House of Commons Hansard Debates for 2 Jul 1992

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Utility Charges

Mr. Ward : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to require the public utilities to change their level of standing charges to help low users of their services.

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Mr. Neil Hamilton : The nature and level of charges for services and supplies by the utilities are matters for the companies, subject to the conditions in their licences. Enforcement of licence conditions, which can include price controls, is a matter for the utility regulators, who also have responsibility and powers to protect the interests of customers. The Government have no powers to vary directly the type of level of charges, and no plans to take such powers.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Maurice Bland

Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the application by Maurice Bland for parole, and consider what rehabilitation plans will be appropriate.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : Mr. Bland is serving a discretionary life sentence. His case has been reviewed seven times by the Parole Board--most recently in December 1990, but the board has not yet recommended that Mr. Bland is safe to release. My right hon. and learned Friend has no power to release a life sentence prisoner without a positive Parole Board recommendation.

The next review of Mr. Bland's case by the Parole Board will take place under new arrangements contained in section 34 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 which comes into force from 1 October this year. Under these new arrangements, responsibility for release decisions will rest solely with the Parole Board. In the meantime, prison staff continue to work with Mr. Bland in tackling his problems.

Passports

Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the adult population hold a British passport.

Mr. Charles Wardle : This has been passed to the chief executive of the Passport Agency who will reply shortly. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Racial Crimes

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis about the operation of the police's Thamesmead race unit in its activities against racial harassment ; if he will indicate by ethnic group the numbers arrested and the number of victims ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Charles Wardle : I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that two police constables employed on Plumstead police division, which includes the Thamesmead area, are dedicated to the investigation of racial incidents. These officers maintain close liaison with the London borough of Greenwich, and with the Greenwich action committee against racial attacks.

A total of 203 substantiated complaints of racially motivated crime in 1991 were made to Plumstead division, of which 77--40 per cent.--were solved by these two officers.

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Of the 203 victims, 104 were Asian, 49 white, and 44 Afro-Caribbean and six victims were from other ethnic groups. Forty-one white and eight Afro-Caribbean suspected were arrested. I commend the work of these officers. The level of racially motivated crimes which have been cleared up on the division is good evidence of this initiative's success in tackling racially motivated crime.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has not yet responded to the letter to him dated 21 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. S. Reategin, following the forwarding to him of relevant correspondence by the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary last April.

Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend wrote to the right hon. Member on 29 June.

Crime Statistics

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the levels of robbery, burglary and theft from a vehicle crimes in the Coventry, North-East constituency for the most recent available year ; and what is the percentage change for each category from the previous year.

Mr. Jack : The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the information for the Coventry division as a whole is published in the annual report of the chief constable of the West Midlands police.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Board

Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average time taken to consider applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board ; and what was the comparable time taken five years ago.

Mr. Jack : The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board does not record centrally the average time taken to process applications. However, percentages of cases completed within certain periods are shown in the board's annual reports, copies of which are held in the Library.

Local Government Act 1966

Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in order to widen its scope.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : We accept the need to bring forward legislation on this point when there is a suitable opportunity.

Wrongful Conviction

Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of wrongful conviction upon indictment being considered by C3 division of the Home Office with a view to a possible reference to the Court of Appeal under section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 have been outstanding for more than six months.

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Mr. Jack : Forty-two.

Fire Brigade Inspectors

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to publicise the results of annual brigade inspections carried out by Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire services.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Applying the principles of the citizens charter, we will in future be publishing all reports of this kind. I have decided that reports of all inspections undertaken since the beginning of this year will be published.

I believe that this will be a small but significant step in increasing the accountability of the fire service to the general public for the quality of the service which it provides. I would welcome any public response to points made in the inspectors' reports, as well as any comments that local authorities might choose to make. The first of these reports covering the inspection of the West Sussex fire brigade has been published today, and copies have been placed in the Library of both Houses.

Crime

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to making improvements to the information available about crime, including more frequent publication of the "British Crime Survey" ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Jack : The Government take seriously their responsibility to ensure that Parliament and the public are provided with the best available information about crime. We have considered how the collection, analysis and dissemination of this information can be improved.

At present, published recorded crime figures are based on the summaries sent to the Home Office of the number of offences recorded by the 43 police forces in England and Wales. Recorded offences include indictable/triable either way offences and certain summary offences.

