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Freemasons
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to require police officers to disclose membership of the Freemasons. [142521]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 9 November 2000, Official Report, column 402W. The deadline for police service responses to the Home Department consultation on this subject is 31 December.
18 Dec 2000 : Column: 52W
Illegal Drugs
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the Government have to audit the costs of enforcing the law relating to illegal drugs. [142212]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 13 December, 2000]: Assessing the costs of anti-drugs activities is inherently difficult because these often form part of wider functional service expenditure. For instance, up to one third of all property crime is thought to be drugs related, imposing a considerable burden on the Criminal Justice System. Broad assessment of the costs imposed by illegal abuse on public services and the proactive measures centred on tackling their root causes were made in the 2000 Spending review. Indicative spending totals for the latter were published in the Spending Review White Paper (Cm 4807).
The Government are committed to improving their understanding of these totals. As part of its Service Delivery Agreement, the Cabinet Office, which is responsible for the United Kingdom Anti Drugs Co-ordination Unit, will implement a robust system for tracking total anti-drugs related expenditure and outputs by March 2002 and demonstrate that by March 2004 there will have been a 45 per cent. increase in spend on proactive effort on a 2000-01 base.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people, broken down by ethnic group, were convicted of dealing in illegal drugs and other offences involving illegal drugs in the UK in each of the last three years. [142294]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 13 December, 2000]: The requested information is not available centrally. The annual publication "Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System" to be published in January 2001 will provide some related information. For the first time, it will show, by police force area and ethnic appearance, the number of persons arrested and the number cautioned by the police in England and Wales for drugs offences in general. Copies of this publication will be available in the Library.
Juvenile Offenders
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many secure accommodation places there are for juvenile offenders in Wales; [142586]
- (2) if he will make it his policy to increase the number of secure accommodation places for juvenile offenders in Wales. [142583]
Mr. Boateng: The only Welsh secure accommodation currently available for juvenile offenders is at Hillside, a local authority secure unit in Neath. 14 of its 18 places are provided under a block contract with the Youth Justice Board, and when they are available the Board can also spot purchase from among the remaining four places.
The Board aims to expand capacity in Wales by 2003-04 through its commissioning strategy. It is currently examining possible sites and also in discussion with the Prison Service.
18 Dec 2000 : Column: 53W
Anti-social Behaviour Orders
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, by local authority area, the number of anti-social behaviour orders that have been (a) applied for and (b) granted. [143000]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Over 140 anti-social behaviour orders have been issued since the measure was implemented on 1 April 1999. Figures, by local authority area, for the numbers of orders applied for and obtained during that period are not held centrally.
Street Lighting (Denbury)
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that street lighting on the Home Office Estate in Denbury, South Devon is set to GMT; and if he will make a statement on the administrative costs of collecting the annual fee from each household on the estate for this street lighting. [142943]
Mr. Boateng: The street lighting has been set to take account of the change to GMT. The annual charge to each private owner on the former Prison Service quarters estate for the street lighting and other services is collected on behalf of the prison by a collecting agent who charges the Prison Service an administrative fee of £25.75 per property.
Crime and Disorder Partnerships
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much central Government funding has been allocated in total to local crime and disorder partnerships in each year since they were established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. [142602]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 15 December 2000]: The bulk of the project funding for Crime Reduction Programme Initiatives detailed in my letter of 20 November to the hon. Member, and available in the Library, is channelled through the crime and disorder reduction partnerships established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The Home Department also has in place an annual £1 million programme of research, consultancy support and training and seminars to help partnerships achieve their crime and disorder reduction objectives. In addition, a further £3 million this year, and £20 million in each of the following three years is available for general partnership and support.
Police Stations
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police stations in the Metropolitan police area which are planned to have reduced hours when they are open to the public. [142981]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 15 December 2000]: The decision to restrict the opening hours of police stations is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I understand from the Commissioner that there are currently no plans to reduce the opening hours of any police station in the Metropolitan police area.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police stations in the Metropolitan police area which are planned to close. [142985]
18 Dec 2000 : Column: 54W
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 15 December 2000]: The decision to close police facilities is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I understand from the Commissioner that there are currently no plans to close any police stations in the Metropolitan police area.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police stations in the Metropolitan police area on 1 December, (a) 2000 (b) 1997, (c) 1998 and (d) 1999. [142984]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 15 December 2000]: I understand from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service that police stations within the Metropolitan police area at 21 November 2000 were as follows. Information for earlier years is not available.
18 Dec 2000 : Column: 56W
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the police stations in the Metropolitan police area which reduced the hours when they are open to the public in (a) 1999 and (b) 2000; [142982]
- (2) if he will list the police stations in the Metropolitan police area which have reduced the hours when they are open to the public since 1 May 1997. [142983]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 15 December 2000]: It is for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to determine the hours of business of police station public counters. I understand from the Commissioner that the following police stations reduced their opening hours in the calendar years since 1997:
- 1997
- Kingsbury
- 1998
- Belgravia
- Greenford
- Norwood Green
- North Greenwood
- Southgate
- Sydenham
- 1999
- Beckenham
- Belvedere
- Edgware
- Gypsy Hill
- Hayes
- Penge
- Pinner
- Ponders End
- Rotherhithe
- Rushton
- Sidcup
- Surbiton
- Tooting
- Wanstead
- Wealdstone
- West Drayton
- West Wickham
18 Dec 2000 : Column: 57W
- 2000
- East Dulwich
- Kings Cross Police Office
- Harrow Road
- Orpington
- Paddington Green
- Uxbridge
- West Hampstead.
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