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Children (Sexual Exploitation)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he plans to take in response to resolution 1099 (1996) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concerning the sexual exploitation of children; and if he will make a statement. [2746]

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Mr. Maclean: The Government are studying the terms of the recommendation, which appears broadly in line with the agenda for action adopted by the world congress against the commercial sexual exploitation of children, held in Stockholm last August. The United Kingdom played a leading role at the congress, and in encouraging other states to adopt the agenda and to bring their law and procedures into line with its requirements.

Stringent laws already exist in this country in regard both to the sexual abuse of children and to child pornography. Legislation planned for this Session of Parliament will extend that protection further by giving Untied Kingdom courts jurisdiction over acts of child sex abuse committed abroad by British nationals or residents, and by requiring paedophiles and other serious sex offenders to register changes of name and address with the police.

Death Penalty

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review the Government's policy towards the sixth protocol to the European convention on human rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty; and if he will make a statement. [2747]

Mr. Maclean: The Government have no plans to review its policy towards the sixth protocol to the European convention on human rights. The Government believe that the question of the reintroduction of capital punishment for murder or its abolition for those offences for which it is still available are matters for Parliament to decide.

Television Licences

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people have been arrested for non-payment of television licence fines in each of the last five years; [2801]

(2) how many single mothers in receipt of income support have been arrested for non-payment of television licence fines in each of the last five years. [2803]

Mr. Maclean: The information is not available centrally.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce provisions to allow single mothers in receipt of income support to have free television licences. [2802]

Mr. Sproat: I have been asked to reply.

No.

Asylum and Immigration Act 1996

Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now remove Pakistan from the list of designated countries under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1966; and if he will make a statement. [3042]

Mr. Kirkhope: We have no plans at present to remove Pakistan from the list.

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Mr. Kenneth Noye

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since his conviction for manslaughter in 1986 Mr. Kenneth Noye has been used by the Metropolitan police as an informer. [3276]

Mr. Maclean: This is an operational matter which is the responsibility of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

Burglary and Vehicle Thefts

Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of recorded offences of (a) burglary in a dwelling, (b) burglary elsewhere, (c) theft of a vehicle or taking and driving away and (d) theft from a vehicle in each police force area of England and Wales in the year to June 1996. [2235]

Mr. Maclean: The information requested is given in the following table.

Notifiable offences recorded by the police by police force area 12 months to June 1996

Police force area	Burglary in a dwelling	Burglary other than a dwelling	Theft of a vehicle(7)	Theft from a vehicle
Avon and Somerset	17,881	16,167	16,548	31,688
Bedfordshire	5,358	5,363	6,141	10,473
Cambridgeshire	6,443	8,042	7,638	14,119
Cheshire	7,808	8,698	6,488	10,006
Cleveland	12,604	10,721	8,795	11,847
Cumbria	4,101	4,816	2,309	6,792
Derbyshire	8,117	11,349	9,451	14,248
Devon and Cornwall	12,630	13,463	6,035	19,358
Dorset	6,023	5,588	3,607	9,527
Durham	6,078	7,277	6,189	6,914
Essex	7,992	11,316	9,071	16,802
Gloucestershire	6,865	6,074	4,145	12,154
Greater Manchester	50,936	35,853	46,742	48,638
Hampshire	11,089	13,601	8,749	26,699
Hertfordshire	4,519	6,446	5,839	12,886
Humberside	16,594	22,104	11,787	18,651
Kent	15,332	18,770	16,278	24,443
Lancashire	17,647	12,977	9,109	22,275
Leicestershire	13,597	12,143	9,979	16,358
Lincolnshire	5,210	6,906	3,377	5,934
City of London	31	556	114	513
Merseyside	20,133	12,158	19,009	18,423
Metropolitan Police	100,497	65,069	57,871	110,810
Norfolk	5,013	7,416	3,464	8,194
Northamptonshire	7,126	6,803	6,495	9,122
Northumbria	24,250	24,423	19,977	21,927
North Yorkshire	7,146	8,831	5,346	9,587
Nottinghamshire	18,147	17,367	15,161	18,891
South Yorkshire	23,559	22,483	23,016	24,052
Staffordshire	12,380	12,246	9,058	13,941
Suffolk	2,790	4,021	2,140	5,113
Surrey	3,922	4,873	2,787	8,154
Sussex	11,582	10,626	7,069	19,417
Thames Valley	19,301	18,708	18,088	38,274
Warwickshire	3,748	5,210	4,207	7,283
West Mercia	6,996	7,719	7,143	15,464
West Midlands	47,621	45,147	48,140	52,862
West Yorkshire	54,257	35,007	33,846	42,419
Wiltshire	3,586	3,933	1,907	5,995
Dyfed-Powys	1,296	2,086	999	2,043
Gwent	3,311	4,202	3,172	5,823
North Wales	3,429	5,902	2,267	7,147
South Wales	13,974	20,457	22,104	24,340
England and Wales	630,919	582,917	511,657	809,606

(7)Includes aggravated vehicle taking and unauthorised taking of a vehicle.

