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John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether detailed costings have been made of the changes to sentencing which will occur as a consequence of the Criminal Justice Act 2003; when the changes will be introduced; and whether they will be fully funded by central Government. [205684]
Paul Goggins: The majority of costs associated with the sentencing provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 with financial implications (i.e. community orders, custody plus, suspended sentences, increased magistrates sentencing powers, intermittent custody, dangerous offenders, release on licence, recall after release and drug treatment and rehabilitation requirements) will fall on the Prison Service, Probation Service, Youth Justice Board, Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Judicial Studies Board.
The provisions will be implemented as part of a strategy which will aim to ensure that custody is reserved for dangerous sexual and violent offenders and seriously persistent repeat offenders, and that the benefits of community supervision are made available for more offenders.
Estimates of the costs of the sentencing provisions were set out in the explanatory notes which accompanied the Bill. Detailed work on costings continues but will be affected by how sentences are used in practice and the actual date of commencement of the provisions.
The following sentencing provisions contained in the Act have already been brought into force:
We expect the provisions relating to community orders, suspended sentences, dangerous offenders, release on licence and recall after release to be commenced next Spring. No final decision has yet been taken on the timing of commencement of the remaining sentencing provisions.
The cost of commencing the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will be met within the CJS Departments' spending review settlements.
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Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average period of detention in the prison estate is for foreign nationals who, having completed their sentence, are awaiting deportation. [209452]
Mr. Browne: Information on the number of people who were detained in prison establishments awaiting deportation after completing their sentence is not available.
Work is on-going to improve the quality of the data held on those people detained under Immigration Act powers in prison establishments.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish his response to the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture report and recommendations following inspection of conditions experienced by prisoners detained without trial at Belmarsh and Woodhill. [208398]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply:
The Government's response to the report by the Committee is in preparation. We will submit it in confidence to the Committee as soon as possible, and will consider the question of publication at that time.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug tests were carried out in custody suites in 2004; and how many of these showed positive for (a) buprenorphine, (b) heroin, (c) methadone, (d) amphetamines, (e) cocaine and (f) crack cocaine. [209117]
Caroline Flint: The table gives a breakdown of all drug tests carried out in custody suites in 2004 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
Drug testing is carried out to identify use of Heroin and Cocaine, including Crack Cocaine, as research suggests that these are the drugs most likely to be linked to committing acquisitive crime. No tests are carried out to identify the use of buprenorphine, methadone or amphetamines.
Mr. Hepburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions have been
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secured in drug-related crime cases in (a) South Tyneside, (b) Tyne and Wear and (c) England and Wales in each year since 1997. [209288]
Caroline Flint: The available information is contained in the following table and gives the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for drug offences, 1997 to 2003.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug dealers were convicted of dealing outside schools in each of the last 10 years. [209107]
Caroline Flint: It is not possible from the information held on the Home Office Court Proceedings database to identify whether a person proceeded against for drug dealing was outside a school, as the circumstances of the offence are not collected centrally.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) bodies and (b) individuals have made representations to his Department on drug use in schools in each of the last 10 years. [209109]
Caroline Flint: The Home Office engages actively with a wide range of stakeholders in the Drug Strategy. Details of individual representations are not held centrally and to provide details would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a risk register has been prepared in respect of the identity cards scheme. [208285]
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the immigration status of Albanian nationals (a) Taulant Merdany and (b) Elidon Bregu; when and under what immigration status each arrived in the United Kingdom; what interviews have taken place with them or their legal representatives during the time they have been in this country; what immigration records are held by his Department on each; and whether his Department will be informed by the prison authorities when they are released from prison. [209253]
Mr. Browne: It is not departmental policy to release information regarding an individual's immigration status.
Procedures are in place to ensure the Prison Service informs the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) about foreign nationals who are serving custodial sentences in UK prisons. Prison Service Order 4630, issued on 18 September 2004, requires individual prisons to notify the IND Criminal Casework Team of non-EU nationals held on remand and all convicted prisoners who are serving a sentence.
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