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ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Attorney-General how many cases the Crown Prosecution Service has not brought
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The Attorney-General : The number of defendants whose case did not proceed in each of the last seven years was :
|Numbers
------------------------
<1>1987 |118,991
1988 |194,693
1989 |213,965
1990 |227,489
1991 |262,139
1992 |281,121
<2>1993 |218,466
<1> April to December.
<2> January to
September.
These figures include cases where proceedings were dropped by the CPS, cases where the prosecution was unable to proceed because the defendant had died or could not be traced, and cases adjourned sine die.
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Attorney-General what was the level of expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service for each of the last seven years for which figures are available.
The Attorney-General : Gross expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service from its two votes in each of the last seven years was as follows :
|£'000
---------------------------
<1>1986-87 |74,153
1987-88 |133,840
1988-89 |156,882
1989-90 |184,141
1990-91 |213,431
1991-92 |242,677
1992-93 |273,748
<1> Part year.
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Attorney-General how many cases were brought to court in which the Crown Prosecution Service failed to secure a conviction for each of the last seven years for which figures are available.
The Attorney-General : The number of defendants whose case was dismissed in magistrates' courts and the number acquitted in the Crown Court for the last seven years was :
|Magistrates courts|Crown Court
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<1>1987 |20,051 |6,122
1988 |25,853 |9,422
1989 |27,437 |9,369
1990 |28,795 |8,726
1991 |26,644 |9,551
1992 |25,210 |9,227
<2>1993 |16,781 |6,900
<1> April to December.
<2> January to September.
The Attorney-General : The table provides the numbers of full-time staff equivalent employed by the Crown Prosecution Service in October each year, beginning in 1986.
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Category |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lawyers |1,208 |1,269.5 |1,374.5 |1,427.5 |1,611.5 |1,874.5 |2,068.5 |2,181.5
Legal Trainees |- |- |- |- |79 |123 |121 |144
Administrators |1,910 |2,841 |2,629.8 |3,100.5 |3,487.5 |3,674.5 |4,094.5 |4,191.5
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |3, 118 |3,750.5 |4,004.3 |4,528 |5,178 |5,672 |6,284 |6,517
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Television Franchises
14. Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many representations he has received on the recent change in the law relating to television franchises and its possible effect on smaller, regional television companies.
Mr. Brooke : This year, I have received 69 representations from hon. Members on the ownership restrictions on the ITV companies, as well as 22 from broadcasters, advertisers, other organisations and 20 from members of the public. The correspondence has included comments about the smaller regional television companies.
Business Sponsorship Incentive Scheme
15. Mr. Duncan Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what are the latest figures from the business sponsorship incentive scheme.
Mr. Sproat : The figures for 1992-93 indicate a record increase of 33 per cent. in the number of awards and an
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additional £1.9 million for the arts. It is likely that in 1993-94 the scheme will prove to be even more effective. In recognition of the great success of the scheme, I recently announced that I am increasing its budget by £300,000 to £4.8 million in 1994-95.BBC Licence Fee
18. Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he next plans to meet the chairman of the BBC governors to discuss the BBC licence fee.
Mr. Brooke : I have no plans at present to meet the chairman of the BBC to discuss the television licence fee.
National Lottery
20. Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the site of the headquarters of the national lottery.
Mr. Sproat : The site of the headquarters of the national lottery will be a matter for the appointed licensee. Those tendering for the licence will be aware of the advantages of locating in an area receiving Government incentives.
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Councils of Ministers
21. Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proposals he has made, following the decisions of the European Councils in Edinburgh 1992 and Brussels 1993, to increase the transparency and accountability of decision-making, including the recording of votes for each member state, at meetings of European Community Councils of Ministers at which his Department is represented ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Brooke : The Government fully support the conclusions reached at Edinburgh and Brussels on openness. On the matter of recording of votes, the Foreign Affairs Council on 6 December agreed that votes on legislative decisions would be published automatically unless a majority of the Council opposed this. This is fully consistent with the conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council last December. Voting details are now published by the Council secretariat after Council meetings. We shall ensure that this information is provided to Parliament.
Windsor Castle Fire
22. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is the latest estimated total cost to public funds of the Windsor castle fire.
Mr. Sproat : It is at present estimated that the cost of the Windsor castle restoration will be between £30 and £40 million of which about £9 to £12 million will be met from public funds.
