---

14 May 2004 : Column 604W—continued

Arson

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the   Home Department (1) how many children have been prosecuted for arson in each of the last seven years; [169107]

(2) how many children have been prosecuted for arson under the influence of sniffing petrol in each of the last seven years. [169108]

Paul Goggins: The requested information on the number of persons aged 10 and under 18 years proceeded against for arson, England and Wales 1996 to 2002 is contained in the table.

It is not possible from the information collected centrally by the Home Office to identify the number of persons aged 10 and under 18 years who were proceeded against for arson, who had been under the influence of sniffing petrol.

Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.
Number of persons aged 10 and under 18 years proceeded against at the magistrates; courts for arson—England and Wales 1996 to 2002 1

	Proceeded against
1996	708
1997	878
1998	823
1999	924
2000	1,005
2001	1,134
2002	1,064

⁽⁴⁾ These data are on the principal offence basis



 
14 May 2004 : Column 605W
 

CCTV

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on CCTV security cameras in Sittingbourne and Sheppey since 1997. [170289]

Ms Blears: Since 1997, the Home Office has provided a total of £471,347 for CCTV schemes to Swale Borough Council, which includes the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency.

Allocation of that funding is a matter for Swale Borough Council and Kent County Constabulary. The information is not held centrally.

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on CCTV security cameras in Oldham, West and Royton since 1997. [170956]

Ms Blears: Since 1997, the Home Office has provided £221,938 to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, which includes the Oldham West and Royton Constituency for CCTV schemes.

Allocation of funds across this area is the responsibility of Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council and Greater Manchester Police.

Child Offenders (Injuries)

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on injuries sustained by children in penal institutions, with particular reference to broken limbs; how many such injuries were suffered by children in such institutions in each of the last five years; how many and what percentage of the total are considered to have been inflicted by staff working in such institutions; what plans he has to introduce new or revised policies on the issue; and if he will make a statement. [169526]

Paul Goggins: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has not received any recent representations on this subject.

Statistical information on injuries is not collected centrally, but the Youth Justice Board has been reviewing the use of physical restraint procedures and the National Children's Bureau recently produced a report for the board on the use of physical intervention within the juvenile secure estate. The board is currently drawing up a code of practice on the use of physical restraint, which it is intended will apply in all establishments holding young people under 18. The board is also planning to review the techniques that are used in establishments, in the light of the tragic death of Gareth Myatt at Rainsbrook on 19 April.

Civil Servants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each civil service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group and (iii) age group; and how many are registered disabled. [166390]

 
14 May 2004 : Column 606W
 

Fiona Mactaggart: Data on staffing levels in the Civil Service is collected by the Cabinet Office and published in Civil Service Statistics. A copy of Civil Service Statistics, 2002 is available in the Library, and at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics. The 2003 edition will be published in summer 2004.

More recent data for the Home Department and its executive agencies is given in the tables, which will be placed in the Library.

Commission for Racial Equality

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the grant from public funds to the Commission for Racial Equality in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement on the   reasons for the delay in distributing funds to commission area councils for racial equality, including Bexley. [169448]

Fiona Mactaggart: The grant-in-aid paid to the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in each of the last five years was as follows:

	£ million
2000–2001	16.685
2001–2002	20.516
2002–2003	20.424
2003–2004	(5)23.902
2004–2005	19.200

⁽⁵⁾ A further £4 million was provided in-year to cover a predicted shortfall in the value of Race Equality Council pension scheme.

Substantial additional sums were allocated in the three year period 2001–02 to 2003–04 to allow the CRE to implement the provisions of the Race Relations Amendment Act and its modernisation programme. This increase was carried forward to the baseline for this year. The new baseline of £19.2 million (which includes a 4.5 per cent. reduction in administration costs) will be the starting point for considering next year's budget.

The closing date for bids for Section 44 applications grants was 13 February 2004. Since that time the CRE and the Home Office have been working to agree this years delegated budget, and the CRE has been assessing a large pool of applications in accordance with its criteria. The number of successful applicants is higher than last year. The Commission notified applicants of its funding decisions on Thursday 6 May 2004.

Correspondence

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters his Department received from the right hon. and hon. Members in each month (a) between May 1997 and June 2001 and (b) since June 2001. [163122]

Fiona Mactaggart: The information is as follows:

(a)

Month	No of letters received 1
April 2001	1,734
May 2001	1,423
June 2001	1,065

⁽⁶⁾ excludes letters addressed to officials/agencies



 
14 May 2004 : Column 607W
 

Figures for previous years are not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

(b)

Month	No of letters received 1
July 2001	724
August 2001	833
September 2001	1,346
October 2001	1,730
November 2001	1,602
December 2001	949
January 2002	1,723
February 2002	1,735
March 2002	1,443
April 2002	1,944
May 2002	1,654
June 2002	1,296
July 2002	2,001
August 2002	2,067
September 2002	1,407
October 2002	1,741
November 2002	1,466
December 2002	1,046
January 2003	2,107
February 2003	1,703
March 2003	1,963
April 2003	1,869
May 2003	1,574
June 2003	1,792
July 2003	2,270
August 2003	1,558
September 2003	1,824
October 2003	1,797
November 2003	1,800
December 2003	1,682
January 2004	1,140
February 2004	1,761

⁽⁷⁾ excludes letters addressed to officials/agencies

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to encourage business participation in crime and disorder reduction partnerships. [172428]

Ms Blears: We fully recognise the importance of business participation in the work of crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) and we have taken steps in a number of ways to encourage this.

Firstly, companies and retail bodies are named under section 5(3) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as invitees to participate in CDRP audits which are currently under way.

We have also appointed 10 regional business crime reduction advisers who are currently engaged in a mapping exercise that will pull together data on how CDRPs across the country are prioritising business crime in their strategies. The advisers will work with the CDRPs to promote ways of including business crime activities in their strategies.

A new toolkit on audits and strategies has been developed for CDRPs on the Crime Reduction website and a section on consulting on the findings of the audit will be available shortly highlighting the importance of consulting businesses during this process.
 
14 May 2004 : Column 608W
 

Finally, one of the aims of the Action Against Business Crime (AABC) group is to strengthen the links between businesses and CDRPs, further reinforcing the importance of CDRPs and business working together.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the figures for crime and disorder reduction partnerships were for (a) violence against the person, (b) sex offences, (c) robbery, (d) burglary, (e) theft of a motor vehicle, (f) theft from a vehicle and (g) total crime in each year since 1999 to 2000. [170373]

Ms Blears: Recorded crime statistics at Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) level for the six offence groups mentioned are available on a financial year basis from 1999–2000. There are currently 376 CDRPs in England and Wales.

CDRP figures for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 were published in July 2001 (Table 10 of Statistical Bulletin 12/01 'England and Wales, 12 months to March 2002') and can be accessed via the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at the following address: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb1201.pdf

CDRP figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 can be found on the same website at the following address: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hosb703sup1.xls

The National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was introduced across England and Wales in April 2002. Some police forces adopted the standard prior to this date. Broadly, the NCRS had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not directly comparable with previous years.

The new Home Office website www.crimestatistics. org.uk/tool/ contains quarterly data for the 2002–03 financial year at CDRP level for a wide range of offences within the Recorded Crime series.

---