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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 25 November 1992
HOME DEPARTMENT
Consultants
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all of the reports his Department has commissioned from external consultants in each of the last three years ; for each of the last three years, how many reports from external consultants to his Department led to further consultancy work being commissioned, stating for each of these who were the original and subsequent consultants and briefly describing the subject matter of the consultancy work ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Information on reports produced by external consultants working in the Home Office during the past three years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) hows many unaccompanied children aged under 18 years applied for refugee status in 1991 ; and what was the country of origin of these children ;
(2) how many unaccompanied children under 18 years have applied for refugee status on a monthly basis since 1 January ; and what was the country of origin of these children ;
(3) how many asylum applications made by unaccompanied children aged under 18 years were determined in
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1991 ; and how many of these were determined (a) by the granting of refugee status, (b) by the granting of exceptional leave to remain or (c) by the refusal to either ;(4) how many asylum applications were made by unaccompanied children aged under 18 years in the calendar year 1990 ; how many of these applications have now been determined ; and how these were determined.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The available information on unaccompanied children applying at the ports in 1991 and in January to September 1992 is given in tables A and B. Corresponding information for 1990 is not available. Information on in-country applications by unaccompanied children is not available in this form.
Information on decisions on applications by unaccompanied children is not readily identifiable and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
|c|Table A.
Unaccompanied<1>
children<2> applying for
asylum on their|c|
|c|arrival in the United
Kingdom, by nationality,
1991|c|
|Number
--------------------------
Afghanistan |5
Angola |5
Bangladesh |1
Ethiopia |13
Ghana |1
India |1
Iran |1
Somalia |22
Sri Lanka |66
Turkey |7
Uganda |1
Yugoslavia |2
Zaire |3
|--
Total |128
<1> Unaccompanied at the
point of their arrival
and not known to be
joining a close adult
relative in the United
Kingdom.
<2> Aged 16 or under.
Information on those aged
17 is not available.
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|c|Table B. Unaccompanied<1> children<2> applying for asylum on their arrival in the United Kingdom, by
nationality, 1992|c|
|January |February |March |April |May |June |July |August |September
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afghanistan |- |3 |- |- |1 |- |- |2 |1
Angola |1 |2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Ethiopia |1 |- |6 |- |- |1 |2 |1 |-
Ghana |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Iran |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Iraq |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Lebanon |- |1 |- |- |1 |- |- |- |1
Malaysia |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |- |-
Pakistan |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Sierra Leone |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Somalia |2 |4 |2 |4 |- |2 |9 |5 |3
Sri Lanka |4 |3 |3 |2 |1 |3 |1 |4 |5
Turkey |1 |- |1 |1 |1 |1 |- |2 |1
Uganda |1 |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |-
Yugoslavia |1 |- |2 |- |2 |1 |1 |1 |3
Zaire |2 |- |- |- |4 |- |- |1 |-
|-- |-- |-- |-- |-- |-- |-- |-- |--
Total |15 |14 |14 |8 |11 |8 |14 |16 |15
<1> Unaccompanied at the point of their arrival, and not known to be joining a close adult relative in the
United Kingdom.
<2> Age 17 or under.
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999 System
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received regarding proposed changes in the 999 system ; and if he will make a statement ;
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(2) what discussions he is having, and with whom, regarding proposed changes in the 999 system.Mr. Peter Lloyd : The review of the 999 system is primarily a matter for the Director General of OFTEL. Any representations that we have received against OFTEL's proposals for a call handling agency have therefore been passed to his office. Some organisations have represented to us that changes should not lead to any deterioration in the service to the public. We share their views, as does the Director General of OFTEL.
Matters relating to 999 calls are discussed by the Home Office's 999 liaison committee which has representatives from the emergency authorities and the public telecommunications operators as well as from OFTEL. There are also bilateral discussions, as appropriate, between the Home Office and the police and fire services.
Juvenile Offenders
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the adequacy of the powers of the courts to deal with juvenile offenders ; what proposals he has for a change in the law ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : We have received a number of representations about juvenile offending, especially about frequent offending by what appears to be a comparatively small number of youngsters. My right hon. and learned Friend and I understand and share the concerns that have been expressed. We are therefore looking urgently at the existing arrangements for responding to this kind of offending behaviour before deciding what new measures, including possible changes in the law, it might be sensible to introduce.
