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Written Answers
Wednesday, 9th February 2000.
Immigration Officers: New Powers
Lord Gladwin of Clee asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What arrangements they have made to ensure that immigration officers exercising the new powers of search, entry and seizure in Part VII of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will have regard to the codes of practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.[HL979]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton): The new powers of entry, search and seizure will come into force on 14 February 2000. In accordance with Section 145 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, a Direction has been made which will ensure that immigration officers exercising these powers, and their existing powers of arrest under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971, must have regard to the relevant provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 codes of practice. A copy of the Direction is being placed in the Library. It is also being sent to members of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) User Panel and will be made available more widely via the IND website.
The use of the new powers will be restricted initially to a team of immigration officers involved in a joint pilot scheme with the Metropolitan Police. This pilot scheme will enable the powers to be tested in the operational arena before more widespread use of the powers is considered.
British Citizenship: Full Capacity Requirement
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish the report of the review by the Immigration and Nationality Policy Directorate of the full capacity requirement both for renunciation of British citizenship and applications for it under the British Nationality Act 1981; and whether they will consult organisations concerned with mental health on the need for any changes to the law or regulations, before deciding finally on any such changes.[HL827]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The review is continuing and we shall consult relevant organisations in the course of it.
Racism and Children's Resources
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Working Group Against Racism in Children's Resources is financed by public money.[HL844]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: We know of no such group.
Sexual Offenders Serving Custodial Sentences
Lord Dholakia asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many men and women respectively were serving custodial sentences for sexual offences in June 1998 and June 1999.[HL836]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The information requested is given in the table. Information on persons serving custodial sentences for sexual offences up to 1998 is published in successive volumes of Prison statistics England and Wales (tables 1.5, 3.1 and 4.1 of the 1998 edition, column 4430), copies of which are in the Library.
| 30 June 1998 | 30 June 19991 | |||
| Offence | Males | Females | Males | Females |
| All sexual offences | 4,779 | 16 | 4,838 | 16 |
1Provisional figures.
Lord Dholakia asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The latest available information is for 31 December 1999. On that date there were 24 persons in prisons in England and Wales serving sentences for sexual offences who were sentenced before 1 October 1992.
Lord Dholakia asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Available information for 1998 is given in the tables.
1 Includes brothel keeping, indecent exposure, kerb crawling and offences by prostitutes.
1 Figures relate only to the principal offence.
1Excluding indecent exposure, brothel keeping, immoral traffic and offences related to prostitution.
Lord Stone of Blackheath asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): The Government announced on 27 February 1998 that they accepted in principle the recommendations of the National Heritage Select Committee. As I said in the House on 22 November, Official Report, col. 169, legislation will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows. I am setting up an inter-departmental working group of officials to review the law relating to the payments to witnesses in criminal proceedings and the publication of information in advance of criminal trials. The review will inform the Government's decisions about the form of legislation required to implement the National Heritage Committee's recommendations. The review will consider how the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights affect the law of contempt.
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.
Letter to the Earl of Northesk from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr T Holt, dated 9 February 2000.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary Question on the concordat on statistics between the United Kingdom administrations.
A concordat on statistics was included in the Memorandum of Understanding and supplementary agreements between the United Kingdom Government, Scottish Ministers and the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales which was laid before the House in October 1999 (Cm 4444).
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, to the extent that responsibility for the 2001 Census is transferred to the National Statistician and the Statistics Commission, adequate funding will be made available for this purpose over and above the provision that has been made for setting up this new arrangement in the Comprehensive Spending Review.[HL856]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.
Letter to the Earl of Northesk from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr T Holt, dated 9 February 2000
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary Questions on the responsibilities of the National Statistician and the Statistical Commission for the 2001 Census, and the effect that these arrangements will have on funding.
Responsibilities
The 2001 Census in England and Wales is the responsibility of the Registrar General for England and Wales, who is also the Director of the Office for National Statistics. These responsibilities will transfer to the National Statistician on his or her appointment.
The Census in Scotland is the responsibility of the Registrar General for Scotland, who reports to the Scottish Executive; the Census in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Registrar General for Northern Ireland, who reports to the Northern Ireland Assembly. These arrangements are consistent with the responsibilities of the devolved administrations.
The strategic issues and business planning of the Census in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are co-ordinated by the United Kingdom Census Committee.
The National Statistician will have the responsibility to fulfil United Kingdom obligations to provide results of the Census to the European Union.
The Statistics Commission will be an independent non-executive body; as such it will have no direct responsibility for producing outputs or conducting the Census. Its duties will include commenting and advising Ministers on the quality of National Statistics. As with all National Statistics, Census outputs included within the scope of National Statistics will be subject to scrutiny by the Commission.
Funding Arrangements
Funding for conducting the 2001 Census and setting up the Statistics Commission was agreed in the last Comprehensive Spending Review.
The White Paper on National Statistics sets out that the Commission will advise Ministers on its own machinery for covering the interests of users and producers of National Statistics within its first six months--including the arrangements for taking account of country/region and subject matter dimensions.
How many sex offenders are currently serving determinate custodial sentences imposed before
1 October 1992.[HL837]
How many people were, respectively, convicted and cautioned for (a) indictable sexual offences and (b) non-indictable sexual offences in 1998.[HL835]
Type of offence Convicted Cautioned
Indictable only 929 101
Triable either-way 3,596 1,613
Summary1 7,209 3,875
Type of offence Convicted
Indictable only 79
Non-indictable --
Court Procedure Number of persons with a charge proved
Solemn 225
Summary 313
In the light of the recent trial involving Gary Glitter, what steps they propose to take to implement the recommendations made by the National Heritage Committee in their Report on Press Activity affecting Court Cases.[HL975]
Whether the concordat on statistics between the United Kingdom administrations has been agreed; and, if not, when agreement on it is likely to be reached.[HL857]
To what extent, if at all, they intend that the Census Statistician and Statistics Commission will have responsibility for the 2001 Census; and[HL855]
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