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Hospital Visits
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hospital visits have been allowed to prisoners from (a) Durham, (b) Frankland and (c) Low Newton Prisons, in each year since 1979.
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 Mr. Jerry Steinberg, dated 30 March 1994 :
I have been asked to reply to your Question seeking information about hospital visits by prisoners from Durham, Frankland and Low Newton since 1979.
Central statistical information about health care services is available only from 1985. The available information is as follows :
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|Durham |Durham |Frankland|Low |Low
|Newton |Newton
Year |Male |Female |Male |Female
----------------------------------------------------------------------
<1>1985 |252 |22 |114 |98 |18
<2>1985 |40 |5 |12 |5 |5
<1>1986 |312 |19 |98 |109 |26
<2>1986 |45 |8 |19 |5 |5
<1>1987 |365 |29 |54 |95 |28
<2>1987 |55 |5 |17 |5 |4
<1>1988 |382 |20 |61 |72 |23
<2>1988 |42 |1 |15 |3 |5
<1>1989 |388 |18 |86 |<3>- |<3>-
<2>1989 |37 |2 |16 |<3>- |<3>-
<1>1990 |383 |<3>- |124 |68 |33
<2>1990 |51 |<3>- |16 |6 |4
<1>1991 |423 |20 |144 |109 |30
<2>1991 |57 |3 |23 |8 |7
<1>1992 |240 |6 |145 |122 |41
<2>1992 |34 |2 |9 |11 |6
<1>Number of occasions on which prisoners attended outpatient
facilities.
<2>Number of occasions on which prisoners were transferred to
national health service hospitals.
<3>Information not available.
Firefighters
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firefighters have been (a) injured and (b) killed in London in the line of duty in each year since 1980.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information is given in the following table.
Number of London fire brigade firefighters
seriously injured<1> or killed in
the line of duty, 1980-92
|Fatalities|Serious
|injuries
--------------------------------------------
1980 |1 |154
1981 |2 |147
1982 |- |141
1983 |1 |184
1984 |1 |86
1985 |- |164
1986 |- |134
1987 |1 |152
1988 |- |151
1989 |- |133
1990 |- |133
1991 |2 |139
1992 |1 |132
<1> Serious injuries are defined as those
which result in absence of duty for at
least one month.
Proton Cars
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Proton cars were purchased by his Department in each of the last 10 years for which information is available ; and at what cost.
Mr. Howard : From the information available, no Proton cars have been purchased by the Home Office in any of the last 10 years.
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Paedophile Records
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the paedophile records that were recently sent to the national criminal intelligence service from the Metropolitan police are now still with the national criminal intelligence service.
Mr. Charles Wardle : A card index system, containing in excess of 3,000 names, was transferred to the national criminal intelligence service by the Metropolitan police in April 1992. These records are in the process of being entered onto a computer database. So far, 1, 466 computer records, some containing many names, have been created and 150 names have been weeded.
Traffic Videos
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 21March, Official Report, column 31, (1) if he will make it his policy to issue guidelines to police forces regarding the sale of road traffic video footage to private companies ;
(2) when the traffic committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers is to consider the sale of road traffic videos to private companies ;
(3) if he will discuss with the traffic committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers the use and disposal of road traffic video footage ;
(4) what representations he has had from chief police officers regarding the use of this road traffic video footage ;
(5) how the moneys received from the disposal of road traffic video footage can be utilised ;
(6) by what criteria he decided that the release of police traffic videos is an operational matter for chief police officers.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Guidance is issued to chief officers of police on the disclosure of information in respect of criminal and civil proceedings. However, chief officers retain an absolute discretion, subject to the direction of a court, to disclose or provide other information from police records. The provision of road traffic video footage is similarly a matter for chief officers. I understand that none of the police forces concerned received money for supplying footage. My right hon. and learned Friend does not intend to issue guidelines on the matter nor does he plan to discuss it with the traffic committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers. That committee will be considering the issue at its next meeting on 11 May. I have not received any representations from chief officers about the matter.
