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Mr. Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which programmes and events for the European Year of Older People and Solidarity between Generations he has been directly involved.
Combination Orders
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many combination orders have been made since 17 October 1992 ; and how many have been breached to date.
Mr. Maclean : Combination orders were introduced on 1 October 1992 by the Criminal Justice Act 1991. Between 1 October 1992 and the end of June 1993 it is estimated that some 5,300 combination orders have commenced in England and Wales probation areas. Information on breaches is not yet available.
Strip Searches
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many strip searches have been carried out in England and Wales in the last five years ; and for what purposes strip searches are carried out.
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 A. J. Butler to Ms Jean Corston, dated 19 January 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about strip searching.
Prisons are not required to maintain statistics of the number of strip searches carried out. Strip searching is a routine security measure, carried out under the provisions of Rule 39 of the Prisons Rules 1964, to which all prisoners are subject. It enables prison officers to detect small items of contraband, such as drugs or a weapon, which may be concealed about the person and which might not be discovered in an ordinary rub-down search. The prospect of being strip-searched also acts as a deterrent to concealing such items.
City Status, Doncaster
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to support Doncaster being awarded city status ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the title of city is an honour conferred by the sovereign, by letters patent, on the recommendation of the Home Secretary. The title is nowadays a very rare distinction, granted only in exceptional circumstances and usually in connection with a royal occasion. Any application for city status on behalf of Doncaster would be considered in the usual way.
Football (Policing)
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing the total number of police officers on duty at Carling premiership and Endsleigh football league matches in England and Wales, the total number of police officers as a percentage of the total attendances for those matches and the total cost of those officers for the years 1991-92 and 1992-93.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not held centrally.
Door Supervisors
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he or his Department have received on a national registration scheme for door supervisors.
Mr. Charles Wardle : In the past six months, four letters have been received on this matter.
In addition, Home Office officials have met a group of interested parties, to discuss local regulatory schemes. Consideration is now being given to proposals prepared by that group and further discussions will take place shortly.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will bring forward proposals for a national registration scheme for door supervisors ;
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a national registration scheme for door supervisors.
Mr. Charles Wardle : There are no plans to introduce such a scheme.
Fir Tree Grange Probation Hostel
Ms Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from magistrates, the police and the probation service concerning his decision to close Fir Tree Grange approved probation hostel.
Mr. Maclean : No direct representations have been received from the police ; representations have however been made by Easington magistrates court and by a Member of Parliament and a Member of the European Parliament on behalf of members of Durham probation service. A 234-name petition against closure, including signatories from all three of these areas, has also been received.
Ms Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who was consulted before the decision was taken to close Fir Tree Grange approved probation hostel.
Mr. Maclean : For reasons of confidentiality it was not appropriate for consultation outside the Department to take place in advance of the Chancellor's autumn statement.
Ms Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received (a) in support of and (b) in opposition to the closure of Fir Tree Grange approved probation hostel.
Mr. Maclean : (a) None, (b) four, plus a 234-name petition.
Asylum
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the granting of political asylum to Rashid Ghannouchi ; if he has now given further consideration to his decision ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Representations expressing concern about this case have been received from several
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hon. Members, the Government of Tunisia and some members of the public. The decision has been re-examined and I am satisfied that it was correct. There are no present grounds for withdrawing Mr. Ghannouchi's refugee status. I will be writing to the hon. Member in response to his recent letters on this matter.Royal Veterinary College
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had from the department of veterinary pathology at the Royal Veterinary college in regard to his proposals about aggravated trespass ; and what reply he has sent.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend has received a letter from Professor Bleby of the Royal Veterinary college about our proposals. A number of right hon. and hon. Members have also sent copies of this letter to the Home Office. A copy of our reply will be forwarded to the right hon. Member.
Safer Cities Programme
Mr. Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to make an announcement about the selection of areas for the safer cities phase 2 programme.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I announced on 29 December that decisions have been made on the first wave of projects to be set up under phase 2 of the safer cities programme and on the organisations which will manage them on our behalf. The competitive nature of the bids received together with the commitment of additional resources from key local agencies means that projects can be set up in all 10 of the shortlisted areas.
After careful evaluation of the tenders two organisations have been chosen to run the projects : Crime Concern and the National Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders--NACRO. Both organisations have significant experience in crime prevention, project management and working with voluntary agencies.
