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Fire Service (Essex)
23. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received about fire service provisions in Essex. [10571]
Mr. Sackville: We have received a number of such representatives, including two from hon. Members.
Responsibility for the provision of an efficient fire service rests with the local fire authority. My right hon. and learned Friend's approval is required under section 19 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.
Remand Prisoners
24. Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received concerning the treatment of remand prisoners. [10572]
Miss Widdecombe: We have received no recent representations about the treatment of remand prisoners in general. The main correspondence recently regarding individual cases has been about Ms Roisin McAliskey, who is held at Holloway prison pending extradition proceedings, and about some high-security remand prisoners at Belmarsh prison.
Visas (Voluntary and Religious Workers)
25. Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received concerning visas for voluntary and religious workers in the United Kingdom. [10573]
Mr. Kirkhope: The hon. Gentleman wrote to me on this subject on 24 September and I replied on 17 October.
Century Date Change (Computers)
26. Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the millennium compliance of the computer systems for which his Department is responsible. [10574]
Mr. Howard: My Department is aware of the problem. The Department's main information technology service provider--Sema Group--has completed an audit and other suppliers have been commissioned to assess
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necessary changes. The business areas in my Department are devising action plans, taking into account other developments and the likelihood of systems still being in place at the time of the millennium date change. As the plans are developed, detailed cost and resource implications will be assessed.
Freemasonry
27. Mr. Gunnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which public appointments to bodies dealing with Home Office responsibilities applicants are asked to indicate their membership of the freemasons. [10575]
Mr. Howard: The general principles governing the making of public appointments are set out in the guidance on appointments to executive non-departmental public bodies issues by the Commissioner for Public appointments. These do not require applicants to declare their membership of any organisations other than political ones.
The information sought from applicants by the Home Office when filling particular appointments is decided in each case in the light of the needs of the job and the circumstances at the time. Where appropriate, it may include information about outside interests including freemasonry but there is no list of posts to which such a requirement applies.
Youth Crime (Wolverhampton)
28. Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the level of youth crime in Wolverhampton. [10576]
Mr. Maclean: The information requested is not available centrally, but data for court proceedings in relation to young offenders in Wolverhampton are given in the table. Cautioning information is collected by police force area only.
| Type of offence | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indictable | 697 | 324 | 347 |
| Summary non-motoring | 149 | 134 | 86 |
| Summary motoring | 142 | 71 | 56 |
| All offences | 988 | 529 | 489 |
(25) Includes those cases convicted at the Crown Court where the committing Petty Sessional Divisional was Wolverhampton.
Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the findings of the British crime survey regarding the proportion of adults living in inner-city areas who were victims of violent crime once or more during 1995. [10556]
Mr. Maclean: The 1996 British crime survey found that 7.1 per cent. of adults living in inner-city areas, and
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5.2 per cent. of adults overall, were victims of violent crime once or more during 1995. This includes woundings, robberies and common assault.
Prison Overcrowding
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons in England and Wales which his Department assesses to be overcrowded, indicating in each case the percentage of overcrowding. [10774]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
| Prison name | Percentage overcrowding |
|---|---|
| Ashwell | 1 |
| Bedford | 12 |
| Belmarsh | 2 |
| Birmingham | 37 |
| Blakenhurst | 10 |
| Brinsford | 1 |
| Bristol | 15 |
| Brixton | 17 |
| Bullingdon | 4 |
| Camp Hill | 10 |
| Canterbury | 47 |
| Cardiff | 26 |
| Coldingley | 3 |
| Cookham Wood | 20 |
| Doncaster | 15 |
| Dorchester | 52 |
| Downview | 2 |
| Durham | 41 |
| Elmley | 4 |
| Everthorpe | 1 |
| Exeter | 59 |
| Featherstone | 1 |
| Feltham | 3 |
| Garth | 3 |
| Glen Parva | 19 |
| Gloucester | 22 |
| Guys Marsh | 4 |
| Haverigg | 8 |
| High Down | 1 |
| Holloway | 10 |
| Hull | 21 |
| Lancaster Farms | 1 |
| Leeds | 7 |
| Leicester | 52 |
| Lincoln | 46 |
| Liverpool | 9 |
| Low Newton | 39 |
| Maidstone | 2 |
| Manchester | 19 |
| Moorland | 6 |
| Mount | 6 |
| Northallerton | 76 |
| Norwich | 25 |
| Parkhurst | 1 |
| Pentonville | 20 |
| Preston | 67 |
| Reading | 9 |
| Send | 7 |
| Shepton Mallett | 29 |
| Shrewsbury | 79 |
| Stafford | 8 |
| Stocken | 8 |
| Styal | 1 |
| Swaleside | 3 |
| Swansea | 23 |
| Usk | 40 |
| Verne | 4 |
| Wakefield | 16 |
| Wandsworth | 6 |
| Wayland | 3 |
| Whatton | 2 |
| Winchester | 25 |
| Wolds | 10 |
| Wormwood Scrubs | 15 |
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Stop and Search Powers
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on proposed revisions to the powers of the police to stop and search persons suspected of carrying knives. [11643]
Mr. Maclean: I intend to lay before Parliament soon changes to the code of practice on the exercise by police officers of stop and search powers, issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which will clarify that police officers may stop and search people who are identifiable as belonging to a group or gang whose members habitually carry knives. Amendments to police powers in the Knives Bill, which received its Committee stage on Wednesday 22 January, will allow an inspector to authorise police officers to stop and search anyone in a particular locality for up to 24 hours, where he reasonably believes that incidents involving serious violence may taken place or that people are carrying knives in that area. The inspector will be required to inform a superintendent of the authorisation as soon as it is practicable to do so. An extension of the authorisation for a further 24 hours may be given at the direction of a superintendent.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time taken for his Department to answer ordinary written parliamentary questions in each of the last two Sessions; and if he will make a statement. [12266]
Mr. Howard: The information requested is not available.
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