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28 Apr 2003 : Column 72W—continued
Registered Charities
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered charities associated with (a) Christianity, (b) Islam and (c) other religions have humanitarian aid and relief as their primary objective; and how much each group raised by way of charitable donations for the latest year for which figures are available. [108385]
Beverley Hughes: This is a matter for the Charity Commission as the Government Department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales. The Chief Charity Commissioner will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
Secure Training Centres
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the night sanitation arrangements are in Medway, Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres. [108621]
Hilary Benn: All trainees in these establishments have their own bedrooms with integral sanitation including a toilet, shower and washbasin with hot and cold water. Drinking water is also available in each bedroom.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are on duty at night in Medway, Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres. [108622]
Hilary Benn: The minimum staffing levels are as follows.
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| Duty Directors | 1 |
| Duty Operations Manager | 1 |
| Training Supervisors | 3 |
| Training Supervisors | 5 |
| Nigh Assistants | 6 |
| Control Room Staff | 1 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Residential Care Manager | 1 |
| Nurse | 1 |
| Residential Carers | 3 |
| Residential Carers/support staff | 3 |
| Communications Officer | 1 |
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the arrangements are for parents to visit their children detained in Medway, Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres. [108623]
Hilary Benn: Visits by family members and carers normally take place between 12 noon and 2pm and 4.30pm and 8.30pm on weekdays and between 8.30am and 10.30pm on weekends and Bank Holidays.
Sex Industry
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women known to be working in the sex industry who have (i) reported being raped and (ii) been murdered in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years. [108051]
Hilary Benn: The Crime Statistics, published annually, do not identify victims of rape or murder in terms of whether or not they are/were prostitutes.
The Government takes this issue very seriously. We are currently examining the scope for a review of prostitution and associated issues.
The Sexual Offences Bill, currently in the House of Lords also introduces new legislation to deal with trafficking for sexual exploitation. Provisions in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which came into force last month, are only a stop-gap measure until this more comprehensive legislation is introduced. The new offences in the Bill tackle the movement of people into, within and out of the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation, and will carry maximum penalties of 14 years imprisonment. Obviously we hope that these offences will reduce the number of people being trafficked for sexual exploitation, and subjected to such violence.
Staff Numbers
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed by his Department in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [106963]
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Mr. Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) on 4 April 2003, Official Report, column 891W, which details the available published information across the Civil Service.
The Home Office (HO) staffing figures for 1 April 2003 are as follows:
| Area | Staff(18) |
|---|---|
| Core HO (including IND) | 16,283 |
| Prison Service | 43,414 |
| United Kingdom Passport and Records Agency | 2,864 |
| Forensic Science Service | 2,604 |
| All | 65,165 |
(18) Budget Support Group figures: permanent full-time equivalent staff
Victim Support
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of volunteers for victim support schemes remained in post one year after completion of basic volunteer training in the last two years. [108773]
Beverley Hughes: The Home Office provides an annual grant to the charitable organisation Victim Support to provide support to victims of crime and witnesses through its network of community victim support schemes and witness services.
Victim Support advise that, at present, they do not collect data in a form that enables this question to be answered directly.
They advise that the data they collect relating to volunteer turnover shows the percentage of volunteers which left Victim Support within the last year. But this does not show how long the volunteers had remained with the organisation after initial training.
Data is also collected about the length of time scheme volunteers have been with Victim Support. During 2000–01, 70 per cent. of scheme volunteers had been with Victim Support for over one year. In 2001–02 the percentage was 76 per cent. And in 2001–02, 26 per cent of scheme volunteers had been with the organisation for over five years.
Violence against Women
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department has taken to prevent street violence against women. [108157]
Hilary Benn: There is a range of Home Office initiatives designed to address different aspects of violent crime, including street violence.
Measures which bear particularly on women as victims of street violence include the Action Plan published by the Home Office in July 2002 to implement the recommendations of the joint Inspectorates' report into the investigation and prosecution of rape cases. This sets out both strategic and practical measures to improve reporting and reduce attrition in rape cases. The Steering Group is led by the Home Office with officials from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD), both
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Inspectorates and the Association of Chief Police Officers. More effective criminal justice interventions are designed to have a direct impact on the number of sexual assaults and rapes.
The street crime initiative announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in March 2002 to combat the rising trend in robbery is benefiting both men and women as victims of violence. The initiative, backed with a £67 million package following the 2002 Budget, is focused in the 10 police force areas that accounted for 83 per cent. of recorded robbery during 2001–02: Avon and Somerset; Greater Manchester; Lancashire; Merseyside; Metropolitan Police; Nottinghamshire; South Yorkshire; Thames Valley; West Midlands; West Yorkshire.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department proposes to take to encourage women to report rape and sexual assault. [108159]
Hilary Benn: The Home Office published its rape action plan in July 2002. The plan seeks to make a range of improvements, including better victim care, enhanced investigative practices, better case preparation and improved training. The aim is to improve confidence in criminal justice processes and provide better services for victims, so encouraging more victims to report crimes.
We are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, the Lord Chancellor's Department, as well as the Association of Chief Police Officers and other stakeholders, to ensure that the plan is implemented.
In addition, the Sexual Offences Bill includes a number of provisions designed to send a clear signal to everyone about the circumstances in which sexual activity will be presumed to be non-consensual. These are designed to give juries the best possible chance of reaching the right decision on what is one of the most difficult issues they can be asked to consider. We hope that this will encourage victims to place their faith in the criminal justice system and to bring more cases to trial.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the support services his Department has provided in each of the last five years to women who have been sexually assaulted. [108162]
Hilary Benn: The Home Office helps victims of all types of crime, including women victims of sexual assault, through its annual funding of the voluntary organisation Victim Support. Since 1998–99 the annual grant in aid to Victim Support has risen from £12.7 million to £30 million.
Each year since 1997–98 Victim Support has received between 13,000 and 15,000 referrals for victims of sexual crimes, of whom between 4,000 and 5,000 have been victims of rape. The help offered is both sensitive and confidential, and can include onward referral to other types of support (such as counselling).
Since April 2001 the Home Office has also been funding the Rape Crisis Federation to enable that organisation to provide core services such as training to its network of some 40 local rape crisis groups.
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