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Sickness Absence
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress made by his Department since 1997 in reducing sickness absence; and if he will make a statement. [134506]
Mr. Straw: Information on sickness absence data for the Civil Service between 1995 and 1998 was published in a British Medical Institute (BMI) Health Services Report 'Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service', produced on behalf of the Cabinet Office. Information for 1999 will be included in the next BMI report to be published shortly.
The Home Office and its Agencies have introduced new guidelines, policies and procedures with a view to reducing sickness absence. The Department's Service Delivery Targets for April 2001 to March 2004, which include a target for sickness absence, were published on Friday, 3 November, and are available on the Home Office website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/pfd/sda2000.htm).
To reduce sickness absence, and sustain this improvement thereafter in the:
Home Office and its agencies (excluding the Prison and Probation Services) to an average of 6.9 days per member of staff by end of March 2003;
Prison and Probation Service to an average of 9.0 days per member of staff by 2004;
Fire Service, by 2005, to a level consistent with or better than those presently achieved by the best quartile of employers, eg an average of 6.5 shifts for firefighters and 5.4 shifts for control room staff; and in
all police forces which now have targets as part of their efficiency plans.
Internet (Child Abuse)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought involving (a) child abuse and (b) stalking of children within internet chat rooms; and how many such prosecutions have been successful. [136215]
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Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 6 November 2000]: The information is not available in the form requested.
Any sexual or violent offence committed against a child might amount to abuse. It is not possible to identify child victims of abuse from the overall statistics.
Among the range of offences an adult might be charged with, in respect of a child, however, is the offence of indecent conduct towards a young child under section 1 of the Indecency with Children Act 1960. For 1999 the statistics for prosecutions and convictions were: 330 prosecutions and 217 convictions.
Similarly, there is no specific offence of stalking of children within internet chat rooms. It is not possible to say how many of the offences of "stalking" under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 involve children using the internet.
However, information is given as follows, for offences under Section 2 and Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in 1999.
Under s. 2--summary offence of harassment--there were: 5,427 prosecutions and 2,709 convictions.
Under s. 4 of the 1997 Act--putting people in fear of violence--there were: 1,632 prosecutions and 488 convictions.
Firearms
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of (a) the most common ways illegally held firearms are obtained and (b) what their origin is; and if he will make a statement. [135809]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 30 October 2000]: The Government believe that there is no single main source of illegal firearms in the United Kingdom. In particular, there is no evidence of organised and large-scale smuggling of firearms into this country. Interviews with criminals indicate that many firearms are obtained through informal contacts where their origins are not established.
The use of firearms in crime in this country is small in relation both to overall national crime figures and to other comparable countries. It may therefore be misleading to talk of any source of illegal firearms to be 'common' or to draw wider conclusions from particular incidents. Sources of illegally held firearms in recent years have included, for example: theft from legitimate sources; smuggling from abroad; conversion of deactivated or replica firearms to fire live ammunition; and 'trophies of war' brought back by returning service personnel. Individual firearms may remain in circulation for many years and their origins may be difficult to establish.
The Government have accepted the recommendations by the Firearms Consultative Committee (FCC) and the
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Home Affairs Committee (HAC) that further research should be carried out into this area. We are considering how best this should be carried forward.
Crime (Sutton and Cheam)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes (a) were reported and (b) led to convictions in the Sutton and Cheam constituency in each year since 1979. [134888] [134986]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 6 November, 2000]: Details of reported crime are not available. Information on the numbers of crimes recorded by the police in the London Borough of Sutton has been provided by the Metropolitan police. The figures cover from the 1995-96 financial year onwards. I understand that comparative data for earlier years are not available.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 10,756 |
| 1996-97 | 13,677 |
| 1997-98 | 13,059 |
| 1998-99(25) | 12,752 |
| 1999-2000(25) | 14,493 |
(25) New counting rules
Available information held centrally on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, showing the number of offenders convicted of indictable offences at Sutton Petty Sessional Division (PSD), are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 624 |
| 1984 | 704 |
| 1989 | 636 |
| 1993 | 655 |
| 1994 | 818 |
| 1995 | 787 |
| 1996 | 692 |
| 1997 | 740 |
| 1998 | 752 |
| 1999 | 681 |
(26) Includes those found guilty at the Crown Court where the committing PSD was Sutton.
(27) For earlier years also includes Wallington PSD which amalgamated with the then Sutton PSD in 1986-87 to form the current Sutton PSD.
Note:
Due to disproportionate costs, selected years only are given.
It is important to note that as recorded crime data relate to offences, and convictions data relate to offenders, the two sets of figures are not directly comparable.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted in respect of (a) murder, (b) indictable offences and (c) non-indictable offences in each year since 1979 in the Sutton and Cheam constituency. [134889] [134985]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 6 November 2000]: Available information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Databases are given in the table. Due to disproportionate cost selected years only are given.
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| Offence | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Murder | Indictable offences | Summary non-motoring offences | |
| 1979 | -- | 624 | 742 |
| 1984 | -- | 704 | 876 |
| 1989 | -- | 636 | 789 |
| 1993 | -- | 655 | 885 |
| 1994 | 1 | 818 | 281 |
| 1995 | -- | 787 | 373 |
| 1996 | -- | 692 | 1,132 |
| 1997 | -- | 740 | 904 |
| 1998 | 1 | 752 | 1,066 |
| 1999 | -- | 681 | 780 |
(28) For earlier years also includes Wallington PSD which amalgamated with the then Sutton PSD in 1986-87 to form the current Sutton PSD
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Metropolitan Police
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of young offenders within each Metropolitan police divisional force who have committed (a) five offences or more, (b) 10 offences or more, (c) 20 offences or more and (d) 50 offences or more; and if he will make a statement. [134982]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 6 November 2000]: The exact information requested is not held centrally.
However, information on the total number of convictions for recordable offences relating to persistent young offenders convicted of one or more recordable offences in 1999 is available. The information, disaggregated by the Metropolitan police division (and in some cases sub-division) associated with the last recordable offence, is shown in the table.
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