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Written Answers
Wednesday, 20th March 2002.
Yarl's Wood Detention Centre
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why they ignored the advice of Bedfordshire Fire Service to install sprinklers at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre. [HL2908]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Rooker): The Minister responsible took advice not only internally but also from a number of fire services. Another removals centre was designed and built in the South East at the same time as Yarl's Wood and the advice from the local fire service was that sprinklers were not necessary. It was therefore decided that a review of fire safety precautions and the use of sprinklers should be conducted before any final decisions were made on the use of sprinklers in removals centres.
Historical Documents: Release to Public Record Office
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 27 February (WA246), what are the criteria agreed with the Security Service for the release of historical documents to the Public Record Office; and which of these criteria would justify the continuing withholding of public access to the MI5 records relating to Nazi war crimes already released into the public domain in the United States under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act 1998. [HL3113]
Lord Rooker: In a reply on 3 February 1999 in the other place, the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, accepted in full the recommendations in the report to him on The Review of Security Service Selection Criteria by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, as chairman and on behalf of the Advisory Council on Public Records. The Home Secretary also placed a copy of that report in their Library. For the convenience of the Members of this House, I have arranged for a copy of that report to be put in our Library.
The criteria for extended closure of records is set out in full in the Public Record Office publication Access to Public Records, Second Edition, September 2000. This publication is available via the Internet at the address: http://www.pro.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/access/Access2.htm. I understand that the Security Service did not open files on war criminals as such, as its concern was with Nazi espionage, sabotage, subversion and the like. At the end of the Second World War, the service shared with the United States
authorities the reports of its interrogations of German intelligence officers and agents. Most of these reports, and their associated records, have been released to the Public Record Office. Only a few of these records also related to war crimes and all of those so far found have been released. Within the limits of its resources, the service has helped those with a particular interest in history to review specific records selected for release. The noble Lord may wish to write to the service giving details of the records he has in mind.Data Interception: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether there are any technical difficulties that are delaying full implementation of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [HL3160]
Lord Rooker: We intend to implement the remaining provisions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 as set out in my reply of 13 February (Official Report, col. WA 148).
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What advice they are currently giving to Internet service providers as to what technical measures they have to take to comply with the data interception provisions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [HL3162]
Lord Rooker: The Government intend to lay an order before Parliament shortly setting out the generic requirements that communications service providers (CSPs) will be expected to meet if they are required to maintain an interception capability under Section 12 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000. Public consultation on the draft order has taken place. If the order is approved by Parliament, the Government will then enter detailed discussions with individual CSPs before notices under this order are served on them.
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made in assessing the cost of Internet service providers' compliance with the data interception provisions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and whether they have determined what proportion of that cost will be contributed by the Government.[HL3163]
Lord Rooker: In accordance with Section 14 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000) arrangements will be put in place to ensure that communications service providers (CSPs) receive a fair contribution towards the costs incurred in relation to complying both with the issue of interception warrants and with Section 12 notices. Consultation is continuing to assess how government will apportion their contribution to the costs incurred.
In addition, as my noble friend Lord Bassam of Brighton announced during RIPA's passage, funds are available to assist in developing capability for the interception of traffic transmitted as Internet protocol or, exceptionally, the installation of a new intercept capability to meet the demands of new technology.
Data Retention: Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many meetings they have held to date with (a) the Information Commissioner and (b) affected communications service providers as to the Code of Practice on data retention provided for in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. [HL3164]
Lord Rooker: My officials have met the Office of the Information Commissioner on three occasions to discuss data retention policy. This work is supported by on-going formal correspondence. We have met representatives of affected communications service providers (CSPs) on a further three occasions, and are using a dedicated project group of the Internet Crime Forum, which has met twice this year, to take forward consultation on Internet provider (IP) data retention.
