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Mr. Waddington : The numbers of unconvicted and convicted unsentenced prisoners held in those establishments on 24 July were :
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Prison |Unconvicted|Convicted
|unsentenced
----------------------------------------------------
Brixton |755 |83
Wormwood Scrubs |497 |32
Holloway |199 |45
Pentonville |254 |28
It would involve disproportionate cost to establish how many of those prisoners faced charges arising from the Trafalgar square disturbance on 31 March.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate the number of prisoners in police cells in Greater Manchester for the last date for which figures are available ; and if he will place in the Library figures for 26 August and 26 September as soon as they are avaiable.
Mr. Waddington : On Wednesday 25 July, the latest date for which information is available, 313 prisoners were held in police cells in the Greater Manchester police force. I will write to the hon. Member providing figures for 26 August and 26 September as soon as they are available, and will arrange for copies to be placed in the Library.
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Begging
Mr. Dickens : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to control the spread of illegal begging on the streets ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Decisions about measures to control illegal begging on the streets are an operational matter for the police. The police have adequate powers to tackle begging and I understand they normally arrest where there is some element of threatening or intimidating behaviour.
Sex Offences
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of rape and sexual assault against (a) serving policemen and (b) ex-policemen have been made in each of the last 10 years ; and how many convictions resulted in each category.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Such information is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Police (Firearms)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with Greater Manchester police concerning the decision of Greater Manchester police to place a permanently mobilised group of armed police officers in Moss Side, Manchester.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : None. The posting and deployment of authorised firearms officers, like all other officers, is an operational matter for the chief constable.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines he issues to police forces in England about the issuing and use of firearms by police officers.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A copy of the Home Office guidelines which were issued to chief officers of police in March 1983 on the issue and use of firearms is in the Library.
Criminal Injuries
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present situation of Mr. A. M. Jama of Liverpool in relation to his claim for criminal injuries.
Mr. John Patten : I have asked the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which is entirely responsible for administering the compensation scheme and determining individual applications, to write to the hon. Member.
Stop and Search
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is intended that the records of the ethnic origin of those stopped and searched under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act should be collated by the police forces concerned to ensure that racially discriminatory practices are not occurring ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I will write to the hon. Member.
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Security Industry
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will include within the options being considered for improving the regulation of the private security industry the statutory regulation of that industry ;
(2) if he will include within the options being considered for regulation of the private security industry regulation of the terms and conditions of employees in that industry.
Mr. John Patten : No. The options that we are at present considering relate to improving the self-regulation of the private security industry, including the recruitment procedures followed within the industry.
Fire Service College
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement concerning future funding of the Fire Service college and the plans of Her Majesty's Government for its continued service to the public.
Mr. John Patten : We are consulting the Association of County Councils, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities and the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council on our proposals to introduce in stages new arrangements whereby fire brigades will be charged directly for the courses which their officers attend at the Fire Service college. We intend that the college should retain its premier position in the training of fire officers to deliver a fully effective service to the public.
Police (Graduates)
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each of the last five years, how many graduates have joined the police service in England and Wales ; how many graduates were serving in forces in England and Wales ; and what proportion of the service's strength this represents.
Mr. Waddington : The information requested is as follows :
|Graduates |Graduates |Percentage of
|joining |serving<1><2> |graduates <1><2>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985
England and Wales |492 |5,376 |4.45
Metropolitan |137 |- |-
|------- |------- |-------
Total |629 |5,376 |4.45
1986
England and Wales |542 |6,087 |4.7
Metropolitan |169 |- |-
|------- |------- |-------
Total |711 |6,087 |4.7
1987
England and Wales |496 |6,863 |5.2
Metropolitan |124 |- |-
|------- |------- |-------
Total |620 |6,863 |5.2
1988
England and Wales |401 |7,409 |6.0
Metropolitan |169 |- |-
|------- |------- |-------
Total |570 |7,409 |6.0
1989
England and Wales |325 |7,162 |5.7
Metropolitan |111 |- |-
|------- |------- |-------
Total |436 |7,162 |5.7
<1>On 31 December each year.
