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Raves
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he intends to take to prevent the use of motorway service stations for rave parties; and if he will make a statement. [14315]
Mr. Michael: There are already powers available to the police to deal with the problem of illegal rave parties. Sections 63-67 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 empower the police to direct persons assembling on land to leave where it is believed that a large-scale gathering--of 100 or more--will take place and would cause serious distress to the inhabitants of the locality by the playing of amplified music during the night. Furthermore, in order to assist the police in preventing such events from taking place, the Act provides them with pre-emptive powers to direct people to leave the land where they reasonably believe that those people are preparing or gathering for such an event. The police also have powers to stop persons proceeding to a rave, or an intended rave, within a radius of five miles of its site.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police man-hours were spent on the policing of rave parties in the last financial year in (a) England and Wales and (b) Cheshire; [14314]
- (2) what was the total cost of policing rave parties in the last financial year in (a) England and Wales and (b) Cheshire. [14316]
Mr. Michael: The information requested is not held centrally. The costs of specific activities carried out by the police is a matter for chief officers but police forces do not routinely hold information about the time spent on or the costs of individual operations. However, I understand from the Chief Constable of Cheshire that there were two rave parties in the last financial year at the M62 motorway service station at Burtonwood. A total of 220 officer hours was used in the policing of these events at a cost of approximately £3,600.
David Shayler
Mr. Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the injunction against The Mail on Sunday remains in force following the publication of further disclosures from David Shayler on 2 November.[14900]
Mr. Straw:
Yes. The purpose of the injunction which the High Court granted against The Mail on Sunday was to prevent it from publishing any further material which could damage national security. The terms of the injunction restrained the newspaper from publishing any information provided by Mr. Shayler, but expressly did not apply to the publication of any material in respect of which the Crown serves written notice that it does not seek to restrain publication. The Editor of The Mail on Sunday provided me with a draft of the article which he
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proposed to publish well in advance of the publication date. This enabled me to obtain an assessment from the Director General of the Security Service, who advised me that the article would not cause damage to national security if it were published. Notice was therefore given that we would not seek to restrain publication. The fact that the article was substantially wrong is another matter. The issue here is not necessarily whether a story is true or false as it is quite possible to conceive circumstances in which false accusations might nevertheless cause damage to national security.
This is entirely consistent with the position which the Government have adopted all along. Our concern is to ensure that nothing is published which is likely to damage national security. Former members of the Security and Intelligence Services are in a position to make disclosures which intentionally or unintentionally can cause real damage to national security. The Government cannot stand by and let that happen. We have, however, never sought to suppress criticism of the Security Service--even where that criticism is misguided or inaccurate--provided that national security is not damaged.
Cash and Running Costs Limits
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals he has to change the 1997-98 cash limit or running cost limit for the Office of Public Service. [14158]
Dr. David Clark: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for the Office of Public Service (Class XVII, Vote 1) will be increased by £17,760,000 from £141,061,000 to £158,821,000 and the gross running cost limit will be decreased by £52,000 from £80,475,000 to £80,423,000.
The changes reflect the take up of end-year flexibility of £9,000,000 under the end-year flexibility scheme announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 July 1997, Official Report, columns 245-250; an increase of £10,000,000 for gross provisions for opportunity cost rents; and transfers to the Department of Trade and Industry (Class IV, Vote 1) £300,000 and the Employment Service (Class IX, Vote 3) £940,000.
The increase will be offset by transfers or charge to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all (a) secondary, (b) other delegated legislation and (c) all deregulation orders his Department made during the summer adjournment. [14379]
Dr. David Clark:
A full list of statutory instruments laid before the House, whether under the affirmative or the negative procedure during the summer adjournment, is contained in the House of Commons Votes and Proceedings dated Monday 27 October 1997, which has been publicly available since Tuesday 28 October 1997.
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Mr. Steen:
To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee what were the countries of origin of beef served in the Palace of Westminster in each of the last three months; and if he will make a statement as to the percentage of beef supplied from each country. [13962]
Mr. Turner:
All beef served by the House of Commons Refreshment Department during the last three months was of British origin.
Mr. Forth:
To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee what steps he is taking to ensure the compliance of all parliamentary groups and committees to be recognised and listed with the rules and undertakings required of them, with particular reference to those referring to membership. [12540]
Mrs. Roe
[holding answer 27 October 1997]: At its meeting on 4 November, the Administration Committee considered whether any amendments to the existing regulations concerning All Party and Parliamentary Groups might be appropriate. The Committee determined that the current regulations, approved by the House on 20 March 1997, were adequate, and did not consider that further revision was necessary. However, I would expect any hon. Member to draw to my attention any incidences of where they consider the regulations might have been breached.
Pharmaceutical Industry
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what formal discussions he has held with pharmaceutical industry leaders. [13921]
Ms Jowell: My noble Friend, the Minister for Health holds the main ministerial responsibility for the pharmaceutical industry. She met representatives of their trade association, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, on 17 June. A further meeting is planned for 26 November. Both she and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health have also had a number of informal meetings with representatives of individual companies.
Officials also keep us in touch with matters of concern to the industry through the joint industry/government Industry Strategy Group, a forum which meets regularly to discuss issues of mutual interest.
Child Labour
Jane Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to implement the remainder of European Council directive 94/22/EC on the Protection of Young People at Work on child employment, following its consultation with local authorities and others. [13912]
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Mr. Boateng:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health will announce in due course proposals further to safeguard the interests of young people at work.
Mr. Frank Cook:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS charges certificates (AG3) were awarded in the area of Stockton borough council or the related local DSS offices; and what plans he has to improve the quality of information available to the public in respect of the use of the certificates. [13744]
Mr. Milburn:
National Health Service low income Scheme charges certificates AG3 were replaced by HC3 from 1 June 1997. The new version was introduced following consumer testing and provides clear information to the user. During the period 1 December 1996, when computer records were introduced, to 31 May 1997, when the AG3 was replaced, 2,855 AG3s were sent to people providing a Stockton postcode ("TS") with their low income scheme claim.
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