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21 Jan 2003 : Column 294W—continued
Emergency Planning
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department's officials last met the Scottish Executive to discuss emergency planning. [90405]
Mr. Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
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Officials from the Civil Contingencies Secretariat and the Scottish Executive meet regularly to discuss contingency planning. Information relating to internal advice and discussion is not disclosed under Exemption 2 and 7(b) of the "Code of Practice on Access to Government Information".
External Consultants
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost to his Department was of the use of external consultants in 2002. [90512]
Mr. Blunkett: The total cost to the Home Department of using external consultants for the financial year 2001–02 was £21,147,058. The cost in this year includes the cost of establishing the National Probation Directorate and various consultancies on IT business change.
Firearms
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of illegal firearms in circulation in (a) Lancashire, (b) the North West of England, (c) Wales and (d) the UK, in the last period for which figures are available. [90976]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The requested information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been killed in each of the last six years by firearms during the commissioning of a crime. [91550]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 20 January 2003]: The numbers of persons killed by firearms during the act of a crime are not collected centrally. Available published data on the number of recorded homicide offences by shooting in England and Wales are given in the table.
| Number of homicide offences by shooting(32) | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 58 |
| 1997–98 | 52 |
| 1998–99 | 46 |
| 1999–2000 | 61 |
| 2000–01 | 73 |
| 2001–02 | 96 |
(32) Homicide figures include shooting by crossbows, and take into account the results of police and court decisions. Therefore, they may not necessarily match the number of firearm homicides initially recorded. Data are as at 8 October 2002; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.
These homicide offences were recorded on a calendar year basis up to 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter.
Gun Control
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he is taking to control the increase in the use of guns; and if he will make a statement; [91561]
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- (2) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation in controlling the illegal use of firearms. [91560]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We have announced our intention to introduce a minimum five-year sentence for those convicted, on indictment, of possessing or distributing prohibited weapons. We will also be proposing additional powers to deal with certain types of gunwhich are vulnerable to conversion to fire live ammunition.
We will also bring in legislation to prevent anyone from carrying a replica or an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse. We intend to raise the age limit at which young people can acquire and use air weapons unsupervised from 14 to 17.
The Government is constantly assessing and reviewing the effectiveness of firearms legislation, and will continue to do so.
Gun Crime
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) injured and (b) killed by guns in Wales in (i) 2002 and (ii) each of the previous five years. [90740]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Available published data on the number of recorded homicide offences in which firearms were reported to have been used in Wales, are given in the table:
| Number of homicide offences involving firearms | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 1 |
| 1997 | 2 |
| 1997–98 | 1 |
| 1998–99 | 0 |
| 1999–2000 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 1 |
These firearms offences were recorded on a calendar year basis up to 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter. Figures for injuries are not available.
Immigration
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional copies of correspondence he has asked hon. Members to provide in the last 12 months relating to (a) immigration and nationality issues and (b) other issues. [90993]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the amount of additional copies of correspondence sought is not kept. Thorough and effective procedures are in place to ensure that correspondence is tracked to avoid the necessity of requesting duplicate copies. The volume of correspondence received by the Home Office is large and, regrettably, on occasions individual letters may become detached from the files. However, this is not a common occurrence, and when it happens we recognise that it causes inconvenience and delay and reflects
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poorly on the high standard of service that we normally provide. We will shortly be introducing an electronic correspondence tracking system that will prevent the need for correspondence to be handled physically, and which will mean that access to all letters is immediate and complete.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he takes to trace failed asylum seekers who have disappeared. [91248]
Beverley Hughes: Where a person has left a control area without permission, escaped from detention or failed to comply with the terms of their reporting conditions, their details will be noted and posted internally within the Immigration Service and with the police. If there is reason to believe that a person is at their last known address, or if fresh intelligence comes to light, immigration officers will undertake a visit. In cases where the person concerned is considered a threat to UK national security, then the appropriate agencies will be involved.
In addition, as part of the improvements in contact management as detailed in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, entitlement to the National Asylum Support Service support will be conditional on asylum seekers reporting as required. The Immigration Service will seek to identify and locate those who have lost contact with the Home Office.
