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Detention at Her Majesty's Pleasure

Mr. Booth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedural changes will be made following the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of 21 February in Singh and Hussain concerning the release of prisoners sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure. [39718]

Mr. Howard: Prisoners detained during Her Majesty's pleasure who have served a period adequate to satisfy the requirements of retribution and deterrence, have their cases reviewed periodically by the Parole Board. At present, responsibility for their release rests with the Secretary of State. This responsibility cannot be conferred on the Parole Board or any other body without primary legislation.

As an interim measure, I have decided to change the administrative arrangements for the review and release of such prisoners. These administrative arrangements will apply to all such prisoners whose next Parole Board review begins on or after 1 August 1996. The changes will mean that these prisoners may have legal representation and an oral hearing before the Parole Board. They will also then be able to examine and cross examine witnesses. They will normally receive full disclosure of all material relevant to the question of whether they should be released.

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If, at that review, the Parole Board favours the release of a prisoner, I will normally accept such a recommendation. My consideration of all such cases remains subject to consultation with the judiciary, as required by section 35(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.

The Singh and Hussain judgments affect only the process by which the decision is made on whether to release prisoners sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure. They do not relate to the period of detention which such prisoners must serve to satisfy the requirements of retribution and deterrence, or Parole Board reviews which take place before the end of that period.

There will be no change to the dates set for Parole Board reviews of prisoners who have served that period, other than in the very small number of cases where I rejected the board's recommendation for release at the last review. Such cases will, exceptionally, be referred back to the Parole Board for early consideration under the new arrangements.

Hong Kong

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Governor of Hong Kong has submitted a further report on the discharge of his functions under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990. [39720]

Mr. Kirkhope: The Governor of Hong Kong submitted his fifth report to my right hon. and learned Friend on 3 July. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Extra-territorial Jurisdiction

Mr. Alison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the outcome of the review of policy on extra-territorial jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement. [39721]

Mr. Howard: I am today publishing the report of the review which I set up with the agreement of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. A copy has been placed in the Library. The review advised against any general extension of extra-territorial jurisdiction because of the implications which so substantial an extension of jurisdiction would have for the procedures and rules of evidence of the United Kingdom courts. It recommended, however, in favour of the adoption of a set of policy guidelines, against which proposals for taking extra-territorial jurisdiction over individual offences committed abroad by British citizens and residents should be judged. These are:

where the offence is serious (this might be defined, in respect of existing offences, by reference to the length of sentence currently available);
where, by virtue of the nature of the offence, the witnesses and evidence necessary for the prosecution are likely to be available in the United Kingdom territory, even though the offence was committed outside the jurisdiction;
where there is international consensus that certain conduct is reprehensible and that concerted action is needed involving the taking of extra-territorial jurisdiction;

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where the vulnerability of the victim makes it particularly important to be able to tackle instances of the offence;
where it appears to be in the interest of the standing and reputation of the United Kingdom in the international community;
where there is a danger that offences would otherwise not be justifiable.

Meeting any of the guidelines would not mean automatically that jurisdiction would be taken, but it would be established a prima facie case for considering the issue further.

The review also recommended in favour of the assumption of jurisdiction over acts of conspiracy and incitement committed in this country in respect of offences abroad. I and my colleagues have accepted both of these recommendations.

The review further advised that sexual offences committed against children abroad satisfied a number of the criteria in the guidelines and, in the light of that, we have decided that we should take extra-territorial jurisdiction over such offences.

Legislation to give effect to the proposals for conspiracy and incitement and child sex tourism will be brought forward at the earliest possible opportunity.

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Metropolitan Police (Information Technology)

Mr. Merchant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recent report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary on information technology provision in the Metropolitan police. [39719]

Mr. Maclean: Yes. I have today placed in the Library a note of the recommendations from the report, together with the commissioner's response and the police authority responses, which take into account the advice my right hon. and learned Friend and I have received from the Metropolitan Police Committee.

