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Disclosure of criminal records for employment vetting purposes : a consultation paper by the Home Office/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1993.--(Cm 2319)Draft magistrates' courts (Children Act 1989) rules 1991 : consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office.--[London] : Home Office, 1991
Draft magistrates' courts (Children Act 1989) rules 1991 : additional consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office. [London] : Home Office, 1991
Evening opening of licensed betting offices : Home Office consultation document/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : Home Office, 1991
Fire safety management in hotels and boarding houses : draft for consultation/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : Home Office, 1990 Misuse of witness statements in sexual offences cases : a consultation paper by the Home Office/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : Home Office, 1991.
Partnership in dealing with offenders in the community : a discussion paper issued by the Home Office to complement the white paper Crime, Justice, and protecting the public'/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : Home Office, 1990.
Possible reforms of the liquor licensing system in England and Wales : a consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office. London : Home Office, 1993.
The Prison disciplinary system : consultation document on L. J. Woolf's proposal that boards of visitors /Great Britain Home Office. Inspectorate of Prisons.--London : Home Office, 1991. Prison sanitation : proposals for the ending of slopping out/Great Britain. Inspectorate of Prisons--London : Home Office, 1989. Proposed changes in the immigration rules : consultation document/Great Britain. Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Department.--London : [Home Office Immigration and Nationality Department], 1993.
Reforming the law on Sunday trading : a guide to the options for reform/Great Britain. Home Office,--London : HMSO, 1993--(Cm. 2300) The remand of alleged juvenile offenders : a consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office. Criminal Policy Department.--London : Home Office, 1991.
Review of Police discipline procedures : a consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office.--[London] : Home Office, 1993.
Squatting : a Home Office consultation paper/Great Britain. Home Office.-- London : Home Office, 1991.
Summer time : a consultation document/Great Britain. Home Office.--London : HMSO, 1989.--(Cm. 722).
Technology for the enforcement of road traffic law : [consultation paper]--Great Britain. Home Office.--London : Home Office, 1989. Wheelclamping on private land : a consultation paper by the Home Office/Great Britain. Home Office.--[London] : Home Office, 1993. No central record is maintained of consultation documents not published as Green papers. The above list may not therefore be comprehensive.
Legislation
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) private Members' Bills and (b) other public Bills have been passed within his sphere of responsibility in each year since 1979.
Mr. Howard : The information requested is given in the table.
Private Members' and Public Bills, within the sphere of the
Secretary of
State for the Home Department's responsibility which have
received
Royal Assent since 1979
Parliamentary |Public Bills |Private
Session |Members' and
|Private Peers'
|Bills
------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |5 |7
1980-81 |4 |6
1981-82 |3 |3
1982-83 |2 |5
1983-84 |5 |5
1984-85 |4 |7
1985-86 |3 |4
1986-87 |4 |6
1987-88 |4 |4
1988-89 |5 |2
1989-90 |3 |4
1990-91 |4 |6
1991-92 |3 |3
1992-93 |4 |5
<1>1993-94 |1 |0
|------- |-------
Total |54 |67
<1> To date.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many questions received (a) oral and (b) written answers from Home Office Ministers in each year since 1989.
Mr. Howard : The information requested is given in the table.
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Oral and Written Answers given by Home Office Ministers in both Houses since the 1989-90 Session
Commons Answers Lords Answers
Parliamentary |Priority Written<1>|Ordinary Written |Oral<2> |Written |Oral |Total
Session
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989-90 |1,456 |1,455 |704 |157 |37 |3,809
1990-91 |1,145 |1,273 |184 |154 |41 |2,797
1991-92 |700 |700 |106 |70 |22 |1,598
1992-93 |2,156 |2,526 |313 |222 |65 |5,282
1993-94<3> |1,488 |2,026 |210 |191 |43 |3,958
<1>Now known as Questions for a named day'.
<2>Not all reached during Question Time.
<3>Figures up to 19 July.
Firearms
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegally held semi-automatic firearms have been confiscated by the police service in England and Wales during the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.
Mr. Maclean : This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has concerning the provenance of firearms unlawfully imported into the country ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : We have no hard information. The break-up of the former Soviet Union and the demise of the Warsaw pact has led to a greater availability of firearms on the world market. Her Majesty's customs are aware of this increased risk and are taking steps to counter it.
