16 Jan 1996 : Column: 481
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 16 January 1996
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisoners (Police Cells)
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the daily cost charged by each police authority for the use of police cells to house overspill prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [8758]
Mr. Maclean: No Prison Service prisoners have been held in police cells since June 1995. At that time, the national average cost per prisoner was £300 per night.
Police authorities do not have a standard cost for holding prisoners. Each authority submits an invoice to the Prison Service based on the actual cost of the service provided. There are many variables which may affect that cost.
Home Office circular 36/1993 gives guidance to police authorities on calculating their costs. The Home Office also monitors the charges made by police forces.
Mr. Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted criminals were being held in police station cells at the latest available date; and if he will make a statement. [8759]
Miss Widdecombe:
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 16 January 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of convicted criminals being held in police station cells at the latest available date.
Mr. Keith Hill:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of port applicants for asylum arriving in the United Kingdom having travelling through one or more other countries in each of the last three years; and what proportion of all port applicants they were. [9621]
Mr. Kirkhope:
The information requested is not available.
Mr. Bernie Grant:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers reside in the parliamentary constituency of Tottenham; and how many of them have been granted (a) refugee status and (b) exceptional leave to remain in the last five years. [9811]
Mr. Kirkhope:
Information on the places of residence of people currently seeking asylum is not held centrally.
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Mr. Dunn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the methods by which the right hon. Lord Lloyd of Berwick will gather evidence for his inquiry into the future requirement for legislation against terrorism. [10179]
Mr. Howard:
Advertisements are being placed in the press inviting people to submit views to Lord Lloyd by 15 March. Lord Lloyd is writing, with the same invitation, to a wide range of interested parties throughout the United Kingdom. He will, in the course of his review, seek to elicit the widest possible range of fact and opinion.
Any person wishing to offer his views on the law against terrorism should write to Lord Lloyd at the following address:
Dr. Marek:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public complaints against each police force in England and Wales were made in 1994; and what percentage change this represents over the figure for 1993. [9204]
Mr. Maclean
[holding answer 15 January 1995]: The information requested is given in the table.
There have been no Prison Service prisoners held in police cells since 15 June 1995.
PO Box 9998
London SW1H 9ZB.
| Total complaints recorded | Percentage change | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1993-1994 | |
| Avon and Somerset | 992 | 5 |
| Bedfordshire | 249 | -2 |
| Cambridgeshire | 422 | 38 |
| Cheshire | 454 | -10 |
| Cleveland | 460 | -14 |
| Cumbria | 319 | -4 |
| Derbyshire | 481 | 20 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 935 | 22 |
| Dorset | 147 | -18 |
| Durham | 214 | 5 |
| Essex | 500 | 22 |
| Gloucestershire | 300 | -19 |
| Greater Manchester | 2,701 | 5 |
| Hampshire | 685 | -20 |
| Hertfordshire | 407 | -3 |
| Humberside | 472 | -28 |
| Kent | 766 | -7 |
| Lancashire | 695 | 9 |
| Leicestershire | 305 | -19 |
| Lincolnshire | 93 | 12 |
| City of London | 89 | 65 |
| Merseyside | 2,146 | 18 |
| Metropolitan Police(1) | 10,094 | na |
| Norfolk | 393 | 2 |
| Northamptonshire | 178 | -11 |
| Northumbria | 612 | -6 |
| North Yorkshire | 330 | -5 |
| Nottinghamshire | 788 | 17 |
| South Yorkshire | 583 | -11 |
| Staffordshire | 548 | 1 |
| Suffolk | 353 | 1 |
| Surrey | 506 | 25 |
| Sussex | 905 | 28 |
| Thames Valley | 979 | 11 |
| Warwickshire | 136 | -17 |
| West Mercia | 506 | 11 |
| West Midlands | 1,739 | 5 |
| West Yorkshire | 1,304 | 3 |
| Wiltshire | 260 | -6 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 169 | 19 |
| Gwent | 467 | 16 |
| North Wales | 608 | 32 |
| South Wales | 981 | 16 |
| Total | 36,201 | (2)5 |
(1) Comparable figures for 1993 not available.
(2) Excludes Metropolitan Police.
16 Jan 1996 : Column: 483
Crime Statistics
Mr. Loyden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the level of recorded crime in the Merseyside police force area (a) in June 1994 and (b) in June 1995; and what are the figures for England and Wales over the same period. [7925]
Mr. Maclean: There were 11,122 offences recorded by the Merseyside police in June 1994 and 12,207 in June 1995. The corresponding figures for England and Wales were 440,245 and 405,035 respectively.
Ms Gordon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the change in figures for reported robbery in London in the 12 months to June 1995. [8100]
Mr. Maclean: The available information relates to offences of robbery recorded in the Metropolitan police district. There were 27,712 offences recorded in the 12 months to June 1995, an increase of 10 per cent. over the previous 12 months.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the change in the level of recorded crime in the Humberside police force region since 1987. [8156]
Mr. Maclean: Between 1987 and 1994, recorded crime in Humberside rose by 53 per cent. from 88,570 offences to 135,826 offences.
Executive Agencies
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if answers sent to hon. Members in reply to parliamentary questions by the head of executive agencies in his Department are (a) seen, (b) approved and (c) amended by him before they are sent; and if he will identify such letters to which amendments by him have been made in 1994-95. [7830]
Mr. Howard: Parliamentary questions are passed to the head of an executive agency when the matter is one delegated to him or her under the agency framework document. It is the usual practice in the Home Office for Ministers to see the proposed replies to such parliamentary questions before they appear in the Official Report, but they would not normally intervene in
16 Jan 1996 : Column: 484
operational matters. No central record is kept of replies amended at the request of Ministers and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Private Security Firms
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to ensure adequate legal control over private security forces operating in local communities; and if he will make a statement. [9134]
Mr. Maclean: We are currently reviewing the case for statutory regulation of the private security industry.
Immigration Applications
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases in each of the last five years an application for renewal of exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom has been refused; and how many of these refusals were after (a) one year's exceptional leave and (b) four years' exceptional leave. [8977]
Mr. Kirkhope: The information requested is not held centrally.
Prisoners (Police Interviews)
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the guidelines for the conduct of police interviews with convicted prisoners in the furtherance of their investigations into other crimes; what is the legal status of such guidelines; how long they have been in force; and what changes have occurred to previous practices since 1966. [8720]
Mr. Maclean: Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary issued guidance to the police in January 1987 on the interviewing of convicted prisoners about outstanding crime. The guidance, copies of which are available in the Library, is non-statutory but Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary monitors forces' compliance as part of its inspection procedure.
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