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Violent Crime
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which year since 1967 the largest percentage increase in recorded crimes of violence against the person occurred. [12733]
Mr. Michael: The largest percentage increase was between 1968 and 1969 when violence against the person rose by 25 per cent.
Stephen Lawrence
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will invite the former Attorney-General to make available to the Macpherson inquiry notes of the meeting with two hon. Members and the Crown Prosecution Service following the withdrawal of proceedings against persons accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence; [12589]
- (2) if the Macpherson inquiry will be provided with details of earlier attacks thought to be connected with persons accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence. [12590]
Mr. Michael: The judicial inquiry will have powers under section 49 of the Police Act 1996 to summon any person to give evidence, to require the production of documents and to take evidence on oath. It is therefore a matter for Sir William Macpherson, the chairman of the inquiry, to decide which documents the inquiry requires.
Mr. Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will institute an award in the memory of Stephen Lawrence. [12591]
Mr. Michael: When my right hon. Friend met Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence on 24 June, he told them that they would have his support if they wished to establish some form of memorial to their son Stephen.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average annual percentage change in recorded crime, excluding criminal damage valued at £20 and under between (a) 1967 and 1979 and (b) 1979 and 1996. [12734]
Mr. Michael:
The average annual percentage change was 3.5 per cent. between 1967 and 1979 and 4.3 per cent. between 1979 and 1996.
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Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Twigg) of 30 July, Official Report, columns 261-62, if he will set out the timetable for his review of section 4 (Minimum Sentences for Persistent House Burglars) of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. [12743]
Mr. Michael:
We have no plans to review section 4 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. As my right hon. Friend made clear in his statement on criminal justice on 30 July, Official Report, column 354, our position is the same as that announced by the previous Government in their White Paper, presented to the House in April 1996, which said:
It is not a question of a review, but of whether and when it is appropriate to take action, bearing in mind those considerations.
Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average cost of keeping a prisoner in custody in (a) a high security prison, (b) a normal security prison, (c) an open prison and (d) a young offenders institution in the last year for which figures are available. [12721]
Ms Quin:
In the financial year 1996-97 the average cost for keeping a prisoner in custody was as shown in the table:
"The Government's objective is to implement the various proposals, taking account of the Parliamentary timetable, the need to provide additional prison places and the resource implications".
| Type of prison | Cost per prisoner (£) |
|---|---|
| Dispersals | 36,601 |
| Category B | 19,284 |
| Category C | -- |
| Local | -- |
| Open | 16,865 |
| Young offenders institution | 19,273 |
Goods and Services (Payments)
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each of the functions relating to payment for goods or services supplied for which his Department is responsible indicating the management systems purchased, all sub-contractors involved in the work, co-operative arrangements with other Departments; and the costs of the systems and processes in the last year for which figures are available. [12556]
Mr. Straw:
In the non-agency Home Office payments are made both centrally and locally. Central payments are processed by the Department's business accounting strategic system, BASS, which uses Ross Renaissance software; 98.31 per cent. of payments by value are processed via the bank automated clearing system. The
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cost of processing central payments is estimated at £144,800. Payments to other Government Departments are made via Paymaster.
Payments may also be made locally by cheque or, exceptionally, by cash. Information on the cost of processing local payments is not available.
The Forensic Science Service is self accounting and is responsible for paying all of its suppliers for the services and goods it consumes. All payments are processed using the Systems Union accounting package, SUN. Of the payments made, 65.5 per cent. are via BACS the remainder being made by cheque. Any payments to other Government Departments are made by cheque. The cost of processing these payments is estimated at £48,000.
Within the United Kingdom Passport Agency, payments are made centrally by cheque, using SUN accounting software supplied by Systems Union. This includes payments to all other Government Departments. Operation of the payment function of the SUN system, including staff costs, was approximately £34,250 in 1996-97.
In the Prison Service payments are made both centrally and locally. Central payments are processed by the Prison Service's finance outstations and central unified system, FOCUS, which uses Tetra Chameleon software; 92.5 per cent. of payments by value are processed via BACS. The cost of processing central payments is estimated at £83,000; 98 per cent. of payments to other Government Departments are made via Paymaster.
Payments are also made locally at establishments by cheque or, exceptionally, by cash. Information on the cost of processing local payments is not available.
All Fire Service College payments are made locally at the college by cheque, except for expense claims under £10 which are paid in cash. All cheque payments are processed by the College's purchase ledger department, which uses CEDARDATA financial software; 89.2 per cent. of payments by value are paid by cheque, and payments to Her Majesty's Paymaster General in respect of loan interest is paid by Lloyds bank funds flow. The cost of processing all payments is estimated at £32,850.
If my hon. Friend is interested in particular aspects of our payment processing systems, perhaps he would write to me with further details.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the crime clear-up and conviction rates for each policy authority area in (a) 1995 and (b) 1996. [12588]
Mr. Michael:
The information requested is given in the tables. These figures are not on a comparable basis
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because the clear-up data relate to the number of offences and the conviction rate date relate to the number of offenders.
| Police force area | 1995 | 1996 |
|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 23 | 24 |
| Bedfordshire | 22 | 33 |
| Cambridgeshire | 19 | 24 |
| Cheshire | 31 | 34 |
| Cleveland | 25 | 24 |
| Cumbria | 40 | 36 |
| Derbyshire | 20 | 21 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 27 | 30 |
| Dorset | 28 | 27 |
| Durham | 30 | 30 |
| Essex | 33 | 29 |
| Gloucestershire | 27 | 23 |
| Greater Manchester | 24 | 17 |
| Hampshire | 28 | 28 |
| Hertfordshire | 28 | 30 |
| Humberside | 19 | 20 |
| Kent | 26 | 32 |
| Lancashire | 34 | 33 |
| Leicestershire | 29 | 31 |
| Lincolnshire | 39 | 42 |
| London, City of | 23 | 27 |
| Merseyside | 27 | 29 |
| Metropolitan Police | 25 | 23 |
| Norfolk | 31 | 32 |
| Northamptonshire | 28 | 34 |
| Northumbria | 23 | 24 |
| North Yorkshire | 23 | 25 |
| Nottinghamshire | 23 | 28 |
| South Yorkshire | 24 | 23 |
| Staffordshire | 32 | 34 |
| Suffolk | 34 | 33 |
| Surrey | 31 | 29 |
| Sussex | 28 | 29 |
| Thames Valley | 23 | 25 |
| Warwickshire | 25 | 24 |
| West Mercia | 28 | 26 |
| West Midlands | 24 | 23 |
| West Yorkshire | 21 | 24 |
| Wiltshire | 32 | 29 |
| England | 26 | 26 |
| Dyfed Powys | 57 | 58 |
| Gwent | 50 | 50 |
| North Wales | 32 | 33 |
| South Wales | 29 | 32 |
| Wales | 34 | 37 |
| England and Wales | 26 | 26 |
(42) Per cent. of recorded crimes cleared up by police.
(43) Number of offenders convicted at all courts as a proportion per cent. of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' courts.
(44) Provisional.
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