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Fire Services Act 1947
Mr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to modify the Fire Services Act 1947; and if he will make a statement. [5143]
Mr. George Howarth: I emphasised the importance that the Government attach to seeking improvements in fire safety in the reply which I gave to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) on 23 June, Official Report, column 360. We are also considering generally whether there is a need to update and amend existing fire service legislation.
Paul Malone
Mr. Miller:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will re-examine the case of Paul Malone; if he will make a statement on the reasons for the retirement of three police officers referred to by the Police Complaints Authority in their report; and when the
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Cheshire Police Constabulary were first aware of the acts referred to in the Police Complaints Authority report relating to this case. [3512]
Mr. Michael:
Any re-examination of a case in which it is alleged that there has been a miscarriage of justice is now a matter for the Criminal Cases Review Commission, whose powers to refer cases to the Court of Appeal are set out in the Criminal Appeal Act (1995).
I understand that the three police officers concerned retired between June and September 1995. One officer retired on ill health grounds, the other two took normal retirement after completing 30 years' service. The matters referred to in the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) statement came to light in an investigation supervised by the PCA which was completed in August 1994.
I will draw my hon. Friend's Question to the attention of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and will pass the information provided to the Commission for their consideration.
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what revenue was obtained
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by the Treasury from fines for (a) speeding offences and (b) other traffic offences in each of the last 10 years. [5159]
Mr. Michael:
The information requested is not available.
However, information available to me suggests that the amounts shown in the following table were ordered to be paid in fines in England and Wales for speeding offences and other motoring offences during the years 1986 to 1995. (Not all fines will have been paid).
As the majority of motoring offences are currently dealt with by way of fixed penalty notices, figures of the number of notices are also included in the table. From 1 October 1986, the penalty for a non-endorsable offence was set at £12 and that for an endorsable offence at £24. These penalties were raised to £16 and £32 respectively on 1 April 1990. From 1 April 1992, the penalties were again raised to £40 for an endorsable offence and for illegal parking on a red route, £30 for illegal parking in London other than on a red route and £20 for other non-endorsable offences.
Penalty charge notices issued by Local Authorities from 1994 are excluded, as the revenue is not passed to the Treasury.
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| Total amount ordered to be paid in fines for: | Number of fixed penalty notices issued for: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speeding offences | Other motoring offences | Speeding offences | Other motoring offences | |||
| £ million | £ million | Endorsable | Non-endorsable | Endorsable | Non-endorsable | |
| 1986 | 13.2 | 78.7 | 69,639 | -- | 35,663 | 4,953,335 |
| 1987 | 9.3 | 74.7 | 284,204 | 64 | 113,502 | 5,416,035 |
| 1988 | 10.4 | 79.0 | 340,943 | 822 | 133,887 | 5,699,448 |
| 1989 | 12.6 | 89.3 | 410,477 | 984 | 140,561 | 5,719,568 |
| 1990 | 13.5 | 91.9 | 446,993 | 1,387 | 133,765 | 5,716,082 |
| 1991 | 13.2 | 91.6 | 446,246 | 2,927 | 122,138 | 5,104,478 |
| 1992 | 12.8 | 90.4 | 456,730 | 3,394 | 104,980 | 4,511,922 |
| 1993 | 12.5 | 111.2 | 394,637 | 121 | 95,457 | 3,675,437 |
| 1994 | 11.6 | 118.1 | 472,470 | -- | 110,446 | 2,991,320 |
| 1995 | 12.5 | 122.4 | 530,172 | -- | 120,681 | 2,573,821 |
Figures for 1996 are not yet available.
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Test Purchasing (Decriminalisation)
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to decriminalise test purchasing by under-age children on behalf of the police. [4886]
Mr. George Howarth: I have been asked to reply.
The Ministerial Group on Alcopops will be considering the role of test purchases in helping to enforce the law preventing the sale of certain goods to young people.
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Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been for offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, for each police force area for each year since its implementation. [4624]
Mr. Michael
[holding answer 24 June 1997]: The information on these offences, which involve offences against wild, captive and protected animals, birds and plants, is given in the table:
(11) Includes City of London. From 1990 onwards prosecutions for offences committed under Section 13 of the Act (protection of wild plants) are not included as they are not identifiable from other summary offences.
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