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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 9th February 1993
NORTHERN IRELAND
Housing
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacant homes are being acquired in each district council area under the Government's housing initiative announced in the Chancellor's autumn statement by (a) the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, (b) the Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association and (c) the other housing associations.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : At 3 February 1993 the number of proposals to acquire property with vacant possession in each district council area is as follows :
Council |(a) Northern Ireland|(b) Northern Ireland|(c) Other Housing
|Housing Executive |Co-ownership |Associations
|Association
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim Borough |- |12 |-
Ards Borough |6 |14 |-
Armagh District |4 |9 |11
Ballymena Borough |3 |9 |6
Ballymoney Borough |3 |6 |-
Banbridge District |2 |4 |-
Belfast City |50 |3 |89
Carrickfergus Borough 8 25 -
Castlereagh Borough |5 |5 |-
Coleraine Borough |2 |26 |4
Cookstown District |- |9 |1
Craigavon Borough |7 |21 |28
Derry City |7 |15 |19
Down District |7 |19 |-
Dungannon District |1 |5 |2
Fermanagh District |3 |8 |6
Larne Borough |4 |5 |21
Limavady Borough |5 |12 |-
Lisburn Borough |9 |7 |-
Magherafelt District |2 |11 |-
Moyle District |1 |3 |-
Newry and Mourne District 8 24 -
Newtownabbey Borough 4 1 -
North Down Borough 2 6 -
Omagh District |4 |5 |-
Strabane District |3 |- |-
|---- |---- |----
Totals |150 |264 |187
Executive Agencies
Mrs. Roe : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at what stage (a) drafts and (b) copies of letters from chief executives of agencies within his responsibility, in response to parliamentary questions, are submitted to Ministers.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : Draft letters are not submitted to Ministers, but for information purposes they receive a copy of the chief executive's reply once it has issued and prior to the parliamentary question being answered.
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Fair Employment Tribunal
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the ruling of the president of the Fair Employment Tribunal, on the disclosure of documents to the Fair Employment Commission in the cases of McKernan v. DoE and McConnell v. Police Authority for Northern Ireland, will be appealed ; and on what date the Commission will be given the relevant documents in the McConnell case.
Mr. Mates : There was no appeal in the case of McKernan v. DoE. In the case of McConnell v. Police Authority for Northern Ireland, a requisition to state a case to the Court of Appeal was lodged with the Fair Employment Tribunal on 14 January 1993.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Visas
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which member nations of the European Community have statutory appeal procedures comparable with those currently in force in the United Kingdom concerning appeals from persons refused visitor's visas to the respective states.
Mr. Charles Wardle : None of the other member states of the European Community has an independent, specialised immigration appeals system.
Prison Construction
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received in favour of construction of more prison space to accommodate offenders for whom custodial sentences are appropriate.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No formal representations have been made, but, from time to time, we are approached by companies interested in the construction of new prisons.
Interception of Communications
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many warrants he has signed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 for each year since 1986.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I refer the hon. Member to the annexes to the reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner for 1990 and 1991--Cm. 1489 and Cm. 1942.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those who, other than himself, are empowered to sign warrants to intercept communications.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : By virtue of section 4 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985, warrants may be issued only under the hand of the Secretary of State or, in an urgent case where the Secretary of State has expressly authorised its issue, under the hand of an official of his department of or above the rank of Assistant Under-Secretary of State. In practice, warrants are usually
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issued by the Home Secretary, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland or the Secretary of State for Scotland.Alcohol (Licensing)
Mrs. Lait : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were made in the last year for (i) new licences, (ii) the renewal of licences and (iii) for the transfer of licences to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises ; and what proportion of these were (a) approved, (b) approved subject to conditions and (c) rejected.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Provisional figures show that in the year ending 30 June 1992 in England and Wales, there were 2,136 new applications for licences to sell intoxicating liquor for consumption off the premises, of which 1,712--80 per cent.--were granted. Information about the number of applications for the renewal or transfer of off-licences is not collected centrally. Licensing justices have no power to attach conditions to the grant of an off-licence.
