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12 Jul 2004 : Column 980W—continued

Correspondence

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 17 March 2004, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Withington, on behalf of his constituents Mohammad and Nasreen Afzal. [180703]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 28 June 2004]: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my right hon. Friend on 30 June 2004.

Criminal Justice System Race Unit

Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the (a) work and (b) achievements of the Criminal Justice System Race Unit. [176368]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 8 June 2004]: The Criminal Justice System Race Unit (CJS Race Unit) was announced in November 2002 to get beneath the surface of the Race and the Criminal Justice System figures (S.95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991) and understand the process through which discrimination may be occurring in the CJS. After consultation with stakeholders the Unit's priorities were identified as:

Stop and Search;

Developing Statistics which Drive Change;

Victim and Witness Satisfaction; and

Sentencing.

In recognition of the importance of working with local services, the Unit's work is underpinned by work with Local Criminal Justice Boards providing advice, guidance and support on race, confidence and community engagement issues.

Detailed are the Unit's achievements to date. The CJS Race Unit has:

Commissioned an overview report from the Institute for Criminal Policy research, King's College London, to be published with the next set of S.95 statistics, aimed at providing existing statistics to a broader audience and putting them into greater context;

Commenced a fundamental review of the Race and CJS statistics, which is being undertaken by consultants from Portsmouth university. The aim is to establish what statistics should be collected, how they should be collected and how to produce statistics which can effectively inform policy development and evaluation and provide a tool for local management. The review will be reporting later this year;

Worked closely with the Deputy Lord Chief Justice and Senior Presiding Judge to arrive at a specification for research into Courts to assess whether there is any quantitative evidence of different sentencing between people in different BME and white populations;

Run a series of community workshops with young people on the impact of stop and search and Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, on relationships with the police;
 
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Set up the Stop and Search Action Team which brings together key officials concerned with stop and search to ensure that there is no duplication of effort, resources are used to their best effect and, that a single message is communicated to police forces, and others;

Together with the Police Leadership and Powers Unit, developed interim guidance on the use of stop and search for forces with final guidance planned for December 2004;

Facilitated stop and search arrest rates featuring in the Police Performance and Assessment Framework;

Started practical work with selected police forces to reduce disproportionality;

Working with Association of Chief Police Officers and the Police Federation to develop a toolkit for supervisors to ensure the effective management in the use of stop and search;

Worked to ensure that BME issues are integral to delivering CJS customer initiatives including walkthroughs and local communications; and

Commissioned joint research into the needs of young Black men as victims of crime.

Departmental Administration Costs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the administrative costs of his Department were in each financial year since 1996–97. [180381]

Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 28 June 2004]: I refer the right hon. Member to the administration cost figures that are shown in the Home Office Departmental Report 2004 (HODR) and the Home Office Annual Report 1999–2000 (HOAR) mentioned as follows. Copies of these reports are available in the Library.

HODR 2004—Section 6 Finance and Staffing, Table 5: Home Office Administration Cost, years 1998–99 to 2005–06, page 134. Figures calculated on a resource accounting basis.

HOAR 1999–2000—Section 5 Financial Reports, Running Costs, years 1994–95 to 2001–02, page 85. Figures calculated on a cash accounting basis. Running cost is the cash accounting term for administration costs.

Doorstep Selling

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implications for police policy and practice of the recent Office of Fair Trading report on doorstep selling. [181703]

Ms Blears: The Office of Fair Trading Report on doorstep selling is currently under consideration and the Government's response is due within 90 days of receipt of the report (which came out on 12 May). That consideration includes examining with colleagues in other Government Departments and the police service the scope for reviewing existing police policy and procedures in this area.

Drug Treatment

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the budget for the drug control programme was spent on (a) enforcement and (b) treatment in 2003–04. [182302]

 
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Caroline Flint: Planned direct annual expenditure for tackling drugs in 2003–04 is set out in the table, broken down for each aim of the National Drug Strategy:

	£ million	Percentage
Protecting Young People	149	12
Reducing Supply	380	30.5
Safeguarding Communities	212	17.1
Drug Treatment	503	40.4
Total	1,244	—

Source:
Updated Drug Strategy 2002.

EU Accession States Entrants

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the number of people coming from the eastern and central European accession states since 1 May has differed from his prediction. [183090]

Mr. Browne: The Government did not make any predictions about the number of people coming to the UK from the accession states prior to 1 May.

Last week we published early management information from the Worker Registration Scheme, which proved that most media speculation about the numbers of new arrivals prior to enlargement was totally unfounded.

Just over 8,000 workers have come from the accession countries since 1 May and registered on the Worker Registration Scheme during May and June. In addition, at least 14,400 (60 per cent. of the total) citizens of the accession countries who were already in the UK before 1 May have taken the opportunity to register and legitimise their status. Early indications suggest that numbers coming in from abroad have peaked, with numbers for late June 25 per cent. down on those for late May.

Excessive Drinking

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department will take steps to make (a) breweries and (b) bars responsible for the cost of damage caused by excessive drinking, with particular reference to (i) street cleaning and (ii) police time. [179645]

Ms Blears: The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, published on 15 March 2004 recommended that the Government consult with the alcohol industry to draw up voluntary social responsibility schemes for producers and retailers. These schemes will incorporate a financial contribution from the industry towards the cost of the harms caused by excessive drinking. This contribution will go into a local fund and will be allocated according to local priorities, with a national fund for projects designed to tackle alcohol-related harm.

Departmental Refurbishment Costs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what costs his Department has incurred in refurbishing the Home Office estate in each financial year since 1996–97. [180379]

 
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Fiona Mactaggart: [holding answer 28 June 2004]: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 24 May 2004, Official Report columns 1408W-1409W to the hon. member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Elfyn Llwyd). The information requested in respect of the years 1996–97 to 1998–99 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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