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Rikki Reel
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to date is of the inquiry by Bedfordshire police into the Metropolitan Police Service's investigation of the death of Rikki Reel; when the inquiry will be completed; and if the report will be made available to the Reel family. [139759]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Bedfordshire police are conducting their inquiry on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service, under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority. The rechargeable cost of the Bedfordshire police inquiry up to the end of October is £12,500; salary costs are not rechargeable. Bedfordshire police expect that their inquiry will be concluded by the end of the calendar year. The decision to disclose the inquiry's findings will rest with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
Criminal Record Checks
Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the (1) annual cost of administering the Criminal Record Bureau checks for volunteers; [139687]
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- (2) annual cost of providing criminal record checks for volunteers; [139685]
(3) annual income derived from charging voluntary organisations for criminal record checks. [139686]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Work is continuing to estimate both the likely volume of demand for checks from the voluntary sector and from other sectors wishing to make use of the services to be offered by the Criminal Records Bureau, and the costs of the Bureau and of others, such as the police, who will contribute to providing these services. These factors will need to be taken into account in setting the fees to be charged by the Bureau. The fees will be kept to the minimum necessary to recoup costs.
Licensing Hours
Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures the Government are taking to ensure the maintenance of law and order in areas in which there are extended licensing hours. [139650]
Mr. Charles Clarke: It is generally a requirement in law, and is in any case the normal court practice, to consider any objections made by the police with regard to the prevention of crime and disorder before licensing justices and magistrates courts grant permission for any licensed premises or registered members' clubs to open beyond normal permitted hours.
Reducing alcohol-related crime and disorder is a key consideration in the proposals for modernising the licensing laws in England and Wales set out in the White Paper "Time for Reform" (Cm 4696). In addition, we set out a major programme to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder in the Home Office action plan on alcohol-related crime, launched on 3 August. The plan promotes action against underage drinking, public drunkenness and alcohol-related violence, to address the crime and other anti-social behaviour that is often associated with alcohol abuse.
Ms Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the review of licensing hours for 31 December. [139452]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: A consultation paper setting out our proposal to amend the Licensing Act 1964 to allow on-licensed premises and registered members' clubs to sell alcohol throughout the night on each New Year's Eve was published on 9 November 1998. It also sought views on a more modest proposal to relax the hours by extending them by five hours. The consultation ended on 12 February 1999. There were 313 responses to the consultation paper:
- 75 supported all night relaxation every New Year's Eve (mainly licensed trade and local authorities);
- 115 supported all-night relaxation for Millennium Eve but did not offer a view on subsequent New Year's Eves (mainly members of the Campaign for Real Ale);
- 21 supported a five-hour relaxation for every New Year's Eve (mainly local authorities);
- Seven supported longer hours but expressed no preference over how long;
- 33 supported longer hours, but only for Millennium Eve (mainly police, courts and local authorities);
- 49 opposed both options (mainly residents' associations and local authorities);
- Eight opposed both options for Millennium Eve but did not offer a view on subsequent New Year's Eves; and
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Since Millennium Eve, I have received regular representations from the hospitality and leisure industry supporting the relaxation of licensing hours generally and on New Year's Eves; and from the Association of Chief Police Officers who consider that the Millennium celebrations were unique and atypical, and that a further test of relaxed hours is required at a normal New Year's Eve before decisions are made concerning others in the future.
Alcohol (Minors)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of test purchases of alcohol by minors to enable detection and enforcement of licensing laws. [140001]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Because of doubts about the lawfulness of the test purchasing of alcohol by children it has not been widely used. A recent study carried out under the auspices of the Alcohol Education and Research Council showed that children had little difficulty in buying alcohol. A summary of the report of the study was published with the Council's annual report for 1999-2000, a copy of which is in the Library. The researchers concluded from their study that test purchasing would enable more effective enforcement of the minimum age laws. It is the Government's policy, as set out in our White Paper "Time for Reform", to amend licensing law to provide a clear statutory basis for test purchasing.
