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Immigration Appeals

Mr. Thomason: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy in relation to recommendations made by adjudicators in dismissed or withdrawn immigration appeals. [39723]

Mr. Howard: There is no statutory power enabling an adjudicator to make a recommendation in an appeal which is dismissed or withdrawn, and I am not bound to accept such recommendations.

It has hitherto been the practice to comply with adjudicators' recommendations, unless to do so would be unreasonable or inconsistent or would undermine general policy.

I have reviewed this policy in the light of evidence that some applicants are lodging appeals which cannot succeed on their merits because of statutory limitations, but in which the appeal hearing is being used as a means of persuading an adjudicator to make a recommendation. Henceforth, I will act on adjudicators' recommendations in dismissed or withdrawn appeals only where the written determination discloses clear exceptional compassionate circumstances which have not been previously considered and which would merit the exercise of my discretion outside the immigration rules.

Doli Incapax

Ms Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received over the use of doli incapax as a defence for juveniles between the age of 10 and 14 years; and if he will make a statement. [38101]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 22 July 1996]: Since 16 March 1995, when the House of Lords re-instated the common law presumption that a child between the ages of 10 and 14 is doli incapax, eight representations have

23 Jul 1996 : Column: 174

been received: two letters from groups with an interest in criminal justice issues, three letters from individuals, and three letters from hon. Members on behalf of their constituents.

Metropolitan Police (Custody)

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of people held, and for what period, in Metropolitan police stations in 1995-96; and if he will make a statement. [38106]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 22 July 1996]: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that a total of 392,402 persons were held in custody in Metropolitan police stations between April 1995 and March 1996. The period of time for which each detainee was held is not recorded centrally.

Stop and Search

Mr. Bernie Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were stopped and searched by the police in each district of the Metropolitan police, for each quarter, for 1994-95 and 1995-96; and if he will provide an ethnic breakdown of those stopped and searched. [38866]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 22 July 1996]: I will write to the hon. Member.

Mr. Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were stopped and searched by the police in each police authority for each quarter, in 1994-95 and 1995-96; and if he will provide an ethnic breakdown of those stopped and searched. [38865]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 22 July 1996]: The following tables give information on searches of persons or vehicles under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and other legislation. Statistics for the

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first quarter of 1996 are not yet available. For the only information which is available on the ethnic breakdown of those stopped and searched in 1994-95, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Mr. Devlin) on 29 March at columns 792-93.

Searches of persons or vehicles under pace and other legislation(8) for financial year 1994-95

	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1
Police force area	1994	1994	1994	1995	Total
Avon and Somerset	1,324	1,357	1,637	1,746	6,064
Bedfordshire	474	435	679	415	2,003
Cambridgeshire	897	580	575	589	2,641
Cheshire	231	363	196	293	1,083
Cleveland	695	639	1,290	2,879	5,503
Cumbria	1,708	1,937	2,355	2,340	8,340
Derbyshire	1,615	1,730	2,153	2,539	8,037
Devon and Cornwall	374	396	354	247	1,371
Dorset	489	760	614	790	2,653
Durham	879	734	780	1,082	3,475
Essex	1,283	1,196	1,279	1,156	4,914
Gloucestershire	807	929	1,039	1,419	4,194
Greater Manchester	11,191	9,996	10,232	13,103	44,522
Hampshire	614	617	890	1,059	3,180
Hertfordshire	1,411	1,218	1,253	1,259	5,141
Humberside	440	358	596	788	2,182
Kent	1,143	710	828	890	3,571
Lancashire	2,358	2,095	2,306	2,561	9,320
Leicestershire	3,768	4,739	4,971	4,460	17,938
Lincolnshire	531	498	481	590	2,100
London, City of	746	775	977	1,096	3,594
Merseyside	4,029	3,544	3,750	3,522	14,845
Metropolitan Police	72,378	75,418	77,634	84,199	309,629
Norfolk	1,689	1,893	2,218	2,056	7,856
Northamptonshire	846	929	1,349	1,116	4,240
Northumbria	3,223	3,740	5,504	8,677	21,144
North Yorkshire	745	582	736	688	2,751
Nottinghamshire	519	594	591	747	2,451
South Yorkshire	1,845	1,580	2,035	1,990	7,450
Staffordshire	504	573	635	790	2,502
Suffolk	908	1,063	893	929	3,793
Surrey	4,066	3,869	4,068	3,405	15,408
Sussex	1,342	1,589	1,685	1,544	6,160
Thames Valley	1,578	1,541	1,763	2,656	7,538
Warwickshire	1,401	1,293	1,360	1,352	5,406
West Mercia	2,183	2,107	2,690	2,891	9,871
West Midlands	1,668	1,943	2,118	1,918	7,647
West Yorkshire	1,015	1,011	1,306	1,371	4,703
Wiltshire	1,215	593	489	384	2,681
Dyfed-Powys	2,761	3,846	3,031	2,959	12,597
Gwent	759	803	1,065	1,144	3,771
North Wales	3,074	3,435	3,236	2,762	12,507
South Wales	1,690	1,492	1,430	1,493	6,105
All forces	142,416	145,500	155,071	169,894	612,881

