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20 May 2004 : Column 1133W—continued

Drug Testing

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his statement of 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 279WH, on drug testing, which organisation trained the Drug Action Team (DAT) nominated trainers; what the cost was to the Home Office; what the lengths and the dates were of the training courses which the DAT nominated trainers undertook; who accredited the courses; for how many companies the DAT nominated trainers have helped to write drug policies; how the trainers have advertised their availability to train companies; what budget has been allocated to this advertising; and how the Home Office is evaluating the effectiveness of the new DAT nominated trainers. [161186]

Caroline Flint: 188 nominated Drug Action Team (DAT) business trainers from 149 DATS have been trained by an independent training company chosen by the Home Office Business Engagement Team and Hertfordshire DAT. In total, 15 training days took place across the country and the overall cost of training,
 
20 May 2004 : Column 1134W
 
plus the production of a 'Drugs in the Workplace Training Pack' has been approximately £270,000. This came from confiscated asset fund monies that were successfully bid by Kent and Hertfordshire DAT. The training courses so far have not been accredited but plans are being considered for the training to be accredited by the accrediting body City and Guilds.

In total 74 workplace policies have been introduced into companies by DAT business trainers. The way the DAT business trainers have advertised their service varies from DAT to DAT and region to region. As a first approach, DAT business trainers are encouraged to use their network and approach safety critical companies in their area. Other ways of targeting include direct marketing and organising business breakfasts, lunches and seminars to highlight to employers the importance of a drug and alcohol workplace policy. To date there has not been a budget allocated to DATs to promote the workplace policy service however, for those DATs that need additional funding there are a number of funding programmes that Government Office Drugs Teams facilitate. The Home Office as part of Phase 3 (March-December 2004) of the National Workplace Initiative plans to evaluate each of the 74 companies workplace policies. This evaluation will in principle be qualitative and focused on improving services and understanding the usefulness of the policy in the workplace. After this, evaluations at a local level will be down to each DAT.

Heroin

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on the UK heroin market of changes in poppy production in Afghanistan over the past two years; and if he will make a statement. [168724]

Caroline Flint: According to the annual UN surveys the poppy crops in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003 were 74,000 and 80,000 hectares. The change does not appear to have had any appreciable effect on the market in the UK.

Emergency Services (Insurance Cover)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what insurance cover is provided, and by whom, for members of the emergency services who are called out to terrorist incidents. [173514]

Ms Blears [holding answer 18 May 2004]: Emergency service employers make provision for their employees and their dependants in the event of death or injury on duty. The details of such provision are a matter for employers.

Firearms

Mr. Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2004, Official Report, column 531W, on firearms legislation, when his Department intends to publish the review of firearms legislation. [170093]

Caroline Flint: The consultation paper was published on 12 May.
 
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Internet Auction Sites

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Hi Tech Crime Unit will investigate cases of fraud associated with internet auction sites. [166356]

Caroline Flint: The National Hi Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) investigates serious and organised computer-enabled criminality at national and international levels within or which impacts upon the UK. Individual cases of fraud associated with internet auction sites do not fall within their remit, and such investigations remain the responsibility of local police forces.

Mobile Phones

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change he has made in the police grant to take account of the enforcement of the ban on using mobile phones while driving. [173557]

Ms Blears: No additional government grant has been made available specifically for this policing activity, which is less demanding on police resources than previous arrangements.

We have put significant extra resources into the police service in England and Wales over the last few years. Since 2000–01 total provision for policing to be supported by grant or spent centrally on services for the police has risen by over 30 per cent. or £2.3 billion.

North London Mosque

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of policing the meetings outside the North London Mosque on Fridays (a) on average per meeting and (b) in total. [169780]

Ms Blears: The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis informs me that in general no additional policing costs have been incurred in routine policing of the meetings. The officers used to police the meetings have been drawn from non-operational staff in police support roles. This approach has ensured that there has been no reduction in the number of officers on Response Teams.

On a few occasions, demonstrations opposed to the meetings have required additional police resources. The Metropolitan Police Authority would be expected to meet any extra costs from its £2.3 billion budget.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether the Friday meetings outside the North London mosque are (a) political demonstrations and (b) religious services; and if he will make a statement. [169792]

Caroline Flint: The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis tells me that prayers take place during the Friday meetings outside the North London mosque and it is policed accordingly.

Police National Computer

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the target time period is for entering
 
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records on the police national computer in relation to (a) arrests and summonses and (b) outcome of court proceedings. [173776]

Ms Blears: At present, police forces in England and Wales operate to standards set by the Association of Chief Police Officers, as follows:

arrest/summons reports—90 per cent. within 24 hours of the event.

court results—100 per cent. within 72 hours of receipt from the courts.

Performance standards have been under review, and a code of practice under the Police Reform Act 2002 has been drafted and circulated for comments. The final code will be published in the near future.

Policing (North Wales)

Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers are operating in the North Wales police force. [174066]

Ms Blears: On 30 April 2004, eight Community Support Officers were employed by North Wales Police.

Positive Futures Initiative

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Positive Futures initiative in (a) reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training and (b) reducing substance misuse among participants. [172825]

Caroline Flint: Positive Futures has an ongoing national monitoring and evaluation strategy that aims to identify and establish the value that both the national programme and individual projects have for participants and the communities in which they live.

(a) Reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training.

Approximately 20,000 young people are engaged with the 107 projects at present. Of these, in the previous six months:

over 2,400 have made some kind of educational achievement (e.g. returned to education, doing better in school, improved school attendance);

nearly 600 have secured a job or are now looking for a job ¹ ;

over 1,500 project participants have achieved some form of training or award (e.g. sports/leadership awards, Duke of Edinburgh, drugs education) ² .

Source:

¹ MORI (figures from a minimum base of 83 projects)

² MORI

(b) Reducing substance misuse among participants.

As a sport and activity based social inclusion programme, Positive Futures creates opportunities to address the multiple issues associated with problematic substance misuse. It is targeted at marginalised young people in the 10–19 age range living in the most deprived communities, who are at increased risk of involvement in problem drug use and crime.
 
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Substance misuse prevention work offered by Positive Futures projects includes:

drop-in surgeries, often with specialist advisors on hand;

one-to-one sessions;

leaflets/literature;

informal advice through sport, e.g. staff will adapt sessions to focus on fitness and healthy lifestyles. This creates opportunities to address drugs and alcohol issues.

During March 2004 around 200 front-line Positive Futures staff across the country received comprehensive substance misuse training as part of the programme's Workforce Quality Initiative.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of the Positive Futures initiative has been in each year since its launch. [172826]

Caroline Flint: The table shows the total amount of government funding allocated by the Positive Futures programme to local projects for each financial year, since its launch in 2000.

Financial year	Total government funded project grants (£)
2000–01	545,000
2001–02	2,915,000
2002–03	2,295,000
2003–04	6,085,000
2004–05	5,200,000

Notes:
1.   For 2000 and 2003 the figures include funds from the Home Office, Sport England, the Communities Against Drugs fund and the Recovered Assets Fund. From 2003–04 onwards the Home Office funded the total cost of project grants.
2.   2000 to 2003—these figures have been approximated to financial years as Sport England originally allocated funding in variable 'project years'.
3.   From 2003–04 onwards there was:
An extension of the programme to include 17 to 19-year-olds, with a focus on links to education, training and employment.
Additional funding to projects in the top 30 high crime Basic Command Unit areas (BCU).
4.   From 2004–05 onwards there was a reduction in the core grant to established projects from 100 per cent. to 60 per cent. while support was given to identifying and negotiating gap funding. The programme has secured support from a range of local and national organisations, including £1 million per annum from the Football Foundation for new projects. Local projects have individually secured additional partnership funding ranging from £10,000 to £150,000.
5.   In addition to the project grant costs shown in the table, the programme also incurs some central costs associated principally with monitoring and evaluation, communications and the training and development of project staff. Estimates of these costs are not available for all the years shown in the table. However, for 2004–05 the total central costs are expected to be approximately £0.5 million.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been provided to voluntary youth organisations through the Positive Futures initiative in each year since its launch. [172827]

Caroline Flint: Records held about Positive Futures projects classify their lead delivery agency as either statutory or non-statutory. 55 per cent. of 107 Positive Futures projects currently operating have a non-statutory lead delivery agency.
 
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The table shows the amount of government funding that has been allocated to non-statutory agencies for Positive Futures projects since the programme began in 2000.

	Funding (£)
2000 to 2003(7)	2,350,000
2003–04	965,000
2004–05	2,565,000

⁽⁷⁾ Figures for 2000 to 2003 have been amalgamated because during this period Sport England allocated funding in variable 'project years'.

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