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27 Jun 2005 : Column 1242W—continued
Antisocial Behaviour
20. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the length of time it takes to resolve cases of serious antisocial behaviour. [6872]
Fiona MacTaggart: The Government are committed to ensuring local agencies have the powers they need to reduce the impact of antisocial behaviour. Breach of an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) is a criminal offence and criminal penalties apply.
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 and the TOGETHER campaign provide practitioners with tools and know-how to ensure that antisocial behaviour is dealt with swiftly and effectively.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been breached in each year since their introduction, broken down by (a) the reason for the breach and (b) the punishment given for the breach. [1393]
Mr. Charles Clarke: During the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2003 a total of 1,892 antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) were issued within England and Wales. Of those issued 793 individuals breached their ASBO over this period.
The table counts all breach occasions during this period. The total given for this is 2,053 and represents breaches by those 793 individuals, indicating that those individuals breached more than once.
(2)Includes multiple breaches of the same ASBO and covers those ASBOs reported to the Home Office.
(3)From 1 June 2000. Data for 2004 are not yet available.
(4)This excludes 10 cases where a fully suspended sentence was given and 29 cases where a sentence of one day in police cells was given. These cases are included in the Other" column.
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Shatterproof Glasses/Bottles
21. Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the drinks industry regarding the adoption of shatterproof glasses and bottles in bars, pubs and clubs. [6873]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We remain concerned about the use of glasses and bottles as weapons in and around licensed premises.
The Violent Crime Reduction Bill provides a new fast track alcohol licence review process which will allow Licensing Authorities to require pubs and clubs, where necessary, to use toughened drinks glasses and bottles. We will continue to discuss this measure with the drinks industry and other stakeholders.
Kirkham Prison
22. Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Prison Service's response to the Chief Inspector of Prisons' report on Kirkham Prison. [6874]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Prison Service will produce an action plan which sets out what action will be taken on each one of the Chief Inspector's recommendations. I expect the action plan to be ready in August, as set out in the protocol agreed with the Chief Inspector.
Police
24. Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police numbers in Barnet. [6876]
Hazel Blears: Decisions on the allocation of resources to the London Borough Operational Command Units (OCU) is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I understand from the Commissioner that the Barnet OCU had 554 police officers on 31 March 2005. This is 69, or 14 per cent. more than in March 2001. Barnet additionally had 44 community support officers at the end of March this year.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to establish fast track access to medical services for police personnel to reduce sickness absence in police forces. [6875]
Hazel Blears: The Strategy for a Healthy Police Service, made £19 million available to forces in England and Wales for occupational health service from 2002 to 2006. It is for forces to determine how best to develop their occupational health services to support operational policing. In doing this forces can take account of the evaluation of projects funded by the Strategy. Some forces have used this funding to operate fast track access schemes.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to require police forces to adopt as standard the police staff council handbook; [523]
(2) how many police forces have fully adopted the pay and conditions set out in the police staff council handbook; [524]
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(3) what representations he has received from the Association of Chief Police Officers regarding mandatory adoption of the police staff council handbook. [525]
Mr. Charles Clarke: In the White Paper: Building Communities, Beating Crime, we commit to developing terms and conditions for police staff that meet the operational requirements of the service and support the delivery of improved performance. We wish to develop terms and conditions of service for police staff which reflect their increasingly important place in policing and the operational nature of many of their roles. We will discuss these proposals in the PSC. However, we want to allow police forces and authorities flexibility where that is necessary to meet local requirements. We do not propose therefore to make the contents of the PSC handbook mandatory.
Adoption of the terms and conditions of the Police Staff Council (PSC) of England and Wales Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook is by voluntary agreement by individual forces. Forces can take account of the handbook in deciding on the terms and conditions for their staff in the light of force requirements and circumstances. Neither the Home Office nor the Employers Organisation collect information about which of the provisions of the Handbook individual forces have chosen to incorporate in local terms and conditions of service.
Neither myself or other Ministers have received any representation from the Association of Chief Police Officers in regards to the mandatory adoption of the Police Staff Council handbook.
Anti-terrorism (Detainees)
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been detained under anti-terrorism legislation in each year since 1975; how many were (a) UK and (b) non-UK citizens; how many of those detained were subsequently charged with (i) terrorist and (ii) other criminal offences; and how many were deported. [152]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Under current terrorism legislation apart from very specific powers only available at ports or to facilitate stop and search, there are no powers of detention without arrest.
Statistics on arrests under Prevention of Terrorism Legislation from 1979 to 2001 are available on the Research and Statistics section of the Home Office website.
Statistics on arrests, since 11 September 2001, under the Terrorism Act 2000 are also available. These can be found in the terrorism section of the Home Office website.
CCTV
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on CCTV security cameras in (a) Haltemprice and Howden and (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last five years. [3594]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: Since 1999, the Home Office has allocated £381,558 to the East Riding of Yorkshire (which includes the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden) to ensure CCTV coverage across the area as part of the closed circuit television initiative, which was an element of the crime reduction programme. The breakdown of this funding is as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 44,686 |
| 2001–02 | 155,325 |
| 2002–03 | 181,547 |
Since the completion of the crime reduction programme, crime reduction funding has been allocated directly to the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership through the Building Safer Communities fund and to Basic Command Unit (BCD) commanders through the BCD fund. These funding streams finance a variety of interventions, including CCTV, to tackle local crime priorities.
Allocation of this funding locally is a matter for the East Riding of Yorkshire council and Humberside constabulary. The information is not held centrally.
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