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Departmental Web Site
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department established its Internet site; what representations he has received and what data he has collated on the use and utility of the site; and what steps he is taking to increase the amount of information via the site. [19144]
Mr. Howard: My Department established an Internet site for its research and statistical department in March 1995, and a home page for the Department generally in March 1996. Home Office press notices, and those of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the Police Complaints Authority, became available on a linked server provided by the Central Office of Information in April 1995.
Feedback is received by those responsible for the content of the site through electronic mail, and taken into account when updating or developing the site. The Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency extracts data on the use made of the site from the server log weekly, and sends it to my Department where it is collated and analysed.
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A programme has been carried out to raise awareness of the Internet as a medium for publication of information and a number of additional documents are being added to the site according to a planned schedule. As part of this programme, the site is being extensively reorganised and the home page address will shortly move to http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk in order to improve access to and navigation of these documents.
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department and its executive agencies have spent drafting, publishing and circulating each of their customer charters and customer standard documents; and how many copies of each document have been issued. [19386]
Mr. Howard:
The available information about costs specifically attributable to customer charters and standards is as follows:
| Home Office Department | Document | Cost | Number of copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prison Service | Citizens Charter statement of standards 1993 | No separate record of costs of publication/circulation or number of copies produced | |
| United Kingdom Passport Agency | Charter Standard Statement issued 1994, revised 1995 and 1996 | (1)£5,892 over 3 years | 15,000 copies over 3 years |
| Citizens Charter Noticeboard 1994, 1995, 1996 | (1)£3,214 over 3 years | Six (one in each Passport Office) | |
| Immigration and Nationality Directorate Immigration Ports Directorate | Statement of Principles and Service | (1)£438 | 150 posters |
| Immigration and Nationality Directorate Finance and Services Directorate | Leaflet: The work of Immigration and Nationality Directorate(1) | £12,945 | 50,000 leaflets |
| Procedures and Victims Unit | Victims Charter 1996 | £87,000 | 94,000 copies |
| TOTAL Quantifiable Costs | £109,489 | ||
(1) Costs of design, printing and distribution. Costs of drafting not separately identifiable.
Charters and service standards are often reproduced in annual reports and various other documents, but the costs of doing so are not separately identifiable.
Immigration
Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications by spouses to enter the United Kingdom have been refused under the primary purpose rule in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [19500]
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Mr. Kirkhope:
The latest available information for the Indian sub-continent is given in the table. Corresponding information for non-ISC posts is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Husbands | Wives | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solely on primary purpose grounds | Partly on primary purpose grounds | Solely on primary purpose grounds | Partly on primary purpose grounds | |
| 1993 | 800 | 970 | 180 | 130 |
| 1994 | 750 | 940 | 270 | 180 |
| 1995 | 640 | 1,130 | 240 | 300 |
(2) All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Albania
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider using his powers under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 to declare Albania a country in which there has been a fundamental change of circumstances. [19592]
Mr. Kirkhope: My right hon. and learned Friend has no present plans to declare that Albania has undergone a major upheaval such that we would not seek to return people there for the time being. Most of Albania remains unaffected by the disturbances, which are mainly confined to its southern towns.
CS Gas
Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidance to Metropolitan police officers on the use of CS spray; and if he will ensure that future revisions of the guidance are placed in the Library as a matter of course. [19651]
Mr. Maclean: The Metropolitan police use guidelines issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Copies of the guidelines were placed in the Library in response to a question from the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman) on 17 April 1996, Official Report, column 513.I will arrange for revisions to the guidelines to be placed in the Library as and when they are made.
Asylum Seekers (Hunger Strikes)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the longest period of time for which any of the hunger strikers currently detained in Rochester prison has been on hunger strike; and if he will make a statement; [19899]
- (2) how many people are currently being held in Rochester prison who are seeking asylum in the United Kingdom; of these how many are at present on hunger strike; and if he will make a statement. [19898]
Miss Widdecombe:
On Friday 7 March, a total of 195 persons were detained at Her Majesty's prison Rochester solely under Immigration Act powers. Of these, 152 had, at some time, claimed asylum. There were no immigration detainees refusing prison prepared meals.
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During the most recent occasion when persons detained under Immigration Act powers refused food, the longest period of time an individual refused prison prepared meals was 46 days.
Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have exercised their right to appeal to the Home Secretary against disciplinary penalties imposed by their chief constables during each of the last 10 years; and with what result. [19650]
Mr. Maclean:
This information is published in the annual Home Office statistical bulletin entitled "Police Complaints and Discipline England and Wales". The statistics before 1990 were published in Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary's annual reports. Copies of both publications are available in the Library.
Next Steps Review
Mr. Tim Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the next steps review. [20266]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The Government have today published the 1996 next steps review, Cm 3579, which has been laid in both Houses. This review, the seventh in the series, brings together performance and trend information on 109 executives agencies and the executive units of HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue operating in 1995-96 and details of next steps developments up to the end of 1996.
The publication sets out some impressive results flowing from the Government's managerial reforms of the civil service. It also shows that there is scope for further improvement and describes the Government's approach for bringing this about, through better assessment and benchmarking of the performance of agencies and their targets, the identification and spread of best managerial practice, including that in the private sector, and action on the areas needing attention.
The 1996 next steps review opens up for scrutiny a wealth of data and comment on the executive work of the civil service and provides a valuable source document and commentary on management issues.
Solicitors
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) how many solicitors now have rights of audience in the higher courts; [18903]
- (2) how many solicitors have applied for rights of audience in the higher courts since the coming into force of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. [18913]
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Mr. Streeter: I am informed by the Law Society that, out of a total of 803 solicitors who have so far applied, 438 have been awarded higher courts qualifications and 239 are in the process of having their applications determined.
Legal Services (Contracts)
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the proposals to establish fixed-price contract systems for the provision of legal services, will take effect. [18909]
Mr. Streeter: Pilots for family mediation and civil and criminal advice and assistance will start later this year. But to provide the majority of legally aided services almost exclusively through fixed-price contracts will require legislation. In addition the Government are committed to piloting the proposals and proceeding with caution to ensure that the contracting system works. We would expect fixed-price contracts to cover the majority of legally aided services in three to four years time.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what advice members of his Department received from representatives of the Spangenberg group on a contract system based on fixed-price contracts during their visit to north America. [18910]
Mr. Streeter: Officials from my Department have visited the Spangenberg Group, a private consultancy, among other sources of advice on contracting legally aided services. The Spangenberg Group has wide knowledge and experience of ways of maintaining quality while controlling cost in the delivery of criminal defence services. It has passed a great deal of information to my Department on the subject.
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