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Council Leaseholders (Property Sales)
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to introduce a financial concession to assist local authorities to help council leaseholders who are finding it difficult to sell their flats.
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to introduce the financial concession to assist local authorities to help council leaseholders who are finding it difficult to sell their flats.
Mr. Curry : My right hon. Friend had hoped to lay an order before the recess to implement a limited concession to help certain leaseholders. A draft order has been prepared but we have agreed to defer laying it in response to representations from the local authority associations that they and other interested parties should have an opportunity to consider the concession alongside other measures which we are proposing to assist leaseholders in difficulty with the resale of former council flats and with service charges. The draft order will therefore be included in a discussion paper to be issued to the associations, the National Federation of Council Leaseholders and others next week. Comments will be invited by mid- September and we hope to reach a conclusion shortly thereafter. A copy of the discussion paper will be placed in the Library.
Newsprint
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to introduce a mandatory minimum proportion of recycled fibre content in newsprint.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 20 June 1994] : Our policy is to help promote waste minimisation and value recovery from waste, including recycling, through the producer responsibility initiative. This entails an industry assuming a share of the responsibility for dealing with the waste arising from its products. In the case of the newsprint industry, our discussions have focused on the proportion of recycled fibre content in newsprint. Under this broad approach, the solutions which are adopted are likely to be more flexible and cost-effective than a statutorily imposed regime.
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Rents
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table setting out for each year between 1988-89 and 1993-94 the mean and median rents paid by local authority, housing association and private sector tenants, dividing the latter two groups into fair rented and non-fair rented accommodation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry [holding answer 14 July 1994] : The available information is given in the tables.
Mean and median net rents by tenancy type-England
(£ per annum)
Tenancy type |1993-94
----------------------------------------------------------
Rented from local authority
Mean |870
Median |580
Rented from housing association
Fair
Mean |1,090
Median |1,040
Assured
Mean |990
Median |520
Rented privately
Fair
Mean |880
Median |870
Assured
Mean |2,790
Median |2,280
Other<1>
Mean |1,650
Median |1,260
<1>Rented-other includes rents such as those paid to
resident landlords,
for lets with the job, college lets, or regulated
tenancies without a
registered fair rent.
Source: Survey of English Housing.
Equivalent information for early years is available only for Great Britain and by calendar year as follows.
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Mean and median net rents by tenancy type-Great Britain<1>
(£ per annum)
Rented privately
Rented from loRented from
housing
authority association Unfurnished Furnished
Year |Mean |Median|Mean |Median|Mean |Median|Mean |Median
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1988 |490 |420 |640 |760 |890 |750 |1,590 |1,310
1989 |500 |500 |600 |700 |900 |800 |1,800 |1,300
1990 |650 |560 |780 |840 |1,270 |990 |2,440 |1,720
1991 |720 |570 |760 |780 |1,470 |1,040 |2,830 |1,890
1992 |750 |540 |990 |830 |1,730 |1,280 |2,640 |2,280
<1>Net rent is gross rent less any rent rebate (Housing benefit)
received.
Source: Family Expenditure Survey.
The rents shown are from sample surveys and are subject to sampling
error. This accounts for some of the apparent year to year
variations.
Docklands Light Railway
Ms Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of the consultation paper published in 1994 by the promoters canvassing the possibility of building the Docklands light railway Lewisham extension without building a station at Island
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Gardens ; what was the cost of the consultation exercise ; and what was the cost to public funds of the hearing before the Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords.Mr. Curry : [holding answer 14 July 1994] : The cost to the docklands light railway and London Docklands development corporation's consultation exercise set out proposals on stations originally planned for the Lewisham extension both north and south of the river, was
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approximately £25,000. This includes the costs of printing and distributing the consultation paper and report. It also includes the costs of seeking additional financial contributions from third parties towards project costs. The cost to the promoters of their represention before the Lord Chairman of Committees was approximately £30,000. I understand that the hearing itself caused no additional cost to public funds except for an estimated £355 for the publication of the chairman's determination on Island Gardens station.Nitrous Oxide
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what study he is undertaking of the effect of nitrous oxide on the rate of stone building decay.
Mr. Atkins : My Department is undertaking no studies of the effect of nitrous oxide on the rate of stone building decay.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
United Nations Conferenceon Population and Development
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support strongly paragraphs 7.42 and 7.43 on adolescent sexual and reproductive health in the draft final document for the international conference on population and development in Cairo.
Mr. Baldry : We have supported statements in the document which calls for efforts to meet the special needs of young people. We shall continue to do so in preparations for the conference with our EU partners. We recognise that for some delegations this is a difficult issue. However, it is important to ensure that all young people are able to get the information and services they need to keep healthy, and that negotiations continue, in Cairo, to find acceptable language in support of this goal.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to seek to safeguard the rights of adolescents to privacy, confidentiality, informed consent and respect at the United Nations conference on population and development in Cairo.
Mr. Baldry : I refer the hon. Member to my answer concerning meeting the needs of young people. We support statements that call for adolescents to be able to access reproductive health information and services provided in a responsible and culturally sensitive fashion, and with due regard to general principles of health care practice--including privacy, confidentiality, informed consent and, of course, respect.
Rwanda
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make British cargo aircraft available to meet the food crisis in Zaire arising from refugees from Rwanda.
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Mr. Baldry : We are making two aircraft available to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for an unspecified period for the collection and delivery of priority relief needs.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how each of the G7 states have responded to the appeal by the President of the Organisation of African Unity, the President of Tunisia, that they should support African troops with the necessary logistical support in Rwanda.
Mr. Baldry : In response to requests by the United Nations to provide logistical support to UNAMIR, Italy has agreed to provide one C130 aircraft plus crew, plus a possible six fuel/water trucks ; Canada is providing a signals squadron plus aircraft ; the US 50 armoured personnnel carriers plus other unspecified support for the Ghanaian contingent ; Her Majesty's Government have provided 50 4 4 trucks ; Japan has contributed $3 million towards costs of equipment and France is engaged in Operation Turquoise. So far there has been no indication of any German contribution.
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many postcards, letters and proforma letters his Department have received on the subject of Rwanda, whether sent directly or forwarded by hon. Members, (a) in the last month and (b) in the last two months.
Mr. Baldry : In June we received approximately 1,470 letters and cards about Rwanda. Just over 1,300 were received in May.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the level of humanitarian need at Goma and other places in Zaire arising from the influx of refugees from Rwanda ; and what international arrangements have been made to meet those needs.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent additional emergency steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to assist in the refugee crisis in Rwanda.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the latest figures for Government aid to the state of Rwanda.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what his Department has done to alleviate the plight and suffering of refugees in Rwanda over the past 12 months ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what discussions he has had with voluntary aid agencies and churches in the United Kingdom on action to alleviate the plight of refugees in Rwanda ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what current assessment his Department has made of the scale of the refugee situation in states bordering Rwanda since the outbreak of civil war and genocide in that country ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) what current assessment his Department has made of the scale of the refugee situation in Rwanda ; and if he will make a statement ; (5) what his Department has done to alleviate the plight and suffering of refugees in states bordering Rwanda since the ourtbreak of civil war and genocide in that country ; and if he will make a statement ;
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(6) what discussions his Department has had with voluntary aid agencies and churches in the United Kingdom on action to alleviate the plight of refugees in states bordering Rwanda ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total value of aid given for humanitarian relief that has been spent (a) in Rwanda and (b) in each of the neighbouring countries since the refugee crisis began in April.
Mr. Baldry : In the past 12 months Britain has provided £12.5 million emergency aid directly for people affected by the civil war in Rwanda, of which £11 million has been committed since early April. This includes £2.5 million for those within the country, £1.5 million for those in Zaire, £4.2 million for those in Tanzania, £0.6 million for those in Burundi.
We have been monitoring the situation closely through reports from international agencies and non-governmental organisations and have sent two assessment missions to the region, most recently from 10 to 14 July.
Within the last week we have provided three relief flights to Goma containing vehicles, personnel, blankets, plastic sheeting and water carriers, and have provided an air bridge at Goma to assist with the overall airlift on behalf of the UN high commissioner for refugees. At their request two additional air bridge teams are being sent to Bukavu in Zaire and Entebbe in Uganda.
The Government are also fully funding two further flights organised by the British Red Cross, and are
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providing two chartered aircraft for use by UNHCR within the region ; as well as helping with a number of other British NGOs who are mobilising resources and organising their own airlifts.The EU Foreign Affairs Council agreed on 18 July to allocate £120 million from existing Lome funds to finance humanitarian assistance in Rwanda : this is subject to the agreement of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. This is in addition to over £100 million of emergency aid provided for Rwandan refugees since last year, including the cost of 40,000 tons of food aid now in transit through Uganda.
The Government continue to monitor the situation extremely closely. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development will be visiting the region next week.
RMS St. Helena
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of the delays, with times, and places, suffered by the present RMS St. Helena because of engine malfunction since it was brought into service.
Mr. Baldry : Details of the delays, with dates and places, suffered by the present RMS St. Helena because of engine malfunction since the vessel entered service are as follows :
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Date |Location |Details |Delay to Service
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 January 1991 |Off Lisbon |Main starboard engine |Vessel out of service for 92
|connecting rod disintegration. |days.
11 April 1993 |On passage Tristan da |Starboard main engine gear |11 days.
|Cunha to Cape Town |train failure. Temporary repairs
|in Cape Town.
9 February 1994 |On passage Inaccessible |Port main engine exhaust valve |2 days.
|Island to Cape Town. |failure.
18 May 1994 |On passage Tenerife to |Repeat of starboard engine gear |21 days of voyage
|Ascension Island |train failure of 11 April 1993. |abandoned.
Somalia
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department has done to alleviate the plight and suffering of refugees in Somalia over the past 12 months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : In the past 12 months more than £4.3 million has been given in general humanitarian assistance to Somalia. It is not possible to distinguish how much of this benefited refugees.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what current assessment his Department has made of the scale of the refugee situation in Somalia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : According to UNHCR there are only some 400 refugees from other countries in Somalia. This is much fewer than the number of internally displaced people in the country. No statistics are held for these.
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East Africa
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what current assessment his Department has made of the scale of the refugee situation in those states of east Africa bordering on to countries in which there is civil war and starvation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : According to latest information received from UNHCR, there are the following number of refugees from other countries in the region : Ethiopia 250,000 ; Somalia 400 ; Sudan 750,000 ; Kenya 370,000 ; Uganda 300,000 ; Tanzania 1.025 million. It is not known how many refugees there are in Eritrea.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what discussions his Department has had with voluntary aid agencies and churches in the United Kingdom on action to alleviate the plight of refugees in those states of east Africa bordering on the countries in which there is civil war and starvation ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what discussions his Department has had with voluntary aid agencies and churches in the United Kingdom on action to alleviate the plight of refugees in Somalia ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Baldry : My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development regularly meets representatives of non-governmental organisations about humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia. In addition ODA representatives regularly attend meetings of the Africa committee of the Refugee Council to discuss current matters of concern.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department has done to alleviate the plight and suffering of refugees in those states of east Africa bordering on to countries in which there is civil war and starvation over the past 12 months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : In addition to the substantial programmes for Rwandan refugees and for humanitarian assistance to Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, the United Kingdom has provided in the past twelve months over £1.1 million in refugee grants for projects run by United Kingdom non-government organisations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and eastern Sudan.
In addition, £1 million was paid to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees towards care and maintenance programmes for Somali and other refugees in Kenya. At the same time £500,000 was provided to UNHCR for maintenance of Somali refugee camps in Ethiopia and the reintegration of Ethiopian refugees and for a repatriation programme for Ethiopian refugees from Sudan.
Belize-Guatemala Road Link
Mr. Mans To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on developments with regard to the United Kingdom's 1991 aid pledge for a joint Belize--Guatemala road link.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We have decided to authorise the Belize element of the Government's pledge. Subject to satisfactory appraisal, the £7.5 million Belizean share of the pledge will be used to contribute to the financing of the southern highway project, which is the Belize Government's next infrastructure priority.
As relations between Belize and Guatemala develop, we hope to be able to proceed with the Guatemala element of the aid commitment.
Natural Resources Institute
Mr. Mans To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what performance targets have been set for the current year for the Overseas Development Administration's executive agency, the Natural Resources Institute.
Mr. Baldry : The institute's principal performance targets for 1994- 95 are : to recover the full economic costs of its ordinary activities ; to achieve a further increase of 20 per cent. in the volume of work done for non-ODA clients,
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with an increase of 35 per cent. in the value of net income from this source ; and to secure a reduction in the real cost of operational time charged to clients to below the 1992-93 level, thereby recovering the 5.2 per cent. efficiency loss in 1993-94.Nigeria
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about the background of Judge Sylvanus Karibi-Whyte who has been seconded from the United Nations Commission on war crimes in former Yugoslavia to chair the constitutional conference in Nigeria ; what further steps his Department is taking to assist with the work of the conference ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 20 July 1994] : Justice Adolphus Godwin Karibi-Whyte was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1984. He was elected to the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal at the International Court of Human Rights in The Hague on 17 September 1993, and was appointed chairman of the national constitutional conference on 17 June 1994.
My hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Mr. Lennox-Boyd) described our assistance to the conference in his reply of 5 July at columns 118-19 . We would be prepared to consider any further requests for help.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Foreign Prisoners
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of foreign inmates (a) men and (b) women being held in prisons in England and Wales on 11 July.
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. Tom Cox, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of foreign inmates (a) men and (b) women being held in prisons in England and Wales on 11 July.
The latest available provisional information is for 31 May 1994. On that date there were approximately 3,780 non-British citizens (3,470 males and 310 females) in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. This includes about 600 male and 20 female nationals from the Irish Republic. Approximately a further 470 persons had no nationality recorded.
I also wrote to you on 31 January in reply to your Questions about the number of foreign nationals from varying countries who were detained in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. Unfortunately, those detained under Immigration Act powers were omitted from the information provided. I attach revised tables. A copy of these tables has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
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Population in Prison Service Establishments, in England and Wales, by type of prisoner and nationality as at 30
September 1993
Type of Prisoner
Nationality Male Female
|Remand |Sentenced<1>|All<2> |Remand |Sentenced<1>|All<2>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |10,248 |30,352 |40,760 |364 |988 |1,358
All non-British Nationals |715 |2,042 |3,176 |73 |192 |295
Not recorded |43 |548 |601 |2 |17 |21
Europe
Albania |1 |- |2 |- |- |-
Andorra |2 |8 |10 |- |- |-
Armenia |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Austria |1 |4 |6 |- |- |-
Belgium |9 |13 |22 |- |1 |1
Cyprus |8 |35 |46 |1 |1 |2
Czechoslovakia |1 |2 |3 |- |- |-
Denmark |- |3 |3 |- |- |-
Finland |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
France |13 |16 |35 |2 |2 |4
German Democratic Republic |2 |1 |4 |- |- |-
German Federal Republic |11 |26 |37 |3 |- |3
Gibraltar |- |1 |1 |- |1 |1
Greece |1 |10 |12 |- |1 |1
Hungary |1 |2 |3 |- |1 |1
Irish Republic |157 |367 |526 |2 |10 |12
Italy |19 |43 |62 |- |4 |4
Luxembourg |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Malta |2 |6 |8 |- |- |-
Netherlands |35 |52 |87 |4 |6 |10
Norway |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Poland |- |7 |8 |- |1 |2
Portugal |13 |14 |28 |3 |- |3
Romania |1 |1 |10 |- |- |-
Spain |15 |19 |35 |2 |- |2
Sweden |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
Switzerland |- |1 |1 |- |1 |1
Turkey |16 |48 |84 |- |1 |1
USSR |- |- |2 |- |- |1
Yugoslavia |1 |9 |12 |- |- |-
Middle East
Afghanistan |1 |2 |3 |- |- |-
Bahrain |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Egypt |- |4 |6 |- |- |-
Iran |2 |20 |25 |- |1 |1
Israel |3 |10 |14 |- |- |-
Iraq |1 |5 |6 |- |- |-
Jordan |2 |6 |8 |1 |- |1
Kuwait |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
Lebanon |3 |8 |14 |- |- |-
Saudi Arabia |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Sierre Leone |2 |6 |19 |- |- |-
Syrian Arab Republic |2 |1 |4 |- |- |-
United Arab Emirates |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
Yemen Arab Republic (North) |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Yemen Peoples Democratic
Republic (South) |1 |1 |2 |- |- |-
India |35 |148 |293 |- |10 |10
Pakistan |55 |188 |257 |2 |6 |9
Bangladesh |6 |35 |43 |- |- |-
Hong Kong |- |5 |6 |- |1 |1
Other Asia
Burma |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
China |3 |7 |14 |- |1 |2
British India Ocean Territory |2 |1 |3 |- |- |-
Indonesia |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Korea Republic (South) |- |1 |1 |- |2 |2
Malaysia |3 |4 |8 |1 |- |1
Nepal |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Philippines |- |3 |3 |1 |1 |2
Sri Lanka |3 |12 |17 |- |- |-
Singapore |3 |3 |6 |- |- |-
Thailand |- |2 |2 |- |1 |1
Vietnam |6 |8 |14 |- |- |-
Africa
Algeria |- |6 |30 |- |- |-
Angola |- |5 |13 |- |- |-
Ascension Island |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Benin |- |- |- |- |1 |1
Cameroon |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Central African Republic |4 |2 |6 |- |- |-
Congo |- |- |2 |- |- |-
Ivory Coast |1 |1 |4 |- |- |1
Ethiopia |1 |2 |3 |- |- |-
Ghana |16 |34 |78 |5 |18 |24
Gambia |- |4 |4 |- |- |-
Guinea |- |- |2 |- |- |-
Kenya |2 |25 |30 |1 |- |1
Liberia |1 |1 |4 |- |- |-
Libya |1 |7 |10 |- |- |-
Morocco |6 |18 |29 |- |1 |1
Mauritania |- |2 |2 |- |1 |1
Mauritius |1 |8 |9 |- |- |-
Malawi |- |3 |4 |- |1 |1
Mayotte |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Niger |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Nigeria |37 |120 |217 |14 |47 |71
Senegal |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Seychelles |1 |4 |5 |- |- |-
Sudan |- |- |2 |- |1 |1
St. Helena |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Somalia |9 |9 |23 |- |- |-
Tunisia |- |6 |7 |- |- |-
Tanzania |4 |3 |10 |1 |- |1
Uganda |4 |13 |23 |- |- |-
South Africa |3 |17 |22 |- |2 |2
Zambia |4 |3 |7 |- |1 |1
Zaire |2 |4 |25 |- |- |-
Zimbabwe |2 |9 |11 |- |- |-
Caribbean
Antigua |2 |7 |9 |- |- |-
Barbados |2 |13 |15 |1 |1 |2
Costa Rica |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Cuba |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Dominica |- |7 |7 |- |- |-
Dominican Republic |1 |3 |4 |- |1 |1
Grenada |2 |5 |7 |- |1 |1
Haiti |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Jamaica |110 |317 |440 |17 |30 |55
St. Lucia |4 |12 |17 |- |- |-
Monserrat |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
St. Christopher and Nevis |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
Trinidad and Tobago |4 |10 |14 |- |- |-
St. Vincent and Grenadines |- |10 |10 |- |1 |1
United States of America |15 |37 |56 |3 |17 |20
Canada |4 |13 |18 |- |1 |1
America (North and South)
Argentina |3 |1 |4 |- |- |-
Belize |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Bolivia |- |2 |2 |- |1 |1
Brazil |1 |4 |6 |1 |2 |3
Cayman Islands |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Chile |- |4 |4 |2 |- |2
Colombia |2 |42 |52 |1 |4 |5
Guyana |6 |20 |26 |2 |6 |13
Mexico |- |1 |1 |- |- |-
Peru |- |6 |7 |- |- |-
