| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Air Rifles
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to regulate further the sale of air rifles; and if he will make a statement. [132295]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government are currently preparing their response to the Report of the Home Affairs Committee on Controls over Firearms, which makes a number of recommendations concerning the regulation of air rifles and other air weapons. The Committee's proposals in this regard will be considered carefully.
Circus Animals
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress in relation to improving the welfare of circus animals with particular reference to winter quarters. [133135]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are already laws covering the welfare of circus and other captive animals. It is an offence under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 to cause them unnecessary suffering. Under the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925, the police and local authorities have inspection powers and can take action through the courts if the training or exhibiting of any performing animal is accompanied by cruelty. The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997 safeguards the welfare of animals when they are being moved between sites.
The Government have no current plans to introduce other statutory measures for the welfare of animals in travelling circuses. It is, however, helping the Association of Circus Proprietors to prepare a related Code of Practice.
We have accepted that circus winter quarters should be subject to licensing controls to ensure basic standards of animal welfare. There is at present little prospect of a slot for this in the Government's legislative programme.
Any Private Member's Bill brought forward on the subject--such as that introduced this Session by the hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess)--will be carefully considered.
Merchant Navy Day
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ensure that the Red Ensign is flown from departmental buildings on Merchant Navy Day, 3 September. [132959]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions will fly the Red Ensign from its headquarters building on 3 September. There are no plans to fly the Red Ensign from other Government buildings.
Drugs (Prisons)
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners tested positive for illicit drugs in each British prison during the last year for which figures are available. [132953]
Mr. Boateng: Random mandatory drug testing (MDT) is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for the Prison Service. The rate of positive tests as a percentage of all
27 Jul 2000 : Column: 896W
random drugs tests for the year 1999-2000 for each prison in England and Wales is shown in the table. The target for the Prison Service overall last year was 18.5 per cent. Performance was 14.2 per cent.
Only prisons that were operational for the full year 1999-2000 have been included.
27 Jul 2000 : Column: 897W
Police Operations
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the maximum percentage
27 Jul 2000 : Column: 898W
of a police authority's total budget that he would regard as a sum too small to be reimbursed by his Department as an extraordinary operational expense; [133186]
- (2) on what grounds the request by Surrey Police for reimbursement of costs relating to the Pinochet operation was rejected by his Department. [133184]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Surrey Police were awarded a special payment of £200,000 in March 1999 as a contribution towards the additional costs of protecting Senator Pinochet. A further special payment of £550,000 requested by the Surrey Police in December 1999 was refused.
Their supplementary application was not approved because it was decided, in view of the limited funding available to meet an increasing number of grant applications, to draw up clearer criteria. These conditions require that the burden on the force should be unforeseen; commit them to exceptional additional expenditure, and directly impact on the force's efficiency. Additionally, we will consider special payments, subject to the availability of funding, to cover all or most of the extra costs for events of a national and international dimension that impose a burden on the resources of a force as a consequence of a decision by the Government.
Grant applications would normally be considered to the extent that they exceed 2 per cent. of the force's current revenue budget. In the case of Surrey, 2 per cent. of their budget for 1999-2000 was £1.9 million.
Surrey's request for extra financial assistance had to compete with other more pressing needs, such as the Stansted hijack. We decided that those other demands had first call on the remaining available resources, particularly as some financial assistance had already been provided to Surrey for the protection of Senator Pinochet.
The total additional costs for protecting Senator Pinochet were estimated at £750,000. They were estimated at around 0.8 per cent. of the budget of the Surrey Police.
Once account is taken of the special payment of £200,000 made in March 1999 the proportion of the additional costs that fell on the Surrey Police was reduced to 0.6 per cent. of the force's 1999-2000 budget.
Departmental Initiatives
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Dr. Jones) of 20 July 2000, Official Report, column 326W, on departmental initiatives, what is the estimated administrative costs to those bodies making bids for each of the initiatives; and if he will make a statement. [133178]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested on estimated administrative costs to those bodies making bids for Home Office initiatives is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by contacting every body that has made a bid since May 1997.
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been made in the public service agreements made for his Department
27 Jul 2000 : Column: 899W
between the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review and the Spending Review 2000; what are the reasons for those public service agreements which have been discontinued for being so discontinued; what progress has been made against each of the targets in the agreements made in 1998 included those which have been discontinued; and if he will make a statement. [133151]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will shortly publish a comprehensive list of new public service agreements (relating to the Spending Review 2000) for all Government Departments. However, these public service agreements will not come into effect until April 2001.
The Public Service Agreement (PSA) relating to the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review covers the period 1999-2002. No targets contained in that PSA have been discontinued, although some have already been met. The Home Office continues to work towards delivery of outstanding targets. Details of the targets, and performance against them up to December 1999, are recorded in the Home Office Annual Report 1999-2000 (copies of which are available in the Library). Information on progress will be provided in subsequent Home Office Annual Reports--the next of which is expected to be published around April 2001.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |