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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 20 July 1990
NORTHERN IRELAND
Road Accidents
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many deaths and injuries due to road accidents there have been in Northern Ireland since 1969.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The figures are 5,421 and 171,998 respectively to the end of 1989. The detail was as follows :
Year |Killed |Injured
------------------------------------
1969 |257 |7,124
1970 |272 |7,902
1971 |304 |7,658
1972 |372 |8,025
1973 |335 |7,662
1974 |316 |7,188
1975 |313 |7,340
1976 |300 |7,319
1977 |355 |7,849
1978 |288 |8,080
1979 |293 |7,628
1980 |229 |7,035
1981 |223 |7,557
1982 |216 |7,923
1983 |173 |7,540
1984 |189 |8,561
1985 |177 |8,460
1986 |236 |9,206
1987 |214 |9,722
1988 |178 |10,789
1989 |181 |11,430
|--------|--------
Total |5,421 |171,998
Security Forces
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of the RUC and RUC reserve are currently estimated to be Catholics ; how many people were recruited to the RUC and RUCR in 1989 ; and what proportion of those recruits were Catholics.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 4 July 1990] : I am advised by the Chief Constable that at 1 January 1990, 855 members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and its reserves were perceived to be Roman Catholic. The religion of a further 388 officers could not be determined. In 1989, 556 officers were recruited to the RUC and its reserves. Seven per cent. of these were perceived to be Roman Catholic and a further 5.4 per cent. could not be determined.
Civil Servants
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants in his Department of the rank of principal or equivalent and above are graduates of Oxford and Cambridge ; and how many are graduates of other universities.
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Mr. Cope [holding answer 12 July 1990] : Within the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Departments 991 civil servants of the rank of principal or equivalent and above are graduates.
Information as to which university each individual attended is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of (a) the future work programme of the equal opportunities unit of the Northern Ireland civil service, in relation to the representation of (i) females and (ii) Catholics in the higher grades of the Northern Ireland civil service and (b) the timetable for the introduction and implementation of this programme of action.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 16 July 1990] : The future work programme of the equal opportunities unit of the Northern Ireland civil service is multi-faceted. It ranges from the essential maintenance and development of its computer monitoring system, through analysis of recruitment and promotion competitions to researching ways and means of dealing with specific issues such as the adverse impact of recruitment selection procedures and the low level of representation of females and of Roman Catholics in the higher grades of the service.
As I indicated in my reply to a previous question on 18 April, Vol. 170, col. 879, the level of representation of females and Roman Catholics in the higher grades is being treated as a priority issue at senior level within the service. Consideration of this matter, assisted by discussions with the Fair Employment Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission, has produced a number of ideas which require further work to assess whether they should be included in the equal opportunities work programme. I am thus unable now to give details either in terms of content or time scale. An account of this work, as it develops, will continue to be given in the regular reports of the equal opportunities unit.
In the meantime, the encouraging trend of increased Roman Catholic representation in the higher grades, to which I referred in my earlier response, continues. The proportion of Roman Catholics at assistant secretary level and above in the general service is now 15.1 per cent. (21 out of 139) compared with 12.3 per cent. in January 1989 and 5.9 per cent. in January 1985.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
UN Conservation Convention
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the United Kingdom is expected to ratify the United Nations convention on conservation.
Mr. Sainsbury : I shall write to the honourable Member.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Income Tax
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amount of income tax the Exchequer would forgo in 1990- 91 if the threshold
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for the starting point for the higher rate of income tax were raised to (a) £30,000, (b) £40,000, (c) £50,000, (d) £60,000, (e) £70,000, (f) £80,000, (g) £90,000 and (h) £100,000.Mr. Ryder : Estimates are as follows :
Increases to the basic rate limit from £20,700 New basic |Direct rate limit |revenue cost<1> £ |£ billion ------------------------------------------------ 30,000 |1.6 40,000 |2.5 50,000 |3.0 60,000 |3.3 70,000 |3.5 80,000 |3.7 90,000 |3.8 100,000 |3.9 <1> for a full year at 1990-91 projected levels of income
The estimates are based on a projection of the 1987-88 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional, the estimates for basic rate limits above £70,000 being particularly tentative.
VAT
Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Gloucester on 13 July, Official Report, column 353, what is the administrative cost of implementing the change whereby value added tax is applied to (a) gas and (b) electricity bills for supplies made to domestic premises for business purposes.
Mr. Ryder : I regret that no estimate is available. However, the arrangements to ease the administrative burden of taxing some supplies of fuel and power, which was required following the judgment of the European Court of Justice in June 1988, were formulated after extensive consultation with representatives of fuel and power suppliers.
Manufacturing
Mr. Cash : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal measures the Government intend to introduce to encourage an increase in the United Kingdom's manufacturing base.
Mr. Ryder : The Finance Bill contains proposals to increase the small profits limit for the small companies' corporation tax rate and to introduce a comprehensive system of VAT relief on bad debts.
Government Data Network
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his answer of 4 April, Official Report, column 608, he will make a statement on the outcome of the price variation negotiations with Racal Data Networks Ltd. for the Government data network.
Mr. Ryder : I confirm that these negotiations between the Treasury and Racal Data Networks Ltd. (RDNL) have now been completed. RDNL has the right under the Government data network contract to increase the tariff by 6.75 per cent. for the year beginning 1 April 1990. The company has agreed,
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however, to limit the effective rate of increase over this period to 5.06 per cent. by applying this price adjustment from 1 July 1990 instead of 1 April 1990.As foreshadowed in my answer on 4 April 1990, column 608 , the Treasury and RDNL have discussed possible revisions to the Government data network contract. It has not, however, been possible to identify revisions which would be acceptable to both parties. The existing contract provisions will therefore remain in force.
As stated by my right hon. Friend the then Paymaster General on 22 June 1988, columns 599-600, Departments will continue to be free to compare alternatives to the Government data network to ensure best value for money. Hence RDNL will retain a strong interest in maintaining the Government data network tariff at a competitive level.
ENVIRONMENT
Landfill
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those landfill sites surveyed earlier in the current year by Government--sponsored research which were found to be (a) poorly managed and (b) contributory to water pollution problems.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The hon. Member may be referring to the UKAEA Harwell paper published earlier this year and based on a survey two years ago on behalf of my Department. The co-operation of the site owners was given on the understanding that statistical information only would be published and no sites identified.
Data Protection
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many subject access requests under the terms of the Data Protection Act his Department has received ; what was his estimate of the number of requests that would be received ; what consideration he is giving to the subject access fee charged by his Department as a result ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chris Patten : By 16 July 1990 my Department--including PSA--had received 491 subject access requests. No prior estimate of this number had been made and I have no plans to reconsider the level of the fee charged.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to meet local authority leaders to discuss his proposals for amending the community charge.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend will be meeting the leaders of the local authority associations at the consultative council on local government finance in September. They may wish to raise the matters dealt with in his statement of 19 July, Official Report, columns 1185-89, and discussed in the consultation document issued that day.
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Radioactive Waste
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the risk of explosion in respect of the presence of acetone or alcohol solvents in radioactive waste subject to storage and disposal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Conditions imposed in certificates of authorisation issued by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 for the short-term accumulation and disposal of radioactive waste take full account of the assessment made in each case concerning the nature and activity of the waste in question.
For example, in the case of flammable liquids contaminated with radioactivity, conditions imposed require the waste to be kept in closed containers in a locked store which is designed and constructed so that the waste is reasonably protected from fire and that the store contains nothing else which is explosive or flammable. All authorised premises are subject to inspection by HMIP to ensure that these conditions are being met.
Cryptosporidium
Mr. Marland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the report of the group of experts on cryptosporidium in water supplies is to be published.
Mr. Trippier : The report of the expert group chaired by Sir John Badenoch is being published today by HMSO. I have placed copies in the Library.
Following an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Swindon and that part of Oxfordshire supplied by water from Farmoor reservoir, the group was appointed in March 1989 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Health and asked to examine the implications for water supplies generally. It produced an interim report in July 1989 which formed the basis of guidance issued by Government Departments to the water industry.
Cryptosporidium has long been recognised as a parasite of animals and birds, but it was not until 1976 that it was shown to be capable of producing illness in man. Infection with cryptosporidium may cause acute diarrhoea. In 1989 there were about 9,000 reported cases of cryptosporidiosis in Britain ; an increase over previous years which can be attributed in part to recent changes in laboratory sampling policies. The report concluded that water supplies can act as a source of human infection although the illness also spreads in other ways. Nationally, waterborne cases of cryptosporidiosis represent only a very small fraction of all cases of diarrhoea.
