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Fear of Crime (Crosby)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment has been made of fear of crime among the people of Crosby. [177948]

Ms Blears: Sefton's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership interviews their Citizen's Panel yearly on a variety of crime and fear of crime issues. The last interviews were carried out in January 2004, and although the assessment of fear of crime is available the CDRP would need notice to analyse the information down to ward level, but would incur disproportionate costs.

Fraud

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce an offence of fraud by false representation as recommended in the Law Commission's report on fraud; and if he will make a statement. [181705]

Paul Goggins: The Government published a Consultation Paper dealing with this and other proposals to reform the law of fraud on 17 May. I have asked for a copy to be sent to my hon. Friend. Comments are invited by 9 August.

Juror Impropriety

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the consultation paper on jury research and investigations into juror impropriety has been published. [181038]

Mr. Leslie: I have been asked to reply.

The consultation paper has not yet been published.

Juveniles

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) self-injury and (b) attempted suicide have occurred in each of the segregation units in juvenile prisons in the last five years. [165400]

Paul Goggins: Suicidal intent is difficult to establish. Data recording incidents of 'attempted suicide' are subsumed within those for self-harm, which cover all acts of self-injury however serious.

A new form for reporting self-harm was introduced across the prisons estate in December 2002. This has improved the consistency with which self-harm incidents are reported and, by broadening the range of questions that are asked, improved the detail and quality of the information collected. Prior to 2003, data on the location where the self-harm incident occurred were not collated centrally. The following table provides the information requested with respect to 2003 only.
 
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Establishment 1	Number of self-harm incidents involving juveniles in segregation
Ashfield	48
Brinsford	1
Bullwood Hall	7
Holloway	4
Huntercombe	4
New Hall	34
Onley	8
Parc	2
Stoke Heath	7
Wetherby	2
Total	117

⁽¹⁶⁾ The table provides detail of all establishments holding juveniles in 2003 that recorded incidents of juvenile self-harm in segregation.
Note:
The table records number of incidents, not number of individuals. Establishments showing particularly high numbers reflect individual cases of repetitive self-harm.

A number of intervention strategies have been introduced into prisons, young offender and juvenile establishments for people who self-harm. These include counselling, support groups, and specialised psychological interventions. While evaluation of these interventions is, at present, very limited, evidence from research in non-prison settings suggests that male and female adolescents who self-harm repeatedly may benefit from group therapy. A network of establishments has been set up to develop interventions, facilitate evaluation and share good practice. Guidance to staff on managing people who self-harm has also been circulated to establishments.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the juvenile girls in Bullwood Hall prison have been adjudicated on more than once. [165404]

Paul Goggins: Taking 2002 as the starting point the information is as follows.

	Number of juvenile girls
2002	92
2003	48
2004 (As at 1 April)	6

Licensed Premises Closures

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licensed premises were closed down by (a) police and (b) local authorities in each of the past 10 years. [180029]

Ms Blears: Statistics relating to liquor licensing are published every three years based on returns submitted by Clerks to Justices in England and Wales. The most recent information covers the 12-month period to June 2001.

In the twelve months ending 30 June 2001 a total of 183 licenses were revoked by licensing justices: 132 on-licenses and 51 off-licenses. A full breakdown of licenses revoked by licensing justices is provided in the following table for the period 1992 to 2001.
 
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Licences revoked, 1992–2001

Year to 30 June	On-licensed premises	Off-licensed premises	Total on and off licensed premises
1992	216	46	262
1995	262	116	378
1998	215	102	317
2001	132	51	183

Source:
Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/02. Liquor Licensing: England and Wales, July 2000 to June 2001.

Responsibility for granting and revoking liquor licenses currently rests with licensing justices though this will be transferred to licensing authorities (district or county councils or London boroughs) under the new Licensing Act 2003, when fully implemented in 2005. The police can make representations to licensing justices including applications to revoke existing licenses. The new Licensing Act 2003 requires licensing authorities to consult chief police officers and to consider the crime and disorder implications, nuisance and public safety when carrying out their functions.

The police also have powers under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 to close disorderly licensed premises without notice for periods of up to 24-hours. The Home Office does not collate statistical information relating t the use of these powers.

Mobile Telephones

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to extend the offence of using a mobile telephone while driving a motor vehicle to individuals using mobile telephones whilst cycling. [180700]

Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.

The police have powers under sections 28 and 29 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as amended, to deal with cyclists they consider to be riding dangerously, or carelessly or inconsiderately.

Motorway Patrols

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will run pilot studies to compare accident and speed statistics on motorways with different levels of visible police patrolling. [181310]

Caroline Flint: A wide range of research on what impacts on driver behaviour and road safety is already undertaken on behalf of the Department for Transport. Studies of the sort proposed would not be viable because of the lack of an agreed and satisfactory definition and measure of visible police patrolling. We have, however, recently set a statutory performance indicator for the police which relates the numbers killed and seriously injured to the number of vehicle kilometres travelled. The level and nature of police enforcement activity will influence this.

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of police traffic officers in patrolling motorways. [181311]

Caroline Flint: The police are responsible for law enforcement and the investigation of accidents. Their presence also provides reassurance and acts as a
 
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deterrent to bad driving. They will work closely with the traffic officers being appointed by the Highways Agency to identify and deal with the safety, road clearance and traffic management aspects of accidents and other major motorway incidents.

National Offender Management Service

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on processes followed in making senior appointments to the National Offender Management Service. [177732]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 10 June 2004]: The National Offender Manager, the Director of Finance and the Director of Policy have all been appointed following open competition. The 10 Regional Offender Manager posts have been advertised and interviews are to be held in July. Advertisements for the positions were placed in the national press to ensure the widest possible interest.

A job specific selection board was not convened for the appointments of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Director of Human Resources or Director of Standards and Innovation. For HR, it is important to provide early support to the NOMS Chief Executive. The current Prison Service HR Director is leading the HR workstreams associated with the establishment of NOMS alongside his other duties. As the development of NOMS progresses, this situation will be kept under review.

The post of Director of Strategy and Innovations has been filled by a Home Office senior civil servant with the appropriate competences and experience to do the job. He was transferred to this position in accordance with established Home Office procedures.

All of the posts have been filled in accordance with procedures approved by the Civil Service Commissioners.

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Director General of the Prison Service will be responsible for setting charges for prisoner places for which he has responsibility under the new structure for the National Offender Management Service. [168832]

Paul Goggins: The pricing and charging mechanism for prisoner places is currently being considered as part of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Change Programme. Any mechanism will be agreed by the Chief Executive of NOMS and approved by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which areas have been selected to run regional pathfinders in order to test the proposed changes under the new National Offender Management Service; what the regional pathfinders are intended to test; and when they are due to start. [168839]

Paul Goggins: Discussions with the north west region to establish a pathfinder focused on offender management are well advanced, though it is too early yet to set a start date. There are discussions under way with two other regions, but final decisions about the number, focus and location of other pathfinders have yet to be taken.
 
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