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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 30 June 1997
HOME DEPARTMENT
Child Protection
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the expenditure by each police force in each of the last five years for which figures are available devoted to enforcing the Protection of Children Act 1978. [5449]
Mr. Michael: This information is not collected centrally.
Child Pornography
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the expenditure of the National Criminal Intelligence Service in each of the last five years for which figures are available devoted to gathering information on child pornography. [5451]
Mr. Michael: Gathering information on child pornography is only one area of the work of the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) Paedophile Section and it is not possible to separate expenditure for that purpose from the other activities of the Section. Figures for expenditure by the Paedophile Section, available for the last two years only, are as follows:
1995-96: £53,027
1996-97: £61,672.
Other units in NCIS, such as Interpol and Europol, also conduct work to combat paedophilia and child pornography, but their expenditure on such activity is not separately recorded.
Primary Purpose Rules
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors underlie the proposed retention of the part of the primary purpose rules which requires the couple to prove that they intend to live together permanently as husband and wife. [5627]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The requirement in the Immigration Rules on marriage to which my hon. Friend refers is not part of the primary purpose rule. It is needed to prevent foreign nationals from using sham marriages as a means to obtain settlement here. The primary purpose rule affected genuine marriages.
Victim Support
Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to review the funding for victim support schemes; [5982]
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Mr. Michael:
We regard support for victims of crime as a priority. We have therefore made available immediately an additional £1 million a year for the work of Victim Support, taking their annual grant to £12.7 million. The extra money will enable Victim Support to set up a national helpline for victims of crime, and to develop further the work of their court-based and local support schemes. We shall maintain a continuing dialogue with Victim Support about their programme of work and funding.
Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the feasibility and cost of providing a nationwide victim support service for witnesses in magistrates courts. [5983]
Mr. Michael:
We have received a number of representations about the perceived need to improve services for victims, witnesses and other users of magistrates courts, although details have not been collated centrally. A draft final research consultancy report commissioned to assess those needs and to recommend realistic and affordable options for improving support is currently being considered by a standing group of officials from the Government departments and criminal justice agencies with an interest in improving the court/trials process. Victim Support is represented on that group. The group's deliberations should help us to determine priorities for improving services for users of magistrates' courts and how these might best be provided.
Mr. Sedgemore:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances plastic baton rounds are used by police in England and Wales. [6116]
Mr. Michael:
Police forces in England and Wales hold plastic baton rounds for use as a last resort in dealing with serious public disorder. They may be used where conventional methods of policing have been tried and failed or are unlikely to succeed if tried, and where the chief officer decides such action to be necessary because of the risk of loss of life or serious injury, or of widespread destruction of property where the damage may lead to serious risk of loss of life or serious personal injury. Plastic baton rounds have never been used operationally in England and Wales.
Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 25 June, Official Report, column 510, on the case of Mr. Patrick Nicholls; what part Mr. Nicholls's insistence that he is innocent has played in the Parole Board's decision; and if he will make a statement. [6132]
Ms Joyce Quin:
The reasons given by the Parole Board for their latest decision in Mr. Nicholls's case do not refer to his insistence on his innocence.
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Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to implement the report of the 1991 working party recommendations to give local authorities a statutory duty to organise plans for community safety. [5985]
Mr. Michael:
We intend to place a new responsibility on local authorities and the police service jointly to develop statutory local partnerships for crime prevention and community safety and to agree, with the key partners, local community safety targets. Our proposals will be developed on the basis of full consultation with all interested parties. This will be included in the forthcoming Crime and Disorder Bill.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will implement the provisions of the Sex Offenders Act 1997. [5974]
Mr. Michael:
We plan to implement the Sex Offenders Act 1997 later this year and we are currently working with the police and others on the systems necessary to achieve early implementation.
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is proposing to tackle anti-social behaviour within neighbourhoods. [5492]
Mr. Michael:
We intend to introduce Community Safety Orders in the Crime and Disorder Bill.
Courts will be given the power to grant such orders on the application of a local authority or the police. The order will apply to a named individual or individuals and would prevent that person or persons from continuing with specified anti-social conduct.
A breach of the order will be a criminal offence which would carry stiff penalties--including the possibility of imprisonment.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from ACPO about (a) placing traffic duties within the core objectives for chief constables, (b) the establishment of specialised traffic units and (c) the training of traffic officers. [5432]
Mr. Michael:
In the current review of the key policing objectives for 1998-99, my Department has been advised that there is some support within the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) for a national objective on traffic policing, but I understand that this view is not supported by ACPO as a whole.
Issues concerning the organisation of traffic units within police forces and the training of traffic officers fall within the operational responsibilities of individual chief constables. My Department has not received representations from ACPO about those matters.
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Caroline Flint:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he will take to ensure that convicted child sex offenders, during their prison sentence, are not placed on community work programmes which bring them into direct contact with children. [5491]
Ms Joyce Quin:
Procedures are already in place to identify prisoners convicted of current or previous offences, including sexual offences, against children and young persons under the age of eighteen. In considering applications for release on temporary licence for work outside the establishment, both the nature of the work and the prisoner's offences are taken into account as part of a mandatory rigorous risk assessment process, which includes consultation with the police and probation services in serious cases. These arrangements are designed to prevent the temporary release of any prisoner considered to pose an undue risk to public safety.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons detained under Immigration Act powers in (a) 1995 and (b) 1996 were subsequently granted leave to remain in the United Kingdom. [5410]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The number of persons granted leave to remain 1 in the United Kingdom who had, at some stage 2 , been detained was 470 in 1995, and 540 in 1996.
Mr. O'Brien:
Information on the average length of time a person has been kept in detention under Immigration Act powers can be obtained only by examination of individual case records. I regret that the information requested is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of persons detained under Immigration Act powers were reviewed at Immigration Service Headquarters level in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996. [5401]
Mr. O'Brien:
Information on the number of cases of persons detained under Immigration Act powers reviewed at Immigration Service Headquarters level can be obtained only by examination of individual case records. I regret that the information requested is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) of 9 June, Official Report, column 336, what proportion of those currently detained under Immigration Act powers have sought a judicial review of the decision to detain them. [5402]
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Mr. O'Brien:
Information on the proportion of persons detained under Immigration Act powers who have sought a judicial review of the decision to detain can be obtained only by examination of individual case records. I regret that the information requested is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of persons detained under Immigration Act powers for six months or longer in (a) 1995 and (b) 1996. [5403]
Mr. O'Brien:
Reliable information on the historical flow of persons placed into detention and on the length of such detention can be obtained only through examination of individual case records. I regret that the information requested is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) of 9 June, Official Report, column 336, what proportion of those currently detained under Immigration Act powers have at some stage applied for bail to an independent adjudicator.[5404]
Mr. O'Brien:
Information on the proportion of persons detained under Immigration Act powers who have at some stage applied for bail to an independent adjudicator can be obtained only by examination of individual case records. I regret that the information requested is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.
(2) when he plans to make a decision on the provision and funding of a helpline service for all victims of crime.[5984]
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average length of detention of persons detained under Immigration Act powers, in the three most recent years for which figures are available.[5413]
1 Includes cases where enforcement action was withdrawn or abandoned and asylum cases that were granted or given exceptional leave to remain, indefinite leave to remain or exceptional leave to enter.
2 Detention period does not necessarily relate to the year of decision.
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