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28 Nov 2002 : Column 417W—continued
Magillagan Prison
Mr. Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the appropriateness of HMP Magilligan as a holding centre for asylum seekers; and whether it is his policy that asylum seekers should share accommodation with people serving sentences for criminal offences. [83795]
Beverley Hughes: Following a review, in 2001, of the detention provision in Northern Ireland it was decided that all immigration detainees in Northern Ireland would be detained only at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry and that Her Majesty's Prison Magilligan would no longer be used for immigration detention.
Immigration detainees at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry are detained in separate accommodation to convicted prisoners.
It is our policy to transfer persons detained in Northern Ireland to immigration removal centres on the mainland unless a specific request is made to stay in Northern Ireland, in which case the detainee in question will continue to be held at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police constabularies contributing police officers and civilians to the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina; how many each is seconding; and what the cost is to (a) each constabulary and (b) central government. [83398]
Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply
The following list gives details of those police constabularies contributing officers to the European Union Police Mission from 1 January 2003. All constabularies are providing one officer unless otherwise indicated.
- Cornwall Avon and Somerset; Bedfordshire; Cheshire x3; City of London; Derbyshire; Devon and ; Dorset; Durham; Gloucestershire; Grampian; Greater Manchester x2; Hampshire x2; Kent; Lancashire; Lincolnshire x2; Mersey side x4; Metropolitan x4; North Wales; North Yorkshire x3; Northamptonshire; South Wales x3; South Yorkshire; Surrey x2; Thames Valley; Warwickshire; West Midlands x6; West Yorkshire x2; Wiltshire
The constabularies do not incur any costs as a result of seconding officers who are all volunteers and seconded with the agreement of Chief Constables. The full reimbursement of salary to constabularies and the travel, equipment and insurance costs of seconding officers are met by the joint MOD, FCO and DfID Global Conflict Prevention Pool. The cost for next financial year is estimated at just over 3 million .
Cannabis
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to categorise cannabis as a herbal substance. [82236]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Government welcomes the recent announcement by GW Pharmaceuticals that their advanced clinical trials into the development of a medical preparation of a cannabis-based drug have been
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successfully completed and that they plan to seek marketing approval for the product from the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) early next year.
This evaluation by the MCA is one which all prospective new medicines have to go through and is designed to protect public health.
If product approval is forthcoming, the Government will seek Parliament's approval to make the necessary changes to the law to enable the prescription of cannabis-based medicine at the earliest opportunity. We recognise how eagerly awaited these changes are.
Child Curfews
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child curfew orders have been imposed. [82085]
Mr. Denham: Between February 2001, when curfew orders with electronic monitoring were extended to 10 to 15-year-olds, and 31 October 2002 the courts imposed 2,704 orders on young offenders of that age.
Child Rescue Alert
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long the Child Rescue Alert programme will be piloted in Sussex; and what plans there are to extend this scheme to the rest of the UK. [83221]
Hilary Benn: Child Rescue Sussex Police was launched on 14 November and will run for six months.
It is a pilot project sponsored by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and it will be for them to evaluate it and determine the value of extending this scheme. We await with interest the outcome of the evaluation.
I understand that ACPO's Homicide Working Group will consider a report on the project in April, which will include recommendations about whether to extend the scheme.
Children in Jail
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on trends in the numbers of children being held in jails in England and Wales in the last 10 years. [82148]
Hilary Benn: The number of people aged under-18 held in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales for 1992 to 2002 is given in the table.
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Community Punishments
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many community service and community punishment orders have been made by the courts; how many have been breached; and how many breaches resulted in a custodial sentence being imposed in each of the last five years; [82098]
- (2) how many probation/community rehabilitation orders have been made by the courts; how many have been breached; and how many breaches resulted in a custodial sentence being imposed in each of the last five years. [82099]
Hilary Benn: The information requested is published in XCriminal Statistics, England and Wales, 2000", a copy of which is in the Library (Table 7.24 refers).
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 7 October 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Muqtar Suufi Abubaker. [83428]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 21 November 2002
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 7 October 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Ali Aredleer. [83429]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 20 November 2002.
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will respond to the letters of 26 April 2002 and 19 June 2002 of the hon. Member for West Derbyshire concerning the cost of police pensions. [83543]
Mr. Denham: A reply to both letters was sent on 26 November 2002. I apologise for the considerable delay in responding.
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Crime Reduction Strategy
Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made within Essex following the introduction of the Government's Crime Reduction Strategy. [80887]
Mr. Denham: The table outlines the Home Office crime reduction investment in Essex since the publication of the Crime Reduction Strategy in 1999. This encompasses the Basildon, Brentwood, Braintree, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend, Tendring, Thurrock and Uttlesford Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas.
| Funding initiative | Funding received (£) |
|---|---|
| CCTV | 2,311,904 |
| Communities against drugs | 1,254,000 |
| Partnership development fund | 878,788 |
| Tackling domestic violence | 599,971 |
| Safer communities initiative | 429,599 |
| Small retailers in deprived areas | 183,126 |
| Community support officers | 118,735 |
| Reducing burglary initiative | 72,649 |
| Total | 5,848,772 |
In addition, mainstream funding of £590 million has been allocated to Essex for policing since 1999.
The targeted funding listed has helped to reduce crime in priority areas such as burglary dwelling, down 10.1 per cent., and drug offences, down by 14.8 per cent.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) racially aggravated offences, (b) violent crime, (c) robbery of personal property and (d) drug offences were recorded in (i) Somerset, (ii) South West England and (iii) England in (A) 1997, (B) 1998, (C) 1999, (D) 2000 and (E) 2001. [82609]
Mr. Denham: The requested statistics are given in the table.
On 1 April 1998, there was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime, and an expansion of the offences covered. This resulted in an increase of crimes recorded by the police. Recorded crime figures before this date will therefore not be directly comparable.
Avon and Somerset police force implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of its national implementation in April 2002. The effects of the Standard are explained in table footnote 9.
(16) Recorded on a calendar year basis.
(17) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998.
(18) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
(19) Avon and Somerset implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of the national implementation date of April 2002. The 2001–02 figures for this force, and consequently those for the south west region will be affected by the standard, as have those figures for England. The impact of the standard will vary for different types of offence.
(20) Racially aggravated offences became notifiable to the police on 1 April 1999. The offences covered are: other wounding, harassment, common assault, criminal damage to a dwelling, criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling, criminal damage to a vehicle and other criminal damage.
(21) Violent crime is comprised of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.
(22) Robbery of personal property was recorded separately (from total robbery) as from 1 April 1998.
(23) Up until 1 April 1998, trafficking in controlled drugs was the only drugs-related offence recorded. After this date the offence coverage was expanded to include more drugs-related offences.
(24) The south west region comprises the following police forces: Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
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