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Police Authority Performance Indicators
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the best value performance indicators for police authorities for 2002–03; and which indicators have been (a) deleted and (b) added since 2001–02. [36807]
Mr. Denham: Proposed Best Value Performance Indicators went out for consultation on 16 January 2002; the consultation document set out changes to the previous suite of Performance Indicators. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary expects shortly to be in a position to make his decision in the light of comments received and to make an Order under Section 4(1) of the Local Government Act 1999. The results will be published.
Police Secondments
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are seconded from police authorities to (a) the National Criminal Intelligence Service, (b) the Police Staff College, (c) police training centres, (d) the International Police Task Force in Bosnia and (e) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. [36806]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 25 February 2002]: The information is set out in the table:
1 National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) strength as at 30 September 2001 (as per Home Office Statistical Bulletin 23/01). All other figures are as at 15 February 2002.
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Youth Offender Panels
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what action has been taken to launch youth offender panels; and what further action is planned; [38328]
(2) in which newspapers and on which radio stations membership of youth offender panels has been advertised. [38327]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 February 2002]: Youth offending teams (Yots) throughout England and Wales are currently recruiting members of their local community to sit on youth offender panels. As this is a locally based initiative, action has been taken mainly on a local and regional basis. This has been boosted by national advertising targeted at specific groups who were under-represented in the pilot areas.
The campaign has been supported by the Youth Justice Board which has provided Yots with press releases, posters, leaflets and a standard advertisement for use in local media. The Board has also set up a dedicated website and issued a promotional video.
Some Yots have been very proactive launching their own radio advertising. Examples include radio stations in Berkshire, Bristol, Merseyside, Sheffield and Anglia TV.
A press release was issued to the national media, which was reported in The Independent newspaper. National advertising has concentrated on the ethnic press, student magazines and The Big Issue.
There will be further action in the run up to referral orders/youth offender panels going live on 1 April 2002 with a feature being offered to national magazines, trade journals, newspapers and broadcasters and the Youth Justice Board will again be asking Yots to promote panels to their local press.
Sex Offenders
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether sex offenders whose offences are deemed spent after the completion of youth offender panel orders must remain on the Sex Offenders' Register. [38330]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 February 2002]: The Sex Offenders Act 1997 imposes requirements on offenders cautioned, convicted, or found not guilty by reason of insanity in respect of an offence specified in Schedule 1 to the Act for a specified period. The minimum duration specified is five years. However, the Act also provides that determinate periods will be halved when the offender in question is under the age of
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18. Whether a conviction is spent, in the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, has no impact on the requirements of the Sex Offenders Act.
The review of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, which we published in July last year, contains a chapter on its application to children and young people who sexually abuse. The consultation period on the review ended on 19 October 2001 and we are currently considering responses to consultation.
Female Convictions
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of women under sentence in prisons in England and Wales have been convicted of (a) violence against the person, (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery and (d) other offences. [37788]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 February 2002]: Provisional data show that around 15 per cent. of all sentenced female prisoners in prisons in England and Wales on 31 January 2002 were convicted of violence against the person. Approximately 9 per cent. were convicted of robbery, and around 1 per cent. of sexual offences. The remaining 75 per cent. were convicted of other criminal offences.
Police Authority Priorities
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the reasons underlying the changes in ministerial priorities for police authorities for 2002–03 since 2001–02. [36808]
Mr. Denham: Proposed changes to ministerial priorities went out for consultation on 16 January 2002. The consultation period is now over and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary expects shortly to be in a position to make his decision in the light of comments received, and to make an Order under Section 37(1) of the Police Act 1996.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Special Advisers
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions since 1 May 1997 Special Advisers in his Department have travelled abroad in an official capacity; and if he will give the total cost, including (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) subsistence allowance for each occasion. [37972]
Mr. Leslie: Between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2001, Special Advisers in the Cabinet Office travelled abroad on eight occasions, at an average cost of ÿ1,706.46 per trip. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2000 is already in the public domain. All travel by Special Advisers is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code, and the Civil Service Management Code.
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Civil Defence Grant
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which minister is responsible for making civil defence grants under the Civil Defence Act 1948 as amended by the Civil Defence (Grants) Act 2002. [40019]
Mr. Leslie: The power to make civil defence grants rests in law with the Secretary of State and responsibility has been allocated to the First Secretary of State. An announcement will be made shortly on the formula to be used to determine the grant for eligible local authorities for the next financial year.
Refurbishment
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost of refurbishing each ministerial private office was in each year since May 1997. [37821]
Mr. Leslie: All works carried out during the period covered by the Question were undertaken as part of a 5 year rolling programme of maintenance and repair work necessary in order to maintain the fabric and content of the buildings to an acceptable level. Within such costs, to try to separately identify work undertaken on Ministerial Private Offices would incur disproportionate costs.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Divisions
Pete Wishart: To ask the President of the Council how many divisions in the House of Commons this session have been on legislation for (a) the UK, (b) Great Britain only, (c) England and Wales only, (d) England only, (e) Northern Ireland only and (f) Scotland only.[37046]
Mr. Robin Cook: Discounting divisions on Programme Motions, the numbers are as follows:
Total divisions on Government bills to date: 73 (leaving aside 22 on programme motions), broker down as follows.
(a) UK legislation: 12 bills divided upon 43 divisions
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill: 21
European Communities (Amendment) Bill: 6
Human Reproductive Cloning Bill: 1
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill: 6
(b) Legislation extending to Great Britain only: 1 bill divided upon 4 divisions
(c) Legislation extending to England and Wales only: 5 bills divided upon 20 divisions
Football (Disorder) (Amendment) Bill: 2
Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Bill: 1
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(d) Legislation extending to England only: Nil
(e) Legislation extending to Northern Ireland only: 3 bills divided upon 6 divisions
Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Bill: 1
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill: 1
Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning (Amendment) Bill: 4
(f) Legislation extending to Scotland only: Nil
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