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Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 8 March 2000

HOME DEPARTMENT

Euro

Mr. Portillo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been spent to date by his Department and by bodies funded by his Department in connection with the National Changeover Plan; on what headings this money has been spent; and how much his Department plans to spend on implementing the plan over the next 12 months. [112140]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 29 February 2000]: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 29 February 2000, Official Report, column 233W.

Senator Pinochet

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public employees have been involved in legal work relating to Senator Pinochet since October 1998. [113512]

Mr. Straw: At any one time two Home Office lawyers had significant involvement in the case. A Treasury Solicitor lawyer had conduct of the case for litigation purposes, and lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were from time to time significantly involved. Lawyers from other Government Departments have also played a role.

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the total cost to the (a) central and (b) local government of the containment of Senator Pinochet broken down into (a) police, (b) legal and (c) accommodation costs. [113600]

Mr. Straw: For the information requested, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my noble Friend the Under-Secretary on 2 March 2000, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA87.

Senator Pinochet's accommodation costs were not met from public funds.

Vivisection Investigation

Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the outcome of his investigation into allegations made by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection against Harlan-Hill Crest. [113893]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have today placed in the Library copies of the Home Office investigative report into allegations which were made available to the Home Office by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) on 29 June 1999. The BUAV's allegations were

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based on the evidence of a sympathiser working undercover at the establishment. The establishment is designated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

I received the Chief Inspector's report on 17 December after a thorough investigation into a complex series of allegations. Generally, the establishment was found to be well run and the level of compliance generally good. I did, however, take action against one breach of a condition of certification--that two animal rooms were not identified in documentation as having been checked as required on two dates during the last two years. The Certificate holder received an admonition for this apparent lapse and I sought reassurances from management about staffing levels. These have been given.

Since Christmas 1999, officials have been arranging with the company, its customers and key staff, to lift confidentiality of material in the report whose disclosure would have been contrary to Section 24 of the 1986 Act, as being provided in confidence. A small number of areas remain censored because they represent commercially sensitive or personnel information which cannot be disclosed.

The greater number of blocked-out areas in the report stem from the BUAV not lifting the confidentiality of material stemming from the undercover investigator's videotapes, diary and interview with the Inspectorate in time for publication this week. When we indicated that we would publish the document in this form, BUAV then indicated late yesterday that they might be prepared to lift the confidentiality restrictions on some parts of the report. My officials will contact them again today to ask them to lift their restrictions.

The report was disclosed to the Animal Procedures Committee on 9 February for information. The Committee has not had opportunity to discuss the report, nor are Ministers expressly seeking advice on its content or the action taken since the investigation was completed.

Immigration and Asylum (Penalties)

Mr. Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the production of a code of practice in relation to the civil penalty provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and when implementation of those provisions will commence. [113951]

Mrs. Roche: Clandestine entry into the United Kingdom, particularly in road haulage vehicles, has become a major abuse of the immigration control in recent years. The number of clandestine entrants identified is currently running at about 2,000 each month and the Government are determined to take action to tackle this growing problem.

Part II of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 provides for a penalty for each clandestine entrant carried to be levied on the person or persons responsible. It also provides for the detention in certain circumstances of the transporter or vehicle in which the clandestine arrived against payment of the penalty.

The civil penalty is an important measure to enable us to deal effectively with an escalating problem. It will be implemented on 3 April 2000 in relation to clandestine entrants arriving in road vehicles.

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We have consulted widely with a number of representative bodies on a Code of Practice for vehicles to prevent the carriage of clandestine entrants. The draft Code of Practice for Vehicles, which has been amended to take account of comments expressed during the consultation process, was laid before Parliament on 3 March and will come into force on 3 April.

Drug Dealers

Mr. Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of police local drugs units in bringing to court hard drugs dealers. [112259]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The police have a key role in the Government's anti-drugs strategy working with other enforcement agencies to stifle the availability of illegal drugs on our streets. The drug problem will not be the same in each force area, and it is an operational matter for each Chief Officer of Police to decide the most effective way to tackle drug dealing in his or her force area. It is for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether to prosecute those charged with an offence.

Tough targets have been set under the Government's drugs strategy, significantly to reduce access to all drugs among young people, and to reduce access to the drugs which cause the greatest harm--particularly heroin and cocaine--by 25 per cent. by 2005 and by 50 per cent. by 2008. A target for 1999-2000 is to increase by 10 per cent. the number of offenders dealt with for supply offences in respect of Class A drugs.

The latest available statistics show that the number of persons found guilty at court of "dealing" (possession with intent to supply unlawfully and unlawful supply) in heroin, cocaine and crack increased significantly between 1997 and 1998. Detailed information is given in the table.

Persons found guilty at court for offences of unlawful supply/possession with intent to supply unlawfully, involving cocaine/crack, heroin (Great Britain) (1)

Drug/offence	1997	1998
Cocaine
Unlawful supply	218	354
Possession with intent to supply unlawfully	411	522
Crack
Unlawful supply	88	137
Possession with intent to supply unlawfully	73	134
Heroin
Unlawful supply	1,009	1,378
Possession with intent to supply unlawfully	1,006	1,311

(1) As the same person may be found guilty of more than one offence, rows cannot be added together to produce totals

Source:

Home Office Statistical Bulletins, RDS. Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom 1997 and 1998

Afghan Hijacking

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current status of those passengers on the recently hijacked Afghan airliner who sought asylum. [113575]

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Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) on 1 March 2000, Official Report, columns 289-91W, in which I provided details of my consideration of the 44 applications for asylum.

Racist Incidents

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the most recent statistics for reported racist incidents for each of England's police forces. [113549]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Information on the number of racist incidents that were recorded by the police, by police force area, was published in December 1999 in "Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System", a copy of which is in the Library.

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