| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Feb 2005 : Column 847W—continued
Private Mario Clarke
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are assigned to the investigation into the death of Private Mario Clarke in Hackney on 26 December 2002; what steps have been taken to maintain contact of a family liaison officer with Private Clarke's widow, subsequent to her deportation to Jamaica; what steps have been taken to establish an inquest into the death; and whether public funds will be made available to Deveen Clarke to attend the inquest. [208865]
Ms Blears:
The investigation into the murder of Private Mario Clarke is being conducted by a Murder Investigation Team (MIT) from the Metropolitan Police Trident team. The MIT's strength is that of a
1 Feb 2005 : Column 848W
normal MIT with one Detective Chief Inspector, three Detective Inspectors five, Detective Sergeants and 23Detective Constables and support staff. Private Clarke's widow Deveen has been contacted in Jamaica by the Family liaison officers directly and in addition through other members of the family when her movements made communications difficult. An inquest into the murder was held on the 22 September 2004 by the coroner Mr Reid. The result was a verdict of unlawful killing. The Met have indicated that as Deveen Clarke did not attend the inquest it was not necessary to make public funds available.
Publications
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on (a) preparation, (b) publication and (c) delivery of The Sharp End" magazine. [210012]
Ms Blears: The Sharp End" magazine is for frontline police officers, Community Support Officers and police staff. It aims to inform them about changes which are making a difference to their working lives. The Government have a duty to explain how its policies impact on this key audience, and our research shows they would welcome it.
The Sharp End complements the local information police officers receive from their Chief Constables and other sources. The first issue included articles on new antisocial behaviour powers, best practice on cutting burglary, preserving scenes of crime and using new techniques such as automatic number plate recognition, the introduction of new equipment such as non-lethal weapons ('tasers') and how officers can stay fit for their job.
Total costs for the magazine this financial year have been £588,604.94 which is broken down as follows:
(a) Preparation: £140,769.99—this covered the research phase including production of a test issue of the magazine
(b) Publication: £251,397.00—this covers the design, production and printing of three issues of the magazine
(c) Distribution: £196,437.95—this covers direct mailing of sample magazines to forces, distribution of three issues of the magazine, subscription list building and order fulfilment. These costs relate largely to the launch and set up of the magazine and therefore will reduce considerably next financial year.
This represents good value for ensuring that all frontline police have information about issues affecting their working lives.
Research and Development
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts were awarded by (a) the Department and (b) agencies for which the Department is responsible to small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2001–02; and what the total value of those contracts was in each year. [207008]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The available information held by the Home Office is as follows.
1 Feb 2005 : Column 849W
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many research and development procurement opportunities were disseminated by the Department to small and medium-sized enterprises registered through the Small Business Research Initiative in each year since 2001–02, to date; and what the value of such opportunities was in each case. [207013]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office does not hold a central record of the number or value of research anddevelopment procurement opportunities that weredisseminated by the Department to small and medium-sized enterprises registered through the Small Business Research Initiative in each financial year since 2001–02. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.
Sex Attacks
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of the percentage of drug assisted sex attacks that go unreported; [199964]
(2) what plans he has to fund a campaign in the run-up to the Christmas party season to alert women to the dangers of leaving drinks unattended; [199966]
(3) what assessment he has made of the prevalence of (a) drink spiking and (b) drug rape following drink spiking. [199967]
Paul Goggins: The recorded crime information collected centrally and held on the Home Office Court Proceedings, does not allow the separate identification of rapes involving drugs.
Results obtained by the Forensic Science Service from a study involving 1,014 cases of claimed drug facilitated sexual assault between 2000 and 2002 showed that:
1 Feb 2005 : Column 850W
2 per cent. of such cases were due to a deliberate administration of drugs intended to disinhibit the victim.
Alcohol was detected in 81 per cent. of cases where samples were taken soon enough to be able to detect it.
Findings from the 2001 BCS Inter-Personal Violence Module found that in 5 per cent. of rape cases since age 16, victims said that they were drugged in some way. The BCS IPV module also suggests that only 15 per cent. of victims of serious sexual assault report it to the police.
In November 2004 the Association of Chief Police Officers launched Operation Matisse, a six-month study which will assess the extent of drink spiking and sexual assault in seven police force areas. It is the first co-ordinated study on drug-facilitated sexual assault, and will provide valuable information on which effective action to tackle this particularly sinister crime can be based.
The Government did not fund a campaign specifically to warn against drink-spiking in the run-up to Christmas. We believe that the consumption of alcohol, whether intentional or unsolicited, is a bigger factor than drugs in sexual assault, and we intend to focus awareness raising work on this issue, as part of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Programme for England.
Sex Offenders
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State forthe Home Department what percentage of sex offenders committed suicide in (a) overcrowded and (b) non-overcrowded prisons in each of the last five years. [199511]
Paul Goggins: The information requested with respect to individuals in prison charged with, convicted of or sentenced for sexual offences is provided in the following table.
(19) Certified Normal Accommodation. This is the uncrowded capacity of an establishment (after adjusting for accommodation out of use), that is to say with no prisoners sharing two to a cell certified for one. Though the holding prisons were, at the time of the prisoners' deaths, operating over their respective CNAs, this does not necessarily mean that the prisoners who died were accommodated in 'overcrowded' conditions, for example, one of two prisoners accommodated in a cell designed for one.
1 Feb 2005 : Column 851W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |