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Prisons (HIV-AIDS)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he intends to take to ensure that all prison establishments have a multi-disciplinary management group dealing with HIV-AIDS; and if he will make a statement. [16369]
Ms Quin: It is Prison Service policy that every prison should have a multi-disciplinary AIDS Management Team. Teams from 125 establishments have so far attended centrally organised training courses as part of an ongoing programme. The content of the training has now been revised to include other communicable diseases such as Hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis. The Prison Service recently appointed an outside agency to develop further and deliver the training programme, and every establishment has been invited to send a team.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prison establishments in England and Wales provide basic awareness training for prisoners in respect of HIV-Aids. [16370]
Ms Quin: All Prison Service establishments are expected to provide basic awareness training for prisoners in HIV as part of their induction programme (usually within the first week of their arrival). In addition, all establishments are expected to have at least two trained HIV counsellors to deal with any concerns inmates may have during their stay in prison.
MI5
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what are the mechanisms for authorising the vetting of an individual by MI5; [15713]
- (2) how many persons were vetted by MI5 in the last year for which figures are available; [15714]
(3) if material collected by MI5 as part of vetting operations is always destroyed where those vetted are deemed not to be a security risk. [15715]
Mr. Straw: Security vetting is carried out in accordance with the policy set out by the then Prime Minister in reply to a Question from Sir Anthony Durant (then the Member for Reading, West) on 15 December 1994, Official Report, columns 764-66. It is for Departments to assess which posts, by virtue of their assess to sensitive Government assets, should be subject to security vetting. Before any vetting is carried out, the individual is informed of the processes involved and gives his or her consent to the relevant checks being made.
As the policy makes clear, a check against Security Service records is a standard element of the vetting process. Apart from the checks made on individuals at the request of Departments, the Security Service is responsible only for the vetting of its own staff and contractors. Information obtained during the vetting process is retained for management purposes and to facilitate periodic vetting reviews.
17 Nov 1997 : Column: 41
It is not the Government's policy to provide details of the work of the Security Service, including the numbers of persons subject to vetting checks.
Helen Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prison establishments in England and Wales have a pharmacist employed on the premises. [16371]
Ms Quin:
Thirty four Prison Service establishments have a resident pharmacist. These establishments generally act as pharmacy cluster centres, providing services to a further 67 prisons or Young Offender Institutions. Thirty one establishments obtain pharmacy drugs or services through a variety of arrangements with the private sector or the National Health Service.
Mr. Blizzard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the proposed timescale for the payment of compensation for the surrender of firearms prohibited by the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 to those who surrendered guns before 30 September. [16367]
Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has to date been the average period between the surrendering of firearms under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 and the payment of compensation to the former owners of such firearms; to what factors he attributes delays in the making of payments; and what proposals he has to expedite the payment of such compensation. [15886]
Mr. Michael:
Claims submitted under options A and B of the compensation scheme are being processed in 12 to 14 weeks. The more complicated option C claims will be processed when the bulk of these have been cleared.
More than 37,800 compensation claims and ex gratia applications under the small calibre pistol scheme have been received since 1 July, and the volume is such that some delays are inevitable. More than 14,200 payments have been made to a value of more than £17 million.
It has always been recognised that the pressure of claims received over a short hand-in period was bound to lead to processing delays, and claimants were advised that they may have to wait several weeks before receiving any payment. Despite that, an additional factor in delay is the burden of telephone enquiries about the progress of claims. A recent survey showed that the Home Office was receiving around 2,000 such calls a week.
As I promised in July, everything possible is being done to process claims in the shortest time possible. For instance, weekend overtime is being worked and staff have been temporarily promoted to boost examiner numbers. I wish to record my thanks to everyone who has contributed to the efforts to date including officials and the police officers involved.
Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms have so far been surrendered under the provisions of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997; and how many of those firearms
17 Nov 1997 : Column: 42
have been (a) melted down, (b) otherwise destroyed, (c) sold in (i) the United Kingdom or (ii) overseas and (d) otherwise handled. [15885]
Mr. Michael:
Further to my statement of 3 November, Official Report, column 56, just over 142,000 handguns were surrendered to police forces during the three month period which ended on 30 September.
The vast majority of these firearms are being destroyed under local arrangements in each police force area once the claimant has received compensation from the Home Office Firearms Compensation Section. Some forces have begun destroying firearms where the related claim has already been met, though no central record of actual destructions is being kept. None of the surrendered firearms will be sold either within the United Kingdom or abroad. A small minority of firearms may be retained by police forces for training purposes, and some by museums for public display.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the companies which have benefited from the Home Office Exports Initiative. [16212]
Mr. Michael:
During the period of the Exports Initiative, the Home Office Exports Promoter is known to have had dealings with the companies listed. The list is not exhaustive as not all contacts will have been recorded. The Exports Promoter also worked closely with the main trade associations in the policing and security sector who between them have over 500 member companies. It has proved difficult to show what actual export orders have resulted directly from the initiative. It is a matter for the companies concerned to assess what benefits they derived from the Initiative, but I am told that companies proved unwilling to tell officials at the Home Office whether any orders had resulted from trade events etc.
A1 Security and Electrical Ltd.
Aadver International
Adams Electronics
Agema Infrared Systems Ltd.
AIGIS Ltd.
Alexander Manufacturing (UK) Ltd.
Amcomm International Ltd.
AS and E
Aspley Identifying Solutions
Audiotel International Ltd.
Baxall Security Ltd.
Birmingham Gunmakers ltd.
Bleinheim Exhibitions
Bastion (North) Security Ltd.
Bramah Security
Broadcast and Surveillance Systems Ltd.
Camlock Systems PLC
Canford Audio
Cardkey Systems
CDR International
Chameleon Management Systems
Chubb PLC
Corps of Commissionaires Management Ltd.
CQR Security Components Ltd.
Duncan Advanced PLC
EEV Ltd.
Eurosat Distribution (Scotland) Ltd.
Expo Promotions
Foster and Freeman Ltd.
GB Information Management
Geografix Ltd.
17 Nov 1997 : Column: 43
Glover Webb Ltd
Grazeby Security
Group 4 Ltd.
Helmet Integrated Systems Ltd.
Hiatt and Company Ltd.
Horn Ltd.
Hourglass Publishing
ICL
IES
Imagebase Technology Ltd.
International Trade and Exhibitions Ltd.
Ion Track Instruments
Island Security Systems
Ivel Developments Ltd.
Jarvis Engineering and Technology Ltd.
K-Tech (UK) Ltd.
Keygrove Marketing Ltd.
Kinetic Group Ltd.
Labelex Exhibitions Ltd.
Latin American Trade and Investment Centre
Latin American Trade Advisory Group
Lightweight Body Armour Ltd.
Litton Data Systems
Martin Ison Associates Ltd.
Maxon Europe Ltd.
Mobile Radio Ltd.
Neal Recording Systems Ltd.
Notifier
NTL Radio Communications
Ogier Electronics
PAC International Ltd
PAFEC Ltd
Photon Security Services Ltd.
PJ Consultancy Services
Police Aviation Services
Probe FX (UK) Ltd
Public Access Terminals Ltd.
Pyronix Ltd.
Racal Acoustics Ltd.
Racal Messenger Ltd.
Racal Radio Ltd.
Racal Recorders
Racal-Comseq Ltd.
Rapiscan Security Products
Recall Ltd.
Redfern Consultancy
Remsdaq
RFR Marketing Ltd.
Rover Group
Scanna MSC Ltd.
SDA Consultants
Security Defence Technologies Ltd.
Selectamark Security Systems PLC
Sensor Electronics Ltd.
Sensormatic
Shepherd Surveillance Solutions
Simoco Telecommunication Ltd.
Sonic Communications (International) Ltd.
Symonds Group
Symonds Travers Morgan
Task International Ltd.
Texecom Ltd.
The Archer Group Ltd.
W. L. Gore and Associates (UK) Ltd.
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