21 Jan 1997 : Column: 511
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 21 January 1997
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Land Registration Act 1925
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the report of the joint working party on the possible reform of the Land Registration Act 1925 will be finalised; and when it will be published. [12026]
Mr. Streeter: The joint working party hopes to complete its report in the early part of 1998 and it will be published shortly thereafter.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Child Sex Offenders
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his best estimate of the number of previously convicted child sex offenders who will not be required to register under the terms of the Sex Offenders Bill. [10755]
Mr. Maclean: This is a highly complex matter. No precise estimate is available of the number requested. Officials are preparing a paper containing estimates of various categories of sex offender which I will send to the hon. Member. Copies of the paper will be placed in the Library.
Domestic Burglaries
Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of domestic burglaries in the London borough of Barnet during each of the last five years and the trend during 1996-97. [10777]
Mr. Maclean: The available information has been provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. No estimates for the trend for 1996-97 are available. However, the latest published recorded crime statistics relate to 12 months to June 1996 and the number of recorded domestic burglaries in Barnet for this period is 3,438. The available information for the last five calendar years is contained in the table; during this period there has been an 18 per cent. fall in the number of domestic burglaries in Barnet.
Offences of domestic burglaries recorded in the London borough of Barnet, 1991-95:
1991: 4,209
1992: 4,425
1993: 3,892
1994: 2,532
1995: 3,450
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 512
Surveillance Operations
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times per year he estimates that chief constables will exercise the powers granted to them in part III of the Police Bill; and if he will make a statement. [11236]
Mr. Maclean: Figures are not held centrally on the number of authorisations. However, an exercise undertaken to inform debate on the Police Bill confirmed that, in 1995, there were approximately 2,100 chief officer authorisations by police and customs of intrusive surveillance operations in the United Kingdom.
Lethal Toxicity Tests
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which lethal toxicity tests other than the LD50 are included in the category, acute and sub-acute quantitative whole body lethal toxicity tests, in the 1990 to 1994 statistics on scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain. [11170]
Mr. Sackville: Any tests requiring a quantitative estimate of the lethal dose were included: LD50/LC50 tests, LD10/LC10 tests, fixed dose procedure tests and any other test methods--mainly sub-acute, repeat dose tests--considered to fall within the following definitions:
- (a) dose ranging or limit setting lethal toxicity tests (including indicator tests);
(b) lethal toxicity tests (including tests in which a statistically valid quantitative result was required); and
(c) non-lethal clinical sign toxicity tests.
Criminal Conviction Certificates
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to refund the cost of obtaining criminal conviction certificates to individuals who are in receipt of a jobseekers's allowance; and what is the cost of obtaining such a certificate. [11061]
Mr. Maclean: We have no such plans. We envisage that the cost of obtaining a criminal conviction certificate will be in the region of £5 to £6.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal conviction certificates he estimates will be issued annually if the Police Bill is enacted. [11059]
Mr. Maclean: Once the new system for criminal record checks is fully functioning, we estimate that up to 5 million criminal conviction certificates will be issued each year.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement concerning the production of criminal conviction certificates by motorists, when they renew their motor insurance, in order to demonstrate to insurers that they have not been convicted of offences which could be associated with road rage. [11060]
Mr. Maclean: Criminal conviction certificates will be available to individuals. It will be for them to decide whether to show a certificate to anyone who may request it.
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Damages and Ex Gratia Payments
Mr. William Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the total sum paid out in damages and ex gratia payments by each police force in England for each of the last five years arising from litigation initiated against the police force and the legal costs incurred in respect of such claims. [11079]
Mr. Maclean: This information is not held centrally.
Office of the Data Protection Registrar
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated cost to public funds for each of the next three financial years of (a) the Office of the Data Protection Registrar and (b) the Police Information Technology Organisation. [11237]
Mr. Sackville: The gross estimates are: (a) Office of the Data Protection Registrar:
1997-98: £4 million
1998-99: £4 million
1999-2000: £4 million
1997-98: £51 million
1998-99: £38 million
1999-2000: £43 million
Police Bill
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the consistency of the provisions of the Police Bill, with United Kingdom obligations under the European convention on human rights; and if he will make a statement. [11235]
Mr. Maclean: I have received representations from hon. Members of both Houses as well as members of the public and the legal profession. I believe that the provisions of the Police Bill are fully consistent with our obligations as signatories to the convention.
Cheltenham Festival
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received in respect of the inquiry established by the racing authorities into events at the Cheltenham festival in 1996 referred to in his answer of 26 March 1996, Official Report, column 495; and if he will make a statement. [11080]
Child Care Facilities
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Ministers are entitled to use child care facilities supported by his Department. [11592]
Mr. Howard: Ministers of the Crown are able to make use of the child care facilities provided by their Department on the same basis as civil servants working for the Department.
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 514
Taylor Inquiry
Mr. Loyden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will place in the Library a list of those people whose statements were considered by the Taylor inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster but who were unable to be called to give verbal evidence; [11429]
- (2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the list of the people who gave evidence to the Taylor inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster. [11322]
Mr. Maclean: Information about the persons and organisations who gave or submitted evidence to the inquiry is contained in the appendices to the interim report, Cm 765, and the final report, Cm 962, of the inquiry by Lord Justice Taylor, copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Loyden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the findings of the Taylor inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster. [11321]
Mr. Maclean: The final report of the inquiry by Lord Justice Taylor, Cm 962, was presented to Parliament in January 1990 and is available in the Library.
Fire Authorities
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers he has to, and in what circumstances he can, hold a public inquiry into a fire authority's fire cover provisions and proposals. [11335]
Mr. Sackville: My right hon. and learned Friend's approval is required under section 19(4) of the Fire Services Act 1947 when any reduction in the number of fire stations, fire appliances or firefighting posts in a brigade is proposed. Under section 19(8) of that Act, he may, for the purposes of his functions under section 19, hold such public local inquiries as he thinks fit. He also has certain other powers under the Act to order public local inquiries in particular circumstances.
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