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Police Pensions
5. Mr. Gray: What representations he has received on the effect on police pensions of the removal of the advance corporation tax credit for pension funds. [11661]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Alun Michael): It should come as no surprise to the House that we have received no representations on the effect on police pensions of the removal of the advance corporation tax credit. The police pension scheme is not based on a pension fund: it is financed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Mr. Gray: Is the Minister not aware that, although what he says is of course correct, he has entirely missed the fact that civilian employees in the police force will be affected by the removal of this tax? In Wiltshire alone, the removal of ACT will cost the police force an extra £80,000. That money should be spent on policing Wiltshire's streets rather than being handed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. Michael: The hon. Gentleman should read his own question before asking supplementaries. He asked specifically about the effect on police pensions. The distinction that he makes does not apply to some police pensions, especially some in the Metropolitan police.
Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985
6. Mr. Hanson: What plans he has to review the operation of and scope of the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985. [11662]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. George Howarth): Although we remain concerned about that problem, we have no plans to review the operation of the Act at this time.
Mr. Hanson: Will my hon. Friend take this opportunity to welcome the recent appointment of the drugs tsar, who will help in the overall co-ordination of Government policy on the prevention of substance abuse?
On solvent abuse in particular, which is the topic of the Act, will my hon. Friend ensure that there is greater education and stronger enforcement of the Act? In particular, will he ensure that the dangers of butane gas abuse, which has killed nearly 40 young people this year alone, are brought to the attention of the community at large?
Mr. Howarth:
I join my hon. Friend in welcoming the appointment of the new drugs tsar. There is a case for co-ordinating Government policy and I am sure that that is the function that the drugs tsar will carry out.
My hon. Friend asks about solvent and lighter gas abuse. We receive advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and the Department of Trade and Industry is currently looking at the difficulties of enforcing policy. The Department will involve the council, and if anything positive results we shall certainly be willing to act. The advice that we have received, and that which the previous Government received on two occasions, is that it is difficult to legislate in this area. If anyone can come up with a sensible way to do that, we will obviously look at it.
7. Mr. David Atkinson:
What assessment he has made of the use of closed circuit television in combating crime. [11663]
Mr. Michael:
The experience of closed circuit television partnerships and recent research has shown that CCTV can be effective in preventing crime and, indeed, the fear of crime when it is used as part of a wider crime prevention strategy. The CCTV schemes which the Home Office has helped to fund are required to provide details of how they plan to evaluate the success of their systems, and we are continuing to monitor these.
Mr. Atkinson:
Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the dismay of my constituents that a European regulation which is to be implemented next year will prevent the use of video evidence alone, however conclusive, being sufficient for a court to convict? Will he resist such Napoleonic practices from Europe, which can only hinder the Government's ability to be tough on crime?
Mr. Michael:
Often, things are blamed on Europe which Europe is not even trying to introduce. I shall certainly look at the hon. Gentleman's point, but I think that he is misinterpreting what is coming from Europe. Certainly, one of the strengths of CCTV is that on a number of occasions it has provided clarity of evidence and has increased the certainty of successful prosecution. We all know that the fear of being caught and punished is the most effective deterrent to crime.
Ms Christine Russell:
Does my hon. Friend agree that, although CCTV is no substitute for police officers on the beat, it makes a great contribution to reducing crime, especially street crime and shoplifting in city centres? Would he and his Department be prepared to do more to encourage retailers and city centre businesses to enter into funding partnerships with local authorities so as to extend the provision of CCTV?
Mr. Michael:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that there are benefits from CCTV schemes, particularly when they are part of a response to crime by a partnership involving the public sector and the business sector. The crime and disorder Bill, which we shall introduce later this year, will strengthen and encourage those partnerships and will involve the whole community in the fight against crime. CCTV needs to be a part of that community response where its targeted use is particularly appropriate.
Mr. Clappison:
But the Minister is conspicuously not offering anything in the way of new resources. He will
Mr. Michael:
I think that the hon. Gentleman is confusing who was in power when television sets were put into cells. I appreciate the difficulty that he is in: he has taken over a difficult brief, which has been left in an awful mess by Conservative predecessors. For instance, the previous Home Secretary had £15 million to spend in this financial year and he appears to have spent £20 million. We are trying to sort out the mess that we have inherited. It is also clear that, despite the interesting comments by the Conservative party in the run-up to the general election, it had made no provision whatever for CCTV past the coming financial year--so the hon. Gentleman needs to do his homework before coming to this Chamber.
