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9 Dec 1996 : Column: 1

Written Answers to Questions

Monday 9 December 1996

HOME DEPARTMENT

Offences (Northern Ireland)

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested since 9 February, and are awaiting trial in Great Britain for offences which can be regarded as related to the situation in Northern Ireland. [6746]

Mr. Howard: Fourteen.

Security Service

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the arrangements for co-ordinating the activities of the Security Service with those of police forces and other law enforcement agencies under section 1(2) of the Security Service Act 1989.[7171]

Mr. Howard: The arrangements, which were agreed between the Director General of the Security Service and the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service, who was designated for this purpose, are set out in the annex to Home Office circular 46/1996 addressed to chief officers of police and others about the Security Service Act 1996. A copy of the circular is being placed in the Library.

Publicity

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what promotional and public information campaigns his Department is (a) currently running and (b) planning to run during the next six months; and for each campaign (i) how much it will cost, (1) in total and (2) to his Department, (ii) what agencies or bodies are undertaking the work and (iii) what is its planned duration. [7416]

Mr. Howard: My Department is currently running a campaign about the illegal carrying and use of knives. An information pack containing posters and background material has been sent to all schools and further education colleges in England and Wales, police crime prevention officers--CPOs--and local newspapers. A pre-recorded radio interview was sent to 110 local radio stations. Head teachers and college principals have been invited to display the posters and to consider using the support material in student project work. CPOs will invite local retailers and others to display the posters, and will work with local media to stimulate further cover.

It is not possible to state an exact duration for the campaign because it does not use booked advertising space. Free site posters are displayed for varying lengths of time, but my Department's experience is that this can in some cases extend to several months. The total cost

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of the campaign is £24,265. My Department funded the £20,289 production costs and the Department for Education and Employment and the Welsh Office spent between them £3,976 on distribution. Euro RSCG WNEK Gosper carried out studio work for the poster and the Central Office of Information produced and distributed the radio tape.

My Department plans to run two campaigns between January and February next year. These are:


A third campaign will run from approximately 24 to 72 hours after the announcement of the date of the next general election, depending on the period of notice given. It is designed to advise the public of absent voters' rights. The budget will depend on media mix and costs of media space at the time, but is forecast to be in the range of £457,000 to £687,000. All costs will fall to the Home Office. Duration is also dependent on the media mix, but will be no longer than three days. Electoral registration officers will carry out supporting activity to inform voters of their rights. The advertising agency is Euro RSCG WNEK Gosper, with media buying handled by the Central Office of Information.

None of the three campaigns uses promotions.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on promotional or public information campaigns in each of the last five years; and how much he estimates will be spent on these campaigns during the (i) current and (ii) next financial years. [7545]

Mr. Howard: My Department's spending on public information campaigns in each of the past five years and planned expenditure for the current year is set out in the table.

Plans for publicity expenditure for 1997-98 have not yet been finalised and it is therefore not possible to provide estimates.

YearAdvertising (£) Other information material and services
1991-92 Total7,275,9403,600,288
1992-93 Total7,344,6355,638,982
1993-94 Total9,090,2225,062,327
1994-95 Total10,912,0003,190,358
1995-96 Total7,609,2273,179,882
1996-97 forecast total5,537,0003,317,000

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Prisons

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the chief executive of the Prison Service to discuss availability of prison places; and if he will make a statement. [7905]

Mr. Howard: I have regular meetings with the Director General of the Prison Service covering a wide range of issues. The availability of prison places is one of those issues.

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Electronic Tagging

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of (a) 10-year-olds, (b) 11-year-olds, (c) 12-year-olds, (d) 13-year-olds, (e) 14-year-olds, (f) 15-year-olds and (g) 16-year-olds who were found guilty of offences (i) in each of the last 12 months and (ii) in total which would have made them eligible for electronic tagging under the new proposals; and if he will make a statement. [7503]

Mr. Sackville: Information on 10 to 16-year-olds found guilty of all offences in 1995 is given in the table. Information for 1996 will be available in the autumn of 1997.

It is proposed that a curfew order, with electronic monitoring, will be available to the courts for use with juvenile offenders under the age of 16 convicted of any offence subject to the restrictions set out in section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. It will be for courts to decide whether to apply such an order in any particular case. It will be available initially on a pilot basis.

9 Dec 1996 : Column: 3

Persons aged 10 to 16 convicted at all courts by age and month, 1995 England and Wales, all types of offence

Age10111213141516All aged 10 to 16
January16371002916661,0931,4643,667
February433972936311,0781,4643,600
March9281182797071,1841,6013,926
April131782004918751,2802,956
May440922245861,0101,4143,370
June4351072586111,0731,4313,519
July426752355641,0151,4883,407
August227812315661,0761,4903,473
September329852455209091,3713,162
October334752576091,0851,5193,582
November719992335901,1541,5693,671
December823821644438241,2442,788
Total653621,0892,9106,98412,37617,33541,121

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Mr. Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the results of pilot schemes on the electronic tagging of adults; and if he will include a statistical breakdown of the results. [7504]

Mr. Sackville: The report of the Home Office's evaluation of the first year of trials of electronic monitoring is due to be published later this month. It will include the relevant statistics.

Chahal Case

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if compensation is to be paid to those released from prison arising form the Chahal case. [8120]

Mr. Howard: No.

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Chahal [8121]

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Mr. Howard: I have reviewed the cases affected by the judgment. I am considering what changes we might make to our appeals system to comply with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.

Caddy Inquiry

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the names of the 14 cases, representatives of which have received notification that they are being reviewed as part of Professor Caddy's inquiry; and in which cases Mr. lan Feraday was a Crown witness. [7229]

Mr. Howard [holding answer 4 December 1996]: The representatives of the following individuals were advised that their cases would be examined by Professor Caddy as part of his inquiry.


9 Dec 1996 : Column: 5

My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General will write to the hon. Member in relation to those cases in which Mr. Alan Feraday was a Crown witness.

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