Primary Purpose Rule
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants for permanent residency in the United Kingdom have been refused under the primary purpose rule in each year since 1985.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information on reasons for refusal, and thus on refusals under the primary purpose rule, is only available centrally for the Indian sub-continent and is given in the table. It is known that the vast majority of refusals under the primary purpose rule relate to persons applying in the Indian sub-continent.
|c|Number of persons refused<1> entry clearance for settlement
in the|c|
|c|United Kingdom under the primary purpose rule, 1986-92|c|
Number of persons
Primary purpose
refusals
|Solely for this|Partly for this
|reason |reason
----------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |1,080 |130
1987 |1,090 |210
1988 |1,240 |420
1989 |1,550 |1,170
1990 |1,280 |1,040
1991 |1,260 |550
<1> Refusals minus successful appeals.
Prisons (Payphones)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the London prisons which now have payphones that can be used by inmates.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Cardphones are available for prisoners' use at all the London prisons save Wormwood Scrubs, where installation work is in progress and should be completed shortly.
Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Minister in his Department is responsible for the oversight of deregulation of regulatory matters which fall within the responsibility of his Department.
Yugoslavia
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted entry to the United Kingdom from former Yugoslavia (a) in the two weeks prior to 5 November and (b) from 5 November to 19 November.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Comprehensive information on admissions of passengers to the United Kingdom is collected on a monthly, but not a weekly basis.
Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the main measures of deregulation, or simplification of regulation, which his Department has carried out, or caused to be carried out, since 9 April.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Deregulatory measures have been taken to improve immigration controls.
Service standards for the time taken for passenger clearance at Heathrow and Gatwick were published in July 1992. A separate channel for the rapid clearance of cars occupied by European Community nationals was introduced at Dover on 1 July 1992.
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the main measures increasing regulation in any area for which his Department has responsibility, which his Department has caused to be put into effect since 9 April.
Mr. Charles Wardle : No measures increasing regulation have been put into effect since 9 April 1992.
Oxford Prison
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has as to the long-term future role of Oxford prison ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Oxford prison is currently being used on a temporary basis to hold prisoners from London establishments while refurbishment work is carried out, and from Cardiff prison to avoid use of police cells. It is intended to return the buildings to Oxford county council but no decision has yet been taken on when this will be.
Music
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to treat live and recorded music in pubs in the same way in respect of licensing.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : At present, music and singing may take place without a public entertainment licence in a public house where they are provided solely either by the reproduction of recorded sound, or by not more than two performers. We have no plans to amend this exemption.
Prisons (Drugs)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into prisons while visiting a prison inmate at a prison in England or Wales during the period 1 January to 1 November.
Mr. Jack : Information is not available on the number of persons charged. The number of visitors suspected of involvement in such offences and apprehended by the police in this period is 202.
House Burglaries
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many house burglaries were recorded in the Blyth and north Tyneside areas in 1990 and 1991 ; and how many arrests were made in each of those areas in each year in connection with house burglaries.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is not collected centrally for the Blyth and north Tyneside areas. The table shows the number of prosecutions at Blyth Valley and north Tyneside petty sessional divisions for burglary in a dwelling in 1990 and 1991 (provisional).
|c|Number of prosecutions at Blyth Valley and north Tyneside|c| |c|magistrates courts for burglary in a dwelling, 1990-91<1>|c| Petty sessional |Burglary in a |Aggravated burglary division |dwelling |in a dwelling -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blyth Valley 1990 |80 |2 1991<1> |43 |5 North Tyneside 1990 |122 |1 1991<1> |106 |10 <1> Provisional.
Operation Container
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he now expects to be the total cost of Operation Container in looking after remand prisoners in police cells in Greater Manchester and elsewhere.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The available information is given in the following table which relates to the whole police cells operation in England and Wales. Separate figures for remand prisoners are not collected centrally.
Financial period |Payments to Greater|Payments to other
|Manchester police |police forces
|£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |15,931,767 |37,581,143
1991-92 |20,522,278 |74,217,700
Current year to 27 October 1992 |10,225,349 |32,374,518
|------- |-------
Total |46,679,394 |144,173,361
Immigration (Members' Inquiries)
Mr. Connarty : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what review process has been undertaken of the direct telephone answer service for right hon. and hon. Members who have inquiries relating to immigration and asylum applications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Details of the direct telephone answer service to Lunar house for Members who have inquiries relating to immigration and asylum applications were outlined in my letter of 26 May to all Members.
I am not aware of any problems arising from those arrangements which might call for a review and I encourage my colleagues to make full use of this facility.