<2>Includes RUC.
Table file CW900726.064 not available
Homosexuals
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether the Government have made or intend to make any investigation into the scale or pattern of violent attacks, motivated by homophobic prejudice, against lesbians and gay men ;
(2) whether the Government have any plans to initiate a study of the value of keeping police records of incidents of anti-gay violence with a view to developing appropriate police countermeasures to stamp out homophobic attacks.
Mr. John Patten [holding answer 2 July 1990] : We have no plans to do so. All such assaults are to be deplored in exactly the same way as any crime of violence. A high priority is attached to the investigation of violence offences, three quarters of which are cleared up by the police.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Cambodia
Mr. Wells : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent communications he has received from Khieu Samphan of the Khmer Rouge about Her Majesty's Government's policy on Cambodia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Since the beginning of the year, two letters from Khieu Samphan have been addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs about the work of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Since we have no dealings with the Khmer Rouge, the letters have not been acknowledged.
Baltic States
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if visa facilities for travel to the United Kingdom could be established in the individual Baltic states.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : There are no plans to establish such facilities.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visas are granted annually to citizens of the Baltic states to travel to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : No separate figures are available of visas issued to citizens of the Baltic states, most of whom still travel on Soviet travel documents.
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Irish Republic
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met his counterpart from the Irish Republic ; what matters relating to the Irish presidency of the European Community were discussed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : I last met the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 July. The Irish presidency of the EC ended on 30 June and was not discussed in any detail.
Nuclear Non-proliferation
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what rules of procedure have been adopted for the fourth quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in August.
Mr. Waldegrave : Draft rules of procedure will be put to the non- proliferation treaty review conference for adoption when the conference convenes in August.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals Her Majesty's Government have received from Nigeria in regard to prohibitions on the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states.
Mr. Waldegrave : A Nigerian proposal will be discussed at the forthcoming non-proliferation treaty review conference.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provisions will be made for the attendance at the upcoming fourth quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non- proliferation treaty for (a) states not parties to the treaty, (b) non- governmental organisations and (c) international organisations with an interest in security matters ; and what information he possesses in regard to the stated desire to attend of parties in (a), (b) and (c), respectively.
Mr. Waldegrave : Observer status at the review conference is open to non-party states, specialised agencies and regional
intergovernmental organisations. With regard to non-governmental organisations I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 11 June to the hon. Member for Stockton, North (Mr. Cook). Applications for observer status are made to the secretary general of the review conference.
Mr. Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he, or any officials or Ministers in his Department were present at, or participated in, the colloquium on "Non- Proliferation in a Disarming World : Prospects for the 1990s", held in Geneva on 20 and 21 June ;
(2) what actions have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to implement the recommendations set out in the final document of the third nuclear non- proliferation treaty review conference (NPT/CONF/III/64/1) in regard to (a) active involvement of non-proliferation treaty nuclear weapons states in nuclear disarmament negotiations, (b) resumption of negotiations in trilateral and multilateral fora towards a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty and (c) support for an international plutonium storage regime under international safeguards.
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Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang) on 25 July.Mr. Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department received an invitation to attend the conference on the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons in London on 14 and 15 July ; what information he has concerning the capability of Sweden to develop nuclear weapons ; and whether he possesses any information as to the capacity of Sweden to simulate the effects of nuclear weapons test explosions without the direct use of computers.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 25 July to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang). As a party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Sweden has undertaken not to develop nuclear weapons.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals will be put forward by Her Majesty's Government at the fourth quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non- proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 9 May to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang.).
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requests have been received by Her Majesty's Government from non-nuclear weapon states parties to the nuclear non- proliferation treaty to be involved directly in nuclear arms reductions talks, pursuant to the commitment set out in preambular paragraph 10 of the treaty.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps he has taken to encourage the Republic of South Africa to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ;
(2) what steps he has taken to encourage Zimbabwe to sign the nuclear non- proliferation treaty ;
(3) what steps he has taken to encourage Namibia to sign the nuclear non- proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given on 28 February by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas).
