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Car Thefts
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many car thieves were apprehended during 1993-94 as a result of the tracker system ;
(2) what estimate the Government have made of the impact of tracker systems on the number of cars stolen each year ;
(3) how many stolen cars were recovered in 1993-94 ; and how many installed with the tracker system were recovered during the same period.
Mr. Maclean : Information on the number of arrests attributable to the tracker system is not collected centrally.
The Home Office has made no assessment of the impact of vehicle-tracking systems, of which tracker is but one, on the number of cars stolen. This will be a matter for the police service. I understand that it is still too early to make any such assessment. The provisional figure for stolen vehicles recovered in England and Wales, excluding Dyfed-Powys, in calendar year 1993 is 350,862. I understand that, from September 1993, when the tracker system began operations, to the end of March 1994, 24 stolen vehicles fitted with tracker equipment were recovered.
Fires
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) children and (b) adults were (i) injured or (ii) killed in fires in 1993 in houses in multiple occupation ; and what proportion the fatality figure of the total domestic fatalities was caused by fire.
Mr. Maclean : Information is not available for 1993. For 1992, the age of fatal and non-fatal casualties from fires attended by local authority fire brigades in houses in multiple occupancies is published in table 23 of the Home Office publication, "Fire Statistics, United Kingdom 1992". Information on deaths from accidents occurring in the home and communal establishments, by cause, is published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in table 3 of "Mortality Statistics 1992, Injury and Poisoning : England and Wales", series DH4 No. 18. Copies of these publications are in the Library.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that the victims of violent crime will be given the right to appeal against decisions made under the reformed criminal injuries compensation scheme.
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Mr. Maclean : Applicants who are dissatisfied with the initial decision of the criminal injuries compensation authority have an unfettered right of appeal. The arrangements for considering appeals are described in paragraphs 32-37 of the White Paper "Compensating Victims of Violent Crime : Changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensating Scheme", Cm. 2434.
Under these arrangements a dissatisfied applicant may request reconsideration of his case by the authority. This will be an internal review of the case conducted by a more senior member of the authority and may result in the original decision being confirmed, overturned or otherwise altered.
An applicant who remains dissatisfied after this review may appeal to an appeals panel. The panel, which is independent of the authority and Ministers, will be able to deal with the appeal on the papers or by offering the appellant an oral hearing at which he may present his case.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had regarding his plans to reform the criminal injuries compensation scheme.
Mr. Maclean : Since we announced our intention in November 1992 to introduce a revised criminal injuries compensation scheme we have received representations from a number of hon. Members, either in writing on their own behalf or on behalf of constituents, as well as from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, various organisations including representative bodies of the legal profession, victim support local schemes and the national office, the Trade Union Congress, the Police Federation and members of the public. The representations have covered a range from the underlying principles and rationale of the new scheme to questions about how it will be administered.
The new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1994.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to provide adequate assessments of post-traumatic stress and sexual abuse for victims of violent crime under the reformed criminal injuries compensation scheme.
Mr. Maclean : The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority which administers the new scheme is responsible, like the board which preceded it, for ensuring that sufficient medical evidence is obtained to enable the applicant's injuries and their after-effects to be correctly assessed.
Animal Procedures Committee
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the recent report by the Animal Procedures Committee on regulatory toxicology and the recommendations it contains ;
(2) which of those recommendations made in the report of the Animal Procedures Committee on regulatory toxicology he intends to incorporate into Home Office policy.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, South-West (Mr. Page) on 19 July, Official Report, column 153.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the types and numbers
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of cosmetics tests carried out on animals in 1992 ; and if he will give a further breakdown of these figures indicating which tests involved raw ingredients and which involved finished products.Mr. Maclean : A special exercise undertaken by the Home Office at the request of the Animal Procedures Committee showed that 2,227 animals were used in cosmetics tests during 1992, a fall of nearly 40 per cent. on the previous year's figure. Of the animals used during 1992, 1,826 were involved in tests on ingredients ; the remaining 401 involved various tests on a single finished product.
I understand that a more detailed breakdown of the types and numbers of cosmetics tests carried out during 1993 will appear in the forthcoming annual report of the Animal Procedures Committee. I have asked for a similar analysis to be undertaken in respect of 1992, and I shall write to the hon. Member with the results.
Drugs Prevention
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his recent visit to the drugs prevention initiative in Liverpool ; and what were his findings.
Mr. Howard : I visited the Home Office drugs prevention initiative team at its offices in Liverpool on 17 June. In addition to meeting the team members, I met representatives of the city council, the health authority and people from some of the local projects that the team is supporting.
I was impressed with the work which the local team were doing to help the local community fight the drug problem. I hope that it will be possible for me to see more of the projects with which they are involved in a future visit.
Prisoners (HIV)
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison inmates were found to be HIV positive in each prison ; and what counselling is taking place in respect of HIV-positive prisoners.
Mr. Maclean : 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 Derek Lewis to Mr. Roland Boyes, dated 21 July 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners found to be HIV positive in each prison and what counselling is provided for prisoners in respect of HIV. At 30 June 1994 there were 45 prisoners confirmed to have HIV in the prisons of England and Wales. To protect the medical confidentiality of the prisoners, there locations are not disclosed. There are 207 centrally trained HIV counsellors throughout the prison establishments of England and Wales. Pre and post counselling is offered to all prisoners who are considering having an HIV antibody test, either through prison health care centres or genito- urinary medicine clinics operating within prison establishments.
Prison Statistics
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table giving the numbers of (a) category A prisoners, (b) category B
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prisoners, (c) category C prisoners, (d) category D prisoners, (e) sentenced adult males awaiting categorisation, (f) young offenders categorised as suitable for open conditions, (g) young offenders categorised as suitable for closed conditions, (h) women prisoners categorised as suitable for open conditions, (i) women prisoners categorised as suitable for closed conditions and (j) remand prisoners in England and Wales at the latest available date.Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the numbers of prisoners by category.
On 18 July, 690 category A prisoners were held in Prison Service establishments.
Provisional information for 30 June indicates that the number of category B, category C, and category D prisoners were respectively 6, 050, 15,880 and 6,150.
On 31 May, 12,530 remand prisoners were held, including 96 in police cells.
No information is available centrally on the number of sentenced males awaiting categorisation or the number of young offenders or women categorised as suitable for either open or closed conditions.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the (a) number and (b) percentage of prisoners received into prison in England and Wales in 1993 who were remand prisoners.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number and percentage of prisoners received into prisons in England and Wales in 1993 who were remand prisoners.
The statistics of receptions of different categories of prisoner involves the repeat counting of a single prisoner received successively as untried, convicted unsentenced and sentenced. In 1993, approximately 53,000 untried persons and 30,200 convicted unsentenced persons, some previously received as untried, were received into Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. There were about 74,700 receptions of sentenced prisoners, some previously received as untried or convicted unsentenced or both, and approximately 4,600 non-criminal receptions.
The total of the untried and convicted unsentenced receptions represents 51 per cent. of all receptions.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give a breakdown of all prisoners in England and Wales by offence group, at the latest available date.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 :
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The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for a breakdown of the prison population by offence group at the latest available date.The attached table gives the available provisional information for sentenced prisoners held in Prison Service establishments on 31 May.
Population in Prison Service establishments under sentence
at 31 May 1994 by offence group-England and Wales
Offence group |Number of
|persons
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Offences with immediate custodial sentence
Violence against the person |7,720
Sexual offences |3,260
Burglary |5,010
Robbery |5,010
Theft and handling |3,190
Fraud and Forgery |880
Drugs offences |3,370
Other offences |3,750
Offences not recorded |2,850
All offences |35,050
In default of a fine |440
All sentenced prisoners |35,490
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners were received into prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of male and female prisoners received into prisons in England and Wales in each of the last ten years.
