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Work Permit System (Ethnic Minorities)

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effect of his proposals for changes to the work permit system on ethnic minority businesses in the catering sector in relation to their ability to recruit skilled staff from the Indian sub-continent; and if he will make a statement. [4164]

Mr. McNulty: The Government's plans for changes to the work permits system and for current sector based schemes are outlined in Controlling our borders: making migration work for Britain" the five-year plan for asylum and immigration. The Government are committed to ensuring that UK employers have access to the skills and experience they need in order to maximise the economic benefits to the UK from migration. Skilled migrant workers should be enabled to fill vacancies which cannot be filled from within the UK or EU.

The written ministerial statement on 23 June announced that, following a review of the scheme and in the light of additional labour available from the new EU countries, the current sectors based scheme for the hospitality sector would be ended. The findings of that review have been placed on work permits (UK)'s website. If additional needs are identified in future, small tightly managed quota-based schemes will be established for specific shortage areas for fixed periods.

Biometric Passport Databases

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, following the implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation biometric standards, immigration staff at
 
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ports and airports will be able to access other countries' biometric passport databases in order to verify the validity of documents presented by passengers. [10072]

Mr. Charles Clarke: In order to realize the benefits of biometrics, Immigration Officers need to be able to access the biometric information stored on the passport's chip and verify that the person presenting the passport is the rightful holder. Immigration Officers will not have access to databases of other countries but it is the intention of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill that they will have access to the data contained within the passport chip in biometric passports of overseas nationals. The bill also seeks to provide Immigration Officers with the power to ask the holder of the passport to provide biometric information, such as fingerprints, for comparison with data held in the passport chip to ascertain whether the person presenting the passport is the rightful holder of the document.

Bombings

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the (a) dates and (b) locations of crimes using bombs or other explosive devices that have taken place in England and Wales resulting in death or personal injury in each year since 1976; and if he will list the number of (i) casualties and (ii) convictions that have been secured; [10550]

(2) if he will list the names of organisations and individuals who claimed responsibility for crimes using bombs or other explosive devices that have taken place in England and Wales resulting in death or personal injury for each year since 1976. [10551]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Correspondence

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2005,
 
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Official Report, column 151W, on correspondence, when he will provide a substantive reply to the letter of 28 February from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford. [9098]

Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 4 July 2005]: Iwrote to the hon. Member on 30 June.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam concerning his constituent Mr. Sebastian John D'Souza, dated 18 May, ref D'Souza/180505/Stonecot/by. [4917]

Mr. McNulty: I wrote to the hon. Member on 15 July.

Crime

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the trends in criminal activity in the East sector of Plymouth are for the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [11324]

Hazel Blears [holding answer 11 July 2005]: Statistics are not collected centrally for the East Sector of Plymouth. The latest published information is for the Plymouth Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area and covers 2003–04. The statistics cover six key offence groups and give comparisons with 2002–03 and rates per 1,000 population.

The data is available on the Home Office website at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/cdrptabs.xls

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) final warnings and (b) reprimands have been issued under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in each year for each (i) classification of crime and (ii) age cohort. [11790]

Hazel Blears: Information from the Home Office Court Proceedings database on the number of persons in each age cohort under the age of 18 who have been issued with a reprimand or final warning since the introduction of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, by offence type, England and Wales, 1999–2003 is contained in the table.

Statistics for 2004 will be available in the autumn.
Number of juveniles given a reprimand or final warning by offence type and age cohort, England and Wales 1999–2003^{(48)(5508050049)}

	1999			2000
Offence type	10 to 11 years	12 to 14 years	15 to 17 years	10 to 11 years	12 to 14 years	15 to 17 years
Violence against the person	365	3,223	4,876	345	3,140	4,767
Sexual offences	13	256	320	30	229	225
Burglary	803	2,874	2,439	630	2,643	2,105
Robbery	58	245	200	69	277	198
Theft and handling stolen goods	3,037	17,798	18,756	2,936	16,982	16,997
Fraud and forgery	39	414	1,216	26	362	1,066
Criminal damage	286	930	726	294	945	834
Drug offences	34	1,002	8,535	31	947	6,941
Other indictable offences	29	409	933	31	394	892
Summary offences (excluding motoring)	2,142	12,033	19,987	2,153	12,570	18,482
Total	6,806	39,184	57,988	6,545	38,489	52,507

 
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	2001			2002			2003
	10 to 11 years	12 to 14 years	15 to 17 years	10 to 11 years	12 to 14 years	15 to 17 years	10 to 11 years	12 to 14 years	15 to 17 years
Violence against the person	414	3,332	4,934	451	3,550	5,344	530	4,372	6,109
Sexual offences	28	240	250	23	203	217	15	235	225
Burglary	614	2,618	2,065	503	2,190	1,859	423	2,075	1,862
Robbery	44	243	198	39	196	127	44	192	133
Theft and handling stolen goods	2,516	16,194	16,491	1,911	12,846	13,340	1,955	12,419	13,892
Fraud and forgery	27	309	914	26	225	858	19	187	761
Criminal damage	305	1,096	850	240	916	769	232	1,056	975
Drug offences	32	1,278	7,171	41	1,331	8,145	37	1,293	8,241
Other indictable offences	40	430	872	24	363	912	22	405	967
Summary offences (excluding motoring)	2,381	13,211	18,945	1,890	11,147	16,902	1,932	12,017	19,308
Total	6,401	38,951	52,690	5,148	32,967	48,473	5,209	34,251	52,473

⁽⁴⁸⁾These data are on the principal basis
⁽⁴⁹⁾Juvenile cautions were replaced by reprimands and final warnings in June 2000

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on changes in the level of crime in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in the last five years. [6611]

Hazel Blears: Information from police recorded data for the years 1999 to 2004 is contained in the tables.

