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Mr. Key : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley), Official Report, column 710, on 15 December 1993.
Vehicle Excise Duty Offences
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) of 15 December, Official Report, column 713, how many no further steps codes are used in relation to reports of vehicle excise duty offences ; and how many offences were written off for each of those codes in 1992- 93.
Mr. Key : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North, Official Report, column 712, on 15 December 1993.
Urban Motorways
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to franchise urban motorways ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : We have at present no such plans. My right hon. Friend announced on 2 December, Official Report, column 650, that we would invite the private sector to bid for contracts under which--would design, build, finance and operate roads for which--would receive payment from Government in relation to the use of those roads ; and that we would develop options for the future for more extensive use of private finance. It is too soon to say what the longer-term options might include.
Airport Departures
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his written answer of 27 January, Official Report, column 393-94, if he will provide a separate breakdown of departures for each United Kingdom airport listed in his answer.
Mr. Norris : Notwithstanding the question of commercial confidentiality of this information, a breakdown of the figures requested is not held by the Department and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Information on total passenger movements at individual United Kingdom airports is published by the Civil Aviation Authority in its "Annual Statements of Movements, Passengers and Cargo". The figures for 1992 are contained in CAA publication CAP614.
Cash Limits
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to change his Department's cash limits and running costs limits for 1993-94.
Mr. MacGregor : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made : (
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(i) the cash limit for class VI, vote 1-- national roads, England--will be reduced by £5,200,000 from £2,254,997,000 to £2,249, 797,000. This decrease reflects a transfer to class VI, vote 2 partially offset by a transfer of funds from the Department of National Heritage.(ii) the cash limit for class VI, vote 2--administration and transport services--will be increased by £10,778,000 from £202,236,000 to £213,014,000 and the Department's gross running costs limit will be reduced by £309,000 from £428,774,000 to £428,465,000. The increase in the cash limit includes various inter-departmental transfers, increased expenditure and a shortfall in receipts on Eurocontrol, increased expenditure on the sale of the DVOIT agency and items of administrative capital and a shortfall of receipts from the recovery of administrative costs and various repayment services. These increases are partially offset by a reduction in running costs and miscellaneous administrative services. There is a reduction of £782,000 from £950,000 to £168,000 in the net running cost limit for DVOIT.
(iii) the cash limit for class VI, vote 4 will be reduced by £3,037,000 from £180,778,000 to £177,741,000. This decrease reflects a transfer to class VI, vote 2 and a reduction arising from demand financing arrangements.
(iv) the DOT/LACAP cash limit will be increased by £1,376,000 from £457,135,000 to £458,511,000. This increase reflects a transfer from the DOE/UA cash limit.
The overall increase will be offset by transfers and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Cash Limits
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes are proposed in her Department's cash limits for 1993-94.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class III, vote 4-- Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food : agricultural, food and fishing services--will be reduced by £12,056,000 from £366,814,000 to £354,758,000. Within this limit, expenditure will be reduced by £10,570,000 on agricultural schemes and by £1,398,000 on flood protection. These reductions reflect a predicted decrease in demand and delay in implementation in further areas of these schemes. The remaining reduction--£88,000--reflects a transfer of funds to the Overseas Development Administration for the St. Petersburg model farm.
Ministers (Travel)
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the (a) budgeted and (b) actual expenditure by her Department on (1) internal and (2) overseas travel by the Minister of State since 27 May 1993.
Mr. Jack : The travel and subsistence budget for myself and my private office staff for the 1993-94 financial year, including the cost of services provided by the Government car service, is £104,251. Expenditure to the end of December 1993 was £74,559. The budget does not differentiate between internal and overseas travel.
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Beef Special Premium
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the number of recorded claims for the beef special premium in England and Wales ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : In 1993, there were just below 1.4 million first premium claims and just below 450,000 second premium claims under the beef special premium scheme in England and Wales. These figures are still subject to revision.
