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Mr. Burden:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress with the formation of crime reduction partnerships. [95004]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
The crime and disorder reduction partnerships brought into being by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 have published their strategies. They are currently implementing them. This is a vital part of the attack upon crime, based on local priorities and needs.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimates he has made of the consequent reduction in prison numbers if suspended sentences of imprisonment were more widely available to the judiciary. [95475]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Estimates of the likely effect on the prison population vary between a few hundred and a few thousand depending upon the exact nature of the new arrangements introduced, whether the sentences they replaced were custodial or non-custodial, the length of any such custodial sentences and the rate of activation of the new suspended sentences. The current restriction, which limits suspension of a custodial sentence to cases where exceptional circumstances exist, was introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991. Criminal Statistics for England and Wales 1997 show that the number of offenders sentenced for indictable offences to a fully suspended sentence fell from 25,800 in 1987 to 2,700 in 1993.
Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to invite German, Italian and Japanese veterans to join the Remembrance Sunday parade in Whitehall. [96029]
Mr. Straw:
There are no plans to widen the attendance at the Cenotaph ceremony on Remembrance Sunday to include German, Japanese and Italian veterans.
The Royal British Legion, which organises the march past the Cenotaph which follows the official ceremony on Remembrance Sunday, has however made proposals which will allow greater participation in future years by non ex-Service groups and individuals. I have welcomed the proposals for expansion of the march past put forward by the Royal British Legion, and my officials are discussing the details with them.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) local authorities, (b) civil protection organisations and (c) others about the content of messages to be delivered by the National Attack Warning System. [96538]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The National Attack Warning System is designed to be used in war. It is inappropriate at this stage to discuss with local authorities or other civil protection organisations the precise content of the messages to be carried.
Discussions about the system are continuing with the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if interim recommendations relevant to civil
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protection matters will be published about the Paddington crash in advance of the full report being published. [96541]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has commissioned inquiries into the crash. I shall be looking very carefully at any lessons for the wider civil protection response which may be identified in those inquiries.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress in the investigation by the Metropolitan Police into the case of WPC Yvonne Fletcher. [95457]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The continuing investigation into WPC Fletcher's murder is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police. They have made clear, however, that they intend to pursue this investigation vigorously and expect full co-operation from the Libyan authorities.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the letter of 1 July from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Firms, what action he has taken to promote international co-operation in the field of cyber crime detection and pursuit. [94975]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Government have been playing an active role in promoting international co-operation in this new and important area of criminality. The conference of G8 Justice and Interior Ministers held in Washington in December 1997, in which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary participated, agreed a set of principles and an action plan to combat high-tech crime. The principles in the Washington communique, a copy of which is in the Library, were subsequently endorsed by the European Union's Justice and Home Affairs Council under my right hon. Friend's chairmanship during the United Kingdom's European Union Presidency.
G8 experts, including a Home Office led delegation from the United Kingdom, have since established a network of law enforcement contacts available around the clock to provide urgent assistance to authorities in partner countries investigating computer and internet crimes. The network is now expanding with United Kingdom encouragement, and a number of non-G8 countries including additional European Union Member States have joined.
Further progress was made at the meeting of G8 Justice and Interior Ministers in Moscow on 18-20 October. I was present on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. The Moscow communique, of which I am placing a copy in the Library, includes agreement on new principles for providing law enforcement authorities with transborder access to stored data needed for criminal investigations. The Ministerial conference has instructed G8 experts to develop options within one year for co-operation in tracing computer communications taking place for illegal purposes, both while they occur and afterwards, as part of a continuing wide-ranging programme of work.
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The United Kingdom is also participating in work in the Council of Europe to draft a Cybercrime Convention. Information about this was given by the Minister of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington), on 21 October 1999, Official Report, column 621.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all performance targets set for his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies since May 1997, other than those listed in Public Service Agreements 1999-2002 [Cm 4181], stating in each case (a) the target to be reached and (b) the date by which it was to be reached. [94983]
Mr. Straw:
A large number of performance targets are set within the Home Office and its executive agencies and associated non-departmental public bodies, and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, a wide range of information on performance targets is contained in the various Home Office and agencies' business plans. Copies of available publications have been placed in the Library and, in some instances, on the internet at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/index.htm.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to allow someone charged under the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts to advance a defence based upon overriding public interest; and if he will make a statement. [96071]
Mr. Straw:
The Government believe that the Official Secrets Act 1989 provides a sound basis for protecting sensitive official information. We have no current plans to replace or amend it.
Mr. Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many charges of racial discrimination have been made by staff of the Commission for Racial Equality against the Commission itself in each of the last five years. [96701]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The number of complaints made by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) staff to the Employment Tribunal alleging racial discrimination for each of the last five years is as follows:
Mr. Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis following
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the visit of the President of China to London; what further discussions he plans; and if he will make a statement. [96697]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary meets regularly with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to discuss policing issues in London, and there are regular contacts with the Metropolitan Police at both Ministerial and official level. There were no specific discussions of the issues specified at my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's meetings prior to the Chinese State Visit nor at other meetings between Ministers and officials and the Metropolitan Police. At a regular meeting between my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and the Commissioner on 27 October 1999, the Commissioner told my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary that the Metropolitan Police were conducting an internal review into the policing of the visit of the President of China.
1995--0
1996--5
1997--4
1998--8
1999--3
Of these 20 cases, three are ongoing, five were settled and the Tribunal dismissed 12. No finding of racial discrimination has ever been made against the CRE by the Tribunal.
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