Mrs. Lait : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost to the public administration, including the cost of licensing justices and policing of operating the system of licensing for premises selling alcohol for consumption off the premises and of the compliance costs for businesses involved with the operation of this system.
Mr. Charles Wardle : As to compliance costs, a fee of £12.50 is payable on the initial grant and subsequent triennial renewal of an off- licence. The other information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Public Appointments
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public appointments he has made since 1 November 1992 ; and what information he has on the political affiliations of those appointed.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Details of all the appointments for which the Home Department has been responsible since 1 November 1992 could be compiled only at disproportionate cost. Information about the appointments for which the Home Department was responsible last year up to 30 September 1992 is given in "Public Bodies", a copy of which is in the Library. Information on the political affiliations of those appointed is not sought by my Department.
Naturalisation
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 861, if he will place in the Library a comparative description of the processes and qualifications used in each member state of the European Community in respect of applications to them for naturalisation from citizens of non-member nations.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Yes. I will place in the Library the information available to me about naturalisation procedures in the member states.
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Ram-raiding
Mr. Ancram : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he proposes to take to reduce the incidence of ram-raiding.
Mr. Jack : Encouraging owners and car manufacturers to make cars more secure--thus reducing the opportunities for vehicle related crime, including ram-raiding--is a central feature of the Government's car crime prevention strategy. At a local level, police crime prevention officers are always ready to provide retailers with specialist advice, drawn from their own experiences and that of the Home Office crime prevention centre at Stafford, on what measures they can take to protect their premises against this type of offence.
Executive Agencies
Mrs. Roe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what stage (a) drafts and (b) copies of letters from chief executives of agencies within his responsibility, in response to parliamentary questions, are submitted to Ministers.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Chief executives of agencies within my responsibility reply direct on matters delegated to them, although it is, of course, open to them to seek my advice before replying. I have the opportunity to see the replies when they are published in Hansard.
Prisoners
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) for what purpose category subsections A : high risk and A : exceptional risk were introduced ; and how many prisoners there have been in each category to date ;
(2) how many categories of security there are within category A ; and for how long there has been no more than one subsection.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There are three levels of escape risk classification for category A prisoners : standard, high and exceptional. This arrangement was introduced in its present form in 1988 in order to assist operational management. On 31 December 1992, there were 558 category A prisoners in custody. Of these, 457 were classified as standard escape risk, 79 as high escape risk and 22 as exceptional escape risk. Information on the numbers of prisoners held in each escape risk classification since 1988 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time prisoners spend in each of the A categories.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information in the form requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the capacity of the Merseyside fire and civil defence authority to cope with fire, emergency and other demands on their time in 1993-94 ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : The standard of service provided by the Merseyside fire and civil defence authority was examined in the course of an inspection of the service by Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire services between 25 and 29 January 1993. My right hon. and learned Friend will want to examine carefully the report of that inspection, which will be published later this year. It is for the authority, in the light of its standard spending assessment and the intended criteria for designation for council tax capping, to set a budget for 1993-94 which will allow it to comply with its duties under the Fire Services Act 1974, and with the nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover.
Betting Shops
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what means were used to gather comments from interested parties in response to his Department's
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consultation document of October 1991 on evening opening of betting shops ; who responded ; and how many submissions were received in responding to each of the issues highlighted in paragraph 28(i)--(vi) and paragraph 29(i)--(ii) (a)--(c).Mr. Peter Lloyd : A press release was issued on 14 October 1991 announcing the issuing of the consultation document. Copies of the document were made available to the press. Some 58 copies of the document were sent direct to various interest groups such as the police, local authority associations and bodies representing the horseracing, greyhound and bookmaking industries. In addition, copies were made available to inquirers on request. In those cases where organisations had not responded by the closing date, they were contacted and invited to consider responding.
