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27 May 2004 : Column 1761W—continued
Bribery/Corruption
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) legislative and (b) administrative arrangements need to be made by the United Kingdom Government in order to meet its obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption; and when the Government intend to ratify the UN Convention. [174003]
Mr. MacShane: I have been asked to reply.
Legislation is required to comply fully with the convention's requirements in Article 52, on prevention and detection of transfers of the proceeds of crime; Article 53, on the confiscation and repatriation of assets; and Article 55, on the forfeiture of the instrumentalities of crime.
Primary legislation is required to comply with Article 55. Secondary legislation, under part 11 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002, is needed to comply with Article 53.
Secondary legislation will also be required to comply with Article 52. Measures dealing with the requirements of Article 52 are likely to be included in the EU Third Money Laundering Directive. Our current expectation is that negotiations on the directive will be completed by the first part of next year and we would seek to implement it in the UK through secondary legislation, as soon as we reasonably could thereafter.
The Government are also considering what, if any, administrative arrangements need to be made to enable the UK to meet its obligations under the convention.
The Government will seek to implement legislation and other measures at the earliest possible opportunity. We intend to ratify the convention as soon as we are satisfied that the UK can comply fully with its obligations under it.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he intends to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 26 January 2004, with regard to Mosamma Meherun Nessa Begum, transferred to him by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; [166348]
(2) when he intends to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 26 January 2004, with regard to Mosamma Meherun Nessa Begum, transferred to him from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. [172251]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 6 May 2004.
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 29 March 2004, with regard to Henry Morgan Crowe. [170701]
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Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 11 May 2004.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 5 April 2004, with regard to Alfred Kaland. [172252]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 11 May 2004.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 14 April with regard to Muhammad Rafique. [175614]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 27 May 2004.
Domestic Violence
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported cases involving domestic violence there were in England and Wales in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [174490]
Ms Blears: Domestic violence is not separately identified in the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office nor in the statistics of court proceedings, because the circumstances of the offences are not collected.
However, the British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely collects data on the prevalence and number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales from the main "face-to-face" part of the survey. In the 2002–03 BCS there were an estimated 501,000 incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales as a whole. 35 per cent. of these cases were reported to the police.
E-crime
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on the e-crime strategy since it was introduced. [176611]
Caroline Flint: The e-crime strategy will look to provide a framework for Government, law enforcement and industry action in response to e-crime, seeking to outline current legislation, policy and practice, as well as addressing current questions and advancing and informing the debate on longer-term issues.
However the strategy has not been published as yet. Officials continue to work to bring the strategy together and it will be published soon.
EU Enlargement
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from EU accession countries arrived at UK international (a) airports and (b) bus stations on the first week of May. [173182]
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Mr. Browne: Since 1 May, members of the EU accession countries are subject to the same immigration controls as citizens of other EU member states. We are therefore not able to say how many passengers arrived from EU accession countries. Data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), showing the total number of visits by nationals of all the EU accession countries in May, will be available early in July.
Air Guns
Ms Abbott:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of
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the level of enforcement of penalties in cases of air gun misuse. [175541]
Caroline Flint: The information given in the table relates to persons who were proceeded against at magistrates courts in 2002 for offences under the Firearms Acts where an air weapon was involved and relates to the principal offence for which they were prosecuted. It is not possible to identify from the statistics of court proceedings collected centrally other offences where an air weapon is used in the commission of a crime. Comparative statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will not be available until the autumn.
| Offence description | Statute | Persons proceeded against | Persons found guilty | Persons sentenced | Absolute/ conditional discharge | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possession of air weapon with intent to endanger life | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16 | 32 | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| Using air weapons or imitation air weapons to resist arrest | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(1) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon at time of committing or being arrested for an offence specified in schedule 1 of the Act | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(2) | 32 | — | — | — | — |
| Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence or resist arrest | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 18(1) | 11 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Possessing of a air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to cause fear of violence | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16A (as amended by Firearms (Amendment) Act 1994) | 127 | 25 | 25 | 2 | — |
| Possession of air weapon by persons previously convicted of crime | Firearms Act 1968 Section 21 (4) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III. | 57 | 35 | 36 | 9 | 8 |
| Supplying air weapon to person denied them under Section 21 | Ibid Section 21(5) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III. | — | — | — | — | — |
| Carrying loaded air weapon in public place etc. | Ibid Section 19 | 186 | 137 | 137 | 41 | 45 |
| Trespassing with air weapon in a building | Ibid Section 20(1) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Trespassing with air weapon on land | Ibid Section 20(2) | 32 | 23 | 23 | 8 | 12 |
| Person under 17 acquiring air weapon | Ibid Section 22(1). | — | — | — | — | — |
| Person under 14 having with him an air weapon or ammunition therefor | Ibid Section 22(4) | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | — |
| Person under 17 having with him an air weapon in a public place | Ibid Section 22(5) | 51 | 41 | 41 | 14 | 5 |
| Person under 14 making improper use of air weapon when under supervision | Ibid Section 23(1) | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Person supervising person under 14, permitting improper use of air weapon | Ibid Section 23(1). | — | — | — | — | — |
| Selling or letting on hire an air weapon to person under 17 | Ibid Section 24(1) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Supplying air weapon to person under 14 | Ibid Section 24(4) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Supplying air weapon to person drunk or insane | Ibid Section 25 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Failure to hand over air weapon or ammunition or demand by constable | Ibid Section 47(2) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 540 | 273 | 274 | 77 | 71 |
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| Offence description | Statute | Average fine amount (£) | Community penalty | Immediate custody | Average custodial sentence length (months) | Otherwise dealt with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possession of air weapon with intent to endanger life | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16 | — | 2 | 1 | 6.0 | — |
| Using air weapons or imitation air weapons to resist arrest | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(1) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon at time of committing or being arrested for an offence specified in schedule 1 of the Act | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(2) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence or resist arrest | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 18(1) | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Possessing of a air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to cause fear of violence | Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16A (as amended by Firearms (Amendment) Act 1994) | — | 16 | 7 | 15.3 | — |
| Possession of air weapon by persons previously convicted of crime | Firearms Act 1968 Section 21 (4) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III. | 138 | 12 | 5 | 7.0 | 2 |
| Supplying air weapon to person denied them under Section 21 | Ibid Section 21(5) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III. | — | — | — | — | — |
| Carrying loaded air weapon in public place etc. | Ibid Section 19 | 96 | 47 | 3 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Trespassing with air weapon in a building | Ibid Section 20(1) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Trespassing with air weapon on land | Ibid Section 20(2) | 112 | 2 | 1 | 4.0 | — |
| Person under 17 acquiring air weapon | Ibid Section 22(1). | — | — | — | — | — |
| Person under 14 having with him an air weapon or ammunition therefor | Ibid Section 22(4) | — | 4 | — | — | — |
| Person under 17 having with him an air weapon in a public place | Ibid Section 22(5) | 49 | 21 | — | — | 1 |
| Person under 14 making improper use of air weapon when under supervision | Ibid Section 23(1) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Person supervising person under 14, permitting improper use of air weapon | Ibid Section 23(1). | — | — | — | — | — |
| Selling or letting on hire an air weapon to person under 17 | Ibid Section 24(1) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Supplying air weapon to person under 14 | Ibid Section 24(4) | 300 | — | — | — | — |
| Supplying air weapon to person drunk or insane | Ibid Section 25 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Failure to hand over air weapon or ammunition or demand by constable | Ibid Section 47(2) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 103 | 104 | 17 | 9.4 | 5 |
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