) |2(2) |3(2) |- |3(3)
Norwich |1(1) |2(1) |- |1(1) |1(1) |- |-
Pentonville |1 |1(1) |2 |- |2(2) |1(1) |-
Risley |- |- |1(1) |1(1) |3(3) |4(4) |-
Shrewsbury |- |1 |- |- |- |1(1) |-
Swansea |- |1(1) |- |- |- |1(1) |-
Wandsworth |- |1 |2 |- |3 |1 |1
Winchester |2(2) |- |- |- |1(1) |- |2(1)
Wormwood Scrubs |- |1 |2(2) |1(1) |2(2) |2(2) |1(1)
|-- |-- |-- |-- |-- |-- |--
Total |13(10) |18(13) |21(15) |13(12) |33(27) |21(18) |17(11)
<1>Inquests have yet to be held on eight other inmates who died in 1989 and whose deaths were thought to have been suicides.
These deaths occurred at Risley (2); Brixton (2); Cardiff, Hindley, Swansea and Manchester, and five of the inmates were being
held on remand.
Speed Limits (Enforcement)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he issues to police forces concerning different courses of action to be pursued against motorists exceeding speed limits.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : None. The responsibility for enforcing road traffic law, including the speed limit, rests with individual chief officers of police.
Prisoners' Pay
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the basic pay paid to inmates in prisons in England and Wales ; when this was last increased ; and what is the highest weekly pay that can be earned by an inmate who is in full-time employment in a prison establishment in England and Wales.
Mr. Mellor : The basic pay, which is paid to inmates who are unemployed or incapacitated through illness or injury, is £1.65 per week. The maximum pay that can be earned under various incentive schemes is £5.55 per week. Rates were last increased in April 1989.
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Violence, Drugs and Sex
Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of people at present serving sentences in Her Majesty's prisons are doing so for offences which involve violence, drugs or sex.
Mr. Mellor : Nearly 50 per cent. in 1989, compared with less than a third in 1979.
Judicial Inquiries
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the criterion in the past when independent judicial inquiries have been instituted to inquire into matters of national importance and interest ; and whether these criteria are applicable in the matters appertaining to Mr. John Stalker.
Mr. Waddington : Successive Home Secretaries have reserved such inquiries for circumstances where the whole efficiency of a force is called into question, or where there has been serious public disorder, or some similar circumstance where wide-ranging and serious disquiet is felt about a matter affecting a large proportion of a force. I do not consider that these criteria apply to the events surrounding Mr. John Stalker's suspension from the Greater Manchester police force and his subsequent reinstatement therein.
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