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2 Dec 2002 : Column 581W—continued
Arnley Prison
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average population of Leeds Prison, Arnley, in 2001–02 was; what the average length of stay was; and what the (a) daily and (b) weekly percentage turnover of inmates was. [83475]
Hilary Benn: The average population of Leeds Prison during 2001–02 was 1,233. The information on average length of stay is not recorded: Neither is the daily or weekly turnover of prisoners for that period. The current average daily intake of prisoners is around 40.
Arson
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions there have been for arson in each year since 1992. [83138]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is contained in the table.
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 1,604 |
| 1993 | 1,419 |
| 1994 | 1,508 |
| 1995 | 1,433 |
| 1996 | 1,283 |
| 1997 | 1,582 |
| 1998 | 1,393 |
| 1999 | 1,380 |
| 2000 | 1,436 |
Information for 2001 is not yet available.
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Burglary
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been jailed in each year since 1999 under the provisions of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, section 111, for a third offence of burglary. [84299]
Hilary Benn: Information reported to the Home Office shows that no sentences under section 111 of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (previously section 4 of the Crime (Sentence) Act 1997) for a third offence of burglary were passed by the end of 2000.
An offender would have to be apprehended, prosecuted and convicted on three separate occasions since 1 December 1999 to be subject to the mandatory sentence. Such action is likely to take some time.
Information for 2001 is due for publication shortly.
Children's Commissioner
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes appointing a children's commissioner for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the Commissioner for Wales. [83219]
Mr. Denham: Responsibility for appointing a children's commissioner rests with the devolved Administrations—my responsibility in this regard is solely for England.
The Northern Ireland Assembly have drafted a Bill to establish a children's commissioner, and following the suspension of the Assembly in Stormont, this Bill is expected to pass through Westminster as an Order-in-Council before March 2003. A Bill is expected to be published soon to establish a children's commissioner in Scotland.
As far as England is concerned, the possibility of establishing a children's commissioner is still under consideration. We are considering what role a Commissioner or Ombudsman-type function could play in achieving cultural and political change. There is no one model of a commissioner being developed in the UK—we are seeing in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland three different approaches to the idea. Of the UK's 14 million children, 11.9 million of those live in England, and we would need to be sure that any new structure added value to the existing mechanisms in place for children.
The Commissioner for Wales is due to publish his first annual report on 28 November, and I look forward with interest to reading about his work over his first year in post.
Corporate Manslaughter
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received in support of the introduction of a corporate manslaughter charge in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [84049]
Hilary Benn: We have been unable on the information available to identify the number of representations we have received in support of the introduction of a
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corporate manslaughter charge in the last 12 months. These have taken the form of letters, a very large number of telephone calls, e-mails etc. The proposals have attracted and continue to attract a lot of interest from a variety of sectors in society, with varying views being put forward.
DNA Profiles
Mr. Peter Duncan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK citizens have their DNA profiles stored in the Home Office database; and what the net number of additions was in each of the last two months. [82590]
Mr. Denham: The national DNA database does not store information relating to the nationality of an individual.
The total number of profiles held on the database at 31 October 2002 was 1,919,173. The Forensic Science Service calculate that these profiles relate to 1.73 million different individuals.
The number of profiles added to the database during October 2002 was 39,803.
The number of profiles added to the database during September 2002 was 36,004.
East Lancashire
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times he has visited east Lancashire in his official capacity; and what the purpose was of each visit. [82404]
Mr. Blunkett: I have not so far had the opportunity to visit east Lancashire but my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) and my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Beverley Hughes) have both visited Burnley as part of their work on community cohesion.
Elderly People (Fear of Crime)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is taking to protect the elderly from fear of crime. [82974]
Mr. Denham: The British Crime Survey data have consistently shown that older people are less likely to suffer from both household and personal crimes than other age groups. However, they also tells us that older people are greatly affected by fear of crime.
The Home Office is working closely to reduce fear of crime with record numbers of police on the streets, new community support officers and greater numbers of community and street wardens, in addition to its wide range of crime reduction programmes being delivered locally.
Levels of fear of crime among older people are still too high; we are committed to reducing them, and we have been working with charities such as Help The Aged and
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Age Concern to find new and better ways of tackling fear of crime among seniors as well as crimes against them.
European Arrest Warrant
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will seek legal advice on Council of the European Union Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states with regard to (a) its implementation in Scots law and (b) whether its implementation is a reserved matter; [84225]
- (2) what legal advice he has received on Council of the European Union Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states with regard to (a) its implementation in Scots law and (b) whether its implementation is a reserved matter. [84228]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is a long-standing convention that the Government do not disclose the content of legal advice they have received or even that legal advice has been obtained.
Extradition is a reserved matter under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. However, Scottish Ministers have responsibility for casework where the fugitive is in Scotland.
The Scottish Parliament passed a Sewel Motion on the Extradition Bill on 21 November 2002 agreeing that the provisions in the Bill conferring functions on Scottish Ministers should be considered by the United Kingdom Parliament.
Extradition Bill
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which clauses of the Extradition Bill officials from the Scottish Executive played a role in drafting. [84226]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Officials from the Scottish Executive have been involved at all stages of the drafting of the Extradition Bill.
Female Prisons
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to convert men's prisons to house the female prison population; how many (a) establishments are to be converted and (b) places will be provided, and when they are due to open; [82880]
- (2) what plans he has for new women's prisons; how many (a) establishments and (b) places are planned; and when they are due to open. [82879]
Hilary Benn: It is planned that the new prison scheduled to open at Ashford, near Heathrow, in 2004 will be a female prison of 450 places. It is also planned
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that the new prison scheduled to open at Peterborough in Cambridgeshire in 2005 will have 840 places: 360 female and 480 male places.
There are currently no other plans to open new female prisons, or to convert any male prisons into female prisons.
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