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European Union
Mr. Michael Brown: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what statutory provisions prevent the United Kingdom from unilaterally withdrawing from the common agricultural and common fisheries policies without withdrawing from the European Commission. [9581]
Mr. Baldry: The principles and objectives of the common agricultural policy and common fisheries policy are to be found in articles 38 to 46 of the EC treaty. By virtue of article N of the treaty on European Union, amendments to the EC treaty can be made only by unanimity. This effectively prevents the UK unilaterally withdrawing from these policies even if it were in our interests to do so.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Department has taken to trace the previous owners of the herd of cattle containing confirmed BSE cases at Old Hall farm,
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Gargrave, if he will list the names and addresses of the owners; and if he will indicate the date of birth and death of each cow. [10445]
Mrs. Browning: When a case of BSE is detected in an animal on a dealer's premises, MAFF makes every effort possible to trace the vendor of the animal and then confirms BSE on the vendor's premises. The detailed information requested would, however be available only at disproportionate cost.
Drift Nets
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to advocate a ban on the use of drift nets in European Union waters. [8769]
Mr. Baldry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) on 7 December 1995, Official Report, column 372.
Mr. Banks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the numbers and species of birds and sea mammals trapped and killed in drift nets used in British territorial waters in the last 12-month period for which details are available. [8770]
Mr. Baldry: Drift nets used in British territorial waters do not usually exceed 500 m in length. The Ministry has not made a recent assessment of the numbers and species of birds and sea mammals caught in them. However, some information about by-catches in the English north-east coast salmon drift net fishery was included in the Government's 1991 report on salmon net fisheries. This noted that:
despite frequently being seen around nets, seals were very rarely caught;
harbour porpoises occasionally became entangled in the drift nets but, because the fishermen have to remain with their salmon gear, they were normally able to release them;
guillemots, razorbills and very occasionally puffins were caught but the netsmen endeavoured to remove them alive.
Mr. Baldry: I placed in the Library on 20 December a copy of a report by the sea mammal research unit on cetacean by-catch by UK vessels in the 1995 north-east Atlantic tuna fishery. The report records an observed by-catch of 29 striped dolphins and 17 common dolphins, from which the research unit estimated that the total by-catch by the UK fleet was 104 striped and 61 common dolphins. These figures are a very small proportion of the estimated dolphin population size in the area. I do not have equivalent figures for the dolphins killed by the tuna fishing vessels of other countries.
Cattle Movements
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle have been moved from the mainland United Kingdom to Northern Ireland in each month since January 1994 to date. [8781]
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Mrs. Browning [holding answer 15 January 1996]: The information requested is shown in the table. The figures are derived from the ANIMO system and show the number of cattle certified for export from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. They remain provisional and subject to amendment.
| 1994 | 1995 | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 677 | 3,488 |
| February | 534 | 3,317 |
| March | 705 | 2,093 |
| April | 961 | 1,153 |
| May | 1,587 | 1,656 |
| June | 0 | 1,803 |
| July | 289 | 1,084 |
| August | 1,202 | 2,580 |
| September | 1,426 | 2,092 |
| October | 3,809 | 3,579 |
| November | 3,729 | 1,464 |
| December | 3,114 | (2)-- |
(2) Figures have not yet been collated for December 1995.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Doncaster Prison
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost-effectiveness of having Home Office controllers at Doncaster prison. [8054]
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. Martin Redmond, dated 19 January 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the cost-effectiveness of having Home Office Controllers at Doncaster.
The Criminal Justice Act (1991) requires every contracted out prison to have a Controller, who is a Crown servant appointed by the Secretary of State.
The Controllers at contracted-out prisons carry out a valuable function in helping to monitor the running and cost effectiveness of those prisons. They offer an independent and objective view of these processes to the Secretary of State and others. Such an objective view might not be provided by the companies themselves. In this respect, the Controllers fulfil a function which is distinct from the day to day management of the prison, and their vital role is provided cost effectively.
Prisons (Mechanical Restraints)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since January 1990 inmates in HMP Holloway have been kept in bodybelts for more than 12 hours. [8420]
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.
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Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 17 January 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking on how many occasions since January 1990 inmates in Holloway prison have been kept in bodybelts for more than 12 hours.
There are no occasions where a prisoner has been kept in a bodybelt in Holloway prison for more than 12 hours since 1990.
Sex Offenders
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans Her Majesty's Government have to deal with repeat sex offenders; and if he will make a statement; [9678]
- (2) what plans Her Majesty's Government have for the co-ordination on a national level of efforts to apprehend paedophile, child pornographers and those who use child pornography; [9676]
3) what plans Her Majesty's Government have for the adoption of a national register of paedophiles; and if he will make a statement; [9679]
(4) what percentage of people previously convicted of sex offences against children have since November 1993 reoffended after release; and what plans Her Majesty's Government have for monitoring the rate of repeat sex offences against children. [9677]
Mr. Maclean: The Government are considering a range of proposals to deal more effectively with sex offenders. I have already proposed that anyone convicted for the second time of a serious sexual or violent offence should receive an automatic life sentence. They would then only be released when they no longer presented a threat to the public. Full details for these proposals will be set out in a White Paper in the spring.
A national police intelligence network on paedophiles already exists and a dedicated paedophile unit within the National Criminal Intelligence Service maintains a database of those who are actively involved in paedophilia. The unit is responsible for developing and disseminating intelligence on those involved in offences of paedophilia both nationally and internationally. Phoenix, the new criminal records database on the police national computer, will give the police instant access to full details of persons convicted of all serious offences, including paedophile and other sex offences.
Statistics on the convictions and the reconvictions of sex offenders do not separately identify offences against children. The special information requested is not therefore available.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to abolish the year and a day rule in respect of murder. [9834]
Mr. Maclean:
A Bill to abolish the rule is now before Parliament, having been introduced by the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) on 13 December 1995.
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