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17 May 2004 : Column 759W—continued
Afghan Refugees
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the return of refugee women and children to Afghanistan from the UK. [170305]
Mr. Browne:
The Government's preferred option for repatriating Afghan asylum applicants whose asylum claims have been rejected and appeal rights exhausted is assisted voluntary return, in line with the Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding on Voluntary Return between the UK, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Afghan Transitional Administration. When the Memorandum of Understanding was signed we agreed that we would not return family groups to Afghanistan before the summer of 2003. Although this general policy bar on enforcing the removal of families no longer applies, we are still not enforcing the departure of vulnerable groups, such as families with young children, or female heads of household.
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Animal Experiments
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 23 February 2004, Official Report, columns 228–29W, on Centre for the 3Rs, whether he has now received the final report of the Inter-Departmental Group for the 3Rs; and if he will make a statement on how he intends to proceed with the Select Committee's recommendation. [169587]
Caroline Flint: I have recently received the Inter-Departmental Group's final report on the recommendation of the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures that a centre for research into the 3Rs—the replacement of animal use, reduction of the number of animals used and the refinement of the procedures involved to minimise suffering—should be set up and have discussed its findings with Ministerial colleagues. We expect to announce our conclusions in the next few weeks.
Asylum Detainees (Children)
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children are being held in detention solely under Immigration Act powers; and how many of these have been held for more than 28 days, broken down by removal centre. [169243]
Mr. Browne: Management information indicates that on the 26 January 2004 35 children were detained solely under Immigration Act powers. Three quarters of those had been in detention for 14 days or less and the remainder had been detained for less than four months. These individuals were all detained as part of families whose detention as a group was considered necessary.
Information on the number of people detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at 27 March 2004 will be published on the Home Office website on 25 May: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been held in detention solely under Immigration Act powers since his announcement that children will not be detained for more than 28 days without ministerial consent; and how many of these have been held for more than 28 days, broken down by removal centre. [169244]
Mr. Browne: Information on the total number of children detained under Immigration Act powers since the announcement in October 2003 that children will not be detained for more than 28 days without ministerial consent is not available.
Management information indicates that on the 26 January 2004 35 children were detained solely under Immigration Act powers. Three quarters of those had been in detention for 14 days or less and the remainder had been detained for less than four months. This includes children and infants who were detained as part of family group for very short periods pending removal.
Information on the number of people detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at 27 March 2004 will be published on the Home Office website on 25 May: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
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Cannabis
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to re-examine the law on the (a) sale and (b) cultivation of cannabis seeds. [170146]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 5 May 2004]: None. The seeds are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as they do not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
The cultivation of cannabis seeds, other than for purposes licensed by the Home Office, will remain illegal.
Clandestine Entrants
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many clandestine entrants into the United Kingdom have been detected (a) on entry and (b) in the country in each month since December 2001. [171253]
Mr. Browne: Illegal entry action is initiated against those people who are detected having entered or attempting to enter the country clandestinely or by means of deception, either verbal or documentary.
The available figures include those people who were identified as having entered the country clandestinely, they are not separately identifiable as such information would only be available by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost. A monthly breakdown of this figure is not available.
48,050 people had illegal entry action initiated against them in 2002.
Information on the number of people against whom illegal entry action was initiated in 2003 will be published later this year in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002" which can be found on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 18 March, with regard to Miss Z. Patel. [170700]
Mr. Blunkett: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 29 April 2004.
Crime Statistics
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the percentage change in (a) domestic burglary, (b) juvenile anti-social behaviour, (c) arrests for violent crime, (d) incidents of violent crime, (e) road traffic collision involving fatality or serious injury, (f) domestic burglary per 1,000 households, (g) robberies per 1,000 population and (h) vehicle crimes per 1,000 population was between 2001–02 and 2002–03 for (i) division of the North Wales police and (ii) each local authority in North Wales. [154295]
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Ms Blears: The available statistics recorded by North Wales Police, are given as follows. Those figures derived from recorded crime statistics will have been affected by North Wales police adopting the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard in October 2001.
Percentage changes between 2001–02 and 2002–03:
Domestic burglary 1 increased by 34 per cent.
Juvenile anti-social behaviour 2 remained level. Two Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were issued in both 2001–02 and 2002–03.
Arrests for violent crime 3 increased by 28 per cent.
Violent crime1,4 increased by 53 per cent.
Details on road traffic collisions involving fatality or serious injury, are not collected by the Home Office.
Domestic burglaries per 1,000 households 1 increased by 31 per cent.
Robberies per 1,000 population 1 increased by 15 per cent.
Vehicle crimes per 1,000 population 1 increased by 5 per cent.
1 The National Crime Recording Standard (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, and figures derived from them, are not directly comparable with previous years.
2 Figure based on number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, as reported to the Home Office, issued to juveniles (persons aged 10–17 years), within North Wales.
3 Figure based on numbers of notifiable arrests made by North Wales Police.
4 Violent crime comprises the offences of Violence against the person, Sexual offences and Robbery.
Crime statistics are recorded at Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) level. CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and are broadly local authority areas. They include representatives from police, health, probation and other local agencies and provide strategies for reducing crime in the area. The available figures are given in the table.
| CDRP | Domestic burglary | Violent crime |
|---|---|---|
| Conwy | -3 | 74 |
| Denbighshire | 45 | 78 |
| Flintshire | 37 | 29 |
| Gwynedd | 47 | 41 |
| Isle of Anglesey | 104 | 55 |
| Wrexham | 42 | 53 |
See footnote 1 above.
The number of ASBOs 1 which were issued to juveniles, by local authority area, for 2001–02 and 2002–03:
| Local authority area | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|
| Conwy | 0 | 1 |
| Wrexham | 2 | 1 |
(25) ASBOs are issued by the courts but can be applied for, among other authorities, the police.
Figures on arrests are not collected by local authority area.
More generally, the British Crime Survey (BCS), which asks members of the public about their experiences of crime, gives a more complete estimate of crime in England and Wales since it covers both unreported and unrecorded crime. It also gives a more
17 May 2004 : Column 763W
reliable indication of trends in crime as BCS estimates are unaffected by changes in levels of reporting, or in police recording. Between 2001–02 and 2002–03 there was a decrease of 2 per cent. in crime as measured by the BCS.
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funds were spent on tackling drugs misuse in Preston in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2003–04. [169696]
Caroline Flint: Breakdown of financial allocation to local constituencies is not available to the Home Office. Funding is allocated to Drug Action Team (DAT) areas, in this case Lancashire DAT.
In 1997–98 (pre-dating National Drugs Strategy) funding available to Lancashire DAT area totalled £670,000.
In 2003–04 the total drugs allocation for Lancashire was £6,015,000. In order to ensure consistency figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy and are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level, this varies and both in amount and origin as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
| Amount (£) | |
|---|---|
| Partnership Capacity | 118,000 |
| Treatment Pooled Budget | 3,980,000 |
| Through Care After Care Pump Priming | 35,000 |
| Building Safer Communities(26) | 1,147,000 |
| Young People | 735,000 |
| Total | 6,015,000 |
(26) Contains non-drug elements.
Mr. Neil Turner: 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 Wigan. [169336]
Fiona Mactaggart: 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 Wigan for this type of offence are not centrally available. Over the period 1999–2000 to 2001–02 Greater Manchester police recorded a total of 2,075 harassment offences.
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
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unlawful to harass a person, on grounds of race or ethnic or national origins, in the areas of activity covered by the 1976 Act.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funds were spent on tackling drug misuse in Wigan in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2003–04. [169338]
Caroline Flint: The period 1997–98 pre-dates National Drug Strategy, during this time the local council and primary care trust allocated funding for tackling drug misuse. Accounting procedures mean that the 1997 figures are no longer available and that 1998 figures are not accessible by the DAT.
In 2003–04 the total drugs allocation was £2,187,607. In order to ensure consistency figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy and are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level, this varies and both in amount and origin as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Partnership Capacity | 72,429 |
| Treatment Pooled Budget | 1,455,000 |
| Through Care After Care Pump Priming | 35,000 |
| Building Safer Communities(27) | 410,404 |
| Young people | 214,774 |
| Total | 2,187,607 |
(27) Contains non-drug elements.
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