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Mr. Nicholas Baker: The available information on the number of asylum seekers applying for asylum in the United Kingdom by port of entry for the period 1993 to end--October 1994 is given in table A. Information prior to 1993, and by nationality is not available. Information for the period 1992 to end--October 1994, on the number of asylum seekers applying for asylum in the United Kingdom, by location of application and nationality, is given in table B. Statistical information about the country through which asylum seekers pass is not available.
Table A
Applications<1> for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding
dependants, by port of entry,
1993 to end-October 1994.
|1993 |1994
|January-October
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heathrow |5,300 |6,400
Terminal 1 |600 |1,000
Terminal 2 |1,500 |2,000
Terminal 3 |2,000 |2,200
Terminal 4 |1,200 |1,200
Gatwick |900 |800
North |400 |400
South |500 |500
Other port |1,100 |1,200
|-------- |--------
Total port applications |7,300 |8,500
<1> Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred; sub totals are rounded
independently and may not appear to add up to the component parts.
Table B
Applications<1> received for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, by location of application and nationality,
1992 to end-October 1994
Number of principal applicants
1992 1993 1994
(January-October)
Nationality |Total |Applied at port |Applied in country|Total |Applied at port |Applied in country|Total |Applied at port |Applied in country
|applications<2> |applications<2> |applications<2>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Americas
Bulgaria |180 |5 |170 |100 |10 |90 |160 |15 |145
Colombia |280 |120 |160 |380 |200 |175 |320 |210 |110
Poland |90 |45 |45 |155 |95 |55 |245 |85 |160
Romania |305 |30 |275 |370 |105 |265 |270 |55 |215
Turkey |1,865 |695 |1,165 |1,480 |655 |830 |1,740 |520 |1,215
Former USSR |270 |25 |245 |385 |45 |340 |480 |45 |435
Former Yugoslavia |5,635 |2,180 |3,455 |1,830 |260 |1,565 |1,140 |235 |905
Other |275 |50 |230 |585 |200 |385 |780 |275 |505
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Total |8,895 |3,150 |5,745 |5,280 |1,570 |3,710 |5,135 |1,440 |3,695
Africa
Algeria |.. |.. |.. |305 |40 |265 |755 |95 |660
Angola |245 |50 |195 |320 |140 |180 |470 |115 |355
Benin |15 |- |15 |.. |.. |.. |5 |- |5
Burkina Fasco |5 |* |5 |.. |.. |.. |.. |.. |..
Cameroon |40 |10 |30 |70 |10 |60 |65 |5 |55
Chad |15 |* |10 |.. |.. |.. |.. |.. | ..
Congo |15 |- |15 |5 |5 |* |.. |.. |..
Ethiopia |680 |115 |565 |615 |150 |465 |645 |130 |515
Gabon |15 |- |15 |5 |- |5 |.. |.. |..
Ghana |1,600 |175 |1,425 |1,785 |400 |1,385 |1,670 |345 |1,325
Ivory Coast |310 |45 |270 |330 |105 |230 |665 |420 |250
Kenya |110 |20 |90 |630 |435 |195 |1,605 |620 |385
Liberia |100 |45 |50 |90 |55 |35 |115 |70 |50
Nigeria |615 |95 |520 |1,665 |220 |1,450 |3,350 |325 |3,020
Sierra Leone |.. |.. |.. |1,050 |220 |830 |1,665 |945 |720
Somalia |1,575 |890 |685 |1,465 |675 |785 |1,390 |585 |805
South Africa |40 |15 |30 |60 |20 |40 |75 |35 |40
Sudan |560 |80 |480 |300 |40 |260 |275 |65 |215
Togo |35 |5 |30 |40 |10 |35 |45 |5 |40
Uganda |295 |150 |140 |585 |385 |210 |285 |80 |205
Zaire |880 |440 |435 |635 |340 |295 |630 |300 |335
Other |490 |80 |410 |320 |135 |190 |695 |250 |445
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Total |7,630 |2,220 |5,410 |10,295 |3,380 |6,915 |13,805 |4,390 |9,415
Middle East
Iran |405 |90 |315 |365 |105 |260 |445 |115 |330
Iraq |700 |240 |465 |495 |270 |225 |435 |190 |245
Lebanon |380 |160 |220 |285 |145 |140 |180 |60 |125
Other |495 |95 |400 |370 |120 |250 |570 |285 |290
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Total |1,980 |580 |1,395 |1,520 |640 |880 |1,630 |645 |985
Asia
Afghanistan |.. |.. |.. |.. |.. |.. |275 |210 |65
Bangladesh |165 |60 |105 |160 |15 |140 |.. |.. |..
