| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
11 May 2004 : Column 232W—continued
Racial Harassment
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers preventing racial harassment have been introduced since 1997; and how many times these powers have been used in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. [170457]
Fiona Mactaggart: Prior to 1997 the Race Relations Act (RRA) 1976 already prohibited discrimination on racial grounds. The RRA did not specifically refer to harassment, but it was clear from case law that racial harassment was a type of detriment capable of amounting to the kind of less favourable treatment prohibited by the Act.
As part of its fulfilment of its obligations under the EC Race Directive the UK amended the Race Relations Act 1976 (by virtue of the Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003) so as to make it unlawful to harass a person, on grounds of race or ethnic or national origins, in the areas of activity covered by the 1976 Act.
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created new and separate offences where the offences of causing fear and violence or of causing harassment, alarm or distress under the Public Order Act 1986, or the offences of harassment or putting in fear of violence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 were racially aggravated.
Figures for the number of prosecutions in Sittingbourne and Sheppey for this type of offence are not centrally available. Kent police figures for harassment offences (published by the Home Office under the requirements of S95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991) show a total of 339 recorded offences of this type in the Kent police area over the period 1999–2000 to 2001–02.
Road Safety
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted in Sussex for use of mobile telephones while driving since the recent changes to the law were introduced; and what revenues have been collected in penalties from such prosecutions. [169861]
11 May 2004 : Column 233W
Caroline Flint: The specific offence of driving while using a hand held mobile phone came into effect on 1 December 2003. Use of a hands free mobile phone is not an offence.
Data on police action (written warnings, fixed penalty notices and court proceedings) for the new offence of driving while using a hand held mobile telephone will not be available until the autumn of 2004.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his strategy is for enforcing legislation on the use of mobile phones while driving. [171096]
Caroline Flint: When use of a mobile phone while driving amounts to some other offence, such as failing to exercise proper control, it has always been enforced as that. Such enforcement will continue when appropriate. The specific new offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is designed to provide a simple, objective method of enforcement and prosecution, which does not depend in the same way on judgments of a driver's degree of control of a vehicle or carelessness. The Association of Chief Police Officers have welcomed it as such. How offences are enforced is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police.
Sexual Offences
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has to appoint a working group on drug rape; and if he will make a statement. [171025]
Caroline Flint: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) keeps under review all drugs and their associated harms and risks. Currently, the ACMD has no plans to establish a specific Working Group on drug rape. However, if the issue requires the ACMD's consideration it can be raised as an agenda item at either the full Council meeting of the ACMD or at the meeting of the ACMD's Technical Committee. Previously, the ACMD have acted on this issue as highlighted through its recommendation that Gammahydroxybutrate (GHB), which is viewed as a 'date rape' drug be made a controlled drug under Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Although the ACMD is not specifically dealing with this issue at the moment there is an Interdepartmental Ministerial Group on Sexual Offending. The purpose of the Group (broadly) is to promote and co-ordinate cross-government action on tackling sexual offending, and provide appropriate support for the victims of sexual crime. Furthermore, under s.61 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 it is an offence to administer a substance with the aim of stupefying/overpowering a person to engage in sexual activity. This is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Terrorism
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much is being spent on the advertising campaign on promoting anti-terrorism launched by the Metropolitan police on 22 March. [165885]
Ms Blears
[holding answer 11 May 2004]: The costs for the "Life Savers" campaign is estimated at £266,000.
11 May 2004 : Column 234W
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will extend his powers to detain people he reasonably believes to be linked to terrorist groups to (a) groups other than al-Qaeda which pose a threat to United Kingdom security, (b) United Kingdom nationals who acquired nationality through (i) marriage and (ii) other routes, other than by birth, and (c) all United Kingdom nationals. [169797]
Ms Blears: Part 4 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was introduced to enable the detention of foreign nationals believed to be associated with terrorism but who cannot be removed from the country. My right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary has no plans at present to extend these immigration powers.
The Part 4 powers, however, lapse in November 2006. The question therefore arises as to what could or should replace them. The Discussion Paper "Counter-Terrorism Powers: Reconciling Security and Liberty in an Open Society", published on 25 February invites those with an interest in these issues to contribute their ideas to this debate by 31 August.
Travellers
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers regarding travellers. [170129]
Ms Blears: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has regular meetings with the Association of Chief Police Officers and other police organisations.
Issues concerning travellers are covered in these meetings.
Websites
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost in (a) financial and (b) other terms was in (i) each financial year since 1997 and (ii) 2003–04 until the latest date for which figures are available of (A) developing and (B) maintaining (1) his Department's website and (2) each website for which his Department is responsible; and how many (C) unique hosts and (D) hits there were in each month for each website in (iii) each financial year since 1997 and (iv) 2003–04 until the latest date for which numbers are available. [155855]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information is as follows.
Costs (Home Office) and page impressions
The available information is shown in the table. For 1998 to 2001, it reflects expenditure on the corporate Home Office website only. Figures for 2001 onwards include all known Home Office funded web properties excluding Criminal Justice System (CJS) Online.
Cost (£) | Number of page impressions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Not separately identified | Not available |
| 1998–99 | Not separately identified | Not available |
| 1999–2000 | 40,614 | 9,066,894 |
| 2000–01 | 58,170 | 16,495,939 |
| 2001–02 | 1,576,214 | 3,830,772 |
| 2002–03 | (8)1,643,356 | (8)6,099,197 |
| 2003–04 | (9)849,381.82 | (10)32,690,512 |
(8) These figures include the cost of the site volcomgrants.gov.uk but no statistics of use are available.
Caveats
As they have evolved, the Home Office websites have used the most suitable statistical analysis software available. The figures shown above therefore represent the most accurate information available to us at the time of each reported statistic.
Because members of the website team have not been employed exclusively on this work throughout the period, their costs have been excluded from this table.
Information is not held centrally on websites that are managed independently of the main site.
Unique Hosts
42 including IND (main IND site, working in Britain and UK nationality sites) and Crime Reduction (38 excluding these) at March 2004. Figures not kept for previous years.
(9) To 5 March 2004, (excludes IND and Crime Red).
(10) To January 2004.
11 May 2004 : Column 235W
The available information shown in the table for 1998 to 2001 reflects expenditure on the corporate Home Office website only. Figures for 2001 onwards include all known Home Office funded web properties excluding CJS Online.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |