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12 Feb 2004 : Column 1708W—continued

Convictions (Balance of Probabilities)

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries in (a) the European Union and (b) the rest of the world allow the conviction of suspected offenders on the balance of probabilities. [153047]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 5 February 2004]: This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Correctional Services Board

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the implementation team reporting to the Correctional Services Board will be established. [152841]

Paul Goggins: On 2 February 2004 Eithne Wallis became the Change Programme Director for the Reducing Crime-Changing Lives reforms and is leading the implementation team. She has already recruited a number of staff and hopes to have the full team in place by the end of February.

Correspondence

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration will meet the hon. Member for Leicester, East to discuss the case referred to in the letter dated 22 January. [151657]

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Beverley Hughes: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 11 February 2004.

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter, reference: PO 17891/3, from the Member for Spelthorne, dated 22 December 2003, regarding Mr.and Mrs.H. Doba, Home Office reference: D 1006253; and if he will make a statement. [154197]

Beverley Hughes: There are matters that need resolving before I can reply to the hon. Member's letter. I expect to be able to write to him by 25 February.

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East of 16 September, 30 October, 30 December 2003 and 8 January 2004 regarding the case of Mr. Shish Jeewa (HO Ref. J1018485). [154832]

Beverley Hughes: I replied to my hon. Friend on 10 February 2004.

Crime and Disorder Partnerships

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the crime and disorder partnerships in England and Wales that (a) have and (b) have not had a full inspection; and if he will make a statement. [154301]

Ms Blears: There is no joint inspection regime for Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). However, local authorities and the police, both of which are named as responsible authorities under section 5 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, are subject to independent examination. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is charged with examining and improving the efficiency of the Police Service in England and Wales, and the Audit Commission looks at how well local councils deliver their services under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). Inspections of English district councils include community safety and community cohesion, and from 2005, the Audit Commission propose that this should also form part of the CPA for all councils where it will be covered under the councils' Corporate Assessment.

Both Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission publish details of the organisations they have inspected on their websites.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) police authorities and (b) local authorities that have not incorporated section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998; and what measures are open to members of the public if they feel that their local police authority or local authority is failing to implement section 17. [154302]

Ms Blears: Information is not available centrally on local/police authorities that have failed to incorporate section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. However, the Audit Commission looks at how well local councils deliver their services under the Comprehensive

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Performance Assessment (CPA). Inspections of English district councils, include community safety with a specific focus on section 17 compliance. From 2005 Safer and Stronger Communities with a similar focus on section 17 compliance will form part of the CPA for all top tier councils where it will be covered under the councils' Corporate Assessment.

Members of the public could lobby their elected council member (or MP) or appropriate chair of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership or the chair of the Police Authority if they believe their local authority or local police authority was failing to implement section 17.

They could also approach the Local Government Ombudsman if they have a specific complaint of maladministration.

They could ultimately undertake a judicial review action with a view to enforcing local/police authority compliance with section 17.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the 10 local authorities that have most successfully implemented section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998; and what measures he has taken to spread best practice. [154303]

Ms Blears: The Home Office does not presently hold information on the successful implementation of section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 by local authorities. However, the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) will in future address compliance with section 17 across all local authorities. The CPA will therefore provide a clear indication of the level of section 17 compliance throughout England and Wales.

There are examples of good practice in implementing section 17 that have been identified in publications by Crime Concern, National Association of Care and Resettlement Offenders, the Local Government Association and Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, Thematic Inspection on Crime and Disorder entitled "Calling Time on Crime".

The Government recognises that section 17 has not been universally well implemented and is committed to further raising the profile of section 17 across all relevant stakeholders. We shall also be spreading good practice via the Crime Reduction Website during 2004. We are currently piloting training in section 17 compliance through the Crime Reduction Centre.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (a) the Home Office funding streams available to crime and disorder partnerships in North Wales and (b) the funding stream that have been accessed by each local authority, giving the amounts each local authority has been allocated. [154305]

Ms Blears: Home Office funding streams available to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in North Wales and the amounts allocated to each in 2003–04 are as follows.

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Funding stream	CDRP	Amount (£)
Building Safer Communities Fund	Conwy	126,824
Building Safer Communities Fund	Denbighshire	128,620
Building Safer Communities Fund	Flintshire	155,071
Building Safer Communities Fund	Gwynedd	118,904
Building Safer Communities Fund	Anglesey	81,458
Building Safer Communities Fund	Wrexham	176,784
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas	Denbighshire	20,000
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas	Flintshire	37,400
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas	Gwynedd	21,150
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas	Anglesey	20,000
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas	Wrexham	25,000
Anti Social Behaviour Funding	Conwy	16,930
Domestic Violence funding	Split between Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Anglesey and Wrexham	80,250

In addition, the following was allocated to Basic Command Units (BCUs) in North Wales as part of this years BCU funding.

North Wales ForceBasic Command Unit(BCU)	CDRPS within BCU area	Allocation (£)
Eastern	Flintshire and Wrexham	191,095
Central	Conwy and Denbighshire	136,892
Western	Anglesey and Gwynedd	99,655

Crime Statistics

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the incidence of (a) domestic violence and (b) hate crimes was for each local authority area in North Wales in each of the last 10 years. [154304]

Ms Blears: Domestic violence is not separately identified in the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office, therefore the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales are measured by the British Crime Survey (BCS).

In the 2002–03 BCS there were an estimated 69 incidents of domestic violence, per 10,000 adults in Wales. In the 2001–02 BCS there were 139 incidents of domestic violence, per 10,000 adults in Wales. There are no comparable data for the years preceding 2001–02.

Within the recorded crime series, 'hate crimes' are deemed to be offences that are racially or religiously aggravated. There are seven separate offences that are classified as racially or religiously aggravated. These are; less serious wounding, harassment, common assault, criminal damage to a dwelling, criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling, criminal damage to a vehicle, and other criminal damage. Racially aggravated offences were added to the series from 1 April 1999, prior to that they would have been included in the original classifications. Religiously aggravated offences were recorded together with racially aggravated offences from April 2002.

Figures for these offences are not published for local authority areas. However, figures are available at police force area level, and are given in the table. Numbers of racially (or religiously aggravated) offences, recorded by North Wales Police.

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	Offences recorded
1999–2000	35
2000–01	108
2001–02(27)	173
2002–03(28)	288

⁽²⁷⁾ North Wales police adopted the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in October 2001, which was earlier than the national implementation in England and Wales on 1 April 2002. Broadly, the NCRS had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years.

⁽²⁸⁾ Religiously aggravated offences were recorded together with racially aggravated offences from April 2002.

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