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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 25 October 1994
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Press Officers
Mr. Grocott: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the number of press officers currently employed by his Department who are normally based (a) in the Department in London, (b) in the House and (c) at each other location.
Mr. John M. Taylor: The Lord Chancellor's Department employs six press officers, all of whom are based at the Department's headquarters in London.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Public Opinion Surveys
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list each public opinion survey commissioned by (a) his Department and (b) his agencies since 1 October 1992, showing for each the subject, objectives, total cost, the period in which it was conducted and the organisation from which it was commissioned.
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Mr. Newton: No public opinion surveys have been commissioned by my Department during the period specified. I am not responsible for any agencies.
Ms Lynne: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how much money was spent with foreign companies on refurbishment within the Palace of Westminster in the current financial year; and how much was spent in the same period with British firms.
Mr. Ray Powell: No contracts have been let to foreign firms by the Parliamentary Works Directorate in the current financial year for refurbishment work. However, contractors have normal commercial freedom to subcontract and purchase supplies, provided that they comply with specifications set by the Director of Works or other relevant authorities of the Palace of Westminster. Within these constraints contractors may choose occasionally to use foreign suppliers where they are competitive in quality or service. Some £10 million is forecast to be spent in the current financial year on maintaining the Palace of Westminster.
TREASURY
Public Opinion Surveys
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list each public opinion survey commissioned by (a) his Departments and (b) his agencies since 1 October 1993, showing for each, the subject, objectives, total cost, the period in which it was conducted and the organisation from which it was commissioned.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The surveys listed, commissioned by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments or agencies since 1 October 1992, included questions to individuals about their opinions:
Department or Agency |Title |Objective |Timing |Contractor
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HM Treasury |BT3 Share Sale |Market Research |May-July 1993 |MORI
HM Treasury |Electricity Generators |Market Research |July 1994 |BMRB
| Share Sale
Customs and Excise |Travellers Charter |Monitor quality of |July-August 1993 |NOP (Consumer
|Survey 1993 |service provided |Market Research)
|staff to travellers
Department of National Savings |Advertising |Monitor effect of |continuous |Millwood Brown
|Tracking Study |National Savings
|advertising
Department of National Savings |Product Features Study |Determine trade off |November 1992 |Public Attitude
|between savings |Surveys Ltd.
|product features
Department of National Savings |Investment Guide |Evaluate the launch |March-May 1994 |Taylor-Nelson
|Research |of a new product booklet
Inland Revenue |Shipley Accounts |Ascertain customers' |January 1993O |Line Telephone
|Office Customer |views on service |Surveys
|Survey |provided
Inland Revenue |Pensioners and their |Assess difficulties in |September 1993 |CCC Research Ltd
|tax returns |completing returns
Inland Revenue |Pensioners customer |Ascertain customers' |December 1993 |BMRB International
|survey |views on service
|provided
Royal Mint |Royal Mint Coinage |Consider present |September 1994 |RSGB Omnibus via
|Survey |United Kingdom |Central Office of
|coinage and options |Information
|for change
The fees paid to contractors are matters of commercial confidentiality.
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Alcohol and Tobacco
Dr. Marek: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present estimated value of revenue lost to the Exchequer because of illicit cross-border trade in alcohol and tobacco products.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Forecasting levels of illicit activity is by its nature always difficult. A broad estimate derived from amounts seized has been made of £35 million on revenue loss from all smuggling of excise goods. Work is continuing to improve estimation in this field.
Dr. Marek: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average monthly revenue value of seizures made by HM Customs and Excise during 1993 94 for (a) all tobacco goods, (b) all alcohol beverages, (c) hand-rolled tobacco and (d) beer; and what is the estimated monthly revenue value of seizures for the same products for the six months to September 1994.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The average monthly revenue value of seizures made by HM Customs and Excise in the financial year ending 31 March 1994 were (a) £98,514 for all tobacco products, (b) £64,892 for all alcoholic beverages, (c) £77,205 for hand-rolled tobacco and (d) £41,091 for beer.
Details of seizures for the month of September 1994 are not currently available. The average monthly revenue value of seizure for the same products for the five months to August 1994 were (a) £287,467, (b) £93,060, (c) £243,949 and (d) £60,280 respectively.
