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Recidivision

Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of offenders are (a) convicted of further offences during the two-year period following the completion of a probation order and (b) convicted of further offences which were committed during the two-year period following the completion of a probation order; [27573]

(2) what percentage of offenders are (a) convicted of further offences during the two-year period following the completion of a community service order and (b) convicted of further offences which were committed during the two-year period following the completion of a community service order. [27608]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 7 May 1996]: The most recent available information relates to samples of offenders who commenced orders in 1987. The percentage of offenders who were convicted of a further offence during the two-year period following the completion of a probation order was 44 per cent. and the corresponding percentage for community service was 47 per cent. These figures were first published in table 4.3 of the Home Office publication "Probation Statistics, England and Wales, 1994".

Completion of an order does not necessarily imply completion without reoffending and a proportion of those completing orders will be reconvicted on the date of termination. If the termination date is included in the two-year follow-up period, the reconviction rates for probation and community service are then 49 and 52 per cent. respectively.

Reconviction rates that are usually quoted relate to reconviction during the two-year period following commencement of orders. The most recent information relates to samples of offenders commencing orders in 1992. The percentage of offenders reconvicted within two years of commencement of a probation order was 58 per cent. and the corresponding percentage for community service was 55 per cent.

There is no information available centrally on the percentages convicted of further offences which were committed during the two-year period following the completion of orders.

Ministry of Defence Police Officers

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the Home Office constabularies

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in England and Wales whose control rooms can broadcast to and receive calls from the personal radios of Ministry of Defence police officers. [27807]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 7 May 1996]: Where necessary, local arrangements exist to enable Ministry of Defence police officers to be in two-way radio contact with Home Office constabularies. I am aware that the following forces in England and Wales have entered into such local arrangements:

Avon and Somerset
Cheshire
Devon and Cornwall
Dorset
Essex
Gloucestershire
Gwent
Hampshire
Kent
Lancashire
Merseyside
Metropolitan
North Wales
North Yorkshire
South Wales
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Thames Valley
Wiltshire

Kashmir

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans Her Majesty's Government have to encourage the Government of India to enter into negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations, to secure a settlement of the Kashmir dispute based on self-determination for the people of Kashmir. [28450]

Mr. Hanley: I have been asked to reply.

We continue to believe that the best way forward on Kashmir should involve simultaneous progress on dialogue between India and Pakistan, as provided for under the 1972 Simla agreement; improvement in human rights in Kashmir and a genuine political process there; and a clear cessation of external support for violence in Kashmir.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

Historic Buildings (Disrepair)

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to her answer of 29 April, Official Report, column 371, if she will list (a) the 31 historic buildings known to be in disrepair and at risk and (b) the 17 for which Departments have disposal proposals, indicating for each the Department involved. [27874]

Mr. Sproat: Details of the historic buildings on the Government estate which are known to be in disrepair and at risk are given in annexe 3 to the conservation unit's

8 May 1996 : Column: 170

annual conservation report on the Government's historic estate 1994-95, published in March; copies are available in the Library. Some entries on this list cover more than one building.

Most of these buildings at risk are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, who has informed my Department's conservation unit of disposal plans for at least 17 of them. Information about these and other historic buildings on the defence estate proposed for disposal are contained in the Defence Estate Organisation's annual report for 1994-95, "Defending our Heritage", copies of which are available in the Library.

National Lottery Funding

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much national lottery funding has been allocated to the South Bank Centre and its environs by each of the funds. [27427]

Mr. Sproat: There have been three awards, to date, allocated to the South Bank and its environs. The information is as follows:

Body	Announced	Recipient	Amount £
Arts	30 March 1995	South Bank Centre	980,000
Arts	21 September 1995	British Film Institute	250,000
Arts	16 April 1996	Royal National Theatre	31,590,000
Total			32,820,000

Broadcasting Complaints Commission

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans she has to amend the Broadcasting Act 1990 to set a time limit within which the Broadcasting Complaints Commission is required to answer complaints; and if she will make a statement.[27937]

Mr. Sproat: The Government have no plans to amend the Broadcasting Act in this way. Although the commission strives to process complaints speedily, some cases, whether they concern allegations of unfairness or infringement of privacy or both, may deal with particularly complex issues and involve delays beyond the commission's control, and it is right that the commission should consider carefully all elements of such cases before making its adjudication.

Museums and Galleries (Attendances)

Mr. Faulds: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will publish the attendance figures for the financial year ended 31 March reported by the national museums and galleries for which she is responsible, broken down into the individual institutions, but including their outstations, with figures in each case of the percentage increase or decrease on the attendance figures for the preceding year. [25517]

Mr. Sproat [holding answer 22 April 1996]: The British Museum, national gallery, national portrait gallery, Wallace collection, Tate gallery, though it charges for admission to St. Ives, national museums, and Galleries on

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Merseyside, though it charges for admission to two of its seven sites, and Victoria and Albert Museum do not charge for admissions, and therefore the number of visits is only an estimate, or counted by other means.

	Number of visits in 1994-95 (million)	Forecast number of visits in 1995-96 (million)	Provisional percentage increase/decrease over the previous year
British Museum	6.24	6.14	-1.6
Imperial War Museum	1.27	1.31	+3.1
National Gallery	4.36	4.46	+2.3
National Maritime Museum	0.62	0.58	-6.5
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside	1.34	1.23	-8.2
National Portrait Gallery	0.93	0.82	-11.8
Natural History Museum	1.64	1.46	-11.0
National Museum of Science and Industry	2.51	2.70	+7.6
Tate Gallery	2.75	2.86	+4.0
Victoria and Albert Museum	1.57	1.49	-5.1
Wallace Collection	0.15	0.16	+6.7
Total	23.38	23.21	-0.73

It is not possible to identify separately the number of visits to the royal armouries in the Tower of London. However, a new royal armouries artillery museum opened in 1995--from April to October only--at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth, to which there were an estimated 23,000 visits. Additionally, a new royal armouries museum was opened in Leeds on 30 March 1996 and data on the number of visits to this site will be available next year.

Business Subsidies

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list the grants and loans provided by her Department to businesses, together with the criteria they have to meet in order to obtain the subsidy. [28191]

Mr. Sproat [holding answer 7 May 1996]: My Department has not provided any businesses with grants or loans.

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