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Junior Attendance Centres

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many junior attendance centres have not been inspected within the last three years; [126574]

(2) what plans he has to introduce a national inspectorate of junior attendance centres. [126675]

Paul Goggins: All Junior Attendance Centres have been inspected in the last three years and the programme is up to date. We have an Inspectorate of five people, and there are no current plans to change this.

Juvenile Detentions

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juvenile detentions have been made in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry over each of the past five years. [125356]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 15 July 2003]: The information requested is contained in the table.

Statistics for 2002 will be available in the autumn.

Number of persons aged 10–17 years sentenced to immediate custody⁽⁹²⁾ for all offences in the West Midlands, 1997 to 2001

	West Midlands police force area	Of which: Coventry
1997	636	68
1998	646	82
1999	701	70
2000	710	86
2001	811	105

⁽⁹²⁾ Secure training order, detention and training order, young offender institution, detention under Sec 53 C&YPA 1933 and detention under sees 90–92 PCCA(S)A 2000.

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Kirkham and Wealston Prisons

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the number of prisoners absconding from Kirkham and Wealston Prisons. [125561]

Paul Goggins: Significant efforts are being made across the prisons estate to reduce the number of absconds. This includes improvements to prisons' physical conditions, and the provision of better regimes with more purposeful activity.

At Kirkham prison an Abscond Prevention Group is examining and introducing a range of measures including: improved fence patrols; the feasibility of infra-red cameras; improvements to the establishment's intelligence systems with additional staff being used in the sifting and collation of intelligence data; and improved communications with the police.

At Wealstun, lighting and cameras covering the establishment's boundaries have been increased and staff are also working to ensure that reception procedures are strengthened, with induction interviews taking place prior to the prisoner's first night at the prison, in order to help prisoners settle in as quickly as is possible. Efforts are also being made to replace any old or sub-standard accommodation.

London Probation Service

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the London Probation Service in making contact with victims in relation to their guidelines; and what recent discussions he has had with the service; [125369]

(2) in what proportion of cases the (a) Victim Liaison Service and (b) London Probation Service made contact with the victims and families of victims on time in 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [125370]

Paul Goggins: National figures show that in the period April 2002-March 2003, 82 per cent. of victims of offenders who had committed serious sexual or violent offences were contacted within the eight week target, compared with 63 per cent. for the previous year. In London, 46 per cent. of victims were contacted within the eight week target compared with 22 per cent. the previous year; London Probation Area's performance for the first quarter of this year has shown a significant improvement, rising to 72 per cent. for January to March 2003. Part of the reason for this improvement is the resolution of difficulties in the London Probation Area receiving victim contact information promptly.

The national target is for 85 per cent. of cases to be dealt with within the eight week deadline. I myself have not held any recent discussions with London Probation Area.

Mario Clarke

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the identification of Mario Clarke's killer. [126366]

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Caroline Flint: The Metropolitan police have said that their investigation of this murder is active and ongoing. Several lines of inquiry are being followed. At present the identity of Mario Clarke's killer is still unknown.

Marsham Street Building

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the inquiry into the timber used on the construction site at 2 Marsham Street has been completed; and if he will place a copy of the report from that inquiry in the Library. [126070]

Fiona Mactaggart: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Guildford (Sue Doughty) on 9 July 2003, Official Report, column 830W. Outstanding information on the purchase of plywood from Indonesia and Brazil remains to be provided by the developer. When the investigation into the Greenpeace allegations was announced it was stated that any lessons learnt would be brought to the attention of the Sub-Committee of Green Ministers. I have asked for the issues raised to be placed on the agenda at the next possible occasion.

Metropolitan Police Recruitment

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police recruitment into the Metropolitan police. [125504]

Ms Blears: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that since 1 April 2003 the Metropolitan police have recruited 765 officers against a recruitment target for the year of 3,440. Of the 765 recruited so far 21.5 per cent. were female and 11.6 per cent. were from visible Ethnic Minorities. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) currently has approximately 1,250 vacancies.

About 5,500 applications are under consideration. Successful candidates from these applications will meet the MPS requirement for recruits to March 2004.