The details of the representations received were as follows :
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Period 14 October 1991 to 18 January 1993
Paragraph reference |Subject |Number of responses
in consultation
document
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28(i) |Views on effects on excessive gambling |17
28(ii) |Views of local authorities on effect of planning |8
| controls
28(iii) |Views of police and licensing authorities as to |9
| whether evening opening would cause them
| any practical difficulties
28(iv) |Views of the horseracing industry |6
28(v) |Views of bookmakers |202 (plus 1 petition with 204 signatures and
28(vi) |Views of the greyhound racing industry
Others |Include employees, members of the public and |381
| letters where correspondents' interest not
| identified
29(i) |Whether opening hours should be entirely left |48
| to the discretion of each business
29(ii)(a) |Whether the latest permitted closing time |32
| should be specified
29(ii)(b) |Whether evening opening should be allowed on |18
| Monday to Friday only, or only on certain
| days
|Whether evening opening should be allowed all |15
| year or only for certain months
Fire Regulations
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to implement new fire regulations as required under the EC framework and workplace minimum requirements ; and what plans he has to amend the regulations.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to issue revised proposals for Fire Precautions (Places of Work) Regulations and associated guidance for
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consultation in the summer. This will enable him to consider any comments which he has received and to make the regulations to take effect on or after 1 April 1994.We have already decided to exclude from the regulations all premises which are occupied only by the self-employed because they are not subject to the directives, and we are considering what other changes should be made.
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Police Restructuring
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had or proposes to have with the Merseyside police authority with regard to proposals to restructure police forces and police authorities.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend has not held discussions with individual police authorities. He is considering what reforms in police organisation and structure may be needed and will announce his proposals as soon as possible. The interested parties will be consulted before final decisions are reached.
Safer Cities Project, Bradford
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the future of the safer cities project in Bradford ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : I have received written representations on the future funding of the Bradford safer cities project from the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Cryer), from the chairman of the steering committee of the project and the chair of the community safety strategy group of Bradford city council.
As I explained in my statement of 7 January, Home Office grant funding to 16 of the existing 20 projects, including Bradford, will be reduced from £250,000 to £100,000 in 1993-94 and will end in March 1994. This will release funds for the new phase of safer cities. Some additional funding will be available in 1993-94 from a central budget of £500,000 to assist work aimed at leaving in place satisfactory continuing arrangements for the maintenance and development of local multi-agency crime prevention work.
Although safer cities funding is to come to an end after March 1994, there are other sources of Government funding for crime prevention. Bradford is one of the city challenge pacemaker authorities, and has formulated extensive community safety proposals in its action plan. I understand that more than £390,000 is being spent on a wide range of activity, which is beginning to have a real impact on crime prevention in the challenge area.
There is also a local drugs prevention team in Bradford, which has a budget of £75,000 per year for grant aid to local drugs prevention projects.
Drug Problems, Liverpool
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with organisations in the Liverpool area in respect of ways of combating drug problems ; what proposals he has put forward for central Government assistance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : A drugs prevention team was set up in Liverpool in December 1990 under the Home Office drugs
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prevention initiative and continues to work with the local community in finding effective ways of preventing the spread of drug misuse.In May 1992 I visited the team to launch the educational video which they have produced in conjunction with the "Brookside" television company. During European Drug Prevention Week in November I visited again, to talk to local business people about drugs prevention in the workplace, to open the drugs prevention fayre at the Everyman theatre, and to speak to local drugs prevention workers.
The Home Office provides £75,000 a year to the team to spend on grant aid to local agencies and groups engaged in drugs prevention work and £10,500 to spend on prevention publicity. These budgets have been supplemented considerably by private donations and sponsorship and some 60 projects have been undertaken to date. We also provided an extra £15,000 for specific drugs projects in the Liverpool area during European Drug Prevention Week.
A steering committee of representatives from organisations in the local community, including statutory and voluntary drugs services, the local authority, police and the chamber of commerce, supervise the work of the team. I announced recently that the life of the team, like the other teams set up under the drug prevention initiative, would be extended to March 1995.
