| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 98
Standing Conference for Community Development.Student Community Action Development Unit.
Volunteer Centre (UK).
Volunteer Development Scotland.
Welsh Refugee Council.
West Indian Standing Conference.
Womens Royal Voluntary Service.
Director General of the Prison Service
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what performance bonuses were awarded to the Director General of the Prison Service in 1993.
Mr. Michael Howard : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on 1 December 1993, Official Report, column 626.
Private Security Firms
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years ; what has been the annual value of the contracts ; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.
Mr. Howard : In keeping with Government policy, my Department contracts out a number of services such as security guarding at non- sensitive sites where it is cost-effective to do so. These contracts cover services to escort and detain--under the authority of the Immigration Service--persons held under the Immigration Act 1971, to safeguard cash in transit from banks to Home Office establishments at various locations and to safeguard some premises.
The number of personnel employed by contractors varies according to demand. I regret that it is not possible to provide the value of contracts over the last 10 years as no central record of cost of the services is maintained.
The available information is as follows :
|£
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Police Staff College |286,800
Fire Service College |109,000
Emergency Planning College |98,000
Police Scientific Development Branch (Sandridge) |15,000
Crime Statistics
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were recorded in each category of crime by each police force in England and Wales in 1993.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is given in the table.
Column 97
Notifiable offences recorded by the police
England and Wales
|Total |Violence against the|Sexual offences |Robbery |Burglary |Theft and handling |Fraud and forgery |Criminal damage |Other
|person |stolen goods
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |175,946 |5,772 |894 |1,863 |40,655 |99,371 |5,011 |21,635 |745
Bedfordshire |58,847 |1,936 |417 |543 |15,596 |30,479 |2,308 |7,265 |303
Cambridgeshire |65,807 |2,821 |393 |308 |15,023 |37,726 |1,786 |7,326 |424
Cheshire |80,156 |2,975 |465 |345 |22,034 |38,653 |2,693 |11,913 |1,078
Cleveland |78,279 |2,227 |216 |336 |18,738 |41,246 |1,496 |13,694 |326
Cumbria |43,744 |1,935 |246 |91 |10,733 |21,706 |1,013 |7,645 |375
Derbyshire |91,454 |4,097 |478 |357 |25,612 |42,739 |1,641 |15,837 |693
Devon and Cornwall |121,026 |4,114 |985 |423 |32,578 |62,082 |3,837 |15,847 |1,160
Dorset |51,091 |1,736 |319 |135 |9,625 |29,686 |3,771 |5,955 |864
Durham |67,180 |2,406 |495 |164 |13,677 |35,266 |2,894 |11,580 |698
Essex |114,435 |4,188 |709 |430 |27,149 |60,842 |3,007 |17,293 |817
Gloucestershire |60,985 |1,759 |314 |303 |17,294 |33,123 |2,368 |5,363 |461
Greater Manchester |364,858 |10,049 |1,357 |5,424 |97,850 |175,808 |10,268 |61,406 |2,696
Hampshire |147,074 |5,328 |1,406 |564 |33,066 |77,871 |5,280 |22,179 |1,380
Hertfordshire |56,868 |1,919 |275 |273 |13,419 |29,706 |1,525 |9,339 |412
Humberside |140,988 |4,955 |798 |526 |48,031 |63,057 |3,386 |19,784 |451
Kent |161,787 |6,185 |942 |631 |30,743 |90,245 |4,265 |27,305 |1,471
Lancashire |134,581 |3,134 |469 |540 |29,550 |70,615 |3,407 |25,881 |985
Leicestershire |99,863 |3,749 |471 |1,039 |25,210 |51,285 |3,526 |14,068 |515
Lincolnshire |52,664 |2,282 |313 |158 |13,008 |26,397 |1,288 |8,560 |658
London, City of |5,620 |238 |23 |51 |778 |3,703 |487 |258 |82
Merseyside |142,325 |7,359 |768 |2,204 |33,688 |68,217 |4,964 |23,481 |1,644
Metropolitan police district |914,312 |39,900 |6,496 |24,915 |175,184 |450,575 |34,580 |175,821 |6,841
