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Shipping Industry (NIC)

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of the change in employers' national insurance contributions in the shipping industry. [138326]

Dawn Primarolo: A Regulatory Impact Assessment covering the effects of the recent change in liability for employers' national insurance contributions on the shipping industry was published on the 18 September, when the relevant regulations were laid before Parliament.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Guildford of 3 November 2003, Official Report, columns 457–58W, on timber, what environmental criteria his Department has specified in respect of banknote manufacture, with particular reference to use and reuse of water. [138581]

Ruth Kelly: The Bank of England issues banknotes in England and Wales on behalf of HM Treasury.

The contracted supplier of banknotes to the Bank of England is De La Rue International (DLR). DLR sources the paper from an internal subsidiary, Portals Ltd. based at Overton in Hampshire.

Banknote paper manufacture is subject to a PPC (Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control) permit, which among other criteria addresses the efficient use of water. The relevant enforcement authority is the Environment Agency.

VAT

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to reduce VAT on goods purchased by charitable organisations for export to deserving causes in developing countries. [137515]

John Healey: Charities do not bear the cost of VAT on goods purchased for export outside the European Community. Charities are entitled to register for VAT and reclaim any VAT they are charged on goods they buy for export to developing countries.

This includes any VAT charged on the goods themselves and VAT charged on any other costs associated with the export of the goods.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Drug Misuse

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources his Department plans to use to counter drug misuse. [137822]

Caroline Flint: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced a major increase in overall direct annual funding that will underpin the Government's updated Drug Strategy on 3 December 2002 as follows.

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Government direct expenditure

	(£ billion)
2003–04	1.244
2004–05	1.344
2005–06	1.483

The Home Office is working in close partnership with other Government Departments, including the Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills and HM Customs and Excise, to ensure that these resources are invested to counter drug misuse and deliver Drug Strategy objectives and targets.

Significant tranches of Home Office investment announced recently include £190.2 million to fight crime and drug abuse and £107 million to help steer young people away from a life of drugs and crime.

Motor Vehicles (Blacked-out Windows)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he gives to police forces on action to be taken against motorists who drive vehicles with densely blacked out windows; and if he will make a statement. [137394]

Caroline Flint: The blacking out of vehicle windows is governed by the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. Regulation 32 prescribes minimum light transmittance (vlt) values, through the windscreen and to the windows to either side of the driver.

In order to clarify the legislation applying to vehicle window tinting we plan to amend regulation 32 to make it clear that the vlt values apply not only to the 'glazing' itself but also to any 'tint' or 'tinted film' applied to the glazing. The Association of Chief Police Officers are aware of this proposed amendment.

The enforcement of construction and use offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. The police recognise the importance of such enforcement and ensure that these offences receive appropriate attention. They are aware of guidance employed by the Vehicle Operator Services Agency.

Passports

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Immigration Crime Team is taking to target criminals who fraudulently obtain passports; and how many fraudulent applications for passports have been detected after the passport has been issued in the last five years. [131764]

Beverley Hughes: The remit of the Immigration Crime Team (ICT) is to tackle serious and organised immigration crime including, where relevant, identity fraud and theft. Since its inception in January 2002 it has conducted three major operations into identity fraud. Others are under development. The first concerned the identity theft of British passports and led to the arrest of 29 persons in a series of co-ordinated raids. The second involved the arrest of two men for the manufacture and supply of forged British passports and the dismantling of their criminal enterprise. Both pleaded guilty, one received a five year sentence and the other 18 months. The operation resulted in one of the largest ever seizures

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of high quality forged passports believed to have a street value of over £2 million.The third operation is currently sub judice.

Such operations are complex, involving lengthy investigation and demanding a high level of inter-agency co-operation. The ICT operates as part of Reflex, the Government's inter-agency task force created to combat organised immigration crime. Targeting identity fraud is a key priority for Reflex and while the ICT has been at the forefront of major operations other successes have been recorded by other Reflex partners. For example using Reflex funding the Metropolitan police have established a joint intelligence unit under Operation Maxim involving the Immigration Service and UK Passport Service (UKPS) with a remit to investigate identity fraud alongside related criminality.

UKPS records the number of fraudulent passport applications which have been detected after passports have been issued. Figures for passports detected in each of the last five years are shown as follows:

	Number
1999	153
2000	179
2001	161
2002	1,360
2003 to date	489

The significant increase in cases detected in the last two years is a result of the UKPS' access to infant death data and greater proactivity in tackling fraud. The UKPS is taking forward a range of initiatives to improve fraud prevention and detection. These include better arrangements for the recording and dissemination of lost, stolen and recovered passport information; increasing the professionalism of its fraud and intelligence units; changing the law to make passport fraud offences arrestable; investigating the use of biometrics to improve passport security; and using from February 2004 secure delivery for the despatch of all passports; and finally continuing to work actively with law enforcement agencies to apprehend, disrupt and dismantle the activities of those involved in passport fraud.

Prison Population

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the Criminal Justice Bill on the size of the prison population. [136255]

Paul Goggins: The projected net effect on the prison population of the implementation of the provisions to reform the sentencing framework is an increase of about 1,000 by 2009. These measures include the generic community sentence and more flexible types of custody such as intermittent custody, custody minus and custody plus. The long-term impact, once all these provisions have been implemented and sufficient time has passed for their full effects to be seen, is estimated to be an increase in the prison population of about 500.

Of the other parts of the Bill that have any significant impact, the firearms offences provisions in the Bill will provide for a mandatory minimum

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custodial sentence for unauthorised possession of a prohibited firearm. The estimated effect on the prison population of the implementation of these provisions, and the implementation of the provision providing for an increase in penalties for certain driving-related offences causing death, is an increase of about 500 in the prison population.

The life sentence provisions in the Bill will provide for the determination of a minimum custodial term in relation to mandatory life sentences. It is unlikely that the effect of these provisions on the prison population will be felt for at least a decade.

The restriction on bail for drug users will be piloted in selected court areas. This provision aims to reduce re-offending by encouraging drug-misusing offenders into effective drug treatment programmes. Part of the pilot evaluation will focus on the likely impact of this measure on the prison population if it were to be extended more widely. A further study is being conducted to assess the likely effect on the prison population of the introduction of a presumption against the grant of bail to defendants who have failed to surrender.

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