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NATIONAL HERITAGE
Award Presentations
Dr. John Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) on how many occasions she or her Department have approached lottery distribution
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boards or grant recipients to arrange for her to make presentations of awards; what were the occasions; and who were the recipients; [14593]
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
It is central to the role of Ministers that they promote the work of the Department and its associated bodies. The national lottery, and the awards made by the independent distributing bodies, are an important part of that work. It is only right, therefore, they should take the opportunity to draw attention to the excellent work being done by these bodies around the country. This can include involvement in the presentation of lottery awards.
The Department does not keep records of the occasions when Ministers have been associated with such presentations.
Dr. John Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage is she will provide a regional breakdown of lottery grants in respect of each of the five good causes. [14368]
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
Awards totalling over £2.8 billion have been made to 18,769 projects throughout the United Kingdom. I have arranged for a regional breakdown to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
(2) how many lottery awards she has personally presented; who were the recipients; on what dates the presentations were made; and what sums were involved. [14594]
Draft Pensions Measure
Mr. Flynn: To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if the commissioners have received the memorandum "Reasons why the Draft Pensions Measure is not Expedient" from the Parishes Protection Group; and if he will make a statement. [14973]
Mr. Alison: The commissioners have received this memorandum which has, I understand, been circulated to members of the parliamentary Ecclesiastical Committee. The commissioners do not accept the assertions in the memorandum, and will advise the Ecclesiastical Committee accordingly. I am arranging for a copy of a note setting out the position to be sent to the hon. Member.
The proposals for the new arrangements for financing clergy pensions come with the support of the Church Commissioners, the Church of England Pensions Board, the Central Board of Finance, the Diocesan Boards of Finance and the General Synod, which gave final approval to the draft measure in November 1996 on an almost unanimous vote. The proposals reflect detailed and prolonged consultations and independent actuarial advice.
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Dangerous Driving (Pleas)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many occasions, in the last year for which figures are available, the Crown Prosecution Service acted on the suggestion of a defendant that in exchange for pleading guilty to the charge of careless and inconsiderate driving, proceedings against the defendant on the charge of causing death by dangerous driving would be dropped; [14881]
- (2) if he will list the number of occasions in the past five years on which drivers who have caused a driving-related fatality have been charged with the offence of careless and inconsiderate driving in place of causing death by dangerous driving by the Crown Prosecution Service in order to ensure that a conviction is obtained;[14877]
(3) how many occasions, in the last year for which figures are available, the Crown Prosecution Service offered defendants the opportunity to enter a guilty plea to the charge of careless and inconsiderate driving in substitution for proceeding against the defendant on the indictment of causing death by dangerous driving. [14880]
The Attorney-General: Charges in any particular case should reflect the seriousness of the offending and should give the court adequate sentencing powers. The selection of charges is governed by the evidential and public interest criteria contained in the code for Crown prosecutors; and prosecutors are assisted in relation to offences of the nature mentioned by the hon. Member by the driving offences charging standard adopted in March 1996 by the Crown Prosecution Service in agreement with the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Where the Crown Prosecution Service subsequently decides not to pursue all the charges originally preferred, this will usually be because changed circumstances have made it impracticable to proceed or have brought about a revised assessment of the evidential or public interest test.
Detailed information of the nature sought by the hon. Member is recorded only on individual case files and is not collected or collated centrally. It could therefore be made available only at disproportionate cost.
Ministerial Sub-committee on Health Strategy
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many times a year on average the interdepartmental Cabinet and Ministerial Sub-committee on Health Strategy has met since it was formed. [13376]
Mr. Freeman:
In accordance with the principle of collective responsibility for Government decisions, including the need to maintain the frankness and candour of internal discussion and advice, details of proceedings of Cabinet committees are not published.
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Mr. Alfred Morris:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on developments in relation to financial support from the Government for the rebuilding of Manchester city centre following the IRA bombing. [15100]
The Deputy Prime Minister:
I was delighted to announce this morning that the Government will give Manchester the funds required to implement the scheme chosen to regenerate Manchester city centre. We shall provide £43 million over the next three years, in addition to £20 million of European funds announced last summer.
I expect these contributions to unlock very substantial investment by the private sector--around £345 million in total.
Prisoners' Brains
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the result of the discussions with the Department of Health on post mortem and pathology guidelines referred to in his answer of 16 April 1996, Official Report, column 362; and if he will make a statement. [14420]
Mr. Sackville: Specific discussions about the disposal of body organs removed in the course of a coroner's post mortem await the outcome of a wider assessment of coroners' pathology arrangements, and liaison between the Departments on these matters continues.
Voluntary Groups
Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each voluntary group part or wholly funded by his Department in the last two years for which the information is available and the amount of money received by each group in that period. [14147]
Mr. Sackville: Home Office funding of voluntary organisations amounted to £59,204,588 in 1993-94 and to £61,043,280 in 1994-95. I have placed in the Library lists of such organisations funded by the Home Office in each of those two years and the amounts which they received. The lead responsibility within Government in relation to the voluntary sector transferred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for National Heritage on 1 May 1996.
Doncaster Prison (Asylum Seekers)
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many asylum seekers were held at Her Majesty's prison, Doncaster in each month since January 1996; [14596]
- (2) what was the average length of time spent in custody by asylum seekers held at HMP Doncaster during 1996. [14589]
Mr. Kirkhope:
Information on the number of asylum seekers detained--under sole Immigration Act powers--at Her Majesty's prison, Doncaster for selected dates during 1996 is given in the table.
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| Detained as at | Total(7) |
|---|---|
| 31 January | * |
| 29 February | * |
| 29 March | * |
| 10 April | * |
| 31 May/7 June(10) | 3 |
| 27 June | * |
| 30 July/2 August(11) | * |
| 4 September | * |
| 1 October | * |
| 5 November | * |
| 11 December | * |
(7) * = 1 or 2.
(8) Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.
(9) These figures include people who have been in detention for less than a month. Because of the delay in recording receptions into, and releases from, detention and the large number of persons detained for a short period, the figures should be used with caution.
(10) Port cases are as at 7 June and In-country cases are as at 31 May.
(11) Port cases are as at 2 August and In-country cases are as at 30 July.
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