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Immigration Act Detainees

Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The requested information is shown in the table below, which is placed in the Library on a monthly basis. The most recent information relates to the number of detainees as at 31 December 2000.

These figures include all those persons detained in prisons exclusively under Immigration Act powers, not just asyulum seekers. These figures are not recorded in such a way as to identify those who are held pending deportation or those who may have applied for asylum at some point. Persons recorded as being in detention 1 in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers as at 31 December 2000, by place of detention

LocationTotal Detainees
Immigration detention centres(2)
Campsfield House176
Dover Harbour13
Harmondsworth80
Heathrow Queens Building15
Longport2
Manchester Airport7
Tinsley House113
Prison establishments(3)
Altcourse6
Bedford7
Belmarsh43
Birmingham10
Blakenhurst2
Brixton14
Brockhill2
Bullingdon3
Canterbury3
Craiginches6
Doncaster10
Dorchester2
Durham6
Feltham4
Forest Bank4
Gateside43
Haslar120
High Down56
Highpoint2
Holloway18
Holme House14
Leeds3
Leicester2
Lindholme105
Liverpool40
Magilligan2
Manchester11
Pentonville12
Rochester177
Styal3
The Mount2
Wandsworth14
Winchester8
Woodhill2
Wormwood Scrubs21
Other prison establishments12
Total1,195

(1) Figures exclude persons detained in police cells (other than at Dover Harbour).

(2) Figures include the use of police cells at Dover Harbour).

(3) The figures for Prison establishments may include some persons detained under duel immigration and other powers.


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Water Fluoridation

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Further to the Written Answers by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 17 January (WA 136), which stated that financial contributions will continue to be made to the British Fluoridation Society:


    (a) whether it is part of that society's aims to promote water fluoridation; and, if so,


    (b) whether it is a suitably impartial body to collect and maintain "relevant information, including evidence from research studies on the effects of fluoridation." [HL453]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): It has been the policy of successive governments to support the fluoridation of water and the British Fluoridation Society has been responsive to that policy. The society has both a promotional role and an information gathering function. I have asked the society to ensure that it produces objective, evidence based information when responding to enquiries.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Food Standards Agency Study

Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:

    When the sub-group of the Food Standards Agency, formed to investigate the adequacy of

31 Jan 2001 : Column WA67

    existing measures to prevent bovine tuberculosis entering the human food chain, will report; and when that report will be made public. [HL481]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food's Working Group on Mycobacterium bovis will hold its first meeting on 28 February. The committee hopes to report to the Food Standards Agency by the summer. We anticipate that the committee's report will be published once it has been considered by the agency. Copies will be placed in the Library.

Health Development Agency

Baroness Cumberlege asked Her Majesty's Government:

    What have been the major activities of the Health Development Agency since its inception on 1 April 2000.[HL441]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Health Development Agency (HDA) has been engaged on a wide range of initiatives reflecting the functions assigned to it under its Establishment Order. In particular, it has provided expert support to the development and implementation of the public health aspects of the NHS Plan. The agency's chair was a member of the Prevention and Inequalities Modernisation Action Team and is a member of the Inequalities and Public Health Task Force, and the chief executive is a member of the Coronary Heart Disease Task Force. In addition, since its inception the HDA has completed or initiated a wide range of projects. It has:


    developed "Evidence Base", an online gateway providing access to the best available information on what works to improve health and reduce health inequalities. It is aimed at a wide range of practitioners and researchers engaged in public health work. It has also developed an online public health information service, maintaining and updating a number of websites providing information and guidance to public health professionals


    completed, published and disseminated a survey of health improvement programmes, the first of a series of annual reviews


    prepared, published and disseminated guidance for supporting the primary prevention parts of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease


    published updated guidelines for health professionals on smoking cessation, followed by a series of seminars to publicise them


    under the National Healthy School Standard, carried out a formal assessment of 16 local education authorities, completed accreditation training for 68, and more than doubled the number of schools involved

31 Jan 2001 : Column WA68


    as part of the preparation of the Department of Health's sexual health strategy carried out consultation with young people


    carried out an audit of the level and quality of specialist skills amongst the public health workforce


    established the HDA as a fully functional organisation, including undertaking an extensive recruitment programme, and established networks within and outside the NHS.

A number of other projects are due to be completed before the end of the HDA's first year, and these are outlined in its summary business plan.

HIV/AIDS: Public Education Spending

Baroness Cumberlege asked Her Majesty's Government:

    How the money for public education about HIV/AIDS was spent by the Department of Health in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.[HL443]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: In 1999-2000 the Department of Health spent £1.6 million on work for gay men and people who travel to, or have links with, high-prevalence countries and £1.4 million on the general population, including World AIDS Day.

In 2000-01 the department allocated £1.6 million for gay men and people who travel to, or have links with, high-prevalence countries and £0.73 million for the general population.

The Government also fund the National AIDS Helpline.

In addition, the department allocates £55 million to health authorities to spend on HIV/AIDS prevention.

Farm Incomes

Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they will make a statement on farm incomes.[HL551]

The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman): Revised estimates of farm income during 2000 were published this morning. These confirm the significant reduction forecast last November, and indicate a fall of 25 per cent.

This fall is largely due to pressure on prices for agricultural outputs caused by a further rise in sterling against the euro, as compared to 1999.

The Government remain committed to providing a framework within which the industry may react to the challenges presented by the current situation.

Detailed estimates of the income, output and productivity of agriculture in the United Kingdom in 2000 have been placed in the Library of the House.

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Committee on Standards in Public Life

Lord Gregson asked Her Majesty's Government:

    When they expect to announce the conclusion of the Quinquennial Review of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. [HL552]

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington): I am pleased to announce that the report of the Quinquennial Review of the Committee on Standards in Public Life is published today. Copies are being placed in the Libraries.

The report recommends that the committee should continue in its present form for the time being. It notes that there may not always be a need for the committee to be continuously involved in a full-time inquiry but that in the future less active periods of monitoring may be called for. It recommends that the committee should react flexibly to requirements and developments in the field of standards in public life. The Government are grateful to Lord Neill and his committee for the work they have done in this area and agree with the report, which concludes that the committee has itself become a part of the fabric of public life.


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