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken in the five years since the third review conference of the nuclear non- proliferation treaty to implement the recommendation of the final document of that conference (NPT/CONF/III/61/I) in the areas of nuclear disarmament.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 25 July to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang).
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in the Official
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Report those non-governmental organisations and their respective concerns that have communicated with his Department on nuclear non-proliferation matters since1 June.Mr. Waldegrave : We have frequent contacts with non-governmental organisations and other interested parties on issues related to non- proliferation.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) on 4 July, Official Report, column 618, he will list all matters discussed in the current year at the European working group on non-proliferation referred to in that answer.
Mr. Waldegrave : Various matters relevant to the nuclear non- proliferation regime have been discussed in the working group on non- proliferation.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonweath Affairs what financial and logistical contribution has been committed by the United Kingdom to the fourth quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 11 June to the hon. Member for Stockton, North (Mr. Cook).
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representatives his Department had at the conference on chemical and nuclear weapons proliferation, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at Camden town hall on 14 and 15 July.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 25 July to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang).
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representatives his Department had at the colloquium on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty organised by the Council for Arms Control at Chatham house, London, on 10 July ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was represented by a senior official.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out those conclusions of the third quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that have been implemented to date ; and what plans there are to implement any outstanding recommendations before the fourth nuclear non-proliferation treaty review conference in August.
Mr. Waldegrave : The recommendations contained in the final document of the third review conference are wide ranging and apply to a number of states and international organisations ; most have been implemented.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place with his counterparts in the Democratic Republic of Germany on the implications of the unification of Germany for the membership of that state in the process of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
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Mr. Waldegrave : None.Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Ministers or officials from his Department last met the office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, or the United Nations department of disarmament affairs in regard to the forthcoming fourth quinquennial review conference of the non-proliferation treaty ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : We maintain close contact with the secretariat for the NPT review conference.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his French counterpart about France becoming a signatory on the nuclear non- proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 25 July to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang).
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the United Kingdom representation at the forthcoming quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty will be constituted.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 11 June to the hon. Member for Stockton, North (Mr. Cook).
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during his recent meeting with his counterpart from the German Democratic Republic, he discussed the forthcoming quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place with other European Community Foreign Ministers in preparation for the forthcoming quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ; and whether it is intended that a common position will be adopted by the European nations at that conference.
Mr. Waldegrave : A joint declaration on non-proliferation was made by EC member states at the June European Council, but, as not all member states are parties to the non-proliferation treaty, there will be no common position at the review conference.
United Nations Assembly
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out all those resolutions on defence and disarmament put to the last and present general sessions of the United Nations ; how the United Kingdom voted on these resolutions ; and what was the result of the full vote on each of these resolutions.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member, however, to the United Nations documents, "Resolutions and Decisions Adopted by the General Assembly during the first part of its 43rd (44th) session" and "Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council 1988 (1989)" which contain the information he requires and which are publicly available.
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Hong Kong
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have been charged under the summary offences ordinance in Hong Kong for each year in the last five years.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have been charged in Hong Kong with collecting money in public without a permit for each year in the last five years.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Although no detailed analysis has been made, the Hong Kong Government consider it likely that only a very small number of prosecutions have been undertaken in recent years.
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Hong Kong Government intend to ban the use of loudspeakers by any member of the public.
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on civil and political rights in Hong Kong of the recent prosecutions under the summary offences ordinance.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : It would not be appropriate to comment on the details of specific cases at this stage since the matter is sub judice pending the outcome of current court hearings. But it would not be right to view the current controls on the use of loudspeakers in public and the public collection of money as an infringement of civil liberties. These laws are of long standing and are widely understood, and supported, in the community. It should be noted that the international covenant on civil and political rights provides that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly may be subject to restrictions necessary, inter alia, for the respect and protection of the rights and freedoms of others. The restrictions on the use of loudspeakers is imposed very much with this in mind as excessive noise in a public place may create nuisance for members of the community.
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Hong Kong Government intend to repeal the summary offences ordinance.
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have been charged with using a loud hailer without a permit in Hong Kong for each year in the last five years.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Because prosecution records in Hong Kong are not computerised, the information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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