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15 Jan 2003 : Column 655W—continued
Green Ministers
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Minister in his Department is nominated Green Minister; how often he has attended meetings of the Green Ministers; and which official has responsibility for the Defra rural proofing checklist in his Department. [88462]
Beverley Hughes: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lord Filkin) for Race Equality, Community Policy and European and International Policy represents the Home Office on the Ministers' Committee ENV(G). It is not the policy of Government Departments to disclose details of Ministers' attendance of meetings. Policy responsibility for rural proofing lies in the Home Office with the Public Order and Reassurance Unit.
Oakington
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the weekly cost of providing the facilities at the Immigration Reception Centre, Oakington. [89797]
Beverley Hughes: The estimated weekly cost of providing the facilities at Oakington in 2001–02, the last full year for which information was available, was #288,000. The comparable (provisional) figure for the first six months of 2002–03 was #294,000.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the unit cost is of processing asylum applications at the Immigration Reception Centre, Oakington, Cambridgeshire. [89799]
Beverley Hughes: The unit cost of processing a principal asylum application at Oakington reception centre in 2001–02, the last full year for which figures
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are available, was #1,515. The comparable provisional figure for the first six months of 2002–03 was an estimated #1,247.
Motor Vehicle Abandonment
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions for abandoning a motor vehicle there were in each London borough in each of the last five years. [89407]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Court proceedings information held centrally on the offence of dumping, under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978, cannot separately identify the dumping of motor vehicles from the dumping of anything other than a motor vehicle.
Information is not collected by London borough. Available data are therefore given in the table for the Metropolitan Police area.
| Number of offences | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total proceedings | Total findings of guilt | |
| 1998 | 11 | 8 |
| 1999 | 42 | 32 |
| 2000 | 30 | 29 |
| 2001 | 18 | 17 |
(7) An offence under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 section 2 (covers motor vehicles and other).
Note:
1997 data not available
Road Haulage Industry
(Illegal Immigrants)
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with road haulage companies regarding the security of vehicles against illegal immigrants. [90324]
Beverley Hughes: There was widespread consultation with the transport industry prior to the introduction, in April 2000, of the regime under which road hauliers and others may receive penalties for the carriage of clandestine entrants to the United Kingdom. That consultation included how road hauliers could secure their vehicles against unauthorised entry.
Since the regime was introduced, and during the recent passage through Parliament of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, which brought in an amended regime from 8 December 2002, there has been frequent correspondence and meetings with the industry, both at ministerial and official level.
Responsibility for securing vehicles against unauthorised entry lies with transport operators. Those who take the measures described in the XPrevention of Clandestine Entry Code of Practice" will greatly reduce both the risk of carrying clandestine entrants to the United Kingdom and of receiving a penalty should they do so. Compliance with the Code is promoted strongly in all our dealings with the industry and this message was reinforced more recently in the awareness raising campaign that took place in the weeks leading to the implementation of the amended penalty regime.
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During the course of administering the penalty provisions, officials often give advice on an individual basis to companies about the level of vehicle security expected, and about compliance with the Code of Practice. The Code is available on the Home Office Website as well as on request from the Civil Penalty Central Administration Unit by telephoning 020 8745 6006.
Police (Bromley)
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police officers there were in the London borough of Bromley in each year since 1973; [89803]
- (2) how many special constables there were in the London borough of Bromley in each year since 1973; and how many police support staff there were in each year over the same period. [89804]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 14 January 2003]: This information is not centrally collected. The deployment of resources between the London borough divisions is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
Information on the number of police officers, special constables and civilian support staff for each force can be found in the Annual Reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary until 1995–96. Thereafter the data can be found in Home Office Statistical Bulletins on police strength in England and Wales from March 1998, copies of which are in the Library.
Prison Population
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted prisoners there were in England and Wales in the last period for which figures are available; how many were (a) United Kingdom nationals, (b) nationals of another EU state and (c) nationals of other states; and how many, when sentenced, had no current right of abode in the United Kingdom. [90358]
Hilary Benn [holding answer 13 January 2003]: On 31 October 2002 there were 63,772 convicted prisoners in prisons in England and Wales. 57,019 of these were UK nationals, 653 were from EU member states, 5,852 were from non-member states, and 248 have no recorded nationality. These figures exclude non-criminal prisoners and fine defaulters.
Information on how many prisoners had a current right of abode is not available.
Sex Offenders
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are subject to the registration under the sex offender list 1997, as amended, solely for (a) offences that were decriminalised by the Sexual Offences Amendment list 2001 and (b) offences that the Government proposes to decriminalise or downgrade in its White Paper on Reform of Sexual Offences. [89660]
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Hilary Benn: Although the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 are commonly known as 'the register or sex offenders', there is, in fact, no central register from which this information could be obtained.
It is not possible to say how many individuals in the categories specified are subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 (the register). This is because not all those convicted or cautioned for buggery or gross indecency at present will be required to register. A person becomes subject to the Act's requirements in a variety of circumstances following a conviction or a caution for buggery or gross indecency.
| Offence | Offender under 20 | Offender over 20 and victim/other party over 18 | Offender over 20 and victim/other party under 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buggery | Never | Only where sentence longer than 30 months | Always |
| Gross indecency | Never | Only where sentence longer than 30 months | Always |
Criminal statistics do not record the circumstances of the offence with a sufficient degree of detail to say for each offence how many individuals will be affected. Moreover, the requirements on some offenders who were cautioned or convicted on or since the implementation of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 will since have lapsed.
Terrorism
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent tests have been conducted to establish the reaction time of the emergency services in the event of a terrorist attack. [88408]
Mr. Denham: In addition to regular training undertaken by the emergency services, the Home Office national counter-terrorist exercise programme is centred on three large-scale live exercises involving participants from Central Government, the police, military and specialist scientific or technical assistance if required.
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