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HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers (Peterborough)

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library his Department's report on the impact on Peterborough of asylum seekers. [187954]

Mr. Browne: So far as can be ascertained, no such report exists. Recent press references to such a report appear to relate in fact to a Peterborough council funding application which extracted comments from the city's own Community Safety Audit of 2003. In this application, asylum seeking was listed as one of a combination of factors affecting service provision.

Drug Offences

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in the Thames Valley area were convicted of or cautioned for drug
 
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offences in (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002; and what proportion this represented of persons convicted of or cautioned for all indictable offences in the Thames Valley in each year. [189977]

 
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Caroline Flint: Figures for the number of persons cautioned and found guilty for drug offences for Thames valley area for 2000 to 2002 are set out in the following table.
Number of persons cautioned or found guilty of drug offences and the proportion this represents of indictable offences, Thames Valley police force area, 2000 to 2002 1

	Drug offences CautionedFound guiltyTotal			Indictable offences CautionedFound guiltyTotal			Persons cautioned or found guilty for drug offences as a percentage of persons cautioned or found guilty for indictable offences
2000	951	1,112	2,063	4,673	7,852	12,525	16
2001	717	1,206	1,923	3,460	8,199	11,659	16
2002	1,037	1,292	2,329	3,948	8,727	12,675	18

⁽²⁾ These data are on the principal offence basis.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in the Thames Valley Police Force home area were dealt with for supply offences involving Class A drugs in (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002. [189969]

Caroline Flint: Figures for the number of persons cautioned and found guilty for Class A drug supply offences in the Thames valley area for 2000 to 2002 are set out in the table.

The information is taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings and Cautions Database and relates to persons cautioned and found guilty for drug offences.
Table 1: Number of persons cautioned or found guilty for supply⁽³⁾ of Class A drug offences, Thames Valley Police Force area, 2000–02

	Cautioned	Found guilty	Total
2000	1	331	332
2001	2	384	386
2002	1	344	345

⁽³⁾ Supply offences include possession with intent to supply.

Forensic Science Service

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the Government's outline business case for the future working of the Forensic Science Service. [188474]

Caroline Flint: It is not intended to publish the outline business case because of the need to maintain strict commercial confidentiality. However, a detailed summary will be submitted in evidence to the Science and Technology Select Committee, which has announced an inquiry into the Government's plans for the Forensic Science Service.

Juveniles (Detention)

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to improve the (a) accuracy, (b) quality and (c) legal integrity of warrants for detention of juveniles. [188235]

Paul Goggins: I will write to the hon. Member.

Mobile Phones

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been charged with using mobile telephones while driving since the law was introduced; and if he will make a statement. [189997]

Ms Blears: Data on the numbers of people charged by the police are not collected centrally.

Data on police action (written warnings, fixed penalty notices and court proceedings) for 2003 on the new offence of driving while using a hand held mobile telephone will not be available until early 2005. Use of a hands free mobile phone is not part of the new specific offence.

2004 data will be published in autumn 2005.

National Offender Management Service

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish a business case for the National Offender Management Service. [175827]

Paul Goggins: The case for the establishment of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is 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. The draft detailed business case will be presented to the NOMS Programme Board on 22 November for discussion.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the role will be of the regional offender managers in the National Offender Management Service structure. [190114]

Paul Goggins: The Regional Offender Managers (ROMS) will have the critical task of implementing end-to-end offender management across prisons and probation. They will hold the budgets for prison and probation and commission services from both sectors, using contracts and service level agreements to manage performance. They will be developing further contestability across prisons and probation. In addition, they will develop and implement the regional reducing re-offending action plans and regional resettlement strategies.
 
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Police Searches

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue guidance to (a) the police and (b) the Crown Prosecution Service on the appropriate time limit within which police officers should search premises, after a suspect has emerged, in relation to section 32 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. [187969]

Ms Blears: As indicated in my earlier response to the hon. Member on 1 September 2004, Official Report, column 867W, paragraph 4.2. of Code of Practice B of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 sets out instruction on the use of powers under section 32 of PACE. That section provides that a constable may enter and search any premises in which a suspect was when arrested or immediately before they were arrested for evidence. Code B does not provide guidance of the meaning of "immediate" but we will consult on the need to expand on this when we next review the PACE Codes in summer 2005.

Prison Sentences

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) the average time served in prison under sentence, (b) the average time served in prison on remand, (c) the total time served in prison and (d) the average sentence length of receptions into prison under sentence for young offenders aged 18 to 21 was in each of the last five years. [187233]

Paul Goggins: Information on the average time served in prison by young offenders aged 18 to 21 discharged is readily available only for those under sentence as provided in the tables.
Average time served in prison under sentence by young offenders aged 18 to 20⁽⁴⁾ discharged from determinate sentences on completion of sentence or on licence, England and Wales

	Average time served under sentence (months)
	Including remand time	Excluding remand time
1999	6.6	5.0
2000	6.2	4.8
2001	5.9	4.7
2002	5.9	4.8
2003	5.9	4.8

⁽⁴⁾ Also includes 21-year-olds classified as young offenders on discharge.


Average sentence length of receptions into prison of young offenders aged 18 to 20 under determinate sentences,England and Wales

	Average sentence length (months)
1999	11.5
2000	11.4
2001	12.0
2002	12.8
2003	13.0

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