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Mrs. Rumbold : The Home Office is committed to keeping the Registrar informed of all proposals with data protection implications for which it has responsibility. I am confident that that commitment is being fulfilled ; it would not be appropriate to place copies of briefing material in the Library.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to contribute to the citizens' charter by including proposals to allow individual voters to consent to disclosures of their personal data from the electoral register to those who obtain the register for marketing purposes, or proposals to stop the export of electoral registers, for marketing purposes, to countries that have no data protection legislation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The whole purpose of the electoral register is to provide a comprehensive and publicly available list of the names and addresses of those who are eligible to vote. The provisions governing the publication and supply of the register reflect this and the fact that its use by commercial organisations, either in this country or overseas, could not effectively be prevented.
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National Prison Survey
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the information from the national prison survey will be made available.
Mrs. Rumbold : We plan to make results from the national prison survey available in spring 1992.
Asylum
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will indicate the basis for his estimate of 50,000 applications for asylum expected in 1991 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will list the number of applications by individuals for asylum received in each month in 1990 and 1991 to the latest available date.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on asylum applications in 1990 and 1991 is given in the table. Some of the 1990 figures are likely to understate because of delays in recording. The 1991 figures are based on a new recording system, introduced in January 1991, which counts new asylum applications immediately on their receipt in the asylum and special cases division, and so provides fuller and improved information.
In the first six months of 1991 applications totalled around 24, 000. In the period January to September as a whole, around 34,000 applications have been received. All these figures exclude dependants.
Applications received<1><2> for asylum in the United Kingdom, by quarter and month, 1990-91 ---------------------- Quarter 1 |3,360 Quarter 2 |3,615 Quarter 3 |6,800 Quarter 4 |7,545 1991 January |4,370 February |3,450 March |3,880 April |5,280 May |3,805 June |3,000 July |3,720 August |3,350 September |3,525 <1>Excluding dependants. <2>Provisional figures, rounded to the nearest 5. <3>1990 figures are estimates which may understate because of delays in recording, particularly for the fourth quarter. In total applications in 1990, excluding dependants, are estimated at over 22, 000 (over 30,000 including dependants). Reliable monthly estimates for 1990 are not yet available.
Private Security Industry
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to introduce public regulation for the private security industry ;
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the working party's report on the private security industry ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : We are considering a range of options for improving the regulation of the private security industry which goes wider than those considered by the working group. We will make a statement in due course covering all the relevant issues when a decision has been reached.
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Elections
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will set out the fees currently payable to (a) presiding officers of polling stations, (b) poll clerks and (c) counting assistants at (i) local elections and (ii) parliamentary elections in Greater London ;
(2) what representations he has received about the impact of the Returning Officers' Charges Order 1991 on the recruitment of essential election staff in Greater London ; and what response he has made.
Mrs. Rumbold : Current maximum levels of recoverable expenditure at a parliamentary election are specified in the Returning Officers' Charges Order 1991--SI 1991 No. 1687. The fees payable to presiding officers and poll clerks in a constituency in a London borough are £106 and £72 respectively. The fees paid to counting assistants are at the discretion of the acting returning officer, subject to a maximum recoverable amount for the conduct of the count. The fees paid at a local government election are a matter for the local authority concerned.
We have received representations on this subject from a number of acting returning officers in London and elsewhere, and from the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, the Association of District Secretaries and the London Boroughs Association. The case for an increase in the level of fees before the general election is being considered.
Immigration (Carriers' Liability)
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of passengers who have been the subject of a fine imposed under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1986 in each year since its operation to the latest available date.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The number of demands issued to carriers under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987 is as follows :
|Number
----------------------
1987 |3,921
1988 |4,211
1989 |7,863
1990 |9,532
1991<1> |8,260
<1> To end September.
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total amount of fines imposed under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1986 ; and what is the total amount unpaid as at 30 September or the nearest available date.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The total amount of charges demanded of carriers to 14 October was £33.989 million, of which £15.222 million had been paid. Liability in respect of £2.497 million has been waived, leaving £16.270 million outstanding.
Police Force (Computer Misuse)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the level of computer misuse in the police force.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : The responsibility for security of police computer systems is a matter for chief officers. The code of practice for police computer systems prepared by the Association of Chief Police Officers, provides detailed advice on the security measures to be taken against unauthorised access to, or alteration or disclosure of, personal data. A copy of the code is in the Library.
Comprehensive information of computer misuse is not available centrally, but I understand that so far this year 23 alleged offences under the Data Protection Act 1984 have been considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions. It was decided to institute criminal proceedings in three of these cases.
World Summit for Children
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department has completed the review of its policies for inclusion in the progress report on action in the areas targeted by the World Summit for Children's declaration and plan of action ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is co- ordinating interdepartmental action required to prepare this report so that it may be submitted to the UNICEF secretariat by the end of this year. The Home Office's contributions meet the timetable for this action.
Homicides
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) women and (b) men are currently in prison for killing their spouse or partner.
Mrs. Rumbold : Victim information is recorded centrally only for prisoners received to serve a life sentence for an offence of homicide. According to these records, which are approximate, 299 males and 22 females in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 31 December 1990 were serving life sentences for the murder or manslaughter of their spouse or lover.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the figures for (a) the total number of homicides in England and Wales and (b) the total number of homicides in England and Wales in which the victim was a child, in (i) the last complete year in which the death penalty was available to the courts and (ii) each year since the death penalty ceased to be available to the courts.
Mr. John Patten : The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 came into operation on 9 November 1965.
The total number of homicides in England and Wales for each year since 1964 is included in table 4.1 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1989" a copy of which is in the Library. An age breakdown of currently recorded homicide victims is available only from 1967 and the information for 1979 to 1989 is published in table 4.6 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1989" ; the figures available for children aged under 16 are shown in the following table.
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Offences currently<1> recorded as homicide where victim aged under 16 years Year |Number of offences --------------------------------------------------------- 1967-71 |105<2> 1972-76 |100<2> 1977 |72 1978 |86 1979 |90 1980 |72 1981 |80 1982 |90 1983 |74 1984 |82 1985 |103 1986 |60 1987 |78 1988 |100 1989 |71 <1>As at June 1990; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and the courts, or as further information becomes available. <2>Average per year. Source: Criminal Statistics volumes: 1977 Table 9.4; 1987 Table 4.6; 1989 Table 4.6.
London Traffic
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the extent of the traffic disruption in central London on 20 September ; and what steps he proposes to avoid a recurrence.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The management of traffic in London is an operational matter for the commissioner. I understand, however, that the traffic in central London was disrupted on 20 September by an unpredictable combination of the collapse of a crane in Upper Thames street, the reporting of a suspect device in the Victoria area and a broken down vehicle in the Euston underpass.
Vehicle Excise Duty
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what efforts his Department is making in conjunction with police authorities to curb vehicle excise duty avoidance ; what guidance he has given to chief constables on this issue ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The enforcement of vehicle excise duty offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. I understand that police officers and traffic wardens regularly report vehicle excise offences to local vehicle licensing officers for enforcement action and support enforcement campaigns run by DVLA the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
Young Offenders
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many under-17s are presently being detained in adult prisons and remand centres.
Mrs. Rumbold : Recent information is expected to become available shortly and I shall write to the hon. Member.
Community Charge
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted for non-payment of poll tax ; how many were (a) denied by
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magistrates the right to a McKenzie friend to be present and (b) convicted without review of their eligibility to poll tax benefit ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. John Patten : In the period 1 April 1990 to 30 June 1991 the magistrates courts made 3,960,111 liability orders in community charge enforcement proceedings. The other information requested is not available.
Malicious Communications Act
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions under the Malicious Communications Act 1988 have been made in (a) 1989, (b) 1990 and (c) 1991 so far.
Mr. John Patten : In England and Wales in 1989 there were 49 prosecutions under the Malicious Communications Act 1988. 1990 and 1991 data are not yet available.
Fishing Vessel Losses
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is given to police forces on the notification of next of kin of crew members in the event of the loss of British registered fishing vessels in United Kingdom waters.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There is no such guidance. The police assume responsibility for notifying next of kin in the case of all fatal accidents, although there is no statutory requirement for them to do so.