Interpretation Services
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what statutory obligations the prison department lies to provide interpretation services to serving prisoners in appropriate circumstances in gaols in England and Wales.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The prison service is not under any statutory obligations to provide interpretation services to prisoners, but makes every effort to meet such needs where they arise.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what statutory obligation the police authorities in England and Wales lie to provide interpretation services in appropriate cases for persons being interviewed in pursuance of criminal investigations.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The codes of practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 prescribe that a person who has difficulty in understanding English may not be interviewed by police officers except in the presence of an interpreter.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what statutory obligation the Crown or magistrates courts lie to provide interpretation services in appropriate circumstances in criminal proceedings in England and Wales.
Mr. Jack : Section 3 of the Welsh Courts Act 1942 allows the Lord Chancellor to make rules for the provision of interpreters of the Welsh and English languages for the purposes of proceedings before courts in Wales, while section 1(1) of the Welsh Language Act 1967 requires that provision for interpretation shall be made in legal proceedings in Wales. In other circumstances the provision of interpreters is not governed by statute. I understand, however, that an interpreter is provided as a matter of course when required and that a trial of a defendant who was unable to speak or understand English and who was not provided with a suitable interpreter would be a nullity.
Emergency Underground Facilities
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the underground facilities for war-time or emergency use in the regions of England and Wales which are to be (a) retained and (b) sold.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : There are two protected sites in each of the nine home defence regions in England and Wales, except for London (region 5), which has one. We do not plan to retain any. Only four can be sold ; the other 13 are leasehold.
Regional Crime Squads
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each regional crime squad in England and Wales the dates of publication of each report.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Before April 1992, reports of inspections of regional crime squads were confidential.
The first published report was that of the inspection of No. 8 regional crime squad. It was published on 15 September 1992. The inspection report of No. 9 regional crime squad is expected to be published on 27 November 1992.
Sirens
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sirens are being disposed of as a result of reviewing civil defence requirements ; and of these, how many are hand-held and how many are fixed units.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There are some 6,700 power sirens and 9,760 hand sirens. All will be disposed of except for an estimated 300 power sirens which are used for flood warning purposes where the local authorities concerned wish to retain them.
False Statements
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have taken place under the Magistrates Courts Act 1980 for false statements made in witness statements, taken pre-trial, or under any similar legislative provision re-enacted in the 1980 Act since 1980.
Mr. Jack : The information, available centrally for the years 1980 to 1991 (provisional), is given in the table. It is not possible to distinguish offences under section 106 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, from other offences of perjury involving untruthful written statements or unlawful statements under oath.
|c|Number of prosecutions for perjury
involving untruthful written|c|
|c|statements or under oath<1>|c|
|c|1980 to 1991<2>|c|
|c|England and Wales|c|
|Number of
|prosecutions
---------------------------------------
1980 |57
1981 |84
1982 |75
1983 |59
1984 |85
1985 |55
1986 |48
1987 |72
1988 |86
1989 |120
1990 |37
<2>1991 |89
<1> Perjury Act 1911, Section 1;
Criminal Justice Act 1967, Section 89;
Magistrates' Court Act 1980, Section
106.
<2> Provisional.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many underground facilities for use in wartime or emergencies in England and Wales are to be (a) retained and (b) disposed of.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 24 November 1992] : I plan to dispose of as many as possible of the 17 sites.
Departmental Records
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many years his Department holds files before shredding or other means of disposal.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 24 November 1992] : The Home Office reviews and disposes of its records in accordance with the Public Records Act 1958 and 1967. The majority of files are destroyed after five to 10 years and most of the remainder after 30 years.
Public Interest Immunity Certificates
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public interest immunity certificates he has signed in each of the past six months ; and in what circumstances.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 24 November 1992] : I signed two certificates, one in June and the other in September, in connection with the proceedings in R. v. Henderson and Others. They related to the disclosure of any oral or documentary evidence relating to certain aspects of the work of the security and intelligence services. In July, I siged a certificate relating to communications between police forces or prosecuting authorities in connection with the detection and investigation of crime and the apprehension of offenders, in proceedings brought for judicial review of a decision by magistrates to commit a defendant on charges of dishonesty. I signed another certificate in July, relating to the disclosure of certain categories of information contained in the Prison Service Control and Restraint Manual, in proceedings for damages for personal injuries brought by prison officers.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Wages Councils
Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in employment in Northern Ireland are covered by wages council agreements.
Mr. Atkins : A total of 34,310 at 31 December 1991.
