§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Working Party on Magistrates' Courts submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorThe working party provides advice and guidance to the magistrates' courts service on matters of practice and procedure; it does not advise the Department.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Standing Committee on Crime Prevention submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. Giles ShawIn the past 12 months, the Home Office has taken forward matters remitted to it by the standing committee as follows
- (a) A publicity leaflet on video theft has been published by the Home Office and has been widely disseminated by the police forces and by the National Television Rental Association.
- (b) The Home Office, in conjunction with the Department of Transport, is considering the distribution of car security leaflets with postal communications from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre.
- (c) The Home Office, in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, is undertaking an exercise to identify examples of successful local authority crime prevention initiatives. These will receive national circulation in due course.
Effective crime prevention requires the particiaption of all sections of the community, not simply central Government action. For this reason, the Standing Committee, which has a wide membership, including representatives of industry, commerce, the police, local authorities and Government, provides a valuable national forum for the exchange of ideas, experience and expertise in crime prevention matters. The Committee, (now designated the Standing Conference on Crime Prevention) has recently been strengthened by the addition of a steering body and working groups tasked to examine selected aspects of crime and their prevention.
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§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Police Advisory Committee on Sexual Offences submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorDuring the period in question the Policy Advisory Committee on Sexual Offences has submitted no advice direct to my right hon. and learned Friend. It has, however, given advice to the Criminal Law Revision Committee on several occasions during that committee's review of the law on prostitution.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Police Advisory Board submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe Board, which meets under the chairmanship of my right hon. and learned Friend, met twice during the 12 months to 31 March 1985. The main result was a revision of the board's constitution, to provide more effective methods of working. Certain amendments were also agreed to the drafts of new complaints and discipline regulations and to the draft of guidance on complaints and discipline procedures which is to be issued to chief officers of police. The board is also the basis of wide-ranging formal and informal consultations between the Department, the local authority associations and the police staff associations.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Advisory Committee on Animal Experiments submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorIn the past 12 months the advisory committee made recommendations on 10 specific matters arising out of the administration of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 which had been referred to them by the Secretary of State. Eight of the recommendations have been adopted by the Department. The other two are under consideration.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Advisory Board on Restricted Patients submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorDuring the period in question my right hon. and learned Friend sought and received the board's advice on 52 cases. In a few cases the advice has only recently been received and is still being considered. In the remainder he decided to act in accordance with the advice given by the board in all cases except one.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Criminal Law Revision Committee submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorIn July 1984 the Criminal Law Revision Committee submitted to my right hon. and learned Friend 133W its sixteenth report on "Prostitution in the Street", which he presented to Parliament in August 1984 (Cmnd. 9329). We have given our full support and assistance to my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Drake, (Miss Fookes) whose Sexual Offences Bill seeks to give effect to the recommendations made in that report concerning the accosting of women by men. The other recommendations in the report will be considered alongside those in the committee's report on the remaining aspects of prostitution. which is expected later this year.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorDuring the year ending 31 March 1985, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has considered the possible inclusion of a number of substances within the controls provided by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The council's advice that one drug, alfentanil, should come within the scope of the Act, was implemented with effect from 1 January 1985. The council continues to keep under review other matters relating to the misuse of drugs.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Licensing Planning Committee submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorIn the period 1 April 1984 to 31 October 1984, when the Licensing Planning Committee for the Metropolis was abolished, no advice was received from the committee.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Committee on Training for Justices' Clerks' Assistants submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. MellorThe Committee on Training for Justices' Clerks' Assistants, which met three times in those 12 months, provides a forum for the direct exchange of views between representatives of organisations concerned with the magistrates' courts service, and of training institutions, and officials of Government Departments. It does not collectively submit formal advice, but the views expressed by members during meetings and in correspondence are always taken into account by the Home Office in considering the development of existing training or the introduction of new schemes.
§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. Giles ShawSix substantive issues requiring action by the Department were considered during this period and appropriate action has been taken on all but one item, in respect of which my right hon. and learned Friend proposes to issue a circular and printed report shortly.
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§ Sir Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the 12 months to 31 March the Advisory Council on Race Relations submitted advice to his Department; and what action was taken by his Department on each occasion as a result of the advice given.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe council has met twice in the last 12 months. It meets either under my chairmanship or that of my right hon. and learned Friend. Ministers from other Departments are invariably present also. The council provides a valuable forum for discussion of a wide range of issues, but it has not been the practice for it to offer formal advice.