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Defendants (Previous Convictions)
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of defendants who elected for trial by jury at the Crown court (a) were subsequently convicted and had previous convictions and (b) were acquitted and had previous convictions. [150649]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is not collected centrally. Research conducted by the Home Office showed that nearly 90 per cent. of convicted offenders who had elected trial in 1989 had previous convictions and over a third had more than 10 previous convictions.
Departmental Travel Costs
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total gross running cost to his Department for travel, including fares, subsistence, accommodation and other expenses met from public funds for visits exclusively within the United Kingdom by (a) him and (b) Ministers in the last 12 months. [149138]
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Mr. Straw: The available information on the cost of travel, including fares, subsistence, accommodation and other allowances met from public funds for ministerial visits exclusively within the United Kingdom between 1 February 2000 and 31 January 2001 is set out. The figures include where relevant the cost of an accompanying Private Secretary.
- (a) £14,523.38
- (b) £48,295.38.
Animal Welfare
Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's progress in preventing cruelty to animals. [150280]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This Government are committed to improving standards of animal welfare and I am pleased to report that since May 1997, we have agreed a significant number of measures designed to prevent the unnecessary suffering of animals, these include:
- a whole range of United Kingdom, European Union and Council of Europe legislation and recommendations designed to improve the conditions in which farm animals, of all kinds, are kept, transported and slaughtered;
revising pre-export procedures for sheep and pigs destined for fattening, production or slaughter in other European Union member states;
announcing a review of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to ensure that we have veterinary para-professionals are effectively regulated;
supporting the private Member's Bill which became the Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 2000: this will allow for better care to be made of commercial animals while proceedings under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 are in hand;
legislation to prohibit fur farming in England and Wales--the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000;
- introducing the Pet Travel Scheme, which allows dogs and cats coming from Western Europe and certain other rabies-free islands to enter the United Kingdom without quarantine, provided that they meet certain conditions. The Government are consulting on statutory provisions for the welfare of those animals still subject to quarantine while there;
agreeing, during the United Kingdom's Presidency of the European Union, the European Union Zoos Directive which requires zoos to accommodate animals under conditions that satisfy their biological and conservation requirements;
creating the Zoos Forum which advises the Government on all zoo matters and came into existence following a review of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981;
updating the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice;
commissioning a review of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 to look at its effectiveness;
supporting a private Member's Bill which became the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999, a measure aimed at tightening regulation of commercial dog breeding establishments, and the issue to local authorities of related detailed guidance;
preparing, with the Association of Circus Proprietors, a code of practice on the care and welfare of animals in travelling circuses;
making an order that allows for an indefinite prohibition of the culling of seals on the east coast of England.
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we are promoting the fullest application of the 3Rs--the replacement of procedures with others which do not use animals, the reduction of the number of animals used and the refinement of procedures to minimise pain and suffering.
In addition to our commitment to the 3Rs, the other main individual measures this Government have introduced since the election to ensure that animals are used only where fully justified are as follows. We have:
- secured a voluntary ban on testing cosmetic finished products on animals;
increased the budget made available to the Animal Procedures Committee to sponsor research on alternatives by 45 per cent. to £265,000 for 2000-01;
banned the use of animals to test alcohol and tobacco products;
increased the size of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate from 18 to 21, and recruited seven new inspectors to fill these and other vacancies;
introduced a requirement that all establishments licensed under the 1986 Act have local ethical review processes as a complement to the existing controls under the Act;
announced our intention never to allow the use of Great Apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, pygmy chimpanzees and orang-utans);
- announced the phasing out of the use of ascitic animals in certain forms of monoclonal antibody production; and
ended the licensing of the LD50 test and of tests for skin corrosivity and phototoxic potential where valid alternatives exist.
Departmental Costs
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total gross running cost to his Department in the last 12 months was of alcoholic drinks. [149045]
Mr. Straw: Provisional expenditure on alcoholic drinks for official guests at ministerial functions in the last 12 months to 31 January 2001 was £3,007. The cost of alcoholic drinks taken with meals when entertainment is provided by civil servants for official guests cannot be identified separately.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total gross running costs were to his Department in the last 12 months of (a) stationery and (b) printing and publishing. [149140]
Mr. Straw: The provisional total gross running costs to my Department in the last 12 months to 31 January 2001 were (a) £3,675,956 for stationery and (b) £6,257,404 for printing and publishing.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total gross running costs to his Department of the non-departmental public bodies accountable through his Department in the last 12 months. [149143]
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Mr. Straw: The Cabinet Office publication, "Public Bodies 2000", contains information for the 1999-2000 financial year of the total costs to Departments of sponsoring their non-departmental public bodies. "Public Bodies 2000" was published on 4 January 2001 and copies have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the total gross running costs to his Department of fees and disbursements paid to consultants in the last 12 months. [149151]
Mr. Straw: The total gross running costs to the Home Department of fees and disbursements paid to consultants in the 12 months ending 31 December 2000 were £14,234,969.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's total gross running costs were for travel, including fares, subsistence, accommodation and other expenses met from public funds, but excluding such costs for journeys and stays exclusively within the United Kingdom, (a) since 1 May 1997 and (b) in the last 12 months. [149044]
Mr. Straw: Provisional costs are (a) £8,334,486 in the period from 1 May 1997 to 31 January 2001 and (b) £2,206,897 in the last 12 months to 31 January 2001.
Departmental Visits
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visits abroad have been made by him and his Ministers on departmental business (a) since 1 May 1997 and (b) in the last 12 months. [149043]
Mr. Straw: The information requested is as follows:
- (a) between 1 May 1997 and 31 January 2001 Home Office Ministers made 107 overseas visits on departmental business, 86 of which were within the European Union.
- (b) between 1 February 2000 and 31 January 2001 Home Office Ministers made 26 overseas visits, 24 of which were within the European Union.
Road Accidents (Police Vehicles)
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) injuries and (b) deaths were caused by police cars in each year from 1996 to 2000, broken down by police authority. [150888]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information on the number of injuries and deaths in road traffic accidents involving police vehicles on immediate response or in a pursuit are given in the table.
Recommendations from the report "Police Pursuit Driver Training", issued in September 1998, which have been taken forward on a national basis are well advanced and many forces are now working towards full implementation of the report. National standardised police pursuit driver training courses are now available.
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Notes:
All figures for financial year e.g. 1 April-31 March.
A blank cell indicates that the force did not provide the data for that year.
The figures are numbers of deaths/injuries, not numbers of accidents.
The figures refer only to accidents involving police vehicles which were engaged in immediate/emergency response or pursuit at the time of the accident.
The figures include both police and civilian casualties.
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26 Feb 2001 : Column: 481W
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