TRANSPORT
Private Detectives
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 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 Carlisle My Department has used private investigators and similar firms(a) to hand serve summonses when taking prosecutions for failure to pay vehicle excise duty ;
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(b) to hand serve papers on people who have trespassed on the Department's land and to photograph trespassers ;(c) to establish the whereabouts of people believed to have caused damage to the Department's roads and structures for the purpose of making claims against them ;
(d) to trace former employees who were overpaid before they left the Department's employ and
(e) in one case to investigate the activities of an employee Several firms have been used and the full cost for each year could be established only at disproportionate cost but the cost of tracing an individual is usually in the range of £60 to £90 per case.
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 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. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 18 November 1992] : As far as can be established without disproportionate cost, my Department has engaged a private detective on only one occasion since 1979 to investigate the activities of a British citizen. A detective was employed in 1992 to investigate a member of staff following complaints received from members of the public.
M3, Winchester
Mr. Malone : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that the contracts for the work of the final link of the M3 at Winchester are able to proceed effectively ; (2) if he will make a statement about the progress on the measures to preserve the ecology on the M3 road scheme at Winchester.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : This work is not progressing as well as we would have expected. Work to facilitate the removal of valuable plant material from the Itchen valley water meadows and replanting at an alternative site in the Test valley has been completed, but similar rescue work in the Dongas has been hampered by protestors. If this rescue work is not completed, valuable plants will be lost, and damage is already being done to these plants by the trespassers on the Dongas site.
It is of much regret that these disruptive forces are now affecting our main works contract which started on 19 October. The schedule for completion is very testing for our contractors in line with our aims of completing this missing section of the M3 motorway, reducing the harmful effects of congestion and improving road safety. In respect of both the ecological rescue work and the main construction, we and our contractors will be using all reasonable means to remove trespassers.
Illegal action of this sort jeopardises effective rescue and puts both workers and protestors at risk.
Untaxed Vehicles
Mr. Bendall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change the law relating to untaxed vehicles parked or abandoned on the public highway so as to allow them to be removed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Local authorities and the police have powers to remove vehicles that are illegally, obstructively or dangerously parked, abandoned or broken down. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
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works closely with local authorities in cases where unlicensed vehicles appear to be abandoned. We have no plans to introduce powers to enable untaxed vehicles to be removed from the road.Ozone Depletion
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what proportion of his Department's consumption of ozone-depleting substances becomes controlled waste in terms of section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 ;
(2) what measures have been taken to ensure that ozone-destroying substances in use by his Department identified as controlled waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 do not reach the atmosphere ;
(3) what action has been taken to ensure that ozone-destroying substances consumed by his Department are identified as controlled wastes when they are no longer in use.
Mr. MacGregor : Records are not kept centrally for the disposal of controlled waste. The Department's policy is to comply with the duty of care which came into force on 1 April 1992 under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The duty makes producers of controlled waste responsible for ensuring that it is disposed of safely and legally.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the departmental green Minister has promoted protection of the ozone layer with specific policy measures ; which possible measures have been considered and rejected ; and on what grounds.
Mr. MacGregor : My Department participates in interdepartmental discussions about measures to protect the ozone layer. Our Procurement Manual specifically covers the need to avoid ozone--depleting substances. These substances will also be covered in the environmental guidance which we are preparing for the management of our properties. It is already our policy to phase out all halon fire extinguishers in the accommodation we occupy.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many chlorofluorocarbon and hydrochlorofluorocarbon installations are contained within his Department's buildings ; and how many CFC domestic fridges are contained within his Department buildings ; (2) what quantity of HCFC 22 is purchased by his Department per annum ;
(3) how many refrigeration and air conditioning systems in his Department are equipped with automatic leak detection systems ; (4) if he will provide details from the maintenance and servicing record of the quantity and type of ozone-destroying chemicals used annually in his Department's refrigeration and air conditioning equipment for servicing and in leakages ; and what proportion is removed for recycling ;
(5) what is the quantity of ozone-depleting substances recycled within his Department and returned to the manufacturer.
Mr. MacGregor : The Department does not keep central records of plant and equipment installed or held in premises used by its staff ; or items subject to local
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procurement and recycling arrangements. It is the Department's policy to phase out the use of ozone-depleting chemicals as soon as possible.Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance has been sought and received on alternatives or substitutes for the ozone-destroying chemicals in use by his Department.
Mr. MacGregor : The Department of the Environment is the main source of guidance. Its advice is circulated to all procurement and property managers in the Department.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) by what date his Department's use of ozone-depleting chemicals will conform to EC regulations on limits on these chemicals ;
(2) which current uses of ozone-depleting chemicals by his Department are considered essential.
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