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Refugee Status (EU Council Directive)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Article 41 of the proposed Council Directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status, with particular reference to (a) rights granted to applicants in the context of (i) fundamentalism, (ii) hostile aliens, (iii) questionable social or political views or morals and (iv) use of the NHS and (b) contradiction of that article and Article 30 of same directive. [147452]

Mrs. Roche: Article 41 of the proposed Council Directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status is based on Article 3 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Article 13 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community.

Negotiation between member states of the proposed Commission text has recently begun. To date there has been no discussion of Article 41.

Euro

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on planned information campaigns on the euro for the UK police forces to combat forgery. [147462]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I understand that the European Commission, Europol and others are jointly considering the possibility of training programmes for the police services of member states on the counterfeiting of the Euro.

Organised Crime Forum

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the planned (a) budget and (b) activities of the European Forum for the Prevention of Organised Crime. [147453]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commission's proposal for a Council Decision, which includes establishing a European Forum on the Prevention of Organised Crime, has been deposited with the Parliamentary scrutiny committees.

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The Forum would include officials from the member states and experts from academic institutions and other bodies. It would discuss and advise on crime prevention trends and policies. We support the purposes of the Forum, but attach importance to ensuring that it should not duplicate activities in other European Union fora. We are also seeking information on the likely costs of the Forum and how these would be financed.

Golden Jubilee

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee. [147617]

Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Mr. Levitt) on 23 November 2000, Official Report, column 294W.

Voluntary Organisations (Security Checks)

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will provide funds to help voluntary organisations pay the proposed fee for security checks on volunteers. [147372]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Criminal Records Bureau will issue certificates, on application, to individuals. An announcement about the fees that the bureau will charge will be made as soon as possible. It will be a matter for employers (or others, including voluntary organisations) to decide whether to reimburse the cost incurred by individuals. Waiving charges in respect of some or all of those in the voluntary sector would inevitably impose an additional burden on the Exchequer or result in a higher charge for others using the bureau, who may be no less deserving than those in the voluntary sector. But we have made clear our determination to keep the level of fees to a minimum.

Prison and Probation Services

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the change in expenditure was on (a) the Prison Service and (b) probation (i) in total and (ii) in real terms in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [145697]

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Mr. Boateng: The tables set out the total expenditure (revenue and capital) for the Prison Service and probation services for the 10 financial years 1991-92 to 2000-01. The figures for the financial years 1991-92 to 1999-2000 represent expenditure outturn, while the figures for 2000-01 reflect expenditure plans. The tables also show the change in expenditure from one financial year to the next in both cash and real terms.

Prison Service

		Percentage change over previous year
Financial year	Total net expenditure (£ million)	Cash terms	Real terms
1991-92	1,462	--	--
1992-93	1,470	0.56	-2.62
1993-94	1,509	2.62	-0.03
1994-95	1,598	5.91	4.44
1995-96	1,667	4.32	1.40
1996-97	1,609	-3.50	-6.50
1997-98	1,741	8.22	5.23
1998-99	1,812	4.10	1.21
1999-2000	1,846	1.89	-0.45
2000-01(30)	1,783	-3.54	-5.32

⁽³⁰⁾ Plans

Notes:

1. The fall in expenditure in 1996-97 of 3.5 per cent. due to the reduction in capital spend following completion of major capital works in 1995-96. Capital spend in recent years is lower due to the introduction of Private Finance Initiative funding for new prisons.

2. The fall in forecast spend this year (2000-01) due to the transfer to the Youth Justice Board. Adjusting for this factor reveals an increase in cash terms in 2000-01 of 2.9 per cent.

Probation service

		Percentage change over previous year
Financial year	Total net expenditure (£ million)	Cash terms	Real terms
1991-92	335	--	--
1992-93	365	8.96	5.51
1993-94	393	7.67	4.89
1994-95	406	3.31	1.87
1995-96	416	2.46	-0.40
1996-97	468	12.50	8.99
1997-98	481	2.78	-0.06
1998-99	475	-1.25	-3.99
1999-2000	491	3.37	0.99
2000-01(31)	524	6.72	4.63

⁽³¹⁾ Plans

Note:

1. Total expenditure figures do not include capital expenditure on probation/bail hostels, nor direct Home Office central expenditure.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Travel Allowance

45. Mr. MacShane: To ask the President of the Council how many hon. Members have used their travel allowance to visit Europe this Session; and if she will make a statement. [146226]

Mr. Tipping: Ninety one Members used the scheme last Session; six Members have used the scheme so far this Session, and a number of visits have been approved, but claims have not yet emerged.

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House of Commons Commission

46. Angela Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what progress has been made regarding informing hon. Members about the deliberations of the House of Commons Commission on a regular basis. [146227]

Mr. Kirkwood: Further measures, including the setting up of a website on the Parliamentary Intranet have been approved by the Commission since my answer to the hon. Lady on 14 November 2000; Official Report, column 588W.

Parliamentary Estate

Mr. Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) of 22 January, Official Report, column 413W, regarding the security of the Parliamentary Estate, what assessment he has made of the (a) savings to be derived from and (b) the operational possibility of replacing police officers with civilian staff. [148015]

Mr. Kirkwood: A recent survey on this aspect of the security operation within the Parliamentary Estate has taken place leading to a decision not to replace police officers with civilian staff.

Parliamentary Questions

Tony Wright: To ask the President of the Council how many and what percentage of written parliamentary questions asked in Session 1998-99 received a holding answer, broken down by Department. [142190]

Mrs. Beckett: The information requested, provided by the House of Commons Library (POLIS database ¹ ), is provided in the table.

Department	Questions tabled	Holding reply	Percentage
Accommodation and Works Committee	13	4	30.77
Attorney-General	111	1	0.9
Cabinet Office	479	28	5.85
Catering Select Committee	6	1	16.67
DCMS	1,048	316	30.15
DFEE	2,061	251	12.18
DFID	770	18	2.34
DH	2,428	253	10.42
DSS	1,647	70	4.25
DETR	3,978	447	11.24
DTI	2,353	591	25.12
Deputy Prime Minister	131	20	15.27
FCO	2,191	236	10.77
HO	3,310	84	2.54
HoC Commission	26	6	23.08
LCD	630	17	2.70
MAFF	1,697	440	25.93
MOD	2,358	440	18.66
NIO	1,081	184	17.02
PCO	158	2	1.27
Prime Minister	712	154	21.63
SO	1,206	307	25.46
HMT	2,083	544	26.12
WO	1,073	29	2.70

⁽³²⁾ A note provided by the House of Commons POLIS Section on how these figures should be interpreted has been placed in the Library.

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