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HOME DEPARTMENT
Women Prisioners (Restraints)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the chair of the board of visitors of each prison in England and Wales as to the use of restraints when women inmates are taken outside prison for whatever reason. [11600]
Miss Widdecombe: At last September's annual conference of boards of visitors the issue of handcuffing women in sensitive situations was raised with me.
The chairmen of the boards at Bullwood Hall and New Hall prisons wrote to my right hon. and learned Friend on 16 and 17 October 1995 respectively, about the use of restraints on women when on escort. An earlier letter of 16 June 1995, from the chairman of the board at Askham Grange prison to the then Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Stirling (Mr. Forsyth), about women prisoners generally, also raised this issue. Askham Grange board wrote again on 13 November 1995.
When my right hon. and learned Friend and I visit prisons, we take the opportunity to speak to boards of visitors who raise a wide range of issues. None of the records of our visits indicates that the use of restraints on women prisoners outside their establishments was raised as a concern.
Mr. Alton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which powers contained in the Asylum and Immigration Bill affect foreign passport holders with permanent right of United Kingdom abode; if foreign passport holders will be re-classified as immigrants; how their right to remain in the United Kingdom will be affected; and if he will make a statement. [12180]
Miss Widdecombe:
A Commonwealth citizen with the right of abode under section 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 will be unaffected by the Bill, except to the extent that certain provisions, such as the new power of search in clause 7, are applicable to all people regardless of their status under the Act.
The use of the term "immigrant" in clauses 8, 9, 10 and 12 of the Bill to refer to a person who, under the 1971 Act, requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom will not affect the immigration status of such a person. In particular, the entitlement of a person who is settled in this country to housing assistance and child benefit and their freedom to take employment will not be affected.
Ms Janet Anderson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum in the United Kingdom have been received from asylum seekers currently located in other EU countries for each year since 1990. [12607]
Mr. Kirkhope:
An average of five asylum applications have been received from nationals of European Union countries in each year since 1990.
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Information on non-EU nationals who have been located in EU countries since applying for asylum in the United Kingdom is not held centrally.
Dr. Marek:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 24 January, Official Report, column 261, if bull bars have now been removed from Metropolitan police vehicles. [12519]
Mr. Maclean:
As I stated in my reply to an earlier question from the hon. Member on 29 November 1995, Official Report columns 781-82, and 12 December 1995, Official Report columns 604-5, this is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. However, I understand that the Commissioner has reviewed the situation in light of the guidelines issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers and is complying with them. So far as possible, bull bars will be fitted only to vehicles for use in public disorder and where that is required in the interests of officer safety.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what benefits and payments are available to special constables. [12601]
Mr. Maclean:
Special constables are unpaid volunteers, but they are eligible to receive a number of benefits. Under the Special Constables Regulations 1965, they may be reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses or receive payment of an allowance in lieu of reimbursement. Chief officers choosing to pay an allowance may draw on Home Office guidance about allowances in respect of footwear, tights and stockings, travel and refreshment.
Regulations entitle specials to sick pay in respect of injury suffered--or illness contracted--while on duty, and police authorities have discretion to make ex gratia payments to specials who do not qualify for sick pay under the regulations.
In addition, regulations give police authorities discretion to pay a small bounty to special constables who qualify under the criteria--which relate to a minimum commitment of hours in a defined six-month period.
We set up a working group on the special constabulary last year under Home Office chairmanship. We expect it to make a number of recommendations in March about the expenses and allowances that special constables should receive.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many legally held firearms there are in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales (i) in total and (ii) of each type. [12989]
Mr. Maclean:
At the end of 1994, the latest year for which figures are available, it is estimated that some 375,000 firearms were covered by firearms certificates on
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issue in England and about 21,700 by firearms certificates on issue in Wales.
Information is not held centrally, however, on the type of firearm covered by these firearm certificates.
In addition, some 1,230,800 shotguns were covered by the shotgun certificates on issue in England at the end of 1994, and some 102,300 in Wales.
Figures for Scotland are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, but I understand that information on the number of weapons legally held is not available centrally.
Mr. Alex Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the street value of all illegal drugs, per type of drug, seized by Government officials in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [12724]
Mr. Sackville:
The total estimated street value of drugs seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, in the last five years for which data are available, is as follows:
Mr. Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the street value of all illegal drugs seized by Government officials in each of the European Union member states in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [12725]
Mr. Sackville:
This information is not available.
Mr. Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the latest estimate of the total street value of the illegal drugs market in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [12727]
Mr. Sackville:
It is not possible to make such an estimate with any accuracy.
Ms Coffey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy on informing the families of victims of manslaughter and murder of the release of offenders. [13003]
Mr. Sackville:
Our policy is as set out in the 1995 national standards for the supervision of offenders before and after release from custody, a copy of which is in the Library. In such cases, the probation service should arrange for the victim's family to be contacted within two months of the imposition of the sentence and offered the opportunity of being kept informed of developments.
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Where this opportunity is taken up, the service should inform them when release from custody is imminent.
Ms Quin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the proceedings and outcome of the EU informal Justice and Home Affairs Council on 26 to 27 January. [13111]
Mr. Howard:
The United Kingdom was represented at the informal council in Rome by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone (Miss Widdecombe) and, on the second day, by Timothy Walker, a senior Home Office official. It is a rule of procedure within the European Union that informal councils cannot reach decisions or adopt texts. The main matters discussed at the meeting were as follows.
The Italian presidency invited Ministers to approve in principle the text of a draft declaration on organised crime. A number of member states, including the United Kingdom, had difficulty with the wording of the declaration as it stood, and the presidency concluded that further work was required at official level before the declaration could be submitted with a view to formal adoption at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in March.
The Council considered the presidency's work programme for the Europol drugs unit, and for developing the supplementary regulations to the Europol convention. The Council also discussed the outstanding issue of European Court of Justice jurisdiction in the Europol convention.
The presidency set out its priorities for work on immigration and asylum. These included taking forward certain of the proposals contained in the 1994 Commission communication on immigration and asylum, and securing early progress on the Dublin convention which deals with the determination of the state responsible for examining applications for asylum lodged in one of the member states. The presidency said that it also hoped to proceed with work on EURODAC, an initiative to establish a computer-based system of fingerprint exchanges on asylum claims.
The Council discussed some of the issues which are blocking agreement to the draft external frontiers convention, including the dispute between the United Kingdom and Spain over its application to Gibraltar, and held a general discussion on the temporary protection of refugees in the light of recent developments in the situation in Bosnia.
The Council discussed the main problems which had arisen during negotiations on the second convention on simplified extradition and the Brussels II convention on matrimonial matters, and examined ways in which these might be resolved.
The Council discussed arrangements for pursuing contacts with designated third countries on justice and home affairs issues, and the presidency outlined broad proposals for a multi-annual work programme within the third pillar.
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Estimates of the street value of police seizures of illegal drugs are not collected centrally.
1990: £245 million
1991: £308 million
1992: £546 million
1993: £475 million
1994: £551 million
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