China |330 |10 |320 |215 |85 |130 |295 |170 |125
India |1,450 |145 |1,305 |1,275 |105 |1,165 |1,625 |205 |1,420
Pakistan |1,700 |65 |1,630 |1,125 |85 |1,040 |1,455 |150 |1,305
Sri Lanka |2,085 |1,205 |880 |1,965 |1,050 |915 |2,020 |1,115 |905
Other |375 |235 |140 |440 |290 |155 |415 |30 |390
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Total |6,100 |1,720 |4,380 |5,175 |1,630 |3,545 |6,085 |1,875 |4,210
Nationality not known |- |- |- |100 |100 |- |115 |115 |-
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Grand Total |24,605 |7,675 |16,930 |22,370 |7,320 |15,050 |26,765 |8,465 |18,305
<1> Provisional figures rounded to the nearest 5 with `*'= 1 or 2 and `..'= unavailable
<2> Figures do not include applications made overseas.
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who could be removed from the United Kingdom to France have been allowed to remain in the United kingdom because the Immigration Service judged that entry into France would be refused during (a) 1992, (b) 1993 and (c) 1994.
Mr. Nicholas baker: The information requested is not available. It is the practice of the Immigration Service to remove all failed asylum seekers unless there are exceptional,compelling or compassionate circumstances.
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers removed from the United Kingdom to France have been returned to the United kingdom by the French authorities; and on what grounds during (a) 1992, (b) 1993 and (c) 1994.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: The information requested is not available for the period before the enactment of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993. Eleven asylum seekers were returned to the United Kingdom by the French authorities in the period 26 July 1993 to 31 December 1993. Sixty- two asylum seekers were returned in the period 1 January 1994 to 31 October 1994.
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Information relating to the grounds for their return is not available.Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum appeals have been lodged; how many have been determined; how many have been rejected; and how many of the applicants whose appeals have been rejected have been removed from the United kingdom during (a) 1992, (b) 1993 and (c) 1994.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: The available information is that in the period 1 January to 31 October 1994, about 8,500 appeals against a refusal of asylum have been received and about 1,900 appeals determined by adjudicators. Of the 1,900 determined, about 80 per cent. have been dismissed. Information prior to 1994 is not available.
Information on the number of asylum seekers removed in 1992, 1993 and 1994 is given in the table. Information on the number of asylum seekers removed after having either an appeal against removal under the Immigration Act 1971 or under the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 dismissed is not separately identified in the statistics.
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Removals and voluntary
departures<1> of asylum
applicants,
excluding dependants, 1992
to end-October 1994.
|Number
-----------------------------
1992 |1,345
1993 |1,820
1994 (Jan-Oct) |1,605
<1> figures exclude
voluntary departures in
deportation cases prior to
February 1994.
Compensation Orders
Mr. Michael: To ask the secretary of State for the Home Department how many compensation orders were made by the courts in (a) 1990, (b) 1991, (c) 1992 and (d) 1993; what was the total value of compensation ordered to be paid in each of these years; and what number and percentage of compensation orders made in each of these years were paid in full (i) within 12 months of the making of the order, (ii) within two years and (iii) within three years.
Mr. Maclean: Information on the number of offenders ordered to pay compensation and the total amount ordered is given in the following table.
Information is not collected centrally on when and on how much of the compensation is paid.
Number of offenders orders to pay compensation for all offences<1>
and the total amount ordered by type of court 1990-1993
England and Wales £ thousands
|Number of offenders
|ordered to pay
Court/Year |compensation |Total amount
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magistrates' courts
1990 |117.2 |18,431.4
1991 |102.7 |17,804.1
1992 |97.5 |16,499.5
1993 |90.2 |15,602.8
Crown Court
1990 |12.4 |<2>20,484.4
1991 |10.1 |8,581.7
1992 |8.8 |9,811.3
1993 |6.3 |7,301.5
<1> Excluding summary motoring offences.
<2> Includes a small number of extra large amounts of compensation ordered for
fraud and forgery offences.
Pre-sentence Reports
Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the inquiries conducted by his Department or by HM inspectorate of probation since 1 October 1992 into the use by judges and magistrates of pre-sentence reports on offenders and into the arrangements for their delivery by the probation services of England and Wales; and if he will place copies of all such reports in the Library.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: The Home Office research and planning unit has undertaken a survey of criminal justice agencies' experience of the operation of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, which included questions seeking the views of sentencers about the usefulness of pre-sentence reports. The unit has also undertaken a more specific survey of judges' and magistrates' satisfaction with services provided by probation staff, including the
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preparation of pre-sentence reports. Both are due to be published shortly.As an addition to the general probation area inspection programme, HM inspectorate of probation has conducted two inquiries since 1 October 1992 which bear specifically on the arrangements for the provision of the pre- sentence reports. The report of the criminal Justice Act 1991 inspection was published in 1993; and the report on the quality and provision of expedited pre-sentence reports prepared for the Crown Court by the probation service was published earlier this year. Copies of both reports are already in the Library.
Police Authorities
Mrs. Maddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the budgeted total administration costs for each of the new police authorities of England and Wales in their first year; and how much was spent on administration in total by each of the old police authorities of England and Wales in their final year.
Mr. Maclean: It will be for each of the new police authorities to determine its budgetary requirements for 1995 96. The new police authorities are currently being established and the budgets have not yet been set. Details of the administration costs of existing police authorities are not held centrally.
Mohammed Riaz
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the prison sentence being served by Mohammed Riaz in Long Lartin prison; what was the recommendation of the trial judge; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: The period for retribution and deterrence in this case was originally set in 1988. At that time, the trial judge recommended 10 years. The Lord Chief Justice of the day recommended a minimum period of 16 years. The Minister then set a period of 20 years. In doing so he would have had regard to the statement by Sir Leon Brittan, as Home Secretary in 1983, that terrorists and certain other specified categories of murderer could normally expect to serve at least 20 years.
Following the Doody judgement of June 1993, the above details were disclosed to Mr. Riaz. He subsequently made representations and his case was considered afresh in December 1993. My right hon. and learned Friend concluded that there were no grounds to justify disapplying the policy set out in the Brittan statement. He therefore confirmed the existing period of 20 years.
Racial Violence and Harassment
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding racial violence and harassment.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: The Home Office has received a number of representations from individuals and organisations condemning racial violence and harassment. It has also received the report of the Home Affairs Committee's inquiry into racial attacks and harassment, to which it gave its response on 20 October, a copy of which is in the Library. The Government continue to condemn racial violence and harassment and are committed to taking effective action to deal with it.
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Animals (Drowning)
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances downing is permitted as an acceptable or humane method for killing animals.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: There are no circumstances in which the drowning of a conscious animal would be accepted as humane. Drowning is not one of the methods of humane killing of laboratory animals listed in schedule 1 to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. A scientific case would have to be made out before it could be authorised under section 5 of that Act.
Ministerial Speeches
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what occasions since 1979 civil servants in his Department have been asked to draft speeches of a constituency nature for use in a Minister's own constituency.
Child Abusers
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what continuing treatment and counselling facilities are available in north-west England for those convicted of child abuse but now released into the community.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Area probation services run a range of programmes for those convicted of a sexual offence who have been sentenced to a community sentence or who are undergoing a period of supervision following their release from custody.
