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25 Mar 2004 : Column 1006W—continued
Hertfordshire Police Authority
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of financial support made available by central Government to the Hertfordshire police authority was in each year since 1997. [161435]
Ms Blears: The information is set out in the table.
| General Government grants(26) | Special payments(27) | Specific grants and capital grant(28) | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 76.0 | 0 | 1.7 | 111 |
| 1998–99 | 77.2 | 0 | 2.0 | 79.2 |
| 1999–2000 | 79.4 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 85.0 |
| 2000–01 | 92.9 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 97.3 |
| 2001–02 | 99.0 | 0.6 | 6.7 | 106.3 |
| 2001–02(29) | 96.3 | 0.6 | 6.7 | 103.6 |
| 2002–03 | 98.6 | 0.3 | 8.1 | 107.0 |
| 2003–04 | 101.5 | 0 | 9.5 | 111.0 |
| 2004–05 | 104.8 | 0 | 9.5 | 114.3 |
(26) General Government grants comprise Home Office Police grant, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates.
(27) Special payments for transitional costs associated with changes to the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District from 1 April 2000.
(28) Includes funding from the Crime Fighting Fund, Basic Command Unit funding, Community Support Officer funding, Special Priority payments, Airwave, the DMA Expansion Programme, South East Allowance payments, capital grant and the Premises Improvement Fund.
(29) General grant figures for 2001–02 are not directly comparable with 2002–03 due to the change in funding arrangements of NCS and NCIS. Adjusted figures for 2001–02 are therefore included above.
Home Detention Curfew Scheme
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the changes made to the eligibility rules for the home detention curfew scheme, broken down by date. [163271]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 23 March 2004]: The following changes have been made to the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme since the scheme was introduced on 28 January 1999.
On 1 March 2001 those required to register with the police under Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 became ineligible for the scheme under the provisions of section 65 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Service Act 2000.
Following this, on 1 May 2002 the Presumptive HDC scheme was introduced. Under the scheme prisoners serving sentences of between three months and under 12 months are released on Home Detention Curfew for the
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latter part of their sentence unless there are compelling reasons not to do so. This streamlined scheme is applicable to low risk only, less serious offenders. Drug dealers, violent and sexual offenders are not eligible for Presumptive HDC.
On 16 December 2002 the maximum curfew period was extended from 60 to 90 days and then, on 14 July 2003, the curfew period was extended further to 135 days. At the same time, a presumption against suitability for release on HDC was introduced for offenders serving sentences for certain serious violent offences. These offences include attempted murder, explosives offences, possession of an offensive weapon, cruelty to children and racially aggravated offences. In addition, prisoners with any current or previous history of sexual offending, not already barred from HDC, are presumed unsuitable for release. Further, also with effect from 14 July 2003, young offenders, under the age of 18, sentenced to a term of detention under Section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Court (Sentencing Act) became eligible for consideration for HDC. Prior to that date all prisoners under 18 years-of-age were statutorily excluded from HDC.
Finally, with effect from 14 January 2004 notorious prisoners whose release may undermine public confidence in the scheme are referred to the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service, who takes the final decision whether, after taking all matters into consideration and the individual circumstances of the case, early release is appropriate.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of circulars to governors and other communications to prison authorities issued this year which included instructions on the operation of the home detention curfew scheme. [163272]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 23 March 2004]: Yes.
Human Embryos
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions were taken against laboratories found experimenting on human embryos over 14 days in each year since 2000. [162585]
Paul Goggins: Persons proceeded against for offences of experimenting on human embryos over 14 days under section 41 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 cannot be separately identified in the statistics collected centrally.
Internet Pornography (Children)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pornographic images of children have been removed from the internet following investigations by (a) police and (b) their agencies in each year since 2000. [161335]
Paul Goggins: It is not possible to say how many indecent images of children have been removed from the internet as a result of police or other investigations.
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Even where an internet site is closed down following an investigation, many of the images that were on it may remain in circulation through other websites, newsgroups, or other internet activity. Nor can we be certain how many sites hosted outside the UK have been closed down following reports originating within the UK. Figures from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) show that the percentage of sites reported to them found to contain illegal images of children which were hosted in the UK fell from 18 per cent. in 1997, to 3 per cent. in 2000, and to 1 per cent. in 2003. The number of sites within the UK identified in each year from 2000 is given in the table. In each of these cases the internet service providers concerned removed the offending material and police inquiries were made. In 2003 the IWF also identified 510,000 indecent photographs of children carried on newsgroups through the UK's Usenet infrastructure, resulting in access to these being stopped by the IWF members who provide a Usenet feed to their customers.
| Potentially illegal content: UK | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 74 |
| 2001 | 80 |
| 2002 | 88 |
| 2003 | 34 |
| Total | 276 |
Mobile Cells
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were locked into mobile cells in (a) Northampton, (b) Corby and (c) Wellingborough in each of the last two weeks. [162627]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 22 March 2004]: No prisoners were locked into mobile cells in Northampton, Corby or Wellingborough in the last two weeks.
Licensing Act
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted under (i) section 172, (ii) section 172a and (iii) section 173 of the Licensing Act 1964 in each year since 1997; and how many landlords have had their licences revoked due to breach of these provisions. [161719]
Paul Goggins: The information on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts under the Licensing Act 1964, sections 172, 172A and 173, England and Wales 1997 to 2002 is contained in the table.
Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.
Information on the number of landlords who have had their licences revoked due to breach of these conditions is not collected centrally.
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n/a = Not applicable.
(30) These data are on the principal offence basis.
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