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Stop it Now! Surrey

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reintroduce funding for Stop it Now! Surrey. [222167]

Paul Goggins: The national probation directorate has been the principal funder since 2001–02 for the Surrey Stop It Now! helpline. The nationally agreed pilot project funding will come to an end as planned on 31 March. Stop It Now! Surrey have been advised that they should put in place alternative funding arrangements in line with other comparable local Stop It Now! projects and the recommendations of an independent evaluation by de Montfort university that they should build local strategic partnerships to further the development and funding of area based projects.

Exceptionally, national probation directorate have advised Stop It Now! Surrey that continuation funding of more than £250,000 will continue to be available for the year 2005–06 to cover the costs of the national helpline service, but the Home Office is unable to provide further grant aid contribution to the local project once the pilot phase has ended.

Witness Prepartion

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how his Department monitors the methods used by witness preparation companies contracted to his Department; [220931]

(2) what publicly-funded pre-trial training to witnesses in court cases entails; and how his Department ensures the prevention of witness contamination; [220932]

(3) which witness preparation companies have contracts with his Department. [220933]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 8 March 2005]: The Home Department has no contracts with witness preparation companies to provide pre-trial training to witnesses in court cases. It does fund Victim Support's Witness Service through Grant-in-aid, but this is to
 
22 Mar 2005 : Column 663W
 
provide practical and emotional support to witnesses; the Witness Service does not discuss a witness's evidence.

Witness Statements

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy (a) to allow a witness to submit the text of a witness statement to the police by e-mail and (b) to make amendments to it by e-mail prior to the witness attending a police station to sign the final document. [208275]

Paul Goggins: Section 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 sets out the requirements that a witness statement must fulfil in order to be admissible in court. These include that it must be signed by the maker and contain a declaration by the maker that it is true to the best of his knowledge and belief. There is no provision in the Act governing the method or means by which that written statement is arrived at. As a matter of law, therefore, there is nothing to constrain police forces from adopting a policy whereby the text of a statement could be submitted or amended by e-mail.

Such an approach would however usually be inadvisable and inappropriate where a statement was likely to be challenged in court, which is the majority of cases. For example, a police officer may need to interview a witness in person to find out whether an offence has actually been committed and the legal elements. The process of interview also enables the officer to assess the quality of the evidence which a witness would be likely to give in court and inform the prosecutor as may be necessary. Finally, it could be difficult for the police to assess whether statements given by e-mail were influenced by pressure or intimidation exerted on a witness by the alleged offender or their associates.

Young Offenders

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Centre for Adolescent Rehabilitation to meeting Government targets for the reduction of reoffending rates among young adult offenders. [220527]

Paul Goggins: C-FAR offer a residential training programme for young adult male offenders. It received £520,000 in funding from the Home Office between 2002 and 2004, of which £20,000 was towards evaluation. A further £150,000 was committed to support places on the programme in 2005–06. 262 trainees have entered C-FAR's Life Change programme since June 2000. C-FAR estimates that about 50 per cent. have not re-offended within a two years of conviction. However, C-FAR's figures have not been substantiated by independent research.

There have been two independent evaluations of C-FAR. The first concluded that due to low numbers of trainees it was not possible to confirm C-FAR's claim. The second was an ethnographic evaluation and the researchers did not look at rates of re-offending among the group studied.
 
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NORTHERN IRELAND

Crosshill Quarry

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date the railway carriages were relocated within Crosshill Quarry in Crumlin, County Antrim. [221616]

Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment does not have specific dates when the 18 railway carriages were relocated within Crossbill Quarry. The contractors intended to complete this work during November and December 2003. However, I understand that, once work had commenced it was found that the weight of the waterlogged carriages required them to be cut into three sections to facilitate their movement and relocation. As a result, the work took longer than originally anticipated. Departmental staff visited the site on 13 February 2004 and recorded that the work was complete.

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether any release of asbestos at Crosshill Quarry was notified by the site operator to (a) the Health and Safety Executive, (b) the Environment and Heritage Service and (c) Antrim borough council. [221618]

Angela Smith: The Health and Safety Executive, the Environment and Heritage Service and Antrim borough council have not been notified by the site operator of any release of asbestos at Crosshill Quarry.

Employment Support Programme

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when future funding will be available for the Employment Support Programme for people with disabilities in Northern Ireland to access supported employment. [222870]

Mr. Gardiner: The Employment Support Scheme was closed to new applicants from September to December 2004. Existing participants were not affected. The Scheme re-opened to new applicants from January 2005.

Further Education Colleges

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to consult on the review of area based further education colleges in Northern Ireland. [222871]

Mr. Gardiner: The position remains the same as advised in my earlier response of 17 January 2005—the Department for Employment and Learning published its proposals for the future of further education in Northern Ireland in March 2004. Consultation on those proposals was completed in June 2004 and found firm support for the creation of a smaller number of area based colleges, linking the existing campuses. In taking forward these proposals the Department has commissioned further work on those aspects of the proposals that relate to the future size and structure of the FE sector. The outcome of this further work will be presented to a steering group comprised of representatives of further education colleges. In the light
 
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of the above I will be considering how best to engage with the local representatives on how the proposed changes may be best implemented.

Grammar Schools

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will introduce measures similar to those adopted in England to allow parents of pupils attending primary schools which are feeder schools of a local grammar school to vote on whether they wish the principle of academic selection for admission to the grammar school to be retained. [223271]

Mr. Gardiner: There are no plans to introduce similar measures.

After 2008–09, the current system of academic selection at age 11 will be replaced by a system of informed parental and pupil choice. Grammar schools will continue to exist and to offer an academic curricular emphasis.

National Assets

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2005, Official Report, columns 1000–02W, on national assets, what his estimate is of the net receipts that each department will gain from the disposal of assets in each of the next three financial years. [217056]

Mr. Pearson: The following table provides a current estimate of the net receipts that the Northern Ireland Office and the 11 Northern Ireland Departments will gain from the disposal of assets in each of the next three financial years.
£000

	Financial year
Department	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08
NIO	3,600
DARD	1,223	70	—
DCAL	13	—	—
DE	8
DEL	—	—	1,000
DETI	—	—	—
DFP	220	1,901	—
DHSSPS	3,015	6,820	430
DOE	—	—	—
DRD	—	—	—
DSD
OFMDFM	(7)—	—	—

⁽⁷⁾It is proposed that the former Royal Irish Regiment base in Magherafelt will be disposed of within the public sector hence no receipts will be generated.

I regret that in my previous answer, the number of vehicles recorded for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was incorrect. The Department intends to dispose of four vehicles in total (one Landrover and three Renault vans) and not eight as previously shown.

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