8. Dr. Ladyman:
If he will make a statement on Britain's border controls with the rest of the European Union. [11664]
Mr. Straw:
Our first resolve is to retain the United Kingdom system of frontier and border controls. One of the many achievements of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in Amsterdam in June was to obtain legal confirmation of the right to maintain controls at our frontiers with other European Union member states--something that the previous Administration had conspicuously failed to achieve.
Dr. Ladyman:
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. Will he also confirm that the problems in east Kent are almost entirely a consequence of the previous Administration's failure to put in place fair and effective asylum and immigration controls? I thank him for the efforts he has already made to reduce significantly the number of unfounded asylum seekers. What further measures does he intend to implement to help asylum applications to be dealt with more quickly?
Mr. Straw:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks. We have acted swiftly and firmly to seek to stem the flow of unfounded asylum seekers at Dover and elsewhere, against a background in which the previous Government signed up to the Dublin convention, apparently without even reading the text, something that has made the procedure much more complex and much more difficult.
In answer to my hon. Friend's second question, I can announce today the introduction of a new procedure to speed up the decision-making processes in abusive asylum cases. Under the new procedure, the time allowed for people with abusive claims to make further representations after interview will be cut from the
existing 28 days to five working days. The new procedure will have national application at all ports with immediate effect.
Mr. Gale:
The right hon. Gentleman will have heard his junior Minister confirm on the radio this morning that his civil servants were reviewing entry procedures for people coming into the United Kingdom and passport controls, and that there was therefore some substance in the newspaper story that was carried. Given that the Minister said that this morning, why should we believe for one moment that our frontiers are safe, particularly in the light of the fact that his Department took absolutely no action to stem the first wave of immigrants from the Czech and Slovak Republics until that news hit the press?
Mr. Straw:
Almost every assumption behind the hon. Gentleman's question is incorrect. The truth is that we took firm and effective action. That is now working, as the numbers show.
Mr. Prosser:
I thank my right hon. Friend for meeting me last week to talk about the serious problems that Dover and my constituents in Dover face. Does he agree that the sudden impact of bogus asylum seekers on a small community such as Dover can have major social impact and disrupt good racial harmony? Would he like to contrast the practical and responsible way in which the Government are working to find solutions to those sensitive problems with the irresponsible and inflammatory statements made by some Conservative Members?
Mr. Straw:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks and for the compliment that he paid to my hon. Friend the junior Minister, who has been working so hard to deal with those problems. The truth is that the previous Government's practice on asylum applications was chaotic. That led to a wholly unsatisfactory burden being placed on local authorities, about which Conservative right hon. and hon. Members used to complain. But that burden is there. The previous Government's inefficiency also led to a backlog of more than 50,000 applications. They created the problem; we are attempting to provide a solution to it.
Mr. Beith:
Has not the document that appeared this morning revealed that neither the right hon. Gentleman nor, perhaps more significantly, the previous Conservative Government set aside anything like enough money to provide enough immigration officers to inspect every one of the millions of passports that are shown at our port controls? Does that not demonstrate that the right hon. Gentleman must use more sophisticated systems, particularly given that the current one allows many illegal immigrants through in any case, and seek more European co-operation, not less, to control in particular the flow of criminals across boundaries?
Mr. Straw:
One of the reasons why the Liberal Democrats ended up with such a small number of seats after the election and are the third party was their spend, spend, spend policy, which convinced nobody. The right hon. Gentleman spent the one penny on income tax about 55 times over.
Fiona Mactaggart:
I invite my right hon. Friend to refute the suggestions made in some newspapers today
Mr. Straw:
The procedure according to which we have cut the time from 28 days to five days for port applicants--something which the previous Government never did--is designed for abusive claims. Those who have a genuine, well-founded claim will not be caught by the change.
As for the first part of my hon. Friend's question, the simple fact is that the previous Government failed to secure proper legal protection for our border controls. That is not just our view but the view of the former Conservative Immigration Minister, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Mr. Wardle). It was not until my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister went to Amsterdam that any proper legal protection of our border controls was obtained and written into international law.
Sir Brian Mawhinney:
First, may I associate the Opposition with the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mrs. Laing) and those of the Home Secretary on the tragic death of the woman police constable? We join everyone else in extending our condolences to her family.
Given the Government's apparent determination to undermine our border controls and the fair but firm immigration policy which they inherited from the previous Government, can the right hon. Gentleman confirm that the terms of reference of the spending review made it legitimate for civil servants to bring forward for the right hon. Gentleman's consideration the sort of proposals outlined in today's edition of The Guardian?
Mr. Straw:
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his remarks about the appalling death of WPC Nina Mackay.
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