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11 Jul 2005 : Column 777W—continued

Miscarriages of Justice (Compensation)

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on recouping the costs of bed and board incurred during imprisonment from the compensation moneys paid to people wrongly imprisoned due to miscarriages of justice. [3082]

Fiona Mactaggart: While the Home Secretary decides whether an applicant qualifies for compensation in respect of a miscarriage of justice, the assessment of the amount of compensation is undertaken by an Assessor appointed by him under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (currently Lord Brennan QC). The amount of an award is wholly a matter for the Assessor, and the Home Secretary has no power to influence or vary his determination.

Saved living expenses for the period an applicant spent in prison are frequently referred to, incorrectly, as deductions for bed and board" or board and
 
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lodging". The compensation process involves two separate and distinct concepts of loss: pecuniary and non-pecuniary loss. The pecuniary element, the quantifiable financial loss, is intended to put the applicant back into the financial position they would have been in but for their wrongful conviction, but not to a position better than that. Any deduction for saved living expenses is made by the Assessor in respect of the costs an applicant would have been required to pay out of their net income, for example rent or mortgage payments. The deduction is restricted to the pecuniary loss element only, and is not intended to cover optional or enhanced expenditure, such as luxuries and leisure activities. A minimal monthly expenditure is therefore deducted.

The non-pecuniary loss award, however, is in recognition of, for example, loss of reputation, loss of liberty, hardship, mental suffering, injury to feelings, and inconvenience. It is an award in recognition of the miscarriage of justice itself.

Missing Children

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2005, Official Report, column 766W, on missing children, what assessment his Department has made of the viability of collecting this information. [9431]

Hazel Blears: The Home Office has no plans to collect this information centrally. However, we have been working with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the National Missing Persons Helpline to establish joint working arrangements to improve the recording and information sharing and exchange, in order to improve the way in which missing persons are dealt with. Part of this work includes the establishment of a comprehensive national police database of missing and unidentified people reported either to the police or the helpline.

Motoring Offences

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females were convicted of motoring offences in (i)Southend, (ii) Essex and (iii) England and Wales in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by offence. [10509]

Hazel Blears: The information from the Home Office Court Proceedings database is contained in the tables and gives the number of males and females found guilty of motoring offences by offence class in Southend, Essex police force area and England and Wales 1999 to 2003. Statistics for 2004 will be available in the autumn.
Number of offenders found guilty of motoring offences by gender and offence class at all courts in England and Wales, 1999 to 2003(71)

Males
Offence class19992000200120022003
Dangerous driving3,8713,9744,0464,7605,236
Driving etc, after consuming alcohol or taking drugs71,63768,76268,18572,44474,242
Careless driving29,18025,18722,48619,89018,115
Accident offences4,9944,6404,8814,8085,078
Driving licence related offences37,80037,93139,25942,16949,580
Vehicle insurance offences149,478153,891151,229163,823185,285
Vehicle registration and Excise licence offences7,7348,89910,52214,76318,841
Work record or employment offences4,7094,1973,5032,9312,654
Operator's licence offences1,1321,183901712522
Vehicle Test offences19,37815,87813,57312,29513,367
Fraud, forgery, etc associated with vehicle or driver record3,7373,1773,2203,0392,973
Vehicle, or part, in dangerous or defective condition13,74010,9508,7047,2846,656
Speed limit offences125,076113,660107,89097,640109,664
Motorway offence (other than speeding)1,2601,8161,3301,6121,101
Neglect of traffic directions21,34421,56619,83717,84217,387
Neglect of pedestrian rights3,5972,6962,1741,8231,901
Obstruction, waiting and parking offences11,4549,6068,9868,7109,088
Lighting offences3,9042,9132,2742,1462,071
Noise offences1,011756646467419
Load offences8,1177,7646,2745,0835,180
Offences peculiar to motor cycles210255258218224
Miscellaneous offences (including trailer offences)33,72231,39029,99334,65046,892
Total557,085531,091510,171519,109576,476

 
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Females
Offence class19992000200120022003
Dangerous driving137116128155215
Driving etc, after consuming alcohol or taking drugs7,8687,9847,9248,9899,539
Careless driving6,0175,2804,3943,8753,406
Accident offences758803813783884
Driving licence related offences2,7292,8822,6952,9143,512
Vehicle Insurance Offences17,81318,28216,91618,98822,008
Vehicle registration and Excise licence offences1,6822,1062,4783,9594,916
Work record or employment offences9265714044
Operator's licence offences4035282825
Vehicle test offences2,4071,9841,5421,5031,581
Fraud, forgery, etc associated with vehicle or driver record338282293285272
Vehicle, or part, in dangerous or defective condition1,068840687647519
Speed limit offences20,50020,44321,17821,14724,262
Motorway offence (other than speeding)116277158184100
Neglect of traffic directions4,2544,4074,1514,0163,799
Neglect of pedestrian rights630542415390360
Obstruction, waiting and parking offences3,1412,6362,6052,5702,729
Lighting offences342299250237220
Noise offences8387534530
Load offences210198175140130
Offences peculiar to motor cycles1117171417
Miscellaneous offences (including trailer offences)6,8697,5847,1077,8569,467
Total77,10577,14974,07878,76588,035


(71)These data are on the principal offence basis


Mr. Crispen Kulinsi

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will defer the enforced return of Mr. Crispen Kulinsi (Home Office ref K1188546) to Malawi pending consideration by his Department of the risks of Mr. Kulinsi's further deportation from Malawi to Zimbabwe. [7543]

Mr. McNulty: It is not our usual practice to disclose information about an individual's immigration case to anybody other than their nominated representatives or constituency MP.

Murder Rate

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the murder rate per 1,000 of the population in (a) the constituency of Southend, West and (b) England and Wales was in each of the last five years. [10506]

Hazel Blears: Figures are provided for homicide (murder, manslaughter and infanticide) as, at the time of recording, the nature of the killing is often not known. Information for Southend, West is not available. The
 
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available data relates to the Southend Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area and homicide data at CDRP level has only been collected since 2001–02. Available data are given in the following table.
Homicide rate per 1,000 population

2001–022002–032003–04
Southend
Homicide562
Rate/1,000 population0.0280.0370.013
England and Wales
Homicide891(72)1,043853
Rate/1,000 population0.0170.0200.016


(72)In 2002–03, 172 victims of Dr. Harold Shipman were recorded, all of which relate to offences committed in previous years.



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