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons who have applied for asylum in the United Kingdom are currently held in detention ; what was the figure a year ago ; and if he will list those establishments which are used regularly for such detention.
Mr. Charles Wardle : On 21 March 645 people who had applied for asylum at some stage were held in detention. Information on the number of asylum seekers held in detention a year ago is not available.
The establishments which regularly hold the greatest numbers of immigration detainees are as follows :
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Immigration Service AccommodationCampsfield House
Harmondsworth
The Beehive, Gatwick Airport
Queen's Building, Heathrow
Manchester
Stansted
Prison Service Accommodation
Birmingham
Blakenhurst
Canterbury
Dover
Haslar
High Down
Holloway
Pentonville
Haslar Holding Centre is primarily an Immigration Detention Centre, although managed by the Prison Service.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons, held in detention, who have applied for asylum in the United Kingdom are currently refusing to eat ; what arrangements are made for such people to be seen by a doctor or to have access to standard hospital facilities ; how many detainees held at Campsfield house are currently refusing to eat ; how many detainees have been dispersed from Campsfield house to other establishments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : On 28 March, 69 detainees were refusing food, 22 of whom were located at Campsfield house.
Between 18 February and 28 March 87 detainees left Campsfield house. Of these, 27 were released on temporary admission or bail, 22 were sent to other establishments and the remaining 38 were removed from the United Kingdom.
Detainees in immigration detention centres have access on a daily basis to a resident or visiting doctor. The Prison Service is responsible for providing similar access to a doctor for those Immigration Act detainees accommodated at prison establishments. Depending on the circumstances of the case, a detainee who requires medical attention beyond that which can be provided in an immigration detention centre may be transferred to a prison hospital or outside hospital.
Illegal Drugs
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the quantities and estimated value of drugs seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the police for the last three years for which figures are available ; and what estimate he made for the quantity and value of drugs illegally used for those years.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested with regard to the quantity of controlled drugs seized by Her Majesty's Customs and the police respectively is contained in tables S1.2 to 1.7 of the supplementary tables to the Home Office Statistical Bulletins "Statistics of drugs seizures and offenders dealt with, United Kingdom" (1990-92), copies of which are in the Library.
In addition, Her Majesty's Customs informed us that the following quantities of controlled drugs were seized by them during 1993 :
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|Amounts in
|kilogrammes
---------------------------------------------
Heroin |561
Cocaine |748
Amphetamines |1,096
Cannabis (all forms) |53,137
Data for 1993 for police forces will be published later in the year. The combined estimated value of police and Customs drugs seizures is not availble. Since drug misuse is by its nature a clandestine activity, there is no information on the estimated quantity and value of drugs actually used.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Moss Side, Manchester in respect of the control of illegal drugs ; and what new initiatives will emerge as a result of his visit to Moss Side, Manchester.
Mr. Howard : I have written to the hon. Member today.
Prisoners (Costs)
Mr. Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of keeping a prisoner in (a) a privately run prison and (b) a state prison ; and if he will give a detailed breakdown of these costs.
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 Mr. Andrew Welsh, dated 30March 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the costs of keeping a prisoner in (a) a private run prison and (b) a state prison.
In 1992-93 the net operating costs per prisoner place per week were £333 in Wolds remand prison and £466 in the directly managed prison system, which included a range of different types of establishment. The costs in directly managed establishments break down as follows :
%
|£
-------------------------------------
Prisoner control |191
Prisoner care |70
Prisoner occupation |50
Escorts of prisoners |16
Building services |44
Administration costs |95
|-------
|466
It is not possible to give a detailed breakdown of the costs for Wolds : the contractors are paid an agreed sum for a total service.
Fuel Subsidies
Mr. Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what subsidies privately run prisons receive towards the cost of electricity or gas.
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.
Column 848
Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Andrew Welsh, dated 30March 1994 :CONTRACTED OUT PRISONS : UTILITY COSTS The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about any subsidies which privately run prisons receive towards the cost of electricity or gas.