Participation in such programmes may be made a condition of release on licence, as may attendance on a psychologist, psychiatrist or medical practitioner. Information about individual service provision is not kept centrally.
Prisoners (HIV)
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has of cases of HIV-positive prisoners acquiring the infection in prison; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Harry Cohen, dated7 December 1994.
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what evidence there is of cases of HIV positive prisoners acquiring the infection in prison.
There has been one documented case of a prisoner who became infected with HIV whilst within the prison system in England and Wales. This case, which was referred to in a reply from Lord Ferrers, the then Minister of State at the Home Office to a Question from Lord Kilmarnock on 6 July 1994 (WA81).
Life Imprisonment
Sir Ivan Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what changes have been made in the review procedures in cases of persons sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Mr. Howard: Two of my predecessors as Secretary of State, the right hon. Sir Leon Brittan and my right hon. Friend the member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) made statements in 1983 and 1987 respectively, about the review arrangements for life sentence prisoners. Under those arrangements, the first review by the Parole Board takes place three years before the expiry of the period thought necessary to satisfy the requirements of retribution and deterrence--commonly referred to as "the tariff". However, no life sentence prisoner is detained for more than 17 years without a Parole Board review of his or her case, even where the period in question exceeds 20 years. The Secretary of State also reviews the case of every life sentence prisoner who has been detained for 10 years.
From now on, all life sentence prisoners will have a Parole Board review three years before the expiry of their tariff. Since all prisoners will now know the length of their tariff and also the date of this review, I consider that the automatic review at the 17-year point no longer serves any useful purpose. The 17-year review will therefore be discontinued, save in respect of those existing prisoners for whom such a review has already been fixed.
This means that the review three years before the expiry of the tariff will be the first review for all prisoners. The setting of a review at this point is intended to allow sufficient time for preparing the release of those life sentence prisoners who may be considered an acceptable risk. This is subject, in the case of mandatory life prisoners, to the question of the public acceptability of early release.
In recent years, successive Secretaries of State have recognised that, for the majority of life sentence prisoners, a period in open prison conditions is generally vital in terms of testing the prisoner's suitability for release and in preparing him or her for a successful return to the community. It is, therefore, now normally the practice to require the prisoner to spend some time in open conditions before release and to arrange a further review while the prisoner is in an open prison for a formal assessment of his or her progress. I intend to continue with this practice and the first Parole Board review will therefore normally serve the purpose of assessing the prisoner for open conditions.
The purpose of the 10-year ministerial review is to consider whether there are any grounds for bringing forward the date of the first review by the Parole Board. This review is now redundant as far as discretionary life sentence prisoners are concerned since their cases are dealt with in accordance with the arrangements introduced by part II of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. However, the 10-year ministerial review will continue to take place for mandatory life sentence prisoners.
In addition, I have decided that for those life sentence prisoners for whom it is decided that the requirements of retribution and deterrence can be satisfied only by their remaining in prison for the whole of their life, there will in future be an additional ministerial review when the prisoner has been in custody for 25 years. The purpose of this review will be solely to consider whether the whole life tariff should be converted to a tariff of a determinate period. The review will be confined to the considerations of retribution and deterrence. Where appropriate, further ministerial reviews will normally take place at five-yearly intervals thereafter. Existing prisoners who fall into this category and who have already served 25 years or more
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in custody will not be disadvantaged. Their cases will be reviewed by Ministers as soon as is practicable and after any representations they may wish to make.As I announced in reply to a question by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Burton (Sir I. Lawrence) on 27 July 1993, Official Report , columns 863-65 , successive Secretaries of State have been, and I continue to be, willing to consider any written representations by life sentence prisoners about their tariff. They will also continue to be afforded the opportunity to submit such written representations at the beginning of the sentence and before I have formed a view as to the appropriate period in question.