Surinam |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Uruguay |1 |1 |2 |- |- |-
Venezuela |- |3 |3 |- |- |1
Australia |6 |18 |25 |1 |- |1
New Zealand |3 |11 |14 |1 |1 |2
Oceania
Fiji |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Guam |- |- |- |1 |- |1
Papua New Guinea |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
Solomon Islands |1 |- |1 |- |- |-
<1>Includes persons committed in default of payment of a fine.
<2>Includes Immigration Act detainees and non-criminal prisoners.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 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. Howard : The Government recognise the crucial role played by small firms in the United Kingdom economy. Government help small firms by keeping inflation and interest rates low and by reducing legislative and administrative burdens. They also provide direct assistance where appropriate, and are currently establishing a network of business links to provide high-quality business support across the country.
Since July 1993, the Home Office has demonstrated its continued commitment to helping small businesses through deregulation. Steps taken have included simplifying the law on Sunday trading and on football pools, and legislative proposals, in the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill, to introduce a system of children's certificates for licensed premises, and to end restrictions on weekday shopping hours and Sunday racing and betting. We have announced our intention to remove various restrictions on betting offices, and to bring forward a measure under the order-making power in the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill to repeal the provision in the Licensing Act 1964, which makes it an offence to sell someone more alcohol than they have asked for. In addition, small businesses have been consulted in the course of a fundamental review of the Fire Precautions Act 1971, and in the subsequent inter-departmental review of the enforcement of fire safety regulations. The Government are now considering the outcome of these reviews, and paying particular attention to the needs of small businesses in this context. In the past year, 32 of the 71 regulations affecting business for which the Home Office is responsible have been reviewed. A programme for the review of the remainder is now being developed. This programme, which will also cover other deregulatory work, will include targets for the various items in the programme.
Much of the deregulatory work undertaken in the past year in the Home Office has carried forward work started in the previous 12 months. This had included proposals for legislation to clarify the law on Sunday trading, consultation exercises on greyhound racing and liquor licensing, and the start of the review of all the regulations affecting business for which the Home Office is responsible. The Department's work on deregulations has been complemented by efforts to help small businesses protect themselves against crime, and to help those who wish to bid for Home Office business. In 1993, the Home Office crime prevention unit published a research paper "The Prevention of Crime Against Small Businesses : The Safer Cities Experience" which examined the effectiveness of crime prevention schemes directed at small business. The Home Office crime prevention centre has also published a guide on retail security to help police officers advise small retailers on protection against burglary. In addition, the
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National Board for Crime Prevention--a non- departmental public body for which the Home Office is responsible--has recently set up a retail action group to look at crime and its effect on the retail sector. This group plans to issue guidance on various aspects of crime prevention which should help small businesses. The Home Office is also carrying out a survey for the international business crime survey of large and small business premises to enable the relative risks for different types of premises to be estimated.On procurement, it is the Home Office's policy to give encouragement and assistance to small businesses wherever possible. To that end, over the past 12 months we have again revised and re-issued a booklet : "Selling to the Home Office", which details the Department's purchasing needs, and gives specific contact points for initial approaches. A central contact point for general inquiries is also available. The Home Office does not, however, hold detailed information on the volume of business placed with small firms.