Subject Access Requests
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many subject access requests were received by each police force in the last year ; what estimate he has as to the percentage of those requests which were enforced subject access requests ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The number of subject access requests received by police forces in England and Wales, from 1 July 1993 to 30 June 1994, are given in the table. Applicants do not give reasons for requesting the disclosure and so it is not possible to estimate the percentage of the total number of requests which arise out of enforced subject access. However, the Metropolitan
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police national identification bureau considers that enforced subject access requests represents a large majority of the cases that are dealt with.
Force |Requests
-------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |262
Bedfordshire |106
Cambridgeshire |34
Cheshire |150
City of London |33
Cleveland |102
Cumbria |30
Derbyshire |133
Devon and Cornwall |191
Dorset |109
Durham |42
Dyfed-Powys |60
Essex |243
Gloucestershire |34
Greater Manchester |372
Gwent |67
Hampshire |227
Hertfordshire |171
Humberside |551
Kent |547
Lancashire |170
Leicestershire |84
Lincolnshire |86
Merseyside |173
Metropolitan |3,821
Norfolk |98
North Wales |80
North Yorkshire |137
Northamptonshire |165
Northumbria |257
Nottinghamshire |237
South Wales |480
South Yorkshire |605
Staffordshire |807
Suffolk |111
Surrey |226
Sussex |253
Thames Valley |260
Warwickshire |48
West Mercia |87
West Midlands |414
West Yorkshire |459
Wiltshire |59
|----
Total |12,581
Immigration
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the research projects on immigration and resettlement policy commissioned by his Department of which the results and final reports for which his Department has not published in part or in full in 1994 ; and if he will set out the reasons for the decisions not to publish.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley) on 18 July, Official Report , columns 34-35 .
Current projects on immigration and settlement policy are : Manpower allocation planning for the immigration control. Study of factors which affect the decision to seek British citizenship.
The experiences of settlement among refugees with special reference to housing and employment.
The experiences of settlement among Vietnamese refugees. Reports on these projects have not been finalised ; but when they have been, they will be published.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many different individuals have been detained under Immigration Acts powers during the recent 12-month period ; and of these how many were (a) asylum seekers and (b) others.
Mr. Nicholas Baker : I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (a) the prisons and (b) the police stations used to detain people under Immigration Acts powers ; and if he will give the numbers so detained for the latest available date.
Mr. Maclean : All prisons and police cells are designated places of detention for the purpose of detention under the Immigration Act 1971.
Details are given in the following table of people detained on 19 July 1994 in Prison Service establishments. Similar details are not available for police cells and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration detainees held in
(i) Prison |Numbers
----------------------------------------
Aberdeen |2
Armley |2
Bedford |1
Belfast |2
Belmarsh |8
Blakenhurst |4
Bristol |1
Brinsford |9
Brixton |3
Bullingdon |30
Cardiff |1
Chelmsford |3
Cookham Wood |1
Dorchester |3
Durham |1
Edinburgh |1
Elmley |3
Erlestoke |1
Exeter |2
Feltham |2
Gloucester |1
Greenock |7
Haslar |24
Highdown |14
Holloway |5
Hull |5
Lewes |2
Liverpool |3
Manchester |13
Norwich |2
Pentonville |4
Reading |1
Rochester |28
Shrewsbury |2
Swaleside |1
Swansea |1
Wandsworth |9
Winchester |4
Winson Green |38
The Wolds |2
Wormwood Scrubs |2
|--
Total |248
(ii) Police Cells |12
Vehicle Emissions
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Ceredigion and Pembroke, North of 13 July, Official Report, column 659, if he will set out the reasons why the information requested on prosecutions pressed for vehicle exhaust emissions is not available centrally ; and if he will make it his policy to establish arrangements for the central collection of such data.
Mr. Maclean : The information which is collected on court proceedings for summary motoring offences uses a classification system which does not currently distinguish exhaust emission offences from other offences of vehicles in defective condition. It would be possible to provide the information requested only by approaching individual courts, and this would be disproportionately expensive. Decisions on exactly which information is collected on summary motoring court proceedings, of which there were about 2.5 million in 1992, take into account the need to provide statistics of most interest to Ministers, Members of Parliament and others, the need for the data collection to be cost-effective and the need to reduce the total burden of information gathering on the police, who currently have to provide this information. In any future review of the classification scheme used, account will be taken of all representations which have been made.
Fire Services
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the need to provide adequate coverage against fires in determining the future of fire stations serving Liverpool ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Maclean : My right hon. and learned Friend would not be prepared to approve proposals by the Merseyside fire and civil defence authority for the closure of any fire station in Merseyside unless he was satisfied, on the advice of Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire services, that the authority would continue to maintain the nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover.