(8) But not searches of persons or vehicles under S60 or S81 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

Searches of persons or vehicles under pace and other legislation(9) for financial year 1995-96 (Available quarters)

Police Force Area	Quarter 2 1995	Quarter 3 1995	Quarter 4 1995	Total
Avon	1,908	1,829	2,092	5,829
Bedfordshire	484	484	702	1,670
Cambridgeshire	824	729	630	2,183
Cheshire	448	313	437	1,198
Cleveland	3,357	2,969	3,334	9,660
Cumbria	2,422	2,231	2,618	7,271
Derbyshire	3,466	3,135	3,506	10,107
Devon and Cornwall	567	457	907	1,931
Dorest	673	639	666	1,978
Durham	1,059	706	836	2,601
Essex	1,517	1,343	1,722	4,582
Gloucestershire	1,309	1,235	1,328	3,872
Greater Manchester	12,014	11,949	12,168	36,131
Hampshire	1,987	1,694	2,314	5,995
Hertfordshire	1,355	1,286	1,466	4,107
Humberside	593	496	582	1,671
Kent	793	675	1,126	2,594
Lancashire	3,005	2,807	3,050	8,862
Leicestershire	5,005	3,693	4,418	13,166
Lincolnshire	626	950	1,506	3,082
London, City of	1,201	1,298	1,030	3,529
Merseyside	4,411	4,729	5,791	14,931
Metropolitan Police	83,890	75,075	76,208	235,173
Norfolk	1,855	1,522	2,191	5,568
Northamptonshire	1,234	1,383	1,455	4,072
Northumbria	7,856	7,965	7,787	23,608
North Yorkshire	802	909	1,119	2,830
Nottinghamshire	843	803	795	2,441
South Yorkshire	1,738	1,363	1,733	4,834
Staffordshire	1,047	1,224	1,539	3,810
Suffolk	904	1,222	1,026	3,052
Surrey	4,233	3,551	3,501	11,285
Sussex	1,721	1,761	2,070	5,552
Thames Valley	2,992	2,690	2,756	8,438
Warwickshire	1,336	1,904	2,050	5,290
West Mercia	2,685	2,977	3,471	9,133
West Midlands	3,505	3,846	4,478	11,829
West Yorkshire	1,511	1,419	2,515	5,445
Wiltshire	577	608	629	1,814
Dyfed-Powys	3,806	5,571	3,420	12,797
Gwent	1,255	1,151	1,367	3,773
North Wales	2,907	2,925	2,823	8,655
South Wales	1,241	1,167	1,570	3,978
All forces	177,012	166,583	176,732	520,327

(9) But not searches of person or vehicles under S60 or S81 of the criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

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Operation Eagle Eye

Mr. Bernie Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of Operation Eagle Eye. [38867]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 22 July 1996]: I understand from the commissioner that during 1995-96, £4.8 million was spent on vehicles, technology and training in support of Operation Eagle Eye which is one of the agreed priorities for the Metropolitan police.

Actual personnel costs for 1995-96 are not available but the commissioner estimates that personnel costs for Operation Eagle Eye for 1996-97 will be £17.1 million.

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