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English Partnerships Estates: Bracknell Development
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether English Partnerships, in line with the Barker Review of Housing Supply (paragraph 10.26), considered maximising the use of the former staff college site at Bracknell for policy objectives such as housing supply, under section 24 of Government Accounting; and, if so, why the offer to the wider market was allowed to go ahead and a bid from English Partnerships then accepted after the offer period had ended.[HL1187]
The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker): English Partnerships (EP) wishes to see the former staff college site in Bracknell developed as a high quality urban extension to the town in line with government policies set out in Sustainable communities: building for the future (February 2003). Negotiations between EP and Defence Estates (DE), the owners of the site, are continuing. The marketing of the site by DE pre-dated the introduction at the end of October 2003 of revised guidance on the disposal of surplus public sector land. The guidance has been issued to departments and sponsored bodies and will be formally included in Chapter 24 of Government Accounting soon. Now that the new procedures for handling surplus public sector land are in place, in future public sector bodies will have the opportunity to seek to acquire surplus land before it is offered to the open market.
Public Sector Land Disposals
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, under Section 24 of Government Accounting, English Partnerships and other public sector agencies who have 40 days to consider ways of maximising the use of public sector land before it is offered for sale to the wider market, are required to acquire the land before it is offered for sale; and if not, why not.[HL1188]
Lord Rooker: Revised guidance on the disposal of assets was issued to departments and bodies they sponsor on 31 October 2003. This guidance will shortly be published as a revision to Chapter 24 of Government Accounting. The guidance sets out the new arrangements requiring a department or NDPB wishing to dispose of a piece of land to place the site on the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land. Other public sector bodies then have a period of 40 working days to register an interest in acquiring the site. If an interest is registered, and the disposing body accepts the proposal, the site will not be offered for sale on the open market. If no interest is registered, or the proposal is refused, the disposing body can offer the site for open sale.
People Trafficking: UN Protocol and UK Position
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they intend to achieve ratification of the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, which was signed in December 2000.[HL1105]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The United Kingdom has signed the United Nations Protocol to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, but is not yet in a position to ratify the document, as we have not fulfilled our legislative requirements to criminalise trafficking. The Government are committed to tackling human trafficking in all its forms, and to ensuring that these legislative requirements are met. The Sexual Offences Act 2003, which we anticipate is coming into force in May 2004, includes offences covering trafficking into, within and out of the United Kingdom. A new offence covering trafficking for the purposes of forced labour and removal of organs, is included in the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Bill, which is currently before Parliament. These legislative measures, once brought into force, will enable us to ratify the United Nations Trafficking Protocol, as well as fulfilling our obligations under the European Union Framework Decision on Trafficking for the Purposes of Sexual and Labour Exploitation.
Prisons: Alcohol Treatment Programmes
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether future measures to reduce criminal
re-offending will include specific ring-fenced accredited alcohol treatment programmes in prisons in England and Wales.[HL1127]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: There are no plans to make ring-fenced funding available for accredited alcohol treatment programmes in prisons in England and Wales.
Prison Officers
Lord Chadlington asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many prison officers there are; and what the corresponding figures were for each year between 1997 and 2003. [HL1172]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information is contained in the table. The figures include prison officers, senior officers and principal officers. The figures represent a snapshot staffing level on the date of data capture.
| Date | Total Officer Grades |
| 31 March 1997 | 23,058 |
| 31 March 1998 | 23,444 |
| 31 March 1999 | 23,875 |
| 31 March 2000 | 24,090 |
| 31 March 2001 | 23,777 |
| 31 March 2002 | 23,052 |
| 31 March 2003 | 23,582 |
| 31 January 2004 | 24,007 |
Lord Chadlington asked Her Majesty's Government: How many prison officers joined, and how many left, the Prison Service in each year between 1997 and 2003. [HL1173]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information is contained in the table. The table includes figures for existing Prison Service staff who converted to prison officer during the period. All officers join at prison officer level but leavers include prison officers, senior officers and principal officers.
| Year | New Recruits | Conversions to Officer | All New Officers | Officer Leavers |
| 1997–98 | 1,217 | 191 | 1,408 | 845 |
| 1998–99 | 1,189 | 203 | 1,392 | 719 |
| 1999–2000 | 919 | 278 | 1,197 | 844 |
| 2000–01 | 514 | 184 | 698 | 960 |
| 2001–02 | 363 | 259 | 622 | 1,342 |
| 2002–03 | 1,368 | 740 | 2,108 | 1,343 |
| 2003 (April to December) | 1,157 | 491 | 1,648 | 1,038 |
Criminal Records Bureau: Capita Contract
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their view of the independent review team into the operations of the Criminal Records Bureau which led to the renegotiation of the contract with Capita; and what estimates they have made of the financial outcome achieved by the renegotiation.[HL1201]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: As my noble friend the then Minister for Criminal Justice, Sentencing and Law Reform stated, in response to a Question by the noble Lord, Lord Hoyle, on 27 February 2003 (Official Report, cols WA 49–53), the Government welcomed the findings and recommendations of the independent review team. My noble friend said that, as recommended by the independent review team, the Government would seek to renegotiate the contract with Capita so that it reflected the changed environment in which the Criminal Records Bureau would be operating. My honourable friend the Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety made a Statement in another place on 15 January (Official Report, cols 41–42WS) in which she announced that a revised contract had been signed and that this is a major step forward for the CRB and represents a substantial improvement over the previous terms. Copies of the Statement are available in the Library.
Internet: Pornographic and Paedophilic Images
Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What, if any, United Kingdom legislation exists which makes it illegal to display pornographic or paedophilic images on the Internet.[HL1225]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: In general the law applies equally online as offline. Thus legislation covering the legality of published material applies whether the material is published online or off. For England and Wales, the Protection of Children Act 1978 makes it an offence to take, make, advertise, possess in order to distribute or to distribute an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child. Section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 makes it an offence simply to possess such a photograph. Downloading an image from the Internet constitutes an offence of "making", and having such an image even in the form of electronic data constitutes possession. Placing such an image on an Internet site would constitute distribution. There are statutory defences to these offences. Currently a photograph is covered by this legislation if the child depicted is under 16, but this age will be increased to under 18 by the Sexual Offences Act, 2003 when it comes into force later this year. The Sexual Offence Act 2003 also includes a new offence at Section 12, of causing a child to watch a sexual act, which would include showing a child an image of sexual activity, for the purpose of sexual gratification.
The Obscene Publications Act 1959 makes it an offence to publish material that is likely to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to see, hear or read it. Publishing can include showing such material on an Internet site. Possession of such material for gain was made an offence in the Obscene Publications Act 1964.
Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have made any comparisons between United Kingdom legislation and legislation in other countries which makes it illegal to display pornographic or paedophilic images on the Internet.[HL1226]
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Home Office Research Study 157, Testing obscenity: an international comparison of laws and controls relating to obscene material, which was published in 1996, compared the obscenity laws in England and Wales with those in a number of other countries in order to discover the various ways in which countries define and deal with obscenity in printed material, at the cinema and on video. Although it predated widespread take up of the Internet, most countries saw protection of children as a particular concern.
In the course of negotiations in respect of international initiatives to combat the circulation of indecent photographs of children, such as the Council of the European Union Framework Decision on
combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, the legislative postitions of member states form the background to discussions. There is an ongoing exchange of information between the UK and other countries both formally, for example, under the auspices of the G8 strategy on "Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet" and informally between officials which continues to add to our knowledge of the legislative position in other countries and supports our co-operation with them.
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