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Spare Computer Capacity

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all cases where spare computer capacity has been sold to other Departments since 1987, giving the Department and value of each contract. [14075]

Mr. Norris: My Department has made no sales of spare computer capacity to other Departments. Processing capacity in excess of departmental requirements is not maintained, and redundant IT equipment is relocated within the Department, traded in part exchange or disposed of to the trade on competitive tendering terms.

Coach Safety (Children)

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to introduce regulations to improve the safety of children travelling on coaches and minibuses. [14717]

Mr. Norris: I have laid regulations before the House today which will require seat belts to be fitted to minibuses and coaches used specifically to transport

8 Feb 1996 : Column: 304

children. I have also laid regulations ending, where seat belts are fitted, the concession that allows three seated children to count as two passengers.

The regulations on seat belt fitting only apply to a vehicle which is undertaking a journey specifically for the purpose of carrying children. The requirements will apply to:

all minibuses used from 10 February 1997;
all coaches used from 10 February 1997, if they are registered from 1 October 1988; and
all coaches used from 10 February 1988, if they are registered before 1 October 1998.

The regulations on the "three for two" seating concession will take effect from 1 May 1996. They will recognise the incompatibility of the concession with the fitting of seat belts to minibuses and coaches.

I believe that these measures will further improve the good safety record of minibuses and coaches and will go a long way towards reassuring parents who may be concerned for the safety of their children when travelling in these vehicles.

I am pleased that we have been able to introduce these measures independently and ahead of our partners in the European Union.

Meanwhile, I will continue to encourage operators to fit all their vehicles with seat belts voluntarily. We intend to require the mandatory fitting to all new minibuses and coaches as soon as the necessary agreement has been reached in Europe.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Delegated Legislation

Mr. Hutton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the powers to make statutory instruments exercisable by the Secretary of State under primary legislation enacted since 1979 are subject to (a) the negative and (b) the affirmative resolution procedure. [9594]

Mr. Howard [holding answer 16 January 1996]: The numbers are as follows:

(a) 71 subject to the negative, and


(b) 49 subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.

Detailed tables of the measures have been placed in the Library.

Immigration (Indian Sub-continent)

Mr. Marlow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his assessment as to the reasons for the increase in arrivals and departures to the Indian sub-continent in the last two years. [13345]

Mr. Kirkhope: The data on arrivals and departures are given in the table. The reasons for the increase in arrivals and departures between 1992 and 1994 are not known, but increases have occurred for all arrivals in and departures from the United Kingdom.

8 Feb 1996 : Column: 305

	1992	1993	1994
Arrivals in the United Kingdom from the Indian sub-continent of overseas residents	252,000	273,000	313,000
Departures from the United Kingdom to the Indian sub-continent of United Kingdom residents.	372,000	427,000	477,000

Source:

CSO, International Passenger Survey. All figures rounded to three significant figures.

Internet

Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 14 December, Official Report, column 735, what progress has been made by the interdepartmental group on obscenity in examining possible measures to control access to material disseminated via the Internet; and if he will make a statement. [13400]

Mr. Sackville: We are discussing with representatives of Internet service providers any concern about the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, and ways of controlling access by children and young people to such material.

Telephone Tapping

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend the law regarding telephone tapping; and if he will make a statement. [13198]

Mr. Howard: While the Government keep the operation of the law regarding interception under review, I have no immediate plans for changes to the law in this area.

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the practice of intercepting private telephone calls; [13355]

(2) if he will make a statement on the involvement of newspapers in provoking the interception of private telephone calls. [13356]

Mr. Howard: The unauthorised intentional interception of a communication in the course of its transmission on a public telecommunications system is an offence under section 1 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. In addition, the unauthorised intentional use of wireless telegraphy apparatus to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any message, and the disclosure of such information are offences under section 5 of The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. Soliciting or inciting a person to commit offences under the 1985 Act and the 1949 Act is itself a criminal offence. It is for the police to investigate allegations of unlawful interception.

Reported Crime Statistics

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will express the number of reported crimes in each police authority area in 1981, 1986, 1991 and each subsequent year as a figure per head

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of the 18 to 24-year-old males estimated by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to be resident in each police authority area. [13262]

Mr. Maclean: The available information is for 1991-1994 and is contained in the table. Information for 1981 and 1986 is not available in the form requested.

