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Flights (Criminal Incidents)
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many arrests have been made by the police for criminal incidents on in-bound flights to the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [6224]
(2) on how many occasions the police have taken action as a result of incidents on in-bound flights into the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; what has been the nature of the occurrences; and if he will make a statement. [6225]
Mr. Maclean: The information is not collected centrally.
Research Projects (Sunderland)
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all Home Office funded pilots, trials and research studies which have been conducted since 1989 in (a) the city of Sunderland, (b) Wearside district and (c) Sunderland travel-to-work area identifying (i) the title, summary and duration of the pilot/trial, (ii) the target population and total number of participants and (iii) whether each pilot, trial or research finding was published indicating the date of publication; and if he will give details of all other non-Home Office research bodies or organisations involved in each pilot, trial or research scheme. [6305]
Mr. Howard: There have been no major studies confined to the areas highlighted. However, each year, a number of research projects and surveys are conducted on the basis of nationally representative samples. Householders or other persons in the areas mentioned might have been included in these. The data are often confidential to the survey company, so it is not always possible to identify which areas have been surveyed.
Chauffeur-driven Cars
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of chauffeur-driven cars used by his Department was in each of the past five years. [5862]
19 Dec 1995 : Column: 1009
Mr. Howard: The information in respect of ministerial cars was given in a reply to a question from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Dr. Jones) on 7 November, Official Report, column 826.
Information relating to use by officials is not collected centrally and I will write to the hon. Member when it has been obtained.
Advertising
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the expenditure of
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his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies on newspaper advertising by title for each year since 1990-91; and what estimate he has made for 1995-96 based on expenditure to date and existing plans. [6570]
Mr. Howard: Information in the form requested would be available only at disproportionate cost. The table gives the aggregated expenditure of the Home Office, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on the space bought in the national press for the period requested. For the reason stated, the figures do not include local press, or the cost of creative and production work.
| 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Daily Express | 93,993 | 96,730 | 28,990 | -- | 27,000 | -- |
| Daily Mail | 154,940 | 175,580 | 16,050 | -- | 49,270 | 8,816 |
| Daily Mirror | 171,430 | 117,885 | 41,054 | -- | 46,000 | -- |
| Daily Star | 39,822 | 34,870 | 12,040 | -- | 7,000 | -- |
| Daily Telegraph | 90,350 | 73,671 | 25,771 | 5,500 | 72,200 | 22,800 |
| Evening Standard | 69,609 | 27,406 | 9,990 | -- | 25,430 | 2,455 |
| Financial Times | 14,364 | 31,252 | -- | -- | -- | 32,532 |
| Guardian | 43,427 | 49,729 | 34,756 | 27,190 | 50,321 | 34,296 |
| Independent | 51,735 | 48,458 | 23,487 | 17,523 | 18,225 | 19,734 |
| Independent on Sunday | 1,200 | 9,875 | 2,235 | -- | 15,137 | -- |
| Mail on Sunday | 124,130 | 95,083 | 11,500 | 11,500 | 5,600 | 2,660 |
| News of the World | 135,000 | 203,870 | 32,085 | 25,000 | 24,500 | -- |
| Observer | 35,454 | 32,432 | 7,953 | -- | 11,693 | 10,788 |
| The People | 142,300 | 61,038 | 22,138 | -- | 16,300 | -- |
| The Sun | 239,464 | 155,200 | 45,600 | 29,500 | 91,300 | -- |
| Sunday Correspondent | 2,400 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Sunday Express | 118,580 | 76,010 | 16,648 | 10,500 | 40,000 | -- |
| Sunday Mirror | 129,490 | 65,840 | 16,000 | 14,500 | 23,000 | -- |
| Sunday Telegraph | 7,561 | 11,475 | 2,754 | -- | 19,238 | 12,750 |
| Sunday Times | 85,068 | 104,246 | 71,214 | 36,371 | 69,054 | 33,998 |
| The Times | 38,626 | 17,868 | 1,200 | 528 | 29,940 | 1,965 |
| Today | 27,269 | 21,255 | 6,200 | -- | 3,250 | -- |
| Daily Record | -- | 5,000 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Morning Star | -- | 1,600 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Sunday Mail | -- | 6,830 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
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Knives
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances police officers are permitted to search people for concealed knives; and if he will make a statement on the measures relating to (a) detection and (b) punishment he is taking to deter knife-carrying in public. [6129]
Mr. Maclean: Under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 an officer may search a person for a knife where he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that he will find one. In addition, under section 60, of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, an officer of superintendent rank or above may, where he reasonably believes that serious violence may occur and that it is expedient to prevent it, authorise officers to stop any pedestrian and search him for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments. Acting under the authorisation, an officer may stop and search any person he thinks fit, whether or not he has any grounds for suspecting the person is carrying weapons or articles of that kind. The authorisation applies to a specified area for a period not exceeding 24 hours. My right hon. and learned Friend supports proposals in a private Member's Bill which will increase the maximum penalty for carrying a knife in
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public without good reason or lawful authority under section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, from a £1,000 fine to six months' imprisonment.
Police Safe Scheme (Warwickshire)
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Warwickshire constabulary's police safe scheme; and if he will make a statement on the practice of making charges for police services of this nature. [6130]
Mr. Maclean: The Warwickshire constabulary's police safe scheme is a new computerised keyholder service which is designed to maintain accurate, up-to-date information about non-domestic commercial and community premises and so enable Warwickshire constabulary to identify and contact current keyholders whenever necessary, promptly and effectively.
Warwickshire constabulary intends to charge initial registration and annual renewal fees in respect of premises registered with police safe.
Under section 15 of the Police Act 1964, the chief officer of police of any police force may provide, at the request of any person, special police services at any premises or in any locality in the police area for which the
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force is maintained, subject to the payment to the police authority of charges on such scales as may be determined by that authority.
Warwickshire constabulary has made it clear that it will continue to deal with incidents at any premises, whether registered with police safe or not, according to the circumstances and priorities at the time and will perform its duty to ensure that a basic level of action is taken to secure premises if necessary.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 December, Official Report, column 216, if he will take steps to ascertain the proportion of persons attending for interviews at the asylum screening unit who have to wait more than (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four hours. [5960]
Mr. Kirkhope:
There are no plans to carry out a survey of this kind. Waiting times vary according to a number of factors, including the purpose of the visit, the type of interview required and, most importantly, the number of people visiting the asylum screening unit on any given day. In response to a substantial increase in the number of callers during the last two months, separate accommodation has been equipped to enable the unit to deal quickly with straightforward inquiries and requests.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received on the need for an independent missing persons helpline separate from the police; [5996]
(2) what is his Department's policy in respect of the formation of an independent missing persons helpline, separate from the police. [5997]
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Mr. Maclean
[holding answer 18 December]: Dealing with missing persons reports is an operational matter for the police service. We have no plans to introduce a Government helpline independent of the police, and have received no representations indicating that a separate helpline should be set up.
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of the national missing persons helpline in respect of the investigations of events at 25 Cromwell street, Gloucester. [5998]
Mr. Maclean
[holding answer 18 December]: I understand that the helpline assisted police with the identification of victims based on the information it holds on missing persons.
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for help the police make to the national missing persons helpline every week; and if he will make a statement on the use of the helpline by the police. [6000]
Mr. Maclean
[holding answer 18 December]: I understand that there are regular contacts between police forces and the helpline, but that no comprehensive figures are available.
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