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7 May 2003 : Column 753W—continued
Intoxicating Substances
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Government propose to take following the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 1995 that cigarette lighter refills be limited in size to about 25ml; and if he will make a statement. [111187]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Department of Trade and Industry pursued the Advisory Council's recommendation with the industry. Some manufacturers voluntarily introduced a 25ml gas lighter refill, but progress towards an industry-wide agreement to reduce the refills to a maximum size of 25ml was hampered by anti-competitive considerations and practical difficulties.
In view of the difficulties encountered in trying to implement the recommendation, the Government decided to tackle the problem by an alternative means. It accordingly introduced the Cigarette Lighter Refill (Safety) Regulations 1999, which prohibits the sale or supply of lighter refills containing butane gas to anyone under 18 years.
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Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there have been under the Intoxicating Substance (Supply) Act 1985 in each year since 1992. [111188]
Hilary Benn: The information requested is given in the table for the period 1992 to 2000. These are the latest figures available at the present time. The data are from the Home Office Court Appearances Database.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 4 |
| 1993 | 4 |
| 1994 | 6 |
| 1995 | 0 |
| 1996 | 3 |
| 1997 | 6 |
| 1998 | 6 |
| 1999 | 5 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Iraqi Nationals
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi nationals have been granted exceptional leave to remain in the UK since 1991. [109601]
Beverley Hughes: The table shows the number of Iraqi asylum applicants, excluding dependants, granted exceptional leave to remain in the UK between January 1991 and December 2002. These statistics relate to initial decisions only and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
| Cases considered under normal procedures(18) | Backlog clearance exercise(19) | Exceptional | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial decisions(20) | Grantedasylum | Granted ELR | Refused | Grantedasylum | Refused under backlog criteria(21) | leave granted when applicant had not applied for asylum(22) | |||
| 1991 | 175 | 45 | 115 | 15 | — | — | 250 | ||
| 1992 | 1,440 | 190 | 1,210 | 40 | — | — | 185 | ||
| 1993 | 515 | 185 | 300 | 30 | — | — | 990 | ||
| 1994 | 645 | 380 | 220 | 45 | — | — | 620 | ||
| 1995 | 795 | 570 | 175 | 50 | — | — | 205 | ||
| 1996 | 665 | 470 | 135 | 60 | — | — | 380 | ||
| 1997 | 665 | 255 | 295 | 110 | — | — | 205 | ||
| 1998 | 1,100 | 510 | 500 | 90 | — | — | 110 | ||
| 1999 | 745 | 315 | 320 | 100 | 5 | * | 75 | ||
| 2000 | 5,530 | 845 | 2,455 | 2,220 | 10 | * | 40 | ||
| 2001(23) | 8,880 | 815 | 1,855 | 6,210 | — | — | 20 | ||
| 2002(23) | 11,785 | 700 | 8,130 | 2,955 | — | — | n/a | ||
(17) Figures rounded to the nearest five, with * = one or two.
(18) Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria.
(19) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog.
(20) Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
(21) Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
(22) Exceptional leave granted in view of internal situation in Iraq when applicant had not applied for asylum, excluding dependants
(23) Provisional data.
Information on initial decisions on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period up to March 2003.
Juvenile Crime
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles were arrested
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for (a) robbery and (b) other offences defined as street crime in (i) London, (ii) Manchester and (iii) Leeds in each month in 2002. [109606]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Statistics are collected on arrests for notifiable offences quarterly, by offence group and police force area (pfa), and are published on a financial year basis. The table shows data for the notifiable offence group of robbery, for the period 2001–02 by
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quarter, for the pfas Metropolitan police, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. Data for 2002–03 will be published in the autumn.
Street crime is generally referred to as the offences of robbery and snatch theft. Snatch thefts are not separately identifiable from other offences covered under the theft and handling stolen goods offence group.
| Police force area (pfa) | April to June 2001 | July to September 2001 | October to December 2001 | January to March 2002 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Manchester | 296 | 275 | 271 | 252 | 1,094 |
| Metropolitan police(24) | 1,796 | 1,174 | 1,497 | 1,489 | 5,956 |
| West Yorkshire | 198 | 177 | 192 | 209 | 776 |
(24) Includes City of London
Mersey Tunnels Police
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had about an agreement between the Police Complaints Authority and the Mersey Tunnels Police. [110560]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There have been no such discussions.
