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Travellers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has given to police authorities on dealing with travellers' (a) unwanted access to (i) privately owned and (ii) publicly owned sites and (b) removal from (i) privately and (ii) publicly owned sites; and if he will make a statement. [190691]

Caroline Flint: In February 2004, the Home Office and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) published operational guidance for the police and local authorities on managing unauthorised camping. The guidance is available on the ODPM website.

UN Convention Against Corruption

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timescale he has for introducing the (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation that is required in order for the UK to be able to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption. [190483]

Caroline Flint: The Government will seek to bring forward the required legislation at the earliest suitable opportunity. In addition to primary legislation to comply with Article 55 on the forfeiture of the instrumentalities of crime, secondary legislation will be
 
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required to comply with Article 52, on the prevention and detection of transfers of the proceeds of crime, and Article 53 of the Convention, on the confiscation and repatriation of assets. Measures dealing with the requirements of Article 52 are likely to be included in the EU Third Money Laundering Directive. Our current expectation is that negotiations on the Directive will be completed by the first part of next year and we would seek to implement it in the UK through secondary legislation as soon as we reasonably could thereafter.

Measures dealing with the requirements of Article 53 will be brought forward under Part 11 of the Proceeds of Crime (POCA) Act 2002.

Violent Crime

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the level of violent crime. [186549]

Ms Blears: According to figures from the British Crime Survey (BCS), which are the most reliable indicator of long-term trends in violence in England and Wales, there were an estimated 2.7 million violent incidents against adults in 2003–04. Levels of violent crime are now stable and are 26 per cent. down from 1997. The fear of violent crime has also fallen steadily since 1998, with the proportion of adults with a high level of concern about violent crime down from 21 per cent. in 2002–03 to 16 per cent. in 2003–04.

Half of all violent incidents reported to the BCS in 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.

Recorded violent crime has risen since 1997, reaching 1.1 million incidents in 2003–04, but these data are affected by changes in reporting and recording practices. The Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime were amended in 1998 to include a large number of offences particularly in the less serious violence categories. The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002 also resulted in an increase in recorded crime. The effect for violent crime was estimated to be an increase of 20 per cent.

In addition, more violent crimes are being recorded by the police as public tolerance of violence in the family or by acquaintances diminishes. Along with a more proactive response from the police, more crimes that would have previously been unreported are now recorded in the official figures.

Violent Crime (Northampton)

Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of violent crime in Northampton was in each year since 1997. [186416]

Ms Blears: Northampton is a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area. Data at CDRP level has only been collected 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.
 
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The available information are given in the tables.
Violent crime recorded by the police in Northampton1999–2000 to 2001–02 1

Period	Number of offences
1999–2000	2,525
2000–01	2,656
2001–02	2,927

⁽⁶⁾ The date in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.


Violent crime recorded by the police in Northampton2002–03 to 2003–04 1

Period	Number of offences
2002–03	4,539
2003–04	5,451

⁽⁷⁾ The date in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

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 has been published as a rate per 10,000 adults since the 2001–02 BCS and are presented for the relevant region in the following table.
Total BCS violence rate per 10,000 adults for theEast Midlands Region

	BCS
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.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Parliamentary Data and Video Network

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what evaluation has been carried out of the effectiveness of the work undertaken by the Parliamentary Data and Video Network from a system based around Citrix to one using broadband for remote users. [189973]

Mr. Key : The majority of users are content with the Virtual Private Network (VPN) service, which in time will replace Citrix for remote access. VPN technology, which uses broadband connections, was piloted before it was launched. Feedback from the pilot was evaluated and further feedback was invited once the service had been rolled out. The Parliamentary Communications
 
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Directorate (PCD) has investigated all negative feedback and has taken steps to ensure that the problems identified have been resolved. The performance of the VPN continues to be closely monitored.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee how many (a) complaints and (b) positive comments he has received since the system of connection to the Parliamentary Data and Video Network moved from Citrix to broadband for remote users, with particular reference to (i) access problems, (ii) speed and (iii) protection from spam. [189974]

Mr. Key: Since the introduction of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) I have received eight letters commenting on the service. Most of the letters welcome the move to broadband but also detail individual complaints. Most of the complaints relate to service issues rather than to access, speed or unsolicited e-mail. Three of the letters related to access problems in areas of the country where broadband was unavailable.

I am aware that the Parliamentary Communications Directorate has recently received complaints about the speed of the VPN. Every effort is being made to resolve this issue, and the Information Committee continues to monitor it closely.
 
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Mr. Drew: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee how many hon. Members (a) use and (b) do not use the Parliamentary Data and Video Network. [189975]

Mr. Key: There are currently 2,253 accounts set up for Members and their staff. 1,126 of these have been used at least once. It is not possible to provide separate figures for use by Members as it is not clear how many Members allow access to their accounts by their staff.

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