Chorley is a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area. The most recent available information relates to 2003–04. Data for the period up to 31 March 2005 will be included in the forthcoming publication Crime in England and Wales 2004–05" which will be available on the Home Office website and in the Library.

In terms of violent crime, much of the rise in violence against the person which is shown in the tables can be accounted for by changes to the way the police define and record certain offences. Police recorded crime data are subject to changes in police recording practices, including those relating to national Counting Rules and recording standards. The Counting Rules changes in 1998 had a very significant impact on violent crime, across England and Wales the numbers of such crimes recorded by the police increased by 83 per cent. in the first year of using the new rules. The National Crime Recording Standard, introduced in April 2002, again resulted in increased recording of violent crimes, particularly for less serious violent offences. In addition, increased police activity can have an impact on how many offences are recorded, because, in such circumstances, police officers may encounter and record incidents that may not previously have been reported or recorded.

In comparison, British Crime Survey data, widely regarded as the most authoritative view of violent crime, shows considerable reductions in violent crime across England and Wales since 1997.
Table 1a: Recorded crime for six key offences in the Chorley Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area, 1999–2000 to 2001–02⁽⁵⁰⁾

	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
Violence against the person	551	581	646
Sexual offences	38	47	49
Robbery	27	32	64
Burglary in a dwelling	526	492	780
Theft of a motor vehicle	464	414	413
Theft from a motor vehicle	700	837	872
Total(51)	—	—	7,579

⁽⁵⁰⁾The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
⁽⁵¹⁾Available only from 2001–02.



 
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Table 1b: Recorded crime for six key offences in the Chorley Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area, 2002–03 to 2003–04⁽⁵²⁾

	2002–03	2003–04
Violence against the person	761	1,553
Sexual offences	62	60
Robbery	42	48
Burglary in a dwelling	579	479
Theft of a motor vehicle	375	266
Theft from a motor vehicle	759	603
Total	6,942	7,873

⁽⁵²⁾The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.



Table 2a: Crime recorded by Lancashire Police, 1999–2000 to 2001–02⁽⁵³⁾

	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
Violence against the person	9,803	11,710	15,935
Sexual offences	754	936	992
Robbery	1,058	1,224	1,608
Burglary(54)	21,360	21,673	23,920
Theft and handling stolen goods(55)	44,459	46,060	52,016
Fraud and forgery	4,024	5,935	6,338
Criminal damage	22,776	25,445	31,925
Drug and other offences	4,632	4,650	5,026
Total	108,866	117,633	137,760

⁽⁵³⁾The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
⁽⁵⁴⁾All burglary, including attempted burglary.
⁽⁵⁵⁾Including theft of and from a motor vehicle.



Table 2b: Crime recorded by Lancashire Police, 2002–03 to 2003–04⁽⁵⁶⁾

	2002–03	2003–04
Violence against the person	15,784	26,676
Sexual offences	1,069	1,337
Robbery	1,409	1,285
Burglary(57)	20,487	19,571
Theft and handling stolen goods(58)	49,223	50,660
Fraud and forgery	5,839	7,157
Criminal damage	30,733	39,447
Drug and other offences	5,963	5,702
Total	130,507	151,835

⁽⁵⁶⁾The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
⁽⁵⁷⁾All burglary, including attempted burglary.
⁽⁵⁸⁾Including theft of and from a motor vehicle.



 
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Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual number of recorded crimes per 1,000 population was for (a) Northamptonshire police force, (b) Northamptonshire's most similar family of forces and (c) an average for England and Wales in each of the last 10 years. [11192]

Hazel Blears: The information requested is given in the table.

Since 1997, there have been two major changes to the way crime is recorded. The effect of the change in the counting rules in 1998 was to artificially increase total recorded crime nationally by 14 per cent. while it is estimated that the effect of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April
 
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2002 caused a further increase of 10 per cent. in total recorded crime in its first year.
Total recorded crime in Northamptonshire and it's most similar forces—rate per 1,000 population 1994 to 2003–04 Rate per 1,000 population

Police force area	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998–99(59)
Cambridgeshire	90	98	100	85	94
Cheshire	77	75	68	62	66
Hampshire	82	78	78	71	73
Hertfordshire	65	66	63	58	57
Kent	101	100	95	79	83
Northamptonshire	97	95	96	89	107
Staffordshire	89	87	87	85	87
Warwickshire	86	78	78	71	76
England and Wales	102	99	97	88	98

	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03(60)	2003–04
Cambridgeshire	95	89	95	120	112
Cheshire	66	64	72	86	94
Hampshire	76	75	76	86	100
Hertfordshire	60	62	64	83	92
Kent	79	81	75	83	86
Northamptonshire	99	91	97	117	123
Staffordshire	93	99	111	104	104
Warwickshire	76	73	83	87	89
England and Wales	101	98	104	113	113

⁽⁵⁹⁾Figures using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
⁽⁶⁰⁾The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before and after that data are not directly comparable.

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