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7 May 2003 : Column 757W—continued

Prison Service

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Prison Service officers in the North West are acting as principal officers; and how long each has served in that temporary post. [111571]

Hilary Benn: The number of Prison Service senior officers in the North West acting as principal officers is 27.

	Number
Up to 1 year	14
Between 1 and 2 years	8
Over 2 years	5

Detail of how long each has served in that temporary post is provided in the table.

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Senior officer	Period
1	3 days
2	11 days
3	1 month
4	1 month
5	2 months
6	3 months
7	3 months
8	6 months
9	7 months
10	7 months
11	8 months
12	9 months
13	10 months
14	10 months
15	13 months
16	15 months
17	18 months
18	18 months
19	19 months
20	21 months
21	21 months
22	22 months
23	25 months
24	26 months
25	28 months
26	32 months
27	40 months

Pub-watch Scheme

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support his Department has offered to promote the Pub-watch scheme. [111204]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Government welcome the contribution that Pub-watch schemes can make in helping to tackle alcohol-related violence and disorder. The importance of that contribution was reflected in the Home Office action plan, "Tackling Alcohol Related Crime, Disorder and Nuisance", published in August 2000. The plan highlights how such schemes, by disseminating information about known individuals or groups of people, can help to keep troublemakers from pubs and clubs, as well as provide early warning to bar staff, door staff and the police of instances of possible disorder.

The Home Office does not provide direct financial support to Pub-watch schemes.

Road Accident Victims

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding is available within his Department for helping the victims of serious road accidents; and if he will make a statement. [109577]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Home Office is providing funding for victims of serious road incidents in a number of ways.

The police are able to use their general grant settlement to deploy family liaison officers for serious road incidents. The resource made available is a local operational matter. However, since this April, family liaison officers are routinely deployed at fatal incidents or those which seem likely to result in a fatality. In carrying out their duties, family liaison officers issue a copy of the Brake guide "Advice for bereaved families

7 May 2003 : Column 759W

and friends following a death on the road". In 2003–04, the Home Office is providing Brake with a grant of £46,752 to ensure its production and distribution.

The core funding provided to Victim Support allows them to provide a Witness Service in all Crown and magistrates courts. If a road traffic incident involves a court case, the victim or their family can access this support.

The White Paper, "Justice for All" included a proposal to extend specialist support for road traffic victims. Pilot projects are currently being set up to test the most effective ways of providing support.

Secondments

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been seconded to his Department from the private sector, in each case listing (a) from which organisation and (b) dates of secondments in (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03. [108099]

Hilary Benn: Secondments are part of the Interchange initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All sectors of the economy are involved: Voluntary, Education, Health, Public and Private. Interchange provides opportunities for civil servants to learn new skills, widen their experience and develop ideas. It also brings in skills and experiences from other sectors.

Details of staff seconded from the private sector to the Home Department are listed in the table. Data for 2002–03 is provisional. Final figures will be available later in the year.

Name of organisation	Number of staff	Duration
	April 2001 to March 2002
Not listed	1	Not listed
BT	1	15 March 2002to 4 March 2003
	April 2002 to March 2003
BT	1	15 March 2002 to present
Bates Wells & Braithwaite Solicitors	1	27 January 2003 to present

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been seconded to his Department from NGOs in each case listing (a) from which organisation and (b) dates of secondments in each year since 1997–98. [108100]

Hilary Benn: Secondments are part of the Interchange initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All sectors of the economy are involved. Voluntary, Education, Health, Public and Private. Interchange provides opportunities for civil servants to learn new skills, widen their experience and develop ideas. It also brings in skills and experiences from other sectors.

Full details of organisations and dates are not held centrally. Available data on inward secondments is listed in the table. Data for 2002–03 is not yet available.

7 May 2003 : Column 760W

	Total number of staff on inward secondment to the Home Office
1997–98	20
1998–99	25
1999–2000	30
2000–01	21
2001–02	44

Sexual Assault (Support Services)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Home Office budget for rape counselling and support services was in financial year 2002–03. [110719]

Hilary Benn: At present the Home Office does not directly fund rape counselling services. During the financial year 2002–03, the Department paid a grant of £302,000 to the Rape Crisis Federation (RCF), an umbrella body for a network of some 40 local rape crisis centres in England and Wales. This grant enabled the Federation to provide a range of support services to its member groups, but was not intended to provide direct services to rape victims.

The Department's main programme for providing support services to victims of crime, including victims of rape and sexual assault, is through its grant in aid to the organisation Victim Support. Total Home Office funding to Victim Support during 2002–03 was £29.3 million. It is not possible to put a precise figure on how much of this funding was spent on services to victims of rape and sexual assault.

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Home Office will publish the comparative study of sexual assault referral centres carried out by London Metropolitan University. [110721]

Hilary Benn: As part of the work conducted under the Crime Reduction Programme Violence against Women Initiative, the Home Office commissioned Professor Liz Kelly from London Metropolitan University to evaluate the contribution of three established Sexual Assault Referral Centres towards supporting victims of rape and sexual assault and reducing attrition in the criminal justice system. An overview of the research is due to be published in the autumn of 2003.

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Home Office's preferred model is for rape counselling and support services. [110726]

Hilary Benn: The Home Office does not currently have a 'preferred model' for the provision of rape counselling and support services.

This objective may be achieved through the use of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs); rape crisis and other counselling and support services; national or local telephone helplines; or some combination of these.

Travellers

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the timescale for introducing the proposals to provide

7 May 2003 : Column 761W

the police with increased powers to move on unauthorised traveller encampments which were announced on 5 July 2002. [110657]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 1 May 2003]: We will bring forward legislation when parliamentary time allows.

HEALTH

Breast Cancer

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government is doing to ensure that women with breast cancer are not waiting longer than the four weeks between being told that they need radiotherapy and starting their treatment. [110744]

Ms Blears: A waiting time target of a maximum one month from diagnosis to first treatment was introduced for all cases of breast cancer in 2001. In the last quarter—October to December 2002—96.5 per cent. of women received their first treatment within a month of diagnosis with breast cancer. Separate data on waiting times for radiotherapy are not collected centrally. In order to tackle radiotherapy waiting times, we are making unprecedented investment in new radiotherapy facilities, streamlining care processes through the cancer services collaborative and working to best utilise the current workforce and to increase the number of staff in post and in training.

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