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Written Answers
Monday, 9th March 1998.
Birth Control Trust
Lord Braine of Wheatley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the total amount of money they have given to the Birth Control Trust since the organisation was founded.[HL710]
Lord Whitty: Her Majesty's Government have not given any direct funding to the trust but on occasion the trust has been involved in the activities of other organisations which have received government funding.
Firearms Acts: Home Office Circulars and Correspondence
The Earl of Haddington asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will place in the Library of the House the index for each of the last 10 years of all Home Office letters or documents circulated to chief officers of police relevant to the administration of the Firearms Act 1968 and subsequent Firearms Acts; and[HL850]
Whether they will place in the Library of the House the index for each of the last 10 years of all letters or documents they have written to the Association of Chief Police Officers on the subject of the Firearms Act 1968 and subsequent Firearms Acts.[HL851]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn): The Home Office does not maintain an index of letters or documents sent to chief officers of police or to the Association of Chief Police Officers on this subject. Copies of relevant circulars or publications are, however, placed in the Library.
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish the Law Officers' opinion as to the compatibility of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 with the European Convention on Human Rights.[HL757]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: It is not the practice of Her Majesty's Government to disclose whether or not the Law Officers have advised in a particular matter, or to disclose the substance of any such advice. Law Officers' opinions over 30 years old are normally available for inspection at the Public Record Office, under the provisions of the Public Records Act 1958.
Firearms Consultative Committee
The Earl of Haddington asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will list the current members of the Home Office Firearms Consultative Committee, giving their backgrounds and dates of appointment.[HL740]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: The information requested is set out below. The dates given refer to the original appointment of the member concerned. All members were reappointed in January 1997 until 31 August 1998, with the exception of Mr. Snedden, who was appointed from 1 September 1997. The Firearms Consultative Committee Chairman, Lord Shrewsbury, is the 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, and was appointed on 11 October 1993. He has extensive experience of field sports, including hunting and shooting. He is also an experienced small bore and clay target shooter.
Mr. A. T. Burden (29 August 1995)
Chief Constable, South Wales Constabulary. Chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers Sub-Committee on the Administration of Firearms and Explosives Licensing.
Mr. B. Carter (27 August 1993)
Director of the Gun Trade Association. Secretary of the Shooting Sports Trust. Member of the British Shooting Sports Council. Several times Great Britain Team Manager at various shooting Grand Prix, European and World Championships.
Mr. V. Clayton (28 November 1996)
Head of Firearms and Explosives Section, Operational Policing Policy Unit, Home Office.
Mr. C. A. Ewing (27 August 1993)
Former Chief Executive of National Rifle Association. Member of British Shooting Sports Council and of the Management Committee of the Great Britain Target Shooting Sports Federation. Formerly Regular Soldier (Colonel).
Mr. J. D. Hoare (10 December 1996)
Secretary of the National Small-bore Rifle Association. Chairman of the Great Britain Target Shooting Federation. Treasurer of the British Shooting Sports Council. Former regular soldier (Lieutenant Colonel).
Mr. B. Hughes (1 February 1997)
Barrister. Assistant Chief Crown Prosecutor for the London Area of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Labour MP for Clywd South West since 1987, Experienced target shooter.
Dr. I. Oliver (14 September 1989)
Chief Constable, Grampian Police.
Mr. D. J. Penn (14 September 1989)
Keeper, Exhibits and Firearms, Imperial War Museum. Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers. Office holder in Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain and Historical Breechloading Smallarms Association. Member of British Shooting Sports Council, Arms and Armour Society, National Pistol Association and National Rifle Association. Has represented Oxford University and County of London in pistol shooting. Also shoots rifle and shotgun.
Mr. R. J. Pitcher (14 September 1989)
Special Investigation Branch, Royal Military Police to 1984. Branch Proof Master, Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield to 1986. Proof Master, Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, London and head of British delegation to the Commission of International Proof. Pistol shot and rough shooter.