Group 4 Security Services
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints he has received about Group 4 security services in the past year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: I have received very few complaints about Group 4 in the last year, either for its work with the Prison Service or the Immigration Service. The exact number of complaints could be ascertained only at disproportionate cost.
There is evidence that Group 4 has been performing very well in its contracts with the Home Office. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons praised the quality of staff at HMP Wolds, which is managed by Group 4, and said the prison was "very nearly an enormous success".
The court escorting service provided by Group 4 provides better value for money, costing 24 per cent. less than the previous system. Escapes from escort are now over 40 per cent. lower than when the service was provided by the police and Prison Service, despite the fact that the number of remand prisoners has increased significantly, therefore necessitating more escort journeys.
A recent Home Office survey of customers in the east midlands and Humberside, where Group 4 provides the court escort and custody service, has shown high levels of satisfaction amongst the police, prisons and courts. Some 86 per cent. were either satisfied or very satisfied with Group 4's overall performance and 90 per cent. of court staff rated Group 4's performance as better, or at least as good as, the service that went before. Some 83 per cent. of the sample agreed or strongly agreed that Group 4 had settled into its job well in the first year of operation.
DEFENCE
Low Flying
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many complaints he has received from people living in England about low-flying military aircraft in 1991, 1992, 1993 and during the current year;
(2) how many complaints about low-flying military aircraft he has received from people living in Wales in 1991, 1992, 1993 and during the current year;
(3) how many complaints he has had about low-flying military aircraft from people living in the north of Ireland during 1991, 1992, 1993 and the present year;
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(4) how many complaints he has received from people living in Scotland about low-flying military aircraft in 1991, 1992, 1993 and during the current year.Mr. Soames: The information requested is as follows:
Year |England |Wales |Scotland --------------------------------------------- 1991 |3,412 |791 |643 1992 |4,401 |904 |990 1993 |4,141 |556 |1,041 1994<1> |3,899 |592 |996 <1> Up to 30 November 1994. Most low flying in Northern Ireland is of an operational nature, with only a limited number of training sorties. Complaints arising from this activity are dealt with locally, and no central record is available of the number received.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed by or attached to the Defence Export Services Organisation.
Mr. Freeman: I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave to the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson) on 30 November, Official Report , columns 778-79 .
Airfields
Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's airfields are occupied by United States forces; what is the form of tenure; and which ones are now surplus to requirements.
Mr. Soames: The United States Air Force currently operates four of my Department's airfields at the main operating bases of RAF Alconbury, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, and the standby deployment base of RAF Fairford. United States visiting forces are based in the United Kingdom under the general provisions of the NATO status of forces agreement 1951 and the visiting forces act 1952. These airfields will remain available for as long as, in the opinion of both the UK and US governments, the presence of the United States visiting forces at them is considered desirable in the interest of common defence. The airfield at RAF Alconbury is no longer required for USAF operations and the station will become a non-flying base by 31 March 1995.
Building Refurbishment
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will itemise the refurbishment works undertaken on buildings housing departmental staff in the last three years, indicating the costs involved and the nature of the refurbishments.
Mr. Soames: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Cyprus
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the number of British service personnel convicted by a civilian court for a criminal offence in Cyprus in each of the last three years; and if he will list the offences concerned.
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Mr. Soames: Details of Royal Air Force personnel convicted of criminal offences by a civilian court in Cyprus since 1992 are as follows:
Year |Number |Charge ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1992 | 6 |Five cases of drink-related driving offences. One public order offence. 1993 |12 |All cases of drink-related driving offences. 1994 | 7 |Six cases drink-related driving offences. One case of larceny.
The Army maintains central records of the numbers of personnel convicted of criminal offences by a civilian court in Cyprus only where, if convicted, personnel receive a penal sentence. No such cases were notified in 1992 or 1993, but there have been two cases in 1994; one individual was charged with cheque fraud and the other with criminal damage.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the number of British service personnel court-martialed in Cyprus in each of the last three years; and if he will give the offences on which they were charged.
