| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Firearms Legislation
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to police forces since 1 May 1997 with regard to the implementation and enforcement of firearms legislation; if the guidance suggested a reduction in approval or renewal of firearm licences or shotgun certificates; and if he will place copies in the Library. [125799]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Since 1 May 1997, the Home Office has issued three circulars on firearms licensing matters to all police forces in England and Wales: Home Office Circular (HOC) 32/97 on the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, HOC 68/97 on the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 and HOC 41/98 on the Firearms Rules 1998. In addition, a letter to all chief officers on 19 October 1999 provided guidance on fittedness to possess firearms and a letter to all chief officers of 10 March 2000 provided guidance on the secure storage of firearms.
The Home Office has not suggested to chief officers that the number of firearm and shotgun certificates on issue should be reduced as a matter of policy. Home Office guidance on firearms licensing has always made clear that each case should be dealt with on its own merits. The aim of our controls on firearms is to protect public safety rather than to reduce the overall number of firearms in lawful hands.
Copies of the three Home Office circulars were placed in the Library at the time of their issue. I will arrange for copies of the guidance on security and the guidance on fittedness to be placed in the Library.
13 Jun 2000 : Column: 537W
Correspondence
Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Broxbourne dated 21 February, 13 April, 11 May and 8 June in connection with Mr. Doug Eve of Cheshunt, a constituent. [125798]
Mrs. Roche: I will be responding to the letters of 21 February, 13 April and 11 May from the hon. Member shortly. I am sorry for the delay in replying. I will reply to the letter of 8 June as soon as I receive it.
Horse Racing
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will initiate a review of the procedures which were implemented on 22 May for calculating starting prices in horse racing. [125638]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Whether, and if so how, the calculation of starting prices should be regulated is an issue which is within the terms of reference of the independent review of gambling chaired by Sir Alan Budd, whose report we expect next summer.
Lord Archer
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated (a) number of person hours and (b) cost to date of the Metropolitan police investigation in to the allegation of perjury made against Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare. [125313]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I understand from the Metropolitan police that to date, an estimated 1,446 person hours have been devoted to the investigation and that the cost is approximately £36,000. Most of the work has been undertaken by police officers and civilian staff in normal duty time.
Police Helicopters
Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 June 2000, Official Report, column 159W, on police helicopters, what the helicopter supplied by Veritair Ltd. is used for in addition to tracking stolen cars. [125431]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The helicopter is used to support officers on the ground in a range of policing activities, including vehicle pursuits; searching for suspects; missing person searches; surveillance; public order; command and control; and to provide direct support for tactical operations.
Software Language
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what software language is used in the new Central Immigration and Nationality Directorate computerisation; and if it is programmed as a totally integrated national database. [125541]
Mrs. Roche: The new computerised system for dealing with immigration and nationality casework uses a number of standard applications and programmes. The system uses Microsoft NT and Office products.
13 Jun 2000 : Column: 538W
Government Technical Assistance Centre
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work and objectives of the Government Technical Assistance Centre. [125667]
Mr. Charles Clarke: When established, the Technical Assistance Centre will be a twenty-four hour facility. Our intention is that it shall be operated by the National Criminal Intelligence Service on behalf of the law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies. It will undertake complex processing needed to derive intelligible material from lawfully intercepted computer- to-computer communications and will provide improved facilities for deriving evidence from lawfully seized computer data.
The Technical Assistance Centre will not analyse the intelligible content of any intercepted or seized material. That will remain a function of the agency which applied for the interception warrant or executed the warrant for seizure of the material.
The primary objective of the Technical Assistance Centre will be to sustain law enforcement capabilities in the face of criminal use of new information and communication technologies. Day-to-day operating procedures for the Centre are being developed by a Home Office-led Project Team.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Members' Lockers
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee for what reason hon. Members' lockers are being refurbished and renumbered; what is the cost of the work; and if he will make a statement. [125739]
Sir Sydney Chapman: This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms; I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Agricultural Wages
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of Agricultural Wages Board rates of pay in tackling social exclusion in rural areas. [125198]
Ms Quin [holding answer 12 June 2000]: We have made no specific assessment of the effect of the Agricultural Wages Board rates of pay in tackling social exclusion in rural areas.
Bovine TB
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects a prophylactic bovine TB treatment to be available. [125176]
Ms Quin [holding answer 9 June 2000]: This work is taking place in an international context at the frontiers of scientific knowledge and could take between 10 and 15 years to complete. As with any such scientific endeavour at such an early stage, there is no guarantee of success.
13 Jun 2000 : Column: 539W
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she will reply to the question tabled by the hon. Member for Leyton on 1 March concerning her Department's budget (ref 113063). [125670]
Mr. Foulkes: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 9 June 2000, Official Report, column 409W.
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
Appointments Commission
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council, pursuant to her reply of 2 February 2000, Official Report, column 633W, on the Appointments Commission, how much time was spent by PricewaterhouseCoopers in helping to recruit the Appointments Commission. [125361]
Mrs. Beckett: PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Search and Selection assisted the Cabinet Office and independent selection panel to recruit the Chairman and independent members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
They employed a number of consultants and administrators and invested well in excess of 300 hours in the generation, administration and evaluation of applications.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council, pursuant to her reply of 2 February 2000, Official Report, column 633W, on the Appointments Commission, what expenses were incurred in recruiting the Appointments Commission and what were the advertising costs. [125362]
Mrs. Beckett: The expenses incurred in the process of recruiting members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission came to £4,186.50.
The advertising costs, including VAT, were £35,878.63.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Solicitor-General what was the total expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last five years; what is the planned total expenditure for the current year and subsequent two years; what is the total and percentage real terms change in each year; and if he will make a statement. [125311]
The Solicitor-General: The total expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service in cash terms in each of the last five years; the planned total expenditure for the current and subsequent year; and the total and percentage real terms change in each year are as follows.
13 Jun 2000 : Column: 540W
| Year | Total expenditure £000 | Total real terms change £000 | Percentage real terms change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 315,083 | -- | -- |
| 1996-97 | 319,823 | -5,745 | 1.7 |
| 1997-98 | 320,602 | -8,398 | 2.5 |
| 1998-99 | 328,347 | -2,792 | -0.8 |
| 1999-2000 | 331,493 | -4,939 | -1.5 |
| 2000-01 | 350,530 | 11,048 | 3.4 |
| 2001-02 | 336,930 | -20,817 | -6.2 |
The increase in total planned expenditure in 2000-01 includes, for example, an additional £9 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund to fund new investment in information technology. Planned total expenditure is available for one subsequent year only. The expenditure plan for 2001-02 is subject to the outcome of the current spending review, which will also set the expenditure for 2002-03.
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Solicitor-General how many contested cases were conducted by the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts and (c) in total, in each of the last five years and in the current year to date; and if he will make a statement. [125312]
The Solicitor-General: The following table shows the number of contested hearings recorded by the Crown Prosecution Service in magistrates courts, in the Crown court, and in total, for each of the last five calendar years and for the period January to March 2000.
The table also shows the number of guilty pleas recorded in each period, and the number of magistrates courts cases which were proved in the absence of the defendant. Also shown are the proportion of cases which proceeded to a contested hearing and the proportion dealt with by way of guilty plea and proof in absence.
The overall number of contested hearings dealt with by the Crown Prosecution Service has fallen over the period under review, from 105,707 in 1995 to 82,355 in 1999--a fall of 22.1 per cent. However, the pattern of change in magistrates courts and in the Crown court has been rather different: the proportion of contests in magistrates courts has fallen with each succeeding year, from 9.2 per cent. in 1995 to 6.2 per cent. in 1999; and the proportion of contests in the Crown court has risen over recent years, from 22.8 per cent. in 1997 to 26.9 per cent. in 1999.
The reasons for these trends are believed to be as follows:
- There has been an increase in the number of magistrates courts cases proved in the absence of the defendant rather than proceeding to a contest, from 92,251 in 1995 to 114,880 in 1999: an increase of 24.5 per cent. Proofs in absence have increased since 1995 largely in response to a simplified procedure for prosecuting minor road traffic offences;
- The Plea Before Venue procedure, introduced in November 1997, has led to an increasing number of guilty pleas being entered in magistrates courts rather than in the Crown court. This has had the effect of lowering the proportion of contests in magistrates courts and increasing it in the Crown court.
(5) January to March
13 Jun 2000 : Column: 541W
13 Jun 2000 : Column: 541W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |