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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 18 November 1992
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992
Mr. Janner : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will now set an early date to bring into force the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor hopes to be in a position to bring the Act into force by 1 February 1993.
Agencies
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the health and safety policy of the Land Registry and the Public Record Office.
Mr. John M. Taylor : I have done so today.
Primary Legislation
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what proportion of primary legislation is readily available (a) to hon. Members and (b) to the general public in its current amended form.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The proportion of primary legislation readily available, in its current amended form, to both hon. Members and to the general public is around 30 per cent.
Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct
Mr. Hawkins : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct intends to publish its annual report.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct has today published its first annual report, and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Electoral Registration Officers
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received from electoral registration officers about physical attacks on staff during the recent registration process ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have received no reports from electoral registration officers about physical attacks on staff during the year's electoral registration canvass.
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Gambling
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the most recent annual figures for gross consumer expenditure on gambling, on on-course and off-course betting, gaming machines, casinos, bingo, football pools and small lotteries.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Estimated figures for gross consumer expenditure on gambling--amount staked--in the financial year 1991-92 are tabulated. Those for off-course betting, pool betting and bingo are based on returns to Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. Those for casinos and lotteries are based on returns to the Gaming Board for Great Britain, although the latter includes only those lotteries registered with the board.
The estimates for on-course betting and gaming machines cannot be calculated directly and should be treated with extreme caution.
Estimated gross consumer expenditure
1991-92
|£ million
---------------------------------------
Off-course betting |6,026
On-course betting |764
Gaming machines |3,092
Casinos |14,680
Bingo |913
Pools |823
Lotteries |56
These figures should be read with those for net consumer spend--amount staked less winnings--given in reply to an earlier question from the hon. Member on 9 November, Official Report, columns 632-33, which provide a more reliable indicator of gambling expenditure.
Wolds Prison
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the disturbances that have taken place at the Wolds private prison since it opened in April.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : For disturbances up to and including 27 June 1992, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 6 July 1992, at column 38. Since that time, there have been two disturbances at Wolds remand prison.
On 13 July at about 2200 hours some 50 prisoners on B wing refused to return to their cells. Within a short time, all but 11 prisoners had returned to their cells. It was decided at 0310 hours on 14 July to enter the unit with control and restraint teams. By this time, two further prisoners had locked themselves away. By 0325 hours the remaining nine had been removed to the segregation unit without injury to staff or prisoners. No damage was caused to property and buildings. The Home Office controller was present throughout the incident. The removals to the segregation unit were observed by a member of the board of visitors and the prison doctor was present. On 17 October, 31 prisoners on F unit refused to go to their cells at 10 pm. They barricaded themselves into a television room to watch a boxing match involving Frank Bruno. At the end of the fight 20 minutes later the prisoners returned to their cells. No force was used as the incident was of short duration and peaceful at all times.
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Private Detectives
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what guidelines exist for the engagement of private detective agencies by the Government for the purpose of investigating the activities of British citizens ;
(2) on how many occasions since 1979 his Department has engaged private detective agencies to investigate the activities of British citizens ; and if he will list the date and purpose of each investigation.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what use his Department has made of private detectives in each of the last five years ; at what cost ; and if he will list the firms involved.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The engagement of private detectives is a matter for individual Departments and no central guidance has been issued. My Department has made no such engagements.
Voting
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many different types of electoral registration form are currently available in England and Wales ; and what proposals he has to standardise them.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Electoral registration officers may choose whether to conduct a postal or personal canvass and so different versions of the electoral registration form, form A, are available. An English and Welsh bilingual version is also available. Some electoral registration officers produce their own forms, adapted to suit local requirements. However, the content of all these forms is broadly the same. Information on the number of locally produced registration forms is not held centrally. Separate forms are used for the registration of service electors, overseas electors and voluntary mental patients. A working group will be looking at electoral registration forms as part of the post-election review.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to increase the time scale for returning completed postal or proxy voting forms for elections.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 29 October, at column 768.
Debt Collectors
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce proposals to amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 to require the disclosure of previous convictions by persons seeking work in the debt-collecting industry.
Mr. Jack : We have no present plans to amend the Act. But, as I explained on 10 November in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) at column 697, we intend to re-examine the number and range of exceptions to the Act as part of the review of the arrangements for the disclosure of information from criminal records which will be undertaken in advance of the computerisation of the national collection of criminal records.
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Riot Duty
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police authorities have substantially reduced the number of officers trained for riot duty ; why such action was taken in each case ; and if he will make it his policy that no officer will be required to undertake riot duties untrained and inadequately equipped.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Training within individual police forces is a matter for the chief officer concerned. I understand that all officers engaged in policing public disorder are now trained to common minimum standards.
Market Testing
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff have so far been seconded to work in the market- testing unit in his Department ; and how many more secondments are planned.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : There are presently 27 members of staff in the Home Office market-testing unit and three in the prison service market- testing section. It is planned to increase staff numbers to 54.5 in the market-testing unit and seven in the prison service.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of his Department's operations will be subjected to market testing during financial years 1992-93 and 1993-94.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Market testing within the Home Office will be taking place in the following areas with a view to a decision by September 1993 :
Accommodation and office services
Computer services
Internal audit
Pay services
Police National Computer (Hendon datacentre)
Prison service :
College, training and facilities management
Computing services
Court escorts
Dog service
Education
Prison establishments
Warehousing, distribution and fleet management
The future programme is under consideration.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the budget for the market-testing unit in his Department for the financial years 1992-93 and 1993-94.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The budget for the Home Office market-testing unit is £1,143,000 in 1992-93 and £1,260,000 in 1993-94. That for the prison service market testing section is £70,000 in 1992-93 and £190, 000 in 1993-94.
Female Prisoners
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the female remand and sentenced population in England and Wales for the latest date available ; and what is his best estimate of the number of these prisoners who have dependent children.
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Mr. Jack : On 30 September 1992, the latest date for which information is readily available, 383 untried or convicted unsentenced and 1,244 sentenced females were held in prison service establishments or police cells in England and Wales. Our best estimate is that 47 per cent. of the females interviewed said they had children or step-children under the age of 18 living with them at the time they came into prison.
National prison survey. Information collected in January and February 1991.
Remand Prisoners (Psychiatric Reports)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many remand prisoners in England and Wales were referred for psychiatric reports in 1991 and for the first six months of 1992.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information available centrally is based on annual returns by prison medical officers and relates to financial years. In the year ended 31 March 1992, 4,732 psychiatric reports were prepared at the request of courts on persons remanded in custody.
Muslim Organisations
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings he has had with representatives of Muslim organisations in the United Kingdom ; if he will list the organisations which have been invited to attend such meetings ; what matters were discussed ; if it is his intention that meetings attended by Ministers or officials will be convened on a regular basis ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary has had no such meetings, but he met a number of representatives from Muslim organisations when they attended a reception given by him for members of the ethnic minority communities at the Home Office on 21 October. Among those invited were representatives from the United Kingdom action committee on Islamic affairs, the Union of Muslim Organisations, the Bradford Council of Mosques, Regents Park Mosque, Brixton Mosque and the Islamic Forum of Europe. I have visited the Golden Hillock Language Job Club, run by Dar-Ul-Uloom Islamia in Small Heath, Birmingham on 17 September. I have also met representatives from the Union of Muslim organisations on 29 October to discuss a range of issues and will be attending their dinner party on 19 November to celebrate the Prophet's birthday. Such meetings reflect the high frequency of contacts at ministerial and official level.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from (a) organisations representing Muslims in the United Kingdom and (b) others about difficulties concerning the investigation of deaths by coroners where a doctor's certificate cannot be given at weekends or otherwise ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : No recent representations have been received from Muslim organisations or individuals about difficulties over the investigation of deaths by coroners. From time to time we receive correspondence from or on behalf of Muslims about coroners post-mortem examinations ; the most recent letter was received in March.