Lunar House
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were queuing at the public caller unit of Lunar House at 8 am on (a) 6 January, (b) 7 January and (c) 8 January; and how many people were turned away on each day without having their applications dealt with. [90718]
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Beverley Hughes: There are two public offices at Croydon, the first being that of the Public Enquiry Office (PEO), which enters through the main entrance at the front of Lunar House.
There are no records kept of the numbers of those who are initially queuing for the PEO when it opens at 8 am but the covered waiting area can hold between 500 and 600 people at any one time. However, between 6 and 8 January 2003 respectively there were 1,146, 1,153 and 827 people who attended PEO, of which 63, 80 and 72 people on each respective day could not have their cases dealt with immediately.
The other queue is that of the Asylum Screening Unit (ASU), which currently enters through a temporary entrance at the rear of the building. According to figures initially compiled for ASU management, at 8 am on 6 and 7 January there were respectively 120 and 300 people waiting in the ASU queue. On 8 January, the date of the introduction of new asylum support arrangements, 80 applicants were waiting in the queue at 8 am. Around 75 applicants (most with addresses) were asked to return the following day.
Motoring Offences
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the past 12 months magistrates courts and crown courts have not imposed automatic driving bans on motorists guilty of offences which individually or collectively qualify for a disqualification; and if he will make a statement. [90365]
Hilary Benn: The available information concerning individual offences which qualify for an automatic driving ban, is shown in the table. Data for 2001 will be available in February.
The Home Office Court Proceedings Database does not include information on cases where the motorist could have been disqualified under the penalty points system but was not.
| Magistrates courts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offence type | Total sentenced | Endorsements without disqualification(33) | Total disqualifications imposed | Results not reported on(34) |
| Causing death or bodily harm: | ||||
| Causing death by dangerous driving | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Dangerous driving | 3,108 | 150 | 2,847 | 111 |
| Driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs: | ||||
| Unfit to drive through drink or drugs (impairment) | 1,729 | 148 | 1,535 | 46 |
| Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit | 70,619 | 1,047 | 68,923 | 649 |
| Unauthorised taking or theft of vehicle: | ||||
| Aggravated vehicle taking: | 6,527 | 429 | 5,336 | 762 |
| Driving dangerously, causing injury or damage | ||||
| Total | 81,986 | 1,774 | 78,644 | 1,568 |
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| Crown courts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offence type | Total sentenced | Endorsements without disqualification(33) | Total disqualifications imposed | Results not reported on(34) |
| Causing death or bodily harm: | ||||
| Causing death by dangerous driving | 210 | 26 | 180 | 4 |
| Causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs | 57 | 5 | 50 | 2 |
| Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking | 18 | 3 | 13 | 2 |
| Dangerous driving | 2,142 | 267 | 1,805 | 70 |
| Driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs: | ||||
| Unfit to drive through drink or drugs (impairment) | 74 | 29 | 35 | 10 |
| Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit | 628 | 186 | 341 | 101 |
| Unauthorised taking or theft of vehicle: | ||||
| Aggravated vehicle taking: | ||||
| Driving dangerously, causing injury or damage | 1,614 | 212 | 1,260 | 142 |
| Total | 4,743 | 738 | 3,684 | 331 |
| All courts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offence type | Total sentenced | Endorsements without disqualification(33) | Total disqualifications imposed | Results not reported on(34) |
| Causing death or bodily harm: | ||||
| Causing death by dangerous driving | 210 | 26 | 180 | 4 |
| Causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs | 57 | 5 | 50 | 2 |
| Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking | 21 | 3 | 16 | 2 |
| Dangerous driving | 5,250 | 417 | 4,652 | 181 |
| Driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs: | ||||
| Unfit to drive through drink or drugs (impairment) | 1,803 | 177 | 1,570 | 56 |
| Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit | 71,247 | 1,233 | 69,264 | 750 |
| Unauthorised taking or theft of vehicle: | ||||
| Aggravated vehicle taking: | ||||
| Driving dangerously, causing injury or damage | 8,141 | 641 | 6,596 | 904 |
| Total | 86,729 | 2,502 | 82,328 | 1,899 |
(33) Concurrent endorsements.
(34) Information not reported. Includes cases where neither disqualification or endorsement given for 'special reasons' and cases where a disqualification or endorsement was given but not recorded.
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