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National Security
Mr. David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to implement the policies announced on 25 January to protect the national infrastructure against electronic attack. [103719]
Mr. Straw: A range of initiatives has been taken. Departments have been asked to ensure that their own key systems will achieve independently assessable standards of security. Discussions are being held with a number of private sector organisations in order to identify the systems on which the national infrastructure critically depends, to assess and reduce their vulnerabilities, and to establish contingency arrangements. In order to take this forward, I have established an interdepartmental centre, the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre, to act as a point of contact for those involved in this work in both government and the private sector.
Electoral Costs
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of a person casting their vote at a polling station. [102544]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Records of the administrative costs of casting a vote at a polling station and by post are not kept separately.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the cost of registering an elector on the electoral register in England and Wales; and what is the cost of entering a name to correct an omission from the register. [102545]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The overall cost of registration of electors in England and Wales is estimated at about £40 million per year; or approximately a pound for each elector. The cost of making a single correction would not be very much greater.
Air Guns
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many incidents of violent crime involving air guns there have been in each of the past 10 years; [102611]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
The following table gives the readily available information on the number of recorded violent crimes in which air weapons were reported to have been used (no distinction between air guns and air rifles is possible in the statistics collected centrally):
(2) how many (a) fatalities and (b) woundings involving air rifles there have been in each of the past 10 years. [102612]
| Year | Homicide | Attempted murder and other acts (including wounding) endangering life | Other wounding and violence against the person | Robbery | Total violent crime (11) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 3 | 146 | 1,701 | 90 | 1,940 |
| 1990 | 1 | 191 | 1,656 | 122 | 1,970 |
| 1991 | 2 | 192 | 1,545 | 156 | 1,895 |
| 1992 | -- | 207 | 1,637 | 151 | 1,995 |
| 1993 | -- | 200 | 1,504 | 131 | 1,835 |
| 1994 | -- | 207 | 1,510 | 115 | 1,832 |
| 1995 | 1 | 186 | 1,350 | 112 | 1,649 |
| 1996 | -- | 121 | 1,303 | 81 | 1,505 |
| 1997 | -- | 75 | 1,374 | 99 | 1,548 |
| 1998 | -- | 61 | 1,806 | 81 | 1,948 |
(11) Excludes sexual offences, few in number, and not separately identifiable in later years
Figures for 1998 are not directly comparable with those for previous years because the coverage of recorded crime was extended and new counting rules employed from 1 April 1998.
Prison (North Wales)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to establish a prison in the north of Wales to enable prisoners from that area to be held within reach of their own communities. [102497]
Mr. Boateng: The Prison Service has no plans to build a prison in North Wales. Altcourse, the new prison in Liverpool, provides places for prisoners from that area.
Hackney Carriage Drivers
Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what powers the Metropolitan Police considers complaints against hackney carriage drivers in Greater London levelled by members of the general public. [102453]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan police tells me that Assistant Commissioner Paul Manning, who is the Licensing Authority for hackney carriage drivers within the Metropolitan police district, considers complaints against drivers under paragraph 30(1) of the London Cab Order 1934.
Overseas Electors
Mr. Greenway:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens eligible to register as overseas electors; [102517]
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(3) what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens eligible to register as overseas electors who have resided outside the United Kingdom for (a) five years or less and (b) more than five years, but less than (i) 10 years, (ii) 15 years and (iii) 20 years. [102516]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
British citizens resident abroad are not required to give us details of their length of stay or their eligibility to register as voters. The information is, therefore, not available.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many research contracts have been let by his Department since May 1997; what is the value of each contract; and in each case whether the contract included (a) a departmental veto over publication of the research results, (b) departmental control over the date of publication of the research results and (c) a requirement that the final research results incorporate departmental amendments. [100151]
Mr. Straw
[holding answer 6 December 1999]: The Home Office commissions social research externally to support its work on development and evaluation of policy. There is no veto over the publication of the results except where there are security implications for the Department or other Home Office Agencies; there is an expectation that the research will usually be published with departmental consent. Consultancies are used primarily for the peer review of research data and quality control. In each case, Home Office staff will agree with the contractor the arrangements for publication including its timing. The Home Office may comment on the style and detail of results that are presented in departmental publications. With departmental agreement contractors may, and are often encouraged to make their own arrangements for external publication. Copyright remains with the Home Office.
The Home Office also undertakes a range of scientific research. There is no veto over the publication of the results, except where there are security implications for the Department, and no departmental control over the date of publication, other than the Department requiring a period after the submission of the final report for quality assurance. There is no requirement that the final results incorporate departmental amendments save those necessary to correct factual inaccuracies.
A copy of the table showing the information available centrally on research contracts let has been placed in the Library.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consult the public to establish whether there is demand for a hardback UK passport. [102916]
Mrs. Roche:
There are no plans to do so. Most countries in the world issue passports which are not hardbacked. The soft covered passport is flexible, more convenient to carry and is easier and quicker to produce. Passports are produced
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to an International Civil Aviation Authority standard which is designed to ease travellers passage through passport controls. Producing passports in a standardised format greatly facilitates this. Re-introducing a hardback United Kingdom passport would require costly changes to the passport manufacturing process.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the cost of re-introducing an optional hardback UK passport. [102914]
Mrs. Roche:
There are no plans to do so. To introduce an optional hardback version of the United Kingdom passport would require significant changes to the passport manufacturing process, and would increase the costs of the Passport Service. There are over 30 million of the soft covered United Kingdom passports in circulation and most countries in the world issue passports in this form. A standard passport format greatly facilitates worldwide travel.
Mr. Jim Murphy:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on when the Glasgow Airport Immigration Service will be re-opened to the public. [102851]
Mrs. Roche:
The core business of the Immigration Service at Glasgow Airport is coverage of the arrivals controls by immigration officers and this is operating normally.
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens resident outside the UK who have resided outside the UK for more than 20 years; [102515]
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