| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
13 Oct 2004 : Column 279W—continued
Prisons
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners declared
13 Oct 2004 : Column 280W
themselves to be of a particular religion when they entered prison in the last 12 months; and which religions these were. [190121]
Paul Goggins: The religious affiliation recorded on the prison establishments IT system for prisoners first received into prison between July 2003 and June 2004 is shown in the table.
| Total | 136,999 |
| All Christian | 71,613 |
| Anglican | 44,315 |
| Free Church | 1,507 |
| Roman Catholic | 22,486 |
| Other Christian | 3,305 |
| Buddhist | 523 |
| Hindu | 670 |
| Jewish | 211 |
| Muslim | 10,098 |
| Sikh | 960 |
| Other non-Christian | 482 |
| Non-recognised | 338 |
| No religion | 52,102 |
| Not recorded | 2 |
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) attempted supply of illegal drugs and (b) use of illegal drugs were recorded in each prison in England in each of the last three years. [186525]
Paul Goggins: The following table provides details on attempts to supply drugs into prisons in the last three years.
Data are collated on a national basis. Information relating to individual prisons is not held centrally and I shall write to the hon. Member when it is available and place a copy in the Library.
| Number of incidents in visits | Number of visitors involved | Number of prisoners found guilty of drug smuggling through visits | Number of prisoners found guilty of supplying drugs within prison | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 3,262 | 3,904 | 1,169 | 39 |
| 2002–03 | 2,762 | 3,502 | 1,030 | 18 |
| 2003–04 | 2,691 | 3,598 | 997 | 22 |
Information on the use of illegal drugs in prisons is provided by the Mandatory Drug Testing programme. The following table sets out the total number of samples which tested positive in each of the last three financial years. Only random samples provide a comparative measure of performance.
13 Oct 2004 : Column 282W
Seat Belts
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) fixed penalty notices, (b) proceedings at magistrates courts and (c) written warnings for not wearing seat belts there were in England and Wales in 2003 and for each of the previous three years. [190025]
Ms Blears:
Available information on police action for the motoring offence of driving or riding in a motor vehicle while not wearing a seat belt for the calendar years 2000 to 2002 is given in the table.
13 Oct 2004 : Column 283W
2003 data will not be available until early 2005.
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed penalty notices | 155,300 | 144,400 | 126,400 |
| Prosecutions | 5,700 | 5,200 | 4,700 |
| Written warnings | 6,200 | 4,700 | 2,900 |
(5) Offences under s.14(3) and 15(2) and (4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Speed Cameras
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the possible effects of (a) forward facing and (b) rear facing speed camera flash on a driver driving at night. [190098]
Caroline Flint: No forward or rear-facing speed camera is type approved until it has undergone rigorous testing against set specifications that ensures its reliability and safety. The peak intensity and duration of the flash are less than levels which are commonly encountered from other sources when driving at night.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the health and safety implications of speed cameras. [190099]
Caroline Flint: No speed enforcement equipment is type approved for use until it has undergone rigorous testing against set specifications by the Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch. This includes an assessment of health and safety factors to ensure that neither any operator nor any road user is put at risk by the operation of the equipment.
Violent Crime (Leicester)
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of violent crime in Leicester was in each year since 1997. [186262]
Ms Blears: Leicester is a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area. Recorded crime data at CDRP level has only been published from 1999–2000 onwards. Violent crime comprises violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery. In 2003–04, at least 52 per cent. of all recorded violence against the person involved no injury.
The available information is given in the table.
| Number of offences | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 6,851 |
| 2000–01 | 6,889 |
| 2001–02 | 7,544 |
| 2002–03 | 10,347 |
| 2003–04 | 11,430 |
Note:
Numbers of recorded crimes are affected by changes in reporting and recording practice. In particular, changes to the counting rules in 1998 and the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002 led to an increase in the number of crimes recorded by the police.
13 Oct 2004 : Column 284W
The British Crime Survey (BCS) also provides data on the level of violent crime in England and Wales. However, due to the variability of specific offence figures at police force area level regional figures only are available. Data at regional level have been published as a rate per 10,000 adults since the 2001–02 BCS and are presented for the relevant region in the table.
| Total BCS violence rate per 10,000 adults for the East Midlands Region | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 621 |
| 2002–03 | 578 |
| 2003–04 | 600 |
Note:
The apparent difference between rates in 2002–03 and in 2003–04 is not statistically significant.
Source:
2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 BCS interviews.
Half of all violent incidents reported to the BCS during 2003–04 did not result in injury to the victim. However, this does not mean that public concern about violent crime is unjustified or that the ordeal of victims is not traumatic, even if injury has not occurred.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |