Previous Section Index Home Page


8 Dec 2003 : Column 235W—continued

Police

21. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he next expects to meet senior police officers from East Anglia to discuss funding for financial year 2004–05. [142108]

Ms Blears: I have no plans to meet senior officers from East Anglia. I welcome all representations on the provisional police grant settlement for 2004–05, which should be sent in writing to my Department by 2 January.

Bribery and Corruption

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inquiries into possible cases of international bribery and corruption (a) are being and (b) have been carried out by the UK law enforcement agencies since the enactment of legislation against such offences in Part 12 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2001; and if he will make a statement about prosecution for such offences. [141104]

Mr. Blunkett: The Home Office does not collect statistics from law enforcement agencies on inquiries into possible offences. An independent report on the operation of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 is shortly to be made to the Home Secretary by the committee appointed under Section 122 of the Act, and will be laid before Parliament as soon as is reasonably practicable. In England and Wales, the prosecution of offences of bribery and corruption is undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office if the case falls within their remit; or otherwise by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Crime Figures

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were committed by juvenile offenders in (a) West Derbyshire and (b) the East Midlands in each of the last two quarters for which figures are available; and how many cautions were issued. [141428]

Paul Goggins: The information contained in the table gives the number of juveniles (persons aged 10–17) convicted of all offences and those given reprimands and

8 Dec 2003 : Column 236W

final warnings, during the last two quarters of 2001 in the East Midlands. It also contains data for the Derbyshire police force area, and, for persons found guilty, in the petty sessional areas of Derby and South Derbyshire and North East Derbyshire which cover the area of the West Derbyshire constituency.

The information collected centrally does not enable cautions in the West Derbyshire constituency to be identified. Neither is it possible to give the number of crimes committed by juveniles, only the number of juveniles who are found guilty of all offences.

Statistics for 2002 will be published on 11 December.

Number of juveniles found guilty at all courts, and those given reprimands and final warnings(14) for all offences, East Midlands, 3rd and 4th quarter 2001

Area, age and disposal etc.Quarter 3Quarter 4
20012001
East Midlands(15)
Juveniles aged 10–17
Receiving a reprimand1,5791,654
Receiving a final warning568464
Found guilty1,7391,836
Of which, Derbyshire police force area:
Juveniles aged 10–17
Receiving a reprimand(16)308288
Receiving a final warning(16)142118
Found guilty324386
Of which:
Found guilty in the Derby and South Derbyshire PSA125150
Found guilty in the North East Derbyshire and Dales PSA84100

(14) Cautions were replaced by reprimands and final warnings for persons under 18 from June 200

(15) Police force areas of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire

(16) Not available by petty sessional area


Identity Cards

Mrs. Ann Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the strength of public support for a national identity card scheme. [142102]

Mr. Blunkett: We commissioned wide-ranging research which confirmed, in line with other opinion polls, that 80 per cent. of the general public are in favour of identity cards.

Police Cells

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average daily cost of holding a prisoner in a police cell is. [141642]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 3 December 2003]: As part of Operation Safeguard it was necessary during 2002 to hold prisoners in police cells because there was insufficient space in prisons.

There is an on-going arrangement with many police forces under which prisoners may be held in police cells under separate arrangements known as "lock-outs". Lock-outs occur when prisoners cannot be delivered to the receiving prison before its reception closes. This

8 Dec 2003 : Column 237W

arrangement is sometimes used to facilitate the return of prisoners to court the next day or when a court hearing extends into the evening.

The average daily cost of holding a prisoner in a police cell during 2002 was 363 per person per night. The average daily cost for lock-outs is currently 120 per person per night.

The overall cost of holding prisoners in police cells in 2002 under Operation Safeguard was £10.4 million. This ran between 11 July and 20 December 2002. The overall cost for lock-outs was £1.356 million.

No prisoners have been held under Operation Safeguard so far in 2003. There have been a total of 945 prisoners held in police cells so far this year as "lock-outs". In addition, eight prisoners were held in police cells in the Greater Manchester area on the weekend of 7–8 June 2003 as an emergency measure.

Prisons

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to tackle racial abuse in HM Prison Holloway and HM Prison Styal. [141622]

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service will not tolerate any form of racist behaviour. I am not aware that either Holloway prison or Styal prison have a problem with racial abuse among staff or prisoners. Both prisons have a level of minority ethnic staff that is well above target. Significant amounts of diversity and race relations training have been delivered at both establishments.

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost of recapturing prisoners who absconded (a) from HM Prison Sudbury and (b) from Her Majesty's Prisons was during (i) 2003 and (ii) 2002. [141265]

Paul Goggins: The recapture of prisoners unlawfully at large and their return to custody is a matter for the police. This information is not recorded and held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are held in HM Prison Sudbury; and how many of these are serving a life sentence. [141397]

Paul Goggins: The number of prisoners held at Her Majesty's Prison Sudbury, as at 30 April 2003, was 505. The number of these serving a life sentence was 76.

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many open prisons there are in the United Kingdom; and how many prisoners have absconded from open prisons in the last 12 months. [141399]

Paul Goggins: There are 15 open prisons in England and Wales. In the 12 months from November 2002 to October 2003 there were 1,173 reported absconds from these prisons. I am unable to provide information for prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as these establishments are the responsibility of the Scottish Prison Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service respectively.

8 Dec 2003 : Column 238W

Proscribed Organisations

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (a) organisations which are proscribed by law and (b) the Acts of Parliament under which they are proscribed. [141805]

Mr. Blunkett: There are 39 organisations currently proscribed under Part II of the Terrorism Act 2000. The list is as follows:

The list of Proscribed Organisations


18. Kurdistan Workers' Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan) (PKK)

19. Revolutionary Peoples' Liberation Party-Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi) (DHKP-C)

20. Basque Homeland and Liberty (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) (ETA)

21. 17 November Revolutionary Organisation (N17)



Next Section Index Home Page