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Czechoslovakia by specialists from the United Kingdom Governmental statistical services.Status : Under way.
Cost : £54,000.
Title : Assistance to local government.
Description : A three year programme of assistance, through the Institute of Local Government Studies, to help the Czechoslovaks in their local government reform programme.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £383,000.
Political projects
Title : Placement scheme for officials from the Czech and Slovak Ministries of Justice.
Description : A one month long placement scheme on commercial law organised by Queen Mary and Westfield College.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £3,000.
Title : Assistance for Czechoslovak parliamentarians.
Description : A seven day seminar, organised by the Great Britain/East Europe Centre, on all aspects of parliamentary practices and procedures for 12-14 newly elected parliamentarians from the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly.
Status : Completed.
Cost : £15,000.
Title : Assistance to the Czechoslovak News Agency.
Description : A programme of placements with United Kingdom media organisations for four key personnel of the Czechoslovak News Agency.
Status : Under way.
Costt : : £3,000.
Title : Assistance to ZTS Martin.
Description : A pilot project to advise on quality improvement and stock reduction.
Status : To be implemented.
Cost : £40,000.
Other projects
Title : Information Technology.
Description : An appraisal mission to identify the needs in this sector with a view to providing some form of assistance.
Status : Completed.
Cost : £15,000.
Title : Information Technology.
Description : Two seminars designed to help information technology decision makers to understand key issues in the building of information systems.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £45,000.
Title : Restructuring State farms.
Description : A pilot project to advise the Czech Ministry of Agriculture and the Vlasim State farm to make the transformation to a market based operation.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £150,000.
Title : Seeds Course.
Description : A training course for officials and technical experts in production and marketing of agricultural and horticultural seeds. Status : To be implemented.
Cost : £65,000.
Title : Agricultural Land Management.
Description : The preparation of an initial study to advise on the best ways to create and manage a system of private ownership, occupation and use of
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agricultural and other rural land.Status : Under way.
Cost : £50,000.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Fire Precautions
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend the Fire Precautions Act 1971 to bring into scope all premises other than domestic dwellings ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : Certain hotels, boarding houses, factories, offices, shops and railway premises currently require a fire certificate by virtue of designation orders made under section 1 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971. We have no plans to designate further premises as requiring such certificates.
We intend, however, to bring forward regulations to implement the fire safety requirements of the European Community Directives 89/391/EEC and 89/654/EEC relating to the health and safety of workers at work. These will generally apply to every place in which one or more persons work and will take effect on 1 January 1993.
Prisons
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is to be the policy of transfer of prison inmates from privately run prisons to state run prisons ; who will decide when such a transfer is to take place ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Wolds remand prison will hold only unsentenced prisoners. On their receiving custodial sentences, Wolds prisoners will be taken directly from court to the appropriate local prison. Blakenhurst prison is to be a local prison, holding both sentenced and unsentenced prisoners. Arrangements for the transfer to other prisons of sentenced prisoners held at Blakenhurst will be set out in the invitation to tender which is in preparation.
Dog Fighting
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been in each of the last 10 years for illegal dog fighting ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : Information collected centrally does not distinguish offences relating to dog fights from other offences under the Protection of Animals Act 1911.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) of 20 December 1991, Official Report, column 351, whether the new level of eligibility for criminal injuries compensation under the criminal injuries compensation scheme will apply to all cases irrespective of the date of the injury for which compensation is sought ; and if he will
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make an estimate of the number of claims that will be disallowed annually as a result of the change in minimum award level.Mr. John Patten : The new lower limit for eligibility for compensation under the criminal injuries compensation scheme will apply to all applications received by the board on or after 6 January 1992, irrespective of the date of the injury that led to the application.
It is estimated that up to an additional 6,000 applications will be excluded by the new lower limit in a full year. However, the old lower limit will apply to all applications received by the board before 6 January 1992.
Correspondence
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters of the hon. Member for Bolton, North-East of 17 September 1991 concerning crime prevention in Bolton and 21 October 1991 concerning help for the disabled by his Department ; and if he will update his note entitled "Action Against Crime."
Mr. John Patten : I wrote to my hon. Friend about crime prevention in Bolton on 15 January. My hon. Friend also wrote to me on 13 January requesting an up to date copy of the note "Action Against Crime". "Action Against Crime" is updated regularly. I have arranged for a copy of the latest version to be sent to my hon. Friend, and a copy is placed in the Library of the House.
