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Ministerial Boxes

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means ministerial boxes are conveyed from private offices in his Department to (a) himself and (b) his Ministers; how frequently and at what expense private courier firms are employed for such a task; and which courier firms have been used for such duties. [36268]

Angela Eagle: Ministerial boxes originating from this Department are transported to Ministers' homes either by Government car or by a service provided by the Royal Mail. Where exceptional circumstances require it, a courier service may be used.

Capita Group

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the contracts that have been awarded to the Capita Group by the Department. [39348]

Angela Eagle: The list of contracts awarded to the Capita Group by the Home Department since 1997 is as follows:








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Parental Leave Directive

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the (a) financial costs and (b) benefits to his Department of the Parental Leave Directive. [42475]

Angela Eagle: Parental leave is available to all Home Office staff as one of a number of policies designed to help staff achieve their preferred balance between work and home. These include paid and unpaid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, career breaks, paid and unpaid special leave and a range of flexible and alternative working patterns. As an unpaid entitlement the costs of parental leave to the Department is minimal.

The Home Office is committed to helping staff balance their work and home life and as an employer recognises that work/life balance policies have significant business benefits including: improved recruitment and retention of staff; reduced absenteeism and a happier and therefore more productive work force.

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what domestic violence perpetrator programmes and linked partner support services are provided in the London probation area. [42660]

Beverley Hughes: The central area currently has four groups running per week and a women's support service is provided. In the north-west of London current provision is by the Domestic Violence Intervention Project, and the south-east, south-west and north-east areas are piloting the Domestic Violence Pathfinder programme delivering Duluth. The programme for perpetrators is known as 'Duluth'. It gets its title from the programme under development in Duluth in Minnesota, in the United States of America. A multi-agency programme runs in conjunction with support services to women and involves close networking with police, the Probation Service, Social Services, voluntary agencies and any other appropriate organisations. The programme is 24 weeks long and involves pre and post group work. It is currently running in West Yorkshire and London as a pathfinder

10 Apr 2002 : Column 339W

project and is currently subject to an evaluation process allied to a research programme concerning the issues around domestic violence.

Speed Cameras

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many convictions for speeding were obtained as a result of evidence from speed cameras in (a) South Tyneside, (b) the north-east and (c) the United Kingdom in 2001; [39759]

Mr. Denham: The available information on the number of convictions and fixed penalty notices issued for the offence of "speeding detected by camera device" for 2000 is shown in the table. Statistics for 2001 are not yet available. It is not possible from the data collected to identify South Tyneside and there are no central records to indicate the number of speed cameras in operation in England and Wales. However, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) estimates that there are about 4,500 speeding camera sites in England and Wales. Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland (Mrs. Liddell) and Northern Ireland (Dr. John Reid).

Prosecutions and fixed penalty notices paid for the offence of speeding detected by camera device(92), in 2000
Number of offences

ProsecutionsFixed penalties paid
South Tyneside(93)(93)
North East Region(94)10,80038,500
Total England and Wales109,200624,300

(92) Offences under Sections 16, 81, 84, 86, 88, 89 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.

(93) Not available

(94) Region covers Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police forces—source Office for National Statistics.


Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been prosecuted as a result of speed camera evidence in each year since 1997 broken down by (a) police force area and (b) local authority area. [45587]

Mr. Keith Bradley: Information on the number of prosecutions for speeding as a result of camera evidence, by police force area, is shown in the table. Data are not available by local authority area.

Prosecutions at magistrate courts for speeding offences detected by camera by police force area 1997 to 2000
Number of offences

1997199819992000
Avon and Somerset2,1862,9971,6071,660
Bedfordshire1,4363,5181,5361,861
Cambridgeshire2,6611,5531,280800
Cheshire3614052,280
Cleveland263576586376
Cumbria1328287
Derbyshire1,0971,4161,366950
Devon and Cornwall2,8802,6842,8483,353
Dorset241446473471
Durham12963,745
Essex9511,8082,2313,060
Gloucestershire793586289315
Greater Manchester2,6594,35513,44216,405
Hampshire5081,035
Hertfordshire1211084851,330
Humberside2533386951,513
Kent8229636884
Lancashire5399351,105978
Leicestershire971,193641597
Lincolnshire5801,2291,703
London, City of6
Merseyside3,5289,4778,4505,156
Metropolitan police8,2972,9832,7495,522
Norfolk25606223
Northamptonshire8576,548
Northumbria1,1411,1681,7376,662
North Yorkshire13213
Nottinghamshire73263508546
South Yorkshire174240219273
Staffordshire3667791,1605,821
Suffolk15838132
Surrey1451241962,353
Sussex2,2922,0932,0872,018
Thames Valley2,7612,9438601,118
Warwickshire1,0692,161
West Mercia186195210
West Midlands7,42413,4305,7902,043
West Yorkshire2,0672,3421,8861,172
Wiltshire2,6743,4974,2202,440
Total England47,22763,53863,38786,820
Dyfed Powys351,359
Gwent10,03511,421
North Wales1,0248,351
South Wales8191,5341,1151,206
Total Wales8191,53412,20922,337
Total England & Wales48,04665,07275,596109,157

10 Apr 2002 : Column 340W

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much net income police forces have received from speed camera fines in each year since 1997 broken down by police force area; [45585]

Mr. Denham: Available information on aggregate revenue is given in the table. This shows the total number of fixed penalties and court proceedings for speeding offences detected by camera from 1997 to 2000. This information is not available by local authority area and to provide a breakdown by police force area would be possible only at disproportionate cost.

Fixed penalty and court proceeding data for offences of speeding detected by cameras(95),(96) for England and Wales, 1997 to 2000

Fixed penalties Court proceedings
Number of tickets(97)Estimated revenue(98) £Number of finesTotal amount of fine £Average fine £
1997288,60011,544,00020,8001,912,20092
1998338,80013,552,00025,5002,928,300115
1999423,00016,920,00032,3003,434,400106
2000624,30024,972,20031,8003,400,000107

(95) Automatic cameras until 1998, all camera types from 1999.

(96) Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.

(97) Paid i.e no further action.

(98) Estimate based on £40 fixed penalty charge from 1997 to 2000.


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All revenue from speeding offences is normally paid to Her Majesty's Treasury. But since April 2000, seven partnership areas in England and Wales have been piloting a new netting-off scheme. The partnerships comprise police forces, local authorities, highways authorities and magistrates courts. The scheme allows fixed penalty fine revenue from speed and red-light traffic cameras to be re-invested to meet the costs of camera enforcement. Money left over goes, as before, to Her Majesty's Treasury.

Set out is the amount of netted off income each of the seven police forces in the pilot scheme received, for the financial year 2000–01.

Police forceNetted-off income received £
Cleveland385,280
Essex1,309,032
Lincolnshire328,390
Northamptonshire1,159,907
Nottinghamshire211,419
South Wales534,905
Thames Valley1,400,457
Total5,329,390


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