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7 Jul 2004 : Column 741W—continued
Private Finance Initiative
David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he was consulted by the National Audit Office prior to the practical workshops in managing private finance initiative relationships launched on 22 June 2004, as part of the NAO's PFI/PPP Conference. [182421]
Mr. Boateng: The Treasury was not consulted by the NAO prior to the practical workshops which took place at the NAO PFI/PPP conference on 22 June 2004.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Animal Rights Activists
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many convictions there were in the last 24 months for illegal activities by animal rights activists; [172058]
(2) how many custodial sentences were issued in relation to offences committed by animal rights activists in the last 24 months. [172059]
Caroline Flint: It is not possible from the information collected centrally by the Home Office to identify whether a defendant in any particular case is an animal rights activist. However, we understand from the police that there were 117 arrests of animal rights activists during the first four months of 2004 compared with 15 arrests during the same period in 2003. The Home Office is working with the police and other agencies to improve availability of information in this area.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made by the National Crime Squad in each year since 2001 in relation to animal rights extremism. [180785]
Caroline Flint:
The National Crime Squad provides specialist support and assistance to police forces. It is, however, individual police forces that lead on investigations within their areas, including investigations into the activities of animal rights extremists.
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The information collected centrally by the Home Office does not identify whether a defendant is an animal rights protestor. However we understand from the police that there have been at least 117 arrests of animal rights activists during the first four months of 2004 compared with 15 arrests during the same period in 2003. The Home Office is working with the police and other agencies to improve the availability of information in this area.
Botulinium
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure that botulinium toxin for which licences to test on animals have been issued is used only for clinical purposes; and if he will make a statement. [181807]
Caroline Flint: All licence authorities granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, for animal tests to meet regulatory requirements for use of this substance in humans, are expressly restricted to the testing of material manufactured and intended only for clinical uses. Compliance with licence authorities is monitored as part of the Home Office inspection programme. We believe that there is a product intended for apparent non-medical purposes, but as it is neither manufactured nor tested on animals in the UK, it is beyond the controls of the 1986 Act.
Bribery/Corruption
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been (a) arrested and (b) convicted for bribing foreign officials under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. [180147]
Paul Goggins: Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which came into force on 14 February 2002, did not introduce any new offences, but made two main changes to the law of corruption:
Section 108 put beyond doubt that the existing offences of corruption apply to the bribery of foreign public office holders. This change mainly clarified existing law.
Section 109 was the significant change: it gave our courts jurisdiction over certain offences of corruption when they are committed overseas by UK nationals or by bodies incorporated under UK law. The relevant offences are (a) common law offence of bribery, (b) the offences under section 2 of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889; and (c) the first two offences under section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.
The Home Office Court Proceedings database does not contain details of the circumstances of offences for which prosecutions are brought, so the figures collected on these offences, cannot identify the status of the persons involved. The aggregate collection of arrest figures cannot be broken down into individual offences.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources have been made available to the security and police services for enforcement of the provisions on bribing foreign officials under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. [180148]
Paul Goggins: Implementation of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 Act (ATCS) forms part of the National Policing Plan. Each Police Authority and Chief Constable will take the National Policing Plan into account when drawing up their Local Policing Plans. No specific resources have been allocated for the enforcement of Part 12 of the ATCS.
However, we have put significant extra resources into the police service in England and Wales over the last few years. Since 2000–01 total provision for policing has risen by over 30 per cent.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of overseas bribery are on the national register held by the National Criminal Intelligence Service; and what action is being taken on each. [174031]
Caroline Flint: There are currently 18 recorded cases held on the register, eight of which either pre-dated or were not relevant under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
Six cases have been referred to the Metropolitan police and Serious Fraud Office for investigation, and four cases are under investigation by the Ministry of Defence police.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the whole-time equivalent staff resources of (a) the National Criminal Intelligence Service, (b) the City of London Police Fraud Squad and (c) the fraud teams of the Metropolitan Police and their predecessors were in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) on the latest date for which figures are available. [182099]
Caroline Flint: The information is as follows:
(13) The 1997 figures are given as a total and do not exclude attachments. Prior to 1 April 1998, the NCIS structure was different and the demarcation between directly employed, seconded and attached staff was different to post April 1998.
(14) Excluding attachments.
(15) Projected figures have been provided as they better reflect changes that are currently taking place within the organisation. The April figure alone would not be relevant for the majority of the year.
(16) Approximately the same as in 1997—exact figure not available.
(17) The nature of work undertaken by the MPS Fraud Departments has altered as external and internal organisational changes have taken place over time and, as a consequence, figures may not be directly comparable.
7 Jul 2004 : Column 744W
Crime/Policing (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many drug-related offences were recorded in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire; [180415]
(2) how many people were arrested for drug offences and prosecuted in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire. [180416]
Caroline Flint: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as burglary, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.
The NEW-ADAM research programme of interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police sheds some light on the links between drugs and crime, although the conclusions do not relate specifically to Lancashire and the North West region. Data from 16 locations (1999–2001) indicate that users of heroin and cocaine and crack reported committing an average of 442 acquisitive crimes in the last year. This was nearly six times higher than for non-drug users. Almost half of those arrested for property offences tested positive for opiates and/or cocaine.
The total number of acquisitive crimes recorded by the police in Lancashire and the North West region in 2001–03 are set out in Table 1 (data are not available for Chorley, or for Lancashire and the North West prior to
7 Jul 2004 : Column 745W
2001). Acquisitive crimes are burglary, theft, handling stolen goods and robbery.
| Acquisitive crimes | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
| Lancashire | 98,559 | 89,993 |
| North West | 598,665 | 588,566 |
Sources:
"Crime in England and Wales 2001/2002" Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/02.
"Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003" Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/03.
Information on the persons found guilty or cautioned for drug offences by Lancashire police in each of the last 10 years are given in Table 2. Data are not available for Chorley. Data for 2001 and 2002 will be published on 15 July 2004.
| Number of persons | |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 736 |
| 1991 | 705 |
| 1992 | 899 |
| 1993 | 1,688 |
| 1994 | 2,173 |
| 1995 | 2,798 |
| 1996 | 2,824 |
| 1997 | 3,485 |
| 1998 | 4,154 |
| 1999 | 3,448 |
| 2000 | 2,980 |
These data are taken from the annual Home Office Statistical Bulletin. These are available on the RDS website and in the Library.
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