---

16 Jun 2004 : Column 984W—continued

Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will summarise the evaluation report produced by Oxford University on the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme. [177898]

Paul Goggins: The evaluation report is in its final stages of preparation. We expect it to be ready for publication shortly. Copies of the summary will be sent to my hon. Friend and placed in the Library and on the Youth Justice Board website.

Mr. Akezhan Kazhegeldin

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether Mr. Akezhan Kazhegeldin, the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is permitted to hold any employment in the UK; and whether he receives financial support from the British Government; [176353]

(2) what representations he has received from Interpol on the Government's decision to grant leave to remain in the UK for Mr. Akezhan Kazhegeldin, the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. [176625]

Mr. Browne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 15 June 2004.

Neighbourhood Watch

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the financial position of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association; what funds have been made available to the Association; what assessment he has made of the Association's ability to continue its work; if he will publish the audit of the Association undertaken by his Department; what steps he is taking to assist the Association in maintaining its support to local neighbourhood watches; and what other arrangements he is putting in place to maintain support to local neighbourhood watches. [178234]

Ms Blears [holding answer 14 June 2004]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has received representations from 32 Members of Parliament and 55 members of the public about the financial position of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA).

£350,000 of public funds were made available to the Association in 2003.

The NNWA is an independent organisation itself responsible for assessing its capabilities.

The audit was not intended for publication. Copies have been supplied to the NNWA and they may publish the report if they wish to.
 
16 Jun 2004 : Column 985W
 

The National Association informed us in November 2003 that, until further notice, it would cease most of its support for local associations and concentrate on its commercial activities.

The main support to local Neighbourhood Watch schemes is in the form of partnership working from the police, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, and the community safety departments of local authorities. We have asked police forces to ensure these arrangements are robust. We are also examining provision of website and advice line support.

Home Office support for local schemes will continue unchanged. This includes the printing and distributing of Neighbourhood Watch publications worth £100,000 per annum. It also provides training materials like the "Crime Reduction Basics" and "Passport to Crime Reduction" toolkits, of which over 6,000 were sent to local schemes in December 2003.

The Home Office is currently piloting a new quarterly community safety magazine called "The Word", with a section dedicated to Neighbourhood Watch, which will in future go out nationally.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Home Office (a) Ministers and (b) officials had contact with the National Neighbourhood Watch Association over the Association's attempts to use the Neighbourhood Watch logo in connection with private sector sponsorship; and if he will make a statement. [178412]

Ms Blears: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has corresponded with the National Neighbourhood Watch Association and officials from the Crime Reduction Directorate of the Home Office and Treasury Solicitors have met them and corresponded with them on a number of occasions.

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions he has placed on the use of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association logo. [178574]

Ms Blears [holding answer 14 June 2004]: The National Neighbourhood Watch Association logo is a variant of the Neighbourhood Watch logo, which is Crown copyright. The National Neighbourhood Watch Association has registered the Neighbourhood Watch logos as its own trademarks and the Home Office is currently holding discussions with the Association to recover them and to agree how they may be used by the Association in future.

Personal Identification Project

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have had their data used in the UK Passport Service's Personal Identification Project; how individuals are recruited for the project; and how their consent is obtained. [172401]

Mr. Browne: Since the start of the trial in Glasgow in October 2003 there have been 117,427—1 October 2003 to 10 May 2004—applications processed through the Personal Identity Project system.

All application packs for the Glasgow catchment area (Scotland and Kent) have supplementary forms included; these forms inform applicants of the trial and
 
16 Jun 2004 : Column 986W
 
the use of the data they submit. In the final section of the form the applicant is requested to sign giving consent for the data supplied to be used in the identity search as described in the guidance notes.

Special Constables

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much capacity building funding for the recruitment of special constables was made available to police forces in each year since its inception. [178787]

Ms Blears [holding answer 14 June 2004]: The Specials' capacity building funding was announced in December 2003 and is in its first year. It is designed to assist Forces implement good practice, improving the recruitment, management and deployment of Special Constables.

All 43 Police Forces in England and Wales submitted proposals. The following table shows the allocation made to Forces, covering the first 12 months of the scheme.

Force	Total (£)
Avon and Somerset	70,000
Bedfordshire	69,859
Cambridgeshire	70,000
Cheshire	70,000
City of London	70,000
Cleveland	70,000
Cumbria	65,316
Derbyshire	63,934
Devon and Cornwall	39,892
Dorset	70,000
Durham	66,820
Dyfed Powys	70,000
Essex	70,000
Gloucestershire	67,194
Greater Manchester	39,999
Gwent	67,516
Hampshire	54,684
Hertfordshire	62,453
Humberside	70,000
Kent	70,000
Lancashire	70,000
Leicestershire	70,000
Lincolnshire	23,134
Merseyside	65,434
Metropolitan Police	70,000
Norfolk	69,500
Northamptonshire	70,000
Northumbria	70,000
North Wales	63,710
North Yorkshire	70,000
Nottinghamshire	62,000
South Wales	69,006
South Yorkshire	63,400
Staffordshire	39,818
Suffolk	65,402
Surrey	70,000
Sussex	69,898
Thames Valley	69,779
Warwickshire	62,342
West Mercia	66,070
West Midlands	69,960
West Yorkshire	70,000
Wiltshire	69,950
Totals	2,787,070

 
16 Jun 2004 : Column 987W
 

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) successes and (b) failures of the national drugs strategy in Afghanistan. [178028]

Mr. Rammell: President Karzai adopted the Afghan National Drug Control Strategy in May 2003. Its aim is to eliminate opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan by 2013. I set out to the House on 9 June 2004, Official Report, columns 124–27WH the action in hand to deliver that strategy and made clear that the UK, as lead nation, remains committed to supporting its implementation.

In the first year of implementation of the strategy, the basic counter narcotics structures have been put in place: drug control legislation, a Counter Narcotics Directorate, a Special Narcotics Force, the Counter Narcotics Police and a central eradication capability. Work is also in hand to develop alternative livelihoods for farmers dependent on opium poppy cultivation. These measures provide a sound basis for the future development of robust institutions and programmes to combat opium production and trafficking. Progress remains linked to the wider security situation in Afghanistan and to the implementation of other areas of institution building such as policing and judicial systems.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what resources are being made available to monitor the elections in Afghanistan. [178312]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Joint Elections Management Body comprised of the Afghan Transitional Administration and UN representatives, and chaired by Interior Minister Jalali, is responsible for election preparations. As part of its electoral support plans, the UN Development Programme intends to establish an "Observation Office" to facilitate national and international election observation. The Office is intended to support information exchange between Afghan and international observers and other interested parties; provide briefing packages for observers; and develop training materials for Afghan observers.

We are currently discussing with EU partners and the European Commission a range of measures to support the elections, including deployment of monitors and advisers. There are likely to be observer teams from a number of other countries. Work is also in hand to develop domestic monitoring capacity. Afghan civil society organisations involved in this have formed a "Core Group" to co-ordinate domestic monitoring activities.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the size of the British monitoring team during the elections in Afghanistan will be. [178313]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We have not yet decided on the size or nature of any UK input into the international monitoring effort for the forthcoming elections in Afghanistan. But we are looking at this, including in the light of current discussions with EU and other partners.
 
16 Jun 2004 : Column 988W
 

---