Pay and Grading
Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many negotiators are now employed in Departments and agencies following the Government's decision to delegate pay and grading; what was the equivalent number of officials employed at the treasury when pay was settled nationally; and what has been the cost of training these additional officials and the overall additional cost of pay negotiations in the revised form.
Mr. Aitken: In 1993 94, there were 242 staff in the Treasury directorate which looks after civil service management and pay. It is for those who have received pay and grading delegation to decide how to conduct their negotiations and the size and composition of their negotiating teams, and to ensure that their delegated arrangements represent value for money.
Personal Pension Sales
Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress the Securities and Investments Board has made with its inquiries into sales of personal pensions.
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Mr. Nelson: The Securities and Investments Board, the chief investment regulator, has today issued a statement determining how compensation is to be delivered for people who have personal pensions instead of being in an occupational pension scheme and who now face financial loss as a result of bad investment advice. I have today placed copies of the statement in the Libraries of both Houses. Today's statement follows the initiative announced by SIB last December, when it published evidence that many sales of personal pensions appeared not to have been made in full compliance with the regulation under the Financial Services Act. Since then, with the help of experts for the life and pensions industry, the SIB has mounted an exercise to assess the problem and to prevent it recurring.
The Government are also taking action to make sure that the arrangements for redress are brought into effect as efficiently as possible. The public service pension schemes are setting other occupational schemes a good example. There is also clarification of the tax treatment of compensation payments.
It is now clear that some sales of personal pensions in the past took place on the basis of bad advice, not given in accordance with the regulatory rules then in force. SIB's statement today implements the assurance I gave in the House to the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham and my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. T. Smith) on 8 December 1993, Official Report column 233-34 . Anyone with a personal pension who is found to face financial damage as a result of mis-selling will be entitled to redress. The aim will be to provide this compensation by putting people in a financial position equivalent to that in which they would have been had the mis-selling not taken place.
There is at present no way of knowing the eventual total cost but there will inevitably be a substantial call on the financial services industry. Investors can be reassured that the industry as a whole can and will pay. In cases where the firm responsible has ceased trading, this will entail calling on the industry's compensation schemes. The SIB statement sets out in detail how firms responsible for sales of personal pensions should review their cases; how they can identify mis-selling and damage to investors caused by it; and, where mis-selling leading to financial damage has occurred, how appropriate redress should be provided. The details of the review process and the formula for redress have been drawn up with the assistance of experts in the life and pensions industry and in the legal and actuarial professions. The regulators will now ensure that firms responsible for past pensions business take the necessary steps to review their casebooks. The Personal Investment Authority is setting
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up a pensions unit to examine cases sold by firms which are no longer in business.The review process will be supervised by the regulators. Many people will be contacted by the firm which sold their pension, or the pensions unit, and asked for information to help decide whether further investigation is required. SIB is distributing widely an explanatory leaflet, the Investor's Guide. It will also be generally available from libraries and citizens advice bureaux.
It will take at least two years to carry out the reviews in an appropriately thorough and systematic way as the interests of both personal pension holders and other policyholders require. The cases to be reviewed first will be those where financial damage caused by mis-selling is judged most likely to have occurred and where the effect of mis-selling could have the most immediate impact. These priority groups include the cases of investors who have died or retired. In addition, any personal pension investor who seeks it will have his or her case reviewed.
These reviews will no doubt show that many people who transferred to or opted for a personal pension were given good advice. Where redress is required, its form will depend on the circumstances of the investor. In many cases, and where it is possible, it will be desirable to reinstate people in their occupational schemes. If this cannot be done, the personal pension will usually be topped up. Sometimes additional benefits may need to be provided, for example through insurance policies. Those already retired may get top-up annuities.
With these forms of redress in mind, I very much hope that occupational schemes in the private sector will follow the example of public service schemes such as those for the teachers and nurses. These schemes are allowing current employees not only to rejoin for future service but also to buy back pension rights for previous service at reasonable cost.
All these remedies are designed to put the investor in a financial position equivalent to what would have been the case if the mis-selling had not occurred. The Chancellor intends to introduce legislation in due course to ensure that an investor in that position will have the same tax bill as would have been the case had there been no payment of compensation for mis- selling of the personal pension or buyout contract.