Mr. Soames: The information requested is as follows:
Year |Number<1> |Charge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1992 | 6 |Drinking on duty and stating a falsehood.
|Possession of a weapon and ammunition and escaping from custody.
|Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (OABH).
|Burglary (seven charges) and theft.
|Impaired Driving.
|Nuisance phone calls.<2>
1993 | 9 |Unauthorised phone calls.
|Attempted arson/arson.
|Common assault and assault OABH.
|Four cases of Assault OABH.
|Obtaining property by deception,
| avoiding liability by deception (two charges)
| and forgery.<2>
|Theft.
1994 |16 |Improperly entering the female accommodation.
|False accounting.
|Common assault and assault OABH.
|Three cases of drink-related driving offences.
|Two cases of disobedience to standing orders.
|Two cases of assault OABH.<3>
|Failing to provide a specimen of breath after an accident.<2>
|Theft.
|Two cases of absence without leave.
|Wounding.
|Theft (two charges), false instrument (eight charges)
| and forgery (3 charges).
Notes:
<1> Figures exclude courts material held in Cyprus but where the offences were committed elsewhere.
<2> Found not guilty.
<3> One found not guilty.
Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot
Mr. Critchley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the estimate for the cost of building a new hospital on the site of the Cambridge military hospital, Aldershot, including the refurbishment of the existing building;
(2) what plans he has for the listed buildings on the site of the Cambridge military hospital;
(3) what is the estimated cost of closing the Cambridge Military hospital.
Mr. Soames: Essential rebuilding and refurbishment works costs which would be necessary if the Cambridge military hospital were to become the tri-Service core hospital are estimated at over £66 million. Final decisions on disposal or redevelopment of the hospital site have not yet been made and any future plan will take account of listed buildings. Residual running and rundown costs of the site following closure are estimated at £1.1 million in the financial year 1996 97 and thereafter about £0.383 million a year against an anticipated overall saving from the defence costs study proposal of some £50 million a year.
Mr. Critchley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate has been made of the additional cost of treating service men and women from the Aldershot Garrison at Haslar;
(2) what is the estimated cost of transferring the staff and equipment from the Cambridge military hospital to Haslar.
Mr. Soames: Service personnel from Aldershot garrison might be treated in future either at Haslar or one of the new Ministry of Defence hospital units. Until these are selected, no precise travel or treatment cost comparisons can be made. Similarly, transfer costs for medical staff now at the Cambridge military hospital cannot be calculated until the location of the new Ministry of Defence hospital units, where some will serve, is known. Estimated equipment transfer costs, net of disposal receipts, are not available at this stage of the defence costs study implementation process. It is assumed, however, that any such costs will be minimal and will be far outweighed by the assessed overall savings to the Defence budget accruing from the reorganisation of the defence medical services of some £50,000,000 a year from 1996 97.
Military District Hospitals
Mr. Critchley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the most recent estimated cost of establishing and running each of the proposed military district hospital units.
Mr. Soames: At Derriford, where arrangements to establish a unit are most advanced, the capital expenditure committed by my Department to the project has been £5 million and estimated total annual running costs are approximately £6.5 million. The capital and annual running costs of the two new proposed Ministry of Defence district hospital units will depend upon the state of facilities and the costs at the host district general hospital selected. Decisions on the location of the two new military district hospital units, and therefore whether or not capital work will be required, have not yet been made.
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RAF Elvington
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he has yet made a decision as to whether RAF Elvington is surplus to his Department's requirements; and if he will make a statement; (2) what consideration he has given to the future of RAF Elvington; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Soames: The future requirement for RAF Elvington is being examined at present. No decisions have been taken, but if no defence use is identified the site will be disposed of in the normal way.
HMS Raleigh
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officers from other countries have received retinue briefings at HMS Raleigh in the last five years; how much income was received; how many officers came from each country; and how much each country paid.
Mr. Soames: According to available records, there have been no instances of officers from other countries receiving retinue briefings at HMS Raleigh during the last five years.
