To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for the past five years (i) the United Kingdom's annual subscription to Interpol and (ii) any additional levies and their purpose.
The United Kingdom's annual subscription to Interpol for the last five years has been as follows:
| £ | |
| 1987–88 | 440,487 |
| 1988–89 | 428,437 |
| 1989–90 | 433,579 |
| 1990–91 | 510,109 |
| 1991–92 | 497,593 |
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to enhance the facilities or services provided by the European liaison bureau of Interpol.
It is planned to recruit as wide a representation as possible in order to ensure that the maximum number of European countries, including eastern Europe, are represented. Other ways of enhancing the service provided by the bureau are under consideration by Interpol.
To ask the Secretary or State for the Home Department what is the budget and current level of staffing at the European liaison bureau at Interpol headquarters; what languages are covered within the bureau; and what is the formal brief of the bureau.
The salaries and related expenses of officers seconded to the bureau are paid for by the seconding countries. The remaining costs of the bureau —for example accommodation and equipment—come from the overall Interpol secretariat budget. It is not possible therefore readily to identify the total cost of the bureau. English, French, Spanish, Greek, Italian, German and Finnish are all covered within the bureau. The brief of the bureau is to resolve difficulties and improve co-operation, and to provide a liaison service to the European countries. The bureau also provides support to the Interpol European committee and the annual European regional conference.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for the past five years (i) how many messages were handled by the United Kingdom national central bureau of Interpol per year and (ii) the annual maintenance costs of the United Kingdom national central bureau.
The number of messages handled by the United Kingdom national central bureau of Interpol in the last five years were:
| Number | |
| 1987 | 54,665 |
| 1988 | 59,081 |
| 1989 | 62,812 |
| 1990 | 63,483 |
| 1991 | 67,086 |
| £ | |
| 1987–88 | 1,490,768 |
| 1988–89 | 1,538,949 |
| 1989–90 | 1,678,302 |
| 1990–91 | 1,836,588 |
| 11991–92 | 2,927,000 |
| 1 The figure for 1991–92 is an estimate. It includes VAT for 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1991–92 which had not been paid in earlier years. | |
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to establish computer linkages between the United Kingdom national central bureau and Interpol headquarters.
The automated search facility is being set up at Interpol headquarters in Lyon. This will have a selected data base of information of wanted persons and criminals of international importance which will be available to direct search from national central bureaux in member countries.