Independent Television
23. Sir Jim Spicer : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is his policy on independent television.
Mr. Brooke : My aim is to ensure that the regulatory framework allows the ITV companies to flourish and to maintain and improve the programme services they provide to audiences in the United Kingdom and overseas, where new opportunities are opening up for United Kingdom broadcasters.
Opera
24. Mr. Jenkin : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what research he has conducted into the popularity of opera ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Brooke : Figures made available to the Arts Council by the British Market Research Bureau indicate that 2.8 million--or over 6 per cent.--of the adult population attend opera performances. This represents an increase of over 30 per cent. in the last five years. Recent studies have also shown that, in addition to those who attend opera, 7 million people now have an interest in the art form. I warmly congratulate all those involved in opera in this country on this remarkable achievement.
Television Programmes
25. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what requirement he has placed on commercial television companies to broadcast British-made programmes ; if this requirement applies to BSkyB ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Brooke : Under the Broadcasting Act 1990, Channel 3 licence holders are required to broadcast regional programmes, of which a suitable proportion should be made within the area. No such requirement applies to BSkyB. But under the EC Television Without Frontiers Directive, all United Kingdom broadcasters, where practicable, have to reserve a majority of their transmission time, subject to certain exclusions, for European works.
Arts Events
26. Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how he intends to improve on the latest figures for attendance at arts events.
Mr. Brooke : The improvement of access to the arts is a cornerstone of the Government's policies for the arts, and is also a primary aim of the Arts Council. All Arts Council clients work to enlarge their audiences. Specific marketing initiatives support and direct their work ; the latest figures point to the continuing success of these initiatives.
Tourism
27. Mr. Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many civil servants his Department employs with responsibilities for tourism ; and what is the total cost of their salaries.
Mr. Sproat : There are 20 staff employed in my Department's tourism division, including one who works part-time. It is part of the division's role to ensure that the British Tourist Authority and the English tourist board make effective and efficient use of the money voted to them by Parliament. The division's salary budget for 1993-94 is £448,820.
BBC Funding
28. Mr. Fabricant : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what consideration he has given to the funding of the BBC ; and when he plans to publish his proposals concerning the renewal of the BBC charter.
Mr. Brooke : I hope to publish a White Paper early next year setting out the Government's proposals for the future of the BBC, including its funding.
Sport (Drug Misuse)
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if, when he next meets the chairman of the Sports Council, he will discuss with him the problems of drug misuse in sport.
Mr. Sproat : My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of the Sports Council regularly to discuss matters of mutual concern, including the misuse of drugs in sport.
Orchestral Concerts
Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many orchestral concerts he has attended in his official capacity since taking office ; and how many of these were in London.
Mr. Brooke : Since taking office I have attended 23 concerts involving orchestras or ensembles of various size : 18 of these were in London.
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Rugby Football
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what grants from public funds have been paid to the Rugby Football Union for the rebuilding of its ground at Twickenham ; what further grants are proposed ; and if he will make a statement.
Ecclesiastical Buildings
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what changes he is considering in relation to the way in which listed building consent is unnecessary for work in connection with ecclesiastical buildings owned by the Church of England.
Mr. Brooke : The intention is that the exemption should in future be confined to buildings used primarily as places of worship, and some curtilage structures, and should be available to the Church of England and other church bodies whose internal control systems for works to such buildings meet the requirements of the code of practice which I published on 17 December 1992 at column 370. Following discussions with Church and amenity interests, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are considering to what extent curtilage structures should be included in these arrangements, and what special provision should be made for cathedral complexes. Our conclusions will be embodied in an order under section 60(5) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, which will be laid before the House in due course.
Film Industry
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what consultations he has had with representatives of the film industry.
Mr. Brooke : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison).
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his definition of (a) security assurances and (b) security guarantees with regard to (i) the use of nuclear weapons by the United Kingdom against a non-nuclear weapon state and (ii) the commitment of the United Kingdom to defend a non-nuclear weapon state against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We regard a security guarantee as a commitment through an alliance, such as it contained in article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, under which we and other states parties have undertaken collectively to take the necessary action to restore and maintain the security of each state member of the Atlantic alliance. We have in addition issued positive and negative nuclear security assurances to certain non- nuclear weapon states in the following terms :
"The United Kingdom affirms its intention, as a Permament Member of the United Nations Security Council, to seek
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immediate Security Council action to provide assistance, in accordance with the Charter, to any non-nuclear-weapon State, party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, that is a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used."This assurance was given in the United Nations Security Council on 17 June 1968 and was welcomed by the Security Council resolution 255 two days later.
