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Written Answers
Thursday, 7th November 1996.
Prison Chaplains: Multi-Faith Courses
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many Chaplains in Her Majesty's Prisons in England and Wales have attended multi-faith courses since these courses began at the Prison Officers College at Newbold Revel.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director-General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director of
- Security and Programmes, Mr. A. J. Pearson, dated 7th November 1996.
Since 1991, 70 Prison Service Chaplains have attended multi-faith courses.
Ballot Papers: Fraudulent Titles
Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made to eliminate fraudulent titles on ballot papers.
Baroness Blatch: Active consideration continues to be given, in consultation with interested parties, to seeking ways to prevent attempts to use confusing candidates' descriptions on ballot papers.
Absent Voting Forms
Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether there are to be any changes in the forms to be used for absent votes, or in the attestation required.
Baroness Blatch: The Government are looking to see whether the deadline for the receipt of absent voting application forms can be relaxed in time to be effective at the next general election, and whether some other more minor changes in procedures relating to attestation can be introduced at the same time. If so, the forms will be amended accordingly.
Foreign Diplomats: Working Spouses
Viscount Waverley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether spouses of (a) foreign diplomats, and (b) other foreign citizens engaged in commercial contracts in the United Kingdom, are precluded from taking paid employment in the United Kingdom.
Baroness Blatch: Spouses of foreign diplomats are exempt from immigration control and are therefore not precluded from taking employment. The immigration rules make no provision for the admission, as such, of the spouses of visitors or seasonal agricultural workers. Spouses of other foreign nationals are not precluded from taking employment, except in the case of spouses of retired persons of independent means and students admitted for less than 12 months.
Homicides: Firearms Figures
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many people died in (a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted with criminal intent by licensed firearms being used by their owners.
Baroness Blatch: Information as to whether firearms used in offences of homicide are legally held is not at present routinely collected centrally in England and Wales. However, a special exercise has recently been carried out to find out whether the guns used in homicide were licensed or not. This covered the years 1992 to 1994, and out of a total of 196 homicides, information was available in 152 cases to show that 22 cases (14 per cent.) involved the use of a firearm legally held by the suspect.
Information as to whether the accused held a valid firearms certificate has only been collected since 1990 in Scotland and is only available for those cases in which the accused was identified and where the type of weapon involved required a certificate. The table below shows the number of homicides recorded in Scotland for the last six years where the accused involved held a valid firearms certificate.
| Year | All homicide victims | Homicides in which a firearm was alleged to have been used | Homicides where accused held valid certificate |
| 1990 | 80 | 3 | 1 |
| 1991 | 89 | 7 | 1 |
| 1992 | 136 | 6 | -- |
| 1993 | 117 | 8 | -- |
| 1994 | 111 | 9 | 1 |
| 1995 | 136 | 11 | -- |
Defence Helicopter Flying School
Lord HolmPatrick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made in establishing the Defence Helicopter Flying School.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Earl Howe): In March 1995 my honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces outlined our plans, arising from the defence costs
study, for the formation of a single, tri-Service school with a strong contractorised element to provide those aspects of helicopter basic flying training common to the three Services. The school will be established at RAF Shawbury and will commence training on 1st April 1997. I am now pleased to announce that we have awarded a 15 year contract to FBS Limited for the operation of the DHFS under contractor owned, government operated arrangements. FBS is a joint venture, UK company, comprising FR Aviation, Bristow Helicopters and SERCO and was formed specifically to bid for this contract. Collectively, the company has extensive experience of working with the Services; Bristow Helicopters and SERCO already provide services to Middle Wallop and RAF Shawbury respectively.The school will have the capacity to train approximately 230 pilot, navigator and crewmen students a year from our three Services as well as a number from overseas. The helicopter fleet will consist of 38 AS350 Squirrel single engine and 9 Bell 412 twin engine helicopters. Seventy-six military and 45 civilian flying instructors will be employed at the School. FBS will be responsible for the provision and maintenance of the helicopter fleet, all ground-school and support facilities and the provision of the civilian flying instructors.
The DHFS project has been procured in line with the private finance initiative, thus demonstrating the Government's strong resolve to continue to achieve value for money in defence support and to concentrate resources on the front line. The formation of the DHFS, utilising more modern equipment and taking advantage of the efficiencies brought about through contractorisation will provide a value for money, high quality training facility for HM Forces well into the future. Compared with the current system of delivering training this represents a saving of some £80 million over 15 years
Immigration Act: Detainees
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many persons were detained under the Immigration Acts in (a) prisons and (b) detention centres, at the most recent known date; and of the total, how many were asylum-seekers whose applications had not yet been determined.
Baroness Blatch: The number of persons recorded by the Prison Service as being detained under Immigration Act powers was 540 on 30th September. The corresponding number of persons in Immigration Service detention centres was 514. Of the total number detained, 218 were asylum seekers awaiting an initial decision on their application.
Electoral Registration Publicity: Cost
Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What money they have allocated in 1996 for publicising electoral registration.
Baroness Blatch: The total allocation is £750,000.
Secure Training Centres: Sites
Lord Acton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made in obtaining planning permission for the proposed Secure Training Centre at Medomsley in Durham; when contractors will be invited to bid to run this centre; and what is their estimate of the likely opening date.
Baroness Blatch: The Home Office appealed to the Department of the Environment in October 1995 against the failure of the local planning authority, Derwentside District Council, to determine the application for outline planning permission within the prescribed time period, as agreed to be extended. The appeal was conducted by means of a public inquiry held in June 1996. The planning inspector reported to the Secretary of State for the Environment in August 1996 and I understand that a decision on the appeal is expected shortly. The outcome of the appeal will determine when the procurement process can start.
Lord Acton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress the contractors have made in obtaining detailed planning permission to build secure training centres at Gringley in Nottinghamshire and Cookham Wood in Kent, in commencing building work, and in recruiting and training staff; and what is their estimate of the likely opening date of these centres.
Baroness Blatch: A consortium led by Group 4/Tarmac has been announced as the Government's preferred bidder for contracts to design, build, manage and finance a secure training centre at both these sites. Final contract negotiations with this consortium are currently underway. I understand that Group 4/Tarmac have already obtained planning permission for their designs at the Cookham Wood site but that an application in respect of Gringley has been refused. Building work and the recruitment of staff will not commence until contracts are signed. Opening dates will not be settled until contracts are signed.
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