Riot Costs
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Government assistance to meet the costs of the riots incurred by the Northumbria policy authority.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Northumbria police authority has written to my right hon. Friend requesting a special payment in respect of costs incurred and expected as a result of the recent disturbances. This is being carefully considered.
Northamptonshire Constabulary
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the change in establishments for (a) uniformed police officers and (b) civilians for the Northamptonshire constabulary for each year since 1974.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I will write to the hon. Member.
Road Traffic Offences
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has reached a decision on the setting of new levels of fixed penalties for road traffic offences.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : After considering the results of the consultation exercise on the level of fixed penalties, I have decided that the new penalty levels should be £40 for offences involving obligatory endorsement ; £40 for illegal parking on a red route ; £30 for illegal parking in London
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outside the red routes and £20 for illegal parking elsewhere and for all other non-endorsable offences. These penalty levels will be brought into effect from 1 April 1992. A statutory instrument subject to the negative resolution procedure will be laid in due course.OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
World Population Day
Sir Charles Morrison : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department took to mark World Population Day on 11 July ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : I gave a speech on the Overseas Development Administration's population policy at a meeting on 11 July organised by the all-party parliamentary group on population and development, to mark World Population Day. In it I emphasised the increasing assistance that we are giving to population programmes in developing countries, and our plans to do even more.
In August I announced a new ODA initiative, "Children by Choice not Chance", which included proposals for further assistance to strengthen reproductive health services, improve the availability of contraceptive supplies, and enable women to take greater control over their lives in eight identified priority countries. We are now identifying the best opportunities to take these proposals forward.
Children (Overseas Aid)
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of overseas aid is earmarked for projects specifically targeted at children.
Mrs. Chalker : Our aid programme aims to benefit children by supporting broad-based development, including giving families the opportunities to increase their incomes. In addition, our aid for mother and child health improvements, for enhancing the role of women in development, for giving people the opportunity to have children by choice not chance, and for the education sector has a direct impact on the well- being of children. Earmarking a share of the aid programme for children has not been needed to carry these policies forward.
UN Trade and Development Report
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the findings and projections of the recently published United Nations Trade and Development report 1991 in so far as it affects the policies of his Department's Overseas Development Administration.
Mrs. Chalker : The wide range of issues in the United Nations trade and development report 1991 was discussed at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's trade and development board in Geneva in early October. Resolutions were agreed, by consensus, on debt and sustainable development. The board also discussed the crucial question of good government, which is essential for all development.
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Mozambique
Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government will provide assistance to Oxfam for an airlift in Mozambique.
Mrs. Chalker : Yes. In the light of an updated assessment of the situation by our embassy in Maputo, and in response to a renewed request from Oxfam, a sum of £228,000 is being made available for this purpose.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
French Ministers
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on his most recent meetings with the French Foreign and Defence ministers.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Defence and for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs held talks with the French Foreign and Defence Ministers on 13 October. My right honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs explained the thinking behind the Anglo-Italian declaration on European security and Defence and there ensued a very useful exchange of views. The meeting was part of a pattern of bilaterals working up to the WEU ministerial meeting later this month, the NATO summit in November and the European Council in December.
Hospitality, Costs
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the latest annual figure for the cost of hospitality provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Expenditure by both wings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on hospitality for the financial year 1990-91 was £6,397,000.
The figure includes the grant-in-aid to the Government hospitality fund, which meets the costs of ministerial entertainment and guest of Government visits for all Government Departments, the cost of other official entertainment by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and by diplomatic missions overseas.
Small Businesses (Payments)
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's policy on the payment of invoices to small and medium-sized businesses.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Our policy is to pay all suppliers as speedily as possible within the terms specified on invoices. The Department recognises the special problems experienced by small and medium-sized businesses and is currently participating in the examination of payment performance being undertaken by the Department of Employment this financial year.
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Sofia University
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the British Council is taking to assist Sofia university to broaden its curriculum.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The British Council English studies resource centre to be based within Sofia university from Easter 1992 will provide staff and students with up-to-date reference material on curriculum development.
Ethiopia
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, following Zimbabwe's accession to the genocide convention 1946, if he will support a demand for the extradition of ex- President Mengistu Haile Mariam to stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Mrs. Chalker : It is for the Ethiopian transitional Government to decide whether they wish to seek Mengistu's extradition.
