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4 Dec 2002 : Column 868W—continued
Drugs
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funding from central Government sources is given to non-governmental organisations for drug education purposes. [83860]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: For 2002–03 the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has provided non-governmental organisations, including the National Children's Bureau, Drug Education Practitioners Group and DrugScope, with £100,150 funding for drug education purposes.
The Government also issued drug education and prevention funding (£5 million in 2001–02 and £9 million 2002–03) to primary care trusts (PCTs). All PCTs and social services departments, in partnership with their local Drug Action Team, will use this funding to commission: (a) primary and (b) secondary prevention activity for all young people identified as at risk.
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The DfES has also committed £15 million to local education authorities to support drug education in schools and this will rise to £17 million in 2003–04. This increase will improve the quality and coverage of drug, alcohol and tobacco education programmes in schools. In many areas non-governmental organisations will be commissioned to deliver substance misuse education. However this is a local decision and there is no central monitoring of whether funds are used by local education authorities and PCTs to fund non-governmental organisations.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions on (a) drug charges and (b) drug dealing there have been in the West Midlands in each of the past four years. [84823]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The numbers of cautions and convictions for all drug offences and trafficking offences in the West Midlands police force area from 1997–2000 are shown the table.
| All drug offences | Trafficking offences | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 5,292 | 633 |
| 1998 | 6,353 | 709 |
| 1999 | 5,725 | 663 |
| 2000 | 5,837 | 688 |
Source:
Home Office Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom, 1997–2000—Area Tables.
The Home Office Statistical Bulletin is available on the Recorded Data Service (RDS) website, http:www.homeoffice.gov.uk.rds.pdfs2.hosb402.pdf, and copies are available in the Library.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conferences on the subject of drugs have been attended by Ministers and senior civil servants since May 1997; who the organisers were of each conference; and what financial support from central Government sources was provided for each occasion. [84222]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Ministers and officials regularly attend conferences within the UK and internationally on the subject of drug misuse. To provide the detail requested would incur disproportionate cost.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what recent discussions he has had with his Irish counterpart about lessons for the United Kingdom from drugs courts in Ireland; [82990]
- (2) what discussions he has had with his Swedish counterpart about lessons for the United Kingdom from drugs courts in Sweden. [82989]
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Mr. Bob Ainsworth: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has had no formal contacts with his Irish or Swedish counterpart on this issue, but his officials and those of other Departments monitor the work of other jurisdictions when looking at how the courts in England, Wales and Scotland should respond to those whose offending is linked with a drug habit.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the balance, in terms of Government support, between the harm reduction and harm prevention approaches to drug education. [84221]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Government have a holistic approach to achieving quality standards in the delivery of drug education through the development of a framework of personal, social and health education supported by the National Healthy Schools Standards. This is only one of the many Government initiatives to improve the quantity and effectiveness of drug education.
Substance misuse education mainly involves harm prevention. However with children of secondary school age and particularly those at greater risk, such as school excludees and young offenders, this is balanced with harm reduction messages. These young people are more likely to be experimenting with illegal drugs and so need more detailed information. The Department for Education and Skills are currently reviewing guidance to schools on drug education and new guidance will be issued by the academic year 2003.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what hospitality has been accepted by his officials from organisations lobbying for the liberalisation of the drug laws since 1997. [84220]
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what specialist assistance is provided for police forces to tackle the sale of illegal drugs. [82931]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Advice and assistance in tackling the supply aspects of drug abuse are available to police forces from a number of sources including the National Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service, and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. Advice on best practice is also available from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, the Home Office Drugs Strategy Directorate and the Police Standards Unit. Scientific and technical advice and support is available from the Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch.
Advice on tracing and confiscating the assets of criminals, including drug traffickers, will be available through the new Asset Recovery Agency when established in February 2003. The Asset Recovery Agency will also train and accredit financial investigators working in law enforcement and other agencies.
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John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what co-operation there has been between his Department and the Office of National Drug Control in the United States in the last three years. [82939]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The United States and the United Kingdom, along with our European Union partners, have an affirmed commitment to exchange ideas and experiences in combating drug use and drug dependence. Members of our two Governments meet often, and there is extensive co-operation between the US and the UK at official level in a variety of fora. For example, we are both signatories of the United Nations' Conventions on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, we both participate in meetings of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and we both co-operate through various UN programmes.
Hoax Emergency Calls
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals suspected of hoax calls to the emergency services have (a) been arrested and (b) had their telephones disconnected since 22 November 2002. [85174]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 3 December 2002]: I have been told by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that 12 people have been referred for prosecution and 168 people for disconnection for making a hoax call between 22 and 30 November 2002. Individuals whose phones have been disconnected may still face prosecution, and police are continuing to investigate hoax call cases.
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used by the police to determine whether to (a) prosecute and (b) refer for disconnection those suspected of hoax calls to the emergency services. [85175]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 3 December 2002]: I have been told by the Association of Chief Police Officers that they have circulated guidance to all police forces on dealing with hoax calls referring to the importance of identifying and prosecuting offenders, and disconnecting their telephones where appropriate.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether letters to hon. Members and signed by officials at the IND Integrated Case Work Unit are cleared by Ministers before they are sent; and what ministerial accountability is accepted for each letter. [84984]
Beverley Hughes: The leaflet 'Information for Members of Parliament about immigration and nationality enquiries', which was published in November 2002, sets out the circumstances where it
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would not usually be appropriate for Home Office Ministers to intervene in individual immigration cases. It also gave Members information about how to correspond with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND).
Where Members make written representations directly to officials of IND, the replies are prepared in line with appropriate legislation, departmental instructions and current ministerial guidance. Ministers do not clear these replies.
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