The action announced by SIB today relates to people who bought personal pensions in preference to an occupational scheme. There are many others who would otherwise have been contributing to the state earnings related pension scheme. The SIB is also investigating, with the help of DSS, whether there has been mis-selling to people in this position. SIB intends to publish its findings in this further review next year. If a problem is revealed, SIB will prescribe appropriate redress.
Personal pensions remain a flexible and entirely suitable way of saving to provide a secure income in retirement for a great many people. They can make it possible to combine a mobile and varied career with a good pension. These advantages will no doubt ensure that personal pensions continue to appeal to many people. I also have no doubt that they will have a significant role to play in future pension provision.
But for people to choose personal pensions with confidence, they must be able to rely on high standards
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of professionalism from those responsible for selling them. They must be able to trust advisers and sales staff to recommend suitable products. That is why in March the SIB defined new tougher standards for future sales of personal pensions.As a result, investors choosing between occupational and personal pensions now get a "reason why" letter to explain each personal pension sale, backed by sophisticated analysis of their own personal circumstances. The regulators are following this up with more intensive supervision of sales. The Department of Social Security has also issued guidance to employers about the advice they may give to any of their employees considering a personal pension. These new standards are backed up by more demanding training and competence requirements. Financial services firms are already implementing the new standards. So people making decisions about whether to buy a personal pension instead of belonging to an occupational scheme can have confidence in the quality of the advice they get.
The problems addressed in SIB's statement today demonstrate how important it is that authorised firms operating in the financial services sector take these responsibilities to their customers seriously. Investors must be able to reply on their investment advisers to comply with the regulatory standards.
There can be no doubt that SIB's action to compensate investors is a success for the regulatory system. SIB has acted with commendable thoroughness and independence. I have no hesitation in concluding that the system of regulation, in which SIB takes the prime role, and which benefits from major practitioner input, is sound and working effectively to protect investors. The reforms instituted by the SIB review last year are beginning to bear fruit.
The financial services industry plays an important and growing role in a sophisticated modern economy such as ours. Increasing affluence means that people will more often have resources available for investment. They must be able to invest with confidence. A clean, well regulated market is in the interest of consumers and financial services firms alike.
Ecofin
Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Council meeting of the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Union held on 21 October.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: EC Finance Ministers met in Brussels on Friday 21 October to discuss the own resources decision and Italian and Spanish milk disallowances.
Italy, and to a lesser extent Spain and Greece, faced disallowance due to their failure to fine farmers who had exceeded EC milk quotas over the period 1989 93. Italy and Spain claimed that this was unfair, as their national quotas had been set too low to begin with. In 1992, it was agreed at a Council of Agriculture Ministers to increase Italian and Spanish milk quotas for 1993 94. Subsequently, in the course of clearing the EAGGF accounts for 1989 and 1990, the Commission decided to disallow only the amounts which would have been payable by Italy and Spain if they had had in those years the extra milk quota which had been awarded them for 1993 94. It indicated that it intended to do the same for
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1991, 1992 and 1993. This would have resulted in Italy and Spain paying roughly half the amount for which they were liable at the outset.The United Kingdom objected to this and brought proceedings before the European Court of Justice on the grounds that the Commission had exceeded its competence by backdating quota, a power which could be exercised only by the Council of Ministers. Italy and Spain also began ECJ proceedings on the grounds that the disallowance decisions were still excessively harsh and claimed that they should make no further repayments at all.
Even had we ultimately won on all aspects of our ECJ cases, on which judgment was still two years distant, the level of the fine would have been a matter for the Council to determine on the basis of a proposal from the Commission. There is no reason to believe that the Commission would then have produced any different proposal from the one that it had originally made. Therefore Italy and Spain would only have paid roughly half of the penalties for which they were theoretically liable even if we had won our cases in the ECJ on all points.
I therefore negotiated a settlement which resulted in Italy and Spain agreeing to repay much higher sums to the Community budget than they would have paid if we have not brought our action in the European Court or if we had allowed our action before the Court to take its course to a possibly successful conclusion over the next two years.
Ecofin on Friday agreed to increase total disallowance from the Commission proposal of 2.1 billion ECU or 1.6 billion to 3.2 billion ECU or £2.5 billion--an increase of 1.1 billion ECU or £860 million on the level of disallowance fixed by the Commission. This is the largest agricultural fine even levied in the history of the European Community. Payment will start in 1995.
North Sea Oil Revenue
Mr. Grocott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total income to the Exchequer from North sea oil revenue (a) between 1974 and 1979 and (b) since 1979.
Sir George Young: Government revenues raised from North sea oil and gas production between 1974 75 and 1978 79 were £930 million. Since 1979 80 they have been £75,000 million.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Press Officers
Mr. Grocott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of press officers currently employed by his Department who are normally based (a) in the Department in London and (b) at each other location.
Mr. Howard: The Home Office has 14 press officers in post, including the director and deputy director of information who deal with all media. There are two vacancies. All are based in London. There are a number of agencies accountable to the Department which employ Government information service press officers who are not included in these figures.
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Police Authority Budgets
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out by police authority (a) the standard spending assessment and (b) the estimated or actual budget for the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Howard: The following table lists the standard spending assessment and comparable net revenue budget information for each police authority in England for 1994 95. For Wales, provision for the police is included in the overall assessment made for Welsh county councils and no separate figures are available.
1994/95 £ million
Police Authority |SSA |Budget Outturn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |69.274 |70.738
Bedfordshire |27.790 |25.229
Cambridgeshire |28.702 |29.276
Cheshire |43.087 |44.475
Cleveland |33.706 |34.092
Cumbria |26.638 |26.262
Derbyshire |41.516 |40.038
Devon and Cornwall |65.707 |70.500
Dorset |29.218 |35.611
Durham |31.171 |31.257
Essex |71.273 |73.194
Gloucestershire |26.570 |26.404
Hampshire |79.134 |81.076
Hertfordshire |42.413 |40.908
Humberside |45.645 |45.190
Kent |76.389 |76.475
Lancashire |72.462 |74.179
Leicestershire |41.583 |38.760
Lincolnshire |27.064 |32.503
Norfolk |32.450 |34.969
Northamptonshire |26.705 |29.557
North Yorkshire |31.821 |31.373
Nottinghamshire |52.894 |52.781
Staffordshire |49.707 |51.588
Suffolk |27.670 |28.260
Surrey |42.834 |43.870
Sussex |67.155 |66.757
Thames Valley |95.202 |96.501
Warwickshire |23.384 |23.681
West Mercia |46.071 |48.452
Wiltshire |28.927 |29.132
Greater Manchester |156.167 |158.053
Merseyside |105.608 |104.793
Northumbria |80.833 |81.557
South Yorkshire |68.019 |68.278
West Midlands |154.888 |151.096
West Yorkshire |118.825 |119.765
City of London |29.690 |35.838
Metropolitan |791.008 |788.515
Policing (Humberside)
Sir Ivan Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the future policing arrangements for Humberside.
Mr. Howard: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced today that the county of Humberside would be replaced by four unitary authorities, with the area around Goole, in the present district of Boothferry, transferring to North Yorkshire.
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In the light of this announcement I shall need to consider whether to retain a separate Humberside police force, based on the four unitary authorities. Goole will be policed by the North Yorkshire force from the date of the local government reorganisation, in accordance with the provisions of section 39 of the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994.My preference is to retain a separate Humberside force but before reaching a final decision I shall wish to consult the forces, police authorities and local authorities which would be affected by the decision. I shall also ask Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary to report on the viability of a police force based on the boundaries of the four unitary authorities.
The consultation will begin immediately and I shall announce my final decision as soon as possible.
Police Core and Ancillary Tasks
Sir Ian Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the interim report of the review of police core and ancillary tasks.
Mr. Howard: I have today placed a copy of the interim report in the Libraries of both Houses.
Passports
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of British passports reported as lost or stolen in 1992; how many were in foreign countries; and what were the figures for each of the preceding five years.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Precise figures for the number of United Kingdom passports lost or stolen are not kept but it is estimated that about 70,000 are reported each year, of which about 20,000 are in foreign countries. A significant number of these passports are expired while a smaller percentage will subsequently be found having been originally misplaced.
