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Methodist Church
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has had from the Methodist Church about its reservations in regard to the Education Bill [Lords] ; what reply he is sending ; what action he is taking ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend received a letter last week from the Methodist Church about the role of higher education in initial teacher training. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of my reply.
Colleges (Legal Disputes)
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if the costs of legal action taken by the National Employers Organisation on behalf of a college in dispute with the National Association of Teachers of Further and Higher Education are paid by the employers' national body or wholly or partly by the college.
Mr. Boswell : This is a matter for the parties involved, not for my right hon. Friend.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Neighbourhood Watch Schemes
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes were initiated in each year since 1989.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The year-on-year increases in the number of neighbourhood watch schemes in England and Wales in the years since 1989 have been 11,000 in 1990, 8,000 in 1991, 15,000 in 1992 and 15, 000 in 1993.
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes there are in operation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : At the end of December 1993 there were estimated to be over 130,000 neighbourhood watch schemes in England and Wales covering over 5 million households. These schemes are an excellent way in which the public can assist the police in the fight against crime.
Immigration Controls
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions have been given to immigration officials when dealing with travellers from other European economic area countries who refuse to submit to examination under powers granted by the Immigration Acts, citing instead a right to enter without being checked under the provision of article 7A of the European Community treaty.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Immigration officers are instructed to admit freely passengers who satisfy them that they are nationals of European economic area countries.
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people, by nationality, were refused leave to enter and removed at United Kingdom airports in 1993 whose travel was wholly internal to the European Community ;
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(2) how many people whose journey was internal to the European Community were refused entry and returned abroad by immigration officials at United Kingdom airports during the course of 1993.Mr. Charles Wardle : The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people, by nationality, were refused leave to enter and removed at United Kingdom channel ports in 1993 whose travel was wholly internal to the European Community.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The following table shows the numbers and nationalities of passengers refused entry and removed at the ports of Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Ramsgate in 1993.
|Number
-------------------------------------
Commonwealth citizens
Australia |21
Bangladesh |5
Canada |8
Cyprus |6
Ghana |45
Hong Kong |11
India |39
Jamaica |3
Kenya |4
Malaysia |66
Malta |1
Mauritius |8
New Zealand |19
Nigeria |23
Pakistan |25
Sierra Leone |45
Singapore |5
Sri Lanka |33
Tanzania |7
Trinidad and Tobago |5
Uganda |1
Zimbabwe |3
British overseas citizens 2
Other Commonwealth |15
Other nationals
Algeria |87
Angola |13
Argentina |7
Austria |10
Brazil |65
Bulgaria |6
Chile |8
China |4
Colombia |19
Czechoslovakia |295
Egypt |1
Ethiopia |8
Finland |6
Hungary |82
Indonesia |2
Iran |2
Israel |22
Japan |13
Libya |1
Mexico |6
Morocco |17
Norway |1
Peru |9
Philippines |3
Poland |1,254
Rumania |32
Somalia |10
South Africa |85
South Korea |13
Sudan |1
Sweden |11
Switzerland |8
Thailand |1
Tunisia |2
Turkey |30
United States of America 110
USSR |8
Venezuela |3
Yugoslavia |20
Zaire |24
Others |270
Stateless Hong Kong |2
Stateless others |757
European Community<1>
Belgium |7
France |74
Greece |1
Italy |22
Netherlands |29
Portugal |20
Spain |3
<1>Most of these would have been
non-EC nationals presenting
documents to which they were not
entitled but whose nationality is
not otherwise recorded.
Dog Attacks
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is available from his Department's recent questionnaire sent to police authorities about the number of dog attacks for each of the last five years in each police authority area.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Statistics on dog attacks are not routinely collected by all police forces. Recent inquiries of a number of forces by the Home Office, however, have revealed the following information :
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Numbers of reported cases involving attacks by dogs of all types on humans
Year
Police force |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kent |n/a |n/a |1,002 |1,150 |853
Merseyside |347 |351 |371 |271 |243
Northumbria |n/a |n/a |n/a |246 |175
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received on the review of the operation of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) on 17 March, column 763, which gave information about the representations received about the reform of the criminal injuries compensation scheme. The new tariff scheme comes into force on 1 April.
Prisoner Escapes
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have escaped from each United Kingdom prison and in total since the introduction of "fresh start".
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. Escapes from prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 3 March 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 number of prisoners who have escaped from within each prison in the United Kingdom since the introduction of Fresh Start.
Fresh Start was introduced into prisons in England and Wales from 3 April 1987 as a rolling programme. Central recording of
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escapes did not start until 20 June 1988. For these reasons the information requested cannot be provided centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.The attached table lists the number of prisoners who have escaped from prisons in England and Wales from 20 June 1988 to 24 March 1994.
There were during this period 30 establishments, not included in the table below, from which no prisoner escaped. The figures exclude escapes from escorts.
Establishment |Escapers
---------------------------------------------
Acklington |30
Aldington |45
Ashwell |24
Bedford |4
Belmarsh |1
Birmingham |1
Blakenhurst |2
Blantyre House |4
Blundeston |1
Brinsford |1
Bristol |1
Brixton |2
Brockhill |4
Buckley Hall |1
Bullwood Hall |3
Camp Hill |11
Campsfield House |1
Canterbury |5
Cardiff |8
Castington |2
Channings Wood |29
Chelmsford |1
Coldingley |1
Dartmoor |3
Deerbolt |28
Dorchester |2
Dover |11
Downview |14
Durham |5
Eastwood Park |8
Elmley |2
Erlestoke |20
Everthorpe |20
Exeter |3
Featherstone |33
Feltham |58
Frankland |1
Glen Parva |21
Gloucester |19
Guys Marsh |22
Haslar |18
Haverigg |25
Hewell Grange |1
Highdown |1
Highpoint |87
Hindley |16
Holloway |2
Huntercombe |14
Hull |2
Kingston |1
Kirklevington |7
Latchmere House |2
Lancaster |1
Lancaster Farms |1
Leeds |2
Leicester |1
Lewes |2
Leyhill |1
Lincoln |1
Lindholme |69
Littlehey |20
Maidstone |5
Manchester |1
Moorland |1
The Mount |22
New Hall |11
Northeye |12
Norwich |30
Nottingham |1
Onley |15
Oxford |8
Parkhurst |1
Pentonville |7
Portland |63
Preston |7
Pucklechurch |4
Ranby |89
Risley |8
Rochester |7
Rollestone |1
Send |14
Shepton Mallet |9
Stafford |10
Stocken |9
Stoke Heath |11
Styal |1
Sudbury |4
Swaleside |1
Swansea |2
Thorn Cross |1
Thorp Arch |7
Usk |1
The Verne |26
Wandsworth |3
Wayland |19
Wellingborough |18
Werrington |19
Wetherby |16
Whatton |3
Winchester |5
The Wolds |2
Wormwood Scrubs |1
Wymott |38
|-------
Total |1,239
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners from (a) Durham, (b) Frankland and (c) Low Newton prisons have escaped while on hospital visits in each year since 1979.
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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. Gerry Steinberg, dated 31 March 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 number of prisoners from Durham, Frankland and Low Newton prisons who have escaped whilst on hospital visits in each year since 1979. The following table shows escapes from hospital visits from 20 June 1988 which is the earliest date at which this information was recorded centrally.
Year |Durham |Frankland|Low
|Newton
--------------------------------------------------
<1>1988 |0 |0 |0
1989 |1 |0 |0
1990 |0 |0 |0
1991 |2 |1 |0
1992 |1 |0 |1
1993 |1 |0 |0
<2>1994 |0 |1 |0
<1>from 20 June.
<2>to 25 March.
Official Entertainment
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of official entertaining in his Department in each year since 1990-91 ; if he will list the receptions held in each year at his Department's expense ; and what was the cost of each reception.
Mr. Howard : The cost of official entertaining in the years from 1 April 1990 is included in the running cost expenditure for my Department which is published each year in the annual report ; figures for 1993-94 are not yet available. The entertainment budget is used for a variety of functions including receptions. Separate figures are not kept for individual functions.
Prison Accommodation
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about capacity limits for prison accommodation.
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. Win Griffiths, dated 31 March 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about capacity limits for prison accommodation.
All accommodation used for inmates is certified to meet the requirements of section 14 of The Prison Act 1952 and of Rule 23 of the Prison Rules 1964. An officer of the Secretary of State is required, inter alia, to certify that each unit of accommodation is adequate for health in respect of its size, lighting, heating, ventilation and fittings, and that prisoners are able to communicate at any time with a prison officer. This duty is undertaken by the Prison Service's 15 Area Managers for establishments in their own areas.
