House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 8 Sept 2004 (pt 7)

8 Sept 2004 : Column 1263W—continued

Community Support Officers

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of community support officers recruited are (a) men and (b) women. [186766]

Ms Blears: In the most recent official figures published in September 2003, 64 per cent. of Community Support Officers (CSOs) were male and 36 per cent. female.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers are assigned, on average, to each police officer in (a) London and (b) England and Wales. [186905]

Ms Blears: Information about the numbers of Community Support Officers (CSOs) assigned to individual police officers is not held centrally. However, the most recent figures on police numbers released in May 2004 are (a) 30,619 police officers in the Metropolitan Police Service (MRS) and City of London forces and (b) 139,631 police officers in England and Wales. In the most recent figures released at the end of July 2004 there were (a) 1,791 CSOs in the MRS and (b) 3,943 CSOs in England and Wales.

Domestic Violence

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to raise public awareness of female-on-male domestic violence. [185074]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 19 July 2004]: The 2001 British Crime Survey's Inter-Personal Violence Module shows that one in four women and one in six men have suffered domestic violence at some point in their lives, though women form the overwhelming majority of those subject to the heaviest abuse in terms of frequency, range of violence and severity of injury. The Home Office information leaflet "You don't have to live in fear

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of domestic violence" recognises that men can be victims of domestic violence and includes the 'Male Advice Line and Enquiry' run by Devon MALE. Devon MALE is a confidential service which specialises in domestic violence, offering advice and information, safety advice and emotional support via their adviceline. They also have a male outreach worker working in the Devon area.

Drugs Workers

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he permits the inclusion in contracts for providers of drugs services in England and Wales of provisions to exclude a specified drugs worker from the provider's premises. [181824]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

Individual contracts for providers of drug services are a matter for negotiation between local commissioners and providers.

Essex Police

Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the number of community support officers in Essex. [186316]

Ms Blears [holding answer 7 September 2004]: Home Office officials wrote to all chief officers on 20 August inviting bids for a share of the £50 million which was announced in the Home Office Strategic Plan to kick-start the Neighbourhood Policing Fund. This will allow police forces to recruit additional Community Support Officers (CSOs) in this financial year and we expect that 5,500 will be in place by the end of March 2005. It will be for the chief constable of Essex and his police authority to decide how many extra CSOs they wish to bid for.

The Government have set a target of 20,000 additional CSOs by the end of 2007–08 and further details of how we plan to achieve this will be published in time for the 2006–07 planning round.

Hate Crime

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported incidents of race hate crimes there have been in (a) St. Helens and (b) England and Wales, broken down by region in each year since 1997; and what percentage (i) were brought to court and (ii) resulted in a successful prosecution in each case. [186901]

Ms Blears: The available information relates to the number of racist incidents in each police force area in England and Wales from 1996–97 to 2002–03. This information is contained in Table 3.1 of the Section 95 publication "Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System—2003", a copy of which is available in the Library and also on the Home Office website. Table 3.2 of the same publication gives the number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police by

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police force area for 2001–02 and 2002–03. Figures for earlier years are available in earlier versions of the Section 95 publication and on the website. Information on racist incidents is not available centrally for St. Helens.

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With regard to court proceedings, the available information relates to the number of defendants proceeded against for racially aggravated offences and is given in the table. The available data is from 1997 to 2002.
Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for racially aggravated offences—England and Wales 1997 to 2002⁽⁴⁾

1997
1998⁽⁵⁾
1999

Court/region Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty

Magistrates court

St. Helens⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— — — 9 3

Region

East ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 2 — 230 89

East Midlands ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 4 1 352 123

London ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 44 14 1,523 431

North East ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 1 1 109 34

North West ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 15 3 451 161

South East ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 2 1 248 87

South West ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 1 — 153 54

West Midlands ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 4 2 248 74

Yorkshire and the Humber ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 2 1 229 76

Welsh ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 8 4 272 95

England and Wales ⁽⁷⁾— ⁽⁷⁾— 83 27 3,815 1,224

2000
2001
2002

Court/region Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty

Magistrates court

St. Helens⁽⁶⁾ 16 3 9 3 7 3

Region

East 408 153 567 170 542 200

East Midlands 621 289 621 307 692 297

London 2,073 686 1,657 557 1,684 611

North East 196 78 325 137 419 167

North West 919 354 1,424 532 1,323 527

South East 558 225 602 261 603 260

South West 402 137 454 170 442 195

West Midlands 954 356 1,444 504 1,392 527

Yorkshire and the Humber 456 168 654 237 633 269

Welsh 470 170 540 207 424 187

England and Wales 7,057 2,616 8,288 3,082 8,154 3,243

⁽⁴⁾ These data are on the all offence basis.
⁽⁵⁾ The Crime and Disorder Act 1988 introduced a series of new racially aggravated offences from 30 September 1988.
⁽⁶⁾ Found guilty includes those offenders found guilty at St. Helens magistrates court and the Crown Court where St. Helens was the committing court.
⁽⁷⁾ Not applicable.

	1997	1998⁽⁵⁾	1999
Court/region	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Magistrates court
St. Helens⁽⁶⁾	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	—	—	9	3
Region
East	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	2	—	230	89
East Midlands	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	4	1	352	123
London	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	44	14	1,523	431
North East	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	1	1	109	34
North West	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	15	3	451	161
South East	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	2	1	248	87
South West	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	1	—	153	54
West Midlands	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	4	2	248	74
Yorkshire and the Humber	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	2	1	229	76
Welsh	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	8	4	272	95
England and Wales	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁷⁾—	83	27	3,815	1,224

	2000	2001	2002
Court/region	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Magistrates court
St. Helens⁽⁶⁾	16	3	9	3	7	3
Region
East	408	153	567	170	542	200
East Midlands	621	289	621	307	692	297
London	2,073	686	1,657	557	1,684	611
North East	196	78	325	137	419	167
North West	919	354	1,424	532	1,323	527
South East	558	225	602	261	603	260
South West	402	137	454	170	442	195
West Midlands	954	356	1,444	504	1,392	527
Yorkshire and the Humber	456	168	654	237	633	269
Welsh	470	170	540	207	424	187
England and Wales	7,057	2,616	8,288	3,082	8,154	3,243

Passport Checks

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long a wait for passengers to pass through passport checks at London Heathrow he determines as being compatible with the service standards of the Issuing Section Service. [185393]

Mr. Browne: I am not familiar with the Issuing Section Service to which the right hon. Member refers. However the UK Immigration Service is committed to clearing bona fide passengers with minimal delay, and has set standards for passenger processing times, which comply with the international standards. These standards, which are embedded in the UK Immigration Service's annual business objectives and are kept under regular review, are to clear:

100 per cent. of non-EEA passengers in 45 minutes;

90 per cent. of non-EEA passengers in 30 minutes;

EEA passengers with minimal delay.

The UK Immigration Service currently clear 99 per cent. of non-EEA passengers in less than 45 minutes, and 98 per cent. of non-EEA passengers in less than 30 minutes. Although there is no specific measurement of the time taken to process EEA passengers, close monitoring of passenger flows and effective deployment of staff ensure EEA passengers are cleared with minimal delay.

The UK Immigration Service's performance is also measured independently against the British Airports Authority (BAA) quality of service standards, which includes queuing times. The Immigration Service continues to score well against this measure.

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