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Increase in spending levels 1988-89 to 1990- 91 comprises : Southampton district council's increase in spending from 1988-89 to 1991-92 based on the budget returns is 46 per cent.Margaret Thatcher House
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will reimburse Southend borough council for the cost of building Margaret Thatcher house.
Mr. Key [holding answer 10 May 1991] : It is for local authorities to decide how to finance capital expenditure from the resources available to them. These resources include usable capital receipts, contributions from revenue and borrowing authorised by a credit approval. In the latter case, the capital financing charges are allowed for in revenue support grant.
Listed Buildings
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all Government-owned listed buildings sold into private ownership since 1980, the purchaser and any covenant placed on future usage.
Sir George Young [holding answer 13 May 1991] : I regret this information is not readily available and could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
Heveningham Hall
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now serve listed building repair notices on the owner of Heveningham hall.
Sir George Young [holding answer 13 May 1991] : No. I have been advised by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England that the restoration work at Heveningham hall is being carried out to a satisfactory standard.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received about the sale and present condition of Heveningham hall ; and what response he has made.
Sir George Young [holding answer 13 May 1991] : Since March of this year, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has received six letters regarding the sale and present condition of Heveningham hall. All six letters focus on his right of pre- emption in the event of the present owners wishing to sell Heveningham hall or part of it within 21 years from the date of the conveyance--November 1981. However, there is no reason to believe that the present owners will wish to sell the property in the foreseeable future. The owner's agents, Gulf Park Property management Ltd. have advised that the Al Ghazzi family intend to go on using the hall. This information has been passed on to the authors of the letters. In addition, two of the letters mention the poor condition of the gardens and car park and criticise the quality of interior furnishings. We have explained to the authors that these are subjective matters which do not affect the integrity of the property as a listed building. I understand that good progress is being made with the restoration of the building itself.
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Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to serve a compulsory purchase order on Heveningham hall.
Sir George Young [holding answer 13 May 1991] : No. There is no case for serving a compulsory purchase order on Heveningham hall.
Listed Buildings (Owners)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to require that the name of the ultimate beneficial owner of a listed building is recorded with the address and category of listing of the building.
Sir George Young [holding answer 13 May 1991] : No.
Local Government Commission
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to establish the local government commission before the start of the summer recess.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 13 May 1991] : Our proposals for a new local government commission are set out in our consultation paper on the structure of local government in England published on 23 April. We have no plans to establish the commission before the summer recess.
HOME DEPARTMENT
House Burglaries, Nottinghamshire
Mr. Alexander : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the figures for house burglaries in the areas served by the police stations at (a) Retford, (b) Southwell and (c) Newark in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1990.
Mr. John Patten : The information is not collected centrally for the areas requested.
Marine Distress Rockets
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of South Yorkshire indicating what inquiries have been instigated into the original ownership of the 20 marine distress rockets found by a builder in Station road, Keadby, near Doncaster, Yorkshire.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the chief constable of South Yorkshire that the rockets appear to have been buried for some time, and no inquiries into their original ownership are envisaged.
Postal and Proxy Voting
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much he intends to spend in the lead-up to the next general election on promoting the use of postal and proxy voting among (a) the sick and disabled and (b) those whose occupation means that they are unable to vote in person.
Mrs. Rumbold : When the next general election is announced, we plan to run an advertising campaign to
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inform all electors of their right to an absent vote if they are unable to get to their polling stations to vote in person. The campaign will have a budget of £665,000.Police Manpower, Nottinghamshire
Mr. Alexander : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the numbers of police attached to the police stations at (a) Retford, (b) Southwell and (c) Newark in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1990.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the chief constable that no reliable manpower figures for 1979 can be provided because of changes which have occurred to sub-divisional and section boundaries. The figures for December 1990 are given in the table :
Area |Police manpower|Civilians ---------------------------------------------------------------- Retford |40 |3 Southwell |15 |2 Newark |76 |15
Passport Agency
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the United Kingdom passport agency is being examined as a candidate for privatisation.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the 1991-92 annual budget for the United Kingdom passport agency ; and what is the percentage allocated to staff costs.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This has been passed to the chief executive of the passport agency who will be replying shortly. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
Forensic Science Service
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the 1991-92 annual budget for the forensic science service ; and what is the percentage allocated to staff costs.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This has been passed to the director general of the forensic science service, who will be replying shortly. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Library.
