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Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now table a White or Green Paper concerning the Government's policy for the funding of the Channel high-speed rail link on his preferred route.
Mr. Freeman : No. My right hon. and learned Friend explained the Government's policy in his statement on 14 October.
Greater Manchester Relief Road
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he now intends to publish his Department's preferred routs for the Greater Manchester western and northern relief road ; and when he expects the public consultation process to begin.
Mr. Chope : I expect public consultation to start next year. Preferred route announcement would follow consideration of the consultation response.
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Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to end the current practice whereby the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency sends out advertising literature on behalf of the British School of Motoring with every new provisional licence.
Mr. Chope : The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency concluded the test mailing on 4 October.
Railfreight Distribution
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has received from the chairman of British Rail about the future of Railfreight Distribution's service to Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail has today announced that, following competitive tendering, Mersey Docks and Harbour Company will provide port facilities in the United Kingdom for its container services to and from Ireland. I have arranged for a copy of BR's announcement to be placed in the Library of the House.
M25
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate the maximum design flow in passenger car units per hour of four sections of the M25 motorway between named intersections ; and for each sector indicate the measured or estimated recent use, in both volume and intensity, together with the increased additional design capacity he now proposes, together with its respective capital cost.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 14 October 1991] : The volumes of traffic that can be carried by a given section of motorway varies according to a number of factors, including the mix of traffic, its distribution throughout the day, the proportions of traffic joining and leaving at junctions and gradients. However a flow of 1,800 vehicles per lane per hour provided a reasonable guide to the maximum unperturbed flow on the existing motorway and a starting point for preliminary designs for widening.
The data requested is not available in terms or passenger car units. The annual average daily traffic flows AADT--total vehicles in both directions- -derived from surveys in 1991 together with the peak hour flows one direction--for the four sections between junctions 5 and 9 are set out in the table.
Junction |AADT |Peak hour ---------------------------------------- 5-6 |91,000 |4,750 6-7 |100,000 |5,000 7-8 |113,000 |5,500 8-9 |110,000 |5,250
The planned addition of a fourth lane on these sections will cost an estimated £5 million per kilometre, including an element for maintenance of the existing carriageways, and will provide for approximately 36,000 more vehicles per day. Additional lanes in the form of collector distributor roads would provide similar additional capacities. Schemes to provide dual two-lane collector distributor roads in the longer term would cost approximately £10 million per kilometre.
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ENVIRONMENT
Packaging
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to implement the EEC draft direction on minimum packaging and reusable liquid containers.
Mr. Baldry : The European Commission has not yet brought forward a formal proposal for a directive on packaging and packaging waste. Consideration as to how such a directive might be implemented is therefore premature. However, the Government are already discussing the issue of packaging waste with the packaging industry and others, in line with the policies set out in our White Paper on the environment "This Common Inheritance", Cm. 1200, September 1990.
Environmental Strategy
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the objectives set out in the departmental Minis 12 document regarding the water directorate, pollution control and wastes directorate, environmental policy and analysis directorate and Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution have been reported upon in each instance in Cm. 1655, the first year report on Britain's environmental strategy.
Mr. Heseltine : The MINIS 12 documents set out management objectives and targets for each of the directorates of the Department of the Environment. These objectives and targets are intended to support the overall policy objectives of Ministers and the Department. Thus in the environmental area the management objectives of the units referred to support the policy objectives set out in the White Paper "This Common Inheritance" and reviewed in Cm 1655. It would not be appropriate in a document such as Cm 1655 to report on all the detailed objectives and tasks set out in the MINIS 12 documents. But the two documents are related and support one another as described.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Parents Charter
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science in which newspapers and magazines the parents charter has been advertised ; on what dates ; and at what total cost.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The planned advertising schedule to 13 October was as follows :
The cost of the necessary advertising space was just under £280, 000, excluding VAT.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) for what purpose the telephone bureau service which is dealing with requests for copies of the parents charter asks for evening telephone numbers of callers ;
(2) what is the cost of the telephone bureau service to which readers of advertisements concerning the parents charter are directed.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : It is standard procedure to ask callers for the contact telephone number in case there are queries about their order ; a small sample of the numbers may also be used to check on the effectiveness of distribution arrangements and on the use made of the charter. Callers are not pressed to give numbers if they do not wish to do so.
