---

22 Jul 2004 : Column 573W—continued

Amyl Nitrate

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he proposes to take to tackle solvent abuse through the use of poppers containing amyl nitrate, with particular reference to the products (a) Liquid Gold, (b) Pure Gold and (c) TNT. [178804]

Caroline Flint: None. The alkyl nitrites (poppers) are not controlled under the misuse of drugs legislation. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has considered whether they should be controlled and concluded that they did not give rise to a social problem justifying their control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The substances Liquid Gold, Pure Gold and TNT are all brands of poppers. They are not solvents but are controlled under the Medicines Act 1968.

Animal Research

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 14 May 2004, Official Report, column 603W, on animal research, what discussions Ministers have had since 1999 to ensure that businesses and individuals can carry on working without interference from animal rights protesters; and on what dates these discussions took place. [185072]

 
22 Jul 2004 : Column 574W
 

Caroline Flint [holding answer 19 July 2004]: Under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information it is Government policy that information relating to internal meetings is not disclosed.

Anti-drugs Co-ordinator

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) the cost of recruitment and (b) the total cumulative salary bill of the UK Anti-drugs Coordinator is. [184455]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 16 July 2004]: Following the general election in 2001, the Home Secretary took over lead responsibility for driving forward delivery of the UK Drug Strategy.

Within the Home Office, the Home Secretary is supported in this role at official level by the Drug Strategy Directorate, led by Vie Hogg.

Asylum Seekers

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conditions have been placed within his Department's contract with Reliance Monitoring Service to provide a system for tagging persons seeking asylum in relation to (a) the monitoring of families and (b) the monitoring of people under the age of 18 years. [183921]

Mr. Browne: Clause 36 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Bill provides the legislative authority for electronic monitoring within the immigration context. Tagging is likely to be appropriate for those who would otherwise have been detained and will, therefore, be used as an alternative to detention.

A number of factors are taken into consideration when assessing the risk of a family absconding. These may result in one or both of the parents being subject to electronic monitoring.

Electronic Monitoring for immigration purposes will only be available to those who are 18 years of age and over.

Botox Toxicity

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the (i) accuracy and (ii) reproducibility of in vitro tests for botox toxicity; and if he will make a statement. [181806]

Caroline Flint: The Home Office has not commissioned research of the kind described, but it has provided funds for three projects aimed at trying to develop and evaluate alternatives to using animals in this type of testing. Further details are in the Reports of the Animal Procedures Committee for the years 1996, 1997, and 2002, copies of which are available in the House Library. In addition the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate considers and advises on progress made in this field.
 
22 Jul 2004 : Column 575W
 

Botulinium

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licences were issued for the animal testing of botulinium toxin in each year since 1997; how many animals were involved, broken down by (a) breed and (b) type; and how much toxin was involved in each case. [181809]

Caroline Flint: A survey of currently held data indicates that 10 project licences have been granted since 1997 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, authorising the use of animals in research and testing involving botulinum toxin. The figures are:

	Number of project licences issued
1997	1
1998	1
1999	1
2000–01	0
2002	4
2003	2
2004 (To date)	1

The licensed work has covered safety testing of the toxin for clinical use, research and development as regards possible new clinical applications, research into alternative methods of testing, and forensic food safety checks. None has been connected with publicised use of the substance for non-medical cosmetic purposes.

The animals used for clinical purpose safety testing in 2002 are a subset of those reported at column 1 of table 15 in the publication entitled Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain 2002 (Command 5886, available in the House Library). This relates to all protected animals used in safety testing of pharmaceuticals—those used for testing botulinum toxin are not identified separately. Although all the testing is undertaken using rodent species, the precise details of the numbers, breed and type are not collated centrally. This is also the case as regards earlier years.

The amount of toxin used varies between testing programmes and studies, but licence authorities mandate only the use of the minimum intended to achieve the scientific objective.

Bribery/Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures the National Criminal Intelligence Service employs to grade allegations of overseas bribery held on the national register; and how many allegations in each grade are held on the NCIS register. [174032]

Caroline Flint: Upon receipt of all allegations, research is made and, if appropriate, sent to the relevant investigation authority.

Allegations are not graded as all are of a serious nature and should there be a prima facie case, which falls within this legislation, further investigation will always be made.
 
22 Jul 2004 : Column 576W
 

Cannabis

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) received regarding the use of cannabis since its reclassification took place; and if he will place a copy of these studies in the Library. [184868]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 16 July 2004]: The British Crime Survey provides annual updates on drug use. The Home Office is working closely with police forces to monitor the policing of drug offences since cannabis was reclassified and early figures are encouraging. As more robust data become available, a more thorough assessment of the impact of reclassification will be undertaken.

Careless Driving

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to introduce an offence of causing death by careless driving. [184915]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The Government are reviewing the existing framework of the criminal law concerning bad driving, particularly where death or injury results, in order to ensure that appropriate offences and penalties are put in place. Any comprehensive review of this area of the law must examine the adequacy of the law relating to fatalities that occur as a result of careless driving. We will publish a consultation paper detailing our proposals as soon as possible.

Carter Report

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the terms of reference were for the Carter report. [182318]

Paul Goggins: As set out in the report, "Managing Offenders—Reducing Crime", the terms of reference for the Correctional Services Review were to establish a credible and effective system for the correctional services that focused on reducing crime and maintaining public confidence, whilst remaining affordable.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of the recommendations from the Carter Report have been implemented. [182320]

Paul Goggins: The Carter Report 'Managing Offenders—Reducing Crime' a copy of which was placed in the Library on 6 January 2004 was welcomed by Ministers at the time of its publication. The Government response was published on the same date. Much work has been done since to take forward the recommendations made, particularly those involving the development of a single National Offender Management Service.

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the external consultants who contributed to Patrick Carter's review of the correctional services; and how much they were paid in each case. [182095]

Paul Goggins: External consultants were engaged by the Cabinet Office at a cost of £33,378 to carry out a high level review of the non-operating costs incurred by the correctional services.
 
22 Jul 2004 : Column 577W
 

---