Information on the number of receptions into Prison Service establishments in England and Wales for the years 1983 to 1992 is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (table 1.14 of the 1992 edition, Cm. 2581). A copy of this publication is available in the Library of the House.
The attached table shows provisional information for 1993.
Receptions into Prison Service establishments
in England and Wales in
1993<1>
|Male |Female
-----------------------------------------------
Untried |51,120|2,670
Convicted, Unsentenced<2> |28,730|1,520
Sentenced<2> <3> |71,010|3,730
Non-criminal |4,370 |250
<1>Provisional figures.
<2>Includes some prisoners previously received
as untried or convicted
unsentenced.
<3>Includes fine defaulters.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many remand prisoners were received into prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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.
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Letter from Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 :The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many remand prisoners were received into prisons in England and Wales in each of the last ten years.
Information on the number of receptions into Prison Service establishments for the years 1983 to 1992 is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (table 1.14 of the 1992 edition, Cm 2581), a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Provisional information for 1993 shows that 53,800 prisoners were received into Prison Service establishments as untried and 30,200 as convicted unsentenced during 1993. The convicted unsentenced figure will include some prisoners previously received as untried.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the remand population in England and Wales on the last day of each of the last 36 months ; and what percentage of the prison population remands formed on each occasion.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what was the remand population in England and Wales on the last day of each of the last 36 months ; and what was the percentage of the prison population remands formed on each occasion. This information is given in the following table.
Population of remand prisoners, in England and Wales,
May 1991 to May 1994<1>
Date |Remand |Percentage of
|population |total population
|in custody
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1994
May |12,530 |26
April |12,158 |25
March |11,885 |24
February |12,109 |25
January |12,109 |26
1993
December |10,763 |24
November |11,895 |25
October |11,829 |25
September |11,445 |25
August |11,407 |25
July |10,572 |24
June |10,632 |24
May |10,181 |24
April |9,997 |23
March |9,996 |23
February |9,933 |23
January |9,433 |23
1992
December |8,490 |21
November |9,459 |22
October |9,605 |22
September |10,020 |22
August |10,128 |22
July |9,942 |21
June |10,404 |22
May |10,294 |22
April |10,646 |22
March |10,678 |22
February |10,747 |23
January |10,661 |23
1991
December |9,881 |22
November |10,654 |22
October |10,797 |23
September |10,754 |23
August |10,357 |22
July |10,039 |22
June |9,877 |22
May |10,015 |22
<1>Includes prisoners held in police cells.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give a breakdown by (a) age, (b) offence group, (c) gender and (d) ethnic group of all receptions into prisons in England and Wales in 1993.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for a breakdown by (a) ages, (b) offence group, (c) gender and (d) ethnic group of all receptions into prisons in England and Wales in 1993.
A breakdown by age and sex of receptions of untried and sentenced prisoners in 1993 is given in Table 5 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 16/94 The Prison Population in 1993 and Long Term Projections to 2001', a copy of which is in the library of the House.
The readily available breakdown of receptions by ethnic group was given in the table for 1993 attached to my reply to your recent Question about a breakdown by ethnic origin for each of the last ten years.
The breakdown by type of offence for sentenced receptions in 1993 is given in the attached table.
Receptions into prison service establishments 1993: by type of offence Type of Offence |Number ------------------------------------------------------------ All Offences |52,100 Violence Against the Person |7,540 Sexual Offences |1,900 Burglary |9,550 Robbery |3,160 Theft & Handling |9,100 Frauds & Forgery |1,790 Drug Offences |3,180 Other Offences |12,230 Offences Not Recorded |3,640 Note: Excludes any prisoners held solely in police cells. Excludes fine defaulters.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of (a) male and (b) female foreign nationals in prison had been convicted of drug offences at the latest available date.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 20 July 1994] : 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.
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Letter from Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 21 July 1994 :The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number and percentage of male and female foreign nationals in prison who had been convicted of drug offences at the latest available date.
On 31 May 1994 in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales 634 sentenced male non-British citizens, excluding fine defaulters, were recorded centrally as being under sentence for drugs offences, or thirty per cent. of sentenced male non-British citizens.
The equivalent figures for females are 143 and 67 per cent.
Correspondence
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford will receive a reply to her letters of 3 February, 12 April and 31 May concerning Mr. and Mrs. Kwabena Aidoobofour.
Mr. Nicholas Baker [holding answer 7 July 1994] : I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he expects to reply to the letter dated 16 March sent to his Department by the hon. Member for Aylesbury on behalf of his constituent Mr. WJO.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr. Lloyd) replied on 20 July.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Agricultural Development Advisory Service
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she holds on surveys by ADAS in the past two years on agricultural land in the Staveley area ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : My Department has commissioned no such work from ADAS in the area in question since 1 July 1992.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what performance indicators are used to assess the effect of environmentally sensitive area management ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : For each environmentally sensitive area there are performance indicators related to the specific objectives of the scheme. Booklets summarising these objectives and performance indicators have been placed in the Library of the House of Commons. A programme for monitoring the environmental impact of the scheme is in place and will enable us to judge progress towards achievement of the objectives and associated performance indicators. Reports on the results of the monitoring will be published preparatory to the proposed five-yearly reviews of each ESA.
Set-aside
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many holdings in each county in England had entered into the five-year set-aside scheme in the year 1992-93.
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Mr. Jack : The table gives the total number of holdings which had entered into an agreement under the scheme in each county up to 1992 when the scheme closed. These figures do not take account of subsequent withdrawals or transfers of ownership. Information on these could be included only at disproportionate cost.
Five Year set-aside scheme: number of holdings
by county
|Number of
|holdings
------------------------------------------------
Avon |56
Bedfordshire |86
Berkshire |64
Buckinghamshire |161
Cambridgeshire |138
Cheshire |41
Cleveland |9
Cornwall |136
Cumbria |12
Derbyshire |43
Devon |78
Dorset |60
Durham |29
Essex |179
Gloucestershire |139
Greater London |19
Greater Manchester |9
Hampshire |110
Hereford and Worcestershire |78
Hertfordshire |77
Humberside |72
Isle of Wight |10
Kent |172
Lancashire |16
Leicestershire |56
Lincolnshire |104
Merseyside |14
West Midlands |6
Norfolk |155
Northamptonshire |119
Northumberland |45
Nottinghamshire |42
Oxfordshire |172
Shropshire |36
Somerset |62
Staffordshire |47
Suffolk |228
Surrey |60
East Sussex |105
West Sussex |94
Tyne and Wear |18
Warwickshire |87
Wiltshire |114
North Yorkshire |114
South Yorkshire |20
West Yorkshire |15
|-------
England |3,507
Central Veterinary Laboratory
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the annual report and accounts for the Central Veterinary Laboratory are due to be published.
Mr. Jack : The Central Veterinary Laboratory's annual report and accounts was published on 21 July 1994. Copies are available in the House Library. The report demonstrates the continuing progress and success of the laboratory as a next steps agency and I would like to congratulate the chief executive and his staff on their considerable achievements during the year.
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Agriculture Council
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 18 and 19 July ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State represented the United Kingdom at this Council whose principal outcome was agreement on the agricultural prices for 1994-95 and the associated proposals on milk quotas.
