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Young Offenders
28. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to speed up the process for bringing young offenders to trial. [95017]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Measures in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to reduce criminal justice delays have now been successfully piloted and start operating across England and Wales today. We are also starting pilots for statutory time limits in selected youth courts.
36. Ms Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent measures he has taken to deal with persistent young offenders. [95025]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We are working with the youth justice services to halve the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders. This should cut offending on bail and enable quicker action to tackle offending behaviour. The Youth Justice Board has recently issued new practical guidance, and is helping local areas to produce joint improvement plans to ensure that the target will be achieved.
Scottish Legislation
31. Dr. Godman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has held with the First Secretary, Scottish Parliament, and the Secretary of State for Scotland concerning the proposed
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amendments to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 as contained in the Immigration and Asylum Bill. [95020]
Mr. Straw:
My officials and those of the Scottish Executive have been in regular contact over this and other matters throughout the passage of the Bill. The amendment brings Scottish social services legislation in line with provisions applying elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
32. Mr. Pike:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what actions he proposes to take on the recently published report on HM Prison Preston. [95021]
Mr. Boateng:
In accordance with the protocol for handling inspection reports, the Prison Service will produce an action plan within 30 working days of publication of the report, addressing all the recommendations made by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons.
33. Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from chief constables on the working of the law in relation to telephone harassment in the light of information which has been supplied to him. [95022]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
I have no plans to do so at present.
35. Mr. Soley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Prison Officers Association about morale at Wormwood Scrubs prison. [95024]
Mr. Boateng:
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary visited Wormwood Scrubs on 6 September and met representatives of staff associations, including the Prison Officers Association. This meeting covered a range of issues including concerns about the effect of the current investigations on their members. I visited Wormwood Scrubs on 13 October and met members of staff associations including the Prison Officers Association in private, when they were given the opportunity to raise any matters which affected their members.
37. Mr. Rapson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money the Government are investing in CCTV systems in the current financial year. [95026]
Mr. Straw:
Under the first round of the Crime Reduction Programme CCTV initiative, crime reduction partnerships in England and Wales have been invited to prepare final proposals on 376 bids for new and extended CCTV schemes mainly directed at tackling vehicle crime and crime problems in housing areas at a potential capital
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cost of £68 million, a proportion of which will be expended in the current financial year. Final decisions will be announced later in the year.
38. Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on relations between the police and ethnic minorities of his proposals for mandatory drug testing. [95027]
Mr. Boateng:
The police service needs to secure the trust and confidence of all sections of the community and to ensure that there is no unfair discrimination against any racial group. The police service is committed to a programme of action in response to the recommendations of the report of the Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence published in February, to ensure that this aim is achieved.
We would expect these principles to be reflected in any arrangements to be introduced for drug testing of arrestees.
39. Barbara Follett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is considering to reform election procedure. [95028]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published the final report of the Working Party on Electoral Procedures on 19 October. He has welcomed the report and will be seeking the earliest practical opportunity for a Bill to carry forward the body of its recommendations.
Mr. Hawkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions took place on the issue of commercial use of the electoral register between the Home Office Working Party on Electoral Procedures and (a) direct marketing organisations, (b) credit agency organisations, (c) other business organisations, (d) consumer organisations and (e) the Data Protection Registrar; if any of those organisations or individuals were invited to present their views in person to the Home Office Working Party on Electoral Procedures; and if he will consult further with these organisations before final decisions are taken on those aspects of the proposed Bill on reforming electoral procedures which would affect the use of the electoral register for commercial purposes. [96846]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
During the lifetime of the Working Party, members of its Secretariat held meetings as follows: with representatives of direct marketing organisations on two occasions; representatives of credit agency organisations on four occasions; and representatives of other business associations on three occasions. The Data Protection Registrar, by virtue of her statutory advisory role, was invited to make a personal presentation at one meeting of the Working Party. Further consultation is taking place on the Working Party's recommendations for restrictions on the sale of the electoral register for non-electoral purposes.
Mr. Hawkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is his Department's intention to publish the submissions made by businesses and individuals in response to the consultation document on
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electoral procedures, with the exception of those who have asked for their submissions to remain private. [96847]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
No. But any businesses or individuals can, of course, publish their own submissions if they wish to do so.
Mr. Woodward:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce trials of early voting at elections other than the Greater London Authority elections. [96685]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Working Party on Electoral Procedures, which published its final report on 19 October, recommended that early voting should be among the electoral innovations included in pilot schemes.
The Government have welcomed the Working Party's recommendations. We intend to legislate to give effect to them as soon as Parliamentary time permits.
40. Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the Criminal Records Bureau; and if he will make a statement. [95029]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
There has been widespread support for the establishment of the Criminal Records Bureau. The Government have considered very carefully the many representations that we have received arguing for charges to be waived for checks carried out by the Bureau in the case of volunteers who work with children. The concerns which have been expressed have increased our determination that the cost of certificates from the Bureau should be kept as low as possible. The cost of certificates has been previously estimated at between £5 and £10 depending on type of certificate .
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress with freedom of information legislation. [95001]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Consultation document on Freedom of Information, published on 24 May 1999, invited comments on the draft legislation. We received a total of 2,248 submissions, all but 400 of which were part of an organised petition about scientific experimentation on animals. Copies of the submission have been placed in the Library.
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