Norfolk |64,319 |2,044 |366 |217 |18,178 |33,700 |1,633 |7,705 |476
Northamptonshire |59,850 |2,633 |291 |301 |15,944 |28,880 |1,813 |9,539 |449
Northumbria |213,936 |6,358 |713 |1,227 |63,007 |88,210 |3,074 |50,375 |972
North Yorkshire |57,967 |1,993 |266 |123 |16,275 |30,360 |1,218 |7,236 |496
Nottinghamshire |158,960 |7,690 |1,167 |1,202 |40,038 |78,287 |4,288 |25,578 |710
South Yorkshire |157,229 |4,815 |638 |943 |52,396 |71,895 |2,322 |23,162 |1,058
Staffordshire |98,421 |5,731 |520 |414 |30,091 |44,422 |2,220 |14,651 |372
Suffolk |43,138 |2,116 |380 |117 |9,147 |22,717 |1,790 |6,313 |558
Surrey |52,504 |2,175 |377 |213 |12,815 |27,468 |2,173 |6,837 |446
Sussex |111,876 |3,269 |693 |546 |26,672 |57,910 |3,181 |18,336 |1,269
Thames Valley |200,356 |4,702 |787 |911 |40,345 |113,307 |7,417 |31,551 |1,336
Warwickshire |45,522 |1,461 |332 |131 |12,554 |22,839 |1,386 |6,533 |286
West Mercia |82,832 |3,298 |420 |260 |17,980 |46,377 |1,530 |12,512 |455
West Midlands |330,091 |10,980 |1,504 |5,978 |100,002 |149,722 |9,455 |50,613 |1,837
West Yorkshire |301,838 |9,189 |1,465 |3,174 |94,294 |141,422 |6,143 |43,712 |2,439
Wiltshire |41,611 |2,621 |385 |147 |9,118 |21,420 |1,367 |6,072 |481
Dyfed-Powys |27,743 |2,031 |361 |31 |4,632 |11,550 |788 |4,986 |364
Gwent |40,008 |2,385 |313 |116 |7,091 |21,694 |1,142 |6,815 |452
North Wales |48,102 |2,857 |556 |117 |11,990 |23,287 |1,137 |7,758 |400
South Wales |166,165 |6,004 |597 |483 |38,188 |78,062 |4,254 |37,515 |1,062
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |5,530,358 |205,416 |31,380 |58,274 |1,369,998 |2,753,927 |163,132 |907,234 |40,997
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and (b) theft from a motor vehicle were recorded by each police force in England and Wales in 1993.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is given in the table below.
Notifiable offences of theft of and from a vehicle recorded by the police
England and Wales 1993
Police force area |Theft from a vehicle|Theft of a vehicle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |36,839 |25,399
Bedfordshire |11,480 |8,801
Cambridgeshire |11,481 |6,939
Cheshire |13,438 |9,005
Cleveland |9,229 |13,206
Cumbria |8,086 |3,150
Derbyshire |16,647 |9,421
Devon and Cornwall |23,608 |8,349
Dorset |8,937 |3,671
Durham |9,401 |9,319
Essex |19,848 |10,648
Gloucestershire |14,702 |4,743
Greater Manchester |54,222 |56,135
Hampshire |28,359 |9,998
Hertfordshire |12,510 |6,001
Humberside |20,141 |13,465
Kent |27,005 |18,933
Lancashire |23,760 |13,149
Leicestershire |17,440 |11,749
Lincolnshire |6,626 |3,644
City of London |655 |142
Merseyside |17,271 |16,287
Metropolitan Police District |153,576 |77,096
Norfolk |12,850 |4,445
Northamptonshire |9,804 |7,638
Northumbria |24,571 |28,559
North Yorkshire |9,268 |5,033
Nottinghamshire |22,250 |15,969
South Yorkshire |25,016 |22,471
Staffordshire |16,758 |10,853
Suffolk |5,993 |2,530
Surrey |10,196 |4,387
Sussex |20,703 |7,664
Thames Valley |43,252 |23,128
Warwickshire |8,918 |5,153
West Mercia |14,736 |8,653
West Midlands |54,741 |40,184
West Yorkshire |48,851 |38,240
Wiltshire |6,805 |2,822
Dyfed-Powys |2,823 |1,391
Gwent |6,683 |3,737
North Wales |8,481 |3,161
South Wales |28,126 |23,063
|--- |---
England and Wales |926,086 |598,331
Police Statistics
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the (a) police establishment and (b) the number of supernumerary posts for (i) each police force area including the Metropolitan police and (ii) each part of the Metropolitan police, area divisions or headquarters establishments, for January 1994 and for January in each of the previous five years ;
(2) what was the (a) police establishment and (b) the number of supernumerary posts for (i) each police force area including the Metropolitan police and (ii) each part of the Metropolitan police, area divisions or headquarters establishments, for each month in 1993.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I will write to the hon. Member.