My hon. Friend also asked when he could expect a reply to his letter to my right hon. Friend of 21 October. We can reply only in respect of actions as an employer of people with disabilities and I or my right hon. Friend will do so shortly.
Ecstasy
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to control rave parties and young people's clubs where ecstasy use is likely.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The police have adequate powers to deal with parties of this sort, including common law powers to deal with a breach of the peace or public nuisance. In addition, the Entertainments (Increased Penalties) Act 1990 has significantly increased the penalties for people convicted of providing music without a licence, where one is required, or being in breach of the condition of such a licence. Any law breaking on such premises, including the misuse of drugs, will of course be dealt with by the police.
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths from use of ecstasy and similar drugs were recorded for each of the past five years and for that part of 1991 for which statistics are available.
Mr. John Patten : The number of deaths mentioning dependence, abuse or poisoning with MDMA--"ecstasy"--and similar drugs registered in England and Wales are as follows :
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Number of deaths registered England and Wales |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |<1>1990 |<3>1991 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deaths attributable to: MDMA (ie ecstasy) or MDA |- |- |1 |3 |1 |2 Amphetamine (not further described) |3 |3 |1 |2 |2 |8 Other hallucinogens |- |1 |- |2 |- |<2>- Deaths which also mention the above in combination with other drugs |4 |4 |4 |2 |2 |<2>- Total |7 |8 |6 |9 |5 |<2>- Source: Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. <1> Provisional. <2> Not available. <3> Figures for 1991 only include deaths registered up to September 1991. Deaths of this nature result in an inquest thus delays of registration of up to one year may occur.
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports of ecstacy use have been identified by local teams operating within the drugs prevention initiative.
Mr. John Patten : Fourteen of the 16 local drugs prevention teams have received such reports concerning MDMA--"Ecstasy".
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information about the drug ecstasy has been passed to police forces in order to assist analysis of material which has been seized and to pass warning information on to those in contact with potential users.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Drugs seized by police forces are sent to the Forensic Science Service, or in the case of the Metropolitan police, their own laboratories, who have the necessary expertise to identify them.
With regard to the provision of warning information for those in contact with potential users, I will write to my hon. Friend separately.
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is being done through the Pompidou group of European countries to control and reduce the international trade in ecstasy and similar drugs and in the chemicals used to make them.
Mr. John Patten : The report of the G7 chemical action task force adopted by the London Economic summit in July 1991, recommended that the four main precursors used in the manufacture of
MDMA--"ecstasy"--should be brought under control. This recommendation is being implemented in the European Community by an amendment to Council (EEC) Regulation 3677/90 and a draft Council directive, which are currently before the Council. The Pompidou Group will hold an expert meeting in March to consider how this and the other task force recommendations can be implemented most effectively at the wider European level ; and I have asked the British representative in the Pompidou Group to ask the group to consider what further measures might be taken to curb the international trade in this and similar drugs.
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been done to inform local drugs prevention initiative teams about ecstasy, its symptoms and its harmful effects.
Mr. John Patten : Each local team has been provided with a copy of "Drug abuse briefing", issued by the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, which
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includes information about the symptoms and harmful effects of a wide-range of drugs, including MDMA--"ecstasy".Mental Health Act
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued to police authorities with regard to police involvement in returning to hospital patients subject to compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 who have absconded.
Mr. John Patten : Section 18 of the Mental Health Act 1983 provides that where a patient who is liable to be detained in hospital absents himself without leave, he may be taken into custody and returned to the hospital by certain authorized persons, including any police constable. Home Office circular No. 35/1986--"Consolidated Circular to the Police on Crime and Kindred Matters." which was issued to all police forces on 30 December 1986, drew attention to this provision. Further information about it was contained in a memorandum on the 1983 Act issued by the Department of Health and Social Security in 1983.
Correspondence
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East will receive a reply to his letter of 19 November 1991 concerning Mr. Twomey, prison number 5W 859.
Mrs. Rumbold : I wrote to the hon. Member on 23 December.
Extradition
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy on seeking extradition of nationals of another country with which the United Kingdom has no extradition agreement for prosecution in connection with offences committed outside that country.
Mr. John Patten : Such requests are very rare but can be made in respect of offences over which the United Kingdom has jurisdiction if it is considered to be in the interests of justice to do so.
Police Complaints Authority
Mr. Dickens : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the Police Complaints Authority to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Services Committee, arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from 16 to 20 March.Visas
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have applied in each of the last five years for visitors visas in (a) Bombay, (b) New Delhi, (c) Culcutta, (d) Dakha, (e) Karachi and (f) Islamabad ; how many applications have been refused ; and what is the percentage refused.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I have been asked to reply.
The available information is given in the table.
Persons applying for a visit visa to the United Kingdom 1987-1991
Number of persons/percentages
|Newly |Refusals<1> |Refusals<1> as
|received |percentage of
|decisions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bombay
1987 |40,660 |1,100 |3
1988 |40,500 |1,420 |4
1989 |41,030 |2,420 |6
1990 |42,700 |4,870 |11
1991 (Jan-Sept) |33,120 |4,460 |13
New Delhi
1987 |38,700 |3,610 |10
1988 |40,910 |4,440 |11
1989 |45,620 |5,190 |12
1990 |50,650 |7,400 |16
1991 (Jan-Sept) |37,240 |3,100 |10
Calcutta
1987 |7,240 |90 |1
1988 |6,910 |110 |2
1989 |7,780 |130 |2
1990 |7,570 |140 |2
1991 (Jan-Sept) |5,890 |120 |2
Dhaka
1987 |8,790 |1,660 |21
1988 |10,320 |1,940 |20
1989 |11,330 |2,390 |22
1990 |11,260 |2,680 |25
1991 (Jan-Sept) |8,620 |1,740 |21
Karachi
1987 |25,270 |2,130 |9
1988 |25,510 |2,590 |11
1989 |26,530 |2,620 |10
1990 |28,750 |3,070 |11
1991 (Jan-Sept) |18,440 |1,980 |11
Islamabad
1987 |31,590 |5,230 |18
1988 |30,270 |6,560 |22
1989 |36,420 |6,690 |19
1990 |43,190 |9,830 |24
1991 (Jan-Sept) |35,460 |9,420 |29
<1> Refusals after subtracting applications granted on appeal.
Poll Tax
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people have been summonsed for poll tax arrears in England to the latest available date ; what is the estimated cost of legal proceedings to date ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : I have been asked to reply.
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During the period 1 April 1990 to 30 September 1991 magistrates courts in England issued approximately 7.5 million summonses. The estimated cost of legal proceedings during this period is £5 million.Settlement Applications
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the lengths of each of the queues for settlement applications in (a) Bombay, (b) New Delhi, (c) Calcutta, (d) Dhaka, (e) Karachi, (f) Islamabad, (g) Dar es Salaam and (h) Nairobi ; and in each case what is the waiting time for interview.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : I have been asked to reply.
As at 31 December 1991, the number of people waiting for interview for settlement entry clearances were :
|Q1 |Q2 |Q3 |Q4
--------------------------------------------------
(a) Bombay |0 |365 |423 |201 |989
(b) New Delhi |0 |222 |286 |108 |616
(d) Dhaka |400 |1,345|187 |455 |2,387
(e) Karachi |6 |89 |21 |4 |120
(f) Islamabad |77 |1,091|346 |586 |2,100
There are no queues in Calcutta, Dar es Salaam or Nairobi. The estimated waiting time for interview in months are :
|Q1|Q2|Q3|Q4
-----------------------------
(a) Bombay |0 |3 |9 |12
(b) New Delhi |0 |3 |7 |10
(d) Dhaka |3 |5 |6 |10
(e) Karachi |1 |2 |3 |6
(f) Islamabad |3 |3 |6 |9
Settlement queues are organised as follows :
Q1 Persons with a claim to the right of abode, dependant relatives over 70 years, special compassionate cases.
Q2 All spouses, and all children under 18 years.
Q3 Fiance(e)s and others applying for first time for settlement. Q4 Re- applicants.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Gas Pipeline, Irish Sea
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the implications for fishermen in area VII/A in the Irish sea of the proposed gas pipeline from Brighouse Bay in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, to Loughshinny, north of Dublin in the Republic ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The proposed route for the pipeline from Brighouse bay to Loughshinny crosses a number of fishing grounds. The main fishing activities are trawling for demersal fish, nephrops and scallops with some seasonal trawling for pelagic species. There is also dredging for scallops, beam trawling and seine netting for whitefish. The implications for fishermen, both during construction and thereafter will depend on the exact route of the pipeline, the time of year it is laid and the practicality of measures, such as trenching, to minimise interference with fishing gear. The company sponsoring the project is discussing these aspects with fishermen before finalising proposals.
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Where the seabed is soft, the pipeline is expected to bury itself and the company sponsoring the project wish to trench as much as possible of the remaining length. Where the seabed is very hard, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will need to insist on rock armouring with a smooth profile to minimise snagging by fishing gear.
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