Plastic Bottles
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received in favour of increasing the use of plastic bottles in bars and clubs from (a) the police, (b) environmental agencies and (c) other interested parties; and if he will make a statement; [108059]
- (2) what recent discussions he has held with representatives of (a) the British Beer and Pub Association and (b) other organisations to promote the use of plastic bottles; and if he will make a statement; [108058]
(3) what discussions (a) he has had and (b) his officials have had with other Departments on promoting the use of plastic bottles in bars and clubs; and if he will make a statement. [108060]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have not held any recent discussions with representatives of the British Beer and Pub Association or other organisations on what can be done to promote the use of plastic bottles. Nor have I received any representations in favour of increasing the use of plastic bottles in bars and clubs from the police, environmental agencies or other interested parties. But representations have been received from one individual, advocating a switch from glass to plastic bottles in the United Kingdom licensed trade to minimise the risk of glass-related injuries taking place.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend for Harrow West, (Mr. Thomas) on 28 March 2003, Official Report, column 451W. We remain concerned about the high level of injuries that occur when glasses and bottles are used as weapons in drink-related situations in and outside licensed premises and other drinking establishments, and we intend to see that this problem is effectively tackled. The Licensing Bill Guidance that has been published in draft by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will include a range of conditions that a licensing authority could impose on a premises to address violence of this form.
My officials are working closely with the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on their study to produce a national strategy for reducing the harm associated with alcohol misuse. The study, which was announced on 19 July 2002, is paying particular attention to the issue of alcohol-related violence, and views have been sought and obtained from a wide variety of organisations and individuals.
Police
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what performance data is gathered by the Police Standards Unit from local police forces. [109515]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Police Standards Unit itself does not gather performance data from local police forces directly. The Unit does assemble and make use of performance information, for instance on crime rates, detection rates and resource usage, which is collected from forces by other parts of the Home Office. The Unit also makes use of some data collected by the Association of Chief Police Officers (for instance on forensics performance).
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress achieved in developing the Police Performance Assessment Framework. [109600]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As stated in the National Policing Plan 2002–06, the Home Office, in partnership with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Association of Police Authorities (APA) and the other key stakeholders, is developing a balanced performance assessment framework for policing—the "Policing Performance Assessment Framework" (PPAF). When completed, this will facilitate the monitoring of policing performance across six performance areas (domains): citizen focus; reducing crime; investigating crime; promoting public safety; providing assistance and resource usage.
Before the full PPAF is introduced, an interim assessment framework is being used to compare policing performance. The National Policing Plan 2002–06 details 13 interim performance indicators against which
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performance is being assessed. The report "Police Performance Monitoring 2001/02" published in February 2002 contains further information.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian police staff based in Shrewsbury Police Station were subjected to (i) verbal and (ii) physical attacks in the last year. [109661]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The requested details are not collected centrally. Available information is as follows:
| Police officers | Civilian police staff | |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal assaults | 0 | 0 |
| Serious assaults | 18 | 1 |
| Less serious assaults | 234 | 19 |
| Total | 252 | 20 |
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what discussions he has had with (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) senior police officers in Hackney and Havering regarding the loss of eight police officers from the London Borough of Havering to the London Borough of Hackney; [110715]
- (2) if he will make a statement on the loss of eight police officers from the London Borough of Havering to the London Borough of Hackney; [110716]
(3) when he next intends to review police numbers in the London Boroughs of (a) Havering and (b) Hackney. [110714]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Decisions about the allocation of resources, including police officers, to the London Boroughs are matters for the Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has regular meetings with the Commissioner (Sir John Stevens QPM) at which a range of policing issues are discussed, including police numbers. I understand from the Commissioner that he and the MPA are committed to achieving borough workforce targets in all boroughs as soon as practicable.
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