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Bail Applications
Lord Dholakia asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many bail applications, out of the total of 8,498 bail hearings before adjudicators between April 2001 and March 2002, were either (a) multiple bail applications for the same person; or (b) withdrawn on the day of the hearing.[HL5660]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Information on these is not held centrally.
Criminal Offence of Assisting in Act of Suicide
Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In what cases other than that of suicide it is a criminal offence to assist someone to perform an act when the performance of the act is itself legal.[HL5665]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I am not aware of any exact parallels to the legal position with regard to suicide, although there are other instances where activities associated with an act are unlawful when the act itself is not (e.g. prostitution).
Truancy and Crime
Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have made any analysis of the relationship between the criminal records of juvenile offenders and any significant record of truancy on their part.[HL5727]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The Youth Justice Board's MORI 2002 Youth Survey explored the levels of truancy amongst both mainstream and excluded pupils. The survey also found a strong link between truancy and offending as 44 per cent of pupils who admitted committing a crime in the previous 12 months had played truant. The survey was published by the board on Monday 20 May 2002 and a copy was placed in the Library at the time of publication.
Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they are considering the need for an earlier court appearance for juvenile offenders who have a history of both offending and truancy.[HL5728]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Measures introduced in 1999 in the magistrates' courts have streamlined case preparation and ensured that defendants are brought to court at the earliest opportunity. In addition, cases are fast-tracked through the system under the Government's pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders. The average time has been more than halved.
Baroness Stern asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many extra places for remanded juveniles have been required as a direct result of the piloting Section 130 of the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2001.[HL5610]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: From 22 April 2002, the implementation date of Section 130 in the 10 street crime areas, we have provided the courts with a number of tough community alternatives to a custodial remands, including curfews with electronic monitoring as a condition of bail. In addition, intensive supervision and surveillance is now available in most sectors of the 10 street crime areas, including their major cities, and will be available throughout the whole of the 10 areas by autumn 2002. We expect this to cover some of those young people with a history of repeat offending on bail and who are at risk of a secure remand under Section 130.
The most recent figures available indicate that from implementation until 19 July 2002, the population of juveniles remanded to local authorities with a security requirement rose from 98 to 109. This may have been because of the street crime initiative as well as a result of the implementation of Section 130. During this period 32 additional secure training centre places were made available and we expect to make another 340 places available over the next three years. We are also in the process of making available about 30 further local authority secure unit places for both remanded and sentenced juveniles.
Afghanistan
Lord Howell of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What agreements have been reached with the Afghanistan interim government to protect the status of United Kingdom military personnel in relation to the powers of the International Criminal Court or other international tribunals.[HL4875]
The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach): The United Kingdom is fully committed to the International Criminal Court and has not sought immunity from the ICC's powers in Afghanistan, or indeed anywhere else in the world. Although the terms of ISAF Military Technical Agreement require the consent of the contributing
nation before its personnel can be transferred to any international tribunal, this in no way affects the UK's commitment to the ICC or other international tribunals.Underground Regional Emergency Centres
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which underground regional emergency centres, similar to the one close to the A19 and between Easingwold and York, have been sold; when they were sold; and for how much in each case.[HL5086]
Lord Bach: I will write to the noble Lord and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House. Click here to view the letter.
Anthrax Immunisation: Armed Forces
Lady Saltoun of Abernethy asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it has been decided to vaccinate members of the Armed Forces against anthrax and to put the territorial reserves on standby; if so, when the decisions were made; and why.[HL5552]
Lord Bach: With respect to immunisation against anthrax, I refer the noble Lady to the Answer I gave on 13 June 2002 (WA 47) to the noble Lord, Lord Christopher.
Reservists may only be called out to support military operations under the authority of a call out order made under the Reserve Forces Act 1996. At present there are four orders in being to authorise the use of reservists for the following operations: Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo; the former Yugoslavia; enforcement of the "no-fly zones" in the region of Iraq; and worldwide operations in support of the war against terrorism. The making of each order was reported to both Houses in accordance with the provisions of the 1996 Act. No reservists are on standby for any other operations.
Chinook ZD 576
Lord Hooson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Statement by Lord Bach on 22 July (HL Deb. col. 23), whether they will place in the Library of the House or otherwise publish the advice they receive from "an extremely distinguished Queen's counsel" together with the instructions to, and the questions asked of, him or her, before there is a debate on the report of the Select Committee, under the chairmanship of Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle, on the Chinook helicopter disaster.[HL5578]
Lord Bach: It is not the practice of any government department to publish either such instructions or such privileged advice. I am therefore withholding the information requested in accordance with Exemption
2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.F680 Process
Baroness Whitaker asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What assurance they can give that the F680 process will not pre-empt consideration of the criteria governing the issue of export licences in the Export Control Bill, especially the criterion relating to sustainable development.[HL5602]
Lord Bach: The Government consider F680 applications against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. However, it is routinely made clear that the advice to companies under this procedure does not constitute an export licence, nor guarantee any future export licence application will result in the issue of a licence.
The Government have recently announced their decision to make procedural changes to the F680 process. Rather than as previously commenting through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development has been invited formally to comment directly on F680 applications for exports to countries where sustainable development may be considered an issue.
Observer Mission in Georgia: Helicopter Incident
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the United Nations has completed its investigation into the shooting down of a helicopter of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) on 8 October 2001; and, if so, whether the Government will place a copy of the report in the Library of the House.[HL5617]
Lord Bach: The board of inquiry established by the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia following the shooting down of the helicopter in October 2001, has not yet completed its report. We expect the report to be completed and passed to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Georgia in early autumn. It is likely that, as a minimum, copies of the final report will be passed to those countries whose nationals were killed in the incident (Germany, Hungary, Pakistan, Russia and Switzerland).
RAF Northolt
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they completed their review of the future use of RAF Northolt under their review of Ministry of Defence property holding within the Greater London area; when the work of the London study
- was published; and what proposals they now have for the future of the RAF Northolt site.[HL5653]
Lord Bach: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) stated that further reductions in land and buildings in the London area should be possible. Among other sites in the Greater London area, it indicated that the future requirements at RAF Northolt should be examined in detail.
To address this, the Strategic Development Plan for Greater London (SDP GL) was commissioned to provide an overview of the capacity and condition of the London estate and make recommendations aimed at encouraging its most efficient and effective use.
The first phase of the study was concluded in 1999. Since then detailed studies have been undertaken to support the individual recommendations. A project team is now preparing detailed proposals for ministerial approval.
We hope to make an announcement in the near future.
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