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The Shadow Economy

Brian Cotter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of how much revenue has been lost by the Exchequer as a result of the shadow economy in each year since 1997. [167511]

Dawn Primarolo: There is no reliable overall estimate of the revenue lost as a result of the shadow economy. Lord Grabiner in his review of the hidden economy and the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration have both concluded that it is a concept difficult if not impossible to measure. The Revenue continues to monitor new developments in this area.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Adventure Capital Fund

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Adventure Capital Fund. [165884]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Adventure Capital Fund was launched in December 2002 to pioneer a new form of long-term investment in community enterprises. The Fund represents a unique partnership between the Government Departments (the Home Office, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department of Trade and Industry), and several Regional Development Agencies, as funders, and four leading voluntary organisations in the field of social and economic regeneration, as delivery partners. The delivery partners are the Development Trusts Association, the Scarman Trust, the New Economics Foundation and the Local Investment Fund which is the accountable body for the fund.

The aim of the fund is to demonstrate an effective way of providing 'patient capital' to fill the investment gap faced by community organisations wishing to move
 
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from grant dependency to sustainability through developing enterprise. This gap was clearly identified in the Social Investment Task Force report (October 2001) and the more recent Bank of England Report on Finance for Social Enterprise (May 2003).

In 2003, Home Office Funding totalling £2 million was invested in 10 community enterprises, with a further £375,000 being awarded to 25 organisations in pre-investment business development grants with funding from four Regional Development Agencies (Yorkshire and Humber), East Midlands, East of England and London). In 2004, a total of £4.5 million is available from Home Office assets recovery and the DTI Phoenix Fund, plus some further allocations from RDAs for business development grants. All grant and investment recipients receive one-to-one organisational development support. The cost of this support, of management of the Fund and evaluation of the programme has been met by ODPM's Neighbourhood Renewal Unit.

Asylum Appeals

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a delay to the date for an appeal hearing with the Immigration Service can be granted if a claimant has not received a decision letter on time from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; and if he will make a statement. [164214]

Mr. Browne: Timeous receipt of the decision letter by the applicant is of no relevance to whether a delay to the date for an appeal hearing may be granted. No appeal hearing can be fixed until an appeal has been lodged. Receipt of a decision determines the start of the time limits that apply to lodging an appeal as set out in my answer to the hon. Member on 13 April 2004, Official Report, 420 column 86W.

The date of appeal hearings are not the responsibility of the Immigration Service or any other part of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. They are the    responsibility of the independent Immigration Appellate Authority. The appeal would not be listed for hearing until it has been received by the Immigration Appellate Authority. A party to the appeal can request an adjournment of the hearing to a later date, but only if they can show good reason why an adjournment is necessary, and have satisfied the adjudicator or Tribunal that the appeal cannot otherwise be justly determined.

Capacity Building

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he defines the term, capacity building. [165883]

Fiona Mactaggart: When dealing with the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS), Capacity Building is   about ensuring that Voluntary and Community Organisations (VCOs) have the skills, knowledge, structures and resources to realise their full potential. Capacity building supports and develops VCS infrastructure through the provision of developmental assistance and advice, enabling VCOs to achieve their objectives. It is as much about releasing existing capacity as about developing new capacity.
 
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The Government's recent review of community capacity building examined the support needed, particularly at neighbourhood or community level, to increase active citizenship and build strong communities, as key contributors to our broader goal of civil renewal. The resulting consultation paper defined community capacity building as "the activities, resources and support that strengthen the skills and abilities of people and community groups to take effective action and leading roles in the development of their communities". The review findings also recognised the importance of organisational development and culture change within public bodies, to ensure public servants are equipped to engage effectively with communities and the voluntary and community sector.

Child Sex Offences

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the   Home Department how many prosecutions for (a) sexual offences involving minors, (b) prostitution and trafficking involving children and (c) possession of child pornography there were in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [152236]

Paul Goggins: The available information is contained in the table. Offences connected with prostitution and trafficking involving children cannot be separately identified in the statistics collected centrally.

Statistics for 2003 will be published in the autumn.
Persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts for sexual offences⁽¹⁷⁾ etc. against minors where the age of the victim is identified by the offence, 2000–02—England and Wales

	Number of persons
Offences	(18)2000	2001	2002
Sexual offences involving minors	3,442	4,095	4,422
Child pornography offences	413	486	621

⁽¹⁷⁾ Principal offence basis.
⁽¹⁸⁾ Excluding Staffordshire.

Closure Orders

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for   the Home Department on how many occasions Merseyside Courts issued a closure order in the past four months. [165915]

Paul Goggins: Merseyside police records show that no closure orders have been issued in Merseyside, although a case is pending under Part 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.

Crime (Wirral, South)

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in full-time police officers in Wirral, South has been since 1997. [166634]

Ms Blears: Information on strength at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level is collected annually and reflects the position at the end of March. Information on BCU strength is only available from 2002.
 
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Wirral, South is part of the Wirral Basic Command Unit (BCU). Between March 2002 and March 2003 police strength for the Wirral BCU decreased by 0.9 per cent. (from 515 to 510). The deployment of officers to BCUs is a matter for the Chief Constable and within the Wirral BCU deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.

Futurebuilders Programme

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the timescale for the implementation of the proposed Futurebuilders investment programme; what the mechanism is by which voluntary sector organisations may bid for allocations from this fund; who else will be eligible to bid; and if he will make a statement. [166848]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Futurebuilders Fund is an innovative undertaking, designed to enable voluntary and community organisations to modernise and enhance their capacity to deliver first class public services, particularly to individuals who are not well served by current state or market provision.

The implementation of the £125 million investment fund will be managed by Futurebuilders England Ltd., a consortium of organisations with experience of funding voluntary and community organisations. The Fund will provide finance to assist voluntary and community organisations, and social enterprises, in their public service work to acquire capital assets through a range of funding solutions, including grants and various forms of loans.

Futurebuilders England aim to begin their first round of investments this summer. Information about designing the process, the mechanism for bids to the Fund, including investment priorities, the eligibility criteria and application process, is to be made available by Futurebuilders England at an information event they are holding for mainly voluntary and community organisations on Wednesday 5 May.

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