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Members of the European Parliament
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the election of British Members of the European Parliament by proportional representation. [11488]
Mr. George Howarth: The Government recently announced their intention to introduce legislation this Session to provide for the 1999 elections to the European Parliament to be conducted using a proportionally based regional list system.
Amsterdam Treaty
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implications of chapter 14 of the Amsterdam treaty for the electoral systems in the United Kingdom. [11424]
Mr. George Howarth:
We do not believe that chapter 14 of the provisional draft treaty of Amsterdam will have an impact on the electoral system in the United Kingdom.
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We have recently announced our intention to change the electoral system for elections to the European Parliament to a proportionally based list system in time for the elections to be held in 1999.
Shona McIsaac:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish the second report on the impact of the national lottery on the horserace betting levy. [12151]
Mr. George Howarth:
An update on the impact of the national lottery on the horserace betting levy has been published today. This fulfils an undertaking made during the passage of the National Lottery Bill.
The paper, which has been prepared by the economics unit of the Home Office, examines continuing trends in off-course betting expenditure, on which the levy is closely dependent.
The statistical analysis suggests that, in 1996, betting expenditure off-course was about 10 per cent. below the level it would have reached in the absence of the national lottery. Horserace betting accounts for an estimated 70 per cent. of such expenditure, and therefore the levy yield is likely to have been similarly affected. This can be only an approximate figure, and the effect of the lottery may vary over time.
Mr. Stephen Twigg:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which provisions of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 will be implemented; and when. [12152]
Mr. Straw:
I will implement most of the provisions of the Act, and to the same timetable as envisaged by the previous administration. The provisions of the Act which I will implement are set out, according to the target date of implementation.
Provisions to be implemented in 1997:
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Provisions to be piloted in 1998:
Other provisions for which no implementation date has yet been decided.
The previous Administration said that implementation of what became section 4 of the Act would depend on the Prison Service's capacity and available resources. They said, as an "example", that these provisions could be implemented in October 1999. Because the relevant convictions do not count until the section comes into operation, very few people would be subject to the provisions of section 4 until 2001. Against this background, and given current pressures on prison capacity and available resources, it would not be practical to implement section 4 for the present. I shall, however, keep the matter under review.
I have also decided not to implement the new early release arrangements set out in sections 8, 10 to 26 and related paragraphs of schedules 4 and 5. The same effect can be achieved in a far more clear and straightforward way by ensuring that judges and magistrates spell out in open court what the sentence they have imposed really means in practice. Sections 20 to 21, which deal with extended post-release supervision of violent and sexual offenders, are integrally linked with the other early release provisions and will not be implemented, but I will bring forward in the Crime and Disorder Bill alternative provisions which will provide the additional protection of the public which they were designed to achieve.
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Mr. Todd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take on the recommendations of the review of delay in the criminal justice system. [12153]
Mr. Straw:
The review of delay in the criminal justice system was set up in October 1996 and its report was published on 27 February 1997. Interested parties were then invited to comment on the 33 recommendations in the report. My right hon. and learned Friends the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney-General and I have considered these recommendations, taking account of the responses received, and we have concluded that many of them have the potential substantially to reduce delay without impairing the quality of justice.
We have therefore decided to accept the following recommendations, making legislative provision, where necessary, in the Crime and Disorder Bill:
The recommendations relating to legal aid, which complement many of those provisions, will be considered by my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor in the light of the pervious Government's proposed reforms and Sir Peter Middleton's review of legal aid which is now in progress.
We are not persuaded that the case for removing defendants' right of election has yet been made out, but since responses to the consultation exercise showed some substantial support for this proposal, we shall consider this question further, with a view to publishing a more detailed consultation paper in due course.
The Government's response to all the recommendations of the review of delay in the criminal justice system is set out in a document which has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Ian Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Governor of Hong Kong submitted a final report on the discharge of his functions under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990. [12154]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Governor submitted his last report to my right hon. Friend on 20 June. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Automatic life sentence for a second conviction for a serious sexual or violent offence (section 2).
Mandatory minimum sentence of seven years for a third class A drug trafficking conviction (section 3).
Technical provisions and consequential changes arising from sections 2 and 3, including the extension of the automatic life sentence provisions to armed forces legislation (sections 1.5, 6, 7, and schedule 4 as they relate to sections 2 and 3).
New provisions for the release of those sentenced to detention during Her Majesty's pleasure (sections 28 to 33).
Increase in age limits from 21 to 25 for use of attendance centres for fine defaulters (section 36).
Abolition of consent requirements for certain community penalties (section 38 and related paragraphs of schedule 4).
Transfer of prisoners between jurisdictions (Section 41, schedule 1, and relevant paragraphs of schedules 4 and 5).
Repatriation of prisoners (section 42 and schedule 2).
Increase in maximum penalty for juveniles convicted of indecent assault on a female (section 44).
Naming juveniles in court proceedings (section 45).
Hospital and limitation directions for sentencing mentally disordered offenders, (section 46 and schedule 4, paragraph 12).
Power to specify hospital units for detention of mentally disordered offenders (sections 47, 49(2) and 49(4)).
Movement of conditionally discharged patients between jurisdictions in the United Kingdom (section 48 and schedule 3).
Extended maximum duration of interim hospital order (section 49(1)).
Transfer of prisoners to private psychiatric hospitals for treatment (section 49(3)).
Committals for sentence (section 51 and related paragraphs of schedule 4). This is linked to the plea before venue provision in the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (section 49) which I propose to bring into force at the same time.
Increase in maximum penalty for indecency with a child (section 52).
Community service or curfew order enforced by electronic monitoring for fine defaulters (section 35, and paragraph 10(2) of schedule 4).
Community service for persistent petty offenders (section 37).
Disqualification from driving as a penalty (section 39).
Disqualification from driving for fine defaulters (section 40).
Curfew order enforced by electronic monitoring for juveniles (section 43).
New arrangements for crediting time spent in custody on remand in calculation of sentence (sentence 9 and related paragraphs of schedules 4 and 5).
Disclosure of pre-sentence reports to the prosecution (section 50).
Application of mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking to service law (section 7 as it applies to section 3).
those which are designed to enable straightforward guilty plea cases to be dealt with a day or two after charge, thus restoring the concept of summary justice;
proposals for improving case management in magistrates courts by allowing certain powers to be exercised by a single justice and to be further delegated where appropriate to clerks to the Justices;
the proposal that indictable-only cases should begin in the Crown court (subject to arrangements being agreed for dealing with remand hearings, submissions of no case to answer and related matters); and
some recommendations for procedural changes in the Youth court.
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