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Pilot Voting Schemes
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conclusions he has drawn about the impact of pilot voting schemes in the 4 May local elections. [123483]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Jones) on 15 May 2000, Official Report, column 62W.
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Prisoner Suicides
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides there have been by prisoners in each of the last five years. [123491]
Mr. Boateng: The information requested is given in the table.
| Calendar year | Number of self-inflicted deaths |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 59 |
| 1996 | 64 |
| 1997 | 68 |
| 1998 | 83 |
| 1999 | 91 |
Notes:
1. To date (19 May) there have been 35 self-inflicted deaths in prison custody in England and Wales.
2. Totals for each year contain the numbers of all self-inflicted deaths in prison custody; not only those deaths where there has been an inquest verdict of suicide.
3. The term employed by the Prison Service to refer to an apparent suicide is "self-inflicted death". This is broader than the term suicide and includes all those deaths where it is clear that the person has acted specifically to take his/her own life. It is not restricted to the official verdict from the Coroner's inquest where verdicts of "open" or "misadventure" may be recorded in cases where there was doubt about a person's intent to end their life.
Force Reaction Unit
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former members of the group known as the Force Reaction Unit have been interviewed by the Metropolitan police Special Branch in the past 12 months. [122761]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has informed me that 15 former members of the Ministry of Defence Force Research Unit have been interviewed by the Metropolitan police Special Branch during the past 12 months.
Arrested Football Fans (Copenhagen)
Mr. Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what legal action will be taken in the United Kingdom against those English football fans recently arrested in Copenhagen; [123414]
- (2) what action will be taken to prevent those English football fans recently arrested in Copenhagen from travelling to football matches overseas during Euro 2000; [123476]
(3) how many of the English football fans recently arrested in Copenhagen have restriction orders against them prohibiting them from travelling abroad to football matches. [123475]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The 15 individuals arrested in Copenhagen were not convicted of any offence and no legal action can be taken against them in the United Kingdom. None are subject to a restriction or any other category of football banning order. Under current football legislation, the only individuals who can be prevented from travelling to Euro 2000 are the 106 hooligans currently subject to an international ban. However, the Dutch and Belgian police have extensive powers to refuse
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entry to any individual or group felt to pose a risk to public order. The National Criminal Intelligence Service will provide them with details of the 15 individuals along with details of the 388 persons currently subject to domestic football bans. Police will be monitoring all England supporters at every United Kingdom exit point throughout the tournament and the information gathered will be shared with the Dutch, Belgian and French police, in addition to the United Kingdom police teams operating in all three countries.
Crossbows
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers are available to him to control the ownership and use of crossbows; and what plans he has to extend them. [123469]
Mr. Charles Clarke: No such powers are available to the Secretary of State.
The Crossbows Act 1987 applies to crossbows with a draw weight of 1.4 kilogrammes or greater. It makes it an offence to sell or hire a crossbow to persons under the age of 17, and prohibits persons aged under 17 from possessing a crossbow unless supervised by someone aged 21 or over.
In addition, the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 prohibits the possession in a public place of any offensive weapon without good reason or lawful excuse.
There are no plans to amend this legislation at present.
Cultural Events (Security)
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish the criteria by which police forces charge for providing security at (a) folk festivals and (b) other cultural events; [123468]
- (2) if it is his policy that police forces should have discretion as to (a) the amount of security that they provide at public and private events and (b) how much they charge for such services. [123467]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The decision whether to charge for costs of policing at local events is for the local police authority and the Chief Constable.
Under Section 25(1) of the Police Act 1996,
- the Chief Officer of Police may provide, at the request of any person, special police services at any premises or in any locality in the police area for which the force is maintained, subject to the payment to the police authority of charges on such scales as may be determined by that authority.
- they are not part of the general duty of the police to keep the peace and protect life and property;
- the service to be provided is on private land; and
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European Convention on Human Rights
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into United Kingdom law. [121906]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We set out our views on the general financial effects of the Human Rights Act 1998 in the Explanatory and Financial Memorandum to the Human Rights Bill. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, Lord Chancellor's Department, set out the position with respect to the courts in her reply to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on 10 April 2000, Official Report, column 21W.
Home Detention Curfew Scheme
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for the period between the commencement of the Home Detention Curfew scheme on 28 January 1999 and 30 April 2000 inclusive, (a) the total number of prisoners released on the scheme, (b) the number of prisoners convicted of each specific offence who were released on the scheme, broken down by offences committed, including the specific offences committed by prisoners normally classified under the categories (i) other homicide and attempted homicide, (ii) other violence against the person, (iii) drug offences, (iv) assaults and (v) other offences, (c) the average sentence (i) received and (ii) served, and the average period spent on the scheme, in respect of each specific offence, (d) the number of prisoners released on the scheme, broken down by offences committed, who (A) breached the conditions of the curfew, (B) disappeared and were recaptured, (C) disappeared and remain unlawfully at large and (D) had their licences revoked, and for what reasons, (e) the specific offences committed by prisoners released on the scheme while on the scheme and (f) the specific offences committed by prisoners released on the scheme who committed a further offence while on the scheme that was similar in character to that for which they were originally convicted; and if he will make a statement. [121288]
Mr. Boateng [holding answer 8 May 2000]: As of 30 April 2000, a total of 20,028 prisoners had been released on Home Detention Curfew since the scheme commenced on 28 January 1999.
The original offences committed by prisoners released under the scheme during that period, the number of prisoners convicted of each specific offence, the average sentence received and served for those offences, and the average period spent on the scheme in respect of the
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prisoners convicted of each specific offence, are shown in table 1. The data are taken from the Prison Service's inmate information system based on the data recorded by each prison. The table provides as detailed a breakdown of offences as is possible from central records.
As of 30 April 2000, 710 prisoners placed on the Home Detention Curfew scheme had breached the conditions of the curfew.
Information on curfewees whose licences are revoked and who disappear before being recaptured is not held centrally. However, information is held on the number of curfewees unlawfully at large at any one time. On 30 April, there were 40 curfewees who remained unlawfully at large. This represents less than 5 per cent. of the total number of revocations. In the vast majority of cases, when a curfewee's licence is revoked, he can expect to be quickly apprehended and returned to custody. While the priority to be given to pursuing individual cases will be an operational matter for local police forces, Home Office Circular 1/1999 made clear that Home Detention Curfew recalls should be regarded as "urgent action" cases. In addition, the National Identification Service at New Scotland Yard issues "The Police Gazette" weekly to all police forces, including details of curfewees who are unlawfully at large. When curfewees are apprehended following a period unlawfully at large, they are required to serve the period of time outstanding at the point their licence was revoked.
As of 30 April 2000, 965 curfewees had their licences revoked, using the powers available to the Secretary of State under Sections 38A(1) and 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. The reasons for revocation were as follows:
- for breach of the curfew;
- because the curfewee's whereabouts could no longer be electronically monitored;
- because it was necessary to protect the public from serious harm; and
- because the curfewee had committed an offence or breached any requirement of probation supervision. (Curfewees who are charged with new offences may also be recalled on any of the preceding grounds depending on the circumstances of the case).
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