---

8 Nov 2004 : Column 465W—continued

Minister for Children

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason the right hon. Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge) will not meet Mr. T. Perry, a constituent of the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham. [195804]

Margaret Hodge: Heavy diary commitments do not allow the right hon. Member for Barking to meet with Mr. Perry. However Mr. Perry has had lengthy telephone conversations with departmental officials and has received detailed replies to his correspondence, if Mr. Perry wishes to write a further letter to the right hon. Member for Barking, he will be assured of a reply.

Pupil Exclusions

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will break down by type of special educational need pupils with special educational needs who were excluded from schools in 2002–03. [194762]

Margaret Hodge: The requested information is not currently available.

Pupil Referral Units

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the latest available figure is for the average period that a pupil at each key stage spends in a pupil referral unit. [194766]

Margaret Hodge: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Residential Care (Children)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were in residential care in (a) England and (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last two years. [194960]

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is given in the table.
 
8 Nov 2004 : Column 466W
 

Children looked after in residential placements at 31 March 2002 and 2003

	31 March 2002	31 March 2003
England	7,900	7,700
East Riding of Yorkshire	30	35

Notes:
1. Figures have been taken from the CLA100 return.
2. Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements.
3. Residential placements include secure units, children's homes and hostels, and residential schools.
4. National figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Local authority figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to encourage local authorities and the police to name young people convicted of offences under antisocial behaviour legislation; and if he will make a statement. [191965]

Ms Blears: The identity of any young person who commits a criminal offence is protected by automatic reporting restrictions under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) are civil orders rather than criminal penalties and are not subject to the same restrictions. Full details of the order, including the name and address of the perpetrator, can be publicised. However, the breach of an ASBO is a criminal offence, which means the identity of the youth is protected; we will be taking steps to change this.

In our Strategic Plan, published in July this year, we made a commitment to look into ending anonymity for people under 18 who breach the conditions of their ASBOs.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum this year have been unsuccessful; and how many unsuccessful applicants have been deported. [191449]

Mr. Browne: 26,360 initial decisions were made between January and June 2004, the latest date for which figures are available. Of these, 890 were granted asylum, 80 were granted Humanitarian Protection, 2,085 were granted Discretionary Leave and 23,305 were refusals.

32,370 appeals were determined by adjudicators between January and June 2004, the latest date for which figures are available. Of these, 6,755 were allowed, 24,875 were dismissed and the remainder were withdrawn or abandoned. Appeals do not necessarily relate to initial decisions made during January and June 2004.

6,450 principal asylum applicants were removed from the UK between January and June 2004, 7,810 including dependants. This includes people who have departed "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them and those leaving under the
 
8 Nov 2004 : Column 467W
 
Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. Removals do not necessarily relate to initial decision or appeal determinations made during January and June 2004.

Information on initial decisions, appeals and removals are published on a quarterly and annual basis. The next publication covering the third quarter of 2004 (July to September) will be available on 16 November on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances asylum seekers are required to attend in person their appeal decision. [196622]

Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.

There are currently no circumstances in which the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) requires asylum seekers to attend the giving of their appeal decision in person.

Appeals against immigration decisions taken by the Secretary of State for the Home Department are made to the IAA. The procedures of the IAA are governed by The Asylum and Immigration (Procedure) Rules 2003 which contain provisions for the tribunal to serve a written determination upon every party and any representative acting for a party.

Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 14 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Hanaf Attita; [195517]

(2) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 22 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester,Gorton, with regard to Mrs. R. Faiz; [195518]

(3) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 14 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. A. Hussain, transferred to him by the Attorney General; [195520]

(4) when he will answer the letter to him dated 14 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regard to Mr. Arshad Hussain. [196116]

Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 4 November 2004.

Crime/Sentencing Statistics

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were charged with crimes in each year since 1995, broken down by (a) gender, (b) age and (c) type of offence. [190789]

Ms Blears: Statistics of defendants charged with crimes are not collected centrally. The table, which has been placed in the Library, however, gives the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts by gender, age and offence type for England and Wales 1995 to 2002.

Statistics for 2003 will be published in November.
 
8 Nov 2004 : Column 468W
 

Graffiti

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the graffiti removal notice pilots. [191897]

Ms Blears: The Government recognises that graffiti causes offence to communities and individuals, leads to the fear of crime and is criminal damage.

The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 sections 48 to 52 gave local authorities the powers in 12 pilot areas to issue graffiti removal notices to speed up the removal of graffiti and recover their costs on certain types of property. This can be applied to the owners of street furniture, statutory undertakers and educational establishments. The Home Office is currently conducting a consultation and associated RIA on the impact and associated costs of national roll-out of these powers. The consultation period finishes on 31 December 2004.

The 12 pilot areas have demonstrated that constructive partnerships between local authorities, statutory undertakers and the owners of street furniture have led to the rapid and efficient removal of graffiti. We have also seen local authorities, the telecommunication industry and local police sharing their knowledge to secure prosecutions against graffiti vandals.

---