That information is collated by Home Office statisticians and published in summary form each quarter in Home Office statistical bulletins, and only annually with supporting analysis in the series of Command Papers, "Criminal Statistics in England and Wales." The statistics of offences recorded by the police provided a measure of the amount of crime with which they are faced. But many offences go unrecorded.

A more complete picture of crime is provided by the British crime survey, in which a large sample of the public is interviewed about their experience of crime in the previous year. We think it right that this valuable work be made available more regularly and we propose, therefore, that the British crime survey be published at two-yearly intervals in the future.

This will give better information about trends, against which to interpret figures of recorded crime. The results of a further sweep of the British crime survey now taking place, relating to the amount of crime experienced in 1991, will be published in the autumn. We also believe that the recorded crime statistics should be accompanied by fuller analysis of their significance. To give time for this to be done, the present quarterly summary reporting cycle will be replaced by statistics accompanied by analysis on a six-monthly publication cycle.

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This will provide more, not less, information. It should go some way to reduce the considerable and untoward fear of crime among the public generated by the current quarterly publications which was highlighted by the working group on the fear of crime, chaired by Mr. Michael Grade, in December 1989.

We will publish the first bulletin on the six-monthly publication cycle, covering the statistics of notifiable offences recorded by the police in the period July 1991 to June 1992 to coincide with the publication of the British crime survey results in the autumn. By these changes we seek to further the Government's aim of providing a better quality of information to the public. We believe that a more rounded picture will be provided. It should facilitate better analysis of trends and so help ensure that future action against crime is based on an improved shared understanding of the problems which face us.

EMPLOYMENT

Naval Shipbuilding

Mr. McLoughlin : The number of employees in employment in the shipbuilding and ship repairing industry in Great Britain were as follows :


             |Number         

-----------------------------

June 1970    |171,000        

June 1979    |135,000        

<1>Sept 1989 |51,000         

<1>Latest available.

CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Science

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff directly report to him on scientific issues ; and what is his relationship with the Advisory Committee on Science and Technology.

Mr. Robert Jackson : The total number of staff in the Office of Science and Technology is 89. I am considering what advisory structure would enable me to carry out my responsibilities for science and technology most effectively, and seeking views from all interested parties on the best way of achieving this.

Duchy Income

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how much annual income from the Duchy of Lancaster is retained by the sovereign for her personal use ;

(2) what proportion of the income to the privy purse from the Duchy of Lancaster has been retained by the sovereign in each year since 1962.

Mr. Waldegrave : The application of moneys paid by the Duchy of Lancaster to the Keeper of the Privy Purse is a

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matter for the Privy Purse Office. The amounts are shown in the Duchy's accounts, which are placed in the Library of the House each year.

Human Genome Project

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what computer science research is being supported by public funds to improve United Kingdom capability to process the data generated by the human genome project.

Mr. Robert Jackson : The Government made available to the Medical Research Council an extra £11 million over three years to enable it to play a major role in the United Kingdom Human Genome Mapping Project--HGMP. The MRC has provided support for the installation of computing facilities at the HGMP resource centre, Northwick park, Harrow and, among others, to its National Institute for Medical Research and Laboratory of Molecular Biology for the development of software to process and store genome mapping data. The MRC has also agreed to contribute to the support of the human genome database--GDB--in the John Hopkins university, Baltimore, USA, and has contributed to the establishment of a GDB node at the Resource Centre, the first outside the USA.

There is no central information on other relevant work which the universities, medical schools or medical research charities may be supporting.

Contracting-out

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the extent and nature of proposed open government provisions to contracting-out procedures in Government Departments.

Mr. Waldegrave : It has been this Government's established practice to ensure non-discrimination and fair competition in public procurement, as set out in administrative circulars issued by the central unit on purchasing in Her Majesty's Treasury. From December last year, EC rules, which in large part replicate United Kingdom best practice, were written into the United Kingdom legislation which will implement a further EC directive to ensure compliance throughout the EC.

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will consult the National Audit Office on measures to test the value-for -money considerations on any proposals to contract-out civil service work.

Mr. Waldegrave : The Comptroller and Auditor General has statutory powers to audit Government Departments and conduct value-for-money studies on the way they have used their resources in discharging their functions, which may include contracting out civil service work.

Market Testing

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects an announcement to be made on the areas to be market tested in each Government Department ; and what plans he has to publish this information.

Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridgeshire, South-East (Mr. Paice) on 22 June 1992, at column 102.

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Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total cost to date of the market- testing initiatives in each Government Department since November 1991.

Mr. Waldegrave : This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what savings he expects each Government Department will make as a result of the market-testing programme.

Mr. Waldegrave : No such estimate has been made.

Private Sector Contracts

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if it is his intention that private sector contractors who undertake civil service work will remain within the scope of public scrutiny ; and will members of the public still have recourse to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in respect of activities which are contracted out.

Mr. Waldegrave : Where civil servant work is contracted out following a market-testing exercise, the accountability of Ministers to Parliament remains unchanged. The Comptroller and Auditor General will continue to audit the Departments concerned. The jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration is unaffected.

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if foreign employees of private sector contractors will have to conform to established civil service practices on the confidentiality of information they may handle ; and whether they will be required to sign the Offical Secrets Act 1989.

Mr. Waldegrave : Private sector contractors undertaking classified work for Government Departments are obliged, through contract conditions, to conform to standard procedures for the protection of classified information. It is for contractors to enforce those obligations on their staff. Where the Official Secrets Act 1989 applies, employees receive notice that they are subject to the Act, and are normally required to sign a declaration acknowledging their obligations under it.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Commissioner Ripa di Meana

Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the United Kingdom ambassador to the European Community to seek an explanation from Commissioner Carlo Ripa di Meana as to why he has failed to reply to letters dated 1 March and 23 April, and to numerous telephone calls since that date from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, concerning an environmental issue of concern to the Manchester, Gorton constituency.

Mr. Garel-Jones : Signor Ripa di Meana has been appointed Minister for the Environment in the new Italian Administration with immediate effect. However, I have asked our permanent representation to ask the Commission services whether a reply to the right hon. Member's letters has been sent.

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Council of Ministers

Mr. Spring : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement of forthcoming business in the European Community's Council of Ministers.

Mr. Hurd : The Economic and Finance Council will meet on 13 July to conduct a multilateral surveillance of the economies of member states, including the examination of a national convergence programme. The Council will also consider the Commission's proposals for the future financing of the Community--Delors II--and work programme for meetings of the Economic and Finance Council for the next six months. The Agriculture Council will meet on 13 and 14 July. Ministers will discuss CAP reform and Newcastle disease controls and possibly the review of sugar cane import arrangements. The Foreign Affairs Council will meet on 20 July. It will consider the follow-up to the Lisbon European Council, including how to take forward preparations for enlargement, subsidiarity and the Community's future financing. The Council may discuss the state of negotiation on the GATT Uruguay round and the EC/US oilseed dispute and the negotiating mandate for a new EC/ASEAN co-operation agreement. The Council will also consider EC relations with the former Soviet Union, including trade and co-operation agreements ; and may discuss the state of negotiations on the Romania and Bulgaria association agreements. Ministers will discuss the former Yugoslavia and the development of the Community's relations with Turkey. A co-operation council with Egypt will also be held in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council.

The Budget Council will meet on 23 July to consider the 1993 preliminary draft budget submitted by the Commission and to establish the Council's 1993 draft budget.

Maastricht Treaty

Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific duties are to be imposed on citizens of the union including those in the United Kingdom under article G of the Maastricht treaty.

Mr. Garel-Jones : The provisions added to the treaty of Rome by the Maastricht treaty--articles 8 to 8e--which establish citizenship of the union refer to "duties" imposed by the treaty of Rome, but do not themselves impose any specific duties. The treaty of Rome in general, as amended by the Maastricht treaty, imposes no duties which do not flow from the direct effect of EC law.

Entry Clearance Applications

Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how often the deputy high commission in Karachi has asked for information or files from the high commission in Islamabad to deal with applications for entry clearance during the last 12 months.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The information requested could not be provided except at disproportionate expense. The deputy high commission in Karachi would need to check manually 25,000 case files.

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British Nationals (Overseas)

Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the present holder of a British Hong Kong passport, who is issued with a replacement British national (overseas) passport, will need to apply, as appropriate, for a visitor visa or work permit to enter the United Kingdom ; and whether the holder of a BN(O) passport will need a permanent identity card for entry to and exit from Hong Kong (a) currently and (b) after 1997.