Gibraltar
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response has been made by Her Majesty's Government to the appeal made by King Juan Carlos of Spain to the United Nations General Assembly on 7 October that a rapid solution be found to outstanding problems concerning Gibraltar.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We are always ready to consider any constructive proposals for the future of Gibraltar consistent with our long-standing commitment to respect the wishes of the Gibraltarians on sovereignty.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to seek further reductions in strategic nuclear weapons.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have supported throughout United States-Soviet efforts to reduce strategic nuclear weapons. Our policy is to maintain an effective minimum nuclear deterrent. We have always taken the view that, if there were to be further substantial reductions in United States and Soviet arsenals, and no significant improvements in defensive capabilities, we would consider how best we might contribute to the arms control process in the light of the changed circumstances.
EC Security Policy
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Foreign Affairs Council has discussed conventional arms sales and security policy of European Community member states, pursuant to article 223 of the treaty of Rome since the end of main hostilities of the Gulf war.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Gulf war highlighted the need for restraint in the supply of conventional armaments to areas of tension. Ministers have discussed the issue on several occasions. At the Luxembourg European Council
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on 28-29 June, the Twelve issued a declaration on conventional arms transfers and non-proliferation which included a set of agreed criteria to guide national policies on arms exports. The Twelve are also co-sponsoring a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly for the establishment of a register of arms sales.EC Foreign Affairs Council
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the issues discussed and the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Haarzingen on 5 and 6 October.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 14 October, c. 59.
UN Convention on Refugees
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State forr Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to withdraw from the 1951 United Nations convention on refugees ; and if he will make a statement.
Nuclear Non-proliferation
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, following the failed military coup in the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom has pursued discussions with its two fellow depository states for the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the United States and Soviet Union, over the legality of the proposed transfer of control of Soviet nuclear weapons to the Russian Federation, in the context of the provisions of article 1 of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are not aware of any formal proposal of this nature.
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the meeting in Vienna in September between the ambassadors to the International Atomic Energy Agency of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the Secretary General of the IAEA on the issue of future nuclear non- proliferation controls.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Vienna-based representatives of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council met the director general of the IAEA on a number of occasions in September to discuss a wide range of issues including the strengthening of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. The ambassadors and the IAEA agreed on the need to consult closely on the issue of new safeguards approaches in preparation for thorough discussion at forthcoming meetings of the IAEA board of governors.
Arms Control
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department next expects to host a discussion form with non-governmental organisations on arms control, disarmament and security issues ; whether he will attend the meeting ; and if he will give consideration to the provision of travel costs to representatives of those non-governmental organisations not based in or near London.
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Mr Douglas Hogg : Invitations have already been issued for the next meeting with non-governmental organisations on 26 November. I plan to attend. Funds are not available to cover the travel costs of participants.European Political Union
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the negotiations on European political and economic and monetary union leading up to the Maastricht European Council on 8 December ; and what is his policy on the relative priority of Community deepening measures and widening the Community as new member states seek accession.
Mr. Garel-Jones : I refer my hon. Friend to the written answers my right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave on 14 October, column 15, and 16 October, column 156, respectively, reporting the 7 October meeting of ECOFIN, and the political union intergovernmental conference ministerial meetings of 29 July and 30 September. We support both the deepening and widening of the Community. We are working for the completion of the single market by the end of 1992 and a good outcome at the intergovernmental conferences with which we can all agree. We support the enlargement of the Community to include those states which wish to join, which meet the economic and political criteria and which can take on all the responsibilities of European Community membership.
Nuclear Weapons (Latin America)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have at any time been in breach of their obligations under the treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Latin America.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The United Kingdom is not a party to the treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Latin America. It is, however, a party to additional protocols I and II to that treaty and has always wholly complied with its obligations under those protocols.
World Summit for Children
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has completed the review of its policies for inclusion in the progress report on action in the areas targeted by the World Summit for Children's declaration and plan of action ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is co- ordinating the work among interested Whitehall Departments to prepare a progress report in the areas targeted by the World Summit for Children's declaration and plan of action, with the aim of submitting it to the UNICEF secretariat by the end of this year. At that time a copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House.
Children's Rights
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from which dependent territories he has had responses regarding the ratification
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