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Youth Crime
Mr. Opik:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money he has allocated for the prevention of youth crime for 1997-98; and what were the equivalent figures for (a) 1995-96 and (b) 1996-97. [8432]
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Mr. Michael:
Not all the expenditure on youth crime initiatives can be separated out from Home Office programmes. A total of £1,723,000 is committed for 1997-98 for such programmes, much of which will support initiatives of this kind.
This is divided between the core funding of Crime Concern, which takes particular interest in youth crime prevention, although the Home Office funding is for the organisation's running costs rather than for the direct support of initiatives; the Home Office's Programme Development Unit which supports innovative projects aimed at reducing criminality among young people; the Safer Cities programme and support for two Home Start projects.
The equivalent figure for (a) 1995-96 was £1,800,000; and for (b) 1996-97 it was £1,695,000.
Future expenditure plans will be considered in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Ms Fiona Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for consultation on the intrusive surveillance code of practice required under Part III of the Police Act 1997. [9290]
Mr. Michael:
On 14 July, I signed an Order to commence section 101 of the Police Act 1997 on 5 August 1997. This will allow the public consultation exercise to begin on that date. Officials will send copies of the draft code of practice to a number of individuals and organisations, inviting their comments by the end of September. Copies will be placed in the Library and additional copies of the draft code are obtainable from the Home Office.
Mr. Heppell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make regulations to satisfy the outstanding fire safety requirements of the EC Framework and Workplace directives. [9165]
Mr. George Howarth:
Having consulted my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, we intend shortly to make suitable regulations. These will build on those proposals on which consultation was completed last year and will be accompanied by a simple guidance package. We hope to lay the regulations before Parliament rises for the summer recess. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that she intends to lay equivalent regulations for Northern Ireland before the end of the year.
Mr. Cawsey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are being made in the handling of applications from refugees and displaced persons from the former Yugoslavia following the Dayton Peace agreement. [9463]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
All applications for asylum will continue to be considered on their individual merits within the terms of the 1951 Untied Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
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Since 1992, exceptional leave to remain has been granted to those who came from Bosnia but did not qualify for refugee status. The situation now, following the Dayton Agreement and subsequent developments, makes that policy unnecessary and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have recently said that certain categories of persons could reasonably be expected to return to Bosnia.
The Government share UNHCR's hope that many Bosnians will wish to return home voluntarily. However, leave will not be withdrawn from Bosnians already granted exceptional leave to remain on having been refused refugee status, or from former Yugoslavs admitted under the Temporary Protection Programme; and, subject to personal acceptability, extensions of stay will normally be granted.
From today, applications for asylum from Bosnians will be considered on their merits in the normal way. Exceptional leave will not be granted automatically if the application is unsuccessful, but it will be considered in individual cases where there are genuine humanitarian reasons. Those falling within the categories who UNHCR say may reasonably be expected to return home will no longer, in general, be granted exceptional leave to remain and will be expected to return home.
Since August 1992, as a concession, the United Kingdom has not normally sought to return asylum seekers from the former Yugoslavia to safe third countries through which they had transited, if they had spent less than a day or two in each country. Asylum applicants from the States of the former Yugoslavia will now be treated in the same way as those from other countries. This will mean that they will be returned to safe third countries where we are satisfied that the applicant is not a national or citizen of the third country concerned; the applicant would be safe in the third country concerned; and the applicant either had an opportunity to claim asylum in the country concerned or was otherwise admissible there. However, we would not normally
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remove an applicant where there were immediate family members in the United Kingdom, such as a spouse, a minor child or, if the applicant were a minor child, a parent.
Since December 1992, nationals of the former Yugoslavia have been granted a visa abroad where they could demonstrate that they had a claim to refugee status or had been displaced from their home as a result of the conflict and that they had close family here. In view of the improved situation in the former Yugoslavia, this concession is now being withdrawn and the normal arrangement for obtaining visas to claim refugee status in the United Kingdom will apply.
We have agreed with UNHCR that the temporary protection programmes announced in 1992 and 1995 are to end, although those people already accepted who can go straight into the community will continue to be allowed to take up their places. A total of 2,660 people have been brought to the United Kingdom and given temporary refuge under the two programmes.
Ms Hodge:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many decisions by his Department were challenged by way of judicial review in each Parliamentary session since 1991-92; and if he will list in how many cases (a) the Department's decision was upheld, (b) the court found for the applicant, (c) the Department submitted to the judgment and (d) the Department appealed successfully against the judicial review decision. [7841]
Mr. Straw:
The detailed information requested is not readily available. The Home Office has been involved in several thousand judicial review applications since 1991-92. It is estimated that the Department's decision was upheld in more than 90 per cent. of these applications. The table below gives some information on immigration cases, which form the vast majority of all judicial review applicants brought against the Home Office.
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| Outcome of cases where leave granted | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total number of judicial review applications lodged | Total number of judicial applications where leave granted | Applications granted | Applications dismissed | Applications withdrawn |
| 1991 | 506 | 93 | 33 | 40 | 33 |
| 1992 | 544 | 104 | 14 | 27 | 58 |
| 1993 | 668 | 111 | 15 | 18 | 61 |
| 1994 | 935 | 162 | 68 | 32 | 110 |
| 1995 | 1,220 | 258 | 99 | 39 | 71 |
| 1996 | 1,748 | 301 | 131 | 42 | 105 |
The figures relate to the number of applications dealt with at each stage during the year concerned. For any given year, the total number of cases decided will not necessarily tally with the number of applications in which leave was granted, since applications may not be dealt with in the year in which they are lodged.
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Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since 1991-92 legislation has been introduced by the Department (a) to remove effects of judicial review decisions and (b) to implement them. [7842]
Mr. Straw:
The information sought is not kept in a readily retrievable form. It could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter in each year since 1967 in (i) England and (ii) Wales; and in each case what proportion this represents of the population. [8125]
Mr. Michael:
The figures for England and Wales are shown at table A. Figures are not available for England and Wales separately before 1979. Tables B and C show figures for each country for the period 1979-95.
(2) Population aged 10 and over.
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(3) Population aged 10 and over.
(4) Figures for earlier years are not available.
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(5) Population aged 10 and over.
(6) Figures for earlier years are not available.
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