Mr. Goodlad : As far as admission to the United Kingdom is concerned, the holder of a BN(O) passport is treated in an identical manner to the holder of a British dependent territory citizen's passport. He does not require a visa to visit the United Kingdom, but, with limited exceptions, would require a work permit if he intended to come to this country for employment.

At present, BN(O) passport holders may use either their passports or their permanent identity cards to leave or enter Hong Kong. We expect that this arrangement will continue after 30 June 1997.

International Treaties

Mr. Michael Spicer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the cases involving the United Kingdom in which there have been adjudications of enforceability of declarations or agreements appended to international treaties, including EC treaties.

Mr. Garel-Jones : In the case of the EC treaties and the treaties amending them, there has been a practice of annexing protocols to the treaties and of adopting declarations in connection with conclusion of the treaties. By article 239 of the treaty of Rome, protocols annexed to the treaty form an integral part of it. They are, therefore, enforceable in exactly the same way as treaty provisions. A case involving the United Kingdom where this was done is Lord Bruce of Donington v. Aspden, case 208/80, applying the protocol on privileges and immunities of the European Communities. Conference declarations do not form an integral part of the treaty to which they relate, but, in accordance with the law of treaties, they are part of the context of the treaty for the purpose of its interpretation. I am aware of no decision of the European Court of Justice in which conference declarations of this kind have been pronounced upon.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Disability Living Allowance

Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will extend the disability living allowance so that people can claim whatever their age.

Mr. Scott : We have no plans to do so.

Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the cost of extending the disability living allowance scheme to cover people over the age of 65 years.

Mr. Scott : The annual cost of extending disability living allowance to all people who become disabled after the age of 65 is estimated, at 1992 -93 prices, to be in excess of £2 billion.

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Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what compensation can be claimed by applicants for disability living allowance, where the processing of (a) their claim or (b) successful appeal against a decision by the Benefits Agency on their claim has taken an excessive period of time ; (2) what is the average length of time taken by the Benefits Agency to process a claim for disability living allowance ;

(3) what is the target maximum time within which a claim for disability living allowance should be processed.

Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.

Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time taken to consider applications for (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance ; and what are the target times laid down by his Department.

Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance and attendance allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.

Cold Weather Payments

Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what dates cold weather payments were triggered during the winter of 1991- 92 ; and how many households received payment on each occasion.

Mr. Scott : The information requested is available in the Library.

Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many households in Lewisham, Deptford qualify for payments under the cold weather payments scheme ; on what dates and in what parts of Lewisham, Deptford the cold weather payments system was triggered during the winter of 1991-92 ; how many households received payments on each occasion ; on what dates cold weather payments were made in Lewisham, Deptford in response to a forecast of a qualifying period ; and if he will indicate the period taken for payments to be made once the system had been triggered.

Mr. Scott : Such information as is available concerning the areas that have triggered and consequently the payments made are in the Library. Information concerning the number of customers who may qualify for a payment will be provided in writing from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency.

Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) on what dates, and in which parts of Barnsley, the cold weather payments scheme was triggered during the winter of 1991-92 ; and how many households received payments on each occasion ;

(2) on what dates cold weather payments were made in Barnsley in response to a forecast of a qualifying period ; and if he will indicate the period taken for payments to be made once the system had been triggered.

Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) on what dates, and in what parts of

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north Warwickshire the cold weather payments system was triggered during the winter of 1991-92 ; and how many households received payments on each occasion ;

(2) on what dates cold weather payments were made in north Warwickshire in response to a forecast of a qualifying period ; and what was the average period taken for payments to be made once the system had been triggered.

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) on what dates in 1992 cold weather payments were made in Coventry, North-East in response to a forecast of a qualifying period ; and what was the average period taken for payments to be made following the trigger ;

(2) on what dates and in what parts of Coventry, North-East the cold weather payments system was triggered during the winter of 1991-92 ; and how many households received payments on each occasion ;

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) on what dates, and in what parts of Leyton the cold weather payments system was triggered during the winter of 1991-92 ; and how many households received payments on each occasion ;

(2) on what dates cold weather payments were made in Leyton in response to a forecast of a qualifying period ; and what were the periods taken for payments to be made once the system had been triggered.

Ms. Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) on what dates and in which parts of Rochdale the cold weather payments system was triggered during the winter of 1991-92 ; and how many households received payments on each occasion ;

(2) on what dates cold weather payments were made in Rochdale in response to a forecast of a qualifying period ; and if he will indicate the period taken for payments to be made once the system had been triggered.

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