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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 5 March 1991
HOME DEPARTMENT
Court of Appeal
Mr. Hayes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases were referred back to the Court of Appeal criminal division in each of the last two years under section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968.
Mr. John Patten : The information is as follows :
Z
References to the court of appeal under section 17(1)(a) of the
Criminal Appeal Act 1968
(a) In respect of conviction
Year |Number of |Number of |Appeals |Appeals
|cases referred|defendants |allowed |dismissed
|involved
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989 |3 |6 |3 |-
1990 |7<1> |18 |- |-
<1>Seven cases still awaiting determination.
(b) In respect of sentence
Year |Number of |Number of |Appeals |Appeals
|cases referred|defendants |allowed |dismissed
|involved
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989 |7 |7 |6 |1
1990 |3<1> |3 |1 |-
<1> Two cases still awaiting determination.
Pardons
Mr. Hayes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pardons were granted in each of the last two years to persons convicted after a trial on indictment.
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Kiranjit Ahluwalia
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received regarding the conviction of Kiranjit Ahluwalia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : Fifty-nine representations have been received about the conviction of Kiranjit Ahluwalia. We have considered these very carefully but have concluded that they do not provide any information that would justify the intervention of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in this case. The normal procedures for the review of life sentence prisoners will continue to apply.
Trevi Group
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings of the Trevi group are scheduled for the rest of this year ; on which dates they will occur ; and what will be the venue.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I shall attend the Trevi Ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on 14 June and the one to be held during the Dutch Presidency in the latter half of this year. A number of meetings of officials take place under each Presidency, normally in the capital of the member state concerned.
Child Abduction Act 1984
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been charged under the Child Abduction Act 1984 ; how many persons have been convicted by the courts ; and what sentences were passed in each case.
Mr. John Patten : Information on the number of people charged is not collected centrally.
The data given in the table relates to the number of persons prosecuted and found guilty for offences under the Child Abduction Act 1984. This information is published annually in volumes 1 and 2 of the Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, supplementary tables, copies of which are available in the Library.
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Persons proceeded against and found guilty of child abduction under the Child Abduction Act 1984<1> by result 1985 to 1989 England and Wales -------------------------------------------- 1985 |38|22|22|2 |3 |1 |2 |- |1 |3 |9 |1 1986 |56|28|28|4 |1 |2 |6 |- |- |3 |11|1 1987 |52|35|35|6 |1 |3 |5 |- |1 |1 |16|2 1988 |56|27|27|3 |- |1 |10|- |- |4 |8 |1 1989 |67|42|42|7 |- |2 |10|2 |- |5 |10|6 <1> The Act came into force in October 1984 but court data was not collected until January 1985.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1-7) and overall in the Department are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : The latest available figures show that 117 staff in grades 1 to 7 and their equivalent are women : this represents almost 14 per cent. In the unified grades 11 per cent. of staff at grade 3, 24 per cent. at grade 5, 8 per cent. at grade 6 and 23 per cent. at grade 7 are women.
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As to ethnic origin, for which information is derived from voluntary surveys, 36 members of staff in grades 1 to 7 and their equivalent described themselves as of ethnic minority origin : this represents some 4 per cent. of respondents in these grades. In the Home Office as a whole, 24 per cent. of staff are women and almost 5 per cent. of respondents to voluntary surveys described themselves as of ethnic minority origin.Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at the Home Office.
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Mr. Kenneth Baker : Most senior posts are filled internally and the most important factor in increasing the number of ethnic minority staff in those posts will be their advancement over time through the promotion system. Considerable importance is attached to ensuring that they have every opportunity to do so. Recruitment direct to senior grades is generally conducted by the Civil Service Commission, and is always on the basis of fair and open competition. Advertisements make clear that the civil service is an equal opportunities employer.Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : All non-industrial staff in the Home Office were asked to state their ethnic origin in voluntary surveys conducted between 1983 and 1986. A further questionnaire was sent in 1988 to those who had not previously responded. Consideration is now being given to ways in which the response rate for surveys can be increased, and measures are being taken to obtain survey data for industrial staff. People seeking posts in the Department are asked to state their ethnic origin when making their applications.
Community Charge
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have now received court summonses over failure to pay the poll tax, and, of these, how many are income support claimants ; how many liability orders have been issued by the courts and, of these, how many applied to income support claimants ; what estimates he makes for these totals over the current three months ; and if he will give a geographical breakdown by area or by court.
Mr. John Patten : Information about the number of summonses and liability orders in the period 1 April to 31 December 1990 is available in the Library ; comparable information for the period 1 January to 31 March 1991 will be placed in the Library within six weeks of the end of this quarter. I have no information about the number of community charge enforcement proceedings against income support claimants, since this information is not available to justices' clerks and is not necessary for the purposes of these proceedings.
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Detainees
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi and other nationals taken into custody in connection with events in the Gulf are still detained ; and what steps he is taking to release them.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At 4 March, 31 Iraqis and two other nationals were detained under the provisions of the Immigration Act 1971 pending deportation for reasons of national security and 32 Iraqis were detained as prisoners of war.
With the exception of those held as prisoners of war, whose release is a matter for the Ministry of Defence, any detainee is free to leave the United Kingdom at any time. The decisions to detain and to deport continue to be reviewed on an individual basis in the light of representations received, including the advice of the advisory panel.
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals detained by him on the ground of national security under the Immigration Act 1971 have (a) appealed and (b) have had their cases determined by his advisory panel since 16 January 1991, of these how many have been (i) recommended for deportation and (ii) recommended for release ; and how many have been (1) released and (2) deported.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 4 March 1991] : Fifty-six of those detained under the Immigration Act requested an appearance before the advisory panel and 42 have been heard since 16 January. Those who have not been heard have requested postponements. The advice of the panel is confidential but following consideration of this advice and all other representations, my right hon. Friend has decided to continue deportation action in 20 cases and to take no further action in 13. In the other nine cases, the advice is awaited or is under consideration.
A total of 20 were released from detention following my right hon. Friend's consideration of the advice. Two have left the United Kingdom after deportation orders were made against them.
Boundary Commission
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will announce the present membership of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Mr. Speaker is Chairman of the Commission. The other members are :
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|Appointed by |Date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Justice Knox |The Lord Chancellor |<1>1 January 1991
Miss Sheila Cameron, QC |The Home Secretary |3 March 1989
Mr. David Macklin |The Secretary of State for the Environment|16 February 1989
<1>First appointed 1 January 1987.
Paul Malone
Mr. Terry Fields : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the relevant chief constable on the present location of exhibits DHH/1, J/T1, J/T2, J/T3, J/T4 and J11, a hospital appointment card, photographs relative to the charges made against Malone and original handwritten interview
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notes taken at Ellesmere Port police station, Cheshire, in the case of Paul Malone currently residing in Durham prison ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 4 March 1991] : The location of these exhibits is a matter for the relevant chief officer of police to whom inquiries should be addressed directly.
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WALES
Road Safety Education
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority area in Wales currently do not have road safety education programmes ;
(2) what was the average amount of time given to teaching road safety education programmes in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schoools in each local education authority area in Wales during 1990 ; and what were the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
Sir Wyn Roberts : This information is not held centrally.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will make it his Department's policy to maintain the voluntary nature of environmentally sensitive area schemes and maintain the role of the project officers as interpreters and advisers on the guidelines.
Mr. David Hunt : I have no plans to change these arrangements.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has any plans to link payments made under the environmentally sensitive areas scheme to the annual rate of inflation.
Mr. David Hunt : No. The level of payments in the Cambrian mountains and Lleyn peninsula ESAs have been reviewed and my judgment was that the existing rates of payment were appropriate and there was no justification for increasing them.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to offer a minimum level of payment per farm when deciding on environmentally sensitive areas scheme allocations.
Mr. David Hunt : This is one of the matters which I will consider as part of our review of the scheme which is now under way.
Property Marking
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether it is the policy of his Department to mark property with an indelible mark or similar means of identification.
Mr. David Hunt : As a rule my Department finds it unnecessary to have to use special markings to protect its property, but we have taken action to mark telephone handsets which have proved to be vulnerable to theft.
Family Planning Clinics
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many family planning clinics have been operational in each district health authority area in Wales in each year since 1976.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This information is not available centrally.
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Secure Accommodation (Juveniles)
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consideration he has given to the provison of secure establishments in Wales for juveniles awaiting trial ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Nicholas Bennett : Our officials are presently conducting a review of secure care in Wales, including the need to make provision for juveniles on remand. We expect to have their final report shortly.
Veterinary Inspection Centre, Bangor
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if any decision has been taken on the future of the Bryn Adda veterinary inspection centre in Bangor, Gwynedd.
Mr. David Hunt : My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food expects to be able to make an announcement about the review of the veterinary investigation service very shortly.
PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 5 March.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My right honourable Friend the Prime Minister is in Moscow having bilateral discussions with President Gorbachev.
CIVIL SERVICE
Ethnic Minorities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at the Cabinet Office.