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Immigration

Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many applications to enter the United Kingdom for temporary purposes have been made in each year since 1994; how many have been refused; and if he will list the refusal rate for each year as a percentage of the whole; [3336]

(2) if he will list the number of refusals for applications to enter the United Kingdom for temporary purposes according to geographical region or country in each year since 1992; and if he will list the refusal rate for each year and geographical region as a percentage of the whole; [3337]

(3) if he will list the number of known applications and refusals for entry clearance to the United Kingdom in 1995; and if he will make a statement. [3334]

Mr. Kirkhope: Information on applications to enter the United Kingdom, refusals and the refusal rate, 1994-95, is contained in table 1.

Information on refusals to enter the United Kingdom for temporary purposes by geographical region, 1992 to 1995, is contained in table 2.

Table 1: Entry clearance applications, 1994-95United Kingdom Number of persons

		Entry clearance applications
	Newly received	Total granted(8)	Refused initially(9)	Initial refusal rate percentage(10)
Temporary purposes
1994	1,086,940	980,600	64,420	6
1995	1,168,240	1,044,590	72,640	7
Settlement
1994	47,800	35,250	9,690	22
1995	44,600	33,830	10,890	24

(8)Granted initially or on appeal.

(9)Some may have been granted subsequently on appeal.

(10)Calculated as the number of initial refusals as a proportion of total decisions.

Table 2: Decisions on entry clearance applications worldwide, by geographical region, 1992-95United KingdomNumber of persons

		Entry clearance applications for temporary purposes(11)
Geographical region where application made(12)		Granted(13)					Refused initially(14)					Initial refusal rate percentage(15)
	1992	1993	1994	1995	1992	1993	1994	1995	1992	1993	1994	1995
Europe	214,040	236,750	281,820	309,900	9,820	10,470	10,870	13,160	4	4	4	4
Europe Economic Area	74,500	77,160	82,600	80,640	2,380	3,040	2,850	2,390	3	4	3	3
Remainder of Europe	139,540	159,580	199,220	229,260	7,440	7,430	8,020	10,770	5	4	4	4
Americas	62,980	67,220	76,960	76,850	1,180	1,130	1,380	1,090	2	2	2	1
Africa	106,150	106,690	114,840	117,380	24,760	20,450	20,450	20,980	19	16	15	15
Indian sub-continent	135,890	136,020	152,070	160,500	21,420	18,760	23,510	27,130	14	12	14	4
Middle East	108,630	126,190	134,100	136,100	5,230	4,800	4,480	6,330	5	4	3	4
Remainder of Asia	160,360	174,920	200,520	214,220	5,240	4,450	3,680	3,930	3	2	2	2
Asia	406,370	437,130	486,700	510,820	31,990	28,010	31,670	37,390	7	6	6	7
Oceania	12,390	13,770	20,040	29,400	60	40	50	30	(16)--	(16)--	(16)--	(16)--
Other	1,600	270	240	250	20	(16)--	(16)--	--	1	1	(16)--	--
All countries	803,520	861,810	980,600	1,044,590	67,830	60,100	64,420	72,640	8	7	6	7

(11) Nationals of certain counties currently need a visa to enter the United Kingdom regardless of the purpose of their journey.

(12) Some applications, particularly many of those in EEA countries, will have been made by nationals of other countries.

(13) Granted initially or on appeal.

(14) Some may have been granted subsequently on appeal.

(15) Calculated as the number of initial refusals as a proportion of total decisions.

(16) Five or fewer (less than 0.5 per cent.).

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Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who had obtained entry clearance as visitors prior to travelling to the United Kingdom were refused entry on arrival in 1995. [3335]

Mr. Kirkhope: The information available relates to the total number of persons with an entry clearance or work permit who were refused leave to enter at ports in the United Kingdom. There were 1,260 such persons in 1995.

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