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Travellers
Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with local authorities and police forces about arrangements for dealing with unauthorised camping by travellers. [90423]
Mr. Boateng: I and my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael), have held meetings with senior police officers, Members of Parliament, local councillors and others on this issue. My Department published the guidance document, "Managing Unauthorised Camping: A Good Practice Guide" jointly with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions in October 1998.
Police Community Consultative Groups
Mr. Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue non-statutory guidance to the Metropolitan Police Authority with regard to police community consultative groups; and if he will consult the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and London police community consultative groups on what that guidance should include about the special characteristics of London police community consultative groups. [90525]
Kate Hoey: The Government have no plans to issue such guidance to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA). Subject to the passage of the Greater London Authority Bill, it will be for the MPA to decide, after consulting the Commissioner, what arrangements to make for obtaining the views of people about policing matters in the Metropolitan Police District. The MPA will be a local, democratically accountable body, and, in common with police authorities outside London, it will be best placed to determine its methods for consulting the public.
As part of next year's induction process of members of the new MPA, information will be provided to them about the work of police and community consultative groups.
Electoral Procedures
Mr. Jim Murphy:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people attended each public meeting of the Independent Commission on the Voting System. [90527]
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Mr. George Howarth:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given in another place by my noble Friend the Minister of State, Home Office, Lord Williams, on 7 July 1998, Official Report, column 124.
Mr. Hesford:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation he (a) has held and (b) will hold in formulating his Department's response to paragraph 46 of the Home Affairs Committee's Fourth report of Session 1997-98 (HC768) on Electoral Law and Administration; and if he will respond to the recommendation in that paragraph. [90991]
Mr. George Howarth:
Following official contacts with MIND, the Working Party on Electoral Procedures, which I Chair, has recommended that the restrictions on using psychiatric hospitals for the purposes of electoral registration should be removed, except for those who are detained as a result of criminal activity. It has also recommended that the requirement for a voluntary patient to complete an additional declaration before being registered to vote should be lifted. These recommendations are broadly in line with paragraph 46 of the Home Affairs Committee report referred to by my hon. Friend. A formal response will be made to the Committee when the final report of my Working Party is published in full later this summer.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to supply to the hon. Member for Northavon the material referred to in his answer of 15 June 1999, Official Report, column 100. [90948]
Mr. Boateng:
I hope to be able to provide the requested information shortly.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons he proposes to extend to three months the validity of interception warrants under the Interception of Communications Act 1985. [90724]
Mr. Straw:
The Government's proposals for legislation to replace the Interception of Communications Act 1985 are contained in a consultation paper which I published on 22 June. The reasons behind the proposal to extend the authorisation period of warrants are explained in this document, which is available in the Library, beginning at paragraph 7.12.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with United States citizens concerning the interception regime operated in this country. [90725]
Mr. Straw:
I am not aware of any discussions this year between Ministers and United States citizens specifically about the United Kingdom's interception regime. However, my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Home Office met senior members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drugs Enforcement Agency and Attorney-General's Department in the United States last month. He discussed a wide range of issues relevant to the fight against organised crime. Interception was discussed in the context of the Government's proposals
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for legislation to maintain law enforcement agencies' capabilities against encrypted stored data and communications.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review his proposal not to include a test of substantial harm in the draft Freedom of Information Bill. [90726]
Mr. Straw:
We are currently consulting widely on the content of the draft Freedom of Information Bill. It is also subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the Select Committee on Public Administration and an ad hoc Select Committee in another place, and also of public consultation.
I look forward to receiving their recommendations and other comments, which I will consider fully before introducing the Bill into the House.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the countries within the European Union (a) which have freedom of information legislation and (b) where such legislation contains a public interest test. [90718]
Mr. Straw:
The European Union Green Paper on Public Sector Information in the Information Society, published in January this year, identified the following European Union countries as having national freedom of information legislation: Austria; Belgium; Denmark; Finland; France; Greece; Ireland; Italy; Netherlands; Portugal; Spain and Sweden. Ireland's legislation contains a public interest test, as does the United Kingdom draft Bill. We have not analysed other European legislation.
Our analysis has focused on countries with common law jurisdictions, e.g. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States of America. The legislation for each of these countries contains a public interest test.
A copy of the Green Paper is available in the Library.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he took to establish the views of MI5 before deciding they should be exempt from the disclosure tests applied in the draft Freedom of Information Bill. [90720]
Mr. Straw:
The Security Service has been fully consulted over the provisions of the Freedom of Information Bill.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many kilometres have been travelled on his Department's business in each of the last three years broken down by (a) foot, (b) bike, (c) bus, (d) train, (e) tram, (f) light-rail, (g) plane, (h) motorbike, (i) car, (j) taxi, (k) river-taxi and (l) other modes of transport; what plans and targets his Department has to reduce the kilometres travelled by private transport by his Department's employees; and if he will make a statement. [91031]
Mr. Straw:
Distance travelled on official business is recorded only when an allowance is paid per mile or kilometre travelled. I can, therefore, only supply the information requested for travel by bike, motorbike and
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car. That information is currently being collected from around the Department. I will write to the hon. Member when the information is available and place a copy of the letter in the Library.
My Department's headquarters buildings had green transport plans in place by the end of March 1999.
A seminar was held on 29 April for green transport co-ordinators for the other 26 Departmental sites that will be required to produce green transport plans by March 2000.
No targets have been set centrally for transport (other than the Government-wide one of producing a plan). Trying to set targets that will be meaningful for both our Central London accommodation and the training colleges that are situated in isolated locations will be difficult. My Department is therefore encouraging sites to set their own targets in their plans. I will monitor and review the success of this approach.
In an effort to limit the effect on the environment, the Home Office joined the "London First" clean air charter in 1997, and has been active in setting targets for and monitoring fuel consumption for the fleet.
The Home Office has drafted an Environmental Transport Policy, which is currently in the consultation process. The policy aims to help reduce the Department's impact on the environment by addressing the issues of fleet size and composition, fuel type, fuel monitoring, vehicle maintenance, and driver training.
The Home Office seeks to ensure that each vehicle in the fleet is not only required, but fully used. The reduction of one vehicle in the fleet has a significantly higher impact than improving the fuel consumption of several vehicles.
The Home Office is planning to carry out a combined Green and Efficiency review of the entire fleet. That review will make recommendations, for fleet composition, usage rates and fuel consumption for each fleet centre. We expect to complete the first review within eighteen months using current resources.
The Home Office is committed to reducing the impact that its business travel has on the environment. Before undertaking any business travel, staff and their line managers consider whether the visit/attendance at a meeting is really necessary, whether the objectives of the meeting could be met through correspondence, e-mail, fax or telephone and whether video-conferencing facilities could be used. If it is considered necessary, staff must use public transport unless there are operational grounds for using private vehicles/hire cars e.g. carrying heavy equipment, or if the route is poorly served by public transport.
There are currently two rates of mileage allowance--Standard Rate and Public Transport Rate. The Home Office operates a strict policy when considering the payment of allowances to officers who use their private vehicles for business travel, including prior authorisation from line managers when Standard Rate Mileage Allowance is claimed. This ensures that private vehicles are used only when absolutely necessary.
Whilst those areas which have higher than average business travel have been targeted since January 1999 in an effort to promote the switch to public transport, it is
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also proposed to pursue the option of a single rate of Standard Rate Motor Mileage Allowance. If adopted, this should encourage the use of smaller cars and further encourage the use of public transport through a reduced rate of Motor Mileage Allowance for larger engine cars. The Home Office also has allowances for the use of motorcycles and pedal cycles for official travel.
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