Mr. Renton : The top grades in my Department are normally filled by promotion from within, or by staff on loan from other Departments. The Cabinet Office monitors the ethnic origin of all new entrants to the Department and promotion is solely on merit. If it is necessary to recruit to the top grades from outside the civil service, the Cabinet office turns to the Civil Service Commissioners. They adopt a wide range of good equal opportunity practices to aid recruitment of members of the ethnic minorities, including the monitoring of applicants at every stage of the selection process.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Telephone Calls (Tracing)
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are being taken to encourage the development of equipment to trace hoax and nuisance telephone calls ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : The provision of call tracing facilities is primarily a matter for the network operators. I know that the Director General of Telecommunications, Sir Bryan Carsberg, is keeping the situation under close review.
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Hoax and nuisance calls are an obnoxious practice, causing great distress, and I have every sympathy with the victims. Complaints should be referred to the police, who have the power to prosecute under the Telecommunications Act 1984. British Telecom and Mercury are ready and willing to co-operate in such inquiries by tracing calls.There is at present no equipment approved for connection to the public telephone network that the residential customer can use to trace calls. An application for approval has been received in respect of a call filter device. This would enable certain customers, connected to digital exchanges, to screen calls before answering them. The device works by requiring the caller to key in a number before the called party has to accept the call.
Trade Balance
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out the increase or decrease in value and volume of manufactured trade to and from the Federal Republic of Germany of (a) United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) the United States of America in each year from 1985 to 1990, together with the balance of total trade and manufactured trade with Germany in each case.
Mr. Leigh : The information is in the tables. Figures for 1990 are not available for the United States of America and France. Data in volume terms are not available for bilateral trade.
Exports of manufactures<1> to Federal Republic of
Germany
From: |USA |USA |France|France|UK $B |UK
|$B |per |$B |per |per
|cent. |cent. |cent.
|annual |annual |annual
|change |change |change
--------------------------------------------------------
1985 |6.8 |- |11.0 |- |7.4 |-
1986 |7.9 |15.8 |14.9 |35.7 |9.3 |25.3
1987 |8.6 |9.2 |18.6 |24.7 |12.0 |28.3
1988 |10.7 |24.6 |20.6 |10.8 |13.4 |11.6
1989 |13.2 |23.0 |21.8 |6.0 |14.5 |8.7
1990 |N.A. |- |N.A. |- |19.6 |-
Imports of manufacturers from Federal Republic of
Germany
From: |USA |USA |France|France|UK $B |UK
|$B |per |$B |per |per
|cent. |cent. |cent.
|annual |annual |annual
|change |change |change
--------------------------------------------------------
1985 |19.8 |- |15.9 |- |14.9 |-
1986 |24.5 |24.0 |22.6 |42.4 |19.2 |29.1
1987 |26.5 |8.0 |28.6 |26.7 |24.2 |26.2
1988 |25.0 |-5.7 |32.1 |12.1 |29.1 |20.3
1989 |24.0 |-4.1 |33.8 |5.2 |30.5 |4.7
1990 |N.A. |- |N.A. |- |33.4 |-
Crude trade balance<2> in manufactures with
Federal Republic of
Germany
|USA $B |France $B|UK $B
--------------------------------------------------
1985 |-13.0 |-4.9 |-7.4
1986 |-16.7 |-7.7 |-9.9
1987 |-17.9 |-10.1 |-12.2
1988 |-14.3 |-11.5 |-15.8
1989 |-10.8 |-12.0 |-16.0
1990 |N.A. |N.A. |-13.8
Crude trade balance with Federal Republic of
Germany
|USA $B |France $B|UK $B
--------------------------------------------------
1985 |-12.7 |-3.2 |-4.8
1986 |-16.3 |-5.7 |-8.3
1987 |-17.1 |-7.3 |-10.6
1988 |-13.3 |-8.5 |-14.8
1989 |-9.7 |-9.2 |-14.8
1990 |N.A. |N.A. |-12.0
<1>=SITC divisions 5 to 8.
<2>The crude trade balance is exports (FOB) less
imports (CIF).
Source: OECD Series C.
Companies Act 1989
Sir Michael Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to commence provisions of the Companies Act 1989.
Mr. Redwood : On Monday 4 March I signed an order which commences certain provisions of the Act. Sections 126 and 127(3) concerning company records come into force on 1 July. Certain powers to make regulations under part VII of the Act--financial markets and insolvency--are also commenced so as to permit regulations under that part to be made to take effect at the time the substantive provisions come into force, which is expected to be in mid-April. The remaining provisions of section 193 come into force on 1 April 1991. Section 193 inserts section 62a and paragraph 22A of schedule 11 into the Financial Services Act 1986, restricting to private investors the right to bring action for contravention of rules, regulations and so on. I have also made regulations under section 62a of the 1986 Act defining "private investor" and specifying circumstances in which rights are retained by persons other than private investors. These will also come into force on 1 April 1991.
