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Race Relations Employment Advisory Service
Mr. Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has for the future of his Department's Race Relations Advisory Service. [82330]
Ms Hodge: The Race Relations Employment Advisory Service will continue to play a key role in promoting to employers the benefits of race equality at work.
List 99
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate the average time taken from beginning consideration of placing a teacher on List 99 to a decision being made. [82489]
Ms Estelle Morris: In the year 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999, my Department concluded 448 misconduct cases. The average time taken to conclude those cases was nine months. In some of these cases the nature of the misconduct was not serious enough to consider placing the person on List 99. There can be enormous differences in the complexity of cases referred for consideration. Some straightforward cases are concluded very quickly while other, more difficult, cases take substantially longer.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on how many cases decisions are currently outstanding as to whether a teacher should be placed on List 99. [82490]
Ms Estelle Morris: My Department's Teachers' Misconduct Team currently has 451 cases which have been referred for consideration. In 159 of these cases the individual has been informed that the Secretary of State is considering placing them on List 99. In the remaining 292 cases, my Department is collecting information before coming to a decision as to whether List 99 action should be considered.
New Deal (Hotline)
Mr. Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 21 April 1999, Official Report, column 557, if he will break down by region the calls received by the New Deal Hotline identifying (a) how many were from clients and how many from employers and (b) how many were (i) compliments and (ii) complaints. [82531]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The following table shows a breakdown, by Employment Service Regions, of the number of complaints received from employers and clients through the New Deal Hotline.
(1) Other miscellaneous calls include compliments, general inquiries and wrong numbers
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Parole
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average delay in processing parole dossiers at the first application stage for prisoners in England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [82448]
Mr. George Howarth: The parole timetable for determinate sentenced prisoners specifies that the review process should be complete, and the result notified to the prisoner, within 24 weeks of the scheduled start date for the review.
| Percentage of first review cases meeting 24 week target | Average delay in first review cases missing 24 week target | |
|---|---|---|
| April 1998-June 1998 | 45.1 | 5.9 weeks |
| July 1998-September 1998 | 57.9 | 6.3 weeks |
| October 1998-December 1998 | 64.8 | 5.8 weeks |
| January 1999-March 1999 | 74.6 | 6.3 weeks |
Schengen Agreement
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those elements of the Schengen supplementary accords, copies of which his Department had not received at the time of the indication he made to the Justice and Home Affairs Council of an intent to apply to join elements of the Schengen system; and when he expects to receive them. [82295]
Kate Hoey: Since my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced in his reply to the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean), on 12 March 1999, Official Report, columns 380-82, the areas of the Schengen acquis in which the United Kingdom intended to seek participation, we have received the following further items of the Schengen acquis:
- Sch/Com-Ex (93) 21
- Previously received in English with annex in French
- Sch/Com-Ex (93) 23
- Previously received in French only
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- Sch/Com-Ex (93) 24
- Previously received in English with annex in French
- Sch/Com-Ex (98) 13.
These have all been deposited with the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee and with the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities.
We expect shortly to receive the remaining Decisions and Declarations of the Schengen Executive Committee adopted during 1998. In keeping with Government policy, these will be deposited with Parliament, provided they have not been classified as confidential by the Schengen states.
A number of decisions are expected to be adopted at the meeting of the Schengen Executive Committee on 28 April. We expect to receive these texts shortly after 28 April and these will also be deposited with Parliament, subject to the same caveat on confidentiality.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages of requiring applicants who want to make complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information to ask an hon. Member to submit their complaints. [82263]
Mr. Straw:
The White Paper, "Your Right to Know", included an assessment of the arrangements for complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman under the "Code of Practice on Access to Government Information" and concluded that successive Ombudsmen had proved effective in policing the Code. The White Paper also stated that, as part of our proposals for a Freedom of Information Act, the Government favoured a mechanism which is readily available and freely accessible. The draft Freedom of Information Bill, which I hope to publish shortly for consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny, is likely to propose a procedure which will allow a complainant to access the Information Commissioner directly, rather than through an hon. Member.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to improve employment opportunities for ex-offenders; and if he will make a statement. [82454]
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Mr. George Howarth:
Improving offenders' employability and access to the job market is a priority for the probation service for 1999-2000. Probation services are actively involved in the delivery of Welfare to Work programmes, and developing strategies for generating employment, training and education opportunities for offenders, with a particular emphasis on literacy and basic skills provision. Over £3.1 million was spent by probation services in 1997-1998 in partnership with the voluntary sector on the provision of employment, training and education services for offenders.
Much work has already been done and is continuing to be done to assist offenders in gaining the skills and qualifications necessary to help them in their search for work. Funding has also been made available to probation services under the Crime Reduction programme to develop screening and tutoring programmes to improve the basic skills of offenders. The projects will pilot and evaluate new approaches with the aim of putting the most successful approaches into practice across the country.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total expenditure on each allowance available to police officers, per police force and in total, in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [82456]
Mr. Boateng:
The total expenditure on all allowances, per police force, for 1994-95 to 1996-97, is set out in the table. No analysis of individual allowances is made. Information for subsequent years is not available.
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