Firearms Amnesty

Mr. Ashby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many weapons were surrendered to police during the national firearms amnesty which ran from 3 to 30 June; and if he will make a statement. [39722]

Mr. Howard: During the course of the recent amnesty, nearly 23,000 firearms, 700,000 rounds of ammunition and 3,000 other weapons were surrendered to police forces in Great Britain, I am very pleased with the response. Every one of the thousands of weapons which have been handed in no longer poses a threat to the community. The following table gives a detailed summary of the types of firearm surrendered to each force:

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Summary of firearms and other weapons and ammunition surrendered to the police aduring the firearms amnesty June 1996 by police force areaNumber of items surrenderedEngland and Wales

	Total firearms
Police force area	Rifles	Smooth-bore guns	Hand guns	Other firearms	All firearms	Total other weapons	Total rounds of ammunition
Avon and Somerset	30	354	207	287	878	41	16,410
Bedfordshire	12	86	21	54	173	15	5,200
Cambridgeshire	21	149	47	91	308	7	8,066
Cheshire	37	137	69	133	376	19	11,969
Cleveland	5	53	27	113	198	0	4,043
Cumbria	29	144	80	112	365	13	7,243
Derbyshire	35	87	81	134	337	20	10,730
Devon and Cornwall	125	450	239	296	1,110	71	10,733
Dorset	53	193	110	165	521	55	24,321
Durham	18	108	61	118	305	2	4,774
Essex	68	361	123	241	793	223	15,994
Gloucestershire	30	110	23	147	310	4	5,200
Greater Manchester	21	86	97	216	420	5	17,981
Hampshire	71	293	0	352	716	227	27,500
Hertfordshire	13	57	37	54	161	4	5,366
Humberside	20	109	81	49	259	198	11,021
Kent	50	215	133	190	588	63	14,909
Lancashire	26	185	88	205	504	36	37,938
Leicestershire	26	149	67	162	404	43	11,490
Lincolnshire	44	266	57	99	466	6	13,909
London, City of	0	1	0	5	6	0	1,569
Merseyside	16	39	70	120	245	36	5,948
Metropolitan Police	70	206	283	497	1,056	11	34,895
Norfolk	20	289	79	217	605	5	15,155
Northamptonshire	16	86	58	62	222	5	2,411
Northumbria	44	101	109	174	428	5	16,499
North Yorkshire	26	130	68	87	311	17	9,259
Nottinghamshire	11	200	84	217	512	18	10,338
South Yorkshire	17	81	139	115	352	180	9,860
Staffordshire	24	155	71	173	423	59	20,635
Suffolk	57	324	107	162	650	79	16,468
Surrey	32	111	94	131	368	91	12,960
Sussex	73	282	208	310	873	116	35,002
Thames Valley	102	316	211	235	864	53	20,917
Warwickshire	15	80	48	69	212	5	9.666
West Mercia	29	244	85	168	526	24	14,047
West Midlands	39	129	126	303	597	55	19,306
West Yorkshire	24	97	83	145	349	519	6,938
Wiltshire	55	221	61	108	445	17	15,180
Total England	1,404	6,684	3,632	6,516	18,236	2,347	541,850
Dyfed Powys	43	292	117	41	493	4	25,047
Gwent	17	40	22	31	110	1	1,366
North Wales	21	148	65	98	332	0	15,464
South Wales	20	141	74	105	340	44	7,309
Total Wales	101	621	278	275	1,275	49	49,186
Total England and Wales	1,505	7,305	3,910	6,791	19,511	2,396	591,036
Central Scotland	24	83	30	78	215	33	3,035
Dumfries and Galloway	40	144	26	75	285	32	4,983
Fife	20	126	30	131	307	98	12,900
Grampian	40	298	76	133	547	116	13,120
Lothian and Borders	50	141	64	242	497	29	14,455
Northern	70	172	51	75	368	26	18,504
Strathclyde	78	284	195	379	936	45	30,805
Tayside	32	96	60	85	273	87	6,359
Total Scotland	354	1,344	532	1,198	3,428	466	104,161
Total Great Britain	1,859	8,649	4,442	7,989	22,939	2,862	695,197

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23 Jul 1996 : Column: 173

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