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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 23 January 1996
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Magistrates (Doncaster)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when and in which newspapers the advisory committee for Doncaster advertised for applicants for positions as magistrates; and if he will publish the advertisement. [9903]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The Lord Chancellor's advisory committee for Doncaster placed advertisements in the Doncaster Free Press, South Yorkshire Times and Doncaster Star on 25 May 1995. The text of the advertisement is shown. In addition 20,000 leaflets were delivered with the Doncaster Courier on 21 July 1995. Could you serve the community as a Justice of the Peace?
The answer is yes, if you have the necessary personal qualities such as common-sense, courage, compassion and the time to offer about 18 days (or 36 half days) a year plus time for training, which would give you a unique insight into the skills required for decision making. Justices of the Peace, often called magistrates, are at the heart of Britain's system of justice and come from all walks of life, many different ethnic backgrounds and all sectors of the community.
Justices of the Peace are unpaid but they may receive certain allowances to cover travelling expenses, subsistence and financial loss occasioned by the performance of their duties.
Justices of the Peace in England and Wales are appointed on behalf of the Sovereign by the Lord Chancellor on the recommendation of local Advisory Committees.
The Advisory Committee for the Doncaster District are currently looking for men and women who live in or within 15 miles of the Metropolitan Borough boundary and who are suitable to be appointed as Justices of the Peace. If you are between 27 and 50 and would like to know more about this vitally important public duty they want to hear from you. If you are between 50 and 60, you may still be considered.
For an application form, information on the selection process and what is entailed, please write to me at the address below, or telephone (01302) 366711.
S. W. Stokes
Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee
The Law Courts
PO Box 49
College Road
Doncaster DN1 3HT
HOME DEPARTMENT
Newbury Bypass
Mr. Allen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he estimates the cost will be to the local police constabulary of policing the site of the Newbury bypass. [9343]
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Mr. Maclean:
Policing of the bypass site is a joint operation between Thames Valley police and Hampshire constabulary.
Estimated total policing costs in 1995-96 have been assessed by Thames Valley police as £1.525 million and by Hampshire constabulary as £478,000. This includes the costs of officers who would otherwise be on duty elsewhere in the force areas.
Mr. Alton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps Her Majesty's Government are presently taking to examine the conviction in Sweden of Bengt Bolin under Sweden's extra-territorial law on sex offences against children; [9672]
Mr. Maclean:
My officials have obtained from the Swedish authorities various documents concerning the Bolin case, including transcripts of the court proceedings. The Swedish chief prosecutor gave a presentation about this case to an Interpol working group in November last year, and Home Office officials who attended the presentation spoke to him about the case. My officials have also recently met a representative from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to discuss this matter. In addition, a meeting is being arranged with the Thai prosecutor who was involved in the Bolin case.
The information so far received suggests that there would have been difficulties in securing a conviction in this country on the basis of the evidence presented to the Swedish court. The United Kingdom could, however, unlike Sweden, have extradited a British offender in similar circumstances. We remain of the view that this is the best approach, and have not been persuaded by the experience of the Swedes that extra-territorial jurisdiction would be helpful in dealing with British tourists who commit offences overseas.
Mr. Allen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what responsibilities the police have for checking the suitability of applicants to be school bus drivers; [10185]
(3) how many applicants for school bus driving vacancies were checked against the central criminal database in 1995. [10187]
Mr. Maclean:
The police have responsibility for carrying out criminal record checks on applicants for jobs in the statutory sector if the applicant will have a substantial level of regular unsupervised access to children, particularly if such access is on a one-to-one basis in an isolated setting. The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Home Office have agreed guidance on which groups should be eligible for checks and this is set out in Home Office circulars. School bus drivers are listed as one of the groups which should not
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normally be subject to checks as it is assumed that, for most journeys, they will be transporting large numbers of children with a teacher or parent also present. If a bus driver is likely to be transporting a child or small number of children on a regular basis without a teacher or parent being present, the police have discretion to carry out a check.
If the police are satisfied that a check is justified, the applicant will be checked both against Phoenix, the national criminal record database, and local police records. No statistics are kept on the number of applicants for jobs as school bus drivers who have been checked.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the duration of the hard arrests trial programme; what areas of equipment, policy or training were involved; and what was the budget of the programme; [10249]
Mr. Maclean:
I assume that the hon. Member's interest relates to the issue of electronic shock equipment. Neither my Department nor the police service has any knowledge of "the hard arrest trial programme" or of any other programme in this area.
Chief officers of police, with their police authorities, are responsible for deciding what equipment to obtain for their officers, either for testing or for introduction. A number of forces have obtained electro-shock equipment for use against ferocious dogs and training in their use would have been undertaken at the local level. The cost of training was met from existing resources. As I have made clear previously, no force has obtained any form of this equipment for use against people.
In 1990 the Forensic Science Service published a theoretical assessment of the effects of electric shock weapons.
Mr. Allason:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines he has issued to police
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forces on the use of premium telephone numbers for services to the public. [10256]
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many road traffic accidents involving police patrol vehicles were reported for the years 1994 and 1995; and how many police officers or civilians sustained serious or fatal injuries in such accidents. [10408]
Mr. Maclean:
The latest information which is available centrally, in respect of police forces in England and Wales, is for the year 1993, and is shown. The information on injuries relates to those where death or serious injury has arisen in the course of either police pursuits or responses to emergency calls.
Police vehicle accidents in 1993--all types of police vehicles
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of special constables in each police force in England, indicating in each case the ratio of specials to full-time officers and to the population of the force area. [10631]
Mr. Maclean:
The following table, which is broken down by police force area, shows:
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(2) when Her Majesty's Government expect to be able to make a statement on the implications of the Bengt Bolin case in Sweden for future United Kingdom legislation on child sex offences committed aborad. [9673]
(2) if applicants for school bus driving positions are always checked by the police against a central criminal database; [10186]
(2) what research his Department has carried out since 1987 on the operation, safety or use of electronic shock equipment. [10248]
All accidents: 18,631.
Accidents in course of pursuits or responses to emergency calls: 5,887.
Police fatal injury: 5
Police serious injury: 113
Civilian fatal injury: 29
Civilian serious injury: 187
the number of special constables in post on 30 September 1995 1 ;
the number of regular officers in post on 30 September 1995 2 ;
the proportion of regular officers the number of special constables notionally represents (disregarding discrepancies in hours of duty 3 ;
the population of each force area according to the latest available estimates from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (mid-1994) 4 ; and
Many special constables perform about four hours' duty a week.
the number of special constables per 5,000 population 5 .
(1) (a) Number of special constables in post at 30 September 1995.
(2) (b) Number of regular officers in post at 30 September 1995.
(3) (c) Special constables as an equivalent percentage of regular officers.
(4) (d) Population of police force area at 30 June 1994 (in thousands).
(5) (e) Number of special constables per five thousand head of population.
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