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29 Oct 1998 : Column WA219

Written Answers

Thursday, 29th October 1998.

Immigration Deportees Serving Prison Sentences

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they will consider a change in the law so as to allow the service of a notice of intention to deport on a person serving a sentence of imprisonment several weeks prior to the end of his sentence and to provide that no challenge could then be made to the Secretary of State on the grounds that he could not have considered all the circumstances, so that minimum delays occur between the end of the sentence and the hearing of any appeal against deportation, as was originally proposed in 1979.[HL3516]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn): The Immigration Rules stipulate that before a decision to deport is reached, full account will be taken of all relevant factors. We have no plans to change this requirement. There is a right of appeal, exercisable before removal, against a decision to deport.

It is our normal practice to take a decision on whether or not to initiate deportation action against someone serving a custodial sentence as soon as practicable, with a view to completing all the administrative action in connection with the decision, including any appeal hearing, prior to the completion of the sentence. Where this can be achieved, removal can be effected at once. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Sometimes the sentence imposed is too short to allow the administrative action to be completed (particularly where time spent on remand is taken into account or the sentence is reduced on appeal); sometimes the deportee will submit an application for asylum or notify us of a change in his circumstances at a late stage; and occasionally there may be difficulties in obtaining a travel document for the person concerned.

The Government do not consider that changing the law to provide that no challenge be made to the Secretary of State's decision to deport would significantly reduce these delays.

Haslar: Chief Inspector of Prisons' Report

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

    On what date they received the draft report of the Chief Inspector of Prisons on Haslar and when they now expect to publish it.[HL3480]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: The Chief Inspector of Prisons submitted the draft report of his inspection of Haslar to my right honourable friend the Home Secretary on 11 September. Under the protocol procedures for the handling of the Chief Inspector's inspection reports,

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Ministers approve publication of a report once the Director General of the Prison Service has confirmed its factual accuracy. The Director General wrote to the Chief Inspector on 6 October, seeking the correction of a number of factual inaccuracies within the draft report. Once this correspondence has been concluded, I will make an early decision about publication.

Prison Service: Quantum Project

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether the review of the Prison Service's Quantum Project has been completed and what action has been taken thereon: whether they will publish the reports on the information system consultancy, for which £5 million had already been paid when the project was suspended: and what controls were used in accordance with CCTA and government accounting guidelines to ensure that value for money was obtained.[HL3518]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: The review of the Quantum project announced by the Director General of the Prison Service on 10 August should take up to six months to complete. Any action will depend upon the outcome of the review. Consultants were employed to facilitate the management of the project, but the papers relating to them contain commercially and legally sensitive material and cannot therefore be made available publicly. The Director General has established an internal inquiry to consider specifically lessons to be learned from the management of the project before 10 August.

Boards of Visitors: Publication of Annual Reports

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they will publish a list of the Boards of Visitors at Her Majesty's prisons which do not publish their annual reports.[HL3517]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: Of the 130 Boards of Visitors at prison establishments due to submit an annual report to the Home Secretary in 1997, 66 did not publish their report. The establishments in question were as follows:


    Acklington


    Albany


    Ashwell


    Aylesbury


    Bedford


    Birmingham


    Brinsford


    Brockhill


    Buckley Hall


    Bullingdon


    Camp Hill


    Canterbury


    Castington


    Coldingley

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    Cookham Wood


    Deerbolt


    Doncaster


    Dover


    Durham


    Eastwood Park


    Elmley


    Erlestoke


    Everthorpe


    Featherstone


    Frankland


    Garth


    Gartree


    Glen Parva


    Gloucester


    Hatfield


    Hindley


    Holloway


    Kirklevington


    Lancaster Castle


    Latchmere House


    Leeds


    Leicester


    Leyhill


    Lindholme


    Liverpool


    Long Lartin


    Low Newton


    Maidstone


    Manchester


    Moorland


    North Sea Camp


    Onley


    Parkhurst


    Portland


    Preston


    Ranby


    Rochester


    Shrewsbury


    Stafford


    Standford Hill


    Stocken


    Styal


    Sudbury


    Swinfen Hall


    Thorn Cross


    Wakefield


    Wealstun


    Werrington


    Wetherby


    Woodhill


    Wymott

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The Bangladeshi Community

Baroness Uddin asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether progress has been made on the recommendations of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Report Bangladeshis in Britain published in 1986; and[HL3513]

    What assessment has been made of the impact of the recommendations of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee report Bangladeshis in Britain published in 1986; and[HL3514]

    Whether they will consider setting up an inquiry on the progress of the Bangladeshi community in Britain with special reference to educational achievements.[HL3515]

Lord Williams of Mostyn: The then Government's response to the 1986 Home Affairs Committee report Bangladeshis in Britain was published in a White Paper in 1987. In 1993, Sir Peter Lloyd provided an update on the progress made with regard to the Bangladeshi community (Official Report, 30 April 1993, col. 568).

The Government do not intend to set up an inquiry into the progress of the Bangladeshi community. The Government are aware of the particular problems of the Bangladeshi community and will address these issues as part of their wider policy of tackling racism and discrimination in society.

Judicial Committee

Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:

    How many current members of the Judicial Committee, eligible to sit in proceedings raising devolution issues arising under the Scotland Bill, the Northern Ireland Bill and the Government of Wales Act 1998, have held judicial office in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England and Wales, respectively.[HL3439]

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): The information requested is as follows:


    1. Scotland


    (a) Former Lords of Appeal in Ordinary-- The Right Honourable the Lord Mackay of Clashfern* The Right Honourable the Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle


    (b) Former judges of the Court of Session-- The Right Honourable Lord Ross


    2. Northern Ireland


    (a) Former members of the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland The Right Honourable Turlough O'Donnell The Right Honourable Sir John MacDermott

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    3. England and Wales


    (a) Former Lords of Appeal in Ordinary The Right Honourable the Lord Goff of Chieveley The Right Honourable the Lord Mustill The Right Honourable the Lord Nolan


    (b) Former Members of the Court of Appeal The Right Honourable Sir Christopher Slade The Right Honourable Sir Brian Dillon The Right Honourable Sir Iain Glidewell The Right Honourable Sir John Balcombe The Right Honourable Sir Patrick Russell The Right Honourable Sir Christopher Staughton The Right Honourable Sir Donald Farquharson The Right Honourable Sir Anthony McCowan The Right Honourable Sir Andrew Leggatt The Right Honourable Sir John Waite *The Lord Mackay of Clashfern, as a former Lord Chancellor, is in consequence also a former holder of high judicial office in England and Wales.

World Bank

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

    What is their position on the investigation initiated by the President of the World Bank into allegations of fraud and other illegal activities by senior bank staff.[HL3541]

Baroness Amos: While there is no reason to believe that there is a widespread problem of corruption in the World Bank, we welcome the steps taken by the bank to root out corruption and fraud in the organisation. These include recent measures to introduce an anti-corruption hot line and an Oversight Committee responsible for supervising all investigations. We are satisfied that the World Bank is doing its best to address allegations of corruption and is taking the same attitude to corruption internally as it does externally.


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