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Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make it his policy to impose restrictions on the current powers granted to bailiffs to sell off stock cheaply in order to meet debts.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor is presently reviewing the organisation and management of those empowered to remove and sell goods to meet the payment of debts. A consultation paper was issued on 4 August 1992, which canvassed, inter alia, whether changes are necessary to the law governing the sale of goods seized in payment of debt. Following the consultation, officials are preparing advice on the subject for the Lord Chancellor to consider.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what consideration he is giving to altering the upper limit of claims in the small claims court ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : We are keeping the small claims limit under review and plan to raise it as soon as practicable. However, we have not at this stage finalised the level to which it will be raised, nor the date on which this will take place.
The level was last increased to £1,000 in 1991. Any further increase may capture cases of greater complexity than those for which the procedure was designed. We are concerned to have appropriate procedures in place to deal with such cases before raising the small claims limit further.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 March to the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Ms Ruddock), Official Report, column 113, what further consideration he has given to the consequences for the tendering out of the prison education service of the acquired rights directive.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Harry Greenway, dated 8 May 1993 :
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The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what further consideration has been given to the consequences for the competitive tendering of prison education of the Acquired Rights Directive.At those establishments where final decisions have not already been taken about who is to be the future provider of education services, the Prison Service will invite all the tenderers originally invited to bid to submit further bids on the basis that the European Community Acquired Rights Directive and the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 will apply. This is without prejudice to whether or not an appeal is lodged against the High Court judgment in the case of Kenny and Woodroff v . South Manchester College.
Mr. Keith Hill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 April, Official Report, columns 181-82, if he expects that EC nationals resident in the United Kingdom will generally have the right to vote in the 1994 European Parliament elections.
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has regarding the resignation or early retirement of any of the police officers involved in the conviction of Hosni E. Farhat.
Mr. Charles Wardle : None. This is a matter for the chief constable of Hampshire constabulary.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were stopped and questioned by the Metropolitan police for immigration matters during the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Mr. Jack : This information is not available.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police forces which are experimenting with the use of mobile telephones to deter domestic and racial violence ; when the trial in West Yorkshire is to be evaluated ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not collected centrally, but those conducting experiments with mobile phones and alarms include : Leicester, Bradford, Islington and Wandsworth safer cities projects and the Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and the Metropolitan police forces.
The experiment in Leeds was evaluated internally in October 1992 and has now been extended across the West Yorkshire force.
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the level of police personnel in 1963 and 1993, in the United Kingdom, the west midlands and Solihull including the level of civilian posts ; how many uniformed police were on the beat ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : In 1963 there were 80,251 police officers and 13,579 civilian staff in England and Wales. Information for 1963 in respect of the West Midlands and Solihull is not available. Current figures are given in the table. As data on deployment are collected annually, the figures are for December 1992.
|England and Wales |West Midlands Police|<1>Solihull --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Police strength |128,045 |6,952 |<2>125 Beat/patrol |53,994 |3,496 |<3>21-25 Civilian staff |49,162 |2,471 |22 <1>Figures are for the Solihull Sub-division, provided by the West Midlands Police. <2>Total number of officers available to the sub-division. <3>Officers available at any one time for beat and patrol. Number of officers varies depending upon shift arrangements.
Mr. Clapham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents and disturbances took place between April 1992 and April 1993 at (a) HM prison Wolds and (b) HM prison Lindholme.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Michael Clapham, dated 10 May 1993 :
HM PRISONS WOLDS AND LINDHOLME
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of incidents and disturbances which have taken place between April 1992 and April 1993 at (a) HM Prison Wolds and (b) HM Prison Lindholme.
There have been a total of 95 reported incidents at Wolds Remand Prison and 463 at HMP Lindholme in the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1993.
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During this period, the average daily population of Wolds, a secure modern prison building, was 190. Lindholme, a medium secure prison, (formerly RAF accommodation), with an open prison facility had an average daily population of 644. The figures given include failure to return from home leave, absconding, surrender by a prisoner and recapture of a prisoner. These will be much higher for Lindholme, since Wolds prisoners are remand prisoners who are not granted home leave, and because Wolds does not have an open prison facility.Mr. Clapham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the ratio of staff to prisoners at (a) HM prison Wolds and (b) HM prison Lindholme.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Michael Clapham, dated 8 May 1993 :
HM PRISONS WOLDS AND LINDHOLME The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the ratio of staff to prisoners at (a) HM Prison Wolds and (b) HM Prison Lindholme
The ratio of staff to prisoners at Wolds Remand Prison on 31 March 1993 was 1 :1.520. For HM Prison Lindholme the figure for the same day was 1 :1.518.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing (a) the total number of recorded crimes in 1992, (b) the number of crimes committed in each category in England and Wales for each quarter of 1992 and (c) the percentage increase that each figure represents over the equivalent quarter in 1991.