Burglary
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) burglary in a dwelling and (b) other burglary were recorded by each police force in England and Wales in 1993.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is given in the table:
Notifiable offences of burglary recorded by the police
England and Wales 1993
Police force area |Burglary in a |Burglary in a
|dwelling |building other than
|a dwelling
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |21,454 |19,201
Bedfordshire |7,287 |8,309
Cambridgeshire |6,845 |8,178
Cheshire |10,496 |11,538
Cleveland |11,882 |6,856
Cumbria |4,536 |6,197
Derbyshire |10,083 |15,529
Devon and Cornwall |15,837 |16,741
Dorset |5,789 |3,836
Durham |7,747 |5,930
Essex |9,582 |17,567
Gloucestershire |8,519 |8,775
Greater Manchester |61,240 |36,610
Hampshire |15,357 |17,709
Hertfordshire |5,224 |8,195
Humberside |20,067 |27,964
Kent |18,971 |11,772
Lancashire |18,725 |10,825
Leicestershire |14,175 |11,035
Lincolnshire |7,216 |5,792
City of London |30 |748
Merseyside |21,705 |11,983
Metropolitan Police District |114,778 |60,406
Norfolk |6,362 |11,816
Northamptonshire |7,334 |8,610
Northumbria |30,849 |32,158
North Yorkshire |7,196 |9,079
Nottinghamshire |23,453 |16,585
South Yorkshire |25,230 |27,166
Staffordshire |13,833 |16,258
Suffolk |3,755 |5,392
Surrey |5,867 |6,948
Sussex |13,403 |13,269
Thames Valley |22,061 |18,284
Warwickshire |4,520 |8,034
West Mercia |8,421 |9,559
West Midlands |51,815 |48,187
West Yorkshire |58,157 |36,137
Wiltshire |4,489 |4,629
Dyfed-Powys |1,567 |3,065
Gwent |3,315 |3,776
North Wales |3,917 |8,073
South Wales |14,478 |23,710
England and Wales |727,567 |642,431
Intimidation of Witnesses
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the incidence of intimidation of witnesses in criminal cases.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 25 April 1994] : Although attempts are made from time to time to intimidate both potential and actual witnesses in criminal trials, there is no reliable evidence about the extent of this problem. In different ways, both the Government and the police service have taken, and will continue to take, steps to minimise its incidence and effect.
PRIME MINISTER
Labour-controlled Local Authorities
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 18 April, Official Report, column 370, if he will list the district auditor's reports referred to ; what were the dates and places of the criminal proceedings referred to ; and which councils were involved.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 22 April 1994] : Criminal proceedings are a matter of public record. Various district auditors' reports, for example, which are publicly available, confirm my earlier answers.
Sir Tim Bell
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Prime Minister how many contracts the Government have awarded since 1987 to Sir Tim Bell for public relations work ; and if he will list their nature and value.
The Prime Minister : Information on Government contracts is not held centrally and would involve disproportionate cost to obtain. The Department of National Heritage let a contract to Lowe Bell Communications on 24 January to help with its programme of civilian events to commemorate the 50th anniversay of the D-day landings. The value of the contract is £50,000 plus a maximum of £12,500 for expenses, net of VAT. The Department has not let any other contracts to Lowe Bell Communications.
Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 April.
Sir Peter Tapsell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 April.
The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall be having further meetings later today.
Column 103
DEFENCE
British Service Men
Sir Keith Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current average monthly cost of the British service men on active duty in the former Yugoslavia and the Adriatic.
Mr. Hanley : The additional monthly cost of the United Kingdom's contribution to operations in the former Yugoslavia and the Adriatic is approximately £8,750,000. This includes such things as accommodation-- allowances--shipping--carriage of stores--vehicle spares and repair and medical supplies. There are currently some 6,360 United Kingdom personnel deployed on these operations.
Nuclear Test Veterans
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's assessment of the linkage between atomic testing on Christmas Island and reported cases of chronic sickness, including aneurism, among ex -service men involved in the tests.
Mr. Hanley : The recent report published by the National Radiological Protection Board concluded that participation in the nuclear weapon testing programme has not had a detectable effect on the participants expectation of life nor their risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases. The condition known as aneurism, although potentially fatal, is not accepted as being a
radiation-related illness.
Air Training Exercises
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which air forces have carried out air training exercises over Wales during 1993 and 1994 ; how many sorties have taken place for the last three available years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.
Military Training
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent in (a) 1991, (b) 1992 and (c) 1993 on providing military training in overseas countries ; and if he will list the countries involved.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I have been asked to reply.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office expenditure on providing resident and short -term military training assistance in overseas countries was £10.9 million in financial year 1991-92, £9.2 million in 1992-93 and £7.6 million, estimated, in 1993-94. Countries involved are Angola, Antigua, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Chile, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Indonesia, Jamaica, Latvia, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Column 104
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Appointments
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the President of the Board of Trade 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. Eggar : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is responsible for a total of over 850 public appointments. The readily available information about the public appointments for which my right hon. Friend is responsible is published regularly in "Public Bodies". A full list of the public appointments made by this Department has been placed in the Library of the House.
Regulatory Authorities
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what liaison occurs between his Department and regulatory authorities on the making and termination of appointments ;
(2) under what circumstances he has the power to veto an appointment made by regulatory authorities.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 25 April 1994] : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is responsible for the appointments of the Director Generals of Electricity, Gas Supply and Telecommunications. The Director Generals are responsible for the appointment of their own staff.
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what guidelines are issued to regulatory authorities on how to (a) make and (b) terminate appointments.
Mr. Eggar : OFFER, Ofgas and Oftel operate under the terms of the civil service management code in relation to staff appointments in the same way as any Government Department.
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the occasions on which the National Audit Office has been asked by his Department to look into the circumstances surrounding appointments or dismissals made by a regulatory authority.
Mr. Eggar : The Department has made no such requests to the National Audit Office.
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he takes to ensure that there is no conflict of interest in appointments made by regulatory bodies.
Mr. Eggar : This is a matter for the respective Director Generals.
Construction Industry
Mr. Mullin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he received the report of the construction industry deregulation task force ; and when he expects to publish it.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Warley, West (Mr. Spellar) on 30 March 1994, Official Report, column 766.
Column 105
Coal
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many tonnes of coal were imported by the National Coal Board in each year since 1979.
Mr. Eggar : This is a matter for British Coal.
Insurance
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to introduce a new regulatory body for the insurance industry.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Those matters are kept under periodic review, but I have at present no plans to change the arrangements for regulating the insurance industry.
Debt
Mr. Colvin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he plans to respond to the submissions on his consultative document on the statutory right to interest on late payment of debt.
Mr. McLoughlin : The consultation on measures to address late payment of commercial debt concluded on 31 March 1994. All the responses are currently being considered and a decision will be announced as soon as possible.
Motor Industry Research Unit
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the future of the motor industry research unit.
Mr. Sainsbury : I understand that, following the request of the chief executive and director of the motor industry research unit, an official receiver has been appointed to the company. Its future is therefore in the hands of that receiver.
