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HOME DEPARTMENT

Car Theft

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cars were stolen in (a) Lancashire, (b) Yorkshire, (c) Cheshire, (d) Derbyshire and (e) Wales in 2003; and how many were subsequently recovered in each case. [172698R]

Ms Blears: The available information relates to 2002–03 and is given in the table. Information relating
 
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to the recovery of vehicles is no longer collected centrally.

Police force area	Theft and unauthorised taking of motor vehicle
Lancashire	5,585
North Yorkshire	2,642
South Yorkshire	10,241
West Yorkshire	22,867
Cheshire	4,503
Derbyshire	4,062
Wales	17,814

Counter-terrorism

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made, in respect of counter-terrorist planning, of the work done by the Health and Safety Executive for the International Atomic Energy Agency on public protection from high-activity sealed sources. [172314]

Mr. Blunkett: The United Kingdom has been prominent in negotiations to revise the International Atomic Energy Authority's Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources which was agreed in September 2003. The UK was among the first to express an intention to implement the code and encourage all other countries to do the same. The UK was also prominent in negotiating action plans within G8 and the European Union , and in December 2003 the EU Council Directive on High Activity Sealed Sources (HASS) was adopted. The UK is now in the process of implementation and this work is being taken forward by a number of Government Departments and agencies, including the Health and Safety Executive.

Crime (Stalybridge and Hyde)

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in (a) overall recorded crime, (b) overall recorded violent crime, (c) burglaries and (d) vehicle thefts has been in Stalybridge and Hyde since 1997. [168736]

Ms Blears: The information requested is not available centrally.

Stalybridge and Hyde is within the Tameside Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area. Data at CDRP level have only been published from 1999–2000 onwards. Detailed statistics at CDRP level are available for 2002–03 on the new Home Office website: http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk.

Criminal Records Bureau

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Criminal Records Bureau checks were carried out free for charities in each of the last 12 months; and at what cost to his Department. [169026]

 
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Ms Blears: Information is not available to determine how many Criminal Records Bureau checks have been carried out for charities during the last 12 months. However, between April 2003 and March 2004, the
 
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Bureau carried out 396,549 checks for volunteer applicants at a cost of £9,634,430 to the Department. The breakdown of the above figures on a monthly basis is shown in the table.

Month	Number of enhanced disclosures issued free of charge for volunteers	Cost (£)	Number of standard disclosures issued free of charge for volunteers	Cost (£)	Overall cost (£)
April 2003	28,096	337,152	4,733	56,796	393,948
May 2003	26,220	314,640	3,853	46,236	360,876
June 2003	30,863	346,812	4,855	58,260	405,072
July 2003	30,863	895,027	5,031	120,744	1,015,771
August 2003	21285	617,265	2,911	69,864	687,129
September 2003	23,703	687,387	4,141	99,384	786,771
October 2003	35,853	1,039,737	6,590	158,160	1,197,897
November 2003	29,323	850,367	6,209	149,016	999,383
December 2003	25,214	731,206	4,734	113,616	844,822
January 2004	26,524	769,196	4,750	114,000	883,196
February 2004	32,975	956,275	5,671	136,104	1,092,379
March 2004	29,690	861,010	4,424	106,176	967,186
Overall total					9,634,430

Custodial Sentences

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many adult males given a custodial sentence by courts were assessed as requiring (a) category A, (b) category B, (c) category C and (d) category D security conditions in London in each month since January 2003. [168638]

Paul Goggins: The original security category of adult males received under sentence in London prisons as (a) category A, (b) category B, (c) category C and (d) category D prisoners in each month since January 2003 is given in the table.
Original security category of adult males received under sentence into London prison

	A	B	C	D	Other codes(15)
January 2003-	4	33	488	123	143
February 2003	0	30	450	118	127
March 2003	0	20	496	101	155
April 2003	0	21	445	98	162
May 2003	0	26	494	111	169
June 2003	0	17	490	121	168
July 2003	0	17	560	112	204
August 2003	1	18	465	69	151
September 2003	0	24	484	117	159
October 2003	0	18	535	92	143
November 2003	0	27	518	95	175
December 2003	0	13	432	80	262
January 2004	0	14	505	134	186
February 2004	0	13	514	121	202
March 2004	0	15	513	110	231

⁽¹⁵⁾   Other codes includes those awaiting categorisation and where the code has not yet been entered

Identity Cards

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether (a) convicted and (b) suspected terrorists in the United Kingdom are using (i) multiple and (ii) false identities. [170344]

Mr. Blunkett: We are aware that the use of false and multiple identities is a well established practice used by those who wish to disguise and facilitate involvement in serious crime, including terrorism. We know that at least 35 per cent. of terrorists use false or multiple identities.

An identity cards scheme which made it far more difficult to establish multiple identities will help to disrupt terrorist support networks. That is why the Government are introducing such a scheme.

Mini-cab Drivers

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the reasons are for the exclusion of other EU citizens from criminal record checks when applying to work as mini-cab drivers; [167981]

(2) for what reason British and EU mini-cab drivers are not treated equally with regard to requirements for criminal record checks when applying to work as mini-cab drivers. [167982]

Ms Blears: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) will accept a Disclosure application from any individual who is resident, or is seeking a post, in England and Wales, meets the eligibility criteria and makes an application in the prescribed form which includes providing the documentation required to authenticate the applicant. But Part 5 of the Police Act 1997, under which the CRB operates, does not empower the CRB to search data sources outside the United Kingdom for conviction and other information shown on its Disclosures. The value of a CRB Disclosure may therefore be limited if the applicant has been resident in the UK for no more than a short time.

Some other countries, including most in the EU, have arrangements in place which allow their citizens to obtain certificates of good conduct or extracts from the criminal record to show to prospective employers. The CRB has developed an Overseas Information Service for the benefit of employers. This supplies advice and
 
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information about arrangements and contact points in a number of other countries in order that the employer can make inquiries or ask the employee to do so. At present, this covers 16 countries, including nine in Europe, and work is in hand to extend the service to a further 15 countries, including 14 in Europe. The CRB advises that Disclosures should complement and not replace other checks and inquiries under good recruitment practice. It is for employers (or regulatory bodies) to determine the arrangements that are to apply.

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