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Terrorism

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the level of terrorist threat to the United Kingdom since the bomb attacks in Madrid in March 2004. [216550]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a new offence of committing acts preparatory to terrorism. [216699]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on co-operation of EU states against terrorism. [218792]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in restricting the fund-raising activities of Islamist terror organisations

Mr. Charles Clarke: Al Qaeda continues to pose the greatest international terrorist threat. The UK supports UN sanctions against member and associates of al Qaeda and has supported the addition of 28 individuals and 11 entities to the UN Sanctions list since 1 March 2004. the sanctions require all 191 UN member states to freeze the assets of those listed.

More generally we have developed strong working relationships across the Government and between law enforcement agencies and the financial sector. These have enabled us to create a hostiles environment for terrorists and enabled intelligence building and counter terrorist investigations.

The role of the financial sector in this partnership has been crucial and we strongly welcome the support they have given to date and the active role they have taken in ongoing discussions on how to prevent terrorist supporters gaining access to UK financial products.

The UK is at the forefront of international activity in this area and has worked in close co-operation with partner to strengthen international standards, target countries where enforcement and legislation is week, and providing technical assistance and capacity building where necessary.

Multilateral efforts to counter terrorist financing have feature prominently on all international agendas in recent years. These efforts at both policy and
 
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operational have helped prevent terrorists from sourcing, moving and deploying their finances; and there is considerably more understanding of the nature of financial sources, flows, networks and destinations than there was at the time of the attacks in the USA in 2001.

Tetra

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total cost of the roll out of the Tetra police communications network; and what estimate he has made of the cost to each person liable for payment of the Sussex Police Authority precept, broken down by costs payable through (a) the precept and (b) general taxation. [220784]

Caroline Flint: The Airwave radiocommunications system network is being centrally funded by the Home Office under a PFI contract which will cost £2.3 billion at 1999 prices over the 22 years of the contract.

The costs of providing handsets and control centres are met by individual police forces. We do not have a breakdown of the costs to Sussex Police.

Precepts are a matter for local police authorities. For 2004–05 the Sussex Police Authority budget was met 29 per cent. from precept and 71 per cent. from grants.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions have been issued to Sussex police regarding procedures for making complaints about the operation of the new Tetra system. [222031]

Ms Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Torture-obtained Information

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1257W, on torture-obtained information, on how many occasions in the last year his Department has used information obtained by the use of torture in another country. [218761]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Transphobic Crime

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reasons underlie his Department's policy on the recording of transphobic crimes as a distinct category within hate crime reporting. [200583]

Ms Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Travellers

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department deal with issues relating to Travellers. [219878]

 
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Fiona Mactaggart: We estimate that less than full-time equivalent deals with specific Gypsy and Traveller issues in the Home Office. This varies as work demands, and involves a number of people spending a proportion of their time.

Vehicle Licensing Checks

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles have been stopped using Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology on suspicion of being unlicensed in each of the last three months for which figures are available; and how many such vehicles were displaying a vehicle licence disc. [224506]

Ms Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Violent Crime

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of violent crime recorded in Leicester was categorised as (a) violence against the person, (b) sexual offences and (c) robbery, in each year since 1999–2000. [221211]

Ms Blears [holding answer 14 March 2005]: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to reduce the level of violent crime in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales. [222887]

Ms Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the project to make it possible for victims of crime to track the progress of their case online was initiated; what stage the project has reached; whether it is on schedule; and what the latest estimate of the cost of this project is. [218855]

Paul Goggins: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Visa Applications

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) names, (b) functions and (c) relationship to him of the people in whose visa applications (i) he and (ii) his private office have been involved. [203225]

Mr. Browne: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions (a) he and (b) his private office have been directly involved in visa applications to his Department. [203226]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.
 
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David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has ever contacted any foreign embassy to inquire about travel documents for any other foreign nationals. [203247]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the settlement visa of Mrs.Marcia Morroll of Galhampton, South Devon to be renewed; when her passport will be returned; and if he will make statement on the time scale for processing this application. [224704]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 6 April 2005]: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the time scale for processing an application for further leave to remain from an applicant who has overstayed on a visa was in the most recent period for which figures are available. [224780]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 6 April 2005]: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what stage the visa applications for (a) Bukola Fakeye, reference F1054346 and (b) Lucky Osadolor, reference B1127338, have reached; and if he will make a statement. [224850]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 6 April 2005]: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

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