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18 Jun 2004 : Column 1160W—continued
Animal Experiments
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated to assess whether experiments on animals can be scientifically reproduced using other methods and subjects. [176778]
Caroline Flint: The Home Office has not commissioned or evaluated any formal research to demonstrate that experiments on animals cannot be scientifically reproduced using other methods and subjects, and has no plans to do so. Instead, the assessment of project licence applications under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 focuses on these issues on a case by case basis. Under the 1986 Act, the use of animals in regulated procedures is prohibited where a scientifically valid, non-animal alternative is available.
Burials
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been introduced by the Government in response to the shortage of space for further burials in cemeteries and graveyards. [178715]
Paul Goggins: The Government are aware of concerns over the potential lack of appropriate burial space, particularly within built up urban areas. The current public consultation exercise "Burial law and policy in the 21st Century: the need for a sensitive and sustainable approach" seeks views on the existing arrangements for providing cemeteries and the on the possibility of re-using old ones. The results of this exercise, which is part of the on-going review of burial law and ends on 13 July 2004, will help to inform the Government's decision on how best to proceed.
Corporate Killing
Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to publish a Bill on corporate killing. [178226]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 15 June 2004]: The Government are firmly committed to reforming the law on corporate manslaughter. We plan to publish a draft Bill before the end of the current session.
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 10 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. S. Nyathi. [178949]
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Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 17 June 2004.
Crime Victims/Witnesses (Crosby)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the residents of Crosby have benefited from the national strategy to improve services for witnesses and victims of crime. [177949]
Paul Goggins: Criminal Justice Boards have been established in each of the 42 criminal justice areas in England and Wales and their work includes delivering the Government's Public Service Agreement targets to bring more offences to justice, improve public confidence in the Criminal Justice System and increase victim and witness satisfaction.
Every Criminal Justice Board has produced a plan to improve services to victims and witnesses.
As part of the No Witness, No Justice programme, Witness Care Units are being established in every criminal justice area to provide a single point of contact for victims and witnesses. The provisional dates for rollout in Merseyside are between 1 April and 1 October 2005.
In February 2004, the first pilot to help vulnerable witnesses of crime with communication difficulties to give evidence was launched in Merseyside.
The Home Office is funding three pilots to test out the best approach to supporting victims of road traffic incidents. Aftermath Support, in Merseyside is one of these schemes and is provided by local partners.
Criminal Justice Interventions Programme
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what relationship the National Offender Management Service will have to the Criminal Justice Interventions Programme; and who will allocate staffing to Criminal Justice Interventions Programmes from within the National Offender Management Service management structure. [174461]
Paul Goggins: The Criminal Justice Interventions Programme is a critical part of the Government's national strategy for tackling drugs. Its implementation is being phased and delivery at a local level is through community-based Criminal Justice Integrated Teams (CJITs) which adopt a case management approach to offer access to drug treatment and support for drug misusing offenders.
With the creation of the National Offender Management Service we envisage that the drugs case manager will be the link to and, in some cases, the provider of drug treatment services. The Regional Offender Manager will be responsible for ensuring proper links are established within his or her region between offender managers and CJITs. This will avoid duplication and ensure a fully integrated package of support and management to drug misusing offenders before, during and after sentence.
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Domestic Violence
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Government is taking on domestic violence other than imprisonment of offenders. [176814]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 10 June 2004]: Domestic violence is a horrific crime, which claims the lives of around two women a week. This Government is determined to tackle it.
The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill is the biggest overhaul of domestic violence legislation for thirty years. It is a key part of the Government's aim of putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system and part of our wider domestic violence strategy to protect and support victims, as well as bringing
A broad range of other initiatives are being taken forward by the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence. These initiatives include important developments in health, education and housing as well as the civil and criminal justice systems. This year we are investing £56.97 million on domestic violence services as part of the Supporting People Program. Following a positive evaluation of the effectiveness of five specialist domestic violence courts in what further action we can take to improve Court Services for victims of domestic violence.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women have been killed by (a) intimate partners and (b) family members in incidents in each of the last five years for which statistics are available; and in how many of these cases children were also killed. [178354]
Paul Goggins: The latest available information on homicide is published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 01/04, "Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime". It provides information on gender of victims and relationship of victim to suspect. The Bulletin does not identify individual cases where children were also killed.
For England and Wales, the available information on women homicide victims killed by partners/ex-partners and others known to them is given in the table.
| Partner/ex-partner | Other known(6) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 76 | 82 |
| 1999–2000 | 88 | 55 |
| 2000–01 | 98 | 76 |
| 2001–02 | 120 | 64 |
| 2002–03 | 107 | 85 |
(6) Other known includes relationships of victim to principal suspect of son/daughter, parent, other family, friend and acquaintance.
Note:
Figures are as at 13 November 2003 and are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police, by the courts or as further information becomes available.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the performance indicators against which he plans to measure the (a) medium and (b) long-term success of his domestic violence strategy. [178817]
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Paul Goggins: We intend to measure the effectiveness of our domestic violence strategy over the medium and long term using the following indicators:
Homicides as a result of domestic violence;
Headline prevalence of domestic violence (as measured by the British Crime Survey Inter-Personal Violence module);
Numbers of (a) young people and (b) all people who think that violence is acceptable in some circumstances;
Percentage of domestic violence incidents with a power of arrest where an arrest was made related to incident and, of this, the percentage of partner-on-partner violence (within the Policing Performance Assessment Framework).
A new indicator covering rates of attrition in domestic violence;
The number of civil orders made;
A new Best Value Performance Indicator designed to assess the overall effectiveness of local authority services to domestic violence victims. This will shortly go out for consultation with local authorities, and it part of a suite of indicators which will be piloted in the autumn and introduced in April 2005;
An indicator relating to victim satisfaction with the support they have received from key agencies.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what easy-to-understand guidance he has issued for practitioners on the sharing of personal information where domestic violence is (a) suspected and (b) disclosed to them. [178818]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office Development and Practice Report 30, "Safety and justice: sharing personal information in the context of domestic violence—an overview", was published at the National Victims Conference on 28 April 2004.
The report, which was endorsed by the Information Commissioner and by the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence, provides an introduction to responsible and lawful sharing of personal and sensitive information between practitioners in domestic violence contexts in England and Wales. It also demonstrates that sharing personal and sensitive information can be done in a legal, pragmatic and straightforward way. We have also developed a web-based tool to accompany the report. This can be accessed at www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls there have been to the domestic violence hotline in each month since its introduction. [178865]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
There have been 26,070 calls to the national domestic violence helpline (0808 2000 247) jointly operated by Refuge and Women's Aid between its launch on 15 December 2003 and 15 June 2004. In addition, Women's Aid have received 42,691 calls on their previous help-line number, and Refuge 43,890 calls on their previous numbers. A monthly breakdown of these figures is given as follows.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| December 2003 | 1,345 |
| January 2004 | 3,382 |
| February 2004 | 3,654 |
| March 2004 | 5,933 |
| April 2004 | 3,956 |
| May 2004 | 4,098 |
| June 2004 | 3,702 |
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