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Athletics
Mr. Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proposals he has for the World Class Performance Programme for the United Kingdom's top athletes. [78043]
Mr. Chris Smith: The Sports Cabinet met for the second time on Wednesday last week and decided on a package of Lottery support to back our top sportsmen and women.
The Government will shortly lay before Parliament an Order which will make the UK Sports Council a Lottery distributor and earmark a percentage of the Lottery Sports Fund for them to distribute for the UK's best sportsmen and women for them to train and prepare for competition.
A joint scheme has already been pioneered by the four Sports Councils for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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This decision builds on that scheme and its success, makes a strong commitment to future funding, and, for the first time, ensures that the top UK athletes from whatever part of the country are backed by a single unified and well run scheme.
Regular and independent reports to Ministers and to the UK Sports Council on the way the money is being spent, and its effectiveness in helping the UK's top athletes to maximise their potential and achieve sporting success, and in bringing medals and championship titles to the UK, will be built in from the outset.
This programme will be closely linked to the development of the UK Sports Institute. The Government has already announced the new direction it is giving with more of the Institute's facilities built throughout the country where athletes actually want to live and train, and a strategic Headquarters to co-ordinate services and set standards across the national network.
As a consequence, the balance of expenditure between Headquarters and regions will change with more being spent on the regional facilities in line with the results of wide consultation of athletes and governing bodies which the Sports Councils have carried out, and the required funding for capital work on the Headquarters building being accordingly substantially reduced. The Headquarters will concentrate on its crucial role of oversight of the provision of the best in sports science and medicine, and quality assurance of the network sites, and will now be the direct responsibility of the UK Sports Council.
In line with that policy, Ministers have now decided that greater emphasis should be placed on training and preparation programmes. The proposed Order will earmark a percentage of Lottery funding, which should generate £20.5 million for the World Class Performance and Events Programmes.
Within this sum of Lottery funding, it is expected that the UK Sports Council should have about £2 million annually to help attract to and stage major sporting events in this country. The Sports Cabinet sees a close link between these programmes. They will both benefit all parts of the UK fairly, where close joint working is needed if we are to succeed on the international scene--and the best possible place for a top performance is in front of an enthusiastic home crowd against the best world competition.
These two programmes will be closely co-ordinated with the work of the four Home Country Sports Councils, who will continue to back excellence in sports which compete separately as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and in helping to identify and support up-and-coming talent.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of applicants' passports held at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate awaiting a decision; what arrangements he will make for temporary travel documents to be issued for those whose applications are
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delayed as a result of reorganisation at IND; and what proposals he has for offering compensation to those who are disadvantaged as a result of the delays. [76615]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate has estimated the approximately 22,000 passports are currently being held. Travel Documents will be issued only to people who have valid leave to remain in the United Kingdom. It is, therefore, not possible to issue documents where an application for leave remains outstanding, although passports will be returned to applicants when they need to travel. Compensation will
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be paid only in cases of maladministration where the costs are reasonable and have been actually and necessarily incurred: each case will be treated on its merits.
Mr. Fearn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides there have been in prisons, remand centres and youth detention centres in each of the last 10 years; and how many were of persons under the age of 21 years. [76936]
Mr. George Howarth:
The information is given in the table.
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| Year | Number of SIDs in prisons of persons aged under 21 years | Number of SIDs in remand centres of persons aged under 21 years | Number of SIDs in young offender institutions of persons aged under 21 years | Total number of SIDs | Number of SIDs of prisoners aged under 21 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 8 | -- | 1 | 37 | 9 |
| 1989 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 48 | 12 |
| 1990 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 50 | 10 |
| 1991 | 1 | -- | 4 | 42 | 5 |
| 1992 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 7 |
| 1993 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 47 | 3 |
| 1994 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 62 | 10 |
| 1995 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 59 | 8 |
| 1996 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 64 | 12 |
| 1997 | -- | 4 | 5 | 68 | 9 |
| 1998 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 83 | 14 |
SIDs--self-inflicted deaths
Notes:
1. Establishments have been categorised according to their main role only. Establishments that have more than one role have been placed in the category that represents their primary function (i.e. Doncaster is a local prison which also holds a significant number of young offenders).
2. Not all self-inflicted deaths conclude with a verdict of suicide.
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Thomas Tangney
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Thomas Tangney was considered suitable for transfer to Ford Open Prison. [77321]
Mr. George Howarth: Mr. Tangney met the criteria which need to be satisfied before a transfer to open prison conditions takes place. These criteria were set out in my reply to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 11 March 1999, Official Report, column 332. The decision to transfer Mr. Tangney to open prison conditions was taken by Ministers on the recommendation of the Parole Board in line with normal practice in these cases.
Europol
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 267-68, if the National Criminal Intelligence Service can access the Schengen Information System without the unanimous agreement of the Schengen states. [77165]
Kate Hoey:
Direct access to the Schengen Information System (SIS) by the National Criminal Intelligence Service and other law enforcement agencies could be secured only if the United Kingdom was a member of the SIS. The SIS is part of the Schengen acquis, which will be incorporated into the European Union on the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam. In accordance with
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Article 4 of the Schengen Protocol, any request by the United Kingdom to take part in some or all of the existing provisions of the Schengen acquis is subject to the agreement of the thirteen Schengen states. As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary stated in his reply to the right hon. Member on 12 March 1999, Official Report, columns 380-82, the SIS is one of the areas of the acquis in which the United Kingdom intends to seek participation.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 267-68, what initial increased use of Europol facilities and sharing of information has taken place since the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam. [77166]
Kate Hoey:
Although the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed on 2 October 1997, it has not yet been ratified by all member states. It is not therefore in force.
As I indicated in my reply of 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 267-68, Europol has not yet taken up its full range of activities. Increased use is generally being made of the Europol Drugs Unit (EDU). In 1997, the EDU handled a total of 2,608 requests for information from member states' law enforcement agencies, compared with 2,053 requests in 1996. Of these, 984 requests (453 in 1996) emanated from the United Kingdom, channelled through the National Criminal Intelligence Service on behalf of United Kingdom law enforcement agencies. In 1998, the United Kingdom was the second largest user of the information exchange facilities provided by the EDU.
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From a total of 2,298 requests for information, 394 originated in the United Kingdom. The majority of requests relate to illegal trafficking.
Sir Brian Mawhinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he expects to make an announcement about his proposal to build a new prison in Peterborough; [77446]
Mr. George Howarth:
I understand that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions expects to determine within the next three weeks the Prison Service's appeal against Peterborough City Council's refusal to grant planning permission for the construction of a new prison in Peterborough. I am not aware that any information about that decision has been given to local councillors.
(2) on whose authority labour councillors in Peterborough have been informed that an announcement on a proposed new prison in Peterborough will be delayed until after the European election in June. [77447]
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