Prison Populations
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the total prison population in each EC country, including the United Kingdom, and the United States of America in 1979 and 1992 respectively ; what proportion that number formed of the total population ; and how many of that number were young offenders.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 2 February 1993] : Information for EC countries has been collated by the Council of Europe only since 1983 ; and the latest available information published by them relates to 1 September 1989. The data requested for these two years can be found in "Prison Information Bulletin" No. 2, table 1 ; and No. 14, table 2. A copy of both documents are in the Library. Data on the total prison population in 1979 are given in an article in issue No. 15 of the above publication ; and more recent information has been collected independently from some EC countries and from the USA. These data are given in the table.
An article on "International comparisons of prison populations" by Collier and Tarling--Home Office research bulletin No. 23, pages 48 to 54--showed that the figures for different countries are unlikely to be strictly comparable because the definitions of prisons and prisoners vary from one country to another, reflecting different legal and administrative systems. Examples of differences in the definitions are the inclusion or exclusion in a country's figures of juvenile offenders and mentally disordered offenders.
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<1>1979 <2>1991
|Total prison |Total prison |Prison population |Total population of
|population |population |per 100,000 |young offenders
|inhabitants
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |6,137 |- |- |-
Denmark |2,291 |3,506 |68 |-
France |34,640 |48,675 |84 |<6>5,072
Germany<3> |50,395 |49,658 |79 |-
Greece |3,221 |- |- |-
Ireland |1,140 |- |- |-
Italy |26,424 |- |- |-
Luxembourg |223 |- |- |-
Netherlands |- |7,233 |48 |<7>1,185
Portugal |5,054 |8,092 |82 |<6>625
Spain |10,463 |- |- |-
United Kingdom, of which: |- |52,874 |92 |<6>10,046
England and Wales |42,220 |46,310 |91 |<6>8,850
United States of America |<4>500,000 |<5>1,118,000 |<5>450 |-
<1>Figures at 1 January, except Greece-1 December; Ireland and United Kingdom-annual averages.
<2>Figures at 1 September.
<3>Former Federal Republic territory only.
<4>Approximate estimate based on the available data, which relates to the local jail population in 1978 and the State and
Federal prison population in 1980.
<5>1990.
<6>Age under 21.
<7>Age under 23.
WALES
Certificate of Education
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the estimated entrance number of pupils for the current certificate of education.
Sir Wyn Roberts : So far, 9,436 candidates have been entered for the certificate of education in 1993. Candidates may still be entered up to the date of the examination.
Further and Higher Education
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money will be allocated for extension and rebuilding work at each college of further and higher education in Wales during the next three years.
Sir Wyn Roberts : From 1 April 1993 the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils for Wales will assume responsibility for providing funds for extension and rebuilding work for institutions of further and higher education. The funding councils have yet to announce their allocations to institutions for 1993-94.
Wages
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average wage of employed persons in Wales for each of the last 14 years ; and if he will express these figures as a percentage of (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the European average.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is given in the table. Comparable figures for Europe as a whole or the European Community are not available.
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Average gross weekly earnings of full time employees in Wales
whose pay was not affected by absence for the survey pay period.
Year |£ per week |Percentage of United
|Kingdom
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<1>1979 |87.6 |98.0
<1>1980 |106.4 |96.7
<1>1981 |119.4 |95.8
<1>1982 |130.2 |95.5
<1>1983 |140.0 |94.7
<2>1983 |139.4 |94.8
<2>1984 |149.2 |93.8
<2>1985 |160.3 |94.0
<2>1986 |170.3 |92.5
<2>1987 |183.4 |92.4
<2>1988 |196.5 |90.3
<2>1989 |215.9 |90.4
<2>1990 |232.1 |88.5
<2>1991 |252.2 |88.9
<2>1992 |270.9 |89.2
Source: New Earnings Surveys, Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
<1>From 1979 to 1983, men aged 21 and over and women aged 18 and over.
