| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Sept 2003 : Column 974W—continued
Enforcement Uplift Project
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional cases he estimates will be brought to courts in London as a result of the enforcement uplift project; and how many of these cases he estimates will be dismissed. [124968]
Paul Goggins: London Probation Area's uplift project is intended to bring their performance on enforcement in line with National Standards so as to ensure that offenders who fail to comply with the requirements of an order or licence are returned to court quickly.
Latest sample monitoring (for the period April to May 2003) shows that London are meeting the enforcement standard in 53 per cent. of relevant cases compared with the national target of 90 per cent. The uplift therefore requires an improvement of 37 percentage points, or an increase of 59 per cent. in the number of cases currently enforced in order to meet the target. This would equate to approximately 250 additional cases per month.
Rigorous enforcement leads to greater compliance, so the number of cases brought to court would reduce as levels of compliance increased.
Based on statistics for London courts for the year 2001 (the latest for which data are available), we would estimate that few if any cases brought before the courts for breach of a community sentence would be dismissed. The 2001 figures for London and for England and Wales are given in the table.
| Community Rehabilitation Order | Supervision Order | Community Punishment Order | Attendance Centre Order | Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Order | Curfew Order | Reparation Order | Action Plan Order | Drug Treatment and Testing Order | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales 2001 | |||||||||
| Proceeded against | 13,487 | 1,148 | 16,268 | 981 | 7,027 | 770 | 176 | 420 | 736 |
| Dismissed | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Withdrawn | 7 | — | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| London Courts 2001 | |||||||||
| Proceeded against | 1,167 | 254 | 1,306 | 81 | 650 | 81 | 28 | 77 | 64 |
| Dismissed | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Withdrawn | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
(89) These data are on the principal offence basis.
Source:
Offending and Criminal Justice Group.
IOS: 402–03.
1 Sept 2003 : Column 975W
Entitlement Cards
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations have been received on entitlement cards from (a) individuals and (b) organisations. [126449]
Beverley Hughes: The consultation period on entitlement cards and identity fraud formally ended on 31 January 2003. We received a total of 4,942 individual responses from companies/organisations and from individual members of the public, broken down as follows:
- Individuals: 4,766
Organisations: 176
These responses have been counted in the same way as other inspired samples or surveys of opinion which by their nature cannot be representative of the population as a whole.
We have been carefully analysing all the responses received and are in the process of preparing a detailed summary of the responses which will be publishing.
Environmental Appraisals
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the Department's policies have been screened for their environmental impact since June 2001; how many environmental appraisals have been conducted, and on what policy issues; and what information has been published about these screenings and appraisals. [124711]
Fiona Mactaggart: No central records are kept of the number of policies for which environmental screenings are undertaken. However, advice on the need to screen policies for environmental impacts is contained on the Department's policy makers checklist and the ministerial website on the Department's Intranet site states that policy submissions should contain a section on environmental considerations.
No environmental appraisals have been conducted on policy issues, although assessments of environmental impacts are undertaken on building developments as required by planning authorities.
EU Directives
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the EU directives implemented by the Department since 8 June 2001. [126602]
Ms Blears: The Home Office has implemented three European Community Directives during the period specified:
1 Sept 2003 : Column 976W
- Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin was implemented in England, Wales and Scotland by SI 2003 1626.
Council Directive 2001/51/EC of 28 June 2001 supplementing the provision of Article 26 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement was implemented on the basis of existing legislation. Notification to this effect was sent to the Commission on 16 January 2003.
European Community Directive 2000–8 on the manufacture and placing on the market of certain substances used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances was implemented by SI 2001 No. 3683.
European Constitution
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) counterparts in the European Union about the legislative competencies covered by the draft European Constitution. [124787]
Caroline Flint: As part of the normal Whitehall process, I and my officials have had regular correspondence with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to discuss all aspects of the Convention, including legislative competences. We have also had regular contact with Member and Accession States to discuss issues arising in the Convention. In line with exemptions 1 and 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it is not the normal practice of Governments to disclose details about internal discussions, or information whose disclosure would harm the conduct of international relations or affairs.
European Stress Awareness Day
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost was of providing European Stress Awareness Day activities for police forces; and how many police forces used Home Office funding for such activities. [125657]
Ms Blears: European Health and Safety Week in October 2002 was focused on psycho-social issues, including stress. The Health and Safety Executive, the sponsoring body, has not retained a complete record of organisations, including police forces, who participated in events supporting the Week's aims. However among forces in England and Wales that received regional or national awards for their activities, the total cost to those forces was estimated to be approximately £10,500. This figure does not include the personnel hours spent organising events, and the abstraction time of those police staff who participated.
Some police forces report using a portion of the funds allocated to them in support of the Strategy for a Healthy Police. They will be required during 2003–04 to evaluate their use of these funds, following guidance issued by the Home Office, to determine whether their initiatives have had a significant impact on sickness absence rates.
Extradition
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of removing
1 Sept 2003 : Column 977W
the requirement for a prima facie case for extradition requests from the United States of America, with regard to the new Extradition Treaty with the United States of America. [125032]
Caroline Flint: The new UK-USA bilateral Extradition Treaty will remove the requirement for the United States to provide prima facie evidence to accompany its extradition requests.
The United Kingdom already disapplies the prima facie requirement for some 40 other countries—the signatories to the European Convention on Extradition—and we see no reason why this facility should not be available to an established democracy such as the USA.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for improving extradition procedures; and what his timetable is for changes. [126817]
Caroline Flint: The Extradition Bill, which will reform the United Kingdom's extradition law, is currently in Committee Stage in Another Place. We hope it will receive Royal Assent later this year.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the new extradition treaty signed with the US on 31 March 2003. [126908]
Caroline Flint: As at 17 July 2003, the Home Office had received 38 letters and e-mails either directly from members of the public or via Members of Parliament. There have also been a number of parliamentary questions on this topic in this House and Another Place.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States in each of the last five years. [124970]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is as follows:
| Number of persons surrendered by UK to USA | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 7 |
| 1999 | 7 |
| 2000 | 9 |
| 2001 | 8 |
| 2002 | 12 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |