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First Offence (Imprisonment)
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of persons convicted of a first criminal offence were sentenced to a term of imprisonment in each year since 1971. [159253]
Mr. Boateng: The readily available information is shown in the table. The data relate to males with no known previous convictions for standard list offences who were sentenced to immediate imprisonment for a standard list offence.
(11) Includes Borstal training, detention centres, youth custody and young offender institution where appropriate.
(12) A number of offences were added to the Standard list in 1996. "Old basis" figures exclude the additional offences.
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Court Fines
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were imprisoned for failure to pay a court fine in each year since 1971. [159254]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information relating to people imprisoned for failure to pay a court fine since 1971 is given in the table.
Provisional information for 1 January to 31 March 2001 shows that there have been 491 fine defaulters received into prison so far and that on 31 March 2001 there were 41 fine defaulters in prison.
| Year | Number of receptions |
|---|---|
| 1971 | 10,871 |
| 1972 | 10,980 |
| 1973 | 10,406 |
| 1974 | 12,622 |
| 1975 | 14,417 |
| 1976 | 15,911 |
| 1977 | 16,040 |
| 1978 | 16,442 |
| 1979 | 17,044 |
| 1980 | 15,938 |
| 1981 | 21,153 |
| 1982 | 24,492 |
| 1983 | 23,241 |
| 1984 | 21,761 |
| 1985 | 20,493 |
| 1986 | 19,159 |
| 1987 | 18,723 |
| 1988 | 16,817 |
| 1989 | 16,985 |
| 1990 | 16,659 |
| 1991 | 18,973 |
| 1992 | 19,826 |
| 1993 | 22,403 |
| 1994 | 22,469 |
| 1995 | 20,157 |
| 1996 | 8,555 |
| 1997 | 6,336 |
| 1998 | 5,374 |
| 1999 | 3,727 |
| 2000 | (13)2,314 |
(13) Provisional data only
Detention Centres
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the detention centres at Thurleigh, Harmondsworth, Aldington and Dungavel will begin to receive detainees. [159426]
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Mrs. Roche [holding answer 27 April 2001]: The immigration detention centres referred to will according to the current programme receive their first detainees as follows:
| Detention centre | |
|---|---|
| Yarl's Wood Detention Centre (Bedford) (formerly known as Thurleigh Detention Centre) | August 2001 |
| Harmondsworth Detention Centre (Heathrow) | July 2001 |
| Dungavel Detention Centre (Scotland) | September 2001 |
| Aldington Detention Centre (Kent) | No date available |
A date for the opening of the detention centre at Aldington cannot be given due to delays in the planning process.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the planned initial capacity and the planned full operating capacity is of (a) Thurleigh Detention Centre, (b) Harmondsworth Detention Centre, (c) Aldington Detention Centre and (d) Dungavel Detention Centre. [159425]
Mrs. Roche [holding answer 27 April 2001]: The planned full operating capacity of the immigration detention centres referred to will be as follows:
| Detention centre | Places |
|---|---|
| Yarl's Wood Detention Centre (Bedford) (formerly known as Thurleigh Detention Centre) | 900 |
| Harmondsworth Detention Centre (Heathrow) | 550 |
| Dungavel Detention Centre (Scotland) | 150 |
| Aldington Detention Centre (Kent) | 300 |
In each case there is no planned initial capacity and full operating capacity will be reached within three to four months of the centres opening, as agreed in the contract between the Immigration Service and operating contractors.
Asylum Support Claims
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the terms of reference are of his review of the targets for the processing of asylum support claims; when he will announce the conclusions of that review; and if he will make a statement. [159406]
Mrs. Roche [holding answer 27 April 2001]: The new target relating to decision times for asylum support applications can be found in the Home Office Business Plan for 2001-02 which was published on 2 April. The target is to reduce the average time taken to decide an application for asylum support by 20 per cent., by March 2002.
Fraud Letters
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his assessment is of whether advance fee fraud letters arriving from overseas (a) constitute a serious crime and (b) affect the economic well-being of the UK. [159693]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 30 April 2001]: Any form of organised fraud is a serious crime. The offences of conspiracy to defraud and of obtaining property by deception both carry a maximum penalty of
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10 years imprisonment. We hope that most people in the United Kingdom will have the good sense not to pay advance fees in response to unsolicited correspondence and that therefore the overall economic threat will be limited. Anybody who receives such a letter should send it to their local police, for onward transmission to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, who are considering means of tackling the problem.
Motorcycles
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many motorcycles have been (a) stolen and (b) recovered in each of the last four years; [159565]
- (2) if he will make a statement on recent measures which have been taken to reduce motorcycle theft. [159566]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The National Criminal Intelligence Service has received additional Government funding to run a project aimed at tackling organised motorcycle theft. Crime prevention messages specifically aimed at motorcyclists will be included in the next phase of the national vehicle crime reduction communications campaign, which will take place in the current financial year.
Local authorities now have powers to provide secure parking for motorcycles under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (as amended). The Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001 provides for statutory regulation of the motor salvage industry, which will help prevent vehicles, including motorcycles, from being stolen to be broken up for spare parts or being "rung" (ie taking on the identities of vehicles which have been written off in accidents).
Separate details of the theft and recovery of motorcycles are not collected centrally.
Reparation Orders
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reparation orders have been made under the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which required reparation of the type specified in section 67(2)(b) of that Act. [159971]
Mr. Charles Clarke: A reparation order can require a young offender to make reparation either to the victim, or to the community at large. Section 67 (2) (b) is the provision requiring reparation to the community.
The most recent figures from the Youth Justice Board indicate that between April to December 2000 a total of 3,818 reparation orders were made. Of these 2,738 (almost 72 per cent.) involved reparation to the community at large, 721 (19 per cent.) involved direct reparation to the victim and 355 (9 per cent.) involved reparation both to the community and to the victim.
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the operation of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [159980]
Mr. Straw: Implementation of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) is not yet complete. The interception (Part I Chapter I), covert
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surveillance (Part II) and oversight and complaints provisions (Part IV) of the Act were brought into force by the end of October 2000. The intention is to commence the outstanding provisions governing the acquisition of communications data in Part I Chapter II, and those governing access to protected electronic data in Part III of the Act, by the end of 2001.
As with all new legislation, the Government will keep RIPA under review. In particular, the Government have undertaken to review the provisions in Parts I and III of the Act in order properly to assess their effectiveness and their impact on business.
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