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Extradition
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people accused of capital crimes have been extradited to the USA since 11 May 1997; and under what arrangements. [11402]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The availability of the death penalty has been an issue in only one of 34 surrenders to the United States since 1997. In that case, the fugitive was surrendered following an assurance from the United States authorities that the death penalty would neither be sought nor applied. That is consistent with the UK/US Extradition Treaty (United States of America (Extradition) Order 1976 as amended by the United States of America (Extradition) (Amendment) Order 1986) which provides that extradition may be refused unless the requesting party gives satisfactory assurances that the death penalty will not be carried out.
Political Asylum
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are applied when deciding whether an unsuccessful applicant for political asylum should be granted exceptional leave to remain; and how many people have been granted such exceptional leave since June 1997. [12455]
Angela Eagle: Exceptional leave is a discretionary grant of limited leave made by the Home Secretary. Every case is considered on its own individual merits and
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exceptional leave is normally granted only after an asylum application has been substantively considered and it has been decided to refuse the application.
Exceptional leave may be granted for a wide number of reasons but is mainly granted for compassionate or humanitarian reasons or where there is a specific government policy or concession. Exceptional leave is also granted where removal from the United Kingdom would breach our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).
Exceptional leave is granted for limited periods, normally up to four years. After four years, an applicant may apply for settlement in the United Kingdom.
Our current statistical records run from June 1997 to July 2001. During this period, 46,215 people were granted exceptional leave, of which 14,110 were granted under the post July 1993 backlog clearance measures.
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Mr. Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of applications for political asylum came from people who have already been living in the United Kingdom for at least six months. [12456]
Angela Eagle: The requested information is unavailable because data on applicants' dates of entry to the United Kingdom are not currently collected. The majority of applicants apply for asylum in-country rather than at ports.
Motoring Offences
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in the county of Essex for (a) serious motoring offences and (b) speeding by motor vehicles in (i) each full year since 1994 and (ii) the nine months to September 2001. [12007]
Mr. Keith Bradley: Available information is given in the table. Data for 2000 will be available later this year. 2001 data will be available in the autumn 2002.
| Offence group/type | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious motoring offences(33) | ||||||
| 1—Causing death or bodily harm | 13 | 8 | 16 | 30 | 15 | 9 |
| 2—Dangerous driving | 264 | 252 | 291 | 274 | 293 | 240 |
| 6—Unauthorised taking or theft of motor vehicle | 1,123 | 811 | 1,061 | 957 | 954 | 1,108 |
| 14—Fraud, forgery etc. associated with vehicle or driver records | 689 | 541 | 405 | 511 | 427 | 373 |
| Total | 2,089 | 1,612 | 1,773 | 1,772 | 1,689 | 1,730 |
| Speeding | ||||||
| 16—Speed limit offences | 8,130 | 6,354 | 6,528 | 5,457 | 5,132 | 7,019 |
(33) 'Serious motoring offences' includes those motoring offences which are indictable only or triable either way.
Joint Enterprise Charges
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to propose amendments to the law in respect of serious charges involving joint enterprise. [12587]
Mr. Keith Bradley: There are no plans to change the Law on Joint Enterprise at present. However, the Law Commission is conducting a major review of the whole area of inchoate offences and secondary liability, which will include this area.
National Criminal Intelligence Service
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the (a) size and (b) caseload of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and its predecessor bodies in each year since 1997. [12649]
Mr. Denham: The information is as follows:
(a) The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) establishment in April (except where specified) each year since 1997 has been:
- 1997: 637
- 1998: 637
- 1999: 683 (June)
- 2000: 787
- 2001: 900 (August).
Parliamentary Questions
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answers of 3 October 2001 to the hon. Member for Crosby (refs. 9417, 9418 and 9419), when he will provide a substantive reply. [12547]
Mr. Denham: I replied to my hon. Friend on 2 November 2001, Official Report, column 853W.
Young Offenders (Education)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours per week on average have been spent on education courses by those serving custodial sentences of compulsory school age in each year since 1995. [11632]
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Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not available. Data on prison education participation do not distinguish between those of, and those above, compulsory school age. Prison Service Order 4950 states that education must be provided to all young offenders under school-leaving age for at least 15 hours per week.
Prisoners (Depression)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners were identified as suffering from clinical depression at the latest date for which figures are available. [11626]
Beverley Hughes: This information is not available in precisely the form requested. A survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales, was undertaken by the Office for National Statistics in 1997. Some 56 per cent. of remanded men and 64 per cent. of remanded women reported to a lay interviewer, applying a recognised tool for diagnosing neurotic symptoms and depression, that they had experienced certain recognised symptoms of depression for more than two weeks prior to interview. The comparable figures for sentenced men and women were 33 per cent. and 51 per cent. respectively.
Prison Education
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prison inmates were assessed as having literacy and numeracy skills below level 2 at the latest date for which figures are available. [11625]
Beverley Hughes: Figures for September 2001 show that of those prisoners tested on induction, 71 per cent. and 65 per cent. respectively were assessed as having literacy and numeracy skills below level 2.
The Prison Service has in place targets for 23,400 prisoners to achieve national qualifications in 2001–2002 rising to 36,000 in 2003–2004. This includes a planned increase in the number of Level 2 basic skills awards to 21,000 over the period. In addition, targets have been agreed for the current year with the Adult Basic Skill Strategy for qualifications below Level 2 in Basic Skills: 7,500 qualifications at Entry Level and 7,500 qualifications at Level 1.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to (a) collect and (b) publish data on the average time spent in prison education classes by prisoners in private sector prisons. [11633]
Beverley Hughes: The Prison Service collects data on the average time spent on purposeful activity, including education, in all prisons including those run by the private sector. National statistics are published in the annual "Prison Statistics, England and Wales". Figures for different categories of prison are not published separately. I will write to my hon. Friend about education in private sector prisons.
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