| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Rape
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his response is to the report of the Working Party on Rape submitted to the United Kingdom Programme Action Committee of Soroptimist International; and if he will make a statement. [129287]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The report of the Working Party on Rape of the United Kingdom Programme Action Committee of Soroptimist International is an interesting
10 Jul 2000 : Column: 437W
and useful contribution to the discussion on the law on rape and the treatment of rape victims in the United Kingdom. It was submitted to the review that was considering the law of sex offences in England and Wales and contributed to their work.
Football Hooliganism
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals (a) have been convicted of a football-related offence and (b) had an international banning order placed upon them; and what reasons the courts have given, under the terms of the Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999, for not imposing banning orders in each case since 26 September 1999. [129779]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Thirty-three individuals have had International Football Banning Orders imposed under the terms of the 1999 Act. I regret that the other information requested is not available, but information on all football-related convictions will be collected by the National Criminal Intelligence Service from the beginning of the next season.
Prisoner Releases
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners convicted of grievous bodily harm have been released earlier than their normal parole date in the last 12 months. [129980]
Mr. Boateng: Prisoners serving four years and over are eligible for parole at the half way point in sentence under a system of discretionary conditional release. Section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 allows for release from prison at any time on compassionate grounds in exceptional circumstances. In the last 12 months, one prisoner serving a sentence for inflicting grievous bodily harm has been released on compassionate grounds prior to his parole eligibility date.
Prisoners serving under four years are not subject to parole but are released automatically at the halfway point in sentence. The majority of such prisoners are eligible for consideration for the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme which provides for their release up to 60 days before their automatic release date. Full details of those released under the HDC scheme since its introduction in January 1999 are given in the reply by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) on 3 July 2000, Official Report, columns 58-59W.
Child Curfew Orders
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child curfew orders have been issued under the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. [129979]
Mr. Charles Clarke: No applications have been received from local authorities to establish child curfew schemes under section 14 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Following consultation with local authorities and the police the Government are considering what improvements might be made to the provisions to ensure that they are able to contribute effectively to local partnership efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour.
10 Jul 2000 : Column: 438W
Sex Education
Ms McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of young offenders' institutions in the United Kingdom offer parenting and sexual health classes; and if he will make a statement. [129255]
Mr. Boateng: All Prison Service establishments in England and Wales must offer a social and life skills programme as part of the Prison Service core curriculum. The social and life skills programme includes units on healthy living, parentcraft, family relationships, sexual health and relationships education. Governors of prisons and young offender institutions order a range of units from education contractors. It is not possible to say what percentage of young offender institutions offer parentcraft and sexual health and relationships education as no information is held centrally on the particular units ordered by individual establishments.
Young offender institutions in Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Police Recruits
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take action to reduce variation between police forces in the medical standards which they require of newly recruited officers. [129990]
Mr. Charles Clarke: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is taking action to review recruitment procedures to ensure non-discriminatory practices and to publish national recruitment standards, including medical standards. My officials are working with police representative organisations to meet this deadline.
TREASURY
Comprehensive Spending Review
Mr. Ian Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to announce the outcome of Spending Review 2000. [130215]
Mr. Gordon Brown: I will make a statement to the House on Tuesday 18 July.
European Single Currency
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the costs of converting to the euro for (a) Government Departments, (b) the private sector and (c) the economy as a whole. [129594]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Should the UK decide to join the euro, the costs of a changeover would depend on the detailed approach taken.
Mr. Portillo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which advertising agency has been tasked with the euro preparation work commissioned by his Department; what is the length of the contract; when the work will start and finish; what is the value of the contract; and what plans he has to launch new euro campaigns. [128805]
10 Jul 2000 : Column: 439W
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Treasury does not have an advertising agency appointed for business euro preparations work.
Fuel Taxation
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce fuel taxation in order to reduce the current average price of fuel to March 2000 levels. [129272]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 6 July 2000]: I have no plans to do so. Decisions on the appropriate levels of fuel duties are set on a Budget by Budget basis, taking account of the Government's economic and social objectives as well as the UK's environmental commitments.
Correspondence
Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the question from the hon. Member for Christchurch tabled on 8 June about council tax and pensioners (ref. 125925) and 9 June about pensioners in Christchurch (ref. 125976). [129118]
Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 4 July 2000]: Both questions have been answered.
