---

27 Oct 2003 : Column 118W—continued

Dog Thefts

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of the theft of pet dogs have been recorded in each of the last five years (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each police authority area. [132837]

Ms Blears [holding answer 21 October 2003]: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Extradition

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what level of evidence is required for an extradition order to be granted to extradite an individual (a) to the USA from the UK and (b) from the UK to the USA; and what plans he has to change such requirements. [132775]

Caroline Flint: Extradition relations between the UK and the United States of America are currently governed by the 1976 bilateral treaty (as amended in 1986). The present treaty requires that if the request relates to an accusation case (that is a case where the person has not been convicted) it must be accompanied by:

"A warrant of arrest issued by a judge, magistrate or other competent authority in the territory of the requesting Party and by such evidence as, according to the law of the requested Party, would justify his committal for trial if the offence had been committed in the territory of the requested Party, including evidence that the person requested is the person to whom the warrant of arrest refers".

On 31 March 2003, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and the US Attorney General, John Ashcroft, signed a revised bilateral extradition treaty, which we

27 Oct 2003 : Column 119W

hope to bring into effect shortly. Article 8 of the Treaty provides that the evidential requirements in an accusation case are as follows:

(a) a copy of the warrant or order of arrest issued by a judge or other competent authority;


(b) a copy of the charging document, if any; and


(c) for requests to the United States, such information as would provide a reasonable basis to believe that the person sought committed the offence for which extradition is requested.

Firearms Offences

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many offences were committed in which (a) a firearm and (b) a replica firearm was used in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [133830]

(2) how many crimes involving firearms were recorded in each police force area in 2002–03. [133968]

Caroline Flint: Final figures for firearms offences for 2002–03 will be published in January. While a provisional overall total for England and Wales for recorded crimes involving firearms other than air weapons was published on 16 October, the individual data are still subject to further checking, and so further details are not yet available.

The numbers of recorded crimes involving firearms in England and Wales over the last 10 years are as follows:

	Firearms excluding air weapons	Air weapons
1992	7,243	6,098
1993	7,730	6,337
1994	6,002	7,165
1995	5,866	7,568
1996	6,063	7,813
1997	4,904	7,506
1997–98	4,903	7,902
1998–99	5,209	8,665
1999–2000	6,843	10,103
2000–01	7,470	10,227
2001–02	9,974	12,340

It should be noted that there was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which tended to increase the number of crimes recorded. Also, some police forces implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard in advance of its national implementation on 1 April 2002, and this will also have tended to increase the number of crimes recorded.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of gun crime is in the United Kingdom. [133996]

Caroline Flint: Provisional figures released on 16 October show that the total number of firearms offences in England and Wales in 2002–03 (excluding those involving air weapons) was around 10,250. This represents a 3 per cent. increase from 2001–02. The increase in the preceding year was 35 per cent. In 2002–03 the number of fatal injuries from firearms went down to 80, from 95 in 2001–02.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on gun crime in the United Kingdom. [133997]

27 Oct 2003 : Column 120W

Caroline Flint: Although the incidence of firearms offences is low compared to recorded crime as a whole, too many people are still being killed and injured by firearms. This is unacceptable.

We are taking forward a programme to tackle gun crime on a number of fronts. This includes:

tackling the links to drug supply and crime through initiatives such as the Criminal Justice Interventions Programme and the National Crack Plan;


reducing the supply and availability of firearms;


effective police operations to drive down firearm offences;


tough laws and effective enforcement;


engaging the worst affected communities to address the underlying gun culture.

The firearms amnesty during April this year resulted in 44,000 guns and over a million rounds of ammunition being handed in. This included 5,700 handguns, the weapons most often used in gun crime, and 795 other prohibited weapons.

The Criminal Justice Bill includes proposals for a five-year minimum sentence for anybody convicted of illegally possessing, selling or manufacturing prohibited firearms.

This will send a clear message that we will not tolerate the illegal proliferation of guns within our society.

Gun Trade

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to prevent the illegal trade in guns. [134002]

Caroline Flint: We are taking forward a programme to tackle gun crime on a number of fronts. This includes:

tackling the links to drug supply and crime through initiatives such as the Criminal Justice Interventions Programme and the National Crack Plan;


reducing the supply and availability of firearms;


effective police operations to drive down firearm offences;


tough laws and effective enforcement;


engaging the worst affected communities to address the underlying gun culture.

The firearms amnesty during April this year resulted in 44,000 guns and over a million rounds of ammunition being handed in. This included 5,700 handguns, the weapons most often used in gun crime, and 795 other prohibited weapons.

The Criminal Justice Bill includes proposals for a five-year minimum sentence for anybody convicted of illegally possessing, selling or manufacturing prohibited firearms.

This will send a clear message that we will not tolerate the illegal proliferation of guns within our society.

Gwent Police Authority

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received a recommendation from Gwent Police Authority to issue a certificate of forfeiture for all or part of the pension of an employee whose name has been communicated to him. [132679]

27 Oct 2003 : Column 121W

Ms Blears: Our records, which go back to 1987, show that the Secretary of State for the Home Department has received one application for a certificate of forfeiture of pension from Gwent Police Authority.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations an employee of Gwent Police whose name has been communicated to him has been the subject of; and what the investigations related to. [132680]

Ms Blears: Based on previous questions tabled by my hon. Friend, and assuming I have understood your question correctly, Gwent Police informs me that there were five separate investigations regarding a former officer whose name has been communicated to the Secretary of State for the Home Department:

three of those investigations concerned the officer's role as the disciplining authority and the oversight of complaints' investigations; and


two concerned the officer's role as the disciplining authority and the oversight of discipline investigations.

None of these investigations revealed any matters that required further action.

Iraq

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the timescale for the secondment of the police personnel to Iraq; how many have been recruited to date; and what the costs of the programme are. [133160]

Caroline Flint: A pool of 200 volunteers from the police service of England and Wales has been created to assist in the reform of the Iraqi Police Service. The pool is intended to sustain the deployment of up to 100 police officers at any one time. I have agreed to a request from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Jack Straw) to the deployment of 75 of those officers before the end of the year to a secure training facility in Jordan for the purpose of training Iraqi police recruits.

A further 24 officers are about to undergo training with a view to possible deployment to Basra, when the Regional Police Training Academy is ready to receive them. Officers will only be deployed to Iraq when we are satisfied that the security conditions are right. The security position will be reviewed regularly. The advice of the two secondees from the Association of Chief Police Officers presently serving in Iraq will inform any decision on the timing of a deployment.

The full costs of the programme, which will be c. £10 million per financial year, will be met from the joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for International Development (DFID), and the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Global Conflict Prevention Pool. This includes reimbursing to police forces the full costs of training, equipping and deploying police officers.

---