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28 Nov 2002 : Column 421W—continued

Drug Addiction

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence has been produced in the NACRO project funded by him comparing drug addiction of offenders, with special reference to Worksop. [82883]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As part of the drug testing pilot programme evaluation Worksop has been selected as a comparative site in the Nottinghamshire area. The National Association of Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) team will interview and track offenders who have a similar profile to those within the Nottingham pilot site to compare how their offending and drug misuse differs from those being drug tested. Interviewing began in late summer 2002 and NACRO is due to report in the autumn of 2003.

Drug Convictions (Sentencing)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons convicted of drug dealing have received custodial sentences of more than 10 years in the last 12 months. [82932]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: 42 persons in England and Wales were sentenced to at least 10 years immediate custody for drug dealing in the year 2000.

The term dealing is taken to cover the following drug offences: possession with intent to supply unlawfully, unlawful supply and unlawful import/export.

Data for 2001 are not yet available.

Drug Treatment

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is his policy that workers at drop-in centres and centres for the homeless who specialise in preparing drug-users for treatment and

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provide counselling and guidance to them should be required to notify the police of substance misuse. [83548]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Section 8 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 created offences for the occupier or persons concerned in the management of any premises to knowingly permit or suffer specified controlled drug misuse on their premises. Section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 extended Section 8(d) of 1971 from the smoking of cannabis, cannabis resin or prepared opium to administering or using any controlled drug. However, it was agreed by Parliament, during the passage of the amending legislation, that notes of the Guidance would be published on the operation of the new provision before it was enacted.

Draft notes for guidance were accordingly prepared and sent out for wide consultation by the Home Office on 19 September. These explained the background to the change and how it was proposed to operate it. The guidance included a sentence to the effect that occupiers and managers of premises who suspect drug misuse should contact local police at an early stage to prevent it. It further explained that failure to inform and co-operate with the police exposes individuals to possible prosecution. However the Guidance also described examples of harm reduction factors which would need to be taken into account by the police when deciding, based on the public interest, whether or not to instigate a prosecution.

The consultation exercise closed on 8 November. A decision will be taken on the issue of the Guidance Notes once the responses to the consultation exercise have been fully analysed and considered.

Draft notes for guidance were accordingly prepared and sent out for wide consultation by the Home Office on 19 September. These explained the background to the change and how it was proposed to operate it. The guidance included a sentence to the effect that occupiers and managers of premises who suspect drug misuse

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should contact local police at an early stage to prevent it. It further explained that failure to inform and co-operate with the police exposes individuals to possible prosecution. However the Guidance also described examples of harm reduction factors which would need to be taken into account by the police when deciding, based on the public interest, whether or not to instigate a prosecution.

The consultation exercise closed on 8 November. A decision will be taken on the issue of the Guidance Notes once the responses to the consultation exercise have

Entitlement Card

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what co-ordination he has undertaken of Department assessment of the implications of the entitlement card proposals for the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament. [83583]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 November 2002]: Home Office officials met with counterparts in the Scottish Executive to discuss issues of particular relevance to the devolved administration, prior to the publication of the consultation paper on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud. These contacts have continued during the consultation exercise.

The consultation paper states that any legislation to establish an entitlement card scheme would be enacted by the Westminster Parliament, as any scheme would need to operate on a UK-wide basis if it was to be effective as an immigration control measure.

One of the detailed options for the scope of any legislation would allow organisations to link services to a card scheme via their own legislation. Under these arrangements, it will be a matter for the Scottish Executive and Parliament to decide whether to link the services they are responsible for to a card scheme. However, they could not prevent the issuing of a card for purposes which are outside the scope of their powers, for example, the UK card as a travel document in Europe.

Female Genital Mutilation

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in the UK against surgeons carrying out female genital mutilation in each of the last 10 years. [82208]

Hilary Benn: Information held centrally on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, shows that there were no prosecutions brought for such offences in England and Wales in the years 1991 to 2000.

Information for 2001 is due for publication in December.

Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively.

Immigration (Overstayers)

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the applications made under the regularisation scheme for overstayers have been (a) decided, (b) granted and (c) refused;

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how many cases are (i) under consideration and (ii) awaiting validation; and when he expects all cases to have been decided. [83471]

Beverley Hughes: A total of 3,379 cases have been decided under the regularisation scheme for overstayers. Of these 2,954 have been granted and 425 refused. As of 22 November 2002 11,936 cases have to be finally determined. Of these 9,114 are awaiting consideration by the Integrated Case Work Directorate North and 2,822 are being dealt with in other areas of the Integrated Case Work Directorate. Considerable extra resources, have now been allocated to the consideration of these cases and it is anticipated that all will have been decided by April 2003.

Metropolitan Police

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money was available to be spent by the Metropolitan Police in each of the last 10 years. [82476]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 27 November 2002]: Net revenue budget requirements for the Metropolitan Police Service in each of the last 10 years are set out in the table.

Year£ million
1993–94782.0
1994–95813.0
1995–96(25)1,661.0
1996–971,676.0
1997–981,720.0
1998–991,778.0
1999–20001,836.0
2000–01(26)1,830.0
2001–021,980.1
2002–03(27)2,037.7

(25) Police grant was redefined to be within Budget Requirements from 1995–96. Before then, police grant was deducted from expenditure to show net expenditure. Since then, expenditure has been shown before deduction of police grant.

(26) The Metropolitan Police Service budget in 2000–01 is not directly comparable with previous years. Parts of the metropolitan police district transferred to Essex, Herts and Surrey from 1 April 2000.

(27) The grant figure for 2002–03 is not directly comparable with that for 2001–02 owing to changes in funding for the National Crime Squad/National Criminal Intelligence Service. The figure for 2001–02 comparable with the 2002–03 provision would have been £1,941.9 million.

Source:

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister


Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police support staff in the Metropolitan Police area there where in each of the last 10 years; and on what tasks they were employed. [82479]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 27 November 2002]: The information requested in respect of the number of support staff in the Metropolitan Police is set out in the table which has been provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. During the period in question the Metropolitan Police undertook an outsourcing programme and a number of staff transferred to the private sector in areas such as Information Technology (IT) vehicle maintenance and property services. The

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figures provided therefore include privately contracted staff as well as Metropolitan Police authority employed staff.

In response to what tasks they are employed on, civilians perform more than 150 different tasks and it is not possible to list them all. In general civilians employed in borough operational command units undertake personnel, finance or communications support. If employed in central departments they will cover issues such as recruitment, personnel, finance and procurement. In addition the Metropolitan Police Service employ a number of specialist civilian employees who undertake work such as IT specialists, Scenes of Crime examiners as well as traffic wardens, control room staff and station reception staff.

Year endNumber of support staff
31 March 199314,663
31 March 199414,483
31 March 199514,337
31 March 199614,368
31 March 199713,492
31 March 199812,563
31 March 199911,390
31 March 200010,759
31 March 190110,197
31 March 190210,548


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