---

26 Jan 2004 : Column 196W—continued

Anti-drugs Strategy

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made towards the 10-year anti-drugs strategy targets of (a) halving the number of young people using Class A drugs, (b) halving the availability of Class A drugs, (c) doubling the number of drug misusers in treatment and (d) halving the levels of re-offending by drug-misusing offenders. [149865]

Caroline Flint: The Updated Drug Strategy published in December 2002 sets out revised targets aimed at reducing the harm caused by drug misuse to society communities, individuals and their families.

The current Drug Strategy targets are as follows:

Reduce the use of Class A drugs and the frequent use of any illicit drug among all young people under the age of 25 especially by the most vulnerable young people;

Reduce the availability of illegal drugs by increasing the proportion of heroin and cocaine target on the UK which is taken out;

the disruption/dismantling of those criminal groups responsible for supplying substantial quantities of Class A drugs to the UK market;

the recovery of drug-related criminal assets;

contribute to the reduction of opium production in Afghanistan, with poppy cultivation reduced by 70 per cent. within five years and elimination within 10 years;

reduce drug-related crime, including as measured by the proportion of offenders testing positive at arrest;

26 Jan 2004 : Column 197W

increase the participation of problem drug users in drug treatment programmes by 55 per cent. by 2004 and by 100 per cent. by 2008. And increase year on year the proportion of users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes.

Information on progress against these targets is available as follows:

The Home Office Annual report 2002–03 published in May 2003 provides details of progress against each of the drug strategy targets.

In addition, the Home Office Autumn report published in December 2003 provides an update on the young people and drug related crime targets. Both of these documents are in the Library and on the Home Office website.

Recent information on the number of drug users receiving treatment was announced on 11 December 2003 and is available in the Library and on the Department of Health's website.

Recent information on progress to reduce the availability of drugs which cause the most harm is available on Her Majesty's Custom & Excise website. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website provides an update on the progress of poppy eradication in Afghanistan.

Asylum Seekers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged under 18 have been returned to their families in their countries of origin in each of the last three years. [144992]

Beverley Hughes: Information on the ages of those people removed from the United Kingdom is not collated centrally and would only be available by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.

Although statistics of the removal of failed asylum seekers include unaccompanied minors; they are not separately identified. However, as a matter of policy, unaccompanied children are not removed under Immigration Act powers unless we are satisfied that suitable arrangements have been made for their reception and care in the destination country.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much benefit was paid to asylum seekers living in the United Kingdom in 2003. [148953]

Beverley Hughes: The budget for asylum support costs for 2002–03 is £1,067 million. The actual outturn will be published in the audited resource accounts for the Home Office.

Young Offender Institutions

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times control and restraint have been used on children in (a) Stoke Heath, (b) Huntercombe and (b) Castington Young Offender Institutions in each of the last 12 months. [144355]

Paul Goggins: Information on the use of control and restraint was not recorded centrally until the beginning of last year. The data for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 November 2003, in Stoke Heath, Huntercombe and Castington Young Offender Institutions is set out in the table.

26 Jan 2004 : Column 198W

	Stoke Heath	Huntercombe	Castington
January	16	28	24
February	11	32	7
March	4	33	18
April	14	26	15
May	7	12	22
June	9	18	27
July	11	26	32
August	8	31	18
September	9	38	34
October	7	23	17
November	4	27	14

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were held on the basic level of incentives and earned privileges scheme in (a) Stoke Heath, (b) Huntercombe and (b) Castington Young Offender Institutions in September. [144356]

Paul Goggins: Data on the number of children held at each level under the rewards and sanctions scheme (formerly known as incentives and earned privileges scheme), including those on basic, for September 2003, is set out in the table.

Establishment	Basic	Standard	Enhanced
Stoke Heath	12	133	27
Huntercombe	13	210	95
Castington	13	175	41

Cleveland Coroner

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inquests were outstanding in the jurisdiction of the Cleveland Coroner in (a) July, (b) August, (c) September and (d) October 2003. [147649]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 13 January 2003]: The number of inquests in the jursidiction of the Cleveland coroner which were outstanding at the end of July, August, September and October 2003 respectively is shown in the table.

	Inquests outstanding at date
31 July 2003	273
31 August 2003	268
30 September 2003	261
31 October 2003	245
30 November 2003	238

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inquests in the jurisdiction of the Cleveland Coroner were heard in (a) August, (b) September and (c) October 2003 by the (i) coroner, (ii) deputy coroner and (iii) assistant deputy coroner. [147650]

Paul Goggins: The number of inquests heard by the Cleveland coroner and his deputies in the months of August, September, October and November 2003 respectively is shown in the table.

26 Jan 2004 : Column 199W

		Inquests heard by:
	Coroner	Deputy coroner	Assistant Deputy Coroner
August 2003	20	2	3
September 2003	23	1	6
October 2003	22	7	6
November 2003	19	11	3

The figures include all inquests concluded in the relevant months (i.e. a verdict was delivered, or the coroner (or deputies) declared that the inquest was not to be resumed after a Secton 16 adjournment).

Community Justice Centre

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his timetable is for the establishment of the pilot community justice centre announced on 10th September. [143407]

Paul Goggins: The Home Office, Department for Constitutional Affairs and Crown Prosecution Service are working together to develop the first pilot Community Justice Centre in the United Kingdom, which is to be located in Liverpool. Our current timetable is for the Centre to be operational by the end of 2004. This will be conditional on a number of factors, including the identification of an appropriate site to accommodate the Centre and ensure it is fit for purpose. We also want to develop the Centre with the full engagement of the local community. From early 2004 a local community needs assessment will be undertaken which will feed into the design of the Centre and into community sentence planning and community work. From April 2004 these community projects which will be run in conjunction with the Centre.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where in Liverpool the pilot community justice centre will be located. [146311]

Paul Goggins: The Home Office, Department for Constitutional Affairs and Crown Prosecution Service are working together to develop the first pilot Community Justice Centre in the United Kingdom, which is to be located in Liverpool. The area of the city that the Community Justice Centre will be located is in the Liverpool north. This part of the city has experienced the problems that the Justice Centre will aim to tackle, such as anti-social behaviour and low-level criminal activity, but maintains a strong sense of community spirit and pride that the Justice Centre can build on and enhance.

Agents, with experience of developing court buildings, are working with Liverpool City Council to locate suitable sites for the Justice Centre in this part of the city. The site will accommodate a building housing a multi-jurisdictional court room as well as criminal justice and other agencies to provide on-site services for offenders, victims and the wider community. The exact location of the Liverpool Community Justice Centre is due to be announced later this year to ensure that the Justice Centre can commence operations at the end of 2004.

26 Jan 2004 : Column 200W

---