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1 Sept 2003 : Column 977W—continued
Firearms
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms and how much ammunition have been surrendered since January (a) in the West Midlands and (b) in England and Wales. [126439]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, information on the number of guns handed in to the police during the amnesty in April is contained in the table.
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| Prohibited firearms(90) | Non-prohibited guns(91) | Total number of guns | Total no of rounds of ammunition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Midlands | 179 | 1,086 | 1,265 | 53,190 |
| England and Wales | 6,249 | 34,258 | 40,507 | 895,274 |
(90) In the West Midlands this included one fully automatic weapon, 168 handguns, six prohibited rifles, one prohibited shotgun and three other prohibited firearms.
(91) In the West Midlands this included 38 non-prohibited rifles, 412 imitations, 475 air guns, 145 shot guns, and 16 other non-prohibited weapons.
I placed full details of the weapons handed in to the police during the recent amnesty in the Library on 15 July 2003.
Flight Attendants
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 667W, on flight attendants, for what reasons flight attendants are not required to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau check; and what plans his Department has to require flight attendants to have such checks. [124027]
Paul Goggins: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) issues Standard Disclosures in respect of positions falling within the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and in the case of Enhanced Disclosures those positions also falling within s115 Police Act 1997. Flight attendants are not explicitly provided for in either of these two pieces of legislation. Nevertheless, depending upon the exact duties of individual flight attendants, they may on a case by case basis fall within the definition of a 'regulated position'. However, due to the nature of the organisations for which they work, there is no statutory obligation for them to be checked against the lists maintained by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills of those individuals considered unsuitable to work with children. Therefore, there is no requirement in legislative terms for flight attendants to obtain a CRB Standard or Enhanced Disclosure.
The CRB is not responsible for imposing and enforcing requirements for obtaining CRB Disclosures. This responsibility lies with the Government Department or licensing/regulatory authority that regulates or has a supervisory role over the industry sector concerned.
Home Detention Curfew
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the prisoners under home detention curfew (a) broke their curfew and (b) re-offended while under curfew for each month (i) in 2002 and (ii) to date in 2003; and if he will make a statement. [117686]
Paul Goggins: The number of prisoners subject to the home detention curfew scheme has increased significantly over the past year as a result of the decision to increase from 60 to 90 days the period of time prisoners serving a sentence of 12 months and over spend on the scheme and by encouraging governors to place more prisoners on the scheme where it is safe to do
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so. The following table shows the average number of prisoners on the scheme every month from January 2002 to April 2003.
The table also shows the number of prisoners subject to the home detention curfew scheme, who:
- (i) have breached the conditions of their curfew, pursuant to section 38A(1)(a) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, as reported to the Prison Service by the electronic monitoring contractors. (This refers to prisoners who have been absent from their curfew address, or have intentionally damaged their electronic personal identification device); or
(ii) are reported to the Prison Service as having been cautioned, convicted or who are awaiting prosecution for an offence committed while they were subject to the home detention curfew scheme.
| Month | Number of offenders on the HDC scheme (at the end of the last full week of each month) | Breaches of Curfew reported to the Prison Service | Offenders reported as having committed a further offence while subject to HDC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | |||
| January | 1,672 | 54 | 7 |
| February | 1,707 | 47 | 11 |
| March | 1,965 | 58 | 14 |
| April | 2,103 | 64 | 12 |
| May | 2,300 | 88 | 26 |
| June | 2,327 | 123 | 18 |
| July | 2,292 | 127 | 26 |
| August | 2,410 | 127 | 28 |
| September | 2,384 | 119 | 20 |
| October | 2,431 | 125 | 24 |
| November | 2,584 | 125 | 26 |
| December | 3,097 | 156 | 21 |
| 2003 | |||
| January | 3,055 | 155 | 37 |
| February | 3,019 | 142 | 32 |
| March | 3,128 | 163 | 35 |
| April | 3,135 | 179 | 35 |
Identity Card Scheme
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on police man hours of the implementation of the proposed identity card scheme. [126739]
Beverley Hughes: The consultation paper on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud discussed some potential efficiency savings for the police in being able to identify people quicker. An example would be recording details of people questioned and eliminated from inquiries if they were carrying a card at the time and gave their consent for it to checked. The Government have ruled out a card scheme where it would be compulsory to carry a card and therefore there would be circumstances where efficiencies such as these could not be realised.
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the Scottish Executive to discuss the introduction of identity cards. [126571]
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Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has maintained close contact with the First Minister dating from before the publication of the consultation paper on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud. However, no formal meetings have been held.
Home Office officials met officials in the Scottish Executive to discuss issues of particular relevance to the devolved Administration, prior to the publication of the consultation paper, and this contact has continued.
Industrial Illness
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with other European states involved in the pan-European PMR TETRA network roll-out on (a) standardising guidelines for public safety, (b) sharing reports relating to reported incidents of industrial illness through use of the system and (c) contractual changes in the roll-out programme; and if he will make a statement. [124957]
Ms Blears [holding answer 10 July 2003]: No TETRA-specific discussions have been held with other European states on any of these topics.
A number of European radio networks such as Airwave, the new radio system for the Police Service in Great Britain, are based on the TETRA technology. However, these networks are not interconnected and there is no pan-European TETRA network.
Public safety guidelines on radio systems are not technology-specific. The EC recommends the use of International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) health and safety guidelines (Council Recommendation of 12 July 1999 on the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields, 0 Hz to 300 GHz). Network operators in the UK are required to comply with these guidelines. Independent checks of Airwave equipment have confirmed that it is fully compliant with ICNIRP guidelines.
TETRA network operators and equipment manufacturers would need to implement any changes in health and safety regulations. Any contractual impact would depend on the nature of those changes.
Inquests (Cleveland)
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many days in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) up to the last day of June 2003 (i) the Coroner, (ii) the Deputy Coroner and (iii) the Assistant Deputy Coroner for Cleveland sat on inquests; and what the regional average numbers of sitting days are for sitting coroners. [126355]
Paul Goggins: The information requested in respect of the Teesside Coroner's District is as set out in the table. I understand that additional sitting days were scheduled but not used where the inquests were not then ready to proceed. Dates for the opening of inquests only are excluded.
Data on the national and regional numbers of coroners' sitting days are not held centrally.
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| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 (to end June) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coroner | 83 | 75 | 40 |
| Deputy Coroner | 27 | 27 | 20 |
| Assistant Deputy Coroner | 0 | 18 | 10 |
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been between deaths and inquests in Cleveland; what assessment he has made of the reasons for delays; and what the average time was in the other coroners' areas in the north-east in the last 12 months. [126356]
Paul Goggins: Where inquests have been completed, the average time taken between the report of a death and the inquest in the Teesside coroner's district in 2002 was about 34 weeks. Calculated on the same basis, the average time in other north-east coroners' districts is about 21 weeks, and the average for England and Wales is about 19 weeks.
The Teesside coroner has attributed delays in a temporary loss of available coroner officer support during the year. Some delays are also said to be due to difficulty in obtaining timely post mortem examination reports because of a local shortage of pathologists. The coroner has recently secured some additional pathologist resources.
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