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This is a requirement of the Section 44 authorisation process which is administered by the Home Office.
Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many authorisations and renewals under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 cover an entire police force area; and which areas they are. [HL3537]
Lord West of Spithead: The Home Office does not make the fact of the existence of an authorisation in any particular area public while it is running or for how long a particular force has had an authorisation. This includes the geographical extent of each of the authorisations. It is the responsibility of an ACPO rank officer in the relevant police forces to justify reasons for an authorisation to cover a whole force area or a designated area. It is open for the chief officer of the relevant police force to share this information where they think it is appropriate.
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Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of applications for authorisation under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 included a community impact assessment; and, of those, what proportion included a consultation with local community representatives prior to authorisation. [HL3538]
Lord West of Spithead: A community impact assessment is completed by all forces prior to a Section 44 authorisation being confirmed. Forces need to consider whether it is appropriate to consult representatives of the local community in advance of authorising the powers. However, any decision not to consult with the community, due to operational reasons, should be fully explained and justified by the authorising officer.
Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 have been authorised for fewer than 48 hours without ministerial confirmation. [HL3539]
Lord West of Spithead: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost because the information is held on individual paper files. The onus is on police forces to authorise and seek confirmation from the Secretary of State to use the powers, and to keep records of applications made.
Terrorism: Channel Project
Question
Asked by Baroness Neville-Jones
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total cost of the police's Channel project since its inception. [HL3605]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Between April 2007 and the end of March 2009 the cost of Channel was approximately £1 million. The Home Office has allocated more than £2 million for Channel in 2009-10.
Terrorism: Control Orders
Question
Asked by Baroness Neville-Jones
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were subject to control orders in each year since 2005; how much the Home Office spent on the accommodation and other living costs of individuals subject to control orders in each year since 2005; and what are the nationalities of those subject to control orders. [HL3608]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The Secretary of State reports to Parliament on the exercise of her powers under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 on a quarterly basis and additionally on an ad hoc basis if required.
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These reports include the number of individuals subject to a control order and the number who are British citizens. I refer the noble Baroness to these reports, dated 12 March 2009, 15 December 2008, 15 September 2008, 12 June 2008, 13 March 2008, 12 December 2007, 17 September 2007, 21 June 2007, 24 May 2007, 22 March 2007, 16 January 2007, 11 December 2006, 11 September 2006, 12 June 2006, 13 March 2006, 12 December 2005, 10 October 2005 and 16 June 2005.
These reports give as much information as we can provide about the individuals given the national security sensitivities of these cases and the need to avoid publishing any information that could lead to the identification of an individual who is subject to an anonymity order. As of 10 March 2009, the last date covered by the most recent report, there were 17 control orders in force and only 40 individuals had ever been subject to a control order.
Terrorism: Internet
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 21 April (WA 394), what were the police forces where informal contact had resulted in removal of a range of material; what type of material was removed; and what action was taken against the individuals who uploaded the material. [HL3654]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): In order to safeguard the effectiveness of informal working relationships with industry, we cannot disclose activity by specific police forces. Generally the policing lead for this issue, as with all operational terrorism-related matters, lies with the counter terrorism command at the Metropolitan Police Service.
The range of terrorism-related material online that has been removed following contact with the police includes both material that would likely be unlawful under Sections 3(1) and 3(7) (taken together with Sections 3(8)) of the Terrorism Act 2006, and material that could be unlawful depending on the context of its dissemination and would likely contravene terms and conditions set out by the electronic service provider responsible.
In one case an individual was subsequently convicted of a number of terrorism-related offences; other cases remain sub judice.
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 21 April (WA 394—95), how many (a) primary, and (b) secondary schools, are using filtering and monitoring software to restrict access to terrorist-related material on the internet. [HL3696]
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Lord West of Spithead: Although comprehensive data are unavailable, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning, assesses that most schools use filtering software that restricts access to harmful content, including violent extremist content.
As many of these schools do not use a service accredited by Becta, Becta is working to increase use across the children's services sector of accredited services. This will provide even stronger protection, including against violent extremist content. This supports broader work by government through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, and following the recommendations of the Byron review, to encourage wider and effective use of filtering and monitoring software across schools.
Terrorism: Violent Extremists
Questions
Asked by Baroness Neville-Jones
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals are considered to be at risk of recruitment to violent extremism in the United Kingdom. [HL3725]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): It is not possible to provide this statistical information. However, objective 3 of the PREVENT Strategy seeks to support individuals who are vulnerable to recruitment or radicalisation, and a number of priority programmes to achieve this build on existing multi-agency support mechanisms at a local level.