Stasi (British Agents)
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if it is his policy to pass files on British Stasi agents to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision to be taken on whether to prosecute them; [136320]
- (2) when the Security Service made a full examination of the Berlin Stasi archive in relation to British Stasi agents; [136251]
(3) when the Government first obtained evidence of the existence of reports to the Stasi from a source in Chatham House; [136247]
(4) what criteria the Government uses in deciding whether (a) to pass files to the Crown Prosecution Service for possible prosecution and (b) to reveal publicly the names of past secret agents of hostile intelligence agencies in peace-time. [136249]
Mr. Straw: It has been long-standing Government policy not to comment on the work of the Security Service. I can add nothing to the written answers that I gave the hon.
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Member about the East German Stasi on 2 November 2000, Official Report, column 610W; 9 November 2000, Official Report, column 398W; and 20 November 2000, Official Report, columns 80-81W.
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the number of asylum seekers dispersed from the Dover/Deal/Thanet areas in each month since April 2000. [140103]
Mrs. Roche: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the numbers of asylum seekers granted (a) extended leave to remain and (b) first stage decisions to uphold appeals and grant permanent residency (i) between April 1999 to April 2000 and (ii) since 1 April 2000. [140104]
Mrs. Roche: The available information is given in the table.
The figures for appeals allowed by adjudicators do not necessarily equate to the numbers granted settlement as there are further rights of appeal which may overturn the adjudicator's determination.
| Recognised as a refugee and granted asylum(19),(20) | Not recognised as a refugee but granted exceptional leave to remain(19),(20) | Appeals allowed by adjudicators(21) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999(22) | |||
| April | 1,490 | 530 | |
| May | 3,235 | 275 | 1,440 |
| June | 1,755 | 100 | |
| July | 255 | 95 | |
| August | 170 | 125 | 1,495 |
| September | 200 | 145 | |
| October | 215 | 250 | |
| November | 180 | 270 | 655 |
| December | 125 | 95 | |
| 2000(22) | |||
| January | 180 | 170 | 245 |
| February | 225 | 680 | 210 |
| March | 590 | 1,225 | 150 |
| April | 2,090 | 1,845 | 150 |
| May | 2,015 | 1,930 | 160 |
| June | 1,135 | 1,455 | 235 |
| July | 710 | 980 | 170 |
| August | 575 | 925 | 220 |
| September | 375 | 495 | 340 |
| October | 645 | 285 | 435 |
(19) Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
(20) Based on decisions implemented for in-country cases and on decisions made for port cases until September 2000. Based on decisions made from October 2000 onwards.
(21) Based on data from the Refugee Index (April to September 1999) and the Presenting Officers Unit (October 1999 to October 2000). Figures for 1999 are the best available published figures due to poor data quality.
(22) Provisional figures.
Note:
Figures rounded to the nearest five.
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish for each of the last
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12 months for which figures are available (a) the number of principal asylum seekers entering the United Kingdom and (b) his estimate of the numbers of individual asylum seekers that this figure represents. [140102]
Mrs. Roche: The information requested is given in the table.
| Total applications received(23) | Total applications received including dependants(24) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999(25) | ||
| November | 6,420 | 8,230 |
| December | 7,180 | 9,205 |
| 2000(25) | ||
| January | 6,110 | 7,835 |
| February | 6,110 | 7,835 |
| March | 6,680 | 8,565 |
| April | 5,890 | 7,550 |
| May | 6,185 | 7,930 |
| June | 5,900 | 7,565 |
| July | 6,255 | 8,020 |
| August | 6,430 | 8,245 |
| September | 6,435 | 8,250 |
| October | 6,970 | 8,935 |
(23) Includes principal applicants who apply at port and in-country
(24) Estimated figures
(25) Provisional figures
(26) Figures rounded to the nearest 5
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the (a) start date and (b) timescale is for the proposed review of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers; [140354]
- (2) if he will make a statement on the changes to be implemented in the review of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers. [140353]
Mrs. Roche: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer the Home Secretary gave to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on 26 October 2000, Official Report, column 210W. Work on the review of the operation of the voucher scheme began in October. We are consulting stakeholders and others and we aim to complete the review early next year.
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