The cost of setting up the service and handling all calls up to noon on 15 October was £34,000, exclusive of VAT. This includes the cost of the 0800 number which enables respondents to make calls free of charge.
School Sport
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will publish his response to the report of the Select Committee on Education, Science and the Arts "Sport in Schools".
Mr. Atkins : This report by the Select Committee is being given detailed consideration within the Department, and a formal response will be published as soon as possible.
Minister for Sport
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list, in full, the official engagements of the Minister for Sport for 18 September.
Mr. Atkins : I had no official engagements on 18 September.
Sport Policy
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, further to his reply of 5 February, Official Report , column 131 , to the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde, what is the reason for the delay in publishing his review of Government policy for sport ; and when this review will be published.
Mr. Atkins : The issues require careful consideration and consultation. I hope to publish a statement on policies and priorities for sport soon.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Brixton Prison (Escapes)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Director of Prisons has taken on holding an inquiry into the workings of the directorate of custody 1 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Angela Rumbold : As my right hon. Friend indicated in the statement which he made on 5 August 1991 in response to the report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons on the escapes from Brixton on 7 July, we have asked Mr. Ronald Hadfield, chief constable of the West Midlands and Mr. Gordon Lakes, a former deputy director general of the prison service to address Judge Tumim's recommendation that there should be such an inquiry. This is in hand.
Refugee Policy
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning United Kingdom refugee policy, following his statement of 2 July ; how many such representations (a) broadly supported his proposals and (b) opposed his proposals ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have received about 100 letters from hon. Members forwarding correspondence from their constituents and about 650 letters from members of the public. About half the letters received have been from members of Amnesty International, Charter 87, A Charter for Refugees, the Asylum Rights Campaign, and the Refugee Council, many on duplicated pro-formas. The majority of correspondents have expressed opposition to one or more aspects of the Government's proposals. The Government continue to believe that their proposals for reforming asylum procedures, including the introduction of new rights of appeal before removal for all those refused asylum, will ensure the protection of genuine refugees, while dealing effectively with the present misuse of asylum procedures.
Procurement Expenditure
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when targets for savings on procurement expenditure in his Department for 1991-92 were promulgated through his Department.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Targets for procurement savings on suppliers and services were defined in consultation with individual management units engaged in procurement and promulgated in final form in July 1991 in accordance with the reporting arrangements laid down by the central unit on purchasing. Targets for project performance are not set on an annual basis but in terms of the relationship between estimates prior to tender and forecast outturn for the project.
Taylor Report
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to his reply of 30 November 1990, Official Report, column 491, to the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde, when he will implement the recommendation of Lord Justice Taylor's final report into
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the Hillsborough disaster that it be made an offence to sell tickets for and on the day of a football match without authority from the home club to do so.Mr. Peter Lloyd : We shall introduce the new offence when parliamentary time allows.
Prison Officers Association
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the meetings with the Prison Officers Association to discuss the dispute in south Wales that have been (a) held, (b) cancelled and (c) are planned for the current year.
Mrs. Rumbold : Formal meetings with the Prison Officers Association to discuss the current dispute at Her Majesty's prison Cardiff were held on 13, 19, 20 and 28 June and on 12 September. I am not aware that any scheduled meetings did not take place. Discussions with national POA representatives have subsequently taken place aimed at agreeing the basis for a further meeting to see if this matter can be resolved. That meeting, at national level, will be arranged shortly.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is his estimate of the total additional costs to his Department, police authorities and local authorities so far incurred by the dispute with prison officers in south Wales ;
(2) if he will list (a) the number of cells currently unused in Cardiff prisons, (b) the number of remand prisoners currently held in police station cells in Wales and (c) the number of remand prisoners currently held in police station cells outside of Wales as a result of the present dispute.
Mrs. Rumbold : On 15 October, the latest date for which figures are available, 193 prisoners were held in police cells who would normally have been accommodated in Cardiff prison ; of these 82 were held in Wales and 111 in constabularies in England. I regret that it is not possible to identify separately remand and other classes of prisoner.
