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Freemasons
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to require freemasons working in the police and criminal justice system to register their membership publicly; and if he will make a statement. [62394]
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Mr. John Denham [holding answer 18 June 2002]: Voluntary arrangements for the declaration of freemasonry membership have been established for the judiciary, the police, Prison Service and other parts of the criminal justice system. The Government has made no decisions about the format of and arrangements for public access to any registers.
Bigamy
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Phil Sawford: (1) To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of bigamy were dealt with in British courts in each of the past five years for which figures are available; and how many resulted in a conviction. [63858]
- (2) how many people convicted of bigamy in British courts were sentenced to a term in prison in each of the past five years for which figures are available; and what was the average length of sentence. [63859]
Mr. Hilary Benn: The information requested, relating to England and Wales for the years 1996 to 2000, is given in the table.
Statistics for 2001 will be available in the autumn.
| Sentenced to imprisonment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Proceeded against | Convicted | Total | Average sentence length (months) |
| 1996 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 11.5 |
| 1997 | 22 | 16 | 4 | 4.7 |
| 1998 | 30 | 18 | 10 | 7.9 |
| 1999 | 40 | 28 | 14 | 5.6 |
| 2000(102) | 17 | 12 | 4 | 5.0 |
(101)These data are on the principal offence basis.
(102)Staffordshire Police were only able to supply a nine per cent. sample of data for magistrates' courts proceedings covering one full week in each quarter for 2000. Estimates based on this sample have been included in the figures in the table.
Ethnic Minorities
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) assaults and (b) other crimes with a racial motive were committed against Sikhs in the period 11 September to 31 December 2001 in England and Wales. [63609]
Mr. John Denham [holding answer 21 June 2002]: Information on assaults and other crimes with a racial motive is not collected by ethnic group other than the categories of White, Black, Asian, other and unknown.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to answer of 14 May 2002, Official Report, column 611W, what the average delay was for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in relation to (a) deciding claims, (b) review of such decisions and (c) hearings challenging such decisions in each of the previous four years. [64477]
Mr. Hilary Benn: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority advise that, using as the start and finish points the date of receipt of the application for the relevant stage
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and the date that the decision was issued, the average elapsed times for the financial years 1997–98 to 2000–01 were as follows:
| Elapsed Time in Days | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
| Claims assessment | 245 | 254 | 244 | 259 |
| Review | 161 | 188 | 186 | 236 |
| Appeal | 178 | 223 | 295 | 387 |
Drug Users (Merseyside)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered drug users there were on Merseyside in each year since 1994. [64617]
Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.
The term registered drug addict was based on the Home Office collection of data between 1968 and 1997. Since 1997, the description problem drug users has been used for people who present to treatment services.
Nationally, the number of individuals in drug treatment has been estimated from the number of reports made to the regional drug misuse database, which records information on an individual for the first time that person visits an agency, and for the first re-visit in six months or more. These data, therefore, underestimate the total number of individuals receiving specialist drug treatment in any given year. The number of reports made to the Merseyside and Cheshire drug misuse database by Merseyside drug treatment agencies is shown in the table:
| Year | Number of people |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 1,323 |
| 1995 | 1,110 |
| 1996 | 1,273 |
| 1997 | 1,298 |
| 1998 | 1,914 |
| 1999 | 1,906 |
| 2000 | 2,103 |
In 1996, an additional drug treatment monitoring database, which was prevalence-based, was established in Merseyside and Cheshire. The period prevalence database records information from drug treatment agencies on individuals seen by the agency within a year, regardless of how long they have been in contact with services. These figures give the numbers of individuals receiving structured treatment in-year. The numbers for Merseyside drug treatment agencies were as follows:
| Year | Number of people |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 5,238 |
| 1998 | 5,505 |
| 1999 | 5,241 |
| 2000 | 5,656 |
Sentencing (Foreign Nationals)
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his
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policy regarding the serving of sentences imposed by British courts on foreign nationals in their own countries. [64377]
Mr. Hilary Benn [holding answer 27 June 2002]: We have bilateral prisoner transfer agreements with 66 countries. Requests from prisoners who are nationals of these countries to serve their sentences in their own country are normally approved where they meet the criteria set out in the relevant agreement, namely: prisoners must normally be a nationals of the country concerned; have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment which is final and enforceable (i.e. no outstanding appeals against conviction or sentence); and have at least six months left to serve at the time the application is submitted. Decisions on individual applications require the consent of both jurisdictions. It is at present our policy normally to refuse requests if, as a consequence, the prisoner would be likely to receive a significant reduction in time to serve.
We are working to increase the number of countries with whom we have repatriation agreements and expect to have signed up to nine more agreements in the course of this year.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will answer the question from the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South of 20 May, reference number 58559, on Metropolitan Police officers; and if he will make a statement. [65746]
Mr. John Denham: With apologies for the delay in responding I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 22 July 2002, Official Report, column 829W.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will answer the question from the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South of 25 March, reference number 46442, on anti-social behaviour orders; and if he will make a statement. [65748]
Mr. John Denham: With apologies for the delay in responding I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 18 July 2002, Official Report, column 557W.
Corporate Killing
Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to (a) complete the review of the law in relation to corporate killing and (b) introduce legislation on corporate killing. [66244]
Mr. Hilary Benn: (a) The Government's Proposals were published in a consultation document in May 2000. The consultation period ended in September 2000, and an interdepartmental group has examined the issues raised by the consultation and other unresolved areas. The group has now completed its work. We will be publishing a digest of responses to the consultation paper shortly.
(b) The Government is committed to introducing legislation to increase corporate liability for manslaughter, and will do so when parliamentary time allows.
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Prison Service
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in each prison establishment are held (a) two to a single cell and (b) three to a double cell. [66237]
Mr. Hilary Benn: The table shows the number of prisoners in each prison establishment held two to a cell designed for one and total overcrowding at the end of May 2002. Data are provisional and subject to validation by prisons.
The Prison Service does not collect centrally the number of prisoners held three in a double cell. Prisons report the total overcrowding level, which includes prisoners held three to a cell for two and those overcrowded in dormitories and larger cells.
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Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) prisoners and (b) prison staff in each prison establishment in England and Wales are from minority ethnic groups. [66235]
Mr. Hilary Benn: The population breakdown for each prison establishment in England and Wales for 31 May 2002, by minority ethnic group is given in the table:
(103)Percentages as at 31 March 2002, due to atypical figures for May 2002 whilst Dover changed from Male Young Offenders Institution to Male Immigration Removal Centre.
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The prison service staff breakdown for each establishment in England and Wales for 31 May 2002 is in the table:
(104)Refers to staff who have requested that their ethnicity is not recorded.
(105)Refers to staff who have had no ethnicity data collected.
(106)Percentage of all staff including those with no ethnicity data recorded.
(107)Refers to staff employed at private establishments as at the 2 July 2002.
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Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Prison Service has a public interest disclosure policy. [67053]
Mr. Hilary Benn: The Prison Service routinely discloses material to the public via its Libraries in Headquarters and establishments, and the internet. The Prison Service complies with the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and the Data Protection Act 1998, and is actively preparing for implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Prison Service keeps a certified record of allegations of assaults committed by staff. [67054]
Mr. Hilary Benn: The Prison Service does not collate centrally a certified record of allegations of assaults committed by staff. However, the Prison Service Investigations Unit collate the number of investigations logged in respect of allegations of assaults committed by staff. Figures are also collated in respect of the number of allegations of assault that have resulted in formal disciplinary action being taken.
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Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will bring forward legislation which would make the obtaining of DNA samples without consent an offence. [66872]
Mr. Hilary Benn [holding answer 4 July 2002]: The Human Genetics Commission's Report, "Inside Information—balancing interests in the use of personal genetic data" has recommended the creation of a new criminal offence of the non-consensual or deceitful obtaining or analysis of genetic information for non-medical purposes.
We are currently considering this proposal and will respond to the Human Genetics Commission's report in due course.
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