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Executive Agencies (Letters)
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many letters each of the offices of
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the (a) Housing Executive and (b) Planning Service has received in the year ending 31 December 1996, or the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available; and, for each such office, how many of the letters were in (i) English (ii) Irish, and (iii) another language. [11908]
Mr. Moss: The information relating to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive is a matter for its chief executive who has advised me that the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Matters relating to the Planning Service are the responsibility of the chief executive of that agency, Mr. W. Stewart. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from J. E. McConnell to Mr. William Ross, dated 23 January 1997:
Mr. Nigel Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the report by Dr. Marcus Hayes into the police complaints system in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [12587]
Sir Patrick Mayhew:
I have received Dr. Maurice Hayes's wide-ranging review of the police complaints system in Northern Ireland and I am publishing it today. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House and in the Vote Office.
The review is a substantial document containing many recommendations for changing the current police complaints system. The Government will be considering it, in discussion with those most directly affected, before responding formally. I do not, however, expect his process to be protracted.
Even without the benefit of this in-depth consideration, it is clear that the recommendations are well thought out and convincing. The Government welcome this thorough and important review of a difficult area.
I should like to record my thanks to Maurice Hayes for undertaking the task and for producing such an excellent document. Thanks too should go to those who advised and assisted him, particularly those in the police, the Independent Commission for Police Complaints and the Police Authority, but there were obviously many others.
Dr. Hayes has clearly gone to a great deal of effort to consult, and indeed to consult widely, and I would expect his review to be well received in Northern Ireland and further afield.
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11. Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the extent to which the European Court of Justice has the power to determine issues relating to national border controls. [10558]
Mr. Howard:
The firm position of Her Majesty's Government is that the treaty of Rome, and therefore the European Court of Justice, impinge on national border controls only to the extent that they affect the free movement of citizens of the European Union. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I have made clear on numerous occasions that we will take whatever steps are necessary to maintain our frontier controls.
14. Sir Colin Shepherd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of CCTV cameras that have been installed in town centres since the Government's CCTV challenge competition in 1996. [10561]
Mr. Kirkhope:
The first two rounds of the closed circuit television challenge competition produced 365 winners. Around 45 of the 259 round 2 winners which were announced in June 1996 are already operational. The systems involve 450 cameras. The remainder, with around 2,800 more cameras, should become operational over the coming months.
15. Mr. Whittingdale:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures the Government are taking to reduce the rate of reoffending among young offenders. [10562]
Mr. Howard:
We have proposed in the Crime (Sentences) Bill that curfew orders with electronic monitoring should be extended to 10 to 15-year-olds, and that the courts be given greater discretion to allow the identification of convicted juveniles. We are introducing a new secure training order for 12 to 14-year-old persistent offenders. High-intensity training regimes have been introduced at Thorn Cross young offender institution and will be extended to a new YOI to be opened at Colchester military corrective training centre within a month. But reducing offending is not the responsibility of the Government alone, and that is why we have strengthened the courts' powers to involve parents when their children offend.
16. Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the treatment of category A prisoners in Her Majesty's prisons. [10563]
Miss Widdecombe:
Category A prisoners have the same basic entitlements as all other prisoners and may earn the same privileges. However, the risk to the public
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should a category A prisoner escape means that such prisoners must be subject to high security which is aimed at making escape impossible.
17. Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the crime prevention policies adopted in the United States of America. [10564]
Mr. Maclean:
The Home Office has looked at a number of recent initiatives in the USA; in many cases, the practices and techniques involved are already in use by police forces in this country.
18. Mr. Clapham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to encourage further community crime prevention initiatives. [10565]
Mr. Maclean:
Community involvement in crime prevention is central to our strategy for tackling crime. The Crime Prevention Agency is currently considering ways in which we can build on what has already been achieved.
19. Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes involving the use of, or carrying of, (a) knives, (b) guns and (c) other offensive weapons were committed in each of the last two years for which statistics are available. [10566]
Mr. Maclean:
Firearms were used in 12,977 notifiable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 1994, and 13,104 in 1995.
Two hundred and thirty-two homicides in England and Wales were apparently carried out with sharp instruments in 1994, and 251 in 1995. Corresponding figures for homicides involving blunt instruments are 54 and 85.
There were 5,804 convictions for carrying a knife or offensive weapon in public in 1994, and 5,749 in 1995.
20. Mr. Chris Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of police officers serving in England on 31 March 1997. [10568]
Mr. Maclean:
It is for chief constables to decide how to allocate their resources. On the basis of initial estimates, chief constables have said that they expect police numbers to increase by around 790 in England in the 12 months ending March 1997. This would mean a total of around 121,000 officers in England.
21. Mr. Jacques Arnold:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the strength of the police forces in (a) 1979 and (b) 1997. [10569]
Mr. Maclean:
There were 111,493 police officers in England and Wales in May 1979. By the end of September 1996, the latest date for which figures are
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available, police numbers had increased by almost 16,000 to 127,123.
22. Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the need for extra resources for Devon and Cornwall police in regard to the protests over the improvements to the A30 in Devon. [10570]
Mr. Maclean:
I understand from the chief constable that the cost of policing the A30 site is estimated to be in the region of £2 million. The chief constable is planning to meet these costs from within existing budget by the re-deployment of officers and resources.
Mr Moss has asked Mr Stewart, Chief Executive of the Planning Service to reply to your question about the number of letters received in each planning office, giving a breakdown, for each office, of the numbers in (i) English (ii) Irish, and (iii) other language. I am replying in Mr Stewart's absence on annual leave.
The information sought is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. You will however be interested to know that the Planning Service proposes to introduce a computerised correspondence tracking system which will accurately record the volume of correspondence received.
I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.
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