No such subsidies are paid. The contractor who manages Blakenhurst prison pays these costs under the operating contract. This will also be the case at Doncaster when it opens in June. The position at Wolds prison is temporarily a little different, however, in that there the costs of gas and electricity are currently met directly by the Prison Service. This reflects the fact that Wolds' unique design made it impossible at the outset to set benchmark levels for consumption, and therefore cost, in the contract. They have, however, been included in the published total operating costs of the prison and in the published comparative cost analyses contained in the Prison Service Annual Report. Now that energy consumption levels are known, arrangements are in hand to amend the contract so that these costs become the contractor's responsibility.
The efficient use by contractors of public utilities is monitored by the Prison Service controllers who are assisted by the Prison Service Energy Management Group.
Consultants
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 23 March, Official Report, column 223, if he will list the number of contracts and their cost with management consultants in the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Charles Wardle [holding answer 28 March 1994] : The Home Office let 70 contracts to management consultants during 1993-94. The total cost was £3,489,463.
ENVIRONMENT
Appointments
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations and individuals who have been asked, since June 1992, to submit names of individuals to be considered for appointments to paid and unpaid posts for which a Minister has to approve the person or shortlist for the appointment.
Mr. Baldry : In November 1992, the Department commissioned Succession Planning Associates, a firm of executive search consultants, to identify women and ethnic minority candidates suitable for appointment to DOE-sponsored public bodies and now maintains a list of the names they obtained. The consultants approached a wide range of organisations and individuals in order to draw up their list. In addition, the Departtment usually asks the public appointments unit of the Cabinet Office for information on possible candidates. The Department welcomes inquiries from people interested in serving on the boards of its non-departmental public bodies.
Individuals from all walks of life may approach the Department and appointments are made on the basis of aptitude and merit. The Department has produced a form for self-nomination which is issued on request.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations and individuals outside his Department who are sent information on, or consulted about, individuals who are, or
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may be, proposed to the Minister for appointment to posts for which a Minister has to approve the person appointed or the shortlist for the appointment.Mr. Baldry : The Department follows the advice on consultation set out in the Cabinet Office's "Guide on Public Appointments Procedures", a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library. In addition to consulting in accordance with the guide, the need for any wider consultation is borne in mind depending on the individual circumstances of the particular appointments under consideration.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list each appointment for which a Minister has to approve the appointment or shortlist for the appointment, showing for each appointment (a) which Minister exercises the responsibility, (b) the salary, if any, attached to the post, (c) the term of the appointment and (d) the person currently appointed to the post.
Mr. Baldry : A list of the appointments to nationalised industries and non-departmental public bodies, and their salaries, is published annually in "Public Bodies", a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library. Other appointments by the Secretary of State, and their salaries, were listed in my answer of 1 March to the hon. Member for Cannock and Burntwood (Dr. Wright). No central record is maintained of names of the persons currently appointed, who number over 900, or the terms of their appointments.
All appointments are the responsibility of the Secretary of State, other than those identified as exceptions in "Public Bodies" and my answer of 1 March to the hon. Member for Cannock and Burntwood, Official Report, columns 638-39.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what procedures his Department has to prevent the possible appointment of individuals with extreme political views to posts for which a Minister has to approve the person or shortlist for the appointment ;
(2) what information his Department holds or obtains relating to individuals who have been appointed, or may be considered for appointment, to paid or unpaid posts for which a Minister has to approve the person or shortlist for the appointment, in particular relating to active involvement in (a) extreme left wing organisations, (b) extreme right wing organisations and (c) involvement in any of the political parties represented in the House of Commons.
Mr. Baldry : The Department has no procedures for obtaining or storing information about political views. Nomination forms provided by the Department and the public appointments unit of the Cabinet Office do not contain questions about candidates' political affiliations. The aim of the appointment system is to obtain candidates who, on the basis of merit and experience, are considered the most suitable for the posts in question. Information to assist the Department is obtained from the nomination form, followed by shortlisting and interview, the taking-up of references and advice from other Government Departments.