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Miscarriages of Justice
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received this year on miscarriages of justice ; and what plans he has to speed up his Department's investigations into such cases.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 17 November 1992] : The Home Office regularly receives a large number of letters which raise the general subject of miscarriages of justice ; but no count is kept of this correspondence. Departmental workload statistics show that between 1 January and 30 September 1992, 589 pieces of correspondence were received alleging wrongful conviction in particular cases. This figure may include some further representations by the same correspondent about the same case. This figure does not include representations received about individual cases which have become the subject of concerted campaigns. All representations are considered carefully and as quickly as their complexity and available resources will allow. The number of staff allocated to this work has been increased this year from 16 to 20--an increase of 25 per cent. Staffing is kept under regular review.
Crimes Against Women
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were victims of (a) sexual assault, (b) domestic violence and (c) murder from 1979 to the latest date where figures are available ; and what proportion were ethnic minority women.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 9 November 1992] : The regular annual statistics of notifiable offences recorded by the police are not routinely broken down by gender or ethnic grouping of victims, or by relationship of victim to offender. The annual publications "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" contain figures for 1979 to 1990 for rape, indecent assault on a female, and unlawful intercourse with a female-- chapter 2--and for homicide with a female victim--chapter 4. Corresponding figures for sexual offences in 1991 are published in Home Office "Statistical Bulletin" 14/92. Copies of these publications are available in the Library.
ENVIRONMENT
Council Tax
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue guidance to local authorities for the collection of the council tax for households where the liable person or persons are in receipt of income support, but where other members of that household are wage earners.
Mr. Robin Squire : In the case described by the hon. Member, council tax benefit will meet the full council tax liability except for a deduction in respect of any of the wage earners who are classed as non-dependents. This has been made clear to local authorities in guidance issued to them by my Department and the Department of Social Security. I have sent a copy to the hon. Member.
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to announce the transitional relief arrangements for the council tax ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Robin Squire : We will be announcing the details of the council tax transitional reduction scheme as part of the local government finance settlement proposals later this month.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for the recovery of (a) community charge arrears and (b) council tax arrears following the introduction of the council tax from people who are (1) unemployed, (2) in receipt of sickness benefit or (3) in receipt of income support.
Mr. Robin Squire : The existing range of enforcement methods, including deductions from income support and distress, will be available to enable authorities to recover community charge and council tax owed to them. It is open to authorities to come to voluntary arrangements with debtors to pay off their arrears.
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish details of the relief available in each band under the council tax regulations for disabled persons.
Mr. Robin Squire : The intention of the scheme of council tax reductions for people with disabilities is that no-one should be required to pay more council tax as a result of extra accommodation required because of a disability. Accordingly, where a dwelling in bands B to H includes a qualifying feature the council tax bill will be reduced to that for the valuation band immediately below that to which the dwelling was allocated in the valuation list. If a dwelling is in band A, any additional accommodation cannot have resulted in a higher council tax banding, and so no reduction is appropriate.
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance he has issued to local authorities in respect of the disregard of certain persons for the purposes of council tax liability assessment.
Mr. Robin Squire : Extensive guidance on this matter was included in council tax practice note No. 2, "Liability, Discounts and Exemptions", which has been sent to all local authorities. I have sent a copy of the practice note to the hon. Member.
Community Charge Arrears
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance he has issued to local authorities following the decision in R v. Wolverhampton Justices ex parte Mould concerning the deduction from income support for the payment of community charge arrears ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : It is clearly sensible that authorities should consider all methods of recovery, including deductions from income support, before applying for a committal warrant. Community charge practice note 15 on enforcement of the community charge, (which was sent to all charging authorities, advises authorities to consider other available recovery options before seeking a warrant of commitment.
Self-government Charter
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to sign the European charter of local self-government.
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Mr. Robin Squire : The Government do not intend to sign the charter. The Government support the broad principles underlying the charter, but do not consider local government to be a suitable subject for regulation by an international convention.
Rents
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review the requirement imposed on housing associations to maximise rents, as awarded by rent officers and rent assessment committees, in order to enable them to receive a Government grant.
Mr. Baldry : There are a number of grant-related regimes that are affected by the level of housing associations' rents and I am afraid that it is not clear which of these the hon. Member has in mind. If she would care to write to me with further particulars, I shall gladly look into the matter.
