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William Beausire

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Solicitor-General what reports he has received concerning the disappearance of William Beausire in Santiago in 1974; and what requests he has received for a private prosecution. [106029]

The Solicitor-General: Solicitors acting for a number of individuals applied for Law Officer consent to prosecute Senator Pinochet for offences of torture and hostage taking. The papers included reference to William Beausire. On 11 February 1999, the then Attorney- General considered the application and took advice from Treasury Counsel. The solicitors were advised that consent to prosecute was declined. The basis of that decision is that the relevant legislation is not retrospective and the material supplied by the solicitors in support of the application provided insufficient admissible evidence to justify a prosecution.

SCOTLAND

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the number of asylum seekers and refugees seeking places in Scotland. [104808]

Dr. Reid: At present, local authorities in Scotland give support to between about 150 and 200 new asylum seekers each year.

In addition, in 1999, 349 refugees from Kosovo came to Scotland under the Kosovo Humanitarian Evacuation Programme.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Switchboard

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee when the delays in connecting hon. Members to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Government Departments via the House switchboard will be remedied; what the cause is of the delays; and when the House authorities became aware of the problem. [106053]

Mr. Allan: This is an operational matter falling within the remit of the Head of Telecommunications. I have therefore asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member.

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 545W

HOME DEPARTMENT

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 25 November 1999, Official Report, column 179W, for what reason he has failed to fulfil the undertaking to reply shortly to the letters dated 4 August, 10 September and 14 October, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Cleveland Savory. [104466]

Mr. Straw: I am sorry for the delay in replying to my right hon. Friend. I am looking into the matter and will write to him this week.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters dated 21 September, 27 October and 2 December 1999 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Ahmed Said Mohammed Aderi. [104455]

Mrs. Roche: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to my right hon. Friend on 17 January 2000. I am sorry for the delay in replying.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters to him dated 21 September, 27 October and 2 December 1999 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Muhidin Abdul Rahman. [104454]

Mrs. Roche: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton on 19 January 2000. I am sorry for the delay in replying.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters dated 21 September, 27 October and 2 December 1999 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. N. Askander. [104456]

Mrs. Roche: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to my right hon. Friend on 17 January 2000. I am sorry for the delay in replying.

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 30 November on behalf of his constituent, Mrs. Djukic. [105921]

Mrs. Roche: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to the right hon. Member on 18 January 2000.

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 25 November on behalf of his constituent, Mr. Reeves. [105924]

Mr. Charles Clarke: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary replied to the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire's letter of 25 November 1999 on 14 January 2000.

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 546W

Fathers

Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment the Government have made of the impact of fathers' involvement in childrearing on the behaviour and attainment of their sons and daughters; and if he will make a statement. [104876]

Mr. Boateng: There is strong evidence that fathers play a critical role in bringing up children. Boys who have no contact with their fathers are more likely to underachieve at school. Supporting fathers is an important part of the Government's family policy. We have also provided fathers with the right to parental leave, and those in receipt of Working Families Tax Credit and some other benefits will receive income support while taking the leave to make it a viable prospect for all parents. Under the Family Support Grants programme, a number of voluntary organisations have been funded to develop work specifically with fathers.

Police

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each police authority in England the percentage of net expenditure in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98 and (c) 1998-99 which was funded by (i) council tax, (ii) police grant and (iii) other grants. [105258]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested on council tax and police grant, which has been compiled from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's Police Statistics, is set out in the table. Information on the percentage of net expenditure funded by other grants is not readily available.

Percentage of English police force net expenditure met by council tax, Home Office police specific grant and other sources, 1996-97 to 1998-99