Mr. Jack : The required information is given in the table.
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Percentage change from corresponding period of previous year -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Violence against the person |9 |11 |2 |3 |6 Sexual offences |8 |-3 |-4 |1 |- Robbery |25 |16 |15 |13 |17 Burglary |16 |7 |9 |13 |11 Theft and handling stolen goods |8 |2 |- |3 |3 Fraud and forgery |3 |-3 |-5 |-8 |-4 Criminal damage |14 |3 |8 |14 |10 Other offences |21 |13 |15 |7 |14 |-------|-------|-------|-------|------- Total |11 |3 |3 |7 |6
Percentage change from corresponding period of previous year -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Violence against the person |9 |11 |2 |3 |6 Sexual offences |8 |-3 |-4 |1 |- Robbery |25 |16 |15 |13 |17 Burglary |16 |7 |9 |13 |11 Theft and handling stolen goods |8 |2 |- |3 |3 Fraud and forgery |3 |-3 |-5 |-8 |-4 Criminal damage |14 |3 |8 |14 |10 Other offences |21 |13 |15 |7 |14 |-------|-------|-------|-------|------- Total |11 |3 |3 |7 |6
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Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by each fire service the standard spending assessment for 1993-94.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The table sets out the fire and civil defence element of each English fire authority's standard spending assessment for 1993-94. There is no separately identifiable fire and civil defence element of Welsh fire authorities' standard spending assessments.
Fire and civil defence elements of English fire authorities' standard spending assessments for 1993-94 |£ million ------------------------------------------- Avon |20.473 Bedfordshire |11.073 Berkshire |16.601 Buckinghamshire |12.360 Cambridgeshire |12.039 Cheshire |20.103 Cleveland |19.464 Cornwall |7.181 Cumbria |8.753 Derbyshire |17.067 Devon |19.557 Dorset |12.063 Durham |12.973 East Sussex |14.891 Essex |31.445 Gloucestershire |9.605 Hampshire |31.585 Hereford and Worcester |12.116 Hertfordshire |20.328 Humberside |21.322 Isle of Wight |2..229 Kent |30.998 Lancashire |32.276 Leicestershire |16.924 Lincolnshire |9.583 Norfolk |13.010 Northamptonshire |11.260 Northumberland |5.823 North Yorkshire |12.001 Nottinghamshire |21.087 Oxfordshire |11.284 Shropshire |7.839 Somerset |7.693 Staffordshire |19.345 Suffolk |11.023 Surrey |22.133 Warwickshire |8.993 West Sussex |14.836 Wiltshire |10.054 London |242.568 Greater Manchester |70.787 Merseyside |47.118 South Yorkshire |28.117 Tyne and Wear |34.449 West Midlands |67.514 West Yorkshire |49.002 Isles of Scilly |0.053
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to publish an account of progress in the implementation of recommendations made after major disasters as recommended in the Hayes report on river safety.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : There are no plans to publish such an account. Efforts are concentrated on disseminating lessons learnt from disasters through incorporation into suitable guidance.
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters to him of 14 January, 19 February and 6 April with regard to Mr. A. Ali, of 39 Brynton road, sent to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend replied to the right hon. Member on 10 May 1993.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what mechanism courts enforce conditions attaching to the grant of bail ; which body holds the passport of an accused person where this has been required to be surrendered under bail conditions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The courts have wide discretion over the conditions which they may impose on a defendant to whom they have granted bail. Enforcement of any such conditions will depend upon the nature of the condition, but in the case of conditions requiring the person concerned to report to a police station, enforcement is for the police.
A person who has been granted bail may be arrested by the police without warrant if they have reasonable grounds for believing that he has broken, or is likely to break, bail conditions. Where the court has ordered the surrender of a passport as a condition of bail, the passport is obtained and kept by the police.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what current legislation in the United Kingdom a person can be prosecuted for allegedly trafficking in uranium ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham : I have been asked to reply.