Prisoners (Psychiatric Treatment)
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give a breakdown of the referrals for psychiatric treatment of prisoners broken down by category for each year since 1984.
(2) how many referrals for prisoners were for the treatment of psychiatric disorders for each year since 1984.
Mr. Maclean : Responsibility for these matters 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. Ian McCartney, dated 21 July 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about referrals for psychiatric treatment, broken down by category for each year since 1984.
This information is not available in the form requested. However, the table below gives the number of prisoners seen by NHS consultant psychiatrists and those transferred under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 to outside psychiatric facilities for treatment, for 1986 onwards.
Year |Number of |Number of prisoners
|prisoners referred |transferred under
|to NHS psychiatrists|(Section 47 and 48
|of the MHA 1983)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |9,975 |159
1987-88 |9,410 |183
1988-89 |13,745 |184
1989-90 |12,670 |220
1990-91 |13,396 |323
1991-92 |17,583 |379
1992-93 |16,737 |625
The study of psychiatric disorder in sentenced prisoners carried out by Professor Gunn et al from the Institute of Psychiatry in 1990 gave an estimated prevalence of psychiatric disorder by diagnostic group as follows :
Diagnoses |Per cent. ----------------------------------------- Psychosis |1.9 Neurotic disorder |5.3 Personality disorder |8.2 Sexual deviation |1.9 Organic disorder |0.9
It is likely that referrals and transfers shown would follow the same prevalence of diagnosis.
Prisoners (Medical Treatment)
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prisoners were treated by the private medical sector for each year since 1984.
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. Ian McCartney, dated 21 July 1994 :
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The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners treated by the private medical sector for each year since 1984.I regret that this information is not collected centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were treated by NHS hospital trusts for each year since 1984.
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. Ian McCartney, dated 21 July 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners treated by NHS hospital trusts for each year since 1984.
The information you request is only available from 1986 onwards and is set out in the table. The status of NHS hospitals, trust or otherwise, is not recorded.
|Number of occasions |Number of transfers
|which prisoners |to NHS hospitals for
|attended NHS out- |in-patient treatment
Year |patient departments |or observation
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |17,757 |1,908
1987-88 |18,006 |1,964
1988-89 |18,494 |1,964
1989-90 |18,740 |1,988
1990-91 |18,402 |1,887
1991-92 |24,420 |2,230
1992-93 |23,959 |2,240
Identity Cards
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the officials and organisations involved in his review of whether a national identity card should be introduced ; when this review is to be concluded ; and if he will place briefing papers in the Library.
Mr. Maclean : The question of a national identity card scheme is kept under review. If it were decided to pursue the idea there would be a full consultation exercise.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications of the existence of identity cards elsewhere in the EC for the United Kingdom ; and if identity cards are subject to subsidiarity rules.
Mr. Maclean : There is an obligation under Community law to recognise national identity cards of other member states which are issued for travel purposes. The concept of subsidiarity applies to proposals for Community legislation. There are no such proposals in respect of identity cards.
Road Death Victims
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is his response to each of the specific recommendations set out in chapter 5 of the report, "Support for the Families of Road Death Victims", published by an independent working party on 18 July ;
(2) what is his general response to the recommendations set out in chapter 5 of the report, "Support for the Families
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of Road Death Victims," published by an independent working party on 18 July, a copy of which has been sent to him ;(3) what action he proposes to take on each of the specific recommendations set out in chapter 5 of the report, "Support for the Families of Road Death Victims", published by an independent working party on 18 July, a copy of which has been sent to him.
Mr. Maclean : It is too soon to announce any response to the report, "Support for the Families of Road Death Victims", which was only published on 18 July. Chapter 5 of the report makes a number of recommendations aimed at several Government Departments and other bodies, which will need to be carefully considered by those concerned.
Prison Service
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tooting on 1 December 1993, Official Report, column 623, listing the bonus of the Director General of the Prison Service, for the period of 6 January to 31 March 1993, if he is now in a position to indicate the bonuses paid to the Director General of the Prison Service for the whole of 1993.
Mr. Howard :; The Director General of the Prison Service received a performance bonus of £35,000 for the period 1 April 1993 to 31 March 1994.
Geneva Convention
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations the British Government have undertaken into the conduct of individuals suspected of committing, between 1964 and 1989, offences under the Geneva Convention Act 1957 relating to article 147 of the Geneva convention directive to the protection of civilians in time of war.