<2>From 1983 onwards, men and women on adult rates of pay irrespective of age.
Unfit Dwellings
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of unfit dwellings in (a) local authority and (b) private ownership for each of the last five years.
Mr. David Hunt : The data requested are not available. Information about levels of unfitness is being obtained through the current Welsh house condition survey. The results will be published after the survey is complete at the end of the year.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has concerning the number of workers in Wales holding more than one paid occupation ;
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and if he will make a statement on how these are counted in his calculation of the number of employed people in Wales.Mr. David Hunt : The summer 1992 labour force survey shows an estimated 45,000 people in Wales with a second job, either as an employee or self-employed.
The Employment Department's employer-based surveys count jobs, not people. The labour force surveys provide estimates of the numbers of people employed in Wales.
Nitrogen Dioxide (Monitoring)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites for monitoring nitrogen dioxide there are in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : There is one site at Cardiff at which nitrogen dioxide is measured continuously. In addition, current Government surveys involve regular measurements at more than 100 sites throughout Wales.
2002 Horizon"
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the implications for Wales of the European Commission plan, "2002 Horizon", outline programme for a trans-European road network ; and what discussions on the plan he has held with officials of national parks in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The proposals for a trans-European road network are indicative only, and are being considered by member states. Plans for developing the road network in Wales are set out in the 1992 supplement to "Roads in Wales". My right hon. Friend and I have made it clear that our plans will not include upgrading the A5 through Snowdonia to motorway or dual-carriageway standard, and we have not discussed these proposals with national park officials.
Smoke and Sulphur Dioxide Discharges
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the implementation in Wales of EC directives on smoke and sulphur dioxide discharges.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : EC directive 80/779/EEC, setting air quality standards for smoke and sulphur dioxide, is implemented in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom by means of the Air Quality Standards Regulations--SI 1989 No. 317 ; copies are held in the Library of the House.
Government monitoring indicates that the limits set under the directive are not being exceeded in Wales.
Derelict Land
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much industrially derelict land has been reclaimed in Wales since 1990 ; and what methods have been used.
Mr. David Hunt : Since 1990 a total of 3,127 acres of industrially derelict land have been reclaimed in Wales through schemes funded by the Welsh Development Agency. Reclamation methods vary from site to site depending upon the nature of the dereliction and the site's proposed end use.
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Construction
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the level of construction in Wales in each quarter of 1992.
Mr. David Hunt : The Welsh index of construction is available for the first three quarters of 1992. Taking the average quarterly output in 1985 to be 100, the levels were 143.1, 141.3 and 136.1 in the first three quarters of 1992 respectively.
John Bennett and Keith Wilson
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 22 January, Official Report, column 454, on what date the fraud squad arrested John Bennett and Keith Wilson.
Mr. David Hunt : This is a matter for the police.
Drug and Alcohol Misuse Centres
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received on residential drug and alcohol misuse centres since April 1992 ; and how many such representations have expressed concern about future funding arrangements.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I have received 25 such representations, all of which have expressed concern about future funding arrangements.
Opportunity 2000
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the effects upon female employment in Wales of the Opportunity 2000 scheme.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Opportunity 2000 is a Business in the Community initiative, which receives support from the Welsh Office. It was launched in Wales in May 1992. At the end of the first six months 13 Welsh employing organisations had taken up membership, but it is too early to assess the impact the initiative is having on female employment.
Voluntary Sector Organisations
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings or communications he has had with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action in regard to the level of grant provision by his Department to voluntary sector organisations.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : None. However my officials maintain close links with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action on many issues relevant to the voluntary sector, including funding, and will continue to do so.
Women (Business Incentive Schemes)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what incentive schemes his Department sponsors in Wales to assist women to establish their own businesses.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Support for women who wish to establish their own business is provided by the training and enterprise councils and our strategic guidance to them stresses the importance of advancing equal opportunities
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