Offal
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make it her policy to ban the use of offal from calves under the age of six months in meat products ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : I have no plans to do so. There is no scientific justification for banning the use of any offal from calves under six months of age. This is based on advice from the Government's independent scientific advisers and is supported by the Department of Health and by international bodies such as the European Commission, the World Health Organisation and the Office International des Epizooties.
Arable Aid, Northumberland
Mr. Beith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what delays have occurred in payments of arable aid to farmers in Northumberland who are growers of commercial oilseed rape as a result of computer failure in the Ministry's Carlisle office ; what office the cheques are now being paid from ; and whether all payments due to be made by 31 December have now been paid.
Mr. Jack : Sixteen producers in Northumberland who claimed set-aside payments in respect of oilseed rape grown as a non-food crop on set-aside land were affected by a temporary problem at Carlisle, as a result of which aid for areas planted to other arable crops was excluded from their payments. As soon as this problem was identified, steps were taken at Carlisle to pay the outstanding balances. Payable orders for all payments due to be made by 31 December 1993 to producers in Northumberland have now been issued except for two claims on which there are unresolved queries.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which appointments since 1979 to public bodies or posts for which she is responsible have included candidates nominated by the Chief Whip's Office ; if any nominees by this source have been appointed ; and if she will give details.
Mr. Jack : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 2 February, at column 736.
Touche Ross
Mr. Darling : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if her Department or any agencies for which she is responsible has engaged the services of the firm Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
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Mr. Jack [holding answer 3 February 1994] : Yes, the Department has engaged the services of the firm Touche Ross since July 1993. I have asked chief executives to reply on behalf of their agencies.
Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 3 February 1994 :
The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about use by the Department or any of its Agencies of the services of the firm Touche Ross since 1 July 1993.
The Central Veterinary Laboratory has made no use of the services of this company within that timescale.
Letter from P. I. Stanley to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 3 February 1994 :
EMPLOYMENT OF TOUCHE ROSS OR ANY OF ITS PARTNERS SINCE 1 JULY 1993.
The Central Science Laboratory (CSL) became a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food executive agency on 1 April 1992. I confirm that the CSL Agency has not engaged the services of Touche Ross nor to my knowledge any of its partners since 1 July 1993. Letter from Guy Stapleton to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 3 February 1994 :
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your parliamentary Question asking if the Agency has engaged the services of the firm Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
The Intervention Board has not entered into any contracts with Touche Ross since 1 July 1993, and the company is not currently doing any work for the Agency.
Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 3 February 1994 :
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply directly to you on this matter.
The Pesticides Safety Directorate, an Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has not engaged the services of Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
Letter from J. M. Rutter to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 3 February 1994 :
The Minister of State has asked me to reply for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to your Question about the employment of Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
I can confirm that the VMD has not engaged the services of this firm or any of its partners in the period you have identified. Letter from Dr. J. M. Walsh to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 4 February 1994 :
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your Question on whether her Department or any agencies for which she is responsible has engaged the services of the firm of Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
I can confirm that since 1 July 1993 the ADAS agency has not engaged the services of Touche Ross or any of its partners.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Cash Limits
Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to the 1993-94 cash limits within his responsibilities and to his Department's running costs limits.
Mr. Howard : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class VIII, vote 2--prisons, England and Wales--will be increased by £8,700,000 from £1,524,554, 000 to £1,533,254,000.
The additional provision is necessary because of the need to meet costs arising from the cancellation of the planned new Prison Service headquarters. The increase will be met from provision reserved for this purpose by HM Treasury and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
The cash limit for class VIII, vote 3--Home Office administration, immigration and police support services, England Wales--will be reduced by £1,930,000 from £1,312,481,000 to £1,310,551,000 to reflect transfers to the Department for Education, Property Holdings and the Department of the Environment, and to offset part of the new expenditure proposed in class VIII, vote 1--police, Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and other grants, England and Wales.
The Home Office gross running cost limit will be reduced by £10,357,000 from £1,653,927,000 to £1,643,570,000 to reflect a reallocation of money between subheads in class VIII, vote 2.
