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HOME DEPARTMENT
Tagging Orders (Norfolk)
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many tagging orders (a) have been issued and (b) are currently in operation in Norfolk. [15760]
Ms Quin: On 12 November 1997, a total of 186 curfew orders, enforced by electronic monitoring, had been imposed by the courts, of which 50 were still in force.
Probation Officers
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time probation officers there were in Wales in each year since 1985; and if he will make a statement. [15729]
Ms Quin: The number of full-time probation officers (Wales: 31 December) is as follows:
- 1987: 322
- 1988: 324
- 1989: 332
- 1990: 339
- 1991: 359
- 1992: 357
- 1993: 366
- 1994: 371
- 1995: 354
- 1996: 357.
The numbers include probation officers seconded to work in prisons.
Prisons
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new prisons are under construction; and if he will make a statement. [15744]
Ms Quin:
One: Her Majesty's Prison Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire. Construction at Her Majesty's Prison Parc, Bridgend, South Wales, which is due to open on 17 November, was certified to be completed on 25 September. The construction of Her
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Majesty's Prison Altcourse, Fazakerley, Merseyside is scheduled to be formally certified as completed on 14 November.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his answer of 29 October, Official Report, column 823, concerning border controls, what powers he will possess on activation of the Protocol of the Amsterdam treaty in respect of (a) citizens of the European Union and (b) nationals of member states of the European Economic Area, additional to verification of identity by personal travel documents. [15289]
Ms Quin:
Powers for immigration officers to examine identity documents of passengers arriving in the United Kingdom are contained in Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971. Schedule 2 applies to the examination of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals in accordance with Article 20(2)(e) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Order 1994. Article 3 of that Order provides that (subject to article 15(1) of the Order) an EEA national will be admitted to the United Kingdom on production, on arrival, of a valid national identity card or passport issued by another EEA State and, if required, proof that he is the family member of an EEA national. "EEA nationals" includes all nationals of the European Economic Area, including European Community nationals, except British citizens. No new powers are conferred by the Protocol, which instead confirms the United Kingdom's (and Ireland's) rights to conduct checks on persons at the internal frontiers of the European Union.
Mr. Soames:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the detailed procedures in place for processing asylum seekers on their arrival at United Kingdom ports of entry. [15085]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The procedures in place at ports of entry are designed to meet the United Kingdom's obligations under the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees while minimising the scope for abuse of the asylum process. These procedures allow for the prompt identification of asylum seekers; information to be provided about the asylum process and the agencies that can offer assistance; and the asylum claim to be forwarded to the Asylum Directorate of the Home Office at the earliest opportunity.
All procedures are kept under review and revised as necessary. More generally, a study of all aspects of the asylum process across Government is currently being carried out.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to allocate additional resources to treatment programmes for sex offenders, with special reference to offenders who are on short sentences and are released from prison without community supervision. [15476]
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Ms Quin
[holding answer 13 November 1997]: The Prison Service has made available in the current financial year an additional £1 million in support of offending behaviour programmes, including sex offender treatment programmes.
There are no plans at present to devote additional Prison Service resources to programmes aimed at sex offenders sentenced to short terms of imprisonment because they would not be in prison for long enough after sentencing for them to complete a meaningful programme.
The Government intend to include provisions in the Crime and Disorder Bill to give the courts power to impose extended periods of post-release supervision on sex-offenders, including those who receive sentences of 12 months or less. The Government acknowledge that these proposals will have resource implications for probation services.
Mr. Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Official Report, column 441, if he will list the e-mail addresses of (a) Ministers, (b) senior officials and (c) chief executives of agencies for which he is responsible. [15878]
Mr. Straw
[holding answer 13 November 1997]: No Minister in my Department at present has an e-mail address.
Correspondence sent to the Home Office e-mail address, ho.gen@gtnet.gov.uk, is forward to the appropriate senior officials as necessary. Links to the e-mail addresses of the Research and Statistics Directorate and the Police Research Group are provided from the appropriate areas of the Home Office web site, www.homeoffice.gov.uk, and messages can be marked for the attention of senior officials.
Chief executives of agencies for which my Department is responsible do not have individual e-mail addresses. However, appropriately headed messages sent to the Fire Service College, moreton@campus.bt.com, will be forwarded to the chief executive, and a feedback form on the Forensic Science Service website, www.fss.org.uk, can also be addressed to the chief executive.
Helen Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he intends to take to ensure that all prisons have a healthcare manager, following the report of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in 1994; and if he will make a statement. [16368]
Ms Quin:
Figures for 1996-97 indicate that health care managers have been appointed in at least 122 Prison Service establishments. Governors are not obliged to follow any particular model in setting up their management teams. However, the issue of health care managers, among others, will be examined by a joint Prison Service/Department of Health Working Group which has been set up in response to the 1996 Report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons "Patient or Prisoner?", to look at the whole question of the future delivery of health care to prisoners.
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Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are required to be complied with before (a) the police and (b) M15 can gain access to information generated within the System X telephone system in respect of call origin and destination related information. [15710]
Mr. Straw:
Section 45 of the Telecommunications Act 1984, as amended by the Interception of Communications Act 1985, provides that public telecommunications operators commit an offence if they disclose any information concerning the use made of their telecommunications services by any other person except where disclosures are made for the prevention or detection of crime, for the purposes of any criminal proceedings, in the interests of national security or in pursuance of the order of a court. It is for the individual operator to satisfy himself that one or more of those exceptions apply before releasing any such information at the request of the police or the Security Service.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make unauthorised surveillance by electronic devices a criminal offence. [15695]
Mr. Michael:
To introduce a general offence outlawing unauthorised surveillance by an electronic device would raise particular technical and definitional problems. Remedies are already available to take action against those who carry out surveillance which transgresses the current criminal law, for example if they commit theft or criminal damage, behave in a threatening or violent way or where there is harassment. Furthermore, the act of simple trespass is a civil tort.
There are also offences under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 and the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 to regulate the use of certain techniques and methods. On the other hand, there are legitimate uses of electronic surveillance by other than law enforcement agencies which are of benefit to society and the safety of the public. The use of closed circuit television in shopping centres, car parks, on housing estates and inside offices, banks, shops and public buildings is generally welcomed by the public and accepted as necessary for crime prevention.
The media would argue that cameras and other equipment are an essential component of investigative journalism and that any prohibition on their use would be a form of censorship. To regulate the use of all such equipment would create a massive administrative burden. Existing offences under the criminal and civil law already provide a degree of cover and redress for infringements of privacy by the use of electronic surveillance. Incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights will also impact upon this issue.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since 1967 and for how long (a) Category 3 and (b) Category 2 phone numbers have been disconnected; at what locations; and for what reasons. [15778]
Mr. George Howarth:
Category 3 disconnections have been made when the public telephone network has been severely damaged (storms, 1987 and 1990), heavily overloaded (Hungerford, 1987), or malfunctioning
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telephone exchanges (Welford on Avon, Chadford, 1993). The action was taken by the telecommunications operator to ensure that essential users could use the network while restoration of service was being carried out.
Central Government have never invoked the authority to disconnect Category 2 phone numbers.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances MI5 undertakes telephone tapping without first having obtained a warrant. [15718]
Mr. Straw:
Under no circumstances are communications intercepted in the course of their transmission by means of a public telecommunications system by, or at the request of, the Security Service without the authority of a warrant.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what sum was paid out of public funds to British Telecom for each year since 1986 in respect of work carried out in telephone tapping services. [15726]
Mr. Straw:
Interception of Communications is an important weapon in the fight against serious crime and threats to public safety. It has been the policy of successive governments not to disclose information which might assist criminals, terrorists and hostile foreign powers by revealing the extent of our capabilities in relation to interception.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the warrants authorising telephone taps for each year since 1986 were still in force on 1 November. [15716]
Mr. Straw:
The available information is published in the annual reports of the Commissioner appointed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 which lists the number of warrants issued by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland in the course of each year, and the numbers of warrants in force at the end of each year. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the discussions and decisions regarding surveillance of telecommunications undertaken within the EU since 23 November 1996; [15682]
Mr. Straw:
On 23 November 1995, a Memorandum of Understanding concerning international user requirements for the lawful use of interception by law enforcement agencies was signed by all members of the European Union and Norway. A copy of the Memorandum was placed in the Library on 3 March 1997.
Separately from this, the United Kingdom is working with European Union member states on a draft Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the member states of the European Union. This includes draft articles relating to the interception of satellite and terrestrial communications. The Convention is primarily designed to improve existing arrangements
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for co-operation between judicial authorities in European Union member states under the 1959 Council of Europe Convention on mutual legal assistance. On 28 October, the Government placed before the scrutiny committees of both Houses, and in the Library, copies of the latest draft of the Convention.
(2) what action has been taken since 23 November 1996 in respect of the provision of access for law enforcement agencies to (a) satellite-based communications and (b) other communications; and if he will make a statement. [15683]
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