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Written Answers
Tuesday, 5th March 2002.
Police Reform Bill [HL]
Lord Norton of Louth asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will place in the Library of the House Lord Rooker's reply to the letter from the Constitution Committee about the Police Reform Bill [HL].[HL2905]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Rooker): I have today placed in the Library a copy of my exchange of letters with the Constitution Committee about aspects of Parts 1 and 4 of the Bill. I understand that, following this correspondence, the committee has decided not to issue a report on the Bill.
Mr Colin May: Treatment by Police
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many police officers have been disciplined in the case of the treatment of Mr Colin May of Erith in Bexley; and what has been the nature of the discipline applied. [HL2958]
Lord Rooker: The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis informs me that the Directorate of Professional Standards of the Metropolitan Police Service is conducting an investigation into the treatment of Mr Colin May. The Police Complaints Authority is supervising this investigation. Fifteen officers are under investigation, one of whom has been suspended from duty.
British Overseas Citizens: Special Voucher Scheme
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend to make any changes to the special voucher scheme which relates to British overseas citizens. [HL3145]
Lord Rooker: The special voucher scheme was introduced in 1968 in recognition of the specific hardship being suffered at that time by British overseas citizen (BOC) passport holders and their dependants who were under political pressure to leave their countries of residence in East Africa but who held no other citizenship and had nowhere else to go. Several thousand BOCs and other United Kingdom passport holders took advantage of the scheme and settled in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, the world political situation has now changed and BOCs are no longer under threat of expulsion. They have over the intervening years either
settled with their families in the new independent East African countries or, alternatively, some have moved with their families to India. Their families have now grown up and have families of their own.There are relatively few applications for special vouchers these days and those who do apply are not being pressured to leave the country in which they reside. The scheme no longer serves the purpose for which it was set up. The Government have therefore decided that the time has come to abolish the scheme, with immediate effect. No new applications for special vouchers will be considered.
Ruminants: Feeding of Mammalian Protein
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In which European Union member states farmers are still feeding their cattle meat and bone meal which was banned in 1994. [HL2954]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): EU-wide controls on feeding mammalian protein (including mammalian meat and bone meal) to ruminants were introduced in June 1994.
However, inspection visits by the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) have repeatedly reported on inadequate implementation of the feed ban. Even in its inspections between 1998 and 2000, the FVO found that there was a significant risk of contamination of ruminant feed by mammalian meat and bone meal in nine member states: Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal (up to July 1999) and Finland.
From 1 January 2001, due to concerns about cross-contamination and an increase in BSE cases across the Community, additional EU-wide measures were introduced banning the use of a wide range of processed animal proteins in feed for all farm animals. These stronger measures offer a more effective approach to stop the spread of the disease.
Bushmeat
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many spot checks for bushmeat on United Kingdom inbound flights were made in each of the past three years; what amount of bushmeat was seized in total; and how many prosecutions have resulted. [HL2957]
Lord Whitty: Many animals hunted and traded as bushmeat are listed in the appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Any international trade in these animals, their parts or derivatives is therefore either banned completely or controlled by means of permits.
Other animals which may be defined as so called bushmeat, such as small game animals, may be traded legally under Community rules.
Since April 2001, we have been advised of 1,142 seizures of illegally imported animal products. There is no clear definition of bushmeat. It is therefore difficult to provide an accurate figure on how many of these seizures were bushmeat.
HM Customs and Excise has prosecuted three people for CITES offences involving illegal meat imports. Two were convicted and one was acquitted but convicted under a separate animal health offence.
Illegal Importation of Food
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to their poster campaign at ports and airports to highlight the illegal importation of food, whether they will relax the rules which require health inspectors to be accompanied by Customs and Excise officials before they can search baggage. [HL2993]
Lord Whitty: We are addressing this in new regulations which are due to be made shortly. These will extend powers to other enforcement officers to stop and search travellers baggage.
CPS: Determination of Charge
Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What steps are being taken to assess the feasibility of implementing the recommendation made by Sir Robin Auld that the Crown Prosecution Service should take over from the police responsibility for charging defendants at the outset of a prosecution. [HL3117]
{**con**}
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith): I have agreed with the Home Secretary that the Crown Prosecution Service and police should pilot the proposals over a period of six months in five different areas: in Bath, the Medway area, Essex, the Wrexham area and in Halifax. The objective of the pilot is to identify the practical implications of implementing Sir Robin's recommendation that the Crown Prosecution Service should determine the charge in all but minor, routine offences or where, because of the circumstances, there is a need for a holding charge before seeking the advice of the Service. Where there may be practical difficulties, the pilot will seek to identify how these can best be overcome. The Crown Prosecution Service and ACPO have been working closely together to set up the pilot, which commenced on 18 February 2002. An evaluation report will be produced in autumn 2002.
Further details of the pilot are contained in a background note, copies of which I have caused to be put in the Libraries of both Houses.
Stonehenge
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the current status of the Stonehenge Master Plan Steering Group; who sits on it; and by whom the members were appointed. [HL3009]
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone): I chair the Stonehenge Master Plan Steering Group, which directs the implementation of the project to improve the setting of Stonehenge within the world heritage site. The group is made up of representatives of the World Heritage Site Management Plan Implementation Group, English Heritage, the National Trust, English Nature, Wiltshire County Council, Salisbury District Council, Amesbury Town Council, DTLR, the Highways Agency and the Government Office of the South West. Sir Jocelyn Stevens is also a member. The members are appointed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the United Kingdom is obliged by the World Heritage Convention to protect and conserve the whole of Stonehenge, Avebury and associated world heritage sites; or whether this protection can be confined to the area nearest to the Stonehenge stones. [HL3011]
Baroness Blackstone: The World Heritage Convention places responsibilities on the Government to ensure the effective protection, conservation and presentation of the 24 world heritage sites in the UK and its overseas territories. Management plans are in place for both the Stonehenge and Avebury parts of that world heritage site. These plans identify and address the key issues affecting the current and future condition of the whole site. Within the framework provided by the relevant management plan, the Government are embarking on an ambitious programme to remove the roads and associated noise and pollution from the immediate vicinity of the stones; reunite the stones with the surrounding monuments; and allow visitors to move freely about the wider landscape and thereby better understand the context of Stonehenge within the world heritage site.
Ireland: British Passport Applications
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 12 February (WA 133), whether, in the spirit
- of the Belfast Agreement and in the interests of equality and parity, British passports should be made available to residents of Northern Ireland.[HL2880]
The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn): As I indicated in the Answer to which the noble Lord refers, we do not believe that reciprocity for the residents of Ireland is necessary or acceptable as a basis on which to determine eligibility for British nationality and have no plans to amend the law in this respect.
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which organisations have received financial support from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; how much; and why. [HL3005]
Lord Williams of Mostyn: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The chief commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.
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