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Farm and Country Watch Schemes
Mrs. Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support his Department provides to farm and country watch schemes; how many such schemes are currently in place; and if he will make a statement. [95778]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government recognise that people in rural communities have different policing needs from those who live in urban areas, although they suffer from most of the same sorts of crime as urban areas. Rural communities can also suffer the twin problem of the lack of an obvious police presence and longer response times to emergency calls.
That is why the partnership approach between the police and the local community is the most effective means of tackling crime in rural areas. We encourage farm and country watch schemes as means by which members of the public can help themselves and the police to engage in a positive way in the fight against crime.
As farm and country watch schemes are run in conjunction with local police forces, the Home Office does not keep records of such schemes.
Mrs. Shephard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the resource implications for the police service of (a) a ban on hunting with hounds and (b) the trialing of GM crops; and if he will make a statement. [95779]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
Most police forces can, from time to time, face unexpected demands on their resources. We would normally expect forces to meet the additional costs from within their existing budgets or from their contingency reserves.
Mrs. Shephard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of his Department's planned expenditure on closed-circuit television schemes will be targeted on rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [95780]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Under the first round of the Crime Reduction Programme Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) initiative, Crime Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales have been invited to prepare final proposals on 376 bids for new and extended CCTV schemes with a potential capital cost of £68 million. The main priorities for the first round of the initiative have been to tackle vehicle crime and serious crime problems in housing areas, but shortlisted schemes to the value of over £1.5 million are specifically directed at rural crime. Final decisions will be announced later in the year.
The priorities for future rounds of the initiative have not yet been set, and increasing the emphasis on rural crime is one of the options that will be considered.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was in total and in respect of each prison and young offender institution (a) the number of occasions in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 to date that visitors have been caught trying to smuggle illegal drugs, (b) the number of such visitors in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 who have been banned from further visits as a result of their actions, (c) the number of such visitors in each year who have been charged with a criminal offence as a result of drug smuggling, (d) the number of such visitors in each year who have been prosecuted in court and (e) the number of such visitors in each year who have been convicted. [94905]
Mr. Boateng:
The total number of visitors arrested for drug smuggling and the breakdown for individual prisons is given in the table. From 1 April-30 June 1999, a total of 387 visitors were banned. The number of visitors banned by individual prisons is not collated centrally. Figures for the number of visitors subsequently charged, prosecuted and/or convicted are not recorded by the Prison Service.
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(2) Year to date
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Bail
Mr. Allan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of persons granted bail who subsequently returned to court for breaching their bail conditions in the year 1998-99. [95550]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
Information is not collected centrally on the number of persons granted bail who are returned to court for breaching bail conditions. Information is available on those granted bail who fail to appear for trial; the most recent figures are published in "Criminal statistics England and Wales 1997".
At magistrates courts in 1997, out of 549,900 bailed defendants, 64,600 (11 per cent.) failed to appear for trial; and 44,200 defendants (68 per cent. of those who failed to appear) were proceeded against for failing to surrender to bail.
At the Crown court in 1997, out of 72,000 bailed defendants, 5,400 (8 per cent.) failed to appear for trial. Bench warrants were issued against 4,000 defendants (74 per cent. of those failing to appear).
Research undertaken in 1996 to provide a detailed picture of the extent and nature of offending on bail, particularly in relation to police conditional bail, found that 9 per cent. of those given conditional bail by courts in parts of Northumbria and Greater Manchester were detected in breach.
Mr. Coleman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussion his Department has held with (a) the retail trade and (b) other appropriate agencies in relation to the new voucher system set out in the Asylum and Immigration Bill; and if he will make a statement. [95685]
Mrs. Roche:
A seminar about the proposed voucher system, at which many of the major retail groups were represented, was held in June. Officials have also had discussions separately with some of the retail groups and with security printing companies, various banks, other Government Departments and local authorities. Meetings were also held recently with the asylum authorities in Berlin, where they have had experience of asylum seekers being issued with vouchers with which to obtain essential living needs since 1993.
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