Column 850
Local Government Finance
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make available in a form useful to local authorities the programme used for calculating standard spending assessments.
Mr. Baldry : Standard spending assessments are calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the local government finance report. Local authorities already receive from my Department all the information they need to calculate their own standard spending assessments. My Department will discuss with the local authority associations whether other ways of presenting this material would be useful.
European Environment Council
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he plans to put to the European Environment Council in Brussels on 24 to 25 March.
Mr. Gummer : I represented the United Kingdom at the Environment Council on 24 and 25 March. My hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside also attended on 24 March.
The Council unanimously agreed, on the basis of a United Kingdom text, a common position to ban the export of hazardous waste to non-OECD countries by 31 December 1997.
In a separate discussion of the draft directive on landfill waste the Council concentrated on the scope of the directive and the question of exemptions. I pressed our views on the environmental advantages of controlled disposal of certain difficult and non-hazardous waste together-- "co-disposal"--but overall little progress was made and the Council referred the topic back to the Committee of Permanent Representatives-- COREPER--for further work to prepare for the June Council.
In discussion of an amendment to the birds directive I secured assurances that the proposal would not reduce the level of protection for birds and that scientific and conservation criteria would be used in implementing it. The proposal will now be put to the European Parliament.
An amendment to the directive concerning noise from earth moving machinery was adopted after a vote in which the United Kingdom abstained. A unanimous decision was reached on the four year programme--1994-1997--on official statistics of the environment. The Council also agreed a common position on a minor amendment to the large combustion plants directive--88/609/EEC.
The Council agreed conclusions on climate change which urged all member states to complete by 1 May 1994 the national programmes aimed at limiting CO emissions that they are required to prepare under the climate change convention and the Community's own monitoring mechanism. We published the United Kingdom programme on 25 January. The Council also decided to establish a working group to examine various aspects of Community approaches to the use of carbon and energy taxation to limit CO emissions.
There was a useful orientation debate on the proposed directive on integrated pollution prevention and control. I welcomed the aims of the directive and was supported in this by most other member states. The draft directive will now be considered further in the environment working group.
Column 851
The Council also adopted a resolution on integrated coastal zone management, and in a short discussion of the Commission White Paper, "Growth Competitiveness and Employment", the Commissioner outlined ideas for taking things forward in the coming months.Public Appointments
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of public appointments made by his Department in 1993 were of (a) Asians and (b) black people ; and if he will list their names.
Mr. Gummer : The figures requested are (a) 0 per cent. and (b) 2.8 per cent. I am unable to list the individuals' names as the Department's survey of the ethnic origins of appointees is voluntary and on the understanding that the information collected will be used for statistical purposes only.
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what considerations underpinned the omission from paragraphs 3.4.14 to 3.4.18, at page 54 of the United Kingdom report to the Commission on Sustainable Development 1994, in management of radioactive waste of Her Majesty's Government's policy to return to countries of origin reprocessing radioactive waste arising from the reprocessing of imported spent nuclear fuel to Sellafield and Dounreay.
Mr. Atkins : It was an editorial decision. As I made clear in the reply which I gave to the right hon. Member on 15 March, Official Report, column 579, the Government intend that British Nuclear Fuels plc should exercise its options for the return of reprocessing waste to the country of origin.
Pollution (Appeals)
Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals under section 10 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 are awaiting determination and what were the dates on which each of those appeals was lodged.
Mr. Atkins : A total of 60 appeals under section 10 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 are currently before my right hon. Friend for determination. The dates on which the appeals were lodged are as follows :
Appeals at procedural stage (i.e. written representations being made by parties or appeal subject to a hearing)
29 April 1991
4 August 1992
8 March 1993
11 March 1993
6 May 1993
19 May 1993
5 July 1993
14 July 1993
10 September 1993
4 October 1993
10 November 1993
12 November 1993
23 November 1993
7 December 1993
17 December 1993
17 December 1993
21 December 1993
21 December 1993
19 January 1994
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