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7 Nov 2002 : Column 833W—continued

Auld Review

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of recommendation 321 of Lord Auld's Review of the Criminal Court in respect of access by the prosecution to appeal hearings [20324]

Hilary Benn: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Market Research

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to issue guidance to local authorities on controlling market research canvassing in town centres. [29840]

Mr. Denham: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Meetings

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have held with the United States Administration Head of Homeland Security. [80355]

Mr. Blunkett : I met Governor Ridge and his staff yesterday and will have further meetings with them today for a discussion of the current terrorist threat and the measures we are both taking in response. To assist Governor Ridge, I have prepared a briefing paper on the UK dimension, a copy of which is available in the Library and on the website www.homeoffice.gov.uk/new.htm.

7 Nov 2002 : Column 834W

Mental Health

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when mental health charity MACA can expect an answer to its letters of 22 August 2001, 16 October 2001, 19 December 2001 and 30 January 2002 about police handling of serious incidents involving people with mental health problems. [45194]

Hilary Benn: I will write to my hon. Friend.

Metropolitan Police (Training)

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recruits have entered training for the Metropolitan Police in each month since 1 July 1999. [18652]

Mr. Denham: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Metropolitan Police Service

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers working shifts at (a) Kennington Police Station and (b) other police stations inside the congestion charging zone will be affected by the introduction of congestion charging; and what arrangement the Metropolitan Police Service has made to compensate officers for their extra costs. [80012]

Mr. Denham: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Ministerial Transport Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the cost of (a) ministerial cars and drivers and (b) taxis for his Department in each of the last four years. [27912]

Beverley Hughes: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Mobile Phone Theft

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government is doing to combat mobile phone theft. [27180]

Mr. Denham: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Money Laundering (Egmont Group)

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports have been made (a) to the UK and (b) from the UK to other countries under the Egmont Group arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [77216]

Mr. Blunkett: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Moving Traffic Offences

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what statutory powers a non-uniformed police constable may report a driver for a moving traffic offence. [80006]

7 Nov 2002 : Column 835W

Mr. Denham: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

North Sea Camp Prison

Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category D prisoners from HMP North Sea Camp have been found to have been in breach of their community visit licences for violations of the no alcohol rule and have not been transferred to category A, B or C prisons in the past 12 months. [76653]

Hilary Benn: [holding answer 29 October 2002]: In the 12 months to 22 October 2002 prisoners at North Sea Camp breached the no alcohol rule on 42 occasions. None of the 42 cases resulted in transfer to closed conditions for breach of this rule alone, although in some cases a breach will have contributed to a return to closed conditions.

Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category D prisoners from HMP North Sea Camp have been issued in the past 12 months with community day visit licences restricting them to (a) a specific geographical area and (b) a general mileage radius. [76654]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 29 October 2002]: Community day visit licenses have been issued on 1,298 occasions since 22 October 2001. In all cases there were restrictions on geographical location and mileage radius.

Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the rules and of the standard licence governing the community visit licences of category D prisoners in (a) HMP North Sea Camp and (b) other category D prisons. [76655]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 29 October 2002]: Instructions about the release of any prisoner on an earned community visit are given in Chapter 3 of Prison Service Order 4000 (Incentives and Earned Privileges, Earned Community Visits and Compacts). Appendix 1 to the chapter contains a template of a standard licence. Copies of all Prison Service Orders are in the Library.

Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category D prisoners from HMP North Sea Camp have been transferred to category A, B and C category prisons as punishment for breaches of their community visit licences in the past 12 months. [76652]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 29 October 2002]: Seventeen prisoners have been transferred from North Sea Camp to higher category prisons in the 12 months prior to 22 October 2002 for breaches of community visit licences.

Notifiable Offences

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of (a) notifiable offences, (b) convictions and (c) convictions as a percentage of notifiable offences for each year from 1990–91 to 2001–02, (i) in total for England and (ii) broken down by police authority; and if he will make a statement. [77500]

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Mr. Denham [holding answer 28 October 2002]: Convictions for notifiable offences are only available on a consistent basis for all areas for 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01. The available information is contained in the table.