Export of uranium in various forms from the United Kingdom without a licence is prohibited under the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1992 as amended. Import into the United Kingdom of various forms of uranium from non-EC sources without a licence is prohibited under the Import of Goods (Control) Order 1954 as amended. In addition there are controls in the legislation implementing sanctions resolutions of the United Nations. Full details of the controlled items and exceptions to the controls are given in the respective orders. Her Majesty's Customs and Excise enforce import and export restrictions and prosecute breaches under the provisions of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. Any information about possible breaches of the controls should be reported to them.
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Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which stacks at BNFL Sellafield are included in emissions authorisations as (a) schedule 1 stacks and (b) schedule 2 stacks.
Mr. Maclean : The schedule 1 stacks are the B204, B6 Vessel Vent and B230 stacks. The schedule 2 stacks are the B6 Cell Vent, B38 third extension, B355 and B389 stacks.
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Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the emissions from each schedule 1 stack at BNFL Sellafield for each year since records are available.
Mr. Maclean : The emissions for each schedule 1 stack are given in the table. Where there are no entries for particular radionuclides this reflects the fact that there was no potential for these radionuclides to be released from these stacks.
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All figures in Mbq. |Alpha |Beta |Sr90 |Ru106 |II29 |II37 |Cs137 |Pu |Pu24 |Am241 |R3 |C14 |Kr35 |Alpha |-Cm242 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B204 1988 |376 |969 |25 |415 |16,233 |1,312 |52 |260 |2,154 |65 |1.3E+06 1989 |263 |1,781 |35 |691 |19,131 |1,171 |70 |230 |1,464 |54 |2.7E+06 1990 |193 |1,525 |28 |359 |2,395 |373 |55 |134 |874 |30 |5.9E+08|3.7E+06|3.8E+10 1991 |159 |1,433 |32 |264 |6,099 |975 |62 |127 |659 |28 |6.2E+08|5.5E+06|4.5E+10 1992 |113 |1,127 |17 |263 |8,721 |1,163 |34 |89 |390 |19 |3.2E+08|2.2E+06|2.7E+10 B6 Vessel Vent 1988 |30 |269 |11 |1,854 |18 |31 |2 |20 |2 |1.8E+08|2.0E+06|3.9E+10 1989 |6 |48 |2 |117 |2 |4 |1 |8 |0 |1.8E+08|1.1E+06|5.2E+10 1990 1991 1992 B230 1988 |53 |986 |24 |61 |33 |229 |13 1989 |70 |1,709 |30 |66 |38 |222 |22 1990 |70 |1,944 |31 |78 |42 |374 |21 1991 |115 |1,953 |30 |70 |62 |648 |35 1992 |56 |1,832 |24 |32 |39 |282 |14 <1> Discharges from the B6 vessel vent were diverted to B204 from April 1989 onwards, to allow decommissioning work to proceed on the B6 Stacks.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the annual authorised limits for radioactive emissions from (a) schedule 1 stacks and (b) schedule 2 stacks at BNFL Sellafield.
Mr. Maclean : The annual authorised limits for schedule 1 and schedule 2 stacks at BNFL Sellafield are listed in the table :
Nuclide |Schedule 1 |Schedule 2 |(gigabecquerels)|(gigabecquerels) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Alpha |4.3 |5 Beta |58 |62 Am-241 & Cm-242 |0.9 |3.5 Cs 137 |4 |22 C-14 |30,000 |- I-129 |47 |41 I-131 |140 |64 Kr-85 |1X10<8> |- Pu-alpha |3.1 |0.19 Pu-241 |36.6 |7.4 Ru-106 |9 |60 Sr-90 |3.5 |5.4 H-3 |1.1X10<6> |-
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of (a) social and economic factors, (b) the proportion of the nation's designated bathing waters located and (c) recent and projected rises in average water bills in the different regions
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in determining policy over the funding of implementation of the EC's bathing waters, urban waste waters and shellfish waters directives.Mr. Maclean : The arrangements for the funding of the water industry under the legislation of 1989 took into account the varying purposes of capital expenditure in different areas. Water charges are controlled under statute by the Director General of Water Services and inter alia allow for the cost of meeting obligations under EC directives.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an assessment of the current emissions of methyl gas from landfill sites and its implications for global warming.
Mr. Maclean : Only a very rough estimate of methane emissions from landfill sites has been possible in the past because of considerable uncertainties in the basic information used to calculate a national figure. My Department has accordingly commissioned research by the energy technology support unit of DTI. Based on this research, our best estimate for methane emissions from landfill in the United Kingdom is approximately 2 million tonnes per annum, but with a possible range between 0.6 and 5 million tonnes per annum. These estimates will be revised and updated as more information on the factors affecting methane generation from landfill is obtained. Methane is the second most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. The Government are
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aiming to publish a national programme to meet the United Nations climate change convention commitment to return emissions of all greenhouse gases to their 1980 levels by the year 2000.Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now intends to bring forward legislation to provide for all national parks to be administered by independent boards.
Mr. Maclean : Our policy statement on the national parks, published in January 1992, promised legislation to create independent authorities for the eight national parks in England and Wales currently run as county council committees. We fully recognise the importance of this legislation and we intend to bring it forward at the earliest opportunity.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his oral answer of 28 April, Official Report, column 950, which developed countries currently cannot economically make provision for their own recycling of toxic waste.
Mr. Maclean : This information is not available. However, during negotiations on the EC waste shipments regulation not all member states welcomed as much as the United Kingdom the provisions relating to national self-sufficiency. The final text therefore enables member states to ban imports for disposal from other member states and EFTA countries unless the state of origin produces such a small quantity of hazardous waste that it would be unecononic to provide new specialised disposal facilities.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to create a coastal protection and planning unit as recommended by the Environment Select Committee in its second report of 1991-92, (HC 17).
Mr. Maclean : The Government in their response of July 1992 to the report of the Environment Select Committee on coastal zone protection and planning explained that coastal policy in the United Kingdom has, since 1991, been co-ordinated at official level through an interdepartmental group. The secretariat for this group is within the Department of the Environment. It would not be appropriate for the group to take on major executive functions.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to review current legislation for coastal zone activities.
Mr. Maclean : The Government in their response of July 1992 to the report of the Environment Select Committee on coastal zone protection and planning undertook to review legislation controlling development below the low water mark ; management of activities such as recreation in coastal waters ; and the regulation of marine aggregates dredging. The results of these reviews will be available later this year.
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Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for a national coastal strategy and for consolidating legislation and regulations to give effect to coastal zone management.
Mr. Maclean : The Government in their response of July 1992 to the report of the Environment Select Committee on coastal zone protection and planning stated its commitment to further the management of the coastal zone within a clear framework of national policy. Recent initiatives include planning guidance for the coast, support for heritage coasts, and a substantial programme of investment to improve the quality of coastal waters. Further work is under way on a national strategy for flood and coastal defence, reviews of the control of development below the low water mark and of marine aggregates extraction, and implementation of the EC habitats directive.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the Environmental Protection Agency to be given responsibility and powers to integrate and monitor coastal activities to ensure prudent coastal management.
Mr. Maclean : The Government have no such plans.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those powers and functions which are under consideration for local authorities' jurisdiction to extend below the low water mark.
Mr. Maclean : The Government stated in their response of July 1992 to the report of the Environment Select Committee on coastal zone protection and planning that they are not persuaded that extension of local authority planning powers is necessarily the most effective approach to the control of development below the low water mark. The Government are currently reviewing controls over development in this area, including construction projects, oil and gas exploitation, marine aggregates extraction and disposal at sea.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will name the parliamentary under secretaries and the Ministers of State responsible for advising the successive Secretaries of State for the Environment since 1981 on the social service standard spending assessment for Greenwich.
Mr. Robin Squire : Standard spending assessments were introduced for the first time in the financial year 1990-91. The current and previous Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and Ministers of State responsible for advising on these assessments are :
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Mr. Christopher Chope
Rt. Hon. Virginia Bottomley
Mr. Patrick Nicholls
Rt. Hon. Baroness Blatch
Mr. Robert Key
Mr. Robin Squire
Minister of State
Rt. Hon. Michael Howard
Rt. Hon. John Gummer
Rt. Hon. David Hunt
Rt. Hon. Michael Portillo
Mr. John Redwood
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Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the criteria used to calculate the land requirement for housing up to the year 2011 in the unitary development plan for Solihull.
Mr. Baldry : The Solihull unitary development plan incorporates a housing land requirement to 2001 as approved in "Strategic Guidance for the West Midlands", Planning Policy Guidance Note 10. Provision for the period beyond 2001 is for the local authority to determine in the light of the inspector's recommendations on its unitary development plan and national policy set down in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2 (Green Belts).
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