Home Office Spending (Suffolk)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement listing his Department's contribution to police, prisons, fire and other services within Suffolk for each of the past 10 years ; and what his forward plans are for the next three years.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : The Home Office pays specific grant on a proportion of local authorities' expenditure on police, magistrates' courts, probation and civil defence. The proportion varies according to the service. My Department also pays grant under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 to enable local authorities to employ additional staff to meet the specific needs of local communities of Commonwealth origin. Details of some of these grants to individual authorities are not available for all of the last 10 years. The available information, and that on Home Office expenditure on prisons, in respect of
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Suffolk is given in the table. No detailed forecasts are made of grant and other payments to individual local authorities for future years.Column 73
|Police<1> |Magistrates' |Probation<3> |Civil |Section 11<5>|Prisons<6>
|courts<2> |defence<4>
|£ '000s |£ '000s |£ '000s |£ '000s |£ '000s |£ '000s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |9,934 |- |- |- |29 |-
1982-83 |10,901 |- |935 |- |57 |-
1983-84 |11,613 |- |1,029 |- |88 |18,932
1984-85 |12,411 |1,184 |1,102 |- |82 |19,331
1985-86 |13,687 |1,301 |1,205 |223 |113 |19,924
1986-87 |14,776 |1,448 |1,329 |241 |109 |20,629
1987-88 |15,701 |1,563 |1,461 |286 |113 |23,164
1988-89 |17,805 |1,997 |1,568 |356 |119 |22,481
1989-90 |20,458 |2,485 |1,939 |367 |150 |23,860
<7>1990-91 |22,291 |2,707 |2,035 |362 |148 |26,263
<7>1991-92 |24,772 |2,933 |2,298 |324 |173 |28,101
<1>Rate of grant-51 per cent.
<2>Rate of grant-80 per cent.
<3>Rate of grant-Mainly 80 per cent.
<4>Rate of grant-Mainly 100 per cent.
<5>Rate of grant-75 per cent.
<6>Operating costs of the three prison establishments in Suffolk.
<7>Estimates of grant and expenditure.
The Home Office makes no specific contribution to local authorities' expenditure on fire services. Government support for fire is provided through the revenue support grant system, and decisions on fire expenditure are the responsibility of individual local authorities.
Foreign Prisoners
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many male and female foreign nationals are serving a sentence or are on remand in a prison establishment in England and Wales ; and if he will list the countries from which they emanate ;
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(2) how many males and females convicted or charged with a drug-related offence are currently resident in gaols in England and Wales ; and if he will list the countries from which they emanated.Mrs. Rumbold : On 30 June 1990, the latest date for which information is readily available, an estimated 2,869 male and 303 female sentenced prisoners in prison service establishments in England and Wales were known to be foreign nationals ; of these 1,086 males and 162 females had been sentenced for drugs offences. The nationalities of these prisoners are shown in the table. However, the recording of nationality is not always reliable. Information about nationality is not recorded centrally for the remand population.
Sentenced prisoners on 30 June 1990 who were known to be foreign nationals by sex,
nationality and whether sentenced for drugs offences.
Nationality All offences Drugs offences
|Males |Females|Total |Males |Females|Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
India |245 |14 |259 |79 |7 |86
Pakistan |252 |2 |254 |125 |- |125
Other Asian Commonwealth |64 |1 |65 |14 |- |14
Nigeria |428 |99 |527 |339 |55 |394
Ghana |42 |18 |60 |25 |13 |38
Other African Commonwealth |91 |9 |100 |33 |4 |37
Jamaica |432 |40 |472 |116 |18 |134
Other Caribbean Commonwealth |121 |15 |136 |29 |9 |38
Cyprus |54 |2 |56 |18 |2 |20
Australia, Canada, New Zealand |38 |3 |41 |9 |1 |10
Ireland |412 |10 |422 |24 |1 |25
Other EC countries |196 |14 |210 |87 |10 |97
United States of America |37 |16 |53 |13 |10 |23
South America |110 |29 |139 |90 |20 |110
Other countries |347 |31 |378 |85 |12 |97
Total known foreign nationals |2,869 |303 |3,172 |1,086 |162 |1,248
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for the latest year available, how many foreign nationals sentenced to a period of imprisonment in a gaols in England and Wales have been granted home leave and temporary accommodation to facilitate visiting arrangements.
Mrs. Rumbold : This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals imprisoned in gaols in England and Wales have dependent children with them.
Mrs. Rumbold : On Friday 10 May, there were 12 foreign nationals in prison service establishments in England and Wales who had their babies with them in a mother and baby unit.
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Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration the Parole Board gives in its deliberations to the specific difficulties faced by foreign nationals.Mrs. Rumbold : It is a fundamental principle of the parole scheme that each case is considered on its merits. As far as possible, the cases of foreign nationals are considered on the same basis as domestic prisoners.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist for visits from relatives, particularly from children, to foreign nationals in gaols in England and Wales.
Mrs. Rumbold : The arrangements for visits to prisoners--which apply equally to foreign nationals--are set out in standing order 5, a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals in gaols in England and Wales have dependants resident in the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Rumbold : The information requested is not available.
Sports Grounds (Safety)
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to implement the recommendation of Lord Justice Taylor's final report into the Hillsborough disaster by extending mandatory all-seated accommodation to sports grounds other than football grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 as amended by the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987.
Mr. John Patten : The question whether it may be necessary or appropriate to extend mandatory all-seated accommodation to sports grounds other than football grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 is currently under active consideration, and the subject of consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers and other interested parties.
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all sports grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Ground Act 1975 as amended which are (a) enclosed grounds and (b) not enclosed grounds.
Mr. John Patten : Sports grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 are as follows. No distinction is now made in designating sports grounds between those which are enclosed and and those which are not. The Act used to distinguish between a "sports stadium" and a "sports ground". The term "sports stadium" was used for a sports ground where the accommodation for spectators wholly or substantially surrounds the playing area, whereas the term "sports grounds" was used for any place where sports take place in the open air. The Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 removed this distinction and replaced the term "sports stadium" with "sports ground". Information on which grounds would formerly have been defined as sports grounds or sports stadiums is not kept centrally.
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The Safety of Sports Grounds (Designation) Orders
Statutory Instrument
1976 No. 1264 31 July 1976
Rugby Union
Twickenham
National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park
Football
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham City
Bristol City
Cardiff City
Coventry City
Derby County
Everton
Ipswich Town
Leeds United
Leicester City
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
Newcastle United
Norwich City
Queen's Park Rangers
Stoke City
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Wrexham
Wembley Stadium
1977 No. 1323 29 July 1977
Chelsea
Nottingham Forest
Wolverhampton Wanderers
1978 No. 1091 28 July 1978
Bolton Wanderers
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
1979 No. 1022 7 August 1979
Brighton and Hove Albion
Bristol Rovers
Burnley
Cambridge United
Charlton Athletic
Crystal Palace
Fulham
Luton Town
Notts County
Oldham Athletic
Orient
Preston North End
Shrewsbury Town
Swansea City
Watford
1980 No. 1021 18 July 1980
Blackburn Rovers
Grimsby Town
1981 No. 949 2 July 1981
Rotherham United
Barnsley
1982 No. 1052 27 July 1983
Carlisle United
1984 No. 962 4 July 1983
Huddersfield Town
Portsmouth
1984 No. 942 3 July 1984
Oxford United
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