Crime Concern will manage projects in Blackburn, Burnley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Manchester, Merthyr Tydfil and Plymouth and NACRO in Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield. Projects will start to come on stream early in the new year.
Further waves of phase 2 projects are planned, but as safer cities funding will be included in the single regeneration budget from 1 April 1994 decisions about future projects will be taken in conjunction with the Department of the Environment.
SCOTLAND
Forestry
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to draw up a plan for the implementation of the forest principles agreed at the Rio summit.
Sir Hector Monro : Our plan for the implementation of the forest principles agreed at the Rio summit will be published shortly.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what plans he has to sell off any of the forests
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owned by the Forestry Commission in the Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency under its current disposals programme;(2) if he will list all forests owned by the Forestry Commission in the Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency.
Sir Hector Monro : The Forestry Commission is preparing a list of all its woodlands in the hon. Member's constituency, and this will identify those which are currently being considered for sale. I shall send a copy to the hon. Member and I shall also arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list Forestry Commission property in the Cunninghame, South constituency and in Ayrshire as a whole.
Sir Hector Monro : There are no Forestry Commission woodlands in the hon. Member's constituency. The commission is currently preparing a list of its woodlands in Ayrshire and I shall send a copy to the hon. Member. I shall also arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
Livingston Development Corporation
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total value of assets owned by Livingston development corporation.
Mr. Lang : The corporation's annual report 1992-93 shows that the value of Livingston's total fixed assets at 31 March 1993 was £238.7 million.
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what target for capital receipts from sale of property and land he has set for Livingstone development corporation for the next two years.
Mr. Lang : The provisional targets set are as follows :
£ million
|Housing |Industrial|Total
|Commercial
|and Land
-------------------------------------------------------
1994-95 |7.677 |26.900 |34.577
1995-96 |8.375 |42.340 |50.715
These will be the subject of further discussion with the development corporation before final targets are set.
Ministerial Cars
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will quantify the cost of the factors which led to an increase in the cost of cars for Ministers in his Department since 1990-91.
Mr. Lang : The cost of providing cars for Ministers in my Department increased by £11,877--5 per cent.--over the period 1990-91 to 1992-93. The difference is due to modest cost increases in a number of areas, notably fuel and maintenance costs and salaries and associated staff costs.
Data Protection
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make arrangements for the Data Protection Registrar to inspect relevant contracts with suppliers of IT
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services that involve the use of personal data held by his Department in order to check whether all appropriate arrangements in relation to the Data Protection Act 1984 have been made, and whether such contracts make provisions for the registrar to make random inspections in order to check the suppliers' compliance in with the eighth data protection principle.Mr. Lang : The Data Protection Regstrar has a wide range of powers, under the Data Protection Act 1984, to ensure that all individuals and organisations holding personal data on computer systems are registered and observe the data protections principles as required by the Act. When IT services are contracted out by a data user, the contractor and the user will be subject to the application of the data protection principles, and to the registrar's powers to promote compliance with them, as provided for in the Act. It is for the registrar to decide how he will use his powers under the Act, and I do not consider that any further arrangements are necessary for him to discharge his duties effectively.
Departmental Files
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Scottish Office files were destroyed last year ; and what general subject matter, by category, was contained in them.
Mr. Land : A total of 155,097 files--out of a total of over 1.5 million--were destroyed during 1993 following consultation with the Scottish Record Office. The subject matter covered the full range of Scottish Office functions. The split among Departments is :
|Number
----------------------------------------------
Agriculture and Fisheries |7,904
Environment |15,509
Education |<1>48,002
Industry |5,660
Home and Health |<2>70,616
Central Services |7,406
<1> Includes case files relating to student
awards.
<2> Includes case files relating to teacher
and NHS pensions.
General Practitioners
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many general practitioners received gross payments in excess of £200,000 per year in each year since 1991-92.
Mr. Stewart : The information is not available for 1991-92 and is available for 1992-93 only on a practice basis. In 1992-93 the average payment per general practitioner within a practice exceeded £200,000 in 12 practices containing a total of 13 practitioners. All 12 of the practices were dispensing practices and the payments included all payments in respect of dispensing--including payments for the supply of drugs--as well as the usual gross payments in respect of the provision of general medical services.
