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6 Jul 2005 : Column 530W—continued
Gating Orders
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to lay an order before Parliament implementing section 2 gating orders under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. [7283]
Hazel Blears: The Home Office are currently drafting the regulations required under Section two of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. Before this section is commenced, relevant agencies will be given an opportunity to comment on the content of the draft regulations. Following the completion of the regulations, this provision will be commenced at the earliest opportunity.
Gun Crime
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths were caused by gun crime in each London borough in each of the last five years. [8301]
Hazel Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally. Statistics on deaths caused by firearms is only available at police force area level.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Operation Trident; and if he will make a statement. [8324]
Hazel Blears:
Operation Trident, established London-wide in 1999, has had a significant effect in reducing gun-enabled crime in London. In the 12 months to May 2005, there was a 6 per cent. reduction in such crimes in the Metropolitan Police Service area. Community support for Trident is a vital component of
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its success and has been developed via the Independent Advisory Group (IAG), which remains at the heart of Trident strategy. We encourage the development of similar IAGs in other areas as a model of good practice in community engagement.
Human Trafficking (Ministerial Meeting)
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the outcome of the inter-ministerial meeting on human trafficking which took place in February; and when he expects the next meeting to take place. [7820]
Paul Goggins: At the inter-ministerial meeting on trafficking in February Ministers considered a wide range of issues. These included the legislative framework on trafficking; support for victims, including the scope of the evaluation of the POPPY Scheme; and plans for the UK presidency of the EU. Ministers agreed that trafficking should be a priority for the UK presidency of the EU, and at the next meeting, which is arranged for the 7 July 2005, Ministers will consider the programme of work on trafficking which is planned for our presidency.
Identity Cards
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the US Administration regarding its plans to include radio frequency identification chips in its requirements for passports and identity cards for foreign nationals visiting the US. [8602]
Andy Burnham: The UK Passport Service has had regular technical discussions at senior official level with the US State Department on biometric passports and the incorporation of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips into these passports. Both countries will be observing the International Civil Aviation Standards for the use of RFID chips in travel documents. The US Government in their recent announcement extending the Visa Waiver deadline to October 2006 indicated that they would be holding several technical conferences later this year to ensure workable technical standards for biometric passports. The UK Passport service will be represented at these conferences. There have been no discussions with the US Administration on radio frequency chips in Identity Cards.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the latest estimate is of costs of (a) processing applications and enrolment, (b) producing cards, (c) database design, (d) producing identification numbers, (e) application checks, (f) updating the register and (g) operating costs for theidentity card scheme in the starting and operating phases under the different scenarios of a voluntary andcompulsory card, indicating expected margins of error. [9253]
Andy Burnham
[holding answer 7 July 2005]: The latest cost estimates were published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which was published on 25 May 2005 alongside the Identity Cards Bill. The current best estimate is that the total average running costs for issuing passports and ID cards to UK nationals is
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estimated at £584 million. This includes the costs of processing applications and enrolments, producing cards, producing identification numbers, application checks, updating the Register and operating costs. It does not include the cost of database design which is a resource set up cost. It would not be appropriate to disclose either the breakdown of the current best estimate of running costs or any set up costs at this stage, as this would hinder the Department's ability to obtain value for money in the forthcoming procurement process.
A large part of the costs cover the issuing of ID cards alongside passports and voluntary applications for ID cards. Estimating the costs of issuing cards on a compulsory basis would depend on the timing of the move to compulsion and the nature of any compulsion order approved by Parliament. It is therefore not possible to provide such a scenario.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate (a) the revenue from the expected fees from cardholders, (b) the revenue from fees charged for data access, (c) financial support from the Home Office budget and (d) additional support from the Treasury for the identity card scheme, indicating margins of error and distinguishing set up and operating stages of the project. [9254]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 4 July 2005]: The latest cost estimates were published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which was published on 25 May 2005 alongside the Identity Cards Bill. The current best estimate is that the total average running costs for issuing passports and ID cards to UK nationals is estimated at £584 million. It would not be appropriate at this stage to disclose details of the estimate of the balance of funding which will come from the different types of fee which may be set under the powers in clause 37 of the Bill. Disclosing this information would hinder the Department's ability to obtain value for money in the forthcoming procurement process.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) revised global figure and (b) estimated margin of error is for the cost of the identity card scheme under the different scenarios of a voluntary and compulsory card distinguishing between (i) start-up and (ii) continuing costs. [9255]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 4 July 2005]: The latest cost estimates were published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which was published on 25 May 2005 alongside the Identity Cards Bill. It would not be appropriate at this time to publish an estimate of set-up costs as this may hinder the Department's ability to obtain value for money in the forthcoming procurement phase.
The current best estimate for the total average annual running costs for issuing passports and ID cards to UK nationals is estimated at £584 million. This estimate does include appropriate allowances for the running cost impact of some set-up costs, for example the cost of capital. As for the margin of error" the estimates of both set-up costs and running costs include allowances for contingency and optimism bias. It would not be
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appropriate to disaggregate the running cost estimate at this stage for the same reason as it would not be appropriate to publish the set-up cost estimate.
A large part of the running costs cover the issuing of ID cards alongside passports and voluntary applications for ID cards. Estimating the costs of issuing cards on a compulsory basis would depend on the timing of the move to compulsion and the nature of any compulsion order approved by Parliament. It is therefore not possible to provide such a scenario.
Illegal Alcohol Sales
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total amount of fines imposed on those convicted of selling alcohol to minors was in (a) 1984, (b) 1997 and (c) 2004. [7542]
Hazel Blears: The total amount of fines imposed on those convicted of selling alcohol to minors is as follows: 1984, £4,950 and for 1997, £25,381. The data for 2004 is expected to be available towards the end of the year.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions there have been in (a) Essex and (b) Southend under the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985 in each year since 1997; [8331]
(2) how many prosecutions there have been under the (a) Cigarette Lighter Refill (Safety) Regulations 1999 and (b) Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985 in each year since 1997. [8375]
Paul Goggins: The information contained in the table gives the number of defendants proceeded against under the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985, England and Wales 1997 to 2003. There were no prosecutions as notified to the Home Office Court Proceedings database in the Essex police force area or South-East Essex petty sessional area.
Information collected centrally by the Home Office does not separately identify offences under the Cigarette Lighter Refill (Safety) Regulations 1999.
Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
(79)These data are on the principal offence basis.
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