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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Business Tenants
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will conduct a review of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 to assess the impact of modification of section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 on business tenants. [18480]
Mr. Streeter:
The Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 came into force on 1 January 1996. The modifications to section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, made by section 22 of the 1995 Act, apply, broadly speaking, only to tenancies, other than residential
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tenancies, which came into force after 1 January 1996 and apply only to assignments. It is too early to review the operation of section 22 of the 1995 Act.
Entry Clearance (Mr. Javed Iqbal)
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date a recommendation was issued to the British post in Islamabad to issue Mr. Javed Iqbal, ref: TH/21422/96, with a visa; and if he will make a statement. [19751]
Mr. Kirkhope: The adjudicator's determination dated 18 October 1996 on Mr. Iqbal's appeal against the decision by the entry clearance officer in Islamabad to refuse him entry clearance was received by my Department on 28 October 1996 but, due to an administrative error which I very much regret, details were not forwarded to the entry clearance officer until 6 March 1997.
Mr. Iqbal's representatives in the United Kingdom were informed of the position on the same date.
Yardies
Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if illegal immigrants described as yardies have been allowed to remain in the United Kingdom in order to act as informers for the Metropolitan police in the period since January 1993. [19664]
Mr. Kirkhope: The management and use of informants are operational matters for the police. It is police practice never to confirm or deny whether someone is an informant.
Although there may be exceptional circumstances in which it is in the public interest, in the handling of immigration cases, to take account of an individual's assistance to the authorities, there is no general policy of allowing illegal entrants to remain in this country because they have agreed to provide information to the police.
Deportation
Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the police or immigration enforcement officers have the power to prevent the serving of Home Office deportation orders on illegal immigrants. [19665]
Mr. Kirkhope: There may be circumstances in which it is decided not to pursue service of a deportation order, but all such cases would need to be authorised at a senior level in the deportation section of the immigration and nationality directorate.
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he gives to the postponement of deportation in circumstances in which absence of the deportee would place a temporary, but significant, additional burden on voluntary or statutory community care services. [19082]
Mr. Kirkhope:
There is no provision under the immigration rules for people who are subject to deportation action to remain here on the basis that they
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are providing care which would otherwise be provided by voluntary or statutory services. However, in all cases where consideration is being given to whether deportation should proceed, any compassionate circumstances are balanced against the public interest in maintaining an effective immigration control.
Mr. Thurnham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next expects to meet the chairman of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to discuss the delay in hearing cases, with particular reference to the case of Mr. Paul Melling of 8 Parkgate drive, Astley Bridge, Bolton; and if he will make a statement. [18904]
Mr. Maclean:
I am fully aware of the volume of cases awaiting a hearing before the board and, in consultation with its chairman, Lord Carlisle of Bucklow QC and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, I increased its membership last year to help reduce delays. Lord Carlisle knows that I am open to further approaches should he consider that further members are needed to complete the work on the 1990 scheme, now superseded by the tariff-based scheme effective from 1 April 1996. Ministers do not intervene in, or comment on, the handling of individual applications.
Mr. Allen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy that the drug confiscation fund may be used for prevention campaigns on the lines of drug abuse resistance education. [18953]
Mr. Maclean:
I am not sure whether the question refers to the seized assets fund or the central drugs fund, both of which draw on the proceeds of drug trafficking seized under international confiscation agreements.
The seized assets fund is used for individual projects directed against the misuse of drugs and drug trafficking. Its use is not restricted to enforcement initiatives--expenditure is split about equally between enforcement work and projects for prevention, education and rehabilitation. All applications are considered on their merits. Because of the uncertainty of the amounts available from one year to the next, the fund supports one-off projects rather than continuing programmes.
The central drugs fund is focused on enforcement. It helps meet the additional costs to United Kingdom police forces of international drugs investigations.
Mr. Allen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations on anti-drug campaigns he has received from the Department for Education and Employment since 26 February. [18951]
Mr. Sackville:
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Employment wrote to me on 3 March 1997 to draw my attention to the debate on drug abuse resistance education which took place on 26 February 1997.
Mr. Allen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he is giving to reforming the budget process of police forces to enable them to
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invest equal funds in drug prevention campaigns on the lines of drug abuse resistance education and on drug law enforcements. [18952]
Mr. Maclean:
None. The allocation of resources and the deployment of officers are operational matters for individual chief officers of police. They must decide on their own priorities, taking local needs into account. Each force has a drugs strategy, which covers prevention and education as well as enforcement, and all forces are represented on their local drug action teams.
Mr. George Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations the Prison Service has had with Dorset police authority concerning the (a) potential security risks and (b) extra costs of mooring a prison ship in Portland harbour. [18744]
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 A. J. Pearson to Mr. George Howarth, dated 11 March 1997:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about what consultations the Prison Service has had with the Dorset Police Authority concerning the potential security risks and extra costs of mooring a prison ship in Portland harbour.
Mr. George Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 211, if he will list the prisons involved in the research project carried out by the university of Oxford centre for criminological research; what type of (a) drug testing and (b) methodology this research project will employ; if it will include recommendations for future Prison Service drug policy in its final report; and if he will publish the results of the research. [18747]
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 Hugh Taylor to Mr. George Howarth, dated 11 March 1997:
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Mr. Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 211, what methodology the research project carried out by the national addiction centre will use; if it will include recommendations for future Prison Service drug policy in its final report; and if he will publish the results of the research. [18748]
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 Hugh Taylor to Mr. George Howarth, dated 11 March 1997:
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.
Discussions have been held between the Dorset police and Prison Service headquarters staff and the governor-designate of the prison ship about the operational implications of mooring a prison ship in Portland harbour. Arrangements were made by the Prison Service for representatives of the Dorset police to make a familiarisation visit to the ship in New York. Further detailed discussions are planned for later this months when key prison managers are transferred to the commissioning project team.
There have been no representations from the Dorset Police Authority concerning any extra costs to them of mooring a prison ship in Portland port.
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the research project being carried by the University of Oxford Centre for Criminological Research.
The project has as its focus the Mandatory Drug Testing Programme introduced in all prisons from April 1996. The researchers will obtain information using structured interviews with
prisoners and staff, at each of the five establishments involved in the study: Wellingborough; Long Lartin; Onley; New Hall; and Swansea. No drug testing takes place as part of the study.
The researchers' report may make recommendations for policy. Generally findings of research in prisons are published.
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent question about the research project being carried out by the National Addiction Centre.
The researchers have been asked to compare information on the prevalence of drug misuse in prison obtained from The Mandatory Drug Testing programme, the specific characteristics of the drugs in use in prison and information on the criminal and other background of prisoners, with a view to identifying factors and trends in prisoner drug abuse while in prison.
Where appropriate the researchers have been asked to make recommendations on future Prison Service Drugs policy. Generally findings of research in prisons are published.
Mr. Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to incorporate random drug testing in the Prison Service key performance indicator for mandatory drug testing. [18746]
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