Dr. M. J. Pugsley (31 August 1993)
International shot, current member of Great Britain rifle team. First woman to win Grand Aggregate at Bisley. Also enthusiastic deer stalker and rough shooter.
Mr. I. Sneddon (1 September 1997)
Head of Police Department, Scottish Office.
Lord Tollemache (31 August 1995)
Conservative Peer. Farmer and landowner. Over 40 years' experience of game shooting, clay pigeon shooting, deer stalking and target shooting, both civilian and military.
National Firearms Forensic Service, Forensic Science Services Laboratory, Huntingdon. Experience in muzzle-loading, air weapons, rifle and pistol target shooting, game shooting, deer stalking, wildfowling and clay pigeon shooting.
Funding of Political Parties
Lord Monkswell asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What evidence they have submitted to the inquiry on the funding of political parties by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.[HL968]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: We have submitted a memorandum on the funding of political parties, by way of background evidence, to the Committee chaired by the Lord Neill of Bladen QC. Copies have been placed in the Library.
BSE: Phillips Inquiry
Lord Luke asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will list the personnel who provide the support services for the Phillips Inquiry on BSE and denote whether they are currently employed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) or have been previously employed by MAFF.[HL789]
The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue): It is not customary to provide a list of personnel, but I can confirm that none of the Secretariat to the Lord Justice Phillips' Inquiry into BSE are, or has previously been, employed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
BSE: Experimental Research
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the research conducted at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, the interim results of which led to the Beef Bones Regulations 1997, bears any relevance to current on-farm conditions, including the size of the dose of infective material administered to the cattle, the age of the cattle to which it was administered and the length of the incubation periods found.[HL794]
Lord Donoughue: The experimental results relate to animals which were exposed to doses which we believe to be greater than that to which most field cases were exposed, though this is not certain as we do not know the size of the dose in field cases. Although this may cast some doubt over the early findings of infectivity in the intestine, there is no reason to question the findings in relation to dorsal root ganglia and neither SEAC nor the EU's scientific advisors have taken this to be anything other than a genuine result which relates to field cases of BSE.
BSE: Age at Diagnosis
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the distribution of age at diagnosis of, and death from, BSE:
(a) at the height of the epidemic; and
(b) for the last six months of 1997
for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; whether the incubation period of this disease is inversely related to the dose of the agent which initiates the infection; and whether there is any trend indicating that the dose initiating the infection is considerably reduced in the most recent data.[HL793]
Lord Donoughue: The following tables show the distribution of known age cases by their age at clinical
onset of BSE for cases reported in 1992 and 1993, when the epidemic was at its peak, and for the last six months of 1997.| Age | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 1,401 | 156 | 66 | 39 |
| 4 | 10,544 | 1,073 | 547 | 140 |
| 5 | 7,119 | 707 | 308 | 127 |
| 6 | 2,264 | 214 | 91 | 47 |
| 7 | 670 | 55 | 23 | 18 |
| 8 | 276 | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | 103 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 22,436 | 2,231 | 1,042 | 375 |
| Age | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 874 | 103 | 46 | 6 |
| 4 | 5,070 | 518 | 283 | 90 |
| 5 | 9,653 | 1,049 | 685 | 225 |
| 6 | 4,031 | 463 | 221 | 96 |
| 7 | 934 | 102 | 53 | 25 |
| 8 | 322 | 23 | 13 | 8 |
| 9 | 124 | 12 | 6 | 2 |
| 10 | 52 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 11 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 21,094 | 2,276 | 1,313 | 480 |
| Age | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 53 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 314 | 25 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | 455 | 47 | 14 | 3 |
| 6 | 273 | 28 | 9 | 1 |
| 7 | 157 | 12 | 7 | 1 |
| 8 | 95 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | 52 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1,433 | 126 | 50 | 11 |
Note:
For the last six months of 1997 GB figures are preliminary. As at 27/2/97 over 250 results were outstanding. NI figures are complete.
The incubation period of field cases of BSE is not known as the date of exposure to the disease agent is not known. In experimental studies of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy agents there is an indication that lower doses result in longer incubation periods, but the relationship is not exact.
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