---

National Asylum Support Service

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual budget was of the National Asylum Support Service in the last financial year; and how much of this was (a) allocated to accommodation and support and (b) paid to (i) local authorities and (ii) private accommodation providers. [159735]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Estimated expenditure on asylum accommodation and support, including unaccompanied asylum seeking minors in 2000-01 was £751 million (estimated final outturn). This was made up of:

Grant payment to local authorities for adult families and unaccompanied asylum seeking minors--£575 million

Support payments by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS)--£115 million

Payments to the Department of Social Security for supporting asylum seekers on benefit--£56 million

Payments to the Scottish Executive for support to adults and families who applied before April 2000--£5 million.

The support payments by NASS include a total of £54 million paid directly to accommodation providers under contract for the provision of accommodation and related services to dispersed asylum seekers. £46 million of this was paid to private sector providers and £8 million to local authority regional consortiums.

The administration budget for NASS was £16 million. In addition £22 million was allocated for payments to the voluntary sector for work carried out to support the new dispersal arrangements and for other work relating to asylum seekers and refugees.

Note:

All figures rounded to nearest £ million.

Helplines

Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what telephone helplines to assist the public are administered by his Department and its agencies. [159571]

Mr. Straw: The main Home Office 24 hour switchboard is on 020 7273 4000. Unless the caller knows an extension or name, callers are then transferred to the Home Office Public Enquiry Service which operates weekdays on 020 7273 4599 between 9 am and 5 pm. The public can also call the Public Inquiry Service direct, but the number is not widely published.

Other numbers are:

Immigration and Nationality Department--0870 606 7766

Prison Service--020 7217 3000

United Kingdom Passport Agency--0870 521 0410.

Judicial Proceedings

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average overall cost to

3 May 2001 : Column: 714W

the Criminal Justice System in 2000-01 of each person (a) proceeded against, (b) found guilty or admitting guilt and (c) found not guilty. [158932]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 26 April 2001]: The figures for 2000-01 are expected to be available in the autumn. The most recently available figures are for 1999-2000. In that year, the expenditure on the Criminal Justice System was £12.1 million and 1.9 million offenders were proceeded against. The average cost per person proceeded against is £6,400.

The specific costs of cases where there was a finding of guilt, and cases where there was no finding of guilt are not known, and it is thus not possible to provide answers for (b) and (c). Of the 1.9 million proceedings, 1.7 million ended in a finding of guilt and there was no finding of guilt in the remaining 0.2 million proceedings.

Work is proceeding on the development of an alternative measure of value for money in the Criminal Justice System.

DEFENCE

Defence Scientific Advisory Council

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the publications of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council over the past 10 years. [158051]

Mr. Spellar: The Defence Scientific Advisory Council is an advisory body and has published no papers over the last 10 years. During that time, however, two reports of council subordinate bodies have been placed in the Library of the House: the independent medical assessment of a sub-committee of the council relating to baton rounds mentioned in the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department to my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Mr. Fitzpatrick) on 2 April 2001, Official Report, column 68W, and a panel review of existing literature and research entitled "The Long Term Neurotoxicity of Anti-cholinesterases": DSAC 10/99 dated 28 June 1999, to which I referred in the answer I gave on 20 October 1999, to my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Mr. Twigg), Official Report, columns 585-86.

The units that are to be equipped with the new baton round already undergo regular baton round training. Any extra cost and time associated specifically with the new round will be small, but cannot be separately identified without disproportionate cost.

Crowd Control Technology

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he received the Crowd Control Technologies report published by the Scientific and Technological Options Assessment Panel of the European Parliament Directorate General for Research; and what measures he has taken to implement the recommendation that an independent and objective social impact study be (a) commissioned and (b) published prior to authorisation of purchase orders for new crowd control technology. [158049]

3 May 2001 : Column: 715W

Mr. Spellar: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer which the Minister of State, Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke) gave him on 25 April 2001, Official Report, column 283W.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those units that are to be equipped with the L21A1 plastic baton round; what his estimate is of the cost of re-equipping each; how many L21A1 baton rounds have been ordered in each force and at what cost; how many L104 anti-riot guns have been ordered and at what cost; how many XL18E3 optical sight mechanisms have been ordered for each force and at what cost; what his estimate is of retraining each unit to be equipped with new equipment; and how many personnel training and trainer hours will be expended on this exercise. [158050]

Mr. Spellar: Army units charged with supporting the police in Northern Ireland are to be equipped with the L21A1 baton round, as are the relevant training establishments. Other units may need to be issued with the new baton rounds should circumstances require it, subject to prior training. Sufficient numbers have been ordered to fulfil anticipated requirements. I am withholding details of equipment numbers in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. I am withholding information on costs on the grounds of commercial confidentiality in accordance with Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact tests were conducted by (a) the Defence Evaluation Research Agency at Porton Down and (b) the Defence Scientific Advisory Council on the L21A1 plastic baton round; how many (i) animals and (ii) human beings were involved in testing; and how many fatalities and what injuries were sustained as a result. [158048]

Mr. Spellar: For the medical evaluation of the L21A1 baton round, no physical impact tests were conducted by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency or by the Defence Scientific Advisory Council on living animals or on human beings.

Computer models of the head, thorax and abdomen were used to compare the biomechanical response of the body following the impact of L21A1 and L5A7 baton rounds. In addition, physical impact tests were conducted on excised bovine scapulae to compare the skull fracture patterns of the two projectiles. The bovine scapula is a physical model of skull fracture and the scapulae were obtained from the meat trade.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what models of plastic baton round have been tested that would meet the criteria for a penetrating kinetic energy round; and what his assessment is of the lethality potential of such weapons. [158047]

Mr. Spellar: L5A7 and L21A1 baton rounds are not designed to penetrate the body wall. We are not aware of any incidence of penetration of the torso body wall by polyurethane baton rounds that have been fired in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. No studies were undertaken on the probability of penetration of the torso body wall by these projectiles, prototypes of the L21A1, or commercially available kinetic energy based public order equipment.

3 May 2001 : Column: 716W

Heat Insulation

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what heat insulation standards for pipework are being required of new buildings at (a) GCHQ and (b) Ministry of Defence headquarters; and what plans he has to adopt a standard higher than BS5422. [158808]

Dr. Moonie: The agreed heat installation standards applicable to pipework as part of the redevelopment of the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Whitehall will be the relevant British standards prevailing at the time of installation, supported by Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers guidelines. BS5422 and BS5970 are the relevant current standards. These standards will be adopted unless and until they are superseded or amended. GCHQ is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

---