Passport issuing within the United Kingdom is now computerised and the system allows the recording of machine-readable passports that have been reported lost or stolen. Arrangements are being considered which would provide the United Kingdom Passport Agency with statistics from the computerised records to monitor the problem.
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which countries, other than the United Kingdom, the largest number of British passports were recorded as lost or stolen in 1992 93.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Figures provided by British Consulates indicate that Australia with 1,161, the United States with 1,055 and France with 1,025 recorded the highest number of United Kingdom passports reported to them as lost or stolen during 1993.
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people lost or had more than one passport stolen in 1992 93 in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: No separate record is kept of the number of persons who have reported more than one passport lost or stolen during a given period.
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Litter
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in England and Wales were prosecuted for dropping litter in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. Maclean: Information for 1989 to 1993, which is provisional, is given in the table:
Number of defendants prosecuted for dropping litter<1> 1989-1993* England and Wales |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prosecutions |2,409 |2,543 |1,673 |1,639 |1,170 <1> An offence under section 1 (3) of the Litter Act 1983 repealed by Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. * Provisional
Wheelclamping
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what analysis his Department has made of the implications for policing on wheelclamping of the outcome of Total Car Park Management v . Dr. Colin Spink in the Oxford county court on 13 July.
Mr. Maclean: The judgment referred to related to a civil dispute and has no direct implications for the police. We are, of course, taking all relevant judgments into account while formulating policy on wheelclamping on private land.
Closed-circuit Television
Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the research being undertaken by or on behalf of his Department into the use of closed-circuit television, including the subject matter of such research; who is undertaking the work; and when a report on each study is due to be provided to his Department.
Mr. Maclean: The Home Office police research group is currently carrying out a study of closed-circuit television systems in town centres with the aim of identifying the characteristics of schemes which make an effective contribution to the control of crime and operational policing generally. A report will be available by Easter 1995.
The Home Office police scientific development branch is carrying out a study of the technical and operational aspects of CCTV systems aimed at setting appropriate performance standards for CCTV systems and assisting crime prevention officers. The final report will be available in July 1995.
PSDB has also commissioned a study of a number of town centre control rooms looking at the human factors associated with the monitoring of CCTV images. This is being carried out by CCD Design and Ergonomics Ltd and a report is expected before the end of the year.
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Crime Statistics
Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of the burglaries recorded in each borough by the Metropolitan police in the year ended June were in a dwelling; and how many were in another building;
(2) how many incidents of theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and of theft from a motor vehicle were recorded by the Metropolitan police in each borough in the year ended June.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 19 October 1994]: The information requested has been supplied by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and is contained in the following tables:
Notifiable offences of burglary recorded by local authority borough or district
Metropolitan police district: July 1993 to June 1994
|Burglary in a
|Burglary in a |building other |Total
Borough/district |dwelling |than a dwelling |burglary
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barking |1,675 |1,730 |3,405
Barnet |3,478 |1,566 |5,044
Bexley |1,780 |1,046 |2,826
Brent |4,033 |1,614 |5,647
Bromley |3,454 |1,946 |5,400
