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Hinduja Brothers
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason G. P. Hinduja's passport application was considered more rapidly than the average. [154319]
Mrs. Roche [holding answer 19 March 2001]: I presume that the right hon. Member is referring to the application for naturalisation made by Mr. G. P. Hinduja.
The full circumstances of the naturalisation application are detailed in Sir Anthony Hammond's Review, which was published on 9 March 2001.
The detail of the priority afforded to the application is given at paragraphs 4.2, 4.9, 5.166 and 5.169 of the Review.
The general guidance for the handling of requests for priority treatment of citizenship applications is given at Annex D of the Review.
Having been granted British citizenship, Mr. Hinduja was then eligible to apply for a British passport.
Departmental Policies (Newbury)
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Newbury constituency, the effects on Newbury and west Berkshire of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154574]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 1999-2000, is available in the Library. The latest report will be published shortly. Information on recorded crime and policing is also
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published. "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000" and "Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000" can be found in the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by Basic Command Unit and Crime and Disorder partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested although set out are examples relating to the Newbury constituency or the immediate locality:
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
- West Berkshire Council was awarded £16,500 under round 1 of the CCTV Initiative for a Mobile Unit. The scheme will assist with specific problems, particularly car crime and anti-social behaviour in rural areas and on various housing estates.
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs)
- The West Berkshire YOT offers all young people receiving Final Warnings an assessment and intervention programme. The ASSET assessment tool is used at the beginning and end of all YOT interventions. Work has been done with the victim liaison project to maximise consultation with victims of youth crime and maximise opportunities for direct reparation to victims. A range of parenting groups has been organised across West Berkshire for parents of young people at risk of offending. With the assistance of police and courts targets for timescales from arrest to sentence of young offenders are consistently being met and intensive packages for supervision of young people at most risk of offending are being developed.
- The Youth Justice Board (YJB) are currently funding two Intervention Schemes and one Bail Supervision Scheme in Newbury and west Berkshire. The YJB are contributing approximately £41,000 to the West Berkshire Parenting, Education and Support Project. This project works towards developing an effective process to meet the expectations of the Crime and Disorder Act in relation to meeting the needs of the victim. It develops the principles of restorative justice establishing effective participant involvement, preparation, reparation agreements and evaluation. Almost £72,000 is being used to fund another intervention scheme: Developing Skills Accredited Community Service (Education, Training and Employment). This project develops and delivers support to families of children who may be offending or at risk of offending. A Bail Support Scheme to develop systems and interventions to prevent re-offending while on bail has been awarded nearly £44,000. The funding for these schemes runs from April 1999 until March 2002.
- 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established;
- racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;
- the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000; and
- good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.
Departmental Policies (Walthamstow)
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the
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constituency, the effect on the Walthamstow constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154176]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 1999-2000, is available in the Library. The next report will be published shortly. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published. "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000" and "Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000" can be found in the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by Basic Command Unit and Crime and Disorder partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested although set out are examples relating to the Walthamstow constituency or the immediate locality:
The area of Waltham Forest (Chingford Hall) has been involved in the Youth Justice Board Easter and Summer Splash scheme in 2000 and 2001. During school holiday periods in summer 2000, 102 Summer Splash projects were run in England and Wales in disadvantaged neighbourhoods to address offending by young people (especially 13 to 17-year-olds). Each project was awarded up to £25,000. The results have been extremely encouraging. The five areas traditionally associated with youth crime--burglary, motor crime, criminal damage, street robbery and juvenile nuisance--all showed significant reductions compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. The combined drop for these crimes was 14 per cent. and the Home Secretary recently agreed a further £2.1 million from the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme to run 150 Easter and summer school holiday Splash programmes in 2001.
As of November 2000, Redbridge and Waltham Forest Drug Action Team split into two borough based DATs. Waltham Forest now has its own DAT that met for the first time on 2 March 2001. The DATs have local targets to meet the National Drugs Strategy. Objectives for young people include: to increase drug education and decrease drug-related incidents in Waltham Forest primary and secondary schools; develop service agreements with the local Youth Offending Team regarding drugs education for high risk young people; explore the development of drug referral programmes for first time offenders; co-ordinate and increase the access to treatment services for under-18s. Other interventions for adults include: the establishment of Arrest Referral, which aims to reduce drug-related crime by increasing numbers of arrested problem drug users attending treatment; extend the Redbridge Court Referral project to Waltham Forest;
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roll-out of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs). Since roll-out of DTTOs in October 2000, seven Orders have been made (six male, one female) and two of these are receiving residential treatment and five participated in a Day Programme based in Walthamstow. Information sharing protocols have been established between police, probation and housing services, and a collaborative approach against raising awareness has been undertaken between Safer Clubbing, Community Drug Awareness Project and treatment services.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Walthamstow to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
- 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established;
- racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;
- the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000; and
- good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.
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