Asked by Baroness Neville-Jones
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider the threat from violent extremists who are United Kingdom citizens to be greater than that from foreign violent extremists. [HL3726]
Lord West of Spithead: The threat from violent extremism transcends national boundaries, and the threat to the UK and UK interests overseas from violent extremists is severe regardless of their country of origin. That is why our counterterrorism strategy (CONTEST) is both international and domestic in its focus.
Asked by Baroness Neville-Jones
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 5 May (WA 109—10), how many people were recruited by violent extremists in the United Kingdom in (a) 2001, (b) 2005, and (c) the last year for which figures are available. [HL3728]
Lord West of Spithead: These statistics are not collected.
20 May 2009 : Column WA343
Transport: Local Bus Travel
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether European Union legislation on passenger rights in international coach and bus services will apply to local bus travel within the United Kingdom; and what assessment they have made of the cost of implementing the legislation. [HL3807]
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): As currently drafted, the European Commission's proposal for a regulation on bus and coach passenger rights would apply to all regular services. Member states would be able to exempt urban, suburban and regional transport covered by public service contracts if such contracts provide a comparable level of passenger rights to that required in the proposed regulation. As the majority of services in the UK are not provided under public service contracts, the exemption would be discriminatory and of limited use. Negotiations are currently ongoing and it is too early to say whether the final proposal will include local bus services.
The Government's consultation paper on the proposal included an initial impact assessment. The Department for Transport is currently revising this assessment in light of the consultation responses, but the cost of the regulation, which would be directly applicable, will very much depend on its final scope.
Transport: Pet Travel
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they plan under the Pet Travel Scheme to enable travellers with pets to use Eurostar. [HL3644]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): It is a commercial matter for each individual transport operator as to whether they wish to transport pets to the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme. If they do wish to carry pets under the scheme, they have to meet certain obligations to ensure the animals meet all UK entry rules on arrival in this country. If Eurostar wishes to carry pets other than assistance dogs, which it has carried under the scheme for a number of years, it can contact Animal Health to discuss and agree a service level agreement which would enable it to do so.
Uganda
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what human rights conditions they attach to their renewed assistance to the Government of Uganda, in view of the alleged use of detention and torture by its joint anti-terrorism task force. [HL3400]
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Lord Tunnicliffe: The Department for International Development (DfID) and the Government of Uganda's 10-year development partnership agreement commits Uganda to the protection and respect for human rights as enshrined in all African and international human rights instruments agreed to by the Republic of Uganda.
The alleged use of illegal detention and torture by the joint anti-terrorism task force has caused concern among development partners in Uganda. HMG have taken this up with senior Ministers of the Ugandan Government and underlined UK concern and the need for action to address the issue in a serious and substantive manner.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what aid conditions they attach to their renewed assistance to the Government of Uganda, in view of their lack of progress in the reconstruction of northern Uganda and in the political participation of the Acholi people. [HL3401]
Lord Tunnicliffe: The reconstruction of northern Uganda is a key priority of the Government of Uganda. Parliamentary Under-secretary of State Ivan Lewis visited Uganda in February and underlined our concern to President Museveni of the need for urgent progress on the implementation of the three-year, US$600 million peace recovery and development plan (PRDP), specifically, that the Government of Uganda must make real their commitment to fund 30 per cent of the total PRDP costs. Our understanding is that funds will begin to flow at the start of the Ugandan financial year in July 2009.
While we attach no specific conditions relating to the north as part of our overall development programme to Uganda, we will continue to press donor partners and other international organisations to urgently prioritise recovery and longer-term development in the north and to ensure that the PRDP is fully funded.
Vehicles: Disposal
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 20 April (WA 377), whether they intend to introduce powers in England and Northern Ireland to seize and dispose of a vehicle without a valid MoT certificate; and whether they will consider introducing powers for the Police Service of Northern Ireland to wheel-clamp, seize and dispose of vehicles being driven by an unlicensed driver, similar to those in England in Section 165 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. [HL3676]
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): We have no plans to introduce powers in England or Northern Ireland to make it possible to seize and dispose of vehicles which do not have a current MoT certificate.
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At present, unlike in Great Britain, there are no powers for the Police Service of Northern Ireland to wheel-clamp, seize and dispose of vehicles being driven
20 May 2009 : Column WA346
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