The local authority capital non-voted cash limit will be decreased by £358,000 from £125,593,000 to £125,235,000. The reduced provision results from the transfer of unallocated supplementary credit approvals from the Home Office to the Welsh Office, for the purpose of the replacement of fire service mobilisation and communications systems.
Police Cautions
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions govern contracts between policemen or employees of the police and newspapers as respects details of charges or cautions (a) when no money changes hands and (b) when money changes hands ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Any unauthorised disclosure by an officer of any information coming into his possession as a member of the police force is a disciplinary offence, of which the maximum penalty is dismissal. Were money or other consideration to be accepted, the possibility would also arise that the common law offence of bribery had been committed.
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions he has given to chief constables with regard to the confidentiality of official police cautions and revelations of the details of those cautions to the press.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Responsibility for authorising disclosure of information to the press rests with chief officers. Unauthorised disclosure is a disciplinary offence.
Home Office guidance to chief officers indicates that police records of convictions, cautions and related
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information should normally be regarded as confidential, but that information may be released to third parties when to do so would be in the interests of national security, the protection of the vulnerable, to ensure probity in the administration of the law ; or where it was a requirement of licensing or similar provisions.Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is within the jurisdiction of the Police Complaints Authority to investigate complaints from the public regarding details of official cautions which have been revealed to the press and to ascertain if any payment was received for this information.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Such a complaint would fall within the jurisdiction of the Police Complaints Authority.
The responsibility for investigating a complaint rests with the chief officer of the force concerned. The Police Complaints Authority reviews the report of every investigation and has the power to supervise the investigation of serious complaints.
Prison Education
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with whom in his Department responsibility for prison education in England and Wales lies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Director General of the Prison Service is directly accountable to the Home Secretary for the Prison Service's performance and operations including arrangements for the provision of education to prisoners. He is also the Home Secretary's principal policy adviser on matters relating to the Prison Service.
Fire and Rescue Services
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the actual spending in the current financial year on fire and rescue in each local authority in England and Wales ;
(2) what is the actual spending per head on fire and rescue in the current financial year for each local authority in England and Wales.
Mr. Howard : Fire authorities budgeted spending on fire and civil defence for 1993-94 is shown in total terms and per head of population in the table.
|1993-94 Fire and |Spending
|Civil Defence |per head (£)
|budgeted spending
|(£ million)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
County Fire Authority
Avon |21.829 |22.7
Bedfordshire |11.780 |22.0
Berkshire |15.798 |21.0
Buckinghamshire |12.318 |19.2
Cambridgeshire |13.795 |20.6
Cheshire |21.002 |21.7
Cleveland |20.128 |36.1
Cornwall |10.146 |21.4
Cumbria |11.813 |24.1
Derbyshire |18.272 |19.4
Devon |22.240 |21.4
Dorset |13.748 |20.7
Durham |13.914 |23.0
East Sussex |16.600 |23.2
Essex |34.667 |22.4
Gloucestershire |10.285 |19.1
Hampshire |27.823 |17.7
Hereford and Worcester |12.025 |17.5
Hertfordshire |19.547 |19.7
Humberside |22.168 |25.4
Isle of Wight |3.396 |26.8
Kent |35.138 |22.8
Lancashire |33.320 |23.7
Leicestershire |14.878 |16.7
Lincolnshire |11.641 |19.6
Norfolk |14.999 |19.8
Northamptonshire |11.460 |19.5
Northumberland |8.433 |27.5
North Yorkshire |14.718 |20.4
Nottinghamshire |20.784 |20.5
Oxfordshire |11.326 |19.5
Shropshire |8.040 |19.5
Somerset |9.349 |19.9
Staffordshire |18.577 |17.7
Suffolk |12.770 |19.3
Surrey |26.288 |25.4
Warwickshire |11.574 |23.6
West Sussex |16.122 |22.5
Wiltshire |10.267 |17.8
Isles of Scilly |0.088 |44.0
Fire and Civil Defence
Authority
London |247.749 |36.4
Greater Manchester |70.516 |27.5
Merseyside |47.429 |32.9
South Yorkshire |30.104 |23.3
Tyne and Wear |33.803 |30.0
West Midlands |66.728 |25.5
West Yorkshire |52.392 |25.4
Wales
Clwyd |8.756 |21.2
Dyfed |8.534 |24.3
Gwent |11.419 |25.6
Gwynedd |6.127 |25.5
Mid Glamorgan |12.795 |23.6
Powys |2.914 |24.5
South Glamorgan |9.508 |23.4
West Glamorgan |9.460 |25.7
Note: The information relating to England is expenditure to compare
with SSAs. It is derived from the budgeted expenditure on services
provided by the authorities to the Department of the Environment on
form RA93-94, converted to outturn prices where necessary and
including amounts for capital expenditure charged to revenue and
other contingencies as appropriate, net of specific and spcial grants.
