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21 Apr 2004 : Column 521W—continued
"Reducing Crime—Changing Lives"
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a 12 week consultation period took place before the publication of the document Reducing Crime—Changing Lives, in line with the Cabinet Office code of practice on written consultations. [160897]
Paul Goggins: The Government published its proposals for the reform of correctional services in its paper Reducing Crime—Changes Lives. In that paper the Home Secretary set out the initial views of the Government to Patrick Carter's Report and sought the views of stakeholders on a number of issues.
The reform of correctional services and the creation of the National Offender Management Service is a significant undertaking. There is no suggestion that the entire reform will be carried out after a single consultation exercise of 12 weeks or otherwise. The questions for stakeholders posed in Reducing Crimes—Changing Lives represents a beginning of the consultation process. I have already undertaken to ensure that consultation is ongoing with staff and stakeholders over the period of up to five years we expect full roll out of the new service will take.
21 Apr 2004 : Column 522W
Antisocial Behaviour
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new guidelines on anti-social behaviour issued to magistrates. [166675]
Ms Blears: The Magistrates Association Sentencing Guidelines, effective from 1 January 2004, dealt specifically with the offence of 'Breach of Anti-Social Behaviour Order' for the first time. The Guidance stated that the starting point should be a custodial sentence and offered a number of aggravating features, such as the recent date of the order breached, the continuation of the pattern of behaviour which the order sought to prohibit, and the use of violence and threats of intimidation.
As the guidelines were only introduced on 1 January, it is too early to assess the effectiveness of this work, and at this stage too early for anecdotal comment.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the Trailblazer nuisance neighbour projects in (a) Birmingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Sheffield and (d) Sunderland. [166680]
Ms Blears: The Government's National Action Plan, 'TOGETHER, Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour' launched last October announced that we will establish 'trailblazers' in Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Sunderland to develop excellence in tackling nuisance families. This will ensure that in these areas nuisance neighbours are not left without an effective intervention and, where necessary, a sanction.
Each of the trailblazer areas have estimated a minimum, number of such households that will be targeted for action by March 2005, and each of them are well placed to meet and probably exceed those estimates. It is, however, early days, in terms of evaluating the success of this work. Surveys measuring the perception of antisocial behaviour by members of the public in those trailblazer areas are currently underway and will provide on-going comparisons with the national picture. Specific learning from the approaches being pursed by the nuisance neighbour trailblazers, and indeed from the national neighbour nuisance neighbour panel, will be disseminated via our TOGETHER Academy, TOGETHER ActionLine and TOGETHER website (training, telephone advice, and practical information for front line agencies on tackling antisocial behaviour.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take against those areas that have not taken up anti-social behaviour orders. [166685]
Ms Blears:
Anti-social behaviour orders are not the only tool available to tackle anti-social behaviour. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act provides a wide range of tools to tackle antisocial behaviour. All areas should take swift action to deal with antisocial behaviour and other available interventions should also be considered such as injunctions, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and other tenancy related interventions.
21 Apr 2004 : Column 523W
The TOGETHER campaign will ensure that agencies on the ground are using the measures that are already in place, and those new measures introduced by the Act as effectively as possible. The campaign will help improve the response to tackling antisocial behaviour by placing the focus within the heart of our communities and providing them with the opportunity to work together and the tools to take action to tackle antisocial behaviour. The TOGETHER Academy, ActionLine and website all provide advice and information to encourage and enable local practitioners to take action against antisocial behaviour.
Bank Automated Clearing System
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department has made to manage the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments. [164313]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) is an automated payments service provided by BACS Ltd. This provides the standard route for electronic funds transmission used across the UK. BACSTEL-IP is the platform for the future of automated payments. It is based on internet protocols and uses the latest Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technologies for heightened levels of security.
Home Office met with Bottomline Technologies, our supplier, and Sirius, our IT partner, in November 2003 to discuss the implementation of the new BACSTEL-IP system. The meeting concluded that as the last date for switching to BACSTEL-IP is December 2005, the partnership should firstly concentrate on the migration from BASS, the current Home Office accounting system, to the new system, Adelphi, using the existing BACSTEL system. A further meeting will take place between all parties in the autumn of 2004 to discuss the switch to the new BACSTEL-IP system planned for the early part of 2005.
Class A Drugs
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions a Merseyside senior police officer has issued a closure notice on premises they had reason to believe were being used for the production, supply or use of Class A drugs and causing serious nuisance or disturbance in the last four months. [165914]
Ms Blears: As of 14 April 2003 the new power to close premises as contained in section 1(11) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 had been used once in the Merseyside Police Force area. As this power was enacted on the 20 January this year, more closures can be expected in the near future in line with operational needs.
The closure notice was issued by a senior police officer in the St. Helens and Wigan Basic Command Unit against a premises with a history of being subject to police action on suspicion of the supply of class A drugs and of great concern to the local community. The case is ongoing.
21 Apr 2004 : Column 524W
Departmental Officials
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which former officials of the Department have asked for permission to join (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst and Young and (d) KPMG. [156910]
Fiona Mactaggart: The figures showing applications submitted to join the following companies, so far as information is available in the form requested, are as follows:
| Company | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | — | — | 1 | — |
| Deloitte & Touche | 1 | — | — | — |
| Ernst and Young | 2 | — | — | — |
| KPMG | — | — | — | — |
— = no comprehensive figures available.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what secondments (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) KPMG have made to his Department since 2001; for what (i) periods and (ii) tasks the secondments were made; whether secondments of staff from his Department have been made to those firms; and for what (A) periods and (B) tasks. [156924]
Fiona Mactaggart: Secondments are part of the Interchange initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations—public, private and voluntary. Interchange provides opportunities for civil servants to learn new skills, widen their experience and develop ideas. It also brings in skills and experiences from other sectors.
Secondments of less than three months duration are not recorded. Since 2001, there have been secondments for periods of over three months to the organisations in question as follows:
PricewaterhouseCoopers: none.
Deloitte & Touche: one inward secondment for the period September 2003-March 2004. The secondee is managing delivery risks on the Identity Cards Programme.
Ernst & Young: There have been two inward secondments:
1. June 2003-June 2004: the secondee is working as senior analyst on criminal injuries compensation policy.
2. September 2003-September 2004: the secondee is working on public perceptions of policing policy.
KPMG: one outward secondment for the period November 2002-April 2004. The member of Home Office staff is working on occupational psychology in the field of recruitment.
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