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Each unit of accommodation (cell, double cell, cubicle or room) is assessed for the number of prisoners that can be accommodated in conditions satisfactory for both health and supervision. This number is the certified normal accommodation (CNA) of the unit and represents its uncrowded capacity. The CNA of an establishment is the sum of the CNA figures for all units of accommodation which are not set apart for special purposes. This number represents the uncrowded capacity of the establishment.Each establishment also has an operational capacity, which is determined by the Area Manager. This takes account of any authorised overcrowding, staffing and other operational constraints. In many establishments CNA and operational capacity are the same. In the majority of local prisons, remand centres and some older training prisons, a certain degree of overcrowding has been authorised, so that operational capacity can be higher than CNA. In some circumstances, where specialist use is being made of accommodation, operational capacity can be lower than CNA.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many, and what percentage of officers in each of grades 1 to 7 and overall in his Department are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities or (c) disabled, respectively.
Mr. Howard : On 28 March 1994, 249 staff in grades 1 to 7, including their departmental specialist equivalents, were women, representing some 17 per cent. of staff in those grades. Within the grades : nine--23 per cent. of staff at grade 3 ; two--13 per cent.--at grade 4 ; 28--19 per cent.--at grade 5 ; 31--9 per cent.--at grade 6 ; and 179--20 per cent.--at grade 7 were women. There are no women in grades 1 and 2.
On the most recent figures derived from ethnic origins surveys carried out by the Department, in grades 1 to 7 and their equivalents, 142 staff in grades 1 to 7 and their equivalent are classified as being of ethnic minority origin, representing 12 per cent. of the total--16, or 12 per cent. at grade 5 ; 43 or 14 per cent., at grade 6 ; and 83, 12 per cent., at grade 7.
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As at November 1993 the latest date for which figures are available, 302 members of staff in the Home Office were known to be disabled, including a number who were not registered as such. This represented 0.6 per cent. of all staff. At grades 1-7 and their equivalents there were four registered and three unregistered disabled members of staff, representing 0.5 per cent. of all staff in those grades.Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the total numbers of (a) asylum seekers and refugees, (b) children of asylum seekers and refugees, (c) unaccompanied children admitted as asylum seekers or refugees and (d) children admitted for family reunion reasons, admitted to the United Kingdom in each year since 1990-91, including estimates up to 1993-94.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information for the period 1 January 1990 to 28 February 1994 on the number of principal asylum seekers, the number of cases granted asylum, the available information on the estimated number of dependants associated with these two groups, and unaccompanied child applicants is given in the table.
Information for the period 1 January 1990--30 June 1993 on the total number of children accepted for settlement is published in table 6.3 of the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration : Statistics United Kingdom 1992", Cm 2368, and in table 3 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin Issue 33/93 "Control of Immigration : Statistics--First and Second Quarters of 1993". Information for the second half of 1993 will be published around the end of April. Information for the first part of 1994 is not yet available. Copies of both publications are available in the Library. These figures include children accepted in line with one or both parents being accepted for settlement at the same time, and acceptances of children where both parents were already settled in the United Kingdom.
Column 939
Table A
Numbers<1> of applications for asylum and grants <1><2> of asylum, and dependant children, 1990 to 1993 and January to February 1994
|1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |1994<12>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total principal applications for asylum<3> |26,205 |44,840 |24,605 |22,370 |4,355
children<5> under 18 accompanying or subsequently joining<4> principal
asylum applicants by year of principal application |-<12> | 18,045<6>|5,020 |3,850 |-<13>
Cases recognised as a refugee and granted asylum<3> |920 |505 |1,115 |1,590 |125
children<5> under 18 accompanying cases granted asylum<4> by year of
grant of asylum |-<13> | 140<6> |435 |770 |-<13>
Acceptances for settlement of South East Asian refugees on arrival
(including dependants)<7> |645 |485 |615 |510 |-<13>
Principal applications for asylum by unaccompanied children<8><9>
port |-<13> |130<10> |185<10> |245<10> |-<13>
in-country |-<13> |-<13> |5<10><11> |30<10> |-<13>
<1> Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
<2> Grants of asylum do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same year.
<3> Exclude dependants.
<4> Information on children is of those applying with the principal applicant or arriving subsequently, before the principal application
was decided. Information excludes children who arrive after the principal decision.
<5> Estimated figures.
<6> May be underrecorded.
<7> Figures for children are not separately identifiable.
<8> Included in the total for principal applications for asylum.
<9> Unaccompanied at the point of their arrival, and not known to be joining a close relative in the United Kingdom.
<10> The information for 1991 is for children aged 16 or under, and for the years 1992 and 1993 for children aged 17 and under.
<11> Information for 1992 is only available for the period October to December.
<12> January to February 1994.
<13> Not available.
Obscene Publications Branch
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis about the proposed closure of the obscene publications branch ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Metropolitan police headquarters functions and specialist units, such as the obscene publications branch, fall within the scope of the commissioner's restructuring exercise, which aims to make the best possible use of resources and to place functions where they are most appropriate. No proposals about the future of the branch have yet been made.
Central European Time
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 16 December, Official Report, column 285, (1) whether his Department will re-examine the British crime surveys of 1988 and 1992 to determine what impact an increase in evening daylight would have on the incidence of crime ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what assessment he had made of recent research on the link between daylight and crime ; and what conclusions he has drawn.
Mr. Maclean : The Home Office research and planning unit has re- examined the results from the 1988 and 1992 British crime surveys from the point of view of determining how an increase in evening daylight would affect the incidence of crime. These results are summarised in "Time for Change", October 1993, a publication by the Policy Studies Institute. This concludes that "darkness facilitates many criminal acts". Our own assessment however is that, although more crimes are committed when it is dark, definite conclusions are difficult to draw as regards the effect of darkness on overall levels of crime. Increasing evening daylight may for example have different effects for different crimes.
This assessment does not differ from earlier analyses done on the basis of the 1988 data alone, which formed the basis of the discussion in the 1989 Green Paper, paragraphs 46 to 48.
Police
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the ratio of police officers per head of the local population for each of the police forces in England and Wales.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Ratios of population per police officer for forces in England and Wales as at 31 December 1993 are given in the table.
Police force |Population
|per officer<1>
-------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |467
Bedfordshire |456
Cambridgeshire |546
Cheshire |504
City of London |5
Cleveland |373
Cumbria |413
Derbyshire |512
Devon and Cornwall |519
Dorset |510
Durham |437
Dyfed Powys |485
Essex |503
Gloucestershire |457
Gwent |445
Hampshire |524
Hertfordshire |502
Humberside |433
Kent |490
Lancashire |438
Leicestershire |487
Lincolnshire |495
Merseyside |307
Metropolitan |265
Norfolk |528
Northamptonshire |496
Northumbria |399
North Wales |478
North Yorkshire |510
Nottinghamshire |437
South Wales |418
South Yorkshire |430
Staffordshire |475
Suffolk |526
Surrey |460
Sussex |475
Thames Valley |522
Warwickshire |482
West Mercia |537
West Midlands |377
West Yorkshire |395
Wiltshire |490
<1> Ratios are based on approved establishments.
Prison Assaults
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults by prisoners on other inmates and on prison officers took place in each of the last 10 years ; what assessment he has made of the extent to which these assaults are influenced by drug and alcohol intoxication ; and if he will make a statement.
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. Frank Field, dated31 March 1994 : Assaults in prisons
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent question about the numbers of assaults by prisoners on other inmates and on prison officers during the last ten years.
The available information is for the number of assaults proved at adjudication hearings and these are published each year in Statistics of Offences against Prison Discipline and Punishments England and Wales'. For convenience, the figures are on the attached table.
Column 943
I regret that no information is available centrally on the influence, if any, of drug and alcohol intoxication on these assaults.
Assaults<1> on staff,
prisoners and others
in Prison Service
establishments
1984 to 1993
|Number
----------------------
1984 |3,273
1985 |3,473
1986 |3,443
1987 |3,548
1988 |3,512
1989 |3,636
1990 |3,801
1991 |4,062
1992 |4,458
<2>1993 |5,320
<1> Proved at
adjudication,
includes attempt,
incite or assist an
assault.
<2> Provisional.
