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Sopley Camp, New Forest

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to make use of Sopley Camp in New Forest District. [119720]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 19 April 2000]: My Department holds no legal interest in Sopley Camp in New Forest District and has no plans to acquire it.

Errol Flynn

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make available to the public in the Public Record Office the intelligence files relating to Errol Flynn; and if he will make a statement. [120048]

Mr. Straw: It is long-standing Government policy neither to confirm nor deny whether the security or intelligence agencies hold records on any individual.

The Security Service is systematically reviewing and where appropriate releasing historical records in accordance with the criteria agreed with the Public Records Office and endorsed by the Advisory Council. The Security Service has now reviewed and released all

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its files from its archive covering the period of the First World War. The second phase of the programme of release relates to the Security Service's records covering the Second World War. The third tranche of files from this period has just been made public. The Security Service will also be reviewing in due course its inter-war records in preparation for further releases. If there was a Security Service intelligence record relating to Errol Flynn it would be reviewed as part of this process.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, in a Written Answer on 12 February 1998, Official Report, column 324W, confirmed that the records of the Secret Intelligence Service are not released and set out the reasons for this.

Animal Experiments

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many tests were carried out using (a) animals and (b) mammals in each of the last five years; and what is the expected number for the next two years. [120292]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Table 1 of the annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain records the number of scientific procedures by species of animal and primary purpose of the procedure. Figures are given for the number of procedures using birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, cephalopods and octopus vulgaris as well as the number using mammals, listed by species. Overall figures for procedures using animals and mammals are as follows:

Year	Number
1998	2,659,662
1997	2,635,969
1996	2,716,587
1995	2,709,631

Figures for procedures using mammals are:

Year	Number
1998	2,381,712
1997	2,380,287
1996	2,450,138
1995	2,420,944

Figures for 1999 are in the process of being collated and are due to be published in July.

It is very difficult to project the number of animals to be used for the next two years. Numbers depend on the type of project licence applications that will be made to progress on current project licences. However, in general terms, there was a slight increase in the number of animals used during 1998 and it is possible that there could be another such increase in the 1999 figures. The main reason for this might be the increase in the use of genetically modified animals owing to current scientific advances. The downward trend in the use of conventional animals is expected to continue.

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We will continue to ensure that animals are used only where fully justified--where there are no valid alternatives and where the benefits outweigh the costs to the animals involved.

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent research he has commissioned on carrying out experiments on animals for the purposes of research into cosmetics; and if he will make a statement. [120215]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Home Office itself does not commission scientific procedures involving the use of protected animals. In applying the regulatory regime set out by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, it assesses applications submitted.

In November 1997, we announced that no more animals would be used in this country for the testing of cosmetic products and ingredients, and we have not issued any new licences for such testing. We have no proposals to do so.

David Rocky Bennett

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to publish the police report to enable the inquest to be held into the death of David Rocky Bennett in the Norvic Clinic, Norwich. [120137]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Coroner has requested a police report to assist him in carrying out the inquest and any decisions about releasing the contents of such a report will be for him to make. The police investigation is still continuing.

Election Leaflets

Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consult the Direct Marketing Association on the form of words in the leaflet accompanying electoral application forms at the same time as he consults it on the draft regulations covering full and edited electoral registers. [120135]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We are committed to full consultation on both documents. The draft regulations will appear on the Home Office website as soon as they are ready. When the regulations have been finalised but before they come into effect we will consult on the wording of any publicity leaflet.

Liquor Licensing

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide additional funding to local authorities in relation to licensing functions which at present are the responsibility of magistrates; and if he will make a statement. [120651]

Mr. Straw: The White Paper on the reform of the licensing laws, published on 10 April, makes clear that any new licensing regime should be resourced on the basis of full cost recovery from the fees and charges levied. We intend consulting closely with representatives of the local authorities about the resourcing of the system.

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to transfer the responsibility of liquor licensing from magistrates' licensing committees to local authorities. [120220]

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Mr. Mike O'Brien: The arguments for this change are set out in Chapter 11 of our White Paper, "Time For Reform", which was laid before Parliament on 10 April. We shall welcome and take into account comments on the White Paper in working up legislative proposals.

Efficiency Unit

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the Cabinet Office Efficiency Unit Comprehensive Spending Review report submitted to the Home Office in 1998. [120275]

Mr. Straw: The Comprehensive Spending Review, which set out the Government's new public spending plans 1999-2000, was published in the White Paper 'Modern Public Services for Britain: Investing in Reform', in July 1998. This document is available in the Library.

Challenging targets were set by this document for a number of key services including the Police and the Fire Service. These included efficiency targets and annual efficiency plans. The Home Office is also committed to meeting a number of efficiency targets as set out in the Public Service Agreements, 'Public Services for the Future: Modernisation, Reform, Accountability--Comprehensive Spending Review: Public Service Agreements 1999-2002'. This document is currently available in the Library.

The Public Service Agreements and the Output and Performance Analysis for the Home Office are published in the annual Business Plan. The most recent Home Office Business Plan is also available in the Library.

Electronic Tagging

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) of 17 April 2000, Official Report, columns 375-76W, if he will list the offences that are committed by prisoners who are at the lower end of the offending scale within the category of prisoners eligible for parole, and who will be released earlier than at present, under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill, how many prisoners received sentences of four years or more for such offences in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [120293]

Mr. Straw: There are no provisions in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill which require any prisoner to be released earlier than at present. The Bill makes no changes to the date on which any prisoner becomes eligible for release.

The judgment as to whether a particular prisoner is regarded as being at the lower end of the offending scale within the category of prisoners eligible for parole cannot be determined simply by reference to the index offence. The details of the offence, the length of the sentence, the previous convictions of the prisoner, the impact on the victim (if any) and other factors will all be relevant. It is therefore not possible to list the offences that are committed by prisoners who are at the lower end of the offending scale, nor to list how many prisoners have received sentences of four years or more for such offences in each of the last five years.

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Equally, it is not possible at this stage to predict which of these prisoners might be granted parole following implementation of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill who would not otherwise have received parole. The use of the new licence conditions will be subject to piloting before full implementation. Evaluation of the pilots will include consideration of the impact of the new licence conditions on discretionary release decisions taken by the Parole Board and by the Prison Service, on behalf of the Secretary of State.

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