Miscarriages of Justice

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the support available for families of victims of miscarriages of justice. [124512]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 8 July 2003]: Support from the Home Office is equally available to all prisoners' families and is not affected by any allegation that an individual is a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

The Home Office no longer has responsibility for reviewing the convictions of prisoners. The Home Secretary's powers to consider alleged miscarriages of justice came to an end on 31 March 1997. These were replaced by new powers vested in an independent body, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has a main responsibility under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 to review suspected miscarriages of justice, and to refer a conviction, verdict, finding or sentence to the appropriate court of appeal when the Commission considers that there is a real possibility that it would not be upheld. Any family member can apply to the Commission on behalf of someone believed to be a victim of a miscarriage of justice. (The Commission will

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not generally review a case until the normal appeal process is exhausted). We would carefully explain this to family members writing to the Home Office and redirect them to the Commission.

The Home Office is funding the Royal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau's Miscarriages of Justice Project which supports prisoners, who have had their convictions referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Commission, in the period leading up to their release and for up to six months after. This service would extend to providing advice on Family/Relationship issues.

An individual whose conviction is overturned may be eligible for statutory or ex gratia compensation for a wrongful conviction and can apply to the Home Office. Both schemes are concerned only with the suffering of the victim of the wrongful conviction, so neither makes provision for compensation for the suffering of any relative or other third party. However, in deciding the amount of any compensation award made to an individual, the assessor will take into account the costs of prison visits and of any family campaign to get the conviction quashed.

Mobile Communications

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of that part of the Stewart Report, referring to TETRA masts, which expressed concern of possible health effects from signal modulations at frequencies close to 16Hz. [126705]

Caroline Flint: The Stewart Report did not refer to Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) masts. It focused on mobile phones and only listed TETRA as one of the existing standards for mobile communications.

There are no health concerns specific to TETRA masts. Operators must ensure that emissions from radio masts are below international health and safety guidelines in areas accessible to the public. Independent checks have confirmed that this is indeed the case for TETRA masts used for the new police radio communications system.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the National Radiological Protection Board Report of July 2001 and on the actions he is taking on its health recommendation. [126706]

Caroline Flint: Following the concerns raised in the Stewart report on "Mobile phones and health" about amplitude-modulated signals, we took expert advice from the National Radiological Protection Board's Independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR). Their report on "Possible health effects from Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA)" concludes that

"current evidence suggests that it is unlikely that the special features from TETRA mobile terminals and repeaters pose a hazard to health".

The AGNIR report also confirms that

"it is notable that the signals from TETRA base stations are not pulsed".

The AGNIR experts made recommendations for long-term research to address remaining areas of uncertainty. We have taken this forward with an

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extensive research programme. Results to date show that TETRA technology has no effect on calcium exchanges in cells—the main concern of the Stewart report. They also confirm that all Airwave equipment fully complies with international health and safety guidelines. We have recently announced a £5 million health monitoring study of police Airwave users. Regularly updated information on the Home Office research programme is available at http://www. homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/tetra.html.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how mobile communications will be funded after the Government's initial commitment to the TETRA programme. [126707]

Caroline Flint: Airwave, the new radio communications system for the police service, is based on Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) technology. The Airwave framework arrangement under the Private Finance Initiative is in place until 2019. The Government initially committed £550 million of central funding to the Airwave programme, which is also funded locally by police authorities. Options for funding Airwave in the longer term are under review.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the findings of the audit of TETRA base stations carried out by the Radiocommunications Agency. [126708]

Caroline Flint: Airwave, the new radio communications system for the police service, is based on Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) technology. On the recommendation of independent experts, we asked the Radio-communications Agency to carry out audits of Airwave base stations, as they already do for mobile phones masts. 12 audits have now been completed. The results confirm that emission levels from Airwave base stations are hundreds of times less than international health and safety guidelines in areas accessible to the public. Results will shortly be available on the Radio-communications Agency website.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from chief constables and police authorities on the affordability of TETRA Communication. [126900]

Caroline Flint: We have not received any representations from Chief Constables and Police Authorities on the affordability of Airwave, the new radio communications system for the police service. £550 million have been made available from central funding for Airwave.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have reported ill effects from using the TETRA Communication system. [126901]

Caroline Flint: Fewer than 10 police officers have formally reported ill effects they attribute to the use of Airwave, the new radio communications system for the Police Service. No police officers have taken sick leave attributed to the use of Airwave.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken on the biological effects on animals close to TETRA masts. [126911]

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Caroline Flint: We are unaware of any research on the possible biological effects of Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) masts on animals close to the masts. Neither the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (who produced the Stewart Report on "Mobile Phones and Health") nor the National Radiological Protection Boards' Independent Advisory Group on non-Ionising Radiation (who produced a follow-up report on "Possible Health Effects from TETRA") have suggested that such research should be undertaken.

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