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28 Jun 2004 : Column 21W—continued
Ministerial Visits
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the travel costs incurred (a) by his Department and (b) by each Minister within his Department, for each of the last 10 years. [175642]
Fiona Mactaggart: Travel costs for the core Home Office have only been held centrally since 1996 totals as follows:
| Total (£) | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 5,188,941.79 |
| 1997 | 5,122,697.13 |
| 1998 | 4,157,597.49 |
| 1999 | 4,628,434.97 |
| 2000 | 5,642,473.06 |
| 2001 | 8,425,728.71 |
| 2002 | 11,088,054.84 |
| 2003 | 16,856,024.14 |
The marked increases in travel costs since 2001 can be largely attributed to changes in strategy within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate where increased staff numbers and the need to travel as a result of new policy initiatives and targets for improved IND performance. Other contributing factors have been related to providing advice to the organisers of the 2002 Football World Cup in Japan and Euro 2004 in Portugal and the creation of new units to support the police reform agenda.
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In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost and in some cases will no longer be held. Information for 2003–04 will be published in due course.
Detailed information for all Ministers in respect of UK travel is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
National Offender Management Service
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish the business case for the establishment of the National Offender Management Service. [178801]
Paul Goggins: The case for the establishment of the National Offender Management Service was outlined in Patrick Carter's independent report 'Managing Offenders- Reducing Crime' published along with the Government response 'Reducing Crime-Changing Lives' on 6 January 2004.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the National Offender Management Service implementation teams will present him with an outline of how they believe the new service will (a) be structured and (b) operate. [163940]
Paul Goggins: A proposed structure for the National Offender Management Service and details on proposals for its operation were published on 17 May 2004. We are currently consulting with staff, unions and other stakeholders on these proposals. These are contained in the document entitled "National Offender Management Service Organisational Design a Consultation Document" which is available from the Library.
Overturned Convictions
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were convicted by a criminal court in (a) 1985, (b) 1990, (c) 1995 and (d) 2000; and how many and what percentage of convictions were subsequently overturned. [173107]
Paul Goggins:
Information on the number of offenders found guilty at all courts and the numbers of appeals against conviction or sentence is provided in the table. For those appeals allowed at the Crown court, it is not possible from the data held by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) to separate appeals against conviction from appeals against sentence. The table shows figures for 1986, as figures on appeals are not available for 1985.
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| 1986 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offenders found guilty(9) | 1,894,209 | 1,514,605 | 1,354,584 | (10)1,423,702 |
| Number of appeals allowed at the Crown court against conviction or sentence(11) | 3,718 | 4,693 | 8,064 | 3,090 |
| Number of appeals allowed at the Court of Appeal against conviction(11) | — | 256 | 253 | 150 |
| Proportion of convictions where appeal against conviction or sentence was allowed(12)(%) | — | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
(9) These figures are on the principal offence basis and come from the Home Office Court Proceeding database.
(10) Staffordshire Police Force were only able to supply a sample of data for magistrates courts proceedings covering one full week in each quarter for 2000. Estimates based on this sample are included in the figures, as they are considered sufficiently robust at this high level of analysis.
(11) Data provided by DCA.
(12) Based on the proportion of offenders found guilty where the appeal against conviction or sentence was allowed.
Paedophilia
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women have been convicted on charges related to paedophilia in each of the last 10 years. [164043]
Paul Goggins
[holding answer 26 March 2004]: There is no definitive list of offences relating to paedophilia.
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The available information, relating to males and females found guilty at all courts for sexual offences against children in England and Wales for the years 1993 to 2002 is shown in the table. The information relates only to those offences where the age of the victim is defined by the legislation. There will be other sexual offences that may have involved children.
Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the Autumn.
| Offence | Sex | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total for England | M | 2,212 | 2,380 | 2,614 | 2,895 | 2,988 | 2,932 | 2,924 | 2,746 | 2,724 | 3,038 |
| and Wales | F | 29 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 26 | 38 | 28 | 26 | 34 |
| T | 2,241 | 2,401 | 2,636 | 2,916 | 3,011 | 2,958 | 2,962 | 2,774 | 2,750 | 3,072 |
(13) These data are on the principal offence basis.
Passports
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of passports in circulation which are (a) forged and (b) modified in order to serve as false identification. [180164]
Mr. Browne: Given the nature of the problem it is difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy how many false passports (or other travel documents in lieu of passports) of British or foreign origin are in circulation either in the UK or globally. The fraudulent use of travel documentation (including forged or counterfeit visas) is a serious global problem. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate's National Document Fraud Unit (NDFU) has the lead role in monitoring and combating this. The NDFU is recognised both at home and abroad as a leader in this field and works closely with its counterparts in other countries to counter this type of fraud.
The NDFU has a comprehensive brief of conducting expert forensic level examinations of suspect documents, in delivering training programmes for the Immigration Service and other agencies in document fraud detection and in collation and dissemination of information about suspect documents and types of document abuse. Of the 7,985 abused travel documents of all nationalities detected at UK arrival controls in 2003, forged or altered documents represented 52 per cent. of the total. Completely counterfeit documents amounted to 15 per cent. whereas 27 per cent. of the total were in the hands of impostors. 724 abused documents were encountered in-country by immigration enforcement officers and a further 837 forged, counterfeit or fraudulently obtained documents were submitted to the Home Office with requests for leave to remain.
The problem of identity fraud within the United Kingdom involving documents from all countries is one which affects not just the Home Office. For example, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency referred 1,071 suspect travel documents to the NDFU during 2003 of which 74 per cent. were found to be false or to contain false endorsements. Local offices of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) referred 1,410 documents to that department's National Identity Fraud Unit of which 541 were found to be false. DWP referred 114 documents to the National Document Fraud Unit for an expert opinion. During the year 33,551 passengers were denied boarding by airlines (often after reference to members of the UK Airline Liaison Officer network). Many of these decisions were because the passengers held suspect documentation.
The NDFU makes a significant contribution to work being carried out internationally in the EU, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and G8 to disrupt the work of forgers by enhancement of international security safeguards and standards, including those for biometrics, for travel documents and their issuing processes. It also works closely with travel document issuing agencies in order to combat identity fraud and facilitate the operation of border controls.
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