When operated optimally, the background levels of cryptosporidium oocysts in raw water sources, current water treatment processes appear able to prevent contamination of drinking water. However, they cannot be relied upon to remove all oocysts from heavily contaminated raw water.
The group highlights the importance of trying to prevent heavy contamination of raw water and of developing alternative disinfection processes to kill oocysts. It does not advocate routine monitoring of treated water for the parasite until more is known about the occurrence of cryptosporidium in the water environment
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and techniques for its isolation and identification are improved. The group recommends that each water undertaker should develop a strategy for monitoring in certain specific situations ; and that water undertakers, health authorities and local authorities should collaborate to produce detailed contingency plans for identifying, and dealing with, any outbreak of cryptosporidiosis. The report identifies a number of subjects on which further research is required.My right hon. and right hon. and learned Friends are most grateful to Sir John Badenoch and the other members of the expert group for producing such a comprehensive and authoritative account of the present state of knowledge. The Government had accepted and endorsed their recommendations, and I have put in the Library a copy of our detailed response. Many of the recommendations involve action by other bodies, and copies of the report and the response are being sent to all water undertakers, health authorities and local authorities.
The Government already have wide-ranging polices to reduce pollution of source waters from farming activities. These include advice to farmers, generous grant aid, and regulations currently being finalised. In addition, we intend to increase the maximum fine in magistrates and sheriff courts for polluting controlled waters from the present £2,000 to £20,000 at the next legislative opportunity.
Some of the specific topics which the report identifies as needing further research have already been incorporated into a national research programme funded by this Department, the National Rivers Authority, the Foundation for Water Research and water undertakers, and supported by the Public Health Laboratory Service. This will now be extended to cover the remaining subjects.
The Government will keep the position under review, and will consider the need for further action when the findings from the research programme become available.
Sports Clubs (Rating)
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the reply he gave on 19 March to the hon. Members for Basildon (Mr. Amess) and for Glasgow, Rutherglen (Mr. McAvoy), Official Report, column 483-84 , if he has made a further assessment of the effect of the new business rate upon sports facilities now that the rating lists have come into force.
Mr. Chope : The 25,591 sports grounds, sports stadia, playing fields and clubhouses in the rating lists for England which came into force on 1 April have average rate bills under the new system, excluding the effect of the transitional arrangements, 3.05 per cent. higher than in 1989-90. This represents a fall of about 4.5 per cent. in real terms. Average rate bills for the 3,300 golf courses, swimming pools and tennis courts in the new lists have risen by 20.6 per cent. and those for leisure and sports centres, of which there are 2,105 in the lists, by 30.3 per cent, again without transition. These figures take no account of rate relief : local authorities have discretion to grant up to 100 per cent. rate relief on property occupied by non-profit making bodies.
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Litter
Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to the current timetable for competitive tendering for street cleaning services in the light of the proposed code of practice on litter under the Environmental Protection Bill.
Mr. Portillo : A number of authorities are now making preparations to let contracts for street cleaning from 1 January 1991. We have proposed, in the Environmental Protection Bill, that there should be a new litter duty on local authorities from 1 April 1991 and that, in fulfilling that duty, authorities should have regard to standards contained in a code of practice. While consultation on that code is well advanced, it is not yet in its definitive form, and I recognise that authorities cannot easily settle the basis for new street cleaning contracts until the standards are finalised. In the case of those authorities to which the deadline of 1 January 1991 currently applies, I intend, therefore, to substitute a later deadline of 1 August 1991. In the case of those authorities to which the deadline of 1 August 1991 currently applies, I intend to substitute a later deadline of 1 January 1992. In the case of those authorities to which the deadline of 1 January 1992 applies, I intend to make no change to the deadline. I shall bring forward regulations to give effect to these changes.
My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales will be making similar arrangements in respect of the competitive tendering deadlines applicable to Scottish and Welsh authorities.
Non-hazardous Waste
Mr. Rost : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his best estimate of the current average cost of landfilling non-hazardous municipal and industrial waste per tonne ; and what is the estimated cost per tonne resulting from the implementation of the Environmental Protection Bill.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 19 July 1990] : The Department is currently reviewing the availability of waste disposal statistics, but there are no firm figures on costs currently available. We estimate that the current average cost of landfilling non-hazardous waste is about £7 per tonne and that disposal to the highest possible standards reflected in the terms of the Environmental Protection Bill is likely to be in the region of £10 to £13 per tonne or more.
