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Trial by Jury

34. Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations his Department has received on the number of people, in the last year for which figures are available, who opted for a trial by jury, as opposed to a magistrate, who changed their plea before the trial commenced. [99711]

Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the replies given to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Benn) on 25 November 1999, Official Report, column 181W, by the Minister of State, Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke).

35. Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research findings he has obtained concerning abuse of the right to elect for trial by jury in either-way cases. [99712]

Mr. Straw: Research conducted by the Home Office showed that nearly 90 per cent. of convicted offenders who had elected Crown Court trial in 1989 had previous convictions and over a third had more than 10 previous convictions. Information is also available from the baseline data collected by the Home Office in 1998 for the evaluation of the pilot schemes to reduce delay in the criminal justice system. In a sample of nearly 1,000 cases in the six pilot areas, about 60 per cent. of those who elected for the Crown Court pleaded guilty before the trial started.

Public House Licensing

36. Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to make changes to the public house licensing regime. [99713]

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to make changes to the public house licensing regime. [99699]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We aim to publish a White Paper early in the new year setting out our proposals for reform, and to bring forward a Bill when Parliamentary time permits.

Severe Personality Disorder

37. Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Department of Health on the matter of severe personality disorder. [99714]

Mr. Boateng: The Government's proposals on severe personality disorder form a single piece of work which is the joint responsibility of the Home Office and the Department of Health. Work on all aspects of the proposals is being taken forward jointly with ongoing contact between officials of the two Departments.

Police Resources (Greater Manchester)

38. Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police resources in Greater Manchester. [99715]

6 Dec 1999 : Column: 381W

Mr. Charles Clarke: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced in a reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Mr. Twigg) on 25 November 1999, Official Report, columns 176-78W, the provisional funding settlement for the Greater Manchester Police for 2000-01. The police authority's provisional funding allocation is £386 million. This is an increase of 2.8 per cent. over 1999-2000, which is in line with the average increase in funding for England and Wales next year. It will be for the police authority to set the budget for the next financial year. It is for the chief officer to determine staffing levels within the overall resources available.

The Government are also making available additional resources, as part of a new ring-fenced Crime Fighting Fund, to enable the police to recruit 5,000 officers over and above the number that forces would otherwise have recruited over the next three years from April 2000. The Greater Manchester Police Authority will be able to make a bid for a share of this funding.

Right to Remain

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the time taken to determine whether an individual has the right to remain in the UK, having first entered on a visitor's visa. [99690]

Mrs. Roche: Visa nationals who obtain a visit visa from a British Diplomatic Post and are given leave to enter the United Kingdom for up to six months as a visitor are, under the Immigration Rules, expected to leave the country at the end of that period.

Non-visa nationals who are given leave to enter the United Kingdom for up to six months as a visitor are also expected to leave the country at the end of that period. They may, however, apply for further leave to remain under a different category in accordance with the Immigration Rules. Straightforward applications which can be dealt with under a fast track system can usually be processed within about six weeks. Other applications which require lengthy examination or further inquiries will take longer to decide. We cannot give an average length of time for processing such applications as each is considered on its individual merits.

Civil Servants (Transport)

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on civil servants' transport in each of the last two years. [98698]

Mr. Straw: All travel undertaken by Home Office civil servants complies with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code. The total spend on civil servants' transport in each of the last two years has been as follows:

	£
1998-99	12,538,635
1997-98	12,950,486

6 Dec 1999 : Column: 382W

Ministerial Transport

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on ministerial transport in each of the last two years. [98697]

Mr. Straw: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to her by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, on 1 December 1999, Official Report, columns 253-56W. In addition, the Home Office spent, in 1997-98, £161,984 (of which £161,884 was capital expenditure) and, in 1998-99, £29,035 on transport services for Ministers.

Drug-related Crime

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested for drug-related crime on Merseyside in each year from 1995 onwards; how many were charged; how many were subsequently convicted; and how many were aged (a) between 14 and 16, (b) between 16 and 19, (c) between 19 and 29 and (d) over 29 years. [99432]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 23 November 1999]: No information is collected centrally on drug-related crime, only on offences under various specific drug legislation, mostly the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The following information is available:

(a) Recorded Crime

Notifiable offences of trafficking in controlled drugs recorded by Merseyside police is as follows:

	Number
1995	698
1996	563
1997	694

For 1998-99 the coverage of notifiable offences was extended and revised principles for counting introduced. The following was recorded by Merseyside police:

	Number
Trafficking in controlled drugs	729
Possession of controlled drugs	4,737
Other drugs offences	154

(b) Stop/searches under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act

Numbers of persons/vehicles stopped and searched for drugs and number of arrests made for drugs by Merseyside police is as follows:

	Stop/searches	Arrests
1995	5,357	1,066
1996-97	11,324	2,030
1997-98	15,613	2,557

6 Dec 1999 : Column: 383W

(c) Persons cautioned, proceeded against and convicted:

Numbers of persons cautioned, proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts within Merseyside police force area for indictable drug offences(17) by age group 1995-98

Age and year	Total cautioned	Total proceeded against	Total found guilty
1995	1,170	1,810	1,485
1996	1,457	1,956	1,563
1997	2,033	2,311	2,030
1998	2,309	2,615	2,359
of which:
14-15 years of age
1995	74	19	13
1996	77	23	16
1997	116	22	16
1998	143	40	29
16-18 years of age
1995	361	212	174
1996	451	233	169
1997	544	270	240
1998	678	402	359
19-29 years of age
1995	630	1,129	941
1996	797	1,172	963
1997	1,111	1,339	1,162
1998	1,176	1,413	1,304
30 and over
1995	99	450	357
1996	130	526	414
1997	248	677	611
1998	295	759	667

(17) Trafficking in controlled drugs, possession of controlled drugs and other drug offences (principal offence basis)

There is no information specifically on the number charged. Figures on those cautioned and proceeded against are the nearest available centrally. (d) Research

Home Office research involving the drug testing of arrestees strongly suggests that around a third of acquisitive crime is linked to drug taking. Further work is being conducted within this programme. The results of the next phase, including research on Merseyside, are due to be published by the end of June 2000.

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