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28 Oct 2003 : Column 181W—continued
Correspondence
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes of 14 October 2002, concerning Mr.David Copeland of Brixham; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay. [93883]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 January 2003]: I replied to the hon. Member on 8 July 2003
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Data Protection
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what redress is available to private citizens (a) whose private activities have been monitored and on (b) whom private data has been collected without their permission by individuals acting on behalf of corporate entities. [133401]
Mr. Blunkett: Private individuals whose activities are monitored, or their personal data collected, without their consent by another private individual (whether acting alone or on behalf of a private enterprise) may seek assistance from the police if the conduct of that monitoring has involved, or is suspected of having involved, the commission of a criminal offence.
Where personal data has been, or is suspected of having been, processed contrary to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, any directly affected person may ask the Information Commissioner to make an assessment. It is open to the Commissioner to take enforcement action if he concludes that the Act has been breached and for individuals to claim compensation through the Courts if damage has been caused as a result of any breach of the Act.
Where the monitoring has been undertaken by a broadcast organisation the individual may seek redress from the Broadcasting Standards Commission or from the Press Complaints Commission where a member of the press has undertaken the monitoring.
Domestic Violence
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what nationally accredited programmes are available in prison to address issues related to domestic violence. [134848]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The Prison Service has developed a programme for domestic violence offenders, which it has been piloting in two establishments, and which was accredited by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel in October 2003.
Drug-related Offences
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been imprisoned in each of the last 15 years for offences related to (a) dealing in cannabis and (b) using cannabis; and if he will make a statement. [133902]
Caroline Flint: The table shows the number of people sentenced to custody in England and Wales for drugs offences involving cannabis, from 1993 to 2001. Before 1993 offences relating to cannabis were not separately identified.
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| Offence description | Statute | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplying or offering (or being concerned in) to supply a controlled drug (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 4(3) | 315 | 362 | 457 | 628 | 650 |
| Having possession of a controlled drug (cannabis) with intent to supply | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 5(3) | 516 | 678 | 925 | 983 | 1,129 |
| Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Secs 4(2), 6(2) | 20 | 66 | 125 | 178 | 233 |
| Having possession of a controlled drug (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 5(2), as amended by Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 157, Sch 8, part II | 155 | 167 | 194 | 204 | 268 |
| Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 8 | 9 | 7 | 21 | 17 | 18 |
| Total | 1,015 | 1,280 | 1,722 | 2,010 | 2,298 |
| Offence description | Statute | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplying or offering (or being concerned in) to supply a controlled drug (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 4(3) | 656 | 573 | 405 | 265 |
| Having possession of a controlled drug (cannabis) with intent to supply | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 5(3) | 1,284 | 1,112 | 808 | 618 |
| Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Secs 4(2), 6(2) | 216 | 206 | 156 | 126 |
| Having possession of a controlled drug (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 5(2), as amended by Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 157, Sch 8, part II | 410 | 451 | 361 | 290 |
| Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes (cannabis) | Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec 8 | 27 | 25 | 9 | 10 |
| Total | 2,593 | 2,367 | 1,739 | 1,309 |
(2) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(3) This relates to drug offences where cannabis can be separately identified.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests of cannabis users were made in each of the last 15 years; what he estimates the cost to police resources was of making these arrests; and if he will make a statement. [133904]
Caroline Flint: The data available centrally on arrests for drug offences do not give details of the type of drug for which an individual was arrested, so information on the number of arrests for cannabis offences, together with costs, is not currently available.
We do have data on the number of persons dealt with for possession of cannabis. This is the closest approximation to the number of arrests. The figures appear in the table.
The figures are taken from the annual Home Office Statistical Bulletin. They are available on the RDS website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hosb402.pdf and in the Library.
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 16,640 |
| 1987 | 18,800 |
| 1988 | 23,230 |
| 1989 | 30,030 |
| 1990 | 36,090 |
| 1991 | 38,460 |
| 1992 | 37,440 |
| 1993 | 50,710 |
| 1994 | 65,100 |
| 1995 | 68,600 |
| 1996 | 65,100 |
| 1997 | 79,090 |
| 1998 | 91,150 |
| 1999 | 82,130 |
| 2000 | 70,310 |
Source:
Home Office Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom—Supplementary Tables and Findings 202
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Gun Crime
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to tackle gun crime. [132676]
Caroline Flint: The Government are taking a wide range of action to tackle gun crime.
- Proposing a mandatory, minimum five-year sentence for those convicted, on indictment, of possessing prohibited firearms;
Proposing to ban the carrying of replicas or air weapons in a public place without reasonable excuse;
Proposing to raise the age limit for owning an air weapon from 14 to 17 and restricting their use without adult supervision as 77 per cent. of airgun crimes are criminal damage;
Proposing a ban on the sale, manufacture and import of tandem air cartridge systems, and the licensing of those already held as they can be readily converted into lethal firearms;
Publishing a new strategy for witnesses to increase the numbers of people who come forward when they witness a crime;
The national firearms amnesty, held during April, in which over 43,000 weapons and 1 million rounds of ammunition were handed in.
We are also working with the Disarm Trust which will support the victims of, and communities working against gun crime.
The police have established dedicated teams, such as Operation Trident in London and Operation Stealth in Nottingham, working against particular groups of criminals involved in armed violence. Many of these Operations have forged good links with the communities they serve by establishing Independent Advisory Groups, made up of members of the local community.
Home Detention Curfews
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on home detention curfew in the last 12 months have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for breaching the conditions of their licence, broken down by each police force area in England and Wales; and how many of those who were convicted received a custodial sentence. [134382]
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Paul Goggins [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The table shows the number of people recalled from home detention curfew, by reason for recall, in the 12-month period January 2002 to December 2002. This information is not available by police force area.
| Number | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cases not involving new charges—total1,247 | ||
| Breach of (HDC) conditions | 795 | |
| Installation failure | 2 | |
| Monitoring failure | 9 | |
| Change of circumstances | 383 | |
| Risk of serious harm | 1 | |
| Breach of non-HDC licence conditions | 57 | |
| Cases involving new charges—total231 | ||
| Breach of HDC conditions | 1 | |
| Inability to monitor | 1 | |
| Risk of serious harm | 0 | |
| Charge with a new offence | 229 | |
| Total | 1,478 | |
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders sentenced to a curfew order in the last 12 months have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for breaching the conditions of the order, broken down by each police force area in England and Wales; and how many of those who were convicted received a custodial sentence. [134383]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The attached table gives the number of persons who were proceeded against at magistrates' courts, found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for breach of a curfew order (with or without electronic monitoring), for each police force area in England and Wales 2001.
(4) Number of persons found guilty may exceed number proceeded against because magistrates' court proceedings for breaches dealt with at the Crown Court are not collected centrally and are not therefore included in the figures of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts.
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