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Anti-terrorism Legislation
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has appointed a reviewer for those sections of the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998 which are not already included in the existing review of anti-terrorism legislation. [112635]
Mr. Straw: I am pleased to announce that Mr. John Rowe QC has accepted my invitation to carry out the annual review of sections 5 to 7 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998 which deal with conspiracy in this country to commit criminal offences abroad.
Alternative Voting Procedures
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when (a) local authorities, (b) the Local Government Association and (c) the press were informed of his decision to approve pilot projects of alternative voting procedures under the provisions of the Representation of the People Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matters raised by the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 17 February 2000, Official Report, column 1118; [112029]
- (2) what pilot projects of alternative voting procedures he has approved under the provisions of the Representation of the People Bill; what alternative procedures he has approved in each case; and when each local authority was informed that its pilot project had been approved. [112030]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Following a discussion I had with the hon. Members for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) and for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes), provisional approval has been given to the following schemes. A final decision will be taken on each scheme once the Representation of the People Bill has received Royal Assent.
- Early Voting
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Chester
- Coventry
- Kingston upon Hull
- Knowsley (3 wards)
- Manchester
- Norwich 1
- Pendle
- Plymouth
29 Feb 2000 : Column: 258W
- Redditch
- St. Helens (6 wards)
- Stoke on Trent
- Sunderland 1
- Telford and the Wrekin (2 wards)
- Watford 1
- Electronic Voting/Counting
- Broxbourne
- Bury (1 ward)
- Salford (2 wards) 1
- Stratford on Avon
- Three Rivers
- Warrington
- Extension of Hours of Poll
- Leeds
- Mole Valley
- Weekend Voting
- Watford 1
- All Postal Ballots
- Bolton (3 wards)
- Doncaster (1 ward)
- Gateshead (2 wards)
- Norwich (2 wards) 1
- Salford (1 ward) 1
- Stevenage (2 wards)
- Swindon (4 wards)
- Wigan (3 wards)
- Extension of Postal Vote Entitlement
- Amber Valley (2 wards)
- Eastleigh
- Gloucester (3 wards)
- Milton Keynes
- Mobile Polling Facility
- Norwich 1
- Sunderland (8 wards) 1
- Watford 1
- Windsor and Maidenhead (2 wards)
- Freepost
- Watford 1
- 1 Councils running more than one scheme.
Most of the local authorities concerned were informed of my provisional decision on 14 February. In a number of cases where I was not yet in a position to reach a provisional decision, the information was communicated to the local authority later in that week.
On 15 February, the Local Government Association were given details of the provisional decisions that had, by that point, been taken, as were a number of journalists. No Home Office press notice has been issued since final decisions have yet to be made.
The hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) was not correct to say that newspapers, the Press Association and other bodies were told before Parliament about which pilot schemes will take place in May, as the final decisions have yet to be made.
29 Feb 2000 : Column: 259W
Miss Widdecombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Parliamentary questions have been asked by hon. Members regarding correspondence which has not been replied to by his Department in each month from May 1997 onwards; what was the average time taken to reply to the correspondence; and what was the time taken to reply to each individual item of correspondence raised by hon. Members in this way. [112028]
Mr. Straw:
On the basis of the information available, hon. Members have asked 91 Parliamentary questions since May 1997 about correspondence to which they had not received a reply at the time of tabling the question. The number of such Parliamentary questions asked in each month for each year is given in the table.
| 1997 (19) | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 (20) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -- | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| February | -- | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| March | -- | 5 | 4 | -- |
| April | -- | 1 | 2 | -- |
| May | -- | -- | 2 | -- |
| June | -- | 3 | 4 | -- |
| July | 2 | 3 | 5 | -- |
| August | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| September | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| October | -- | -- | 4 | -- |
| November | 3 | 3 | 10 | -- |
| December | 2 | 2 | 5 | -- |
| Total | 7 | 24 | 39 | 21 |
| Overall total | 91 | |||
(19) From May
(20) To end February
29 Feb 2000 : Column: 260W
My Department deals with large amounts of correspondence each year from both hon. Members and members of the public. In 1999, we replied to 17,703 letters from hon. Members. We aim to send a substantive reply to all correspondence as quickly as possible, and we are committed to monitoring and achieving a high standard of performance in this area.
SCOTLAND
Assisted Areas
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Network about the non-publication of the new assisted areas map of Great Britain. [111327]
Dr. Reid [holding answer 22 February 2000]: I have received representations from Highlands and Islands Enterprise about various aspects of the assisted area map proposals. At the present time, the absence of a new assisted area map should have little practical impact on the processing of applications for financial assistance to business developments in the Highlands and Islands.
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what factors underlay his proposal that the 1993 assisted area map for the Highlands should be extended from 54 per cent. to 100 per cent. [111329]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: The Highlands and Islands Enterprise area was proposed as a whole for inclusion in the new assisted areas map in recognition of the problems arising from its population sparsity.
29 Feb 2000 : Column: 261W
Mr. Maclennan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact on proposed business developments in the Highlands of the non-publication of the new assisted areas map of Great Britain. [111328]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: I understand that Highlands and Islands Enterprise had prepared on a contingency basis for the possibility that there might be a delay in approval of the new Assisted Areas map and issued formal advice to Local Enterprise Companies within its area in December 1999. At the present time, there is little practical impact on the processing of applications for financial assistance to business developments in the Highlands.
Mr. Maclennan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measurement of need he made in proposing the inclusion of the Inverness travel-to-work area in the proposed designation of the Highlands and Islands under Article 87(3)c (Tier 2) of the Amsterdam Treaty. [111330]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: The Highlands and Islands Enterprise area was proposed as a whole under Article 87(3)c in recognition of the problems resulting from its sparse population.
Mr. Maclennan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the value of regional selective assistance to enterprises in the Highlands and Islands paid in each quarter of 1999. [111331]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: In the quarter from January to March 1999, Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) payments to businesses in the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area amounted to £800,000. In the quarter April to June, no payments of RSA were made. From 1 July 1999, the administration of RSA has been the devolved responsibility of the Scottish Executive.
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