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Probation Service

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of probation officers required over the next five years. [176315]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 27 May 2004]: On current projections the number of probation staff will increase to 23,200 by 2008.

Public Order

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions there have been for breaching a designated public place order in each year since 2001. [175256]

Ms Blears: Information on arrests collected centrally is based on persons arrested for "notifiable" offences only and therefore does not cover this offence, as it is not notifiable.
 
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The offence of alcohol consumption in a designated public place (Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001) came into force on 1 September 2001 and was recorded in the Home Office Court Proceedings database from 1 January 2002. The information collected shows that no persons were convicted of this offence in 2002.

Statistics for 2003 will be published in the autumn.

Fixed penalty notices for disorder have now been introduced in England and Wales covering 11 penalty offences. They have been introduced to provide the police with a quick and effective tool for dealing with minor disorder offences which saves both police and court time as well as providing the offender with an immediate punishment. The offence of drinking in a designated public place is included in the scheme. Home Office Research Findings No. 232 published in March this year gave details of the early results from the pilots of the scheme. This shows that for the period August 2002 to 28 March 2003 a total of four penalty notices were issued for the offence of drinking in a designated public place.

Recordable Offences

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been made to the list of recordable offences since 1997. [177466]

Ms Blears [holding answer 9 June 2004]: All offences under provisions which carry the possibility of a custodial sentence are recordable, plus 52 other, non-imprisonable, offences specified in the Schedule to the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000, as amended by the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 2003. Regulations made prior to 1997 had listed five non-imprisonable offences as recordable

section 1, Street Offences Act 1959 (offence of loitering or soliciting for purposes of prostitution);

section 43, Telecommunications Act 1984 (offence of improper use of public telecommunications system);

section 29, Road Traffic Act 1972 (penalisation of tampering with vehicles);

section 1, Malicious Communications Act 1988 (offence of sending letters etc. with intent to cause distress or anxiety); and

section 139(1), Criminal Justice Act 1988 (offence of having article with blade or point in public place).

The National Police Records (Recordable Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 1997 added a further 42 offences to the list. The 2000 Regulations added a further 5 offences, and at the same time consolidated the provisions, including the list. Most recently, the 2003 Amendment Regulations added offences of taxi touting, begging and persistent begging to the list, and made some tidying-up amendments including removing from the list three offences which are now imprisonable and therefore no longer needed to be specified in the list as recordable.
 
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Seasonal Fruit Pickers

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average age is of seasonal fruit pickers who came to work in the UK in the last three years. [175439]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 24 May 2004]: Non-EU nationals working as seasonal fruit pickers in the UK come under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). Data about the average age of SAWS participants prior to 2004 is not available.

The average age of SAWS participants who have been issued work cards to work on the scheme in 2004 is 22.

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time a contracted seasonal fruit picker spent working in the UK in the last three years. [175445]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 24 May 2004]: Non-EU nationals working as seasonal fruit pickers in the UK come under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). Data about the average length of contract for SAWS participants prior to 2004 is not available.

We anticipate that SAWS participants who have been issued work cards for 2004 will work on the scheme for an average of 4.7 months. Participants may only work for a maximum of six months on SAWS.

Sentencing

Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the dialogue between the Judicial Studies Board and the Sentencing Advisory Council. [176615]

Paul Goggins: I am satisfied with the arrangements for dialogue between the Judicial Studies Board and the Sentencing Guidelines Council. The Chair of the Judicial Studies Board's Criminal Committee is ex officio a member of the Sentencing Guidelines Council and there is regular contact between officials form both organisations.

Telecommunications Masts

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 352W, on Tetra, what further work has been carried out by the National Radiological Protection Board on modelling specific absorption rates arising from Tetra masts. [176485]

Caroline Flint: The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) has calculated specific absorption rates from Tetra handsets. Even in worst case situations, these were found to be well below international health and safety guidelines. In areas accessible to the public, signals from Tetra masts are very much weaker than those from handsets. The NRPB has not carried out any further work on specific absorption rates from Tetra masts.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 352W, on Tetra, what research has been carried out by the Radiocommunications
 
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Agency (now Ofcom) in checking the biological effects of low level electro-magnetic radiation from Tetra base station. [176486]

Caroline Flint: Ofcom does not carry out any research on the potential biological effects of low level electro-magnetic radiation. Ofcom does however check that signal levels from base stations comply with health and safety guidelines. Ofcom checks at 12 Tetra base stations have confirmed that signal levels are hundreds of times less than international health and safety guidelines in areas accessible to the public.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 352W, on Tetra, what research is being carried out by King's College, London under the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme into the health effect of Tetra base stations and masts. [176487]

Caroline Flint: King's College London is already assessing the effects of GSM mobile phone handsets on cognitive performance and stress levels. It will extend the study to Tetra handsets in 2005. No work is planned on Tetra base stations or masts.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 352W, on Tetra, when he expects each of the research projects he refers to in his answer to report. [176488]

Caroline Flint: We expect two final reports from Dstl during 2004: the first on biological effects of Tetra in September and the second on cognitive performance in December. The Universities of Birmingham and Manchester are due to report in October 2004. MCL is due to report in December 2005.

Because Imperial College is carrying out a long-term study, its interim report is not due until 2010.

Interim reports from these studies are available from the Home Office website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/tetra.html, as are final reports from completed studies.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 352W, on Tetra, if he will list the people carrying out the research by Microwave Consultants Ltd. into specific absorption rates from Tetra equipment; whether this research includes Tetra masts; and what the source of funding is for this research. [176489]

Caroline Flint: The main Microwave Consultants Ltd. expert currently working on specific absorption rates from Tetra equipment is Dr. Philip Chadwick. The research does not include Tetra masts. It is funded by the Home Office.
 
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