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Restorative Justice
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend the use of restorative justice approaches for (a) young offenders and (b) adult offenders; and if he will make a statement. [128541]
Mr. Charles Clarke: For young offenders the final warning scheme, reparation order and action plan order under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, were implemented across England and Wales on 1 June 2000; and the referral order under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 is being piloted in seven areas from summer 2000 ahead of national implementation. These measures reflect the restorative justice principles of responsibility, reparation and reintegration in tackling offending and requiring offenders to make amends for their actions. The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales is funding and evaluating a number of local schemes in support of these measures. For adult offenders, community service orders provide the opportunity for offenders to undertake work for the benefit of the community. In addition, a review of best practice, focused on restorative justice schemes for adult offenders, is being undertaken under the Government's crime reduction programme, on the basis of which further schemes may be funded and evaluated.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the change in recorded crime rates over the last 10 years (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in other European Union countries; and if he will make a statement. [128543]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information covering recorded crime in all the European Union member states (including the parts of the United Kingdom) for the period 1988 to 1998 was published by the Home Office in the Statistical Bulletin 04/00, "International comparisons of criminal justice statistics 1998", on 22 February 2000. A copy is in the Library.
Voice Tagging
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of voice tagging; what pilot projects are being undertaken; what plans he has to extend the use of voice tagging. [129293]
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Mr. Boateng: There are currently two pilots using voice verification technology being undertaken in England and Wales; the first is a pilot using VoiceTrack technology (which is licensed to Group 4 in the United Kingdom) and after an initial six month pilot in the Kent Probation Service region, they have been extended to cover the North Wales area. The Youth Justice Board is also undertaking pilots using a voice verification system developed by Group 4 with Kent and Medway Youth Offending Teams. The Board is currently in discussions about extending the pilots but there are no firm plans at present to extend either of them. Both of these pilots will be evaluated by the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. No decision about whether to extend the pilots will be made until after they have been evaluated.
Sexual Offences Review
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the members of the External Reference Group of the Sexual Offences Review. [129363]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The membership of the External Reference Group of the Sex Offences Review was:
- Julie Barnard (Rape Crisis Federation) (from April to September 1999)
Nick Bent (from May 1999)
Mark Blake (Blackliners) (until December 1999)
David Congdon (Mencap)
Penny Dean (The Children's Society)
Dina Gold (Board of Deputies of British Jews)
Steve Hodges (NCH Action for Children) (from March until October 1999)
Helen Jones (Rape Crisis Federation) (from September 1999)
Dr. Liz Kelly, CBE (University of North London)
Shaun Kelly (NCH Action for Children) (from November 1999)
Dan Lambeth (Solicitor)
Sandra McNeill (Campaign to End Rape)
Anita Mansley (St. Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Manchester)
Angela Mason, OBE (Stonewall)
Deryk Mead (NCH Action for Children) (February 1999)
- Dr. Gillian Mezey (Royal College of Psychiatrists) (from July 1999)
Margaret Pedler (Mind)
Nerys Rees (Women's National Commission and Soroptimist International)
Dr. Deborah Rogers (British Medical Association)
Imam Dr. Abduljalil Sajid, JP (Muslim Council of Britain (from September 1999)
Sara Swann (Barnardo's)
Professor Jennifer Temkin (Department of Law, University of Sussex)
Ruth Vincent (Association of Directors of Social Services) (from May 1999)
David Watts (Essex Social Services) (from July 1999)
Reverend Neil Whitehouse (Kairos in Soho and The Methodist Church)
Claire Wilson-Thomas (CARE, Christian Action, Research and Education).
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Kosovan Humanitarian Evacuation Programme
Mr. Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reimburse local authorities for their expenditure on the Kosovan Humanitarian Evacuation programme during the current financial year. [129759]
Mr. Straw: The arrangements for reimbursement are set out in Special Grant Report Number 68, which I have laid before Parliament today. The Report explains the areas of expenditure that will be eligible for the grant and invites local authorities to submit interim claims by 30 September. This will ensure the prompt repayment of the bulk of the expenditure incurred by local authorities during 2000-01.
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Immigration Adjudicators
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration adjudicators come from an ethnic minority background. [128874]
Mr. Lock: I have been asked to reply.
There are currently 43 full-time and 295 part-time immigration adjudicators. The ethnic background of the 43 full-time adjudicators is 29 white, three black, four Asian, and seven unknown or not specified. The ethnic background of the 295 part-time adjudicators is 199 white, nine black, 14 Asian, two Chinese, seven other and 64 unknown or not specified.
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