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11 Nov 2003 : Column 249W—continued
Young Offenders
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders from north
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Wales below the age of 15 years were sentenced to custody in the last three years for which records are available. [136018]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is contained in the table.
| Number of juveniles | |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1 |
| 2000 | 9 |
| 2001 | 7 |
Note:
Statistics for 2002 will be published in December.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assistance is available to youth offenders to ensure that they are able to learn from mistakes and do not re-offend. [132940]
Ms Blears: We have introduced a range of measures across England and Wales many of which place particular emphasis on reparation, education and training.
These include Referral Orders, which were introduced nationally in April 2002 and are now the main disposal for young defendants pleading guilty for the first time. Youth offender panels, made up of representatives of the local community, agree an intervention programme with the young offender designed to tackle his/her offending behaviour. Victims are encouraged to participate in this process which can further enhance the impact of the panel on the young offender. The programme must include an element of reparation to the victim.
The Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) was introduced in July 2001 as an alternative to custodial sentences for persistent young offenders. The programme aims to bring some structure to offenders' often chaotic lifestyles by addressing the risk factors contributing to their offending behaviour, such as educational deficits, weaknesses in thinking skills or drug misuse.
Where a custodial sentence is necessary, the Detention and Training Order is now the main sentence for 12–17 year olds. This includes individual training plans designed to address offending behaviour and associated risk factors and to provide young offenders with the necessary skills to avoid getting into trouble again.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Arson
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reduce the number of arson incidents; and what increase in resources the Government plans to give to fire authorities to tackle arson. [137991]
Phil Hope: The Government established the Arson Control Forum in 2001 to take forward a national programme of arson reduction measures. Part of this
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programme is to support multi-agency partnerships that tackle arson locally by funding community-based projects.
To date, the forum has invested some £2.25 million of Government money in 50 local arson reduction projects in England and Wales. The Government have set aside an additional £4 million in 2003–04, rising to £4.5 million in 2004–05 and £4.8 million in 2005–06, for further arson reduction work. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently considering applications from local partnerships for grants from these funds.
Business Rates (Private Schools)
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the effect on the rating income of each local authority of the reduced rate of business rates paid by private schools because of their charitable status. [137469]
Mr. Raynsford: There is no reliable basis on which to make such an estimate, as the information collected from local authorities on business rates relief does not distinguish private schools from other charities.
The Local Government Finance Act 1988 provides mandatory rate relief to any ratepayer that is a charity or a non-profit making body operating as a charity and uses the property they occupy wholly or mainly for charitable purposes. A private school which is not run for profit counts as a charity and therefore qualifies for mandatory rate relief.
Mandatory relief is available at 80 per cent. of the full rates bill and is fully centrally funded but can be increased to 100 per cent. at the discretion of local authorities. The discretionary increase is 25 per cent. centrally funded, and local authorities are required to meet the remaining 75 per cent. of any increase.
Census 2001
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the implications for future local government funding calculations of the recent Statistics Commission report on the accuracy of the 2001 census for the Westminster City Council area. [136993]
Mr. Raynsford: For each year's Revenue Support Grant calculations, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister need to use the most up to date data that are available on a consistent basis for all local authorities. For population, this is the mid-year population estimates provided by the Office for National Statistics. If subsequent revisions are made to population estimates following the recommendations made in the Statistics Commission report or on the basis of other studies, such as the Westminster address matching exercise, then the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consider whether to make an amending report. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have already announced that an amending report will be made for the 2003–04 settlement in respect of revisions made to population estimates by the Office for National Statistics.
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Climate Change
Mr. Denham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the total area of the properties in low lying areas that will be affected by an increased risk of flooding from the consequences of climate change by 2050. [137389]
Keith Hill: The Office of Science and Technology's Foresight project on flood and coastal defence is examining the factors that drive change in flood risk, their impacts and the effect of various responses under the range of foresight socio-economic futures scenarios. The Phase 2 report on risk drivers and their impacts is available in draft on the internet at www.foresight.gov.uk. It is currently subject to peer review.
The results so far suggest that, on the assumption that there is no change in current flood management policies, there will be a low to moderate increase in the probability of inland flooding in the north and west of England and a negligible or low change either way in central and south-eastern parts. There will be a high increase in coastal flood risk in the south-east (from Essex to the Solent), particularly in the Thames estuary with moderate increases in the north Norfolk and Humber estuary areas.
While there is a great deal of uncertainty, the analysis suggests that the number of people at high risk (i.e. within the Environment Agency's indicative flood plain) will increase from its present level of 1.56 million to a range of between 2.26 and 3.55 million by the 2080s, depending on which foresight socio-economic scenario is applied. Expected annual economic damage to residential and commercial property could increase in the same period from the current level of £1,000 million to between £1,600 million and £21,000 million, again depending on the foresight socio-economic scenario. The resulting areas of highest risk of damage, would appear to be the Thames valley and estuary, the Mersey–Humber corridor and areas around the Bristol Channel.
Mr. Denham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the responsibilities of local authorities are in relation to preparations for the consequences of climate change on coastal areas; and if he will make a statement. [137390]
Keith Hill: In July 2003, the Local Government Association and UK Climate Impacts Programme published advice to local authorities on "Climate change and local communities—how prepared are you?" This is available in the Library of the House and on the internet at www.ukcip.org.uk. It advises on local authority activities affected by climate change and how it can be taken into account. There is potential for climate change to impact on a wide range of local authority responsibilities, the principal ones in coastal areas being in relation to coastal defence, shoreline management and land-use planning.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment (Defra) Agency have jointly sponsored research on coastal evolution over the next 30–100 years, taking account of climate change scenarios. This provides the basis for consideration of climate change impacts in the second generation of
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shoreline management plans being prepared by the coastal groups of local authorities and Environment Agency.
Planning policy guidance note 25 "Development and flood risk" issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2001 already contains guidance on how climate change can be taken into account when considering both inland and coastal flood risk. This is based on the guidance on sea-level rise and likely increase in river flows in Defra's project appraisal guidance for flood and coastal defence, which was published in 1999 and confirmed this year in the light of the UKCIP 2002 climate- change scenarios. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be publishing shortly further advice on the consideration of climate change in land-use planning.
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