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HOME DEPARTMENT

Air Guns

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to reduce the number of crimes carried out with the use of air guns. [119273]

Caroline Flint: The Government are determined to tackle the increasing problem of air weapon misuse. We are increasing from 14 years to 17 the age at which a person can own an air weapon and introducing further controls on their use without adult supervision. In addition, we are introducing a new offence of having an air weapon in a public place without lawful cause or reasonable excuse. These measures will mean that any unsupervised young person seen with an air weapon can be arrested before any further offence can be committed. In addition, any adult who has one in public may be asked to explain himself and, if he does not have a good reason for having the weapon, arrested.

Asylum Seekers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of asylum seekers in detention have been assessed as having a mental disorder. [118779]

Beverley Hughes: This information is not held centrally.

Drug Addicts

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions Ministers have had with drug addicts being treated with (a) methadone, (b) subutex and (c) naltrexone. [119263]

Caroline Flint: Ministers regularly visit drug agencies, family groups and organisations including individuals being treated with methadone, subutex and naltrexone, both in their constituency and across the country.

Ministers use these opportunities to engage directly with drug misusers to gain better understanding of their experiences.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many car offences are estimated to have been committed by drug addicts in 2002. [119265]

Caroline Flint: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as vehicle crime, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many shop-lifting offences are estimated to have been committed by drug addicts in 2002. [119266]

Caroline Flint: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as shoplifting, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.

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Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Government will spend on drug treatments in 2003–04; and what proportion of this will be spent on methadone maintenance programmes. [118635]

Caroline Flint: Direct annual expenditure on drug treatment will increase to £438 million in 2003–04 from £367 million in 2002–03.

Spend on methadone maintenance in 2003–04 will be determined by Drug Action Teams and Primary Care Trusts on the basis of local need, in line with the National Treatment Agency's Models of Care framework which includes prescribing services.

In 2002–03 The National Treatment Agency have estimated that the proportion of direct annual expenditure allocated to prescribing services including methadone was 26 per cent. of total treatment spend.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what visits Home Office Ministers have made to (a) Sweden and the (b) Netherlands to look at drugs treatment in the last five years. (119329)

Caroline Flint [holding answer 13 June 2003]: My hon. Friend the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary with responsibility for co-ordination of National Anti-Drugs Strategy (Bob Ainsworth) had informal discussions with a Dutch official last autumn to inform him about the operation of the Dutch coffee shop policy. No other Home Office Minister has been to Sweden or the Netherlands to look at drugs treatment there during the last five years. However, Home Office Ministers are very familiar with drug policies and practice in those countries through frequent contacts with ministerial colleagues there and through advice from officials and others who keep in close touch with developments.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refusals to take drug tests in police stations there have been in the first five months of 2003. [119327]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 13 June 2003]: The latest published data, covering the period from July 2001 to 31 October 2002, from the nine police stations in the drug testing pilot programme show that of the 6,413 tests conducted less than 2.5 per cent. resulted in refusal or invalid tests. The refusal rate during this period was 0.76 per cent. Data for the first five months of 2003 is being processed but the indications are that the refusal rate remains low.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what visits have been made to Sweden by Home Office Drug Directorate and National Treatment Agency officials in the last five years. [119328]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 13 June 2003]: The Home Office Drugs Strategy Directorate and the National Treatment Agency have been in existence only since 2001. No official visits have been made by staff of either organisation to Sweden since then. However, Home Office and National Treatment Agency officials are very familiar with drug policies and practice in Sweden through frequent formal and informal contacts

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with Swedish officials and practitioners in a variety of international forums, attendance at national and international conference at which Swedish representatives have spoken and through research into the approaches of other jurisdictions carried out in the course of their everyday work.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what treatment is being given to the drug addicts in treatment in the UK broken down by method. [119330]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 13 June 2003]: Treatment information from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases for six months ending March 2001. A breakdown is provided in the table. Data for 2002/03 are currently being collated.

Type of agency	Percentage of reported agency episodes
General practice:	5.3
Private
NHS funded
Police surgeon:	0.5
Community based drug service:	84.0
Statutory
Non-statutory
Hospital in-patient treatment:	1.0
Statutory
Private
Non-statutory
Hospital out-patient treatment:	0.1
Statutory
Private
Drug dependency unit (DDU) in-patient:	3.0
Drug dependency unit (DDU) out-patient:
Residential rehabilitation:	2.3
Statutory
Private
Non-statutory
Day care service:	1.2
Statutory
Private
Non-statutory
Other:	3.0

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug addicts treated in 2001 were in employment 12 months later in (a) Bassetlaw and (b) the UK. [119331]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 13 June 2003]: The National Treatment Agency do not currently collect data on the employment status of drug addicts 12 months after treatment.

However, Progress2Work is a Department of Work and Pensions led initiative which commenced in April 2002. It aims to help people with a history of illegal drug misuse to engage in mainstream employment provision and to secure and sustain jobs.

At the end of January 2003, of the 1,603 starts nationally on Progress2Work some 279 (17 per cent.) of clients attained a job outcome (including supported employment). A further 404 (25 per cent.) have gone

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into other outcomes such as Jobcentre Plus mainstream provision and training. It is expected that the proportion of job outcomes will rise during 2003.

Entitlement Card Consultation

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses to the entitlement card consultation were received via the Stand website; and how many were (a) in favour and (b) against. [116170]

Beverley Hughes: 5,031 emails have been received via the Stand website. 4,856 expressed views against an entitlement card scheme, 44 expressed views in favour. A further 131 contained obvious false information, for example a made-up email address or were judged highly likely to be duplicates.

EU Constitution

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on the draft EU constitution. [118756]

Caroline Flint: I have received written representations from hon. Members both in their own capacity and on behalf of the public.

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