The package of measures agreed met all the United Kingdom's main objectives, including significantly reining back agricultural expenditure in 1995. Among our specific objectives which were met were : the rejection of the Commission's proposal to reduce milk quotas by 1 per cent. in 1994- 95 and confirmation that there would be no quota cut in 1995-96 ; a reduction in butter prices for 1994-95 of 3 per cent. provision to allow the United Kingdom to allocate, across the board, the 70,000 tonnes of milk quota remaining from last year's 0.6 per cent. increase ; confirmation that export refunds on whisky, to offset the higher price of Community grain, will continue, worth about £20 million per annum to the United Kingdom industry ; rejection of the proposed cut in linseed aid which would have diverted producers into alternative crops such as rapeseed and flax with potentially increased budgetary costs--in the event, the Council increased this aid from 85 to 87 ecu/tonne ; and measures to contain expenditure, especially on beef where the regional ceilings for beef special premium for several member states, though not the United Kingdom, were substantially reduced.
Only when all my concerns on milk had been met was my right hon. Friend prepared to accept confirmation of the milk quota increases agreed last year for Italy, Spain and Greece. These will apply for 1994-95 only, for Italy and Greece, and definitively for Spain. The Council also agreed, at my insistence, measures to simplify the sheep annual premium scheme, so as to make it easier for members of producer groups to claim premium. This is an important deregulatory measure. It also agreed to put in place a short- term apple orchard grubbing scheme.
The overall package will lead to substantial savings for the 1995 EC budget and ensure that the agricultural guideline can be respected. This excludes expenditure in 1995 resulting from the application of the agrimonetary system since September 1992. My right hon. Friend made it clear that the United Kingdom would not agree to any breach or increase of the guideline and that further proposals for savings would be required if it appeared that total expenditure could not be contained within the guideline.
The main elements of the price proposals were agreed unanimously although Denmark opposed the beef aspects. The milk quota proposals were agreed by qualified majority, the Benelux countries and Denmark voting against. The United Kingdom supported the whole package which, overall, represents a very good deal for United Kingdom farmers, taxpayers and consumers.
On bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the German Minister announced that that country's proposed unilateral measures would not be brought into effect. This followed a number of changes to the rules agreed in the Standing Veterinary Committee which met simultaneously with the Council. This will remove uncertainty from our beef
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industry, confirming as it does that all member states now accept that British beef is safe. Their decision wholly vindicates the Government's insistence that our policy on this issue must be based firmly and solely on science.Finally, the Council agreed to consider ways of simplifying the common agricultural policy in order to reduce the regulation and red tape imposed on farmers. We circulated a paper listing several areas where our farmers have experienced problems. This will be considered alongside suggestions from other member states.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Political Advisers
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals he has to strengthen the guidelines in relation to the job descriptions of political advisers in relation to their contacts with political parties and their activists.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : Political special advisers are bound generally by the rules on political activity applicable to other civil servants, with specific exemptions. They may, with the approval of their Minister, attend party functions and maintain contact with party members, and take part in policy reviews conducted by their party. In addition, and also subject to approval by their Minister, special advisers are allowed to involve themselves in local politics. I have no plans to change these arrangements.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the achievements of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months ; if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring ; and if he will set out his targets to help small businesses in the next year.
Mr. David Hunt : My Department plays a full role in the Government's policies to assist the development of small business in the United Kingdom. Work carried out by this Department over the last 12 months to assist small businesses includes :
implementing the measures set out in the White Paper on science, engineering and technology, notably the technology foresight programme which encourages the participation of all kinds of business, and the restructuring of the research councils, which has made them more responsive to the needs of the business community generally ; encouraging greater participation of small business in EC research and development programmes, for example through CRAFT scheme which facilitates their involvement in the industrial technologies programme ;
encouraging Government Departments and agencies to assist business, including small firms, through citizens charter initiatives such as the revised employer's charter produced by the Contributions Agency, and the Charter Standard statement and code of practice produced by Companies House ;
continuing to work closely with the DTI's deregulation unit on the implementation of "Working With Business", the code of good practice for enforcement agencies ;
overseeing the competing for quality programme across central Government. This includes market testing and/or contracting-out many activities employing between one and 20 people before tendering, thus offering opportunities for small firms to bid for contracts.
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