Notifiable offences and offences convicted, by police force area, 1998–99

	Total number in year
Police force area	Notifiable offences	Offences convicted	Offences convicted as a percentage of recorded crime
Avon and Somerset	150,089	16,766	11.2
Bedfordshire	49,076	6,292	12.8
Cambridgeshire	67,256	8,660	12.9
Cheshire	65,119	14,792	22.7
Cleveland	67,030	10,650	15.9
Cumbria	40,202	9,257	23.0
Derbyshire	84,459	12,090	14.3
Devon and Cornwall	110,644	16,568	15.0
Dorset	52,755	7,699	14.6
Durham	50,413	9,797	19.4
Essex	95,797	15,029	15.7
Gloucester	48,206	6,496	13.5
Greater Manchester	362,450	53,016	14.6
Hampshire	128,253	28,121	21.9
Hertfordshire	49,309	8,489	17.2
Humberside	130,691	15,456	11.8
Kent	129,340	18,701	14.5
Lancashire	118,117	27,843	23.6
Leicestershire	93,397	13,260	14.2
Lincolnshire	46,670	7,944	17.0
Merseyside	140,874	25,367	18.0
Metropolitan Police (inc City of London)	941,398	97,011	10.3
Norfolk	57,129	10,305	18.0
North Yorkshire	55,309	10,450	18.9
Northamptonshire	65,466	9,062	13.8
Northumbria	151,298	27,762	18.3
Nottinghamshire	135,255	17,859	13.2
South Yorkshire	133,059	20,581	15.5
Staffordshire	91,919	15,378	16.7
Suffolk	39,908	7,919	19.8
Surrey	42,467	6,310	14.9
Sussex	130,402	12,904	9.9
Thames Valley	176,477	19,307	10.9
Warwickshire	38,485	5,196	13.5
West Mercia	81,777	13,909	17.0
West Midlands	314,628	44,398	14.1
West Yorkshire	273,809	41,586	15.2
Wiltshire	38,189	7,973	20.9
England	4,847,122	700,203	14.4

Notifiable offences and offences convicted, England 1990 to 2001–02

Period	Notifiable offences(20)	Offences convicted(21)	Offences convicted as a percentage of recorded crime
1990	4,314,363	—	—
1991	5,005,135	—	—
1992	5,304,459	—	—
1993	5,247,237	—	—
1994	4,991,748	—	—
1995	4,852,894	—	—
1996	4,790,306	—	—
1997	4,361,391	—	—
1998–99	4,847,122	700,203	14.4
1999–2000	5,045,684	701,692	13.9
2000–01	4,931,747	658,526	13.4
2001–02	5,285,317	—

⁽²⁰⁾ There were revisions to counting rules for notifiable offences in the period in question, in April 1998, and the new National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) is thought to have had an effect on 2001–02 figures of recorded crime.

⁽²¹⁾ Only available on a consistent basis for three financial years.

Sources:

Criminal Statistics, England and Wales

Crime in England and Wales, 2001–02

Home Office Court Proceedings Database

7 Nov 2002 : Column 837W

Notifiable offences and offences convicted, by police force area, 2000–01

	Total number in year
Police force area	Notifiable offences	Offences convicted	Offences convicted as a percentage of recorded crime
Avon and Somerset	149,254	17,186	11.5
Bedfordshire	49,627	6,182	12.5
Cambridgeshire	64,343	7,564	11.8
Cheshire	63,288	13,592	21.5
Cleveland	64,357	11,150	17.3
Cumbria	32,869	7,432	22.6
Derbyshire	81,668	11,860	14.5
Devon and Cornwall	102,853	14,879	14.5
Dorset	50,320	6,853	13.6
Durham	44,702	9,917	22.2
Essex	106,768	13,536	12.7
Gloucester	49,871	6,854	13.7
Greater Manchester	363,454	54,403	15.0
Hampshire	133,553	23,495	17.6
Hertfordshire	64,215	8,282	12.9
Humberside	110,312	13,750	12.5
Kent	128,382	17,043	13.3
Lancashire	117,633	22,599	19.2
Leicestershire	86,422	13,155	15.2
Lincolnshire	44,884	8,447	18.8
Merseyside	142,807	25,250	17.7
Metropolitan Police (inc City of London)	1,002,488	83,186	8.3
Norfolk	57,259	9,318	16.3
North Yorkshire	51,551	9,310	18.1
Northamptonshire	56,731	6,658	11.7
Northumbria	134,777	25,520	18.9
Nottinghamshire	139,903	18,719	13.4
South Yorkshire	125,179	21,270	17.0
Staffordshire	104,705	16,223	15.5
Suffolk	44,317	7,655	17.3
Surrey	63,321	6,690	10.6
Sussex	136,920	11,696	8.5
Thames Valley	187,989	20,360	10.8
Warwickshire	36,963	4,261	11.5
West Mercia	78,354	13,097	16.7
West Midlands	364,245	48,156	13.2
West Yorkshire	258,908	35,651	13.8
Wiltshire	36,555	7,327	20.0
England and Wales	4,931,747	658,526	13.4

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