Campsfield House
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those establishments to which detainees, formerly detained at Campsfield House detention centre, have been sent ; how many of those detainees are currently refusing to eat ; how regularly such detainees are seen by a doctor ; how many detainees have been moved more than once, to date, after leaving Campsfield ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Since 18 February detainees at Campsfield house have been transferred to the following establishments : Harmondsworth Detention Centre
Queens Building, Heathrow
Stockton Hall Hospital
HM Prison Birmingham
HM Prison Blakenhurst
HM Prison Bullingdon
HM Prison Holloway
One detainee only, in Birmingham prison, continues to refuse meals.
All detainees have daily access to a doctor. Those who claim to have refused meals for four days or more are closely monitored by a doctor at least once a day.
Information on the number of detainees moved more than once, after leaving Campsfield, is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data Protection (Universities)
Mr. Jim Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to amend the data protection legislation to enable universities to provide a list of students resident in their accommodation to the electoral registration officer.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984 in any case in which the disclosure is required by or under any enactment. Electoral registration officers have a power under the Representation of the People Regulations 1986 to require any owner of premises within the area for which they act to provide information which they need to compile the register of electors. They are therefore entitled to ask for the names of eligible students living in universities accommodation.
Column 944
William Harper
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to investigate the background to the gaoling of William Harper in 1988 for the falsification of an insurance certificate to cover the sale of anti-tank missiles to Iran.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. and learned Friend has received no representations about this case, but he is ready to consider in the light of any such representations which might be made whether there are grounds for exercising his power to refer a case to the Court of Appeal under section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 or whether any other action might be appropriate.
Asylum Seekers
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the total number of applicants for political asylum in 1993 ; and how many of them were refused permission to stay in this country;
(2) how many people are currently seeking political asylum.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information for 1993 on the number of applications for asylum, and on decisions made, is given in the table. At the end of February 1994 the estimated number of applications for asylum outstanding was 47,100.
Decisions<1> on applications<1> received for asylum in the
United Kingdom,
excluding dependants, 1993
|Number of
|principal
|applicants
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Asylum applications<2> |22,370
Decisions<2><3> |23,400
Recognised as a refugee
and granted asylum<4> |1,590
Not recognised as a refugee but
granted exceptional leave to remain<5> |11,125
Refused asylum and ELR-
after full consideration |4,705
Refused under para 180F<6> |5,240
Refused on safe third
country grounds<7> |745
<1> Provisional figures rounded to the nearest 5.
<2> Figures exclude information on applications made overseas.
<3> Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in
1993.
<4> Excluding South East Asian refugees.
<5> Usually granted for a year in the first instance, subject
then to further review.
<6> For failure to provide evidence to support the asylum claim
within a reasonable period, including failure to respond to
invitation to interview to establish identity (para. 101 prior
to 26 July 1993).
<7> Refused on the grounds that the applicant had arrived from a
safe third country.
Special Constables
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimates are available of the hours worked by special constables in each constabulary in each of the last five years.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not centrally available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Column 945
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimates he has of the hours worked each week and each month by a typical special constable in each constabulary in 1985, 1990 and 1993.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not centrally available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Executed Prisoners
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many exhumations to allow reburial of executed prisoners have taken place since the abolition of capital punishment.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not centrally available.
Capital Convictions
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people reprieved from a capital conviction are now at large in the community on licence ; and what is the rate of recall of such people.
Mr. Maclean : I regret that we do not have the information which would enable us to reply to the hon. Gentleman's question.
Justice and Home Affairs Council
Mr. Bates : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held on 23 March.
Mr. Howard : The meeting on 23 March was the second Justice and Home Affairs Council held under the provisions of the Treaty on European Union. The main points dealt with were as follows. The European Commission gave a presentation on its communication on immigration and asylum policies. The Council agreed to consider how best to take forward this communication, and will discuss it again at its informal meeting in May.
The council noted progress on the draft European information system convention. It called for further work on the convention, in particular on the question of what provisions it should include on police and judicial co -operation, with a view to agreement being reached at the June Council.
The Council noted progress on the Europol convention and urged member states to work towards meeting the previously agreed deadline of October 1994. It remitted to a future Council a final decision on senior appointments to the Europol drugs unit.
The Council decided to ask the Telecommunications Council to ensure that developments in telecommunications took account of the need for legally authorised interception of telecommunications.
It approved a report on operational co-operation in combating terrorism.
It discussed a report on progress in simplifying and improving co-operation in the field of extradition.
The Council heard a presentation from the United Kingdom on its proposal for a legally binding joint action under title VI of the treaty on European Union to combat fraud against the Community budget, and expressed the
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