	Council tax	Home Office police specific grant	Other sources
1996-97
Avon and Somerset	14.8	50.8	34.4
Bedfordshire	14.9	50.9	34.2
Cambridgeshire	15.7	51.3	33.0
Cheshire	16.0	52.6	31.4
City of London	n/a	48.6	n/a
Cleveland	9.9	50.3	39.7
Cumbria	14.4	50.5	35.2
Derbyshire	14.7	51.3	34.0
Devon and Cornwall	16.1	51.2	32.7
Dorset	22.1	47.9	30.0
Durham	11.4	52.7	35.9
Essex	17.4	50.3	32.3
Gloucestershire	15.2	50.2	34.6
Greater Manchester	10.0	50.4	39.6
Hampshire	16.3	51.0	32.8
Hertfordshire	17.8	51.0	31.2
Humberside	11.7	51.9	36.4
Kent	15.8	51.1	33.1
Lancashire	12.1	50.6	37.2
Leicestershire	13.6	51.0	35.3
Lincolnshire	21.1	48.5	30.3
Merseyside	10.6	50.9	38.5
Metropolitan Police	8.3	50.3	41.4
Norfolk	15.4	50.6	34.0
Northamptonshire	20.7	49.5	29.8
Northumbria	10.0	50.5	39.5
North Yorkshire	17.7	52.1	30.1
Nottinghamshire	12.1	50.9	37.0
South Yorkshire	10.8	51.7	37.5
Staffordshire	14.5	50.6	34.8
Suffolk	16.2	50.9	32.9
Surrey	17.0	49.3	33.7
Sussex	17.2	50.3	32.5
Thames Valley	17.9	50.5	31.6
Warwickshire	17.0	51.8	31.1
West Mercia	17.0	50.6	32.4
West Midlands	10.1	51.0	38.9
West Yorkshire	10.4	49.2	40.5
Wiltshire	17.4	50.7	31.9
Total	12.3	50.6	37.1

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 547W

	Council tax	Home Office police specific grant	Other sources
1997-98
Avon and Somerset	16.9	52.1	31.0
Bedfordshire	16.5	51.4	32.1
Cambridgeshire	17.2	50.3	32.6
Cheshire	16.7	49.1	34.2
City of London	n/a	47.5	n/a
Cleveland	11.4	49.7	38.9
Cumbria	15.2	48.7	36.1
Derbyshire	16.0	50.3	33.7
Devon and Cornwall	17.1	50.9	32.0
Dorset	23.9	48.5	27.6
Durham	12.1	48.6	39.3
Essex	18.9	50.6	30.5
Gloucestershire	17.4	51.8	30.8
Greater Manchester	11.4	49.8	38.7
Hampshire	17.8	50.1	32.1
Hertfordshire	19.3	51.0	29.6
Humberside	12.8	49.9	37.2
Kent	16.6	48.6	34.8
Lancashire	13.6	49.5	36.9
Leicestershire	14.8	49.9	35.2
Lincolnshire	20.5	46.5	33.0
Merseyside	12.2	50.7	37.1
Metropolitan Police	9.4	53.7	36.9
Norfolk	16.7	48.7	34.7
Northamptonshire	21.2	46.8	32.1
Northumbria	11.1	49.0	39.9
North Yorkshire	18.4	49.8	31.8
Nottinghamshire	12.4	49.0	38.6
South Yorkshire	11.6	47.8	40.6
Staffordshire	16.3	51.9	31.8
Suffolk	17.8	50.0	32.2
Surrey	16.6	49.3	34.1
Sussex	18.7	49.7	31.6
Thames Valley	19.5	49.7	30.8
Warwickshire	18.2	50.4	31.4
West Mercia	18.5	49.5	32.0
West Midlands	11.1	48.7	40.3
West Yorkshire	11.5	47.0	41.4
Wiltshire	20.1	53.0	26.8
Total	13.5	50.6	35.8

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 548W

	Council tax	Home Office police specific grant	Other sources
1998-99
Avon and Somerset	17.0	51.6	31.4
Bedfordshire	16.9	50.6	32.6
Cambridgeshire	15.4	50.4	34.3
Cheshire	17.3	50.3	32.4
City of London	n/a	42.9	n/a
Cleveland	9.5	51.3	39.2
Cumbria	18.8	47.0	34.3
Derbyshire	17.2	50.0	32.8
Devon and Cornwall	15.8	51.7	32.4
Dorset	25.8	47.6	26.6
Durham	11.3	53.6	35.1
Essex	22.1	50.1	27.8
Gloucestershire	18.5	48.6	33.0
Greater Manchester	12.0	52.8	35.2
Hampshire	16.9	52.1	31.0
Hertfordshire	21.4	49.2	29.4
Humberside	12.2	50.3	37.5
Kent	15.6	52.3	32.1
Lancashire	13.2	50.6	36.2
Leicestershire	16.9	49.3	33.7
Lincolnshire	23.5	45.7	30.8
Merseyside	12.2	49.6	38.2
Metropolitan Police	11.9	54.3	33.8
Norfolk	17.7	51.5	30.8
Northamptonshire	20.7	48.1	31.2
Northumbria	9.8	51.0	39.2
North Yorkshire	17.3	51.4	31.3
Nottinghamshire	13.1	49.4	37.4
South Yorkshire	11.8	50.6	37.6
Staffordshire	20.5	49.0	30.5
Suffolk	17.8	51.4	30.8
Surrey	24.7	44.5	30.8
Sussex	18.2	51.5	30.3
Thames Valley	19.0	53.6	27.4
Warwickshire	21.3	50.4	28.3
West Mercia	18.8	47.8	33.4
West Midlands	10.1	51.6	38.3
West Yorkshire	11.7	51.4	36.9
Wiltshire	20.0	47.2	32.8
Total	13.7	49.0	37.3

