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Firearms
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with the Metropolitan Police on the purchase of additional firearms in the last 12 months. [61847]
Mr. Denham: There have been no direct discussions between the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police on the purchase of additional firearms in the last 12 months.
Police Recruitment
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis about the recruitment of more black and Asian officers. [62198]
Mr. Denham: The issue of recruitment and retention is discussed at the regular meetings I have with the Commissioner. Those discussions include issues affecting the employment of minority ethnic officers.
Crime Prevention
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what crime prevention projects in schools are funded by his Department. [62096]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 17 June 2002]: We have funded a number of schools based projects and diversionary schemes as part of the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme and through the Youth Justice Board's youth crime prevention programme.
These include, the Crime Reduction in Secondary Schools (CRISS) programme which comprises of 34 projects covering 105 schools at a cost of #12 million over three years, and the Youth Justice Board Youth Inclusion programme at a cost of over #8 million which include school based elements.
We are also supporting the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) led Police in Schools initiative which will deliver 100 police officers in schools in 34 identified London Education Authorities (LEAs) by September 2002.
Venture International Projects
Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Venture International Projects did not secure a contract to
21 Jun 2002 : Column 619W
provide accommodation services to the National Asylum Support Service; with reference to section 23 of the Public Services Contracts Regulations 1993. [57944]
Angela Eagle: Venture International Projects Ltd expressed an interest to the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) in providing accommodation services for destitute asylum seekers. Their offer was fully considered but they were not awarded a contract. For reasons of commercial confidentiality the details of this decision may not be disclosed.
ID Entitlement Card
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his ID entitlement card provisions will be published. [59259]
Beverley Hughes: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary (Mr. Blunkett) gave my hon. Friend, the Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East (Mr. Howarth) on 5 February 2002, Official Report, columns 872W, in which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary stated that he intended to publish a consultation paper on the subject of entitlement cards by the summer. This remains his intention.
Civil Contingency Secretariat
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the remit of the Civil Contingency Secretariat is; and to whom they report. [60715]
Mr. Blunkett: The remit of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat is to make the United Kingdom more effective in planning for, dealing with, and learning lessons from emergencies and disasters.
The Secretariat services the Civil Contingencies Committee, which I chair and in addition as part of the Cabinet Office reports to my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister (Mr. Blair) through the Cabinet Secretary (Sir Richard Wilson).
Telecoms Companies
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to require telecoms companies to retain records of calls made. [61152]
Beverley Hughes: We are discussing with Service Providers, the Information Commissioner and the Agencies concerned the voluntary Code of Practice provided for by part II of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. Following this process the draft Code will be placed before Parliament.
Cyclists
Mr. Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in each of the last five years of cyclists riding on pavements, broken down by police authority. [62146]
Mr. Denham: Information for 1996 to 2000 is shown in the table.
Statistics for 2001 will be available in the autumn.
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| Police force area | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Bedfordshire | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Cambridgeshire | 37 | 7 | 3 | 4 | — |
| Cheshire | — | — | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Cleveland | — | 2 | — | 1 | 3 |
| Cumbria | 26 | 39 | 39 | 28 | 16 |
| Derbyshire | 4 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 6 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| Dorset | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Durham | — | 1 | — | 2 | 1 |
| Essex | 55 | 127 | 241 | 51 | 23 |
| Gloucestershire | 4 | 1 | 5 | — | 3 |
| Greater Manchester | 10 | 4 | 20 | 10 | 9 |
| Hampshire | 92 | 194 | 496 | 95 | 29 |
| Hertfordshire | 2 | 4 | 21 | 4 | — |
| Humberside | 3 | 93 | 36 | 6 | 16 |
| Kent | 4 | — | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Lancashire | 4 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| Leicestershire | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Lincolnshire | 37 | 14 | 8 | 15 | 4 |
| London, City of | 17 | 31 | 13 | 2 | — |
| Merseyside | 13 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Metropolitan Police | 40 | 19 | 54 | 40 | 10 |
| Norfolk | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 2 |
| Northamptonshire | 2 | — | 1 | — | 4 |
| Northumbria | 1 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 19 |
| North Yorkshire | 1 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 12 |
| Nottinghamshire | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| South Yorkshire | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Staffordshire2 | 1 | — | 2 | 3 | — |
| Suffolk | 6 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Surrey | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| Sussex | 15 | 7 | 1 | 9 | — |
| Thames Valley | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | 4 |
| Warwickshire | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| West Mercia | 4 | 21 | 18 | 4 | 7 |
| West Midlands | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| West Yorkshire | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 16 |
| Wiltshire | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Dyfed-Powys | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Gwent | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| North Wales | — | 1 | 3 | — | — |
| South Wales | — | 4 | 1 | 1 | — |
| England and Wales | 423 | 648 | 1,055 | 376 | 223 |
1 These data are on the principal basis.
2 Staffordshire Police were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.
Assaults
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) black and (b) white youths died as a result of (a) knife attacks and (b) firearm attacks in (i) the Metropolitan Police district and (ii) England in 2001. [61850]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is given in the attached table. During 2000–01, there were eight black youth victims of sharp weapon homicide throughout England (seven of which occurred in the Metropolitan Police district). There were 11 white youth victims of sharp weapon homicide, two of which were within the Metropolitan Police district.
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For firearm homicide, there were no black youth victims throughout 2000–01. There were four white youth victims, none of which occurred within the Metropolitan Police District.
| Sharp Weapon Homicide | Firearm Homicide | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black youths | White youths | Black youths | White youths | |
| Met Police | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| England | 8 | 11 | 0 | 4 |
Notes:
'Youth' has been taken to mean aged 18 and under.
Data is based on financial year 2000–01.
Leave to Remain
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of people having been granted time-limited exceptional leave to remain in Britain have not left Britain when the permission expired in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [62366]
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refusals of extensions of exceptional leave to remain in Britain there were in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [62293]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not available.
Afghanistan
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the numbers of UK citizens who (a) have been and (b) remain with al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. [58701]
Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 17 June 2002]: It is not possible for the Government to provide figures for the number of United Kingdom citizens who may be involved with terrorist or other groups in Afghanistan. British citizens are free to travel abroad and they are not obliged to inform United Kingdom authorities of their reasons for travelling.
The Government have put in place comprehensive measures to tackle terrorism whether committed in the United Kingdom or overseas. The police and the security services attach the highest priority to the investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences.
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