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HOME DEPARTMENT
Life Sentences
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners serving life sentences were released on licence in each of the years 1990 to 1995; and what proportion of those prisoners in each year were released beyond the expiry of the tariff recommended by the sentencing court. [24621]
Miss Widdecombe: The number of life sentence prisoners released on licence for the first time in each of the years 1990 to 1995 is set out in the following table.
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 74 |
| 1991 | 71 |
| 1992 | 90 |
| 1993 | 126 |
| 1994 | 107 |
| 1995 | 90 |
18 Apr 1996 : Column: 566
Information about the proportion of those released after the expiry of tariff recommended by the sentencing court is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Random Mandatory Drugs Tests (Prisons)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refusals in the pilot programme of random mandatory drugs testing in prison for the male pilot prisons were recorded (a) in February to May 1995 and (b) in June to December 1995; and how many of the class A positives in (a) and (b) also tested positive for cannabis. [25385]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 18 April 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question concerning the number of refusals of random drug tests and the number of prisoners testing positive for both cannabis and class A drugs.
Mr. George Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) remand and (b) convicted but not sentenced (i) men and (ii) women were received into the prison system during 1994 and 1995 with identified mental health problems, broken down by age. [25199]
Miss Widdecombe:
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 18 April 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number and ages of unsentenced men and women received into the prison system during 1994 and 1995 with identified mental health problems.
18 Apr 1996 : Column: 567
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost to public funds of investigating cases of fraud involving medical research studies in the United Kingdom for each of the last 10 years. [24992]
Mr. Maclean:
This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Madden:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue guidance to the police relating to the Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Bill to ensure (a) that women pedestrians are where possible stopped and searched by woman police officers in uniform,. (b) places of religious worship are not classed as non-residential accommodation which may be searched and (c) religious Sikhs are not required to remove their turbans; and if he will make a statement. [25370]
Mr. Howard
[holding answer 16 April 1996]: Guidance on the new police powers contained in the Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Act 1996 was issued to police forces immediately upon the Act's coming into force. Further guidance is being prepared in consultation with the police and will be issued in due course but, as I made clear during the debates on 2 April, it would not be realistic to require women pedestrians to be searched only by women police officers. While sensitivities of sex and religious practice will be taken into account in the exercise of the powers contained in the Act, they do not provide justification for exemption from any of its provisions. The relevant Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 codes of practice will be formally applied as appropriate to the new powers.
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the problem of non-recognition by computers of the year 2000 with regard to his Department's computers and those for which it is responsible. [24406]
Mr. Howard
[holding answer 3 April 1996]: My Department is aware of the problem. An audit of Home Office computer systems is currently being carried out by the Department's information technology service provider--Sema Group--to establish what systems will be affected and what needs to be done to correct any problems revealed by the audit. Concurrently, third party software suppliers are being approached to establish how their products cater for the century change.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total number of people who have been fined the maximum amount of £2,500 for cannibis offences since that penalty was introduced. [25390]
Mr. Maclean:
Information on court proceedings for 1993 and 1994, the latest available, is given in the table. For years prior to 1993, the exact drug, including class type, cannot be identified separately.
18 Apr 1996 : Column: 568
Establishments' returns do not differentiate between refusals of random and other forms of mandatory drug test. Laboratory returns only record the number the multiple positive tests and not the combinations of drugs misused. The information requested in both parts of this Question could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
This information is not available in the form requested. However, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry recently undertook for the Prison Service a study aimed principally at measuring the prevalence of mental disorder amongst the remand population in England and Wales. They considered that 66 per cent of the adult males, 53 per cent of the young men and 77 per cent of the women in a large and broadly representative sample could be diagnosed as suffering from some form of mental disorder, a term which includes in this context harmful or dependent substance misuse.
| Offence description/year | Total fined | Maximum fine given | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (=100 per cent.) | Number | Percentage | ||
| Production of being concerned in the production of the controlled drug cannabis: Section 4(2) [Maximum fine L5 = £5,000] | 1993 | 705 | -- | -- |
| 1994 | 994 | -- | -- | |
| Supplying or offering to supply the controlled drug cannabis: Section 4(3) [Maximum fine L5 = £5,000] | 1993 | 148 | -- | -- |
| 1994 | 136 | -- | -- | |
| Having possession of the controlled drug cannabis: Section 5(2) [Maximum fine L2 = £5,000] | 1993 | 5,879 | 5 | 0 |
| 1994 | 8,691 | 8 | 0 | |
| Having possession of the controlled drug cannabis with intent to supply: Section 5(3) [Maximum fine L2 = £500] | 1993 | 19611 | ||
| 1994 | 201 | 7 | 3 | |
| Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes re cannabis: Section 8 [Maximum fine L5 = £5,000] | 1993 | 53 | -- | -- |
| 1994 | 60 | -- | -- | |
(1) The magistrates' court may fine an offender for any offence which it can deal with, but the amount of the fine is limited according to the offence. There is no limit on the amount of the fine which the Crown Court may impose.
Immigration Appeal Tribunal
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions Home Office Ministers have overturned considered verdicts of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal; and if he will put in the Library the conveniently available details of such occasions. [25498]
Mr. Kirkhope: Home Office Ministers have no powers to overturn determinations of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal. Determinations may, however, be challenged on appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Court of Session in Scotland.
18 Apr 1996 : Column: 569
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Post Office Employees (Dog Attacks)
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many Post Office employees received injuries caused by dog attacks while delivering letters and parcels in 1995; and how many work days were lost as a result. [24599]
Mr. Oppenheim: I understand from the Post Office, that during the 12 months to 31 December 1995, there were 5,891 animal attacks on Royal Mail letter delivery staff, with 4,817 working days lost, and that there were 143 animal attacks on Parcelforce delivery staff, with 63 working days lost. Around 99 per cent. of all animal attacks are by dogs.
Stamp Prices
Mr. Khabra: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what factors underlay the decision by the Government to direct the Post Office to raise the price of stamps. [25326]
Mr. Oppenheim: The Government have issued no such direction to the Post Office.
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