| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Pagers (Security Service)
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what controls exist to regulate the interception by MI5 of signals from pagers. [71492]
Mr. Straw:
In accordance with section 5(b) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, members of the Security Service may, in the course of their duty as Crown Servants, use wireless telegraphy apparatus to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any message sent by means of pager. They may do so only in the performance of the Service's functions as laid down in the Security Service Act 1989, and as with any other kind of information obtained by the Service, the disclosure of the product from such interception is regulated by the terms of that Act. In addition, the interception of such messages is subject to the mechanisms established by the Act for dealing with complaints.
16 Feb 1999 : Column: 656
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to alter his Department's recommendation of £35 to £40 as a reasonable weekly allowance for au pairs working a maximum of 25 hours under rule 88 of the Immigration Rules. [71735]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
With effect from 1 April, overseas nationals living in the United Kingdom as au pairs will be subject to the National Minimum Wage provisions.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to encourage members of the Afro-Caribbean community to register to vote in elections. [70133]
Mr. George Howarth:
The Government carry out an annual advertising campaign to encourage all electors to register, but particularly targeted at the young and members of ethnic minorities. The Home Office also has regular contact with Operation Black Vote. In addition, my Working Party on Electoral Procedures has been considering how to maximise registration, and will shortly be issuing guidance to electoral registration officers.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the Government have for a public information campaign about the implications of the Human Rights Act 1998. [70134]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
We are considering this, alongside other priorities, and will announce our decision as soon as we can.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many working holidaymaker visas were issued to overseas teachers in the last three years for which figures are available; [71440]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
I regret that the information requested is not available in the form requested.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many press releases have been issued by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each of the years 1990 to 1998. [71449]
Mr. Straw:
The information for my Department and its agencies is as follows:
(2) how many working holidaymaker visas are currently issued to overseas teachers; and how many of these are known to be staying in (a) London and (b) the rest of the United Kingdom. [71441]
| Year | Home Office | Prison Service | Forensic Science Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 475 | -- | |
| 1991 | (19)452 | -- | |
| 1992 | 340 | -- | |
| 1993 | 319 | 56 | |
| 1994 | 314 | 68 | |
| 1995 | 308 | 61 | |
| 1996 | 404 | 57 | |
| 1997 | 386 | 67 | 11 |
| 1998 | 524 | 73 | 17 |
(19) Figures include any press releases issued for the Passport Agency and Forensic Science Service (FSS) until April 1997. Thereafter, FSS figures are shown separately.
16 Feb 1999 : Column: 657
I shall ask the Chief Executives of the non- departmental bodies to write to the hon. Member shortly with information about any press releases they may have issued.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the conventions governing the propriety and cost of press releases issued by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental bodies; and what is the total cost of the press releases issued since May 1997. [71464]
Mr. Straw:
Rules governing the work of the Government Information and Communication Service are laid down in the Guidance on the work of the Government Information Service published by the Cabinet Office in July 1997. More specific guidance on the writing and issuing of press releases is given in the Working Guide for Information Officers. Copies of both documents are in the Library.
The primary costs of issuing press releases relate to their electronic distribution, which is carried out through the Central Office of Information, and postage. The estimated total of these costs is £36,124. No central record of other costs which may be involved (e.g. faxing, e-mail etc.) is available.
Mr. Coleman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1995; and how many have resulted in convictions. [70735]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Section 8 of the 1996 Act came into force in January 1997. No prosecutions were brought in either that year or in 1998.
Our general approach towards the enforcement of this section remains as in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) on 27 October 1998, Official Report, column 119.
Sir Norman Fowler:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the scale of abuse of the immigration system by those entering into marriages as a means of obtaining settlement in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [71654]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Precise figures to reflect the use of a sham marriage to obtain settlement in this country are not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. The perception of some agencies most involved in tackling this abuse is that it is considerable and widespread.
16 Feb 1999 : Column: 658
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each police authority (a) the number of names submitted to him for appointment as independent members to serve from April 1999, (b) the number of existing police authority members included in those names, (c) the number of names returned by him to the police authority concerned and (d) the number of existing members of police authorities included in the list returned by him. [71191]
Mr. Boateng:
The information is provided in the table for the 37 police authorities (established under section 3 of the Police Act 1996) to which I have returned names so far. I have added column (e) to show the number of independent member vacancies for each police authority.
| Police authority | (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 12 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Bedfordshire | 20 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Cambridgeshire | 20 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Cheshire | 20 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Cumbria | 16 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 |
| Derbyshire | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 20 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Dorset | 20 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Durham | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 23 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 6 |
| Essex | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Gloucestershire | 20 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Greater Manchester | 24 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 6 |
| Gwent | 20 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Hampshire | 12 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| Hertfordshire | 20 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Humberside | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Kent | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Lancashire | 12 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Leicestershire | 20 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Norfolk | 20 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Northamptonshire | 19 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| Northumbria | 20 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| North Wales | 20 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| North Yorkshire | 16 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 |
| Nottinghamshire | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| South Wales | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| South Yorkshire | 20 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Staffordshire | 20 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Surrey | 20 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Sussex | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Thames Valley | 20 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Warwickshire | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| West Mercia | 20 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| West Midlands | 16 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| West Yorkshire | 20 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Wiltshire | 20 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
Homosexual Advance Defence
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will assess the first report of the New South Wales Attorney General's Department's Homosexual Advance Defence Working Party; and if he will make a statement. [71084]
Mr. Boateng:
The Final report of the Attorney General of New South Wales (Australia) Department's review of the Homosexual Advance Defence was issued in September 1998. The report concluded that it must be a standard of the law that claims of non-violent homosexual advances can neither excuse fatal violence nor mitigate
16 Feb 1999 : Column: 659
any offence of violence. It makes a number of recommendations, including legislative reform to exclude a non-violent homosexual advance from forming the basis of the defence of provocation. It is not clear whether the Government of New South Wales have accepted this recommendation.
We have no current plans to review the law on provocation as it applies in England and Wales.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |