---

Surveillance Equipment

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for warrants for the interception of telephone calls have been (a) submitted, (b) approved by officials in the Home Office, (c) signed by the Secretary of State and (d) cancelled or revoked after issue for each year since the introduction of the Interception of Communications Act 1985; and what other information he collects to assess (i) the extent and need for warrants and (ii) the time taken by officials and the Secretary of State to carry out these functions. [15436]

Mr. Howard: I refer the hon. Member to the annexes to the reports of the interception of communications commissioner for 1989 and 1995 Cm 1063 and 3254, copies of which are in the Library. Together, these provide figures for the number of warrants issued by the Secretary of State during each of the years from 1985 to 1995 and the number in force at the end of each year. Warrants are cancelled when they are no longer considered necessary. None have been quashed under section 7(5) of the Act. The information requested at (a) and (b) is not available.

The extent and need for warrants is manifest in the detailed cases which are presented in support of the applications. One grade 7, one higher executive officer, two executive officers, one administrative officer and one typist are engaged on case work under the 1985 Act. Member of the senior civil service are also involved in the consideration of applications and I, or in my absence another Secretary of State, personally consider and decide upon applications submitted to my office.

18 Feb 1997 : Column: 518

Belmarsh Prison

Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about conditions in the special secure unit at Her Majesty's prison, Belmarsh; and if he will make a statement. [15242]

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.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Chris Mullin, dated 18 February 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what representations have been received about conditions in the Special Secure Unit (SSU) at Belmarsh.

The Prison Service answers many queries from Members of Parliament, prisoners and the general public about conditions in the SSU at Belmarsh prison. The four main issues raised relate to time out of cell, alleged discrimination, visiting arrangements and medical treatment.

Learmont Inquiry

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the implementation of the outstanding recommendations made in the report of the Learmont inquiry. [15970]

Miss Widdecombe: On 24 July 1996, I published an interim progress report which contained details of the conclusions reached and actions taken or planned by the Director General of the Prison Service in response to 100 of Sir John Learmont's recommendations.

On 15 January 1997, the director general announced the implementation of a further 11 recommendations. Details were given in a report which was placed in the Library.

Of the remaining 16 recommendations, 11 are the subject of a cost-benefit analysis to determine their operational effectiveness and value for money, and five are subject to further review or evaluation of pilot schemes.

Remand Prisoners

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) unconvicted remand prisoners and (b) convicted but unsentenced remand prisoners had been held for (i) less than six months; (ii) between six and 12 months, (iii) between one year and three years and (iv) over three years since first reception into the Prison Service for each month since January 1995. [15984]

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.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 18 February 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many (a) unconvicted remand prisoners and (b) convicted but unsentenced remand prisoners had been held for (i) less than six months; (ii) between six and twelve months; (iii) between one year and three years and (iv) over three years since first reception into the Prison Service for each month since January 1995.

18 Feb 1997 : Column: 519

The information requested is not available on a monthly basis, nor at the level of detail requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average amount of time spent in prison by (a) unconvicted remand prisoners and (b) convicted but unsentenced prisoners in each month since January 1995. [15985]

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.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 18 February 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what was the average amount of time spent in prison by (a) unconvicted remand prisoners and (b) convicted unsentenced prisoners in each month since January 1995.

The information requested is contained in the attached table.

	Untried	Convicted unsentenced
1995
January	58	37
February	54	34
March	53	33
April	66	37
May	55	30
June	53	34
July	54	32
August	53	32
September	53	34
October	53	34
November	51	33
December	62	37
1996
January	50	31
February	51	33
March	58	36
April	49	34
May	47	34
June	57	35
July	48	31
August	54	37
September	51	37
October	50	40
November	54	46
December	57	57

Average days in custody are subject to wide variation because of the small populations on which they are based. All values are provisional.

Closed Circuit Television

Sir Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of CCTV schemes in each city in South Yorkshire which are currently in operation; and what assessment he has made of the effect of each scheme on crime rates. [15704]

Mr. Maclean: In the two Home Office closed circuit television challenge competitions which have so far been held, six schemes in South Yorkshire have been awarded grants. They are:

Grimethorpe village, Barnsley (awarded £116,000);

Scawsby community centre, Brodsworth (£4,250);

The community and educational campus, Dinnington (£72,500);

18 Feb 1997 : Column: 520

Balby Street school, Doncaster (£5,000);

Clifton Comprehensive and Coleridge junior and infant schools, Rotherham (£37,850); and

Lower Don industrial area, Sheffield (£53,000).

Grimethorpe village and the community and educational campus are not yet operational. The local police report that the other four schemes have all had a significant impact on crime.

Although information about CCTV systems in which the Home Office has no involvement is not collected systematically, we are aware that town centre CCTV systems are operational in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The local police report that these schemes have also resulted in significant reductions in crime.

Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the timetable of events, with dates, connected with the successful application for funding the installation of CCTV in Dartford town centre, by the Dartford borough council; what sums were awarded to the borough council; and when the project was completed. [15864]

Mr. Maclean: A bid from a partnership led by Dartford borough council for funds to install closed circuit television in Dartford town centre was submitted in the first CCTV challenge competition in January 1995. Some £50,000 was awarded in March 1995. The first phase of the system--12 cameras--became operational in July 1996. The second phase--a further nine cameras--became operational in September 1996.

Court Adjournments

Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve liaison between the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, defence solicitors, the courts and the probation service, with particular reference to reducing the number of court adjournments. [15788]

Mr. Maclean: The Government have taken many steps to improve liaison between all agencies within the criminal justice system, both nationally and locally. The work of the inter-agency trials issues group includes considering specific criminal justice system matters involving relations between the police, prosecution, courts and others. A total of 42 local inter-agency groups support the work of TIG.

The Criminal Justice Consultative Council, chaired by Lord Justice Rose and comprising members of all criminal justice agencies and the legal professions, also promotes better understanding, co-operation and co-ordination in the criminal justice system. Its work is underpinned at local level by 23 area criminal justice liaison committees.

Following discussion at a recent CJCC meeting, the Magistrates Association and the Justices Clerks Society issued a joint statement on speedier sentencing of young offenders. It deals specifically with multiple offending and guides that courts should sentence for the offences before it rather than wait for all further alleged offences to come to trial.

18 Feb 1997 : Column: 521

---