"Britain undertakes not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States, which are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to other internationally binding commitments not to manufacture or acquire nuclear explosive devices, except in the case of an attack on the United Kingdom, it's dependent territories, it's armed forces or it's allies by such a State in asociation or alliance with a nuclear-weapon state. The United Kingdom gave this assurance at the United Nations special session on disarmament on 28 June 1978.
Ukraine
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the ratification of the START--strategic arms reduction talks--1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We issued a statement on 30 November about the Ukrainian Parliament's resolution which ratified the START 1 treaty. A copy of the statement has been placed in the House of Commons library.
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to meet Ukrainian officials and politicians to discuss the ratification of the START 1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We have already discussed this question with Ukrainian Government officials, and have made clear our concerns along the lines of the public statement we made on 30 November, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. We have also made our views clear to members of the Ukrainian Parliament.
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has received from Ukraine a draft treaty on security guarantees for Ukraine ; and what plans his Department has to respond to such a draft treaty.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have received from the Ukrainian ambassador a copy of a draft security treaty for signature by the five nuclear weapon states. The draft treaty would come into force on entry into force of the START 1 treaty, and it does not commit Ukraine to accession to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty--NPT--as a non-nuclear weapon state. We have made clear to the Ukrainian Government that Ukraine will be covered by our national security assurances once she accedes to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to discuss the ratification of the START 1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November with his NATO counterparts (a) prior to and (b) at the NATO summit in January 1994 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : This question was discussed at the ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council on 2
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December. Allies agreed that NATO should consider in the context of preparations for its January summit what steps the alliance might take to encourage the early entry into force and rapid implementation of all provisions of the START 1 treaty.Cyprus
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent Council of Europe document concerning the influx of illegal settlers from Turkey into northern Cyprus ; and if he will make a statement on Government policy regarding this official Council of Europe document.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We too are concerned by reports of an influx of settlers from Turkey into northern Cyprus. The issue needs to be addressed in the context of an overall settlement. We share the hope of the United Nations Secretary-General that progress can be made with a resumption of intercommunal talks in the new year. We shall continue to support him in his efforts to achieve this.
Kashmir
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Indian Government as to the recent activities of the Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir following the disturbance at Sopore in which a number of people were killed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs discussed the security situation in Kashmir with the Indian Prime Minister and Home Minister on 15 November. Following the incident at Sopore on 26 November our high commission in New Delhi asked the Indian Home Ministry for details. We were informed that some 15 people were killed, including 11 militants, following an attack on the Indian army.
Endangered Species
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 29 November, Official Report, column 278, if he will specify the seal and whale species for which the Norwegian Government are requesting exemptions from the European Council habitats directive.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Norwegian Government have asked for exemptions from the European Community's habitats directive in respect of grey, harbour, harp, hooded and ring seals ; and minke, fin and killer whales.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to resist any attempt by the Norwegian Government to secure exemptions from the EC habitats directive in respect of seals and whales.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We oppose the commercial hunting of whales and support the listing of seal species in the annexes of the EC Habitats Directive. Norway's requests for exemptions from the directive are, however, a matter for the Community as a whole. We shall consult with other member states in preparing the Community's response.
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Committee of the Regions
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the full membership of the British delegation to the European Union Committee of the Regions.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : As I told the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Evans) in my written reply on 28 October at column 735 , we have proposed the following list of nominees for appointment by the Council to the European Community Committee of the Regions : England
Councillor Simon Day
Devon County
Conservative
Lady Anson DL JP
Waverley District
Conservative
Sir Peter Bowness CBE Dl
London Borough of Croydon
Conservative
Councillor Colin Warbrick CBE
Trafford Metropolitan Borough
Conservative
Councillor Christopher Penn
Suffolk County
Conservative
Councillor Toby Harris
London Borough of Haringey
Labour
Councillor Albert Bore
Birmingham Metropolitan Borough
Labour
Councillor Josie Farrington
Lancashire County
Labour
Councillor George Gill
Gateshead Metropolitan Borough
Labour
Councillor Dennis Pettitt
Nottinghamshire County
Labour
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