Museums and Galleries (Attendances)
Mr. Faulds : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the attendance figures for 1993 reported by the national museums and galleries in Scotland, broken
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down into the individual institutions but including their outstations, with figures in each case of the percentage increase or decrease on the attendance figures for 1992.Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1994] : The information is as follows :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The national museums of Scotland comprise the Royal museum of Scotland buildings at Chambers street and Queen street, Edinburgh, the Scottish Agricultural museum, the Scottish United Services museum, the Museum of Flight, the Museum of Costume and the Gasworks museum. The national galleries of Scotland comprise the National Gallery of Scotland, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Scottish National Portrait gallery.
Special Education Services
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has had in relation to proposed local government reform from Mr. Sandy Watson, director of education for Dundee, on behalf of the Scottish Directors of Education, relating to the provision of specialist education services for the handicapped, pupils in music, and other groups, dependent on large-scale education authorities for the current standard of provision.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 18 January 1994] : I have received a number of representations from Mr. Watson in his capacity as secretary to the professional association of the education directorate, on behalf of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland in connection with our proposals for local government reform.
In his most recent letter, dated 14 December 1993 written on behalf of the association and other bodies and addressed to all Scottish Members of Parliament, Mr. Watson expressed concern that small authorities with reduced spending power would have difficulty in maintaining professional support services and that special needs provision would be vulnerable. I believe this concern is capable of being satisfactorily addressed within the Government's proposal.
Salmon
Sir Cranley Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultation he has now had, following the report of the Salmon Advisory Committee, about the provision of fish passes and fish screens ; and whether he now intends to make regulations on this question under the provisions of the Salmon Act 1986.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 14 January 1994] : Consideration is now being given to the responses received, in the latter part of 1993, from the wide range of interests consulted on proposals for new Scottish fish pass and fish screen regulations. I hope to lay the regulations before Parliament by the summer.
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Scottish Art
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publish the submission received from the trustees of the national galleries for Scotland in respect of the proposal to build a new gallery of Scottish art ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will publish representations received by him in respect of the proposal to build a new gallery of Scottish art ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 17 January 1994] : My right hon. Friend has not yet received any fully developed and costed proposals from the board of trustees and it would therefore be premature for him to make a statement. It will be for the board in the first instance to decide whether or not to publish details of its submission.
My right hon. Friend will certainly taken into account all of the representations received on this issue but it would be inappropriate to publish representations put to him in correspondence, some of which have been marked specifically as "confidential".
Mr. Laurence Peterken
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date a cheque was sent to Mr. Laurence Peterken, terminating his employment ; what was the amount of the cheque ; what the payment was in respect of ; and when this cheque was cashed.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 17 January 1994] : Greater Glasgow health board sent Mr. Laurence Peterken on 4 November 1993 a cheque for £36,447.45, representing six months' pay in lieu of notice and payment for work undertaken on 1 and 2 November. The cheque, which had already been cancelled, was returned uncashed by Mr. Peterken to Greater Glasgow health board on 23 November.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the appointment offered to Mr. Laurence Peterken on 12 November 1993 of special projects director was conditional on his not accepting the six months' pay in lieu of notice granted by Greater Glasgow health board.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 17 January 1994] : When Mr. Peterken was appointed special projects director, he relinquished all claims for payment of whatever kind other than pension payments and outstanding salary and performance-related pay relative to his employment with Greater Glasgow health board. This was a condition of his appointment and it would have applied to any payment in lieu of notice.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Hamilton, (Mr. Robertson) of 14 December 1993, Official Report , column 604 , what was the sum involved in granting Mr. Laurence Peterken six months' pay in lieu of notice, and for what reason no payment had been made to Mr. Peterken by 14 December 1993.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 17 January 1994] : The sum involved in respect of six months' pay in lieu of notice to Mr. Laurence Peterken was £36,223.50. The cheque, which had already been cancelled, was returned uncashed by Mr. Peterken to Greater Glasgow health board on
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23 November in accordance with the conditions relating to his appointment as special project director with the national health service in Scotland. No payment had therefore been made to Mr. Peterken by 14 December either in lieu of notice or as compensation for leaving Greater Glasgow health board prematurely.Column 712
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact of the changes to statutory sick pay provision upon his departmental budget for the financial year 1994-95.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 17 January 1994] : The abolition of reimbursement for statutory sick pay will be offset, at least in part, by a 0.2 per cent. reduction in employer's national insurance contributions. Any additional costs will be absorbed within my Department's existing running costs baseline.
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