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Child Curfew Orders

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child curfew orders have been made under the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. [159970]

Mr. Charles Clarke: No applications have been received from local authorities to establish child curfew schemes under section 14 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Following consultation with local authorities and the police we have proposed in the Criminal Justice and Police Bill currently before Parliament to extend the upper age limit to 15 and to allow the police, as well as local authorities, to initiate schemes.

Proscribed Organisations

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to proscribe additional domestic terrorist organisations under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [159973]

Mr. Straw: As I made clear in the House on 13 March, I have no plans to add any organisations to the current list. But it is open to addition or subtraction at any future stage, and I will keep this issue under review.

Children (Offending)

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the results of the surveys conducted by MORI for the Youth Justice Board on offending by children in 1999, 2000 and 2001. [159968]

Mr. Charles Clarke: We shall place them in the Library this week.

Council Compensation Claims

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities have applied for compensation under the terms of section D of RPA Circular 442; what the total amount claimed to date is; and if he will make a statement. [159981]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Four local authorities have submitted claims for compensation for the additional costs they incurred. The total amount claimed is £634.80. The most recent claim was received on 20 April.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour

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orders have been made under the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998; and how many were made against persons under the age of 18 years. [159972]

Mr. Charles Clarke: A total of 104 anti-social behaviour orders were issued in England and Wales between 1 April 1999 and 31 May 2000. A breakdown by age for the orders issued in this period is not held centrally. However provisional data collected centrally from 1 June 2000 up to 31 December 2000 show a further 73 anti-social behaviour orders being made of which 31 were for persons aged under 18 years.

Airwave Communications System

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Airwave communications system. [159975]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The final operational phase of the Airwave pilot, which started on 19 March, is continuing satisfactorily despite some technical problems. The service is now available in the two Divisions of Lancashire which are the subject of the evaluation. An interim review of the pilot began on 30 April and the final evaluation will be completed within five working days of pilot completion on 17 June.

Preparations for the rollout in Greater Manchester and other forces are also progressing well and are currently on schedule.

Parliamentary Questions

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost to his Department has been of answering a written question from an hon. Member asking about the effects since May 1997 of his Department's policies on a particular hon. Member's constituency. [159969]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Compilation of these responses has involved staff in various Home Office Units, the Youth Justice Board and Youth Offending Teams. Each answer has drawn upon information which is already collected by the Home Office, its Agencies or other partners.

The exact time taken and hence the cost to the Department of answering these questions has not been collated as each response has been prepared. However, it is estimated that the average cost to the Home Office of answering them has been less than £100.

Hilda Murrell

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the results for the latest DNA tests in connection with the murder of Hilda Murrell were; and if he will make a statement. [159985]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Forensic Science Service has completed the latest round of tests in the re-examination of materials from exhibits in the Hilda Murrell murder investigation. The tests have not produced any significant DNA profile which advances the investigation at this stage. However, the results suggest that there is a realistic prospect that the next level of testing may produce a profile. In line with a strategy of sequential testing

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agreed by West Mercia Constabulary and the Forensic Science Service, further examinations will continue in a systematic manner.

National Asylum Support Service

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance NASS has issued to providers of accommodation for people seeking asylum on encouraging partnership working and promoting good community relations. [159774]

Mrs. Roche: All property providers who enter into contract with the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are expected to meet the high standards of performance specified in the contract. They must provide a management system to assist the asylum seekers they are accommodating including help with registration with a general practitioner, getting children into school and access to the one stop services set up by the voluntary sector.

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to monitor the numbers of people seeking asylum housed in each local authority area under the NASS scheme; and if these figures will be made publicly available. [159773]

Mrs. Roche: Numbers of asylum seekers allocated accommodation by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are currently monitored within the regions and each cluster area. These figures are available from Immigration Research and Statistics Service.

Currently there are no plans to monitor numbers of asylum seekers in each local authority area.

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) private companies and (b) regional consortia that have entered into contracts with NASS to provide housing for people seeking asylum; how many bed spaces each one has provided; how many of those bed spaces are occupied; and how many of those bed spaces have been inspected by NASS inspectors. [159772]

Mrs. Roche: The following have contracts with the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) to provide accommodation for asylum seekers:

Private companies	Regional consortia
Adelphi Hotels	Scotland
Angel Group Ltd.	North East
Accommodata Ltd.	Yorkshire and Humberside
Capital Accommodation Ltd.	North West (East Region)
Clearsprings	West Midlands
Roselodge Ltd.	Cardiff CC
Safe Haven	East Midlands
The Landmark
YMCA Glasgow
Leena Corporation

I am unable to provide information on the number of bedspaces provided under individual contracts since this information is commercial in confidence.

As at 30 April, 80 per cent. of accommodation provided by the private sector and 4 per cent. of accommodation provided by the public sector had been inspected either by or on behalf of NASS.

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Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if NASS will publish an annual report. [159771]

Mrs. Roche: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton North-East (Mr. Crausby) on 15 January 2001, Official Report, column 86W.

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place for consulting local authorities before people seeking asylum are placed in their areas under the NASS scheme; and under what circumstances authorities would not be consulted. [159789]

Mrs. Roche: The identification of suitable cluster areas for the dispersal of asylum seekers and their dependants is based on research conducted centrally by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). Information is obtained from local authorities and other organisations with an interest in asylum. Before entering into a contract with an accommodation provider NASS consults local authorities through the regional consortia. Local authorities receive weekly information of the numbers of asylum seekers dispersed to their area.

Electronic Custody Systems

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the development and provision of electronic custody systems for the police; when such systems will be available; what is the expected cost of such systems; what has been the total cost of their development to date; and what was the planned date for such systems to be available. [159696]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Work is in progress to develop an electronic custody system. Implementation within all forces is likely to be achieved within two calendar years of a product becoming available. There is currently no planned date for a custody product to be available. Development costs of the application have been at the suppliers own risk. Internal project costs are estimated as being approximately £2 million. Central government is to provide £46 million to implement the custody and an electronic case preparation system once plans have been agreed. The original delivery date for the custody application was August 2000 with roll-out to all forces by December 2002.

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