All offences recorded per head of 18-24 year old males by police force area, 1991-1994

	1991	1992	1993	1994
Avon and Somerset	2.0	2.3	2.4	2.3
Bedfordshire	2.0	2.1	2.2	2.0
Cambridgeshire	1.4	1.6	1.6	1.6
Cheshire	1.4	1.7	1.7	1.7
Cleveland	2.7	3.0	2.8	3.0
Cumbria	1.9	2.0	1.9	2.0
Derbyshire	1.6	1.9	2.0	2.0
Devon and Cornwall	1.4	1.6	1.7	1.6
Dorset	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.9
Durham	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.3
Essex	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.4
Gloucestershire	2.0	2.3	2.4	2.5
Greater Manchester	2.6	2.8	2.7	2.6
Hampshire	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.6
Hertfordshire	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2
Humberside	2.5	2.8	3.1	3.1
Kent	1.8	2.1	2.2	2.2
Lancashire	1.7	1.9	1.9	1.9
Leicestershire	1.7	1.9	2.0	2.0
Lincolnshire	1.6	1.8	1.9	1.9
Merseyside	1.9	2.0	1.9	1.9
Metropolitan Police(10)	2.3	2.5	2.6	2.5
Norfolk	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.6
Northamptonshire	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.1
Northumbria	3.0	3.0	2.9	2.8
North Yorkshire	1.4	1.5	1.7	2.0
Nottinghamshire	2.5	2.9	2.9	2.9
South Yorkshire	1.6	1.9	2.2	2.3
Staffordshire	1.5	1.7	1.8	1.8
Suffolk	1.2	1.4	1.4	1.3
Surrey	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.1
Sussex	1.7	1.9	1.8	1.9
Thames Valley	1.6	1.8	1.9	1.9
Warwickshire	1.7	1.9	1.9	1.9
West Mercia	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.7
West Midlands	2.0	2.2	2.3	2.3
West Yorkshire	2.4	2.6	2.7	2.7
Wiltshire	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.4
Dyfed-Powys	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.0
Gwent	1.7	1.9	1.9	1.9
North Wales	1.4	1.6	1.5	1.4
South Wales	2.2	2.4	2.4	2.4
England and Wales	1.9	2.0	2.1	2.1

(10) Includes the City of London.

Probation Service

Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the total staff establishment for the probation service in England and Wales by each grade; and how many from each grade were from an ethnic minority in (a) 1989 and (b) 1995; [13460]

(2) how many probation staff in England and Wales were from an ethnic minority in (a) 1989 and (b) 1995. [13459]

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Mr. Sackville: The information available is given in the tables: they are not directly comparable since staff establishment figures are collected in whole-time equivalent terms and those of ethnic minority origin in terms of staff in post.

Information on the ethnic origin of probation staff in 1989 is not available, but figures for 1987 are shown in table B.

Table A: Staff establishment of the probation service, by grade, 31 March 1989 and 31 March 1995Number of staff, whole time equivalent(11)

	31 March 1989	31 March 1995
Probation grade staff
Chief officers(12)	273	333
Senior officers	1,120	1,282
Main grade officers	5,372	6,289
Total probation grade staff	6,765	7,905
Non-probation grade staff
Probation Services' Officers	1,728	2,077
Clerical/secretarial	3,392	4,090
Administrative and other non-probation grade staff(13)	659	1,030
Non-probation grade hostel staff	--(14)	928
Total non-probation grade staff	5,779	8,125
Total staff	12,544	16,030

(11) Whole-time staff plus whole-time equivalent of part time staff. Figures rounded to the nearest whole number. Components and totals are rounded independently and so components may not add precisely to totals.

(12) Includes Chief, Deputy Chief and Assistant Chief Probation Officer.

(13) Excludes sessional supervisors.

(14) Figures not available for 1989.

Table B: Probation staff from ethnic minority groups (full time and part time) in post, by grade

	31 December 1987	31 March 1995
Probation grade staff
Chief officers(15)	--	8
Senior officers	3	42
Main grade officers	124	535
Total probation grade staff	127	585
Non-probation grade staff
Probation Services' Officers	62	177
Clerical/Secretarial	144	343
Administrative and other non-probation grade staff(16)	32	86
Non-probation grade hostel staff	19	112
Total non-probation grade staff	257	718
Total staff	384	1,303
Rate of response (Per cent.)	84.1	94

(15) Includes Chief, Deputy Chief and Assistant Chief Probation Officer.

(16) Excludes sessional supervisors.

8 Feb 1996 : Column: 308

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