Environment Exhibition, Czechoslovakia
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department will send an official to the Brno environmental exhibition in Czechoslovakia ; and if he will make a statement on British participation.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 19 July 1990] : This Department has not received an invitation to the environmental exhibition "ENVIBRNO" in Brno, Czechoslovakia, on 23 to 25 October. On the information available to me, however, I think it unlikely that an official from this Department will attend. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade and Industry has today answered an associated question on the involvement of his Department and British industry in the exhibition.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Community Charge Benefit
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which boroughs in London have made claims to his Department for the refund of community charge benefit ; and in respect of how many people in each borough such a claim has been made.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : All local authorities are currently receiving monthly payments of subsidy from the Department based on their estimated 1990-91 expenditure on community charge benefit. It is largely a matter for local authorities to determine the basis for such estimates. At the end of the financial year each authority is required to make a final claim for subsidy based on the actual outturn expenditure on community charge benefit. Any difference in subsidy between the estimated claim and the final claim is adjusted accordingly.
Information about numbers receiving benefit is collected independently from the subsidy information. Returns of the numbers receiving community charge benefit on 31 May have not yet been received from all London boroughs.
Household Incomes
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will now publish the 1987 data on households below average income.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We expect to publish the 1987 data on households below average income shortly.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Incomes
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to his answer of 13 July to the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Sir D. Steel), Official Report, column 349, if he will give the money figures for per capita income in £ sterling and include the United Kingdom in the table.
Mrs. Chalker : The information is as follows :
Average GNP per capita in low income countries (
excluding India
and China) and average GNP per capita for DAC member
countries
and United Kingdom 1979-1988
Year |Low income|DAC member|United
|countries |countries |Kingdom
|GNP per |GNP per |GNP per
capita |capita |capita
|£ sterling|£ sterling|£ sterling
-------------------------------------------------------
1979 |125 |4,559 |3,455
1980 |168 |4,597 |4,046
1981 |183 |5,296 |4,462
1982 |199 |6,080 |4,901
1983 |208 |7,250 |5,345
1984 |178 |8,644 |5,671
1985 |242 |9,373 |6,186
1986 |221 |10,074 |6,673
1987 |161 |10,394 |7,282
1988 |194 |10,617 |8,051
Sources:
OECD-DAC chairman's report, 1981-1989.
World bank atlas 1989.
Sources:
OECD-DAC chairman's report, 1981-1989.
World Bank Atlas 1989.
Note 1: Low income countries as classified by OECD are
those countries which have GNP per capita of
1979 -less than $500 in 1979
1980-82-less than $600 in 1980
1983-86-less than $700 in 1983
1987-88-less than $700 in 1987
Note 2: Sterling-US dollar exchange rates used
1979 0.4713
1980 0.4299
1981 0.4931
1982 0.5713
1983 0.6592
1984 0.7483
1985 0.7714
1986 0.6820
1987 0.6102
1988 0.5614
Eastern Europe (Information Technology)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to the reply of 24 May, Official Report, column 368, what progress has been made on establishing a computing/information technology mission (a) in Czechoslovakia and (b) in Hungary.
Mrs. Chalker : We hope that information technology missions will visit Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the autumn.
European Development Fund
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the value of goods and services procured by the European development fund from United Kingdom companies for each £1 contributed by the United Kingdom Government.
Mrs. Chalker : As at 31 March 1990, United Kingdom companies had won contracts to the value of 133.15 million ecu under the current (sixth) European development fund. This represents 13.7 per cent. of total procurement--some 27 per cent. of which is won by recipient countries. The United Kingdom contributes 16.58 per cent. of EDF VI.
Know-how Fund
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries of eastern Europe and the amount that each is due to receive in each of the next five years from the know-how fund.
Mrs. Chalker [holding answer 19 July 1990] : It is not possible to list the amounts that each eastern European country will receive over the next five years. These will depend on the total resources available for eastern Europe which have to be agreed in the context of the public expenditure survey, plans for spending those resources, which will depend on developments in the countries concerned, and the pattern of actual disbursements. Support under the know-how fund is at present available to Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and East Germany.
TRANSPORT
Leicester-Burton Rail Link
Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received any proposals for re-opening of the Leicester to Burton railway link ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Freeman : Leicestershire county council has made an application for grant aid and credit approval in respect of the proposed reopening to passengers of this railway line. We are considering this application, but no decisions on resources for the project can be taken until the autumn.
Railway Tankers
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss alternative sites for the parking of railway oil tankers at Port Talbot.