Camden |4,332 |2,872 |7,204
Croydon |3,871 |2,061 |5,932
Ealing |3,000 |1,238 |4,238
Enfield |2,209 |1,634 |3,843
Greenwich |4,292 |1,875 |6,167
Hackney |4,879 |2,088 |6,967
Hammersmith |2,613 |1,288 |3,901
Haringey |3,251 |1,300 |4,551
Harrow |2,284 |1,099 |3,383
Havering |1,918 |1,595 |3,513
Hillingdon* |2,134 |1,381 |3,515
Hounslow* |2,560 |1,536 |4,096
Islington |3,026 |1,695 |4,721
Kensington and
Chelsea |3,348 |892 |4,240
Kingston |1,647 |1,591 |3,238
Lambeth |6,220 |1,719 |7,939
Lewisham |5,613 |2,346 |7,959
Merton |1,774 |1,133 |2,907
Newham |4,053 |2,493 |6,546
Redbridge |2,613 |1,318 |3,931
Richmond |1,799 |969 |2,768
Southwark |4,620 |2,477 |7,097
Sutton |2,382 |1,262 |3,644
Tower Hamlets |2,194 |2,704 |4,898
Wandsworth |4,146 |1,972 |6,118
Waltham Forest |2,317 |1,679 |3,996
Westminster |3,856 |3,780 |7,636
Broxbourne (part) |305 |264 |569
Elmbridge (part) |225 |190 |415
Epping Forest (part) |399 |332 |731
Epsom and Ewell |723 |367 |1,090
Hertsmere |343 |327 |670
Reigate and Banstead |338 |128 |466
Spelthorne |540 |947 |1,487
Welwyn Hatfield (part) |9 |12 |21
Heathrow Airport |4 |28 |32
Thames |- |- |-
|------- |------- |-------
Total |104,257 |58,494 |162,751
*These figures exclude offences reported in those parts of the borough which fall within
the boundary of Heathrow airport
Notifiable offences of vehicle crime recorded by local authority
borough or district
Metropolitan police district: July 1993 to June 1994
|Theft or
|unauthorised
|taking of a |Theft from a |Total
Borough/district |motor vehicle |motor vehicle |vehicle crime
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barking |1,774 |2,294 |4,068
Barnet |1,859 |4,051 |5,910
Bexley |2,167 |2,731 |4,898
Brent |2,117 |4,083 |6,200
Bromley |2,761 |4,975 |7,736
Camden |2,109 |6,406 |8,515
Croydon |2,863 |5,671 |8,534
Ealing |2,390 |4,527 |6,917
Enfield |1,970 |3,454 |5,424
Greenwich |3,551 |4,622 |8,173
Hackney |2,781 |4,240 |7,021
Hammersmith |1,517 |5,475 |6,992
Haringey |2,370 |3,862 |6,232
Harrow |944 |2,621 |3,565
Havering |2,695 |2,804 |5,499
Hillingdon* |1,877 |4,123 |6,000
Hounslow* |1,824 |3,498 |5,322
Islington |2,131 |4,407 |6,538
Kensington and
Chelsea |1,179 |4,642 |5,721
Kingston |724 |2,743 |3,467
Lambeth |3,033 |5,818 |8,851
Lewisham |2,875 |3,923 |6,798
Merton |1,286 |2,786 |4,072
Newham |3,409 |4,065 |7,474
Redbridge |3,239 |2,845 |6,084
Richmond |689 |2,591 |3,280
Southwark |3,480 |6,044 |9,524
Sutton |1,648 |2,455 |4,103
Tower Hamlets |2,341 |4,338 |6,679
Wandsworth |2,617 |5,991 |8,608
Waltham Forest |2,715 |3,026 |5,741
Westminster |1,382 |6,851 |8,233
Broxbourne (part) |391 |919 |1,310
Elmbridge (part) |89 |364 |453
Epping Forest (part) |709 |1,100 |1,809
Epsom and Ewell |349 |964 |1,313
Hertsmere |358 |1,171 |1,529
Reigate and Banstead |208 |550 |768
Spelthorne |445 |1,681 |2,126
Welwyn Hatfield (part) |3 |14 |17
Heathrow Airport |72 |382 |454
Thames |11 |8 |19
|------- |------- |-------
Total |72,952 |139,115 |211,977
* These figures exclude offences reported in those parts of the borough which fall within
the boundary of Heathrow airport
Public Appointments
Mr. Grocott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the public appointments for which he is responsible (a) in the west midlands region and (b) in Shropshire, indicating in each case the duration of the appointment, the date when a new appointment is due, and the salary.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: My right hon. and learned Friend is responsible for appointments to board of visitors to prisons in the West Midlands region and in Shropshire. Appointments to boards of visitors are for a maximum of three years and are renewable. Members do not receive a salary but are entitled to travelling, subsistence and financial loss allowances.
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Rape
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for the last year for which information is available for each Crown court circuit, what has been the average length of sentence for those found guilty of rape after (a) pleading guilty and (b) pleading not guilty, and, for those pleading not guilty but found guilty, what has
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been the percentage sentenced to more than five years imprisonment.Mr. Maclean [holding answer 21 October 1994]: Plea data is not collected centrally.
The table gives information for 1993, which is provisional, on the number of males aged 21 and over found guilty and sentenced at the Crown court for rape offences, by circuit.