Mr. Maclean : Any such investigations would be carried out by the police. They have no central record of the number, if any, of investigations carried out.
Police Functions
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisations were consulted on the issues covered by the Home Office review of core police functions.
Mr. Maclean : The organisations consulted on the review of police core and ancillary tasks are the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Superintendents Association, the Police Federation, the Association of County Councils and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the nature, length of time and extent of the consultation exercise that he intends to carry out in response to the recommendations of the Home Office review of core police functions.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. and learned Friend expects to receive a report on the review of police core and ancillary tasks at the turn of the year. Consultation is
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currently under way with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Superintendents Association, the Police Federation, the Association of County Councils and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities. My right hon. and learned Friend will decide on the appropriate level and type of wider consultation in the light of the recommendations made by the review.Paul Malone
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will make known to Paul Malone its decision following the report from the Metropolitan police.
Mr. Maclean : Once the inquiries into Mr. Malone's case are completed my right hon. and learned Friend will decide as quickly as possible whether there are grounds for action on his part in relation to the representations about the safety of his conviction. Mr. Malone will then be informed of his decision.
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Metropolitan police investigation into the case of Paul Malone, H26911, commissioned by the Police Complaints Authority was concluded.
Mr. Maclean : I understand that the authority received a report from the investigating officer on 8 June in the light of which it has asked for further information to be provided on certain points.
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Police Complaints Authority will complete its examination of the report of the Metropolitan police into the case of Paul Malone.
Mr. Maclean : I understand that the authority expects shortly to be in a position to issue the appropriate interim statement as to its satisfaction with the conduct of the investigation in this case.
Bouncers
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the regulation of the functions and duties of bouncers at licensed premises and clubs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : Since the beginning of this year, the Home Office has received three letters on the subject. I have also had a meeting and related correspondence with the British Entertainment and Discotheque Association and the hon. Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney).
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the total numbers of asylum seekers under the age of 18 years held in detention at the latest available date ; and what was the figure 12 months ago.
Mr. Maclean : On 19 July, there were six people under the age of 18 years who had at some stage sought asylum, and who were detained under the Immigration Act 1971.
The corresponding figure for 12 months ago is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Carol Birch
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations were made to his Department by the court in Parma, Majorca regarding the appearance of a defence witness Carol Birch to testify on behalf of Mr. Russell Torr of Doncaster road, Carlton in Lidnick, Worksop, Nottingham ; and what responses they made ;
(2) if his Department had access to the name, address and passport number of Carol Birch and a copy of the statement she made to the court in Palma, Majorca ; if this statement was made available to the trial of Russell Torr and what was the reason for the decision ; and if he will make a statement regarding what efforts were made to contact Carol Birch as requested by the court in Palma.
Mr. Maclean : On 7 December 1993, the Home Office received from the Provincial Tribunal, Palma de Mallorca, a summons to be served on Ms Carol Birch calling for her appearance before the tribunal for the purposes of proceedings concerning Mr. Russell Torr. The tribunal provided a passport number, but not a full address. Article 14 of the European convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters, to which the United Kingdom and Spain are parties, provides, in the case of a summons, that the issuing authority shall provide the address of the person to be served. In these circumstances, the tribunal was advised on 17 December 1993 that the summons had not been served because the address provided was not sufficient. The tribunal was advised of this again on 12 January 1994. The Home Office has no knowledge in this case of a statement made by Ms Birch.
South Wales Police (Fraud Cases)
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with the chief constable of South Wales police concerning the inability to take on fraud cases pending the re- provisioning of the travel and miscellaneous expenses budget of the fraud squad ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The chief constable has assured me that all fraud complaints will continue to be investigated.
Merseyside Police
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many man-hours annually the Merseyside police expend in the execution of warrants issued to Merseyside and North-Western Electricity Board ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : This information is not collected and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Coroners Courts
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of occasions since 1985 when there have been judicial reviews, or other proceedings in court, concerning the verdicts of, or proceedings in, coroners courts ; and if he will deposit any record of each in the Library.
Mr. Maclean : Information in the precise form sought by the hon. Member is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Member with the available information in due course.
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Ministerial Visits
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas visits he and each of his Ministers have made between 1 January and 30 June ; during how many he, or each of his Ministers, participated in fund-raising activities for the Conservative party ; and if he will name the Ministers and the countries in which these activities took place.
Mr. Howard : Between 1 January and 30 June 1994, Ministers in my Department made six overseas visits in their official capacity. None of these involved fund-raising activities for the Conservative party.
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