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the standard spending assessments for the current financial year for fire and rescue services in each local authority in England and Wales.
Mr. Howard : Standard spending assessments for 1993-94 relate to fire and civil defence expenditure. The information requested in relation to England is given in the table. Individual services are not separately identified in SSAs for Welsh local authorities.
(£ million)
County Fire |1993-94 Fire and
Authority
|Civil Defence SSA
-----------------------------------------------------------
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 |12.065
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
Isles of Scilly |0.053
Fire and Civil Defence Authority
London |247.910
Greater Manchester |72.754
Merseyside |48.327
South Yorkshire |29.683
Tyne and Wear |35.357
West Midlands |69.070
West Yorkshire |50.752
Note: The SSAs shown for county fire authorities take no
account of
capital financing costs.
Taylforth Libel Case
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report on why it was necessary for the Hertfordshire police to hire Mr. Richard Rampton QC in relation to the Gillian Taylforth libel action against The Sun newspaper ; who would have paid for this if she had won her case and been awarded costs ; and what amount the police agreed to pay for (i) the Queen's counsel, (ii) junior counsel, (iii) solicitors and (iv) in total.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I understand that the Hertfordshire constabulary was not represented in the case in question. I am informed by the Commissioner that the
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Metropolitan police was represented by Mr. Richard Rampton QC, because the Metropolitan police has been joined in the proceedings as a third party by The Sun newspaper. Had the plaintiffs' claim succeeded, liability for third party's costs would have fallen to be decided at that point. The Metropolitan police's legal costs have yet to be calculated.Police Protection
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of the spending of each police authority devoted to providing police protection for (a) the Prime Minister and (b) other members of the Government were met by each police authority in (1) 1992-93 and (2) so far in 1993-94 ; (2) what percentage of the total cost of providing police protection for (a) the Prime Minister and (b) other members of the Government were met by each police authority in (1) 1992-93 and (2) so far in 1993-94 ;
(3) what was the spending (a) in 1992-93 and (b) so far in 1993-94 on providing police protection for (i) the Prime Minister and (ii) other members of the Government (1) in total and (2) broken down by police authority.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information about the cost of specific police operations is not collected centrally. Expenditure on protection duties qualifies in the usual way for police grant at 51 per cent. and for revenue support grant from the Department of the Environment, leaving only some 15 to 20 per cent. to be raised locally.
HMP Pucklechurch
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to rebuild or replace HMP Pucklechurch as a male remand centre, suitable for young offenders.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mr. Robert Maclennan, dated 4 February 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about plans to rebuild or replace HMP Pucklechurch as a male remand centre, suitale for young offenders.
The Prison Service has no such plans. Pucklechurch has not been used as a male remand centre since April 1990. It is intended that the female prison will close in October 1995, after which the site may be sold.
Psychotherapy (Offenders)
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines his Department has issued to the probation service on the provision of psychotherapy for offenders in their care.
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