Arms Exports
Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arms are currently being exported from the United Kingdom and for which countries they are destined.
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the armaments sold to Indonesia between 1986 and 1994, and the financial value of these sales.
Mr. Freeman: I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Gapes) on 28 November 1994, Official Report, column 501 .
Positive Vetting
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many past and present elected representatives have been positively vetted by his Department; how many have requested to see their own positive vetting files; and how many have subsequently corrected entries on their files as a result.
LSD Experiments
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the nature and purpose of the medical and psychological screening of service volunteers who were tested with LSD at Porton Down;
(2) pursuant to his answer of 21 November 1994, Official Report , columns 55 6 , which outside organisations or industrial firms were involved in the LSD tests; and what accidents or mishaps occurred during these experiments with LSD;
(3) pursuant to his answer of 21 November 1994, Official Report , columns 55-6 , under which defence agreement was the LSD provided to Porton Down by the then United States army chemical centre at Edgewood in Maryland; what quantity was provided; and in which years was it provided;
(4) pursuant to his answer of 21 November, Official Report , columns 55-6 , what follow-up medical checks have been carried out on the mental and physical health
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of the 72 service volunteers tested with LSD at Porton Down; how many of these volunteers were checked after they left Porton Down; how often these checks were carried out; and who carried them out.Mr. Soames: These are matters for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, CBDE to write to the hon. Member. Letter from Dr. Graham Pearson to Dr. David Clark, dated 7 December 1994:
1. Your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Defence about work carried out by the Ministry of Defence with LSD at Porton Down have been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2. The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) is to carry out work to ensure that the UK Armed Forces are provided with effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As part of that programme, evaluation is carried out of chemicals that may be utilised by an aggressor as a chemical warfare agent.
3. In order to carry out this work, it is necessary to use Service volunteers to:
a. Assess the ability of Service personnel to function with new equipment and procedures.
b. Develop medical countermeasures to protect Service personnel c. Evaluate the effects of very low and medically safe concentrations of chemical warfare agents on the ability of unprotected personnel to operate normally.
No studies involving volunteers are carried out unless there is a clear military need and a detailed protocol has been reviewed and approved by an independent Ethics Committee in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Royal College of Physicians.
4. Volunteers on arrival at CBDE Porton Down are given a full medical examination, have the study explained to them in lay terms by an officer who is not involved in the study, are advised that they may leave the study at any stage without any explanation and at the end of the study are given a further medical examination to ensure that they have suffered no harm. In addition, there is no history of Service doctors in their units seeking advice from CBDE Porton Down on any subsequent illnesses that may have been reported by volunteers. Medical screening is part of the standard medical examination to ensure that no pre-existing medical condition could be aggravated by participation in any trial and consists of standard medical tests. The standard medical examinations consists of a full medical history, a full clinical examination and an electro cardiogram.
5. The same approach is adopted for psychological screening in order to ensure that a short acting, potent psychotropic drug such as LSD could not aggravate a pre-existing mental disorder. This screening and testing also forms an important part of the scientific assessment of the effects of such drugs so that pre-dose normal effects can be compared to those short term effects seen following administration. The psychological tests employed were the standard psychology tests used in research which were the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI), Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) and the Heron, Allport-Vernon and Taylor personality and intelligence tests. 6. In my earlier answer to you of 21 November 1994 ( Official Report , Columns 54 -56 ) I stated that one of the sources of the LSD used in the work and studies carried out at CBDE was the then US Army Chemical Centre at Edgewood, Maryland. According to our records we received 10 grams of LSD in December 1965 and 10 grams in June 1966. The LSD was provided under the American, British, Canadian and Australian Armies (ABCA) agreement Quadripartite Working Group (QWG) on NBC defence.
7. No external organisations or industrial firms were involved with the LSD tests undertaken at Porton Down between 1962 and 1971. According to our records no accidents or mishaps occurred with experiments with LSD. At the end of the study all the volunteers would have been given a medical examination and in addition there is no history of Service doctors in their units seeking
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