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10 Mar 2004 : Column 1573W—continued
Cannabis
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in Greater London have been (a) fined and (b) given a prison sentence for
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(i) supplying, (ii) trafficking and (iii) possession of cannabis in each of the last five years. [159220]
Caroline Flint: The available information is contained in the table.
| Greater London, 1998 to 2002 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offence | Persons fined | Persons sentencedto immediate custody | Persons fined | Persons sentencedto immediate custody | Persons fined |
| Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) cannabis | 24 | 66 | 10 | 65 | 6 |
| Possession of cannabis with intent to supply | 42 | 230 | 31 | 192 | 15 |
| Production of or being concerned in the production of cannabis | 75 | 19 | 43 | 23 | 30 |
| Possession of cannabis | 4,044 | 71 | 3,804 | 61 | 3,487 |
| 2001 | 2002 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offence | Persons fined | Persons sentenced to immediate custody | Persons fined | Persons sentenced to immediate custody | ||
| Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) cannabis | 9 | 36 | 9 | 44 | ||
| Possession of cannabis with intent to supply | 22 | 106 | 35 | 105 | ||
| Production of or being concerned in the production of cannabis | 27 | 22 | 34 | 12 | ||
| Possession of cannabis | 3,238 | 43 | 4,120 | 45 | ||
(40) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(41) Includes unsuspended imprisonment, secure training orders, detention in a young offender institution and detention and training orders.
(42) Includes Metropolitan and City of London police forces.
Statistics for 2003 will be published in the autumn.
Connexions Service
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which staff organisations and trade unions were consulted by Patrick Carter during his inquiry into the Connexions services. [155838]
Paul Goggins: Patrick Carter's report "Managing Offenders-Reducing Crime" was an independent review of the correctional services. The Government's response "Reducing Crime-Changing Lives" seeks views from stakeholders on a number of issues relating to the management of offenders.
Convicted Defendants
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted defendants there were in the last three years, broken down by ethnic origin; what proportion of convicted defendants were sent to prison, broken down by ethnic origin; and if he will make a statement. [158704]
Paul Goggins: Information on the ethnic origin of convicted defendants is only currently available for magistrates courts in six pilot areas. This information was included in "Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2002" and in earlier years, available on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice. gov.uk/rds/pdfs/s95race2002.pdf.
Coroners' Inquiries
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken is to arrange a coroner's inquiry into a death. [155684]
Paul Goggins: In 2002, the average time taken to process an inquest, from the time the death was reported to the coroner, until the time the inquest was concluded, was four months. The average time taken for the coroner to issue a certificate permitting a body to be released for burial or other disposal, in cases where an inquest was subsequently held, was seven days.
Crime Reduction Policy
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress made towards local crime reduction targets in each area participating in the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme. [160202]
Ms Blears: In June 2001, the Home Secretary announced funding of £15 million over three years for a project to improve the security of small retailers in the 10 most deprived areas throughout England and Wales.
Individual projects are developed by local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in conjunction with Regional Home Office Directors. Part of this process is to ensure adequate local targets have been set, and systems put in place to measure performance against them.
A detailed evaluation of the scheme is currently under way and will be completed in the autumn. The findings, which will be widely disseminated, will identify effective interventions that have been shown to have a beneficial impact on crime against small retailers. The evaluation will also examine other ways in which the scheme has impacted upon businesses and the surrounding retail environment—such as the fear of crime among business, fear of crime among customers, business viability and partnership working.
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Criminal Prosecutions (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful criminal prosecutions were brought for crimes perpetrated in each Lancashire constituency in each of the last three years; [157681]
- (2) how many criminal charges were pressed for crimes perpetrated in Chorley in each of the last three years. [157682]
Paul Goggins: Statistics on those charged with offences are not collected centrally, nor is it possible to break down the court proceedings data collected centrally to constituency level.
The following table, however, gives the numbers of defendants (a) convicted and (b) not convicted in the Lancashire Police Force area as a whole:
| Defendants convicted | Defendants not convicted(43) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 49,625 | 19,729 |
| 2001 | 48,077 | 19,441 |
| 2002 | 48,259 | 19,781 |
(43) Includes defendants whose proceedings were discontinued, those discharged under Sec 6 MCA 1980, and those whose charges were withdrawn, dismissed or acquitted.
Statistics for 2003 will be published in the autumn.
Cyclists (Prosecution)
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cyclists were prosecuted for failure to comply with legal requirements in respect of road use in the UK in each of the last five years. [156553]
Paul Goggins: The number of defendants proceeded against for pedal cycle offences in England and Wales 1998 to 2002 is as follows:
| Proceeded against | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 2,380 |
| 1999 | 1,487 |
| 2000 | 1,023 |
| 2001 | 760 |
| 2002 | 636 |
(44) These data are on the principal offence basis.
Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Office and that for Northern Ireland for the Northern Ireland Office.
Disorder Penalty Notices
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many penalty notices for disorder have been issued by police forces during the pilot period. [160061]
Ms Blears: Pilots for penalty notices for disorder operated between August 2002 and September 2003 in four police force areas involving five police forces: West
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Midlands (force wide), Essex (force wide), North Wales (initially in their Central division then force wide from April 2003), Metropolitan (Croydon division) and British Transport Police (West Midlands area). Just over 6,000 penalty notices for disorder were issued during the pilots.
DNA Investigation Techniques
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when DNA low copy number first became available as a product for use in assisting the investigation of cold calls; and if he will make a statement. [159698]
Ms Blears [holding answer 9 March 2004]: A DNA low copy number product first became available for investigation of both cold and current cases in January 1999.
Driving Convictions
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for (a) causing death by dangerous driving, (b) dangerous driving and (c) careless driving there were in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough in each of the last five years. [158408]
Caroline Flint: Available information for the years 1997 to 2001 is given in the table. It is not possible from the data collected centrally to identify each London Borough within the geographical area of Greater London.
2002 data will be available in the Spring.
| Offence | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Causing death by dangerous driving(47) | 16 | 24 | 22 | 23 |
| Dangerous driving(48) | 484 | 419 | 384 | 444 |
| Careless driving(49) | 10,067 | 9,203 | 8,172 | 6,168 |
(45) Figures amended since publication of the Home Office 'Offences relating to motor vehicles England and Wales 2001 Supplementary tables'.
(46) Offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988, s1 as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 s1 and Criminal Justice Act 1993 s67.
(47) Offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s2 as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 s2.
(48) Offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s3, ss 12(1), 26(2), 33(3) and 168; Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 Regs 19,104–107 and 109.
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