Unemployment
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the unemployment rate in each of the 20 largest metropolitan boroughs is and what it was in May 1997; and if he will make a statement. [129112]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 4 July 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 10 July 2000:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the unemployment rate in each of the 20 largest metropolitan boroughs.
- The ONS preferred measure of unemployment is the International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment rate, derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, LFS estimates are not available for single months.
- The ONS also publishes a monthly count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance credits at Employment Service local offices. They must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.
- Claimant count rates by local area on the unadjusted basis can be obtained from the Nomis database at the House of Commons Library.
Population Statistics
Mr. Curry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the population of the 20 largest cities in the UK; and what was the population of the same cities (a) two, (b) five and (c) 10 years earlier. [128867]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
10 Jul 2000 : Column: 440W
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Curry, dated 10 July 2000:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the twenty largest cities in the UK. (128867)
- I have given my reply in the attached table in terms of the twenty largest local authorities in the UK rather than cities as official population estimates are produced for local authority areas, not cities. ONS produces annual mid-year population estimates for the local authorities in England and Wales. The local authorities in England and Wales are the unitary authorities, district, borough councils and London boroughs. The population estimates used for each of the years given in this answer are in terms of the local authorities as their boundaries were defined in 1998. This has been done so that comparisons can be made between years without confusion due to the local government reorganisation that took place between 1996 and 1998.
- The General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency produces the population estimates for the local authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. The mid-98 population estimates from these sources have been used with the estimates from England and Wales in order to identify the twenty largest local authorities in the UK in mid-98.
- The mid-98 population estimates have been used for this answer as these are the most recent population estimates for England and Wales; the mid-99 estimates are due to be published in August 2000.
| Total population | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local authority area(12) | Mid-1998 | Mid-1996 | Mid-1993 | Mid-1988 |
| 1. Greater London(13) | 7,187,300 | 7,074,300 | 6,933,000 | 6,770,300 |
| 2. Birmingham | 1,013,400 | 1,020,600 | 1,012,400 | 1,001,900 |
| 3. Leeds | 727,400 | 726,900 | 724,500 | 710,300 |
| 4. Glasgow City | 619,700 | 616,400 | 624,900 | 649,900 |
| 5. Sheffield | 531,100 | 530,400 | 531,900 | 530,700 |
| 6. Bradford | 483,300 | 483,400 | 480,000 | 467,000 |
| 7. Liverpool | 461,500 | 468,000 | 477,000 | 482,300 |
| 8. Edinburgh, City of | 450,200 | 448,900 | 441,600 | 437,500 |
| 9. Manchester | 429,800 | 430,800 | 432,000 | 439,300 |
| 10. Bristol, City of UA | 402,300 | 399,600 | 397,600 | 392,500 |
| 11. Kirklees(14) | 390,900 | 388,800 | 385,800 | 378,500 |
| 12. Fife(14) | 348,900 | 349,300 | 351,200 | 346,600 |
| 13. Wirral(14) | 327,100 | 329,200 | 334,100 | 335,500 |
| 14. North Lanarkshire(14) | 326,700 | 325,900 | 326,800 | 330,700 |
| 15. Cardiff UA | 320,900 | 315,000 | 305,200 | 292,900 |
| 16. Wakefield | 318,800 | 317,300 | 317,500 | 310,500 |
| 17. East Riding of Yorkshire UA(14) | 312,800 | 308,800 | 302,000 | 287,900 |
| 18. Dudley | 311,500 | 312,200 | 311,500 | 305,900 |
| 19. Wigan | 310,500 | 309,800 | 313,200 | 306,600 |
| 20. South Lanarkshire(14) | 306,900 | 307,500 | 306,100 | 303,600 |
(10) In descending order of size
(11) Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred persons
(12) The local authorities in England and Wales are as their boundaries were defined in 1998 after local government reorganisation
(13) Greater London includes all 33 London boroughs
(14)
5 Major population centres in these areas are:
Kirklees--Huddersfield
Fife--Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy
Wirral--Birkenhead
North Lanarkshire--Cumbernauld and Coatbridge
East Riding of Yorkshire--Beverley and Bridlington
South Lanarkshire--East Kilbride and Hamilton.
Source:
Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |