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Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) stop and searches and (b) arrests have been made as a result of policing at RAF Fairford. [108787]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 11 April 2003]: I understand from Gloucestershire Police that during the period 21 February to 11 April, there have been 68 arrests, mainly for aggravated trespass and public order offences, and 995 stop and searches under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the regulations under which RAF Fairford is being policed. [108788]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Policing operations at RAF Fairford are being undertaken in accordance with established police powers and procedures and a protocol setting out the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Defence and Gloucestershire police forces.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under which powers demonstrators at RAF Fairford are being body searched; and if he will make a statement. [108954]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Stop and search operations have been undertaken in accordance with section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. A constable exercising the power under these sections may not require a person to remove any clothing in public except for headgear, footwear, an outer coat or jacket or gloves.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109243]
Beverley Hughes: Information about long term sickness absence is not held centrally. As part of the process for effective monitoring and managing sickness absence, the Department and its Agencies have introduced a range of clear trigger points with advice on action to take to ensure that timely and appropriate
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action is taken. We are also currently revising operational practice to see what further action might be appropriate.
The Department and its Agencies have introduced guidelines, policies and procedures with a view to meeting its target to reducing sickness absence, published in its Service Delivery Agreements for April 2001 to March 2004.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people who reported a crime to the police in 2001 were (a) sent or otherwise given a copy of the Victim of Crime leaflet and (b) visited by a volunteer from Victim Support or telephoned by Victim Support. [107306]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In general the police do not record statistics about the number of victims of crime who are given a copy of the Victims of Crime leaflet. However, all personal victims of reported crime should be given or sent a copy of the leaflet and, in 2001, some 2¾ million copies of the leaflet were distributed to police forces for that purpose.
It is not known how many personal victims of crime reported the crime to the police. But in 200102 the total number of recorded crimes (all categories e.g. including fraud and public order offences) was 5,527,082. 1,257,089 victims were referred to Victim Support by the police, other agencies or self-referred. Victim Support contacted 295,658 victims by telephone; 159,693 were contacted by a home visit and 45,978 by an office visit.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the efficiency of the crime reductions strategy in reducing violence against women. [108158]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Government is committed to reducing all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence on which I will shortly publish a consultation paper.
Evaluation of the Violence Against Women Initiative projects under the Government's Crime Reduction Programme is due to be finished in the summer. The first findings will be published by the Home Office from the autumn onwards.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to ensure that individuals employed to look after children register as childminders with the relevant social services. [107479]
Maria Eagle: Since September 2001, all childminders looking after children aged under eight have been required by law to register with the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Ofsted takes appropriate enforcement action if unregistered childminding is found.
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Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to change the arrangement that allowed child carers to obtain a free Criminal Records Bureau check. [108603]
Maria Eagle: The current subsidy, which enables child care workers to obtain free Criminal Records Bureau checks, will continue until we have completed a review of all the charges that child care providers have to meet as part of the Ofsted registration arrangements. We plan to consult on any changes that are proposed as a result of this review.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) value and (b) nature is of each contract his Department has with Capita. [110057]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department has a number of contracts with Capita for a range of different services. These are as follows:
This contract is for the administration of the Teachers' Pensions Scheme. The current contract worth £70 million over seven years expires at the end of September 2003. The Department has just awarded Capita a new contract from October 2003, also for seven years, with a value of £62 million.
This contract is to develop and deliver the Connexions Card. It is a seven-year contract, with an option to extend for a further three years, with a value of £109.7 million.
Consultancy Framework Contracts
Framework contracts provide for general management consultancy and consultancy support for LEA interventions. Information on the use and value is not held centrally.
Executive Recruitment and Search
A framework contract to provide executive recruitment services. Information on the use and value is not held centrally.
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the first children's centres to be established. [108290]
Maria Eagle: We expect the first children's centres to be announced in June 2003. These early designations will be existing settings that already meet the core offer for children's centres now. Local authorities will submit their strategic plans for rolling out children's centres by 15 October and we expect further announcements to follow throughout the autumn.
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills where early excellence centres have been set up; and if he will make a statement. [108805]
Maria Eagle [holding answer 11 April 2003]: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
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Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the benefits of Sure Start programmes; what reviews of outcomes have taken place; and if he will make a statement. [107818]
Maria Eagle: A major evaluation of Sure Start began in January 2001. It will examine the impact of Sure Start on children, families and communities, both in the short, medium and long-term by tracking a sample of 8,000 children and their families over time. The first information on impact and effectiveness will become available over the next 12 to 18 months.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how long Surestart programmes for children last. [107819]
Maria Eagle: Sure Start local programmes have guaranteed funding up to March 2006 and there is an in principle commitment to support them until 201314. This would mean each local programme is funded for a period of 10 years. Over this time we expect good practice developed in these programmes to be disseminated widely so that mainstream services become more responsive to the needs of young children and their families.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have benefited from (a) a Homestart and (b) a Surestart programme in the last three years, broken down by local authority. [107820]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many places (a) in pre-school playgroups, (b) in private nurseries, (c) with childminders, (d) in holiday play schemes and (e) in after school clubs were provided in each LEA area at 31 March (i) 1999 and (ii) 2002. [105971]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 12 March 2003, Official Report, column 301W, on Sure Start, what the values of (a) [x] and (b) [y] in the technical note are; and if he will make a statement. [104373]
Maria Eagle: In the published technical note on Sure Start's Public Service Agreement, x and y have been used to denote that percentages have not yet been set but will be when baseline information becomes available. For example, as the technical note indicates, the target per cent. increase in the proportion of young children in Sure Start local programme and Children's Centre areas with normal levels of personal, social and emotional development will be set by the end of 200304 when the first data from the Foundation Stage Profile becomes available.
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