Mr. Freeman : Safety issues are discussed, if appropriate, at our regular meetings. I understand that loaded fuel trains are stopped briefly at Port Talbot while a new crew takes over and the train is checked. Certain empty trains returning to the refinery wait during the night at Port Talbot for periods up to four hours.
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ask the railways inspectorate to examine British Rail's compliance with its statutory duties so far as safety is concerned in respect of the parking of rail-borne tankers at stations.
Mr. Freeman : The railway inspectorate is examining the practice of holding fuel tanker trains at stations to ensure that all reasonably practical safety measures are being taken. I am writing to the right hon. and learned Member with further details.
Public Transport, London
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many passenger journeys were travelled by underground within London in 1989 ; what was the figure in the previous three years ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) how many passenger journeys were travelled by bus within London in 1989 ; what were the figures for the previous three years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The available information is given in the table :
Passenger journeys on London Regional Transport
services
|Underground|Bus
|millions |millions
------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |769 |1,158
1987-88 |798 |1,249
1988-89 |815 |1,244
1989-90 |765 |1,221
The number of passenger journeys during 1989-90 was, of course, affected by industrial action during the summer of last year.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to attract commuters to the London underground and London bus systems.
Mr. Freeman : A total of 83 per cent. of commuters into central London already use public transport. I trust that the major investment programme being undertaken by London Transport, coupled with the quality of service objectives which the Government have set it will encourage more commuters to use its services.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisoners
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what age a boy or girl may be committed to prison in England and Wales.
Mr. John Patten : Although a sentence of imprisonment cannot be passed on anyone under the age of 21, other custodial sentences are available. The minimum ages for custodial sentences for boys and girls are as follows. The sentence of detention in a young offender institution is available for boys from the age of 14 and girls from the age of 15 convicted of imprisonable offences. Detention under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is available from the age of 10 for young people of either sex convicted of murder or manslaughter ; and from the age of 14 for those convicted of other offences for which an adult may be imprisoned for 14 years or more. Boys aged 15 or 16 charged with criminal offences and refused bail may be remanded in prison department custody if a court certifies them as being too unruly to be safely committed to local authority care. The adult remand arrangements apply to young people of either sex from the age of 17.
World Cup (Deportations)
Mr. Denis Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what authority the 247 British citizens deported from Italy during the World Cup tournament were photographed upon arrival at Gatwick airport ; what was the purpose of this photographing ; what use is to be made of these photographs ; and what action is open to these people to ensure that such photographs are destroyed and no records retained.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : People who were returned from Italy on 26 June following incidents of violence in Rimini were photographed on their arrival at Gatwick airport by the national football intelligence unit (NFIU), which is responsible for obtaining, collating and analysing information about individuals who are suspected of being involved in acts of football hooliganism.
Personal information held by NFIU on computer is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984.
Immigration Officers
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the pay scales of immigration officers are designed to reward proficiency in more than one language ;
(2) if immigration officers at ports of entry to the United Kingdom are required to speak foreign languages.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The possession of foreign language skills is not a pre-requisite of employment as an immigration officer, but it is the policy of the Department to attract new recruits who have language skills and to encourage the use of those skills in existing staff. Immigration officers who are successful in departmental language examinations are paid an allowance for each language in which they reach the required standard up to a financial limit which is reviewed regularly. Individual language allowances are higher for the more difficult languages.
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Public Order Act 1986
Mr. Moate : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the results of his evaluation of the operation of section 39 of the Public Order Act 1986 with particular reference to the interpretation of police forces of the circumstances under which the relevant powers should be exercised.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We are considering the representations which we received in response to the announcement of the evaluation of section 39 and hope to reach conclusions by the end of the year.
Police National Computer
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the numbers of subject access requests made to police forces ; whether he will introduce regulations to make it an offence for any person to require a data subject to seek subject access to personal data held by the police ; whether he will introduce legislation to determine when police records may be used for vetting purposes ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that from July 1989 to June 1990 the subject access office of the national identification bureau received 10,818 requests for subject access under the Data Protection Act 1984. Of these 1,371 requests were made initially to the Metropolitan police and 9,447 to other forces. We are currently discussing with representatives of the police service and the Data Protection Registrar how to deal with enforced subject access. The Home Department is planning to mount a scrutiny in the autumn to examine the most appropriate arrangements for the maintenance of, and disclosure from, the national collection of criminal records.
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