Adult males found guilty and sentenced at the Crown court for rape offences<1> by circuit, average sentence length<2> and
proportion
sentenced to over five years imprisonment, 1993*.
|Proportion sentenced
|Number sentenced |Average sentence |to over five years
Crown court circuit |Total found guilty |to imprisonment |length<2> (months) |imprisonment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Midland and Oxford |78 |76 |75 |61
North Eastern |48 |48 |72 |56
Northern |41 |39 |69 |49
South Eastern |112 |105 |87 |78
Wales and Chester |38 |36 |76 |61
Western |29 |26 |74 |65
England and Wales |346 |330 |78 |65
<1> Substantive rape-excluding attempts and offences under the Mental Health Act 1959.
<2> Excluding "lifers".
* Provisional.
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The 1993 information given is expected to be final but has been labelled provisional until publication of the Command Paper "Criminal statistics" on 2 November.The reply is on the same basis, as information for previous years from Crown court circuits and individual court centres previously provided to the House of Commons Library. A comparison is given in the table. The variation between years for the smaller circuits such as Wales and Chester and Western reflects the small number of persons sentenced per year.
Average sentence length<1> in months for adult males sentenced at
the Crown Court for rape offences<2> by circuit, 1990-1993*
Crown court circuit |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Midland and Oxford |69 |74 |75 |75
North Eastern |63 |79 |75 |72
Northern |92 |74 |77 |69
South Eastern |78 |79 |86 |87
Wales and Chester |87 |75 |72 |76
Western |71 |66 |74 |74
England and Wales |76 |76 |79 |78
<1> Excluding "lifers".
<2> Substantive rape - excluding attempts and offences under the Mental Health Act 1959.
*Provisional.
Remand Prisoners
Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated number of remand prisoners who have been awaiting trial (a) for more than three months, (b) for more than six months, (c) for more than 12 months and (d) for more than 18 months, at the latest available date.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 24 October 1994]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated
Column 520
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 25 October 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking about the estimated number of remand prisoners who have been awaiting trial (a) for more than three months, (b) for more than six months, (c) for more than 12 months and (d) for more than 18 months, at the latest available date.
The latest available provisional data is for 31 August 1994 and is shown in the attached table.
Inmates recorded as being untried held in custody on 31 August
1994 by time on remand<1>
|Numbers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For over 3 months up to and including 6 months |1,890
For over 6 months up to and including 12 months |1,250
For over 12 months up to and including 18 months |240
For over 18 months |200
<1> Not all of these defendants will have been in continuous
prison custody since their first remand. This period excludes
any time spent in non-Prison Service-Establishments (eg police
cells) before reception on remand into a Prison Service
establishment; it includes inmates who are waiting trial and
those being tried.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Press Officers
Mr. Grocott: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the number of press officers currently employed by his Department who are normally
Column 521
based (a) in the Department in London, (b) in the House and (c) at each other location.Mr. Robert G. Hughes: The Cabinet Office--Office of Public Service and Science--employs eight Government information service press officers who are normally based in London. No press officers are based in the House or at locations other than London; a regional press service is provided by the Central Office of Information. Press officers working for agencies directly accountable to the Cabinet Office are not included in this figure.
Official Hospitality
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total amount spent on official hospitality by (a) his Department and (b) his agencies for each year since 1990.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: Expenditure on official hospitality by the Cabinet Office, including the Office of Public Service and Science, and executive agencies in each year since 1990 was as follows:
(a) (b) Agencies
|Cabinent
|Office<1>
|OPSS
|HMSO<2> |COI |Agencies
|£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |14,300 |500 |1,200
1991-92 |26,600<3> |4,400 |1,300
1992-93 |25,000 |19,400 |4,600 |59,500
1993-94 |27,700 |22,000 |5,900 |6,100
<1> Figures for the Cabinet Office exclude expenditure by
the Office of the Prime Minister, which was the subject of
a separate Answer by my right hon. Friend the Prime
Minister.
<2> HMSO figures are based on their accounting year 1
January-31 December. Figures for hospitality were not
recorded centrally by HMSO before 1993.
<3> In addition, £234,100 was borne by the OPSS in 1991-92
on official hospitality in respect of the 1991 economic
summit. Expenditure by OPSS agencies in 1992-93 includes
some £59,000 relating to Chessington computer centre's
launch as an executive agency.
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