Privatised Companies
Sir Keith Speed : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to remove the limit in shareholding by foreign investors in privatised companies.
Mr. Sainsbury : The question of the shareholding limits for foreign investors in certain privatised companies is under review.
European Funds
Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all the schemes under which funds from Europe are available to local authorities.
Mr. Sainsbury : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment on 10 March, Official Report , column 372 .
Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade which Departments are able to claim European Community funds to undertake redevelopment of urban areas.
Mr. Sainsbury : The Department of the Environment, the Welsh Office, the Scottish Office and the Northern Ireland Office.
Column 106
Plugs
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will ensure that all electrical appliances are fitted with a plug before sale.
Mr. McLoughlin : The European Commission has sought clarification on a number of points which has delayed the progress of the proposed regulations. I am hopeful that the regulations will be introduced shortly.
Monitoring Committee, Merseyside
Mr. Alton : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many members of the objective 1 monitoring committee for Merseyside will be drawn directly from small and medium-sized enterprises in Merseyside ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : I have been asked to reply.
The monitoring committee will include local partners, including the private sector, on an equitable basis.
ENVIRONMENT
Regional Funding (Merseyside)
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what request was made to the Merseyside task force by officials of the European Commission at the recent meeting in respect of the post of head of the objective 1 executive for Merseyside.
Mr. Baldry : Negotiation on various aspects of the Merseyside objective 1 decision document are continuing. However, the regulations deal only with the establishment of the monitoring committee. Arrangements below that are for the member state to determine.
Water Quality
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what procedures are in place to prevent waste water from purification procedures which is discharged into fresh water rivers being used for drinking supplies.
Mr. Atkins : The National Rivers Authority is responsible for setting standards for discharges into rivers, including those from waste water or sewage treatment works. In doing so, the NRA has to have regard to downstream uses of the river, including any cases where water is abstracted for treatment as drinking water.
Special Protection Area Status
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which sites for special protection area and special area of conservation status are currently under consultation with English Nature ; and which of the proposals are being objected to.
Mr. Atkins : The following proposed special protection areas are currently under consideration by English Nature, who are consulting relevant owners and occupiers :
Breydon Water
Blackwater Estuary
Debden Estuary
Duddon Estuary
Wealden Heaths
Column 107
Any unresolved objections to designation will be referred to my Department in due course. The Government and the statutory nature conservation agencies are still in discussion about possible candidate SACs. Public consultation on these will start in due course.Port Orfod Cedar
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is the policy of the Government to support the inclusion of Port Orfod cedar among the species list in appendix II of the convention on international trade in endangered species.
Mr. Atkins : Parties to the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora will be considering proposals to amend appendices I and II of the convention at the ninth conference of the parties in November this year.
I understand that the United States may submit a proposal to include Port Orford cedar on appendix II. If such a proposal were put forward, we would consider it on its merits in consultation with our scientific advisers at the royal botanic gardens, Kew.
Tenants' Rights Leaflets
Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the additional cost of producing leaflets on new rights for council tenants and compulsory competitive tendering of housing management in Welsh, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Vietnamese and Greek.
Sir George Young : About £46,000.
Community Care
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health about the implications of local government reorganisation for the Government's care in the community policies.
Mr. Baldry : My right hon. Friend frequently discusses with ministerial colleagues a wide range of issues, including the local government review. In addition, officials in my Department are in regular contact with the Department of Health on matters concerning the review.
Housing Repair
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the latest figures available for the percentage of work carried out by the building industry on housing repair and maintenance ; what percentage of the industry's income is created through this ; and how much that amounts to.
Sir George Young : The latest available information shows that housing repair and maintenance output in 1993 was £12,796 million at current prices, which is 28 per cent. of all work undertaken by the construction industry. More details are available in the press notice dated 11 March 1994 entitled "Output and Employment in the Construction Industry : Fourth Quarter 1993" lodged in the House of Commons Library.
Column 108
| Next Section
| Home Page |