Young Offenders
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles were detained in adult prisons each year since 1991.
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 Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 21 July 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of juveniles detained in adult prisons each year since 1991.
The attached table gives information on youths aged 17 or under who were first received into an adult Prison Service establishment in England and Wales since 1991.
Youths<1> first received into an adult Prison
Service establishment
in England and Wales
1991 to 1993
Type of first
reception
Year |Remand |<2>Sentenced
----------------------------------------------------
1991 |1,565 |878
1992 |751 |472
<3>1993 |570 |180
<1>Persons aged 17 years or under.
<2>Includes fine defaulters. This may include some
previously received
as a remand prisoner into an adult establishment.
<3>Provisional figures.
Speed Cameras
Mr. Day : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for funds generated from fines for speeding offences detected by cameras to be passed to local police authorities for funding further provision of speed cameras and the staff necessary to administer the processing of the offences.
Mr. Maclean : No. The income from criminal penalties, including fixed penalties and court fines for traffic offences, goes directly to the Consolidated Fund at the Exchequer.
Column 485
Fire Services
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will clarify the London fire and civil defence authority's reasons for not having five pumping applicances in the north-east area of the London fire brigade available for operational service on the night of Sunday 26 June.
Mr. Maclean : I have been informed by the chief fire officer that on the evening of 26 June five pumping appliances were unavailable because of unusually high levels of sick leave. The brigade was nevertheless able to ensure that the required levels of service were delivered to the public.
Consultation Documents
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the White and Green Papers and consultation documents published by his Department in the last five years.
Mr. Howard : The available information is as follows :
White Papers
Charities : a framework for the future/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1989.--(Cm 694)
Compensating victims of violent crime : changes to the criminal injuries compensation scheme/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1993.--(Cm 2434)
Crime, justice and protecting the public/Great Britain. Home Office.-- London : HMSO, 1990.--(Cm 965)
Custody, care and justice : the way ahead for the Prison Service in England and Wales/Woolf, Harry ; Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1991.- -(Cm 1647)
A National lottery : raising money for good causes/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1992.--(Cm 1861)
A New framework for local justice/Great Britain. Home Office ; Great Britain. Lord Chancellor's Department.--London : HMSO, 1992.--(Cm 1829)
[Issued jointly by the Home Office and Lord Chancellor's Department]
Police reform : a police service for the twenty-first century/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1993.--(Cm 2281)
Supervision and punishment in the community : a framework for action/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1990.--(Cm 966) Green Papers and other consultation documents
Absent voting/Great Britain. Home Office--[London] : Home Office, 1989.--(Representation of the People Acts consultation paper ; no. 2).
The Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules 1992 : consultation draft 1st November 1991/Great Britain, Home Office. Immigration and Nationality Department.-- [Croydon : Home Office], 1991/Great Britain. Home Office. Immigration and Nationality Department.--[Croydon : Home Office], 1991
Candidates election expenses : consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office.--[London] : Home Office, 1989
Civil defence community volunteers : a discussion paper by the co-ordinator of voluntary effort/Emergency Planning College, --Easingwold : [Emergency Planning College], 1989.
A Code of standards for the Prison Service : a discussion document produced by the Code of Standards Steering Group/Dunbar, I M ; Great Britain. Prison Service. Directorate of Inmate Administration. London : Home Office, 1992
The control of dogs : a consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office.-- London : Home Office, 1990
Control of fund-raising : a consultation document on part II of the Charities Act 1992/Great Britain. Voluntary Services Unit.--Home Office, Voluntary Services Unit, 1993
Court escorts, custody and security : a discussion paper/Great Britain. Home Office. Criminal Department.--London : Home Office, 1990
Criminal appeals and the establishment of a Criminal Cases Review Authority : a discussion paper/Great Britain. Home Office.--[London] : Home Office, 1994
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