Industrial action by officers at Cardiff prison is currently limiting receptions to the uncrowded capacity of the establishment ; all available cells are therefore in use.
Information in respect of the cost of holding prisoners from Cardiff in police cells is not available centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Police Establishments
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish (a) the establishment level and (b) the actual strength of the police forces of England and Wales for each year from 1974-75 to date.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I will write to the hon. Member.
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Football Offences Act
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the total number of arrests and convictions made under each section of the Football Offences Act 1991 since the beginning of the 1991- 92 football season.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Firm statistics are not yet available, but I understand from the national football intelligence unit that the number of arrests made under each section of the 1991 Act up to 16 October 1991 and reported to the unit is as follows :
1
|Number
-------------------------------------------------
section 2
(throwing of missiles) |10
section 3
(indecent or racialist chanting) |23
section 4
(going on to the playing area) |40
|-------
Total |73
No information on the number of convictions is yet available.
Poll Tax
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have now been taken to court and convicted for non-payment of poll tax in each local area ; and how many have received prison sentences.
Mr. John Patten : In the period 1 April 1990 to 30 June 1991 the magistrates courts made 3,960,111 liability orders. During this period the courts ordered the immediate or suspended committal to prison of 448 non- payers. Information for the period 1 July to 30 September should be available in mid-November and will then be placed in the Library in the usual way.
Domestic Homicide
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistical information he has on the acceptance of defences to murder from women and men in cases of domestic homicide and their treatment by the courts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : The information in the tables relates to domestic homicides committed in England and Wales from 1982 to 1989 inclusive.
Ninety-five per cent of those indicted for homicide of a spouse, cohabitant or lover, including previous relationships, were indicted for murder. However, women were nearly twice as likely as men to be indicted for the lesser charge of manslaughter. Table 1 gives the indictment figures separately for women and men.
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Table 1
Domestic homicide indictments 1982 to 1989
(including lover, former lover etc.)
England and Wales Number of persons
Indictment |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women
Murder |16 |18 |21 |18 |21 |23 |23 |24 |164
Manslaughter |2 |3 |1 |1 |1 |1 |2 |2 |13
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |18 |21 |22 |19 |22 |24 |25 |26 |177
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Manslaughter as a percentage of
murder + manslaughter |11 |14 |5 |5 |5 |4 |8 |8 |7
Men
Murder |108 |84 |88 |93 |109 |80 |90 |101 |753
Manslaughter |2 |5 |7 |5 |6 |3 |2 |2 |32
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |110 |89 |95 |98 |115 |83 |92 |103 |785
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Manslaughter as a percentage of
murder + manslaughter |2 |6 |7 |5 |5 |4 |2 |2 |4
At trial 22 per cent. of women and 5 per cent. of men were acquitted of all charges.
In the outcome 65 per cent. of all domestic homicide convictions were for manslaughter. Thirty-one per cent. were on grounds of diminished responsibility under
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section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957, the remaining 34 per cent. for other manslaughter were mostly on grounds of provocation. Table 2 gives details of the convictions, separately for women and men.Column 191
Table 2
Domestic Homicide Convictions 1982 to 1989 (including lover, former lover etc.)
Women
England and Wales Number of persons
Conviction: |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |Total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murder |3 |2 |1 |4 |1 |7 |4 |5 |27
Section 2 Manslaughter |3 |10 |4 |3 |5 |2 |4 |5 |36
Other Manslaughter |8 |4 |11 |8 |9 |9 |10 |11 |70
Lesser offence |- |- |- |- |3 |- |- |1 |4
Acquitted/unfit to plead |4 |5 |6 |4 |4 |6 |7 |4 |40
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |18 |21 |22 |19 |22 |24 |25 |26 |177
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |----
Manslaughter as a percentage of
murder + manslaughter |79 |88 |94 |73 |93 |61 |78 |76 |80
Men
England and Wales Number of persons
Conviction |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murder |34 |28 |29 |29 |43 |26 |38 |51 |278
Section 2 manslaughter |44 |31 |31 |31 |33 |22 |20 |27 |239
Other manslaughter |27 |27 |26 |33 |33 |29 |30 |20 |225
Lesser offence |- |2 |- |- |- |- |1 |3 |6
Acquitted/unfit to plead |5 |1 |9 |5 |6 |6 |3 |2 |37
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |110 |89 |95 |98 |115 |83 |92 |103 |785
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Manslaughter as a percentage of
murder plus manslaughter |68 |67 |66 |69 |61 |66 |57 |48 |63
Women are more likely than men finally to be convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. Around half of the homicide convictions for women were for other manslaughter on the grounds of provocation, compared with 30 per cent. for men.
When convicted for manslaughter, men were more likely to receive a prison sentence and it was likely to be longer. Between 1986 and 1989, 70 per cent. of men received a prison sentence compared to 45 per cent. of women. The average lengths of sentence were 59 months for men, excluding life sentences, and 33 months for women--no life sentences.
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Women were also more likely to receive a probation order or suspended prison sentence. Between 1986 and 1989, these sentences accounted for 27 per cent. of decisions for women and 8 per cent. of decisions for men.PRIME MINISTER
Electoral Registration
Q8. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on electoral registration trends in Great Britain in the light of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys' analysis on pages 1 to 3 of "Population Trends 64".
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Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.There has been a relatively small decline since 1987 in the estimated proportion of the population registered to vote. As the article in "Population Trends" explains, there are a number of reasons why this proportion may change, and it is not possible from the evidence available to identify separately the effect of any particular factor.
Nuclear Test Veterans
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister if, when he next meets President Bush, he will discuss the policy of the United States of America in relation to the payment of compensation to United Kingdom veterans of its nuclear tests ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has no plans to discuss this matter with President Bush.
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister how many meetings he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England concerning BCCI over the last (i) 12 months and (ii) 24 months.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister meets the Governor of the Bank of England from time to time to discuss a variety of matters.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister when he was last briefed by the Bank of England about the events surrounding BCCI.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
The Bank of England and the Treasury have kept my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in touch with developments over the recess.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister if he will meet a delegation of hon. Members to discuss the effects of the closure of BCCI on depositors and staff.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My hon. the Economic Secretary has kept closely in touch with developments in the BCCI case, and has seen a number of delegations representing those affected as have the Chancellor and the Governor. If hon. Members wish to make further representations to the Government on these issues the Economic Secretary stands ready to receive a delegation.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister if he has any plans to give evidence to the Bingham inquiry.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has already made it clear that he will give evidence to the Bingham inquiry if asked to do so.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister how many representations he has received from members of the public or depositors of BCCI.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has received a large number of representations.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister when he was told that the restructuring plans for BCCI would not go ahead.
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Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was informed of the contents of the press statement issued by the majority shareholders on 3 October, shortly before it was released.
Pensioners' Costs
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister what are the latest estimates of the average weekly cost to senior citizens for heating and lighting in each region of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
Estimates on expenditure on fuel, light and power for households whose heads were women aged over 60 or men over 65 for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are shown in the table. Data are not available for the regions of Scotland. The estimates are based on two years' results from the 1988 and 1989 family expenditure surveys.
Average weekly expenditure on
fuel, light and power for
households
with heads of pensionable age
1988 and 1989
|£ week
---------------------------------
United Kingdom |8.7
Scotland |9.2
Wales |9.7
Northern Ireland |13.4
England |8.6
North |8.5
Yorkshire and Humberside 8.6
North West |8.4
East Midlands |8.7
West Midlands |8.7
East Anglia |9.1
South East total |8.3
Greater London |7.6
Rest of South East |8.6
South West |9.4
Source: Family Expenditure
Survey.
Commonwealth Conference
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Prime Minister if he has any plans to put forward proposals for the promotion of good government and human rights at the Commonwealth conference in Harare ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
The promotion of good government and human rights are major issues in the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting discussions in Harare. Britain is playing a full role in these discussions and in the follow-up to them.
China
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those political and religious prisoners on whose behalf he made representations to the Chinese Government during his recent visit ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
The individual names passed to the Chinese Government were intended to be a representative selection of cases of concern, not an exhaustive list. They included student demonstrators, religious believers in Tibet and elsewhere, and Hong Kong detainees. We are continuing to raise human rights with the Chinese authorities at every suitable opportunity.
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