---

Crime (Conviction and Clear-up Rates)

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the (a) conviction rate and (b) clear-up rate for each category of crime (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage change, per area, in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [16549]

Mr. Michael: The information requested is given in the tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library. Figures for clear-ups and convictions are not directly comparable because clear-ups and convictions are not directly comparable because clear-ups relate to offences and convictions relate to offenders.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what are the detailed procedures for following up asylum seekers after their entry into the United Kingdom; [15081]

(2) who is responsible for following up asylum seekers after their entry into the United Kingdom. [15084]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Asylum seekers granted temporary admission by the Immigration Service may be required to report to the police or the Immigration Service on specified dates. It remains, however, the responsibility of all asylum seekers to maintain contact with the

18 Nov 1997 : Column: 98

Immigration and Nationality Directorate and to inform the Directorate of any change of address or representative or of any other relevant change in circumstances.

A failure to attend for interview, to respond promptly to written inquires, or otherwise to comply in full with the procedures or the terms of temporary admission, may result in the application being refused.

Police Complaints

Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports on the cost of the complaints and discipline departments for the current year of the police forces of (i) Manchester, (ii) Liverpool, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) Northumbria. [16127]

Mr. Michael: The forces concerned have supplied the information set out below, which may not necessarily be directly comparable. The estimated costs for the current financial year are:

	£ million
Greater Manchester Police	2.05
Merseyside Police	1.6
West Midlands Police	1.7
Northumbria	0.86

18 Nov 1997 : Column: 99

Intrusive Surveillance

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 4 November, Official Report, column 119, if the absolute requirement to obtain the authority of a warrant to carry out intrusive surveillance involving entry on to, or interference with, property also applies to surveillance carried out from without a property. [15953]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 14 November 1997]: The statutory provision is to be found in sections 5 and 6 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994. The requirement to obtain a warrant applies to all operations which involve entry on or interference with property, or with wireless telegraphy.

Interception of Communications

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for phone tap warrants were made by MI5 in 1996; how many were (a) agreed and (b) refused. [15721]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 3 November. Official Report, column 26, where I explained that, in accordance with the practice adopted by successive Interception Commissioners, I considered that it would be prejudicial to national security to publish figures for the number of telephone warrants issued to each individual agency.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if phone taps authorised for numbers allocated to public phone boxes are included in the figures given to Parliament in respect of the numbers of phone taps authorised. [15704]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: The information published in the Annual Report of the Interception Commissioner includes all telecommunications warrants issued by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland, irrespective of the type of telephone which is intercepted.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many warrants authorising phone taps related to (a) an individual and (b) two or more individuals, including organisations, for each year since 1986. [15717]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: It would not be in the public interest to publish this information.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many directives have been issued to British Telecom under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 for each year since its inception. [15724]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: Section 94(4) of the Telecommunications Act 1984 requires the Secretary of State to lay before the House a copy of every direction given under section 94 unless he is of the opinion that disclosure of the direction is against the interests of national security. No directions have been laid before Parliament. It follows that any directions which may have been issued by the Secretary of State for the Home Department could not be disclosed, in the interests of national security.

18 Nov 1997 : Column: 100

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many items of mail were legally intercepted and opened for each year since 1986; and in respect of how many persons. [15697]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: The available information is published in the annual reports of the Interception Commissioner, which list the number of postal warrants issued each year by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland. Figures for the numbers of postal warrants issued by the Home Secretary in each year since 1986 are as follows:

Postal warrants issued by the Home Secretary

Year	Number of warrants
1985	40
1986	95
1987	34
1988	48
1989	31
1990	42
1991	62
1992	118
1993	105
1994	76
1995	87
1996	69
Total	807

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances monitoring of international communications terminating within the United Kingdom is subject to approval by warrant. [15681]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: The requirement to obtain a warrant under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 applies in relation to the interception of any communication in the course of its transmission by means of a public telecommunications system.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will amend the terms of the Interception of Communications Act 1985 to comply with (a) Article 13 and (b) Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [15711]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: We shall, in due course, bring forward proposals to amend the Interception of Communications Act 1985 so as to bring it into line with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Halford v. the United Kingdom.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances calls made by prisoners from Her Majesty's prisons are monitored. [15684]

Ms Quin [holding answer 17 November 1997]: All telephone calls made by prisoners, other than in open establishments, are recorded and are liable to be monitored. Calls made by high and exceptional risk category A prisoners are simultaneously monitored. Monitoring of other prisoners' calls takes place on a selective basis where there is justifiable suspicion of abuse, supplemented by random monitoring to the extent to which it is considered operationally necessary for the purposes of security, control and the detection of crime.

18 Nov 1997 : Column: 101

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which recommendations of the Birkett Report are not presently effective. [15727]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the report by Lord Diplock on the interception of communications in Great Britain, which was published in March 1981 (Cmnd 8191). In the fourth paragraph, Lord Diplock recorded that all of Lord Birkett's recommendations had subsequently been adopted and had been followed ever since. Following a White Paper published in 1985, the Interception of Communications Act 1985 was enacted and this Act provides the current statutory basis for lawful interception of communications.

M15

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the MI5 budget is currently spent on counter-subversion. [15679]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: In the current financial year, the Security Service expects to spend less than 1 per cent. of its budget on residual work on counter subversion.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the present terms of reference for MI5. [15720]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: The functions of the Security Service are prescribed in the Security Service Act 1989, as amended by the Security Service Act 1996. They are, in summary, as follows:

(i) the protection of national security;


(ii) safeguarding the economic well being of the United Kingdom against threats posed by the actions or intentions of persons outside the British Islands;


(iii) acting in support of the activities of police forces and other law enforcement agencies in the prevention and detection of serious crime.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons are employed in reviewing and destroying files now deemed inappropriate to be held by MI5. [15696]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: The review of Security Service files is an integral part of the duties of records management staff within the Security Service. Successive Governments have deemed it inappropriate to provide a breakdown of staff allocated to these tasks. Total staff at the Security Service at 4 November 1997 was 1,860.5 (full-time equivalent).

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances MI5 uses persons external to MI5 to carrying out tapping or other covert surveillance tasks. [15699]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 17 November 1997]: It has been the policy of successive Governments not to discuss operational matters relating to the work of the security and intelligence services.

---