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Ministerial Offices

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on furnishing and decorating ministerial offices in his Department in each of the last three years. [5572]

Mr. Howard: Expenditure on furnishing and decorating ministerial offices in each of the last three years is included in the running cost expenditure of my Department, which is published in the annual report.

Police Recruitment

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since 1979 he has imposed a freeze on police recruitment; and what was the duration in each case. [5423]

Mr. Maclean: Recruitment of police officers is a local matter for each police authority and the chief officer of police. Police force establishment levels, set by my right hon. and learned Friend, were not increased in the financial years 1993-94 and 1994-95. From 1 April 1995, my right hon. and learned Friend has not set establishment levels, and it is now for each police authority to set the strength of its force.

Official Hospitality

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on

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official hospitality in 1994-95 and the financial year to date; and what is the 1995-96 projected budget for official hospitality. [5590]

Mr. Howard: In 1994-95, the cost of hospitality in my Department, including its executive agencies, was £27,468. This differs from the provisional figure given in my answer of 1 May, Official Report, column 94. That figure--£48,293--has been revised on the basis of subsequent further analysis which revealed that some expenditure originally, and provisionally, classified as hospitality should have been classified as other administrative costs. Expenditure on hospitality for the financial year to date is £27,558.

The projected budget for 1995-96 is £60,570.

Hong Kong (Key Persons Scheme)

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used to determine the granting of right of abode status to Hong Kong citizens under the 50,000 key persons scheme; who determines such applications; and what right of appeal exists against refusal. [5846]

Mr. Kirkhope: Applications under the scheme are assessed in accordance with the criteria set out in the British Nationality (Hong Kong) (Selection Scheme) Order 1990--statutory instrument No. 2292--and Hong Kong (British Nationality) (Amendment) Order 1993-- statutory instrument No. 1789. Points are scored for age, experience, education and training, proficiency in the English language, connections with the United Kingdom, public and community service, and special circumstances. Applications are considered by the governor, who makes recommendations to my right hon. and learned Friend. The Secretary of State is obliged to register as British citizens those recommended by the governor unless he has reason to believe that the person concerned is not of good character. There is no right of appeal but the Governor is always willing to consider any representations made about his decisions.

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 December, Official Report, column 213, how many of the applicants for right of abode status in the United Kingdom under the key persons scheme have been approved. [5867]

Mr. Kirkhope: As at 9 December, 48,119 principal applicants had been registered as British citizens under the scheme.

Operation Charm

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give details of animal products seized by the Metropolitan police in Operation Charm; and how many people were arrested; [5446]

(2) if he will give details of those premises raided by the Metropolitan police in Operation Charm and the names and nationalities of people arrested. [5452]

Mr. Maclean: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that, in the most recent phase of Operation Charm, a property in west London was

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searched on 30 November and over 1,000 items believed to contain derivatives of species protected under the convention on international trade in endangered species were seized. The species protected under CITES include tiger, bear, rhinoceros, saiga antelope, tortoise, cobra and pangolin. It is not normal practice to identify any individuals concerned at this stage in proceedings.

Mobile Telephones

Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the cloning of mobile telephones. [5472]

Mr. Maclean: My right hon. and learned Friend has received a number of representations from hon. Members, the telecommunications industry and members of the public about both the cloning of mobile telephones and mobile telephone fraud in general.

In order to help combat the problem of cloning, the industry and government study group on mobile phone fraud, which was set up by my hon. Friend the Minister for Science and Technology in June and reported in October, recommended that the range of offences under section 42 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 should be extended. This recommendation is currently receiving careful consideration.

Identity Cards

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses he received in relation to his Green Paper concerning identity cards; if he will provide a statistical breakdown of respondents and views in a similar form to that published by the Data Protection Registrar; when he expects to introduce proposals on the introduction of an identity card; and if he will make a statement. [5344]

Mr. Sackville: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr. Grant) on 13 December at columns 659-60.

Criminal Records

Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the White Paper on improving the system of disclosing police criminal records. [5135]

Mr. Maclean: We expect to publish the White Paper within the next few months.

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses he received in relation to his Green Paper, Cm. 2319; when he expects to introduce proposals to allow the wider disclosure of criminal records; and if he will make a statement. [5343]

Mr. Maclean: Some 180 responses were received to the Green Paper "Disclosure of Criminal Records for Employment Vetting Purposes", Cm. 2319. We expect to publish a White Paper within the next few months, which will set out proposals for new arrangements.

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data are held by his Department in

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respect of the number of enforced subject access requests to criminal records; what plans he has to introduce legislation to cover the practice of enforced subject access to criminal records; if he will list the risks his Department has assessed in respect of reliance on enforced subject access; what plans he has to notify foreign embassies based in the United Kingdom in respect of these risks; and if he will make a statement. [5347]

Mr. Maclean: Applicants exercising their right under the Data Protection Act 1984 to access to criminal records are not required to give reasons. It is not therefore possible to estimate the number of requests which are "enforced", whether by employers, foreign embassies or others. The Government will be publishing a White Paper within the next few months which will propose new arrangements for access to criminal records.

Fingerprint Computer System

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fingerprint records will eventually be stored in the Lockheed Martin fingerprint computer system based in Florida; what steps he has taken to ensure that the United States authorities cannot use their powers to access the fingerprints of Untied Kingdom citizens stored on the system; by what means he would be informed if such actions took place; and if he will make a statement. [5345]

Mr. Maclean: The computer system in question is controlled by the AFR Consortium of 33 police forces, and it is for the member forces to administer it in accordance with the relevant legal provisions, including the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Data Protection Acts. I understand from the AFR Consortium that there are now about 2.7 million sets of fingerprint images on the system, and that it is expected that about 3 million sets will eventfully be stored on the system, which is located in Tacoma, Washington State, not Florida. It is believed that there are no powers under which the fingerprints stored on the system could be accessed by the United States authorities. If the United States authorities require access to images of fingerprints held by the police service in the United Kingdom, reciprocal arrangements exist under which they may apply to the national identification service for copies.

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