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Hunting (Policing Costs)
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to permit chief constables at their discretion to recover the costs of police attendance at fox and stag hunts. [3208]
Mr. Maclean: Public order policing at these events falls within the normal law enforcement duties of the police.
Funding for costs incurred by the police in discharging their duty to enforce the law is provided jointly by central and local government.
Clandestine Filming
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to prevent the sale or publication of video or film footage generated by clandestine cameras without the specific and written permission of the subjects of those pictures. [3256]
Mr. Maclean: The Government condemn the irresponsible use of closed circuit television footage for commercial gain. We strongly recommend that all CCTV systems adopt locally developed codes of practice which specify who has access to the images that they capture and for what purpose. Most public CCTV systems have done so. All schemes receiving Government funding for CCTV are required to put in place such codes as a condition of grant. The Home Office guidance booklet, "CCTV--Looking Out For You", contains advice on how to adopt a code of practice and the issues that it should cover.
Racially Motivated Crime
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of racially motivated crimes reported during 1994; and how many led to (a) prosecution and (b) conviction. [3650]
Mr. Maclean: Figures for the total number of racially motivated incidents recorded by the police are now collected on a financial year basis. The most recent figures available are those for 1993-94 which were given on 24 June 1994, Official Report, column 330. The definition
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of a racial incident includes any incident reported to the police which contains any allegation of racial motivation, whether a crime or not. Information about prosecutions and convictions is not collated nationally.
The figures for 1994-95 should be available shortly.
Irish Republic Citizens
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the rights given to citizens of the Irish Republic in the United Kingdom that are not given to the citizens of other countries; and which of these rights are reciprocated by the Republic of Ireland for United Kingdom citizens. [3526]
Mr. Kirkhope: I will write to the hon. Member.
Remand Prisoners
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were on remand in England and Wales in each year since 1990. [3509]
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 A. J. Pearson to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 December 1995:
Mr. Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of prisoners on remand were subsequently acquitted in the last year for which figures are available; [3511]
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking, how many prisoners were on remand in England and Wales in each year since 1990.
The information is contained in Table one of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, issue 8/95 'The Prison Population in 1994'. A copy of the bulletin is available in the Library of the House.
(2) what percentage of defendants on bail were subsequently acquitted during the last year. [3518]
Mr. Maclean: The latest available figures are published in tables 8.6, 8.9 and 8.10 of the 1994 issue of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", Cm 3010. The figures quoted in these tables should be taken as broad estimates only, due to data quality problems.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reduce the time prisoners spend on remand awaiting trial. [3523]
Mr. Maclean: The Government are anxious to ensure that prisoners spend as little time as possible on remand awaiting trial. The number of cases awaiting disposal at the Crown court has been reduced this year through increased numbers of sitting days. Plea and directions hearings, which encourage active case management by the judiciary, are being introduced through a rolling programme and will extend to all Crown court centres in England and Wales by early next year. The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Bill, introduced in another place on 27 November, contains provision to invite a
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defendant to indicate his plea before magistrates decide whether the trial should proceed in the magistrates court or the Crown court. This, together with the sentence discount provisions enacted in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, should enable a greater proportion of appropriate business to be retained in the magistrates courts and thereby reduce delay.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the change in the overall prison population between 1992 and 1994 was the result of changes in the numbers of remand prisoners. [3510]
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 A.J. Pearson to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 December 1995:
Mr. Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time a prisoner serves on remand; and what the average length of time was in each year since 1990. [3512]
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office to reply to your recent Question asking, what percentage of the change in the overall prison population between 1992 and 1994 was the result of changes in the numbers of remand prisoners.
The information on the prison population by type of prisoner is contained in Table one of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, issue 8/95 'The Prison Population in 1994', a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Between 1992 and 1994, the prison population increased by 2,977 from 45,817 to 48,794. During the same period, the remand population rose by 2,267 from 10,090 in 1992 to 12,357 in 1994. This amounted to 76 per cent of the rise in the total population.
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 A. J. Pearson to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 December 1995:
(19) Provisional figures.
(20) Estimated from number of receptions and average population in
1994.
(21) Time spent in custody before conviction.
(22) Time spent in custody after conviction before sentence.
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The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking about the average length of time a prisoner serves on remand; and what the average length of time was in each year since 1990.
Information for the years 1990 to 1993 is given in Table 2.1 of Prison Statistics, England and Wales 1993 (Cm 2893), a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Estimates for 1994 are given in the attached table.
Estimated average number of days in custody(20) Type of custody Male Female
Untried(21) 59 44
Convicted(22) 34 29
Ms Janet Anderson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total number of defendants in each ethnic category who were (a) bailed by magistrates courts or Crown courts during (i) 1989 and (ii) 1994 and (b) remanded in custody during (iii) 1989 and (iv) 1994. [3648]
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Mr. Maclean: Court proceedings data held centrally by my Department does not identify the ethnic origin of those bailed or remanded in custody. Information, which is available only for the last five years, on the ethnic group of prison receptions on remand is given in the tables.
| Year | Total | White | West Indian, Guyanese, African | Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi | Chinese, Arab, mixed origin | Unrecorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 60,174 | 50,471 | 6,171 | 1,354 | 1,331 | 847 |
(23) A new classification for ethnic origin was introduced in 1992. It is congruent with that used for the census of population. Data for 1990 is
shown separately as the classification prior to 1992 is not directly comparable with that in later years.
| Year | Total | White | Black | South Asian | Chinese and other Asian | Unrecorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994(25) | 68,414 | 57,420 | 7,937 | 1,512 | 553 | 992 |
(24) A new classification for ethnic origin was introduced in 1992. It is congruent with that used for the census of population. Data for 1990 is
shown separately as the classification prior to 1992 is not directly comparable with that in later years.
(25) Provisional figures.
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5 Dec 1995 : Column: 209
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of defendants on bail committed an offence while on bail during the last year. [3517]
Mr. Maclean: Statistics on offending on bail are not collected at present on a national basis. However, a review of more localised studies was given in Home Office Research Paper No. 65 "Offending while on bail: a survey of recent studies". More up-to-date figures are given in a 1994 report of the Hampshire police and probation service and show that 14 per cent. of persons given bail committed an offence during a period of police or court bail.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bail hostels have closed since the beginning of 1994. [3519]
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