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London Underground
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 13 January 1999, Official Report, column 212, what has been spent to date on consultancy costs for the London Underground public-private partnership. [84207]
Ms Glenda Jackson: I understand from London Transport that their expenditure on external consultants, from 20 March 1998 (the date of the Government's announcement) to 31 March 1999, for work on the PPP and restructuring London Underground was £18.5 million.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisoners (Self-harm)
Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he uses to record incidents of self-harm in prison. [83593]
Mr. George Howarth: Incidents of self-harm are recorded when prisoners in Prison Service establishments require treatment in a health care centre, and are assessed by the clinician to have deliberately injured themselves.
Kosovo Refugees
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to respond to UNHCR's request that national Governments keep formalities to a minimum to speed up the evacuation of refugees from Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [83802]
Mr. Straw: The Government's priority, along with that of our European partners, remains to ensure that as far as possible, Kosovan refugees are cared for within the region so that they can return home when it is safe for them to do so. This is the refugees' overwhelming wish. We have also long made it clear that the United Kingdom stands ready to receive some thousands of refugees from the region on humanitarian grounds and on the basis of criteria agreed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We received the first formal request from the UNHCR to take refugees on 20 April and agreed it within one hour. I announced in the reply I gave to the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir N. Fowler) on 5 May 1999, Official Report, columns 943-52, that we will be building up to taking around 1,000 refugees a week in the next few weeks.
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place to assist local authorities and other organisations with the funding of services required in relation to the evacuation of refugees from Kosovo to the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [83801]
Mr. Straw: I made clear in the reply I gave to the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir N. Fowler) on 5 May 1999, Official Report, columns 943-52, that local authorities and the voluntary sector will be reimbursed the additional costs that they incur. The details of that reimbursement are currently being worked out.
Mrs. Golding: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place for the reception and care of unaccompanied refugee children from Kosovo who arrive in the UK. [83588]
Mr. Straw: Unaccompanied minor children are being looked after in the region as far as possible to facilitate family reunion.
Children who have become separated from their parents have arrived in the United Kingdom in the company of a guardian or close adult relative. Every assistance is given in these cases to trace family in the United Kingdom, and this has been successful in at least one case.
Criminal Records Bureau
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the consultation process in place in relation to the establishment of the Criminal Records Bureau; what representations he has received concerning the establishment of the Bureau; and when the Bureau will be operational. [83709]
Mr. Boateng: A User Group will be established to enable the views of the users of the Criminal Records Bureau's services to be taken into account in its detailed implementation. Wider consultation on, for example, the content of the Code of Practice for bodies to be registered with the Bureau will also be undertaken.
Since the Home Secretary announced the establishment of the Criminal Records Bureau in December 1998 we have received a number of representations. We estimated at that time that it would take some two years to establish the Bureau.
Ms Kingham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his current estimate of the impact on the voluntary sector of the proposed charges for criminal record checks at the Criminal Records Bureau. [83572]
Mr. Boateng:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) on 22 February 1999, Official Report, column 103.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each private finance initiative undertaken with his Department; if he will give the date the initiative started, the companies involved and whether any payments have been reduced to reflect performance against the contract; and if he will make a statement. [83707]
Mr. Straw:
The available information is as follows:
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(9) contract terminated from 31 January 1999
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Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to restrict the use of the criminal conviction certificate to employment purposes; and if he will make a statement on the steps that he is taking to ensure that the availability of criminal conviction certificates will not increase recidivism. [83795]
Mr. Boateng:
Criminal conviction certificates will be available to individuals only on application and it will be for the individual concerned to decide to whom to provide the information contained in them. Criminal conviction certificates will give details only of unspent convictions. This is information which applicants can be asked to disclose at the moment. The criminal conviction certificate will allow employers to be sure that the information they have been given is full and accurate. We shall be consulting about guidance on the use of the certificates.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if (a) the Security Service has taken over the responsibility of promoting the risk analysis methodology CRAMM from the CCTA and (b) personal data are required to be processed in order to promote the software; and if he will make a statement on how his Department will apply to provisions of the Data Protection Acts to such processing. [83798]
Mr. Straw:
In 1997, the Security Service took over the management of CRAMM, but the promotion and marketing of the associated software package was undertaken by commercial organisations on its behalf. The Security Service is currently engaged in the transfer of the management responsibilities too, under Government licence, to a commercial consortium. Consequently, the Security Service holds no personal data in connection with the promotion of CRAMM.
12 May 1999 : Column: 158
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Data Protection Registrar (a) on the application of Sections 28 and 29 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to the Security Service and (b) on provisions in Clauses 11 and 12 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill. [83791]
Mr. Straw:
The Data Protection Registrar wrote to me, in February this year, concerning the application of the Data Protection Act 1998 to the security and intelligence agencies when it comes into force. I replied that this was still under consideration and that no decision had been made. I said the same to my hon. Friend in my letter of 31 March. This remains the position although useful discussions between the Registrar's officials and mine have taken place.
On (b), the Data Protection Registrar has been consulted about clauses 11 and 12 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill. In the light of discussions with her Office, some additional safeguards have been provided.
Mr. Colvin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the effect of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998 on the automatic right of access on request to any recorded material taped in a public place by CCTV. [83570]
Mr. George Howarth:
We have not received any representations on this issues.
The Data Protection Act 1998 provides a framework for the statutory regulation of public space Close Circuit Television (CCTV) systems. The Act builds upon the regime of the Data Protection Act 1984 but goes further in a number of respects. In particular, it provides enhanced rights for individuals in respect of personal data held about them by data controllers, including rights of subject access.
12 May 1999 : Column: 159
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