Source:

1996/97-1998/99: CIPFA Police Statistics Actuals

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 547W

Police force net expenditure, and percentage met by council tax, Home Office police specific grant and other sources, 1996-97 to 1998-99£000

	1996-97				1997-98
	Council tax	Home Office police specific grant	Other	Net expenditure	Council tax	Home Office police specific grant	Other	Net expenditure
Avon and Somerset	22,443	77,279	52,365	152,087	25,839	79,564	47,270	152,673
Bedfordshire	8,433	28,811	19,383	56,627	9,643	30,102	18,825	58,570
Cambridgeshire	10,236	33,356	21,432	65,024	11,800	n/a	n/a	68,681
Cheshire	15,072	49,500	29,605	94,177	17,322	51,103	35,580	104,005
City of London	n/a	27,832	n/a	57,317	n/a	27,476	n/a	57,893
Cleveland	7,250	36,801	29,057	73,108	8,587	37,523	29,316	75,426
Cumbria	8,168	28,689	19,999	56,856	9,365	30,038	22,306	61,709
Derbyshire	13,333	46,356	30,731	90,420	15,276	48,090	32,275	95,641
Devon and Cornwall	24,192	77,025	49,175	150,392	26,602	79,047	49,786	155,435
Dorset	14,983	32,474	20,374	67,831	16,684	33,804	19,239	69,727
Durham	7,778	35,828	24,429	68,035	9,087	36,513	29,566	75,166
Dyfed-Powys	7,901	24,241	15,727	47,869	8,244	25,198	17,510	50,952
Essex	26,275	76,161	48,976	151,412	29,817	79,694	47,976	157,487
Gloucestershire	8,874	29,316	20,230	58,420	10,223	30,371	18,039	58,633
Greater Manchester	34,075	171,881	135,214	341,170	40,354	176,078	136,887	353,319
Gwent	8,193	31,334	18,215	57,742	8,667	32,423	23,508	64,598
Hampshire	28,134	88,069	56,642	172,845	32,134	90,616	58,041	180,791
Hertfordshire	15,792	45,305	27,766	88,863	17,971	47,465	27,575	93,011
Humberside	11,653	51,746	36,320	99,719	13,622	53,034	39,564	106,220
Kent	25,477	82,584	53,564	161,625	28,909	84,673	60,629	174,211
Lancashire	19,638	81,984	60,243	161,865	22,982	83,768	62,525	169,275
Leicestershire	12,649	47,390	32,814	92,853	14,652	49,336	34,801	98,789
Lincolnshire	12,999	29,848	18,661	61,508	13,544	30,788	21,852	66,184
Merseyside	23,345	112,589	85,238	221,172	27,390	113,660	83,277	224,327
Metropolitan Police	139,075	846,762	697,344	1,683,181	157,930	900,345	618,342	1,676,617
Norfolk	11,666	38,204	25,677	75,547	13,363	39,053	27,806	80,222
Northamptonshire	12,257	29,321	17,674	59,252	13,672	30,218	20,715	64,605
Northumbria	18,644	94,046	73,720	186,410	21,630	95,656	77,806	195,092
North Wales	10,695	34,681	22,890	68,266	11,240	35,696	23,984	70,920
North Yorkshire	11,885	34,961	20,196	67,042	13,200	35,796	22,844	71,840
Nottinghamshire	13,775	57,777	42,039	113,591	14,953	59,070	46,533	120,556
South Wales	18,362	75,247	53,849	147,458	19,491	77,732	62,188	159,411
South Yorkshire	16,366	78,009	56,574	150,949	19,214	79,346	67,467	166,027
Staffordshire	15,658	54,611	37,563	107,832	18,003	57,200	35,061	110,264
Suffolk	9,892	31,033	20,038	60,963	11,327	31,858	20,491	63,676
Surrey	14,528	42,090	28,727	85,345	15,126	44,808	31,042	90,976
Sussex	25,870	75,764	48,992	150,626	29,400	78,415	49,816	157,631
Thames Valley	36,051	101,658	63,688	201,397	41,006	104,631	64,696	210,333
Warwickshire	8,111	24,725	14,850	47,686	9,270	25,725	16,008	51,003
West Mercia	17,397	51,632	33,049	102,078	19,958	53,342	34,488	107,788
West Midlands	34,210	172,343	131,439	337,992	39,829	175,339	144,961	360,129
West Yorkshire	27,479	130,447	107,307	265,233	32,458	132,526	116,761	281,745
Wiltshire	10,442	30,428	19,123	59,993	11,778	31,043	15,714	58,535
Total	819,256	3,350,138	2,420,899	6,619,778	931,562	3,438,163	2,413,070	6,870,093

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 549W

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 549W

£000

	1998-99				1999-2000
	Council tax	Home Office police specific grant	Other	Net expenditure	Net expenditure
Avon and Somerset	27,680	83,927	51,119	162,726	174,424
Bedfordshire	10,416	31,236	20,126	61,778	64,027
Cambridgeshire	11,286	36,974	25,172	73,432	75,363
Cheshire	18,573	53,821	34,699	107,093	111,094
City of London	n/a	25,909	n/a	60,350	58,719
Cleveland	7,734	41,731	31,830	81,295	85,397
Cumbria	11,730	29,360	21,442	62,532	64,693
Derbyshire	17,238	50,026	32,800	100,064	107,035
Devon and Cornwall	26,352	86,035	53,943	166,330	173,649
Dorset	18,838	34,838	19,441	73,117	77,749
Durham	8,427	40,023	26,223	74,673	80,712
Dyfed-Powys	10,212	26,041	13,787	50,040	56,143
Essex	34,676	78,591	43,555	156,822	171,590
Gloucestershire	11,604	30,537	20,721	62,862	65,933
Greater Manchester	42,558	186,858	124,755	354,171	387,256
Gwent	9,683	34,265	23,707	67,655	71,414
Hampshire	31,481	97,239	57,941	186,661	196,955
Hertfordshire	20,331	46,771	27,966	95,068	102,361
Humberside	13,762	56,629	42,180	112,571	114,306
Kent	27,473	91,742	56,362	175,577	186,225
Lancashire	23,370	89,725	64,215	177,310	182,679
Leicestershire	17,419	50,708	34,663	102,790	106,279
Lincolnshire	15,645	30,484	20,535	66,664	69,970
Merseyside	29,259	119,156	91,852	240,267	249,522
Metropolitan Police	204,132	931,431	580,862	1,716,425	1,840,245
Norfolk	14,236	41,512	24,795	80,543	86,870
Northamptonshire	13,859	32,266	20,932	67,057	70,432
Northumbria	20,187	104,638	80,445	205,270	213,010
North Wales	13,612	37,434	21,435	72,481	80,505
North Yorkshire	13,020	38,764	23,560	75,344	78,085
Nottinghamshire	16,680	62,799	47,539	127,018	130,173
South Wales	22,394	82,243	56,301	160,938	169,968
South Yorkshire	19,726	84,510	62,923	167,159	173,933
Staffordshire	23,861	56,924	35,446	116,231	127,472
Suffolk	11,786	33,943	20,367	66,096	70,538
Surrey	22,612	40,650	28,163	91,425	100,375
Sussex	29,406	83,399	49,042	161,847	165,804
Thames Valley	39,878	112,357	57,440	209,675	232,729
Warwickshire	11,080	26,196	14,739	52,015	56,157
West Mercia	21,382	54,354	38,019	113,755	116,490
West Midlands	37,194	190,208	141,206	368,608	380,971
West Yorkshire	32,569	142,946	102,479	277,994	288,865
Wiltshire	13,792	32,481	22,538	68,811	69,715
Total	1,027,153	3,641,681	2,367,265	7,070,687	7,485,832

Source:

1996-97 and 1998-99--CIPFA Police Statistics Actuals

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 551W

20 Jan 2000 : Column: 551W

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