I have placed a copy of the order in the Library.
ECGD Insurance Services Group
Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish the list of potential purchasers after privatisation of the insurance services group of the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Mr. Lilley [pursuant to the reply, 4 February 1991, c. 25] : The privatisation of ECGD's short-term business, currently undertaken within the insurance services group, will, as previously announced, be by means of a competition among prospective trade purchasers and consortia.
Last July, Samuel Montagu, acting on my behalf, issued a prequalification questionnaire accompanied by a preliminary information memorandum to potential investors who had expressed a written interest in acquiring the business. There was a good response to these documents from a wide range of investors.
The Government have now decided on a shortlist of potential bidders for the business. In alphabetical order, these are :
Assicurazioni Generali ;
Cobac ;
A consortium comprising Eagle Star and Gerling, with shareholdings of 95 per cent. and 5 per cent. respectively ;
NCM ;
Sun Alliance ;
Trade Indemnity.
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The shortlisted companies have been informed of the Government's decision and are being invited to tender accordingly.The shortlist has been selected with regard to a range of criteria including the candidates' commercial understanding of, and commitment to, the credit insurance business, their financial robustness and willingness to take over the business broadly on the basis proposed by the Government. The shortlisted candidates have all stated their willingness to bid for 100 per cent. of the business.
Prior to the submission of tenders bidders will have the opportunity of detailed discussions with ECGD, including members of insurance services management, staff representatives and the Government's advisers on the sale.
The deadline for receipt of tenders will be 30 April 1991, following which there will be a period of evaluation. Price will be an important, but not the sole, criterion to be taken into account. I reserve the right to reject any or all of the bids. The sale is not likely to be completed before the end of July, but it is our intention to proceed as quickly as possible, subject to the successful passage of the Bill through Parliament.
Normal competition legislation and procedures will apply to the sale.
Arrangements are being made for appropriate information from the invitation to tender to be laid in the Library of the House.
TRANSPORT
Seatbelts
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many children who were killed or injured in road accidents were not wearing seatbelts in (a) 1989 and (b) 1990.
Mr. Chope : The information available is as follows :
(a) Since January 1983, all front seat occupants of cars or light vans have been required to wear a seat belt. From 1 September 1989, further regulations were introduced requiring children aged under 14 to wear a selt belt in the rear of cars or light vans where such a belt was fitted. Casualty figures for 1989, for children aged 0 to 13 travelling in cars or light vans, are given in the following table :
Child casualties in cars and light vans in
road accidents
Great Britain
1989
Children aged 0 to 13
|Killed |Injured
-------------------------------------------
Seat belt worn |20 |4,143
Seat belt not worn |34 |4,864
Not reported |16 |2,180
|-------|-------
Total |70 |11,257
(b) Corresponding figures for 1990 are not yet available.
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MV Breydon
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the destination and cargo of the British registered coaster MV Breydon when fire broke out earlier this month.
Mr. McLoughlin : A statement is not appropriate at this stage as the cause of the fire is still being investigated by the marine accident investigation branch. However, I understand that when the fire broke out the vessel was on passage from Great Oakely, near Harwich to Drogheda in Southern Ireland, with a cargo of explosives.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Department completed its latest voluntary survey of the ethnic origins of its staff during January 1991. The Department's response rate following the re-survey is 91 per cent. This information will be kept up to date by asking new entrants to complete an ethnic background questionnaire.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1-7) and overall in the Department are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.
Mr. McLoughlin : The numbers and percentages of women and ethnic minority staff employed in the Department at present are :
Total Women Recorded Ethnic<1>
|number |percentage
|Number |Percentage
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All grades |15,274 |7,005 |45.86 |644 |4.22
Grade 1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Grade 2 |4 |- |- |- |-
Grade 3 |20 |- |- |- |-
Grade 4 |18 |1 |5.50 |- |-
Grade 5 |107 |8 |7.47 |1 |0.93
Grade 6 |146 |2 |1.36 |3 |2.05
Grade 7 |526 |58 |11.02 |16 |3.04
|-- |-- |-- |-- |--
Total |822 |69 |8.38 |20 |2.43
<1> These figures are based on a voluntary confidential survey of staff. the
response rate overall and for the grades 1-7, is 91 per cent.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Department.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Civil Service Commission is responsible for the recruitment of top grades to all Departments of the civil service. Recruitment and promotion are carried out on the principle of fair and open competition.
The Commission is extending links with universities, polytechnics and tertiary colleges to attract more applicants including those from ethnic minorities ; ensuring that its recruitment brochures reflect a multi-racial work force ; and validating selection procedures to ensure that they are fair and non-discriminatory.
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