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2 Mar 2004 : Column 915W—continued
Criminal Assets
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the cash seizures that have been effected by the Assets Recovery Agency since its inception; what the value seized in each case was; and whether the order was enforced. [155962]
Caroline Flint: The Assets Recovery Agency has no power to seize and forfeit cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. This power is reserved to the police and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. As at the end of January 2004 a total of 1,219 cash seizures with a total value of £55.68 million had been made in England and Wales since the powers came into force in December 2002. Cash seized can only be forfeited when a forfeiture order has been made by a magistrates' court. A total of 64 cash forfeitures have been made under the Act with a total value of £2.98 million. Details of individual cash seizures and forfeitures are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
At present the minimum amount of cash which can be seized is £10,000. The threshold is to be reduced to £5,000 under The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Recovery of Cash in Summary Proceedings: Minimum Amount) Order 2004 which was laid before Parliament on 24 February.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) confiscation and (b) restraint orders have been made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; and what the recoverable amount was in each case. [155963]
Caroline Flint: The confiscation and restraint powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are triggered by offences committed after the provisions were brought into force on 24 March 2003. It will therefore be some time before confiscation cases are dealt with by the Crown Court in numbers.
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As at the end of January 2004 the information available is as follows:
- (a) 58 confiscation orders had been made under the Act with a total value of £1,089,849.
- (b) 59 restraint orders had been made of which 40 orders have a total value of £6,276,737. Information on the value of the other 19 orders is not currently available.
In addition, the Assets Recovery Agency has 20 civil recovery cases subject to freezing orders with a total value of £12.7 million.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of those who apply for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority was refused on the grounds that they have a criminal conviction, in the last year for which figures are available. [155959]
Paul Goggins: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority advise that in the 2002–03 financial year 79,248 applications were resolved. Of these 42,283 resulted in a monetary award, and 36,965 cases were rejected, of which 2,946 were rejected because of the applicant's criminal convictions. As a proportion, that is 3.7 per cent. of the resolved applications.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applications there were from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in each of the last six years; and what number and percentage of applications were accepted. [144741]
Beverley Hughes: The table, which has been placed in the Library, gives asylum applications and initial decisions from 1997 to September 2003 for nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.
Information on the number of asylum applications and initial decisions is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html The next quarterly publication, covering the fourth quarter of 2003 and provisional full year data, will be published on 24 February 2004.
Departmental Security
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the staff complement of the Security Services is; what the range of payment for serving security officers is; and what proportion of security officers speak Arabic. [156638]
Mr. Blunkett: There are currently over 2,000 staff in the Security Service. Starting salaries range from £14,500 for administrative staff to a maximum of £26,000 for some technical specialists. The top salary is of course that of the Director General (Permanent Secretary pay range £120,000-£124,999 at 31 January 2003). For operational reasons it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the number of Arab speakers available to the service.
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Detention and Removal Centres
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what access people detained in detention and removal centres have to independent monitoring boards. [157445]
Beverley Hughes: People detained at immigration removal centres are able to submit a request or complaint to the Independent Monitoring Board at any time and members of the board should make themselves available to detainees whenever they are carrying out one of their regular visits. In addition, a member of the Independent Monitoring Board is obliged to visit any detainee who is subject to removal from association (Rule 40), temporary confinement (Rule 42) or special control or restraint (Rule 43) within 24 hours of the person being subjected to these rules.
Drugs Testing and Treatment
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drugs testing and treatment orders have been issued in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) the Vale of York. [156870]
Caroline Flint: The information requested, for the years 2000 to 2002, is contained in the table.
| In North Yorkshire | of which, in York PSA | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000(44) | — | — |
| 2001 | 61 | 33 |
| 2002 | 73 | 27 |
(44) From October.
Statistics for 2003 will be published in the autumn of this year.
EU Accession States
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to remove from the UK citizens of EU accession states working within the UK when they cease employment, from 1 May onwards. [156790]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 February 2004]: An accession state national that ceases employment in the United Kingdom will continue to have a right of residence in the United Kingdom provided that they are self-sufficient. If they are unable to support themselves and are an unreasonable burden on the state they will be liable for removal.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence his Department has collated on the number of nationals from (a) Poland and (b) other EU accession states who have already arranged transportation to the UK following 1 May; and if he will make a statement. [157075]
Beverley Hughes: No reliable information on the numbers of nationals from Poland or other EU accession states booking transport to travel to the United Kingdom for a visit or any other purpose after 1 May is available.
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Firearms Certificates
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to publicise (a) the need, under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 for existing owners of air weapons and imitation firearms to apply for a firearm certificate before 30 April and (b) the implications of not doing so. [157996]
Caroline Flint: Section 37 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 gives the police the power to arrest someone carrying an air weapon (whether loaded or not) or an imitation firearm in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. There is no requirement for them to obtain a firearms certificate.
Section 39 brings into force a specific ban on the sale, purchase, transfer, acquisition and manufacture of air guns using a self-contained gas-cartridge system. Existing owners will be able to retain possession provided they obtain a firearms certificate for the gun, and have until 30 April 2004 to do so.
We have publicised these measures through "A Guide to the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003", which was included in the "TOGETHER Campaign Pack" issued on 20 February 2004. Guidance to the police was also issued in Home Office Circular 01/2004, which was sent out on 14 January 2004. Both of these documents and other relevant information are available on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
In addition, the Home Office has produced a number of posters and leaflets which explain what people must do if they want to keep any guns they already have which use the self-contained gas cartridge system. These have been sent to all police forces for display and further distribution as they see fit. After discussion with the relevant trade organisations they have also been sent to dealers together with a special sticker to put on tins of air gun pellets as a reminder to their customers.
We are continuing to work with the police and other interested parties with a view to securing further local publicity.
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