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SOLICITOR GENERAL

Cruelty to Animals

Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor General how many animals have been returned to their owners after the owner has been convicted of causing cruelty to that animal in the last year for which records are available; and what percentage of convictions this represents. [100355]

Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.

These figures are not recorded.

Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor General what the Government's policy is on animals that have been mistreated being returned to their owners after a court case has convicted the owner of cruelty. [100354]

Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.

Under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 there is provision for a court to make a deprivation and disqualification order in addition to any other punishment on conviction of cruelty.

The use and effectiveness of deprivation and disqualificaton orders is currently being examined in the context of the preparation of an Animal Welfare Bill.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women what discussions she has had with the Home Office regarding the central collection of domestic violence statistics; and if she will make a statement. [100964]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 5 March 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2003, Official Report, columns 804–05W.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Youth Justice

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 10–17 year olds in the last

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two years for which data are available were sentenced by (a) magistrates' courts (b) a youth court and (c) a Crown court to (i) a secure training order, (ii) a young offender institution and (iii) a local authority secure unit. [100741]

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Hilary Benn: [holding answer 4 March 2003]: The information contained in the table gives the number of juveniles sentenced to all forms of immediate custody in England and Wales in 2000 and 2001.

Statistics for 2002 will be published in the Autumn.

Juveniles sentenced to immediate custody, England and Wales, by type of court

	Secure Training Order 1		Detention and training order 2		Young Offender Institution 3		Detained under s90/92 PCC(S)A 2000 4
	2000	2001	2000	2001	2000	2001	2000	2001
Magistrates' Courts	6	*	161	251	54	*	*	*
Youth Courts	77	*	3,741	5,518	1,096	*	*	*
The Crown Court	2	*	1,172	1,300	523	*	582	527

Notes:

1 Available to 31 March 2000, when replaced by detention and training orders.

2 Available nationally from 1 April 2000.

3 Replaced by detention and training orders from 31 March 2000.

4 Sec 53 Children and Young Persons Act 1933 prior to 25 August 2000.

* = not applicable.

Source:

Home Office Court Proceedings database.

The following table, compiled from Youth Justice Board data, shows the type of establishment in which juveniles sentenced to immediate custody were accommodated after sentence. Such information is not collected centrally by type of court.

Juveniles sentenced to immediate custody, England and Wales, by type of establishment in which accommodated

	2000(1)	2001	2002
Secure training centre	391	471	393
Local Authority Secure Unit	410	599	466
Young Offender Institution	5,679	6,881	5,766

Note:

⁽¹⁾ From 1 April 2000.

Source:

Youth Justice Board.

Smoking

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policy his Department has adopted on smoking in the workplace. [100952]

Beverley Hughes: Smoking in the main Home Office buildings in central London is not permitted except in designated smoking rooms. The policy extends to other buildings outside central London, but is subject to local accommodation constraints for example, in rented buildings smoking may be banned by the landlord or major occupier.

National No Smoking campaigns are regularly promoted. ''Stop smoking'' courses and displays have been held to help staff who wish to give up smoking.

Angel Group

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the properties acquired by the Angel Group and its subsidiaries from Government departments and agencies and dates and costs of their acquisition. [99703]

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office has sold one property to the Angel Group. The Prison Service College in Love Lane, Wakefield was sold on 6 July 2001 at a price of £1,161,000.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason he has not replied to the letter to him dated 15 January from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs. Huda Abdulwahed. [100685]

Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 28 February 2003.

Criminal Records Bureau

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Criminal Records Bureau is processing Disclosure applications in Madras; and if he will make a statement. [100145]

Hilary Benn: Disclosure applications are not being processed in Madras, India. All Disclosure applications are processed at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) sites at Liverpool and Darwen, Blackburn. The work being undertaken at Madras involves manual inputting of personal information such as name, date of birth and addresses during the past five years, provided by individuals on their application forms. This work is undertaken at the beginning of the process, and no information drawn from police sources or other data sources is involved.

This arrangement was introduced as part of a package of measures to improve the performance of the CRB. It has proved highly effective in enabling large numbers of paper application forms to be processed, with timely, efficient and accurate data capture, and eliminating backlogs from this critical stage of the CRB process.

The contractual provisions make it clear that the processing of data must be in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, and security and other arrangements must be such that they do not involve a material increase to the risk of misuse of data.

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Before agreement was given for any data to be processed in India, the site was visited by senior officials from the CRB, who were fully satisfied that this was the case.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 9 January, Official Report, columns 287–88W, on the Criminal Records Bureau, if he will place in the Library a copy of the CRB application form for (a) basic, (b) standard and (c) enhanced disclosures and the guidance notes for (i) before and (ii) after they were modified. [100164]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 6 February 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 February 2003, Official Report, column 403W.

Deportations

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to permit airlines to refuse to accept passengers who are being deported or removed by order of the Government where such passengers cause disruption and distress to others; and if he will make a statement. [101398]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 6 March 2003]: It is the individual responsibility of the captain of an aircraft to have regard to the safety of all persons onboard and to refuse to accept passengers who may be a potential danger to the safety of the aircraft. Whilst the carrier has an obligation to accept removal directions lawfully given under the Immigration Act 1971 and the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the legislation provides the defence of ''reasonable excuse'' for failure to comply with such directions.

Hinton Hotel, Fareham

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are registered at the Hinton Hotel, Fareham by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [101377]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 6 March 2003]: As at 5 March there were eight asylum seekers registered at the Hinton Hotel. They have all applied for support from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). If eligible for support they will be dispersed, as soon as suitable accommodation is identified, to one of the designated cluster areas.

Criminal Justice Bill

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has undertaken of the risk of false conviction arising as a result of the implementation of Clause 81 of the Criminal Justice Bill. [100136]

Hilary Benn: Clauses 81 to 97 of the Criminal Justice Bill sets out a new statutory scheme for admitting evidence of a person's bad character. Clause 81 defines the range of evidence whose admissibility is to be determined under the new rules. It does not follow that any evidence that comes within this definition is admissible. But it does ensure that any such evidence can only be admitted under the Bill's scheme.

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In terms of admitting evidence, clauses 83 and 84 set out, for non-defendants and defendants respectively, the circumstances in which evidence that falls under clause 81 can be admitted. These ensure that evidence will only be admitted where it will have a clear bearing on the issues in the case.

The scheme includes a number of important safeguards. These include, in the case of defendants, the fact that evidence is to be excluded in appropriate circumstances if admitting it would adversely affect the fairness of proceedings. In applying this test, the courts will weigh the possible prejudicial effect of the evidence against its probative value and exclude the evidence where the likely prejudice would exceed it.

The new rules will therefore assist juries and magistrates to reach proper and fair verdicts by enabling them to hear a wider range of relevant evidence while ensuring that evidence that is likely to be given too much weight or might distort a court's assessment of the issues is excluded.

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