Water Disconnections
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the number of disconnections of domestic water supply during the current year broken down into (a) standard region, (b) utility region and (c) local authority district.
Mr. Maclean : The Director General of Water Services published on 16 November, data on disconnections for the six-month period from 1 April to 30 September 1992. The table shows domestic disconnections broken down by reference to OFWAT customer service committee regions, which correspond to the areas of the water and sewerage undertakers, and by water company area. Data on disconnections by local authority district are not available.
(a) Disconnections by CSC area (Domestic) Region -------------------------- Central |1,397 Eastern |453 North West |354 Northumbria |219 South West |180 Southern |2,252 Thames |1,217 Wales |1,072 Wessex |135 Yorkshire |1,005
(b) Disconnections by Water Company area (
Domestic)
Company
-----------------------------------------------
Anglian |87
Bournemouth and West Hampshire |23
Bristol |16
Cambridge |153
Chester |71
Cholderton |0
Dwr Cymru |995
East Surrey |40
East Worcestershire |3
Essex |115
Folkestone and Dover |92
Hatlepools |37
Mid Kent |0
Mid Southern |56
North East |2
North Surrey |2
North West |354
Northumbrian |180
Portsmouth |85
Severn Trent |567
South East |120
South Staffordshire |827
South West |180
Southern |1,955
Suffolk |36
Sutton |26
Tendring Hundred |62
Thames |423
Three Valleys |670
Wessex |96
Wrexham and East Denbighshire |6
York |62
Yorkshire |943
|---
All Companies |8,284
Source: OFWAT News Release 31/92.
Housing
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals for a housing programme that is affordable for low-income tenants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : Local authorities already own and manage more than 3.8 million dwellings. The Government's focus for the provision of new affordable housing is housing associations. The Government plan to allocate around £6 billion to the Housing Corporation over the three years from 1992-93. We have recently announced that an extra £600 million will be spent this year to enable housing associations to purchase new, empty and repossessed properties for rent and to allow housing association tenants to buy homes in the private sector. Over the three years from 1992-93 housing associations will be able to provide considerably more than the 153,000 new social homes forecast in the Government's election manifesto.
We have increased funds for the Housing Corporation from £936 million in 1989-90 to £2.3 billion this year. In total, £7.5 billion is being made available by the Government to support the corporation's capital expenditure over the four years from 1992-93. The Government hope to be able to increase the private finance levered in by these public funds in order to attract a further £3 billion from the private sector over the period to support the provision of new social housing.
Ministers have also encouraged local authorities to work with others to assist the provision of social housing in their areas, for example through the use of their planning powers and other enabling functions.
Opencast Mining
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hectares of land were approved for opencast coal mining through planning decisions in 1991-92, both in volume terms and as a percentage of the land applied for ; and what was the percentage for land approved in relation to land applied for each year since 1983-84.
Mr. Baldry : According to statistics published by the County Planning Officers' Society, the volume of land approved for opencast coal mining through planning
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decisions in 1991-92 was 2,333 hectares which was 71.26 per cent. of the land applied for. The percentage figures for each year since 1983-84 are as follows :
-
|per cent.
------------------------------
1983-84 |75.40
1984-85 |42.10
1985-86 |48.98
1986-87 |69.14
1987-88 |42.06
1988-89 |57.87
1989-90 |63.33
1990-91 |47.64
Green Issues
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who in his Department has been appointed to oversee and develop green issues ; how many civil servants have been allocated new or additional responsibilities to deal with the management and development of green issues ; and what additional allocation of resources has been made to support programmes related to green issues in his Department.
Mr. Howard : I take the lead in overseeing and developing green issues in my Department and my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Environment and Countryside has day-to-day responsibility. Staff and expenditure programmes throughout the Department are concerned with environmental issues. In the specific areas of environmental protection, countryside and water, staff posts will have increased by 12 during the current financial year--figures for next year have yet to be determined-- and public expenditure provision for 1993-94 is £21 million higher than that for 1992-93.
Ordnance Survey
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish a regional Ordnance Survey office in Wales.
Office of Water Regulation
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of the Office of Water Regulation in 1991-92 ; and how many staff were employed.
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