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HOME DEPARTMENT
Reoffending
Mr. Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the appointment of a joint prisons/probation panel to accredit the design and delivery of work with offenders designed to reduce reoffending. [85232]
Mr. Straw: Sir Duncan Nichol has been appointed as Chair of the Panel. The members of the Panel are in the process of being appointed and their names will be announced in June. The Panel will start work by the autumn.
British Board of Film Classification
Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the British Board of Film Classification's Annual report for 1998 will be published; and if he will make a statement. [85233]
Mr. Straw: I have today placed in the Library copies of the Annual Report of the British Board of Film Classification for 1998, which gives details of the Board's financial accounts and activities for the year ended 31 December 1998.
I welcome the Board's timely publication of its Annual Report.
Schengen Acquis
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the United Kingdom's application to participate in the Schengen acquis. [85234]
Mr. Straw: I have today written to Herr. Schily, German Minister of the Interior and President of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, with the United Kingdom's formal application to participate in certain areas of the Schengen acquis as provided for by Article 4 of the Schengen Protocol. The application reflects my reply given to the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) on 12 March 1999, Official Report, columns 380-82. The text of the application has been placed in the Library and the draft Council Decision on our application will be submitted for Parliamentary scrutiny.
Sergeant Virdi
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 April 1999, Official Report, columns 488-89, for what reasons a POLSA team was instructed to search Sergeant Gurpal Virdi's house. [84654]
20 May 1999 : Column: 442
Kate Hoey:
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner tells me that POLSA teams are specially trained in search techniques and in evidence gathering, and that such a team was used in the search of Sergeant Virdi's home because of the nature of the evidence that was being sought.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will agree to meet hon. Members to discuss the general issues raised by the case of Sergeant Gurpal Virdi. [84653]
Kate Hoey:
I will, of course, in principle be willing to meet hon. Members to discuss general issues which they see arising from this case. As disciplinary proceedings have now been brought against Sergeant Virdi, and as the Home Secretary is appellate authority for police disciplinary matters, I would not, however, be able to discuss the Sergeant's case, certainly not before the disciplinary matters are concluded.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often safes in police stations are checked and their contents noted. [84651]
Mr. Boateng:
This is an operational matter for chief officers, but standard practice would be to check the contents of the station safe at each change of shift.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many black and Asian Metropolitan Police officers have (a) applied to and (b) been accepted into the CID in each of the past four years. [84652]
Kate Hoey:
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner tells me that information is not available in the form requested. Information about the total numbers of ethnic minority officers in the Metropolitan Police Criminal Investigation Department is as follows:
| Year to end March | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | |
| Detective Superintendent | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 |
| Chief Inspector | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Inspector | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Sergeant | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Constable | 49 | 54 | 60 | 77 | 78 |
| Total | 60 | 66 | 76 | 92 | 97 |
POLSA Teams
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what dates the homes of Metropolitan Police officers have been searched by POLSA teams since 1 May; and if he will list the reasons in each case. [84650]
Kate Hoey:
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner tells me that no POLSA team has been used for this purpose between 1 May and 19 May 1999 inclusive.
20 May 1999 : Column: 443
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the recommendations made by Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons in his report for 1998 have now been carried out. [84649]
Mr. George Howarth:
The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is not, by tradition, a forum for laying out recommendations, and therefore differs from his thematic and individual establishment reports. Any recommendations are, therefore, informal and do not automatically require a Prison Service response.
The Chief Inspector produces his Annual Report to draw attention to what he sees as the key issues affecting the Prison Service. Ministers and officials pay close attention to the views and suggestions contained in the Annual Report.
Mr. Harvey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about breaches of the Landmines Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [84625]
Mr. Boateng:
I have received no representations about breaches of the Landmines Act 1998. Responsibility for administering the Act lies with the Department of Trade and Industry. Responsibility for enforcement action under the Act lies with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the police.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review the procedure for authorisation of private prosecutions. [83883]
Mr. Boateng:
Private prosecutions require authorisation only where the offence in question is subject to a consent provision. The Law Commission's Report on Consents to Prosecution, which was published in October 1998, made recommendations for rationalising such provisions, which are now being considered.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are currently in place which are intended to reduce the need for high-speed vehicle chases involving the police and car thieves; and if he will make a statement. [84553]
Mr. Boateng:
This is an operational matter for the Police Service. There is a nationally agreed Association of Chief Police Officer's (ACPO) Pursuit Code of Practice and work is going forward to implement recommendations from the recent ACPO report on police pursuit driver training. It is already policy to consider continuously the consequences of a pursuit and whether to break it off. Operational measures to avoid pursuits or curtail them include the use of helicopters, the early deployment of tyre deflation devices across the carriageway and tactical containment in which a number of police vehicles box in the target vehicle and bring it safely to a halt.
20 May 1999 : Column: 444
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will encourage chief constables to install black box recorders in police vehicles. [84626]
Mr. Boateng:
This is an operational matter and it is for chief officers of police to decide whether to fit recording equipment. I understand that the Metropolitan Police Service has decided to fit such a device in many vehicles as a management tool to promote their economical and proper use. If any of these were to be involved in an accident, the equipment would be able to provide independent evidence of the vehicle's speed. I am sure that other forces will be taking a close interest in the Metropolitan Police approach.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, by each police constabulary, the number of motor vehicles stolen in (i) 1998, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 1996. [84547]
Mr. Boateng:
Overall figures for 1998 are not yet available. The information for 1996 and 1997 has been published in table 2.14 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1997", a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the legal authority is for the declared state of emergency relating to the affairs of Northern Ireland; if he reviewed the continuance of the state of emergency as part of his deliberations on the renewal of the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989; and what are the most recent communications he has (i) sent to and (ii) received from the UN special rapporteur with responsibility for human rights and states of emergency. [84780]
Mr. Straw:
Article 15 of The European Convention on Human Rights enables any High Contracting Party in the circumstances laid down in the Article to take measures derogating from its obligations under the Convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. Under Article 15, the Government have derogated from Article 5(3) of the Convention in respect of powers of detention under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989. Before coming to a decision in 1999 on renewal of that Act, I took into account all related matters, including the recommendation of the Act's Reviewer, John Rowe QC, who concluded in his report on the operation of the Act in 1998 that there is a continuing need for the statute for a further year. There is no record of any communication either to or from the United Nations special rapporteur with responsibility for human rights and states of emergency since I became Home Secretary in 1997.
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