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Asylum Accommodation Centres

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who is negotiating on behalf of the Government with Severn Waste Services for the purchase of land necessary to construct an access road to the Throckmorton site for a possible asylum accommodation centre; and if he will make a statement. [57113]

Beverley Hughes: I understand that dialogue is continuing between the site owner, QinetiQ, and Severn Waste. The proposal for an access road has its origins in QinetiQ's plan to establish a science park at Throckmorton airfield, which are well known and which pre-date our proposal for an accommodation centre for asylum seekers.

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 718W, on asylum accommodation centres, what evaluation has taken place of bids to develop and operate asylum accommodation centres; and if he will make a statement. [59369]

Beverley Hughes: No bids have yet been invited to develop and operate accommodation centres.

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Defence Estates organisation about its planned disposals of land and the suitability of such land for use as an asylum accommodation centre. [59070]

Beverley Hughes: We are working very closely with the Defence Estates organisation on the accommodation centres programme. In relation to discussions on the Throckmorton site, we are conducting these with QinetiQ.

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Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received supporting the establishment of an asylum accommodation centre at Throckmorton, Worcestershire. [59086]

Beverley Hughes: A planning notification has not yet been submitted in respect of the proposed accommodation centre at Throckmorton.

The consultation period of the planning process has therefore not yet begun.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will meet residents of the Buckingham constituency who will be affected if plans proceed for an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in Piddington. [57653]

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office will shortly be taking part in public consultation as part of the planning process. We are discussing with Cherwel district council the exact nature that the consultation will take.

Juvenile Sex Abusers

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department takes to address the needs of children and young people who sexually abuse; and if he will make a statement. [57197]

Hilary Benn: Dealing with children and young people who sexually abuse requires contributions from different agencies, covering youth justice, child welfare, and education and health, including child and adolescent mental health agencies.

Specific Home Office measures include the Home Office sponsored Youth Justice Board's funding of £60,000 for six projects that work with this group of young people, and a grant of £87,442 to a project developing and piloting new assessment methods. The Board are also working with the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to develop good practice and guidance for youth offending teams, and within the juvenile secure estate.

The National Probation Service, jointly with the Prison Service and Youth Justice Board, are funding a pilot young sex offenders project for young people aged between 15 and 21, offering specialist assessments and interventions both in custody and in the community.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings he has had with ministerial colleagues with regard to children and young people who sexually abuse in the last two years. [57199]

Hilary Benn: I have had no formal meetings with ministerial colleagues specifically regarding children and young people who sexually abuse.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of children and young people who are required to register in accordance with the Sex Offenders Act 1997 received treatment for sexually abusive behaviour in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000 and (d) 2001. [57176]

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Hilary Benn: The Sex Offenders Act 1997 requires offenders cautioned, convicted, or found not guilty by reason of insanity in respect of an offence specified in Schedule One to the Act to provide certain details to the police. There is no centralised "register" of sex offenders, as such. It is not, therefore, possible to disaggregate the number of young people from adults subject to the Act's requirements.

Neither the Home Office nor the Youth Justice Board holds statistics on the number of young offenders who are required as a condition of their sentence to undertake treatment to address sexually abusive behaviour.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations made as a result of the consultation, 'Setting the Boundaries: Reforming the Law on Sex Offences'. [57188]

Hilary Benn: We are currently considering how to update existing legislation on sex offences in the light of the recommendations contained in 'Setting the Boundaries' and more than 700 responses that were received during the consultation period. We intend to bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the regulations by which schedule 1 status is applied to juveniles. [57177]

Hilary Benn: Schedule 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is a list of violent and sexual offences against children. This list has been used by various agencies as a way of identifying those who may pose a risk to children. There are currently no regulations that deal specifically with juveniles who commit a schedule 1 offence.

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding was available for programmes which addressed the needs of children and young people who sexually abuse in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000 and (d) 2001. [57321]

Hilary Benn: Full information is not held centrally. Specific related programme funding includes the Home Office sponsored Youth Justice Board's funding of six projects between 1999 and 2002, which totalled £600,000. The board are also providing funding totalling £87,442 between October 2001 and December 2003 to a project developing and piloting new assessment methods, and funding totalling £14,921 between November 2001 and March 2003 to a project examining the national provision of services.

The National Probation Service is funding a pilot young sex offenders project designed to provide a specialist assessment and intervention service for young people aged between 15 and 21. The pilot received grant funding of £243,000 in 2001–02 and has a budget of £331,000 for 2002–03.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will proscribe the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under the Terrorism Act 2001; and if he will make a statement. [59006]

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Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 24 May 2002]: The list of proscribed organisations is kept under review and decisions to proscribe or deproscribe are taken after careful consideration of all relevant aspects.

National Asylum Support Services

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when NASS subcontracted its telephone inquiries function to an outside source; to which organisation it has been subcontracted, and for what period; for what reason the decision to subcontract the work was taken; what assessment he has made of the quality of information given out; and if he will make a statement. [58529]

Beverley Hughes: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) has not subcontracted its telephone inquiries function.

The Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau (INEB), part of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, is responsible for handling inquiries about subsistence payments, and where it is believed support has been terminated erroneously, INEB takes these inquiries to enable NASS caseworkers to resolve queries more efficiently and in a shorter timescale.

All other telephone inquiries are handled by NASS staff.

Mortuaries

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) who has responsibility for providing public mortuaries; [59440]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 24 May 2002]: Under the Public Health Act 1936, local authorities have the power to provide public mortuaries and post-mortem rooms. In practice, I understand that most coroners and local authorities rely on the national health service facilities for mortuary provision.

Following a recent survey carried out by the Home Office, we are aware that the following local authorities in England provide a public mortuary service:


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