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HOME DEPARTMENT
Pan-European Political Parties
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government relating to the proposal of the Commission and Parliament of the European Union for an amendment to be made to Article 192 of the Community Treaty to require the
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European Council to lay down a statute of conditions governing the recognition, rules, and funding of pan- European political parties. [135402]
Mr. Vaz: I have been asked to reply.
European political parties already exist and are recognised in the EC Treaty. The proposal for a legal base to allow the establishment of a statute to regulate these parties is intended to ensure the transparency of their funding. We strongly support this aim.
Rural Policing
Mr. Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what improvements in rural policing will result from the £15 million announced on 15 June 2000, Official Report, column 714W. [136777]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Chief officers will target the money as they see fit, keeping their local communities informed of where improvements can be expected.
Guidance to be issued under the Local Government Act 1999 will require those police authorities who were given a share of the money to provide a clear account in their Best Value Performance Plans. For the previous year they will set out what improvement they sought with the money, which Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) were used to measure their performance, and how they performed. For the forthcoming year, they will detail what improvement they seek and which BVPIs will be used to measure that. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary will inspect forces on the basis of that statement.
European Charter of Fundamental Rights
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Article 5 of the draft European Charter of Fundamental Rights would preclude (a) paid servitude and (b) football transfer fees; and if he will make a statement. [134894]
Mr. Vaz: I have been asked to reply.
The Charter will be a political declaration of rights, freedoms and principles and is not legally binding.
Article 5.1 and 5.2 correspond to Article 4.1 and 4.2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) today, columns 555-56W.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the relationship between Article 20 of the draft European Charter of Fundamental Rights and diplomatic immunity. [134818]
Mr. Vaz: I have been asked to reply.
The Charter will be a political declaration of rights, freedoms and principles and is not legally binding.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) today, columns 555-56W.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the consequences of Article 7 of the draft European Charter of Fundamental Rights for (a) the media and (b) surveillance of criminals. [134793]
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Mr. Vaz: I have been asked to reply.
The Charter will be a political declaration of rights, freedoms and principles and is not legally binding.
Article 7 corresponds to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) today, columns 555-56W.
Prisons (Health Care Services)
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the arrangements for the delivery of health care services in prisons in England. [134384]
Mr. Boateng: A comprehensive assessment of the arrangements for delivering health care services in prisons was conducted prior to the publication of "The Future Organisation of Prison Health Care" in March 1999. The programme of reform set out in that report requires each prison and health authority jointly to review the health needs of the local prison population and to develop joint improvement plans by the end of March 2001.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make available specific ring-fenced funds for health-related service improvements in prisons in England. [134387]
Mr. Boateng: Prison Service funds are not generally ring-fenced for particular purposes. The reform and improvement of prison health care is a high priority for the Government and this will be reflected in business plans and financial allocations within the Prison Service for 2001-04. Provisional plans are for significant additional investment in health care over this period, including up to £35 million to rebuild or refurbish those prison health care centres in England and Wales that most badly need it.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the work programmes are of (a) the prisons task force and (b) the prisons health policy unit; and what plans he has to report on their progress. [134388]
Mr. Boateng: The joint work programme of the prison health policy unit and the prison health task force was set out in the "Prison Health Handbook", which was published in September 2000. Copies have been placed in the Library. These will publish a joint annual report on their work.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for the NHS to be responsible for health care services in prisons in England. [134385]
Mr. Boateng: The Government's policy on responsibilities for prison health care was set out in the report "The Future Organisation of Prison Health Care", published in March 1999. That document sets out the rationale for an approach based on a partnership between the Prison Service and the NHS as the best way of meeting the health care needs of prisoners.
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Illegal Immigrants
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the fine imposed on a haulier at Dover who voluntarily reported his discovery of illegal immigrants in his lorry. [135022]
Mrs. Roche: Without more detail I am not sure to which haulier the hon. Member is referring. Any haulier who suspects that persons are concealed in their vehicle should report the matter immediately to the authorities, whether in the United Kingdom or abroad. To do otherwise may give rise to suspicion that they are deliberately involved in facilitating the illegal entry of such persons. If a haulier has taken proper measures to secure his vehicle in accordance with the Code of Practice for Vehicles, he will have grounds for establishing a defence against the Civil Penalty that may be imposed. Where a penalty is imposed there are thirty days in which to lodge a notice objecting to liability.
British Stasi Agents
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in what circumstances it is the Government's policy to reveal the identity of British Stasi agents in the absence of a decision to prosecute them; [135005]
- (2) for what reason no files have been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police or the security service concerning the possible prosecution of British Stasi agents; [135006]
(3) if it is his policy not to expose British Stasi agents if they provided (a) unclassified personal information to their controllers, (b) unclassified political information to their controllers or (c) classified information to their controllers. [135027]
Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 21 October 1999, Official Report, columns 587-99, and the one that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department made on 21 December 1999, Official Report, columns 182-229WH, concerning the cases involving the East German Stasi.
Home Detention Curfew Scheme
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have breached one or more conditions of their release under the Home Detention Curfew Scheme since its inception. [134768]
Mr. Boateng: Of the 26,898 prisoners placed on the Home Detention Curfew scheme by 30 September 2000, 1,756 have been reported as having breached one or more of the conditions of their release while subject to the Home Detention Curfew scheme.
This figure includes prisoners who are reported:
- as having breached the conditions of the curfew (section 38A(1)(a) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991);
- as no longer able to be electronically monitored (section 38A(1)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991);
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as presenting a risk of serious harm to the public (section 38A(1)(c) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991); and
- as having committed an offence or breached any other requirement of probation supervision (section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991). Curfewees who are charged with new offences may also be recalled on any of the preceding grounds depending on the circumstances of the case.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what criminal offences have been committed by prisoners released under the home detention curfew scheme. [134773]
Mr. Boateng: Of the 26,898 prisoners placed on the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme by 30 September 2000, 555 are known by the Prison Service to have been cautioned or convicted of a further offence committed while on HDC or are pending prosecution for such an offence. The total number of offences committed by these prisoners is 1,003. A breakdown of the offences is contained in the given table.
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