Prison Population: Ethnicity
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the number of people of black African, black Caribbean and Asian ethnic origins in prison are in proportion to the numbers of such people in the population at large; and whether they indicate any evidence of racism within the police or judiciary. [HL3170]
Lord Rooker: In mid-2000, 2 per cent of prisoners were of black African ethnic origin compared to 0.8 per cent of the population of England and Wales; 7.5 per cent of prisoners were of black Caribbean origin compared to 1 per cent representation in the population as a whole; and 2.5 per cent of prisoners were Asian compared to 3.5 per cent in the population at large.
It is not possible to be certain of the causes of disproportionality between the prison and population figures.
The annual Home Office publication, Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System, provides a point of reference on ethnicity data.
Mr Colin May
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what date Mr Colin May of Erith made his complaint against the police for assault. [HL3205]
Lord Rooker: The commissioner informs me that the Metropolitan Police Service first became aware that Mr May was considering pursuing a civil action on 28 September 2001. This was as a result of his solicitor writing to their Directorate of Legal Services.
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
- For how long the Police Complaints Authority has been supervising the investigation into the complaint made by Mr Colin May of Erith; and [HL3206]
Whether in the light of the wider evidence available they will call for an early resolution to the inquiries in the case of Mr Colin May of Erith. [HL3207]
Lord Rooker: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police informs me that this case was referred to the Police Complaints Authority on 26 October 2001. The PCA expect the investigation to be concluded by the end of April.
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
- For how long a police officer has been suspended from duty in the case of the complaint by Mr Colin May of Erith; and what has been the cost to the Kent Constabulary of remunerating the police officer concerned during this period. [HL3208]
Lord Rooker: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police informs me that one police officer has been suspended since 5 November 2001. There has been no cost to Kent Constabulary. The cost to the Metropolitan Police of remunerating this officer is so far £11,952.
Veterans Initiative
Baroness Serota asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been achieved by the Government's Veterans Initiative since it was launched a year ago. [HL3337]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach): Since the announcement of the Veterans Initiative and the appointment of my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence as Minister for Veterans Affairs one year ago, we have made substantial progress towards meeting the objective of the iniative: to build-up a partnership with veterans' organisations and other government departments to develop an integrated response to veterans concerns, focused in particular on the most vulnerable.
We have been considering how we can improve the service offered to our veterans from within the department. Capitalising on the transfer of the War Pensions Agency to the Ministry of Defence in June of
last year and on its excellent record for customer-service, we have decided that the War Pensions Agency should provide a special focus for our support to veterans and that accordingly, with effect from 2 April, it should be renamed the Veterans Agency. As a first step towards giving substance to this change of name, the Veterans Agency will, from the end of this month, provide an integrated web-site and free-phone helpline that will be the first point of contact for veterans seeking advice and information. For the longer term, we will also be looking at the future development of the War Pensioners Welfare Service, and in particular at the possibility of expanding partnerships with the charitable sector to improve the support delivered in this area by offering a better co-ordinated service.Working through the Veterans Forum and Ministerial Task Force, we have agreed an action plan and nine working groups, made up jointly of representatives of the veterans' community and of interested government departments to take work forward. These are now addressing the particular concerns identified within the initiative's core themes of partnership, identity, recognition and care. This work includes developing new resettlement training for the most vulnerable of our service leavers who are at greatest risk of social exclusion, the development of material for the new key stage 3 and 4 scheme for citizenship to be part of the national curriculum from September 2002, improving communication between government and veterans, recognition of veterans' achievements in more recent years and problems faced by the veterans charities' care home. The working groups will be reporting their progress to my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence in time for the next meeting of the Veterans Forum and the Ministerial Task Force in April and May respectively.
We are also taking steps to address two of the particular concerns that veterans have raised about the war pensions scheme. From this April, the provisions for war widowers will be equalised to bring them fully into line with those currently available to war widows. Further, we plan to introduce measures from August that will guarantee that a war pensioner can return to unemployability supplement within the first 12 months of starting work.
We place a particular premium on the partnership that we have been building with the representatives of the veterans organisations and are pleased to acknowledge the considerable part that their positive response has played in enabling us to take this initiative forward. We look forward to building on this partnership to develop and deliver a significant programme of further improvements for the future.
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