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21 Jul 2005 : Column 2196W—continued
Juvenile Offenders
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many young people of school age have been found guilty of committing a crime in (a) Southend constituency, (b) Essex, (c) Greater London and (d) England and Wales in the last five years for which figures are available; [10514]
(2) what the most common form of crime committed by young people of school age was in (a) Southend, West constituency, (b) Essex, (c) Greater London and (d) England and Wales in the last five years for which figures are available. [10515]
Hazel Blears: The available information from the Home Office Court Proceedings database is contained in the tables and gives the number of young people of school age found guilty of committing a crime and the most frequent offence for which a conviction was given in South East Essex petty sessional area, Essex, Greater London and England and Wales, 1999–2003. It is not possible to identify those offenders in the Southend and Southend, West constituencies, as the data do not go down to this level of detail.
In addition to court proceedings statistics, the number of young people of school age given Reprimands or Final Warnings in Essex, Greater London and England and Wales are also provided in the table.
Statistics for 2004 will be available in the autumn.
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(60)These data are on the principal offence basis.
(61)Covers Southend and some parts of Rayleigh, Benfleet and Canvey. Figures for cautions are not available separately for Southend.
(62)In June 2000 reprimands and final warnings replaced juvenile cautions.
Management Consultancies
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which five management consultancies received the highest value of contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last three years; and what the total value was of the contracts awarded to each. [12578]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office does not have a unified purchasing and payment system in place to provide central information covering the whole Home Office group including Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The table which shows the information that has been collated from the data that is available from across the office will be placed in the Library. No figures on the top five consultancy suppliers are available for the core Home Office for 2002–03.
The Department awards contracts in open competition according to the EU Procurement Regulations, based on best value for money. The use of external consultants in the Home Office provides the Department with specialist knowledge, skill, capacity and technical expertise that is not otherwise available in house.
National Probation Directorate (Risk Assessment)
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the risk assessment commissioned by the National Probation Directorate in March concluded (a) that the risk of a loss of key skills resulting in the inadequate supervision of offenders was high, (b) that the risk of the e-mail IT system failing to deliver the benefits of a joined up criminal justice system was very high and (c) that the risk of inadequate supervision of cases leading to high profile media attention and unmanageable policy making was high. [4968]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The risk management process that was followed in March 2005 evaluated the above three risks to have a high likelihood rating and a high impact rating. The National Probation Directorate have
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however put in place review and control measures to ensure that these risks do not pose any threat to the successful delivery of the 2005–06 Business Plan.
Although the severity status of these risks were rated high, it does not necessarily mean the risk rating will remain the same throughout the business plan period. There are many other factors both internal and external that will influence how the risk rating changes during the business plan year.
Offender Registration
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the Vicious and Sex Offenders Register to be completed; what the budget for the project was; and what the cost so far has been. [10207]
Hazel Blears: All 43 forces in England and Wales havebeen operational on the Violent Sexual Offenders Register(ViSOR) since March 2005. ViSOR is also operational in all eight Scottish forces and in Northern Ireland.
The cost of delivering ViSOR was £9.7 million in total over a four year period and was within the budget allocated to the programme.
Passports
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports and documents handed in have been lost after being deposited at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [13559]
Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of passports and documents lost after being received by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate would be available only at disproportionate cost.
Pastor Danny Nalliah
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any member of his Department met Pastor Danny Nalliah during his recent visit to the UK. [14078]
Mr. Charles Clarke: So far as can be ascertained, no one from the Home Office met with Danny Nalliah during his last visit to the UK.
Police
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average age of police (a) constables, (b) sergeants, (c) inspectors, (d) chief inspectors, (d) superintendents and (e) chief superintendents was in the last year for which figures are available. [11068]
Hazel Blears: Information is not available in the form requested. Data on age of police officers are collected centrally by age group. The latest available data for the 43 police forces in England and Wales are given in a table which will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used to determine the membership of police authorities; what guidance has
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been issued on composition; and if he will require police authorities to include members of district councils in their membership. [12476]
Hazel Blears: The membership of police authorities is determined by the Police Act 1996. No guidance has been issued with regard to their composition but, there is joint Home Office/Association of Police Authorities guidance about the selection and appointment of independent members and lay justice members on police authorities. The White Paper Building Communities, Beating Crime—A better police service for the 21st Century" proposed changes to strengthen the calibre, representative nature and democratic legitimacy of police authority membership including a possible approach to two-tier areas, together with proposals for unitary areas. The Government are considering the way ahead in the light of the responses to the White Paper. Legislation would be needed to give effect to any changes to the membership of police authorities.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are employed on anti-terrorist activities; and if he will make a statement. [13759]
Mr. Charles Clarke: All police officers are engaged in and contribute towards countering the threat from terrorism. It would not be in the interests of national security to disclose the numbers of police officers who are engaged on specialised counter terrorist work such as intelligence gathering or investigations.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total establishment is of (a) police officers and (b) community police officers; and how many Muslims are serving in each category. [12976]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 18 July 2005]: There were 140,135 police officers in England and Wales on 30 September 2004. Police strength for 31 March 2005 is scheduled to be published on 25 July.
Information on the functions to which police officers are deployed is collected annually and the latest available is for 31 March 2004. There were more than 5,000 police officers deployed to community safety/relations duties in March 2004. Other police officers may also undertake community policing, but are not recorded as undertaking this function because it is not their main duty.
Information on religious affiliation of police officers or police staff, including Community Support Officers, is not centrally collected.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for theHome Department what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Chief Constable and (b) police authority in Milton Keynes regarding structural re-organisation. [12911]
Hazel Blears:
The Home Secretary has not had any recent discussion with the Chief Constable or police authority of Thames Valley regarding structural reorganisation. However, at the Association of Chief Police Officers on 19 May, the Home Secretary made it clear that he did not believe that the current structure of 43 forces was the most effective and efficient
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arrangement for organising policing in England and Wales. He also made it clear that he had no blueprint for amalgamations, but that the initiative for such amalgamations should be driven locally. To inform the way forward, my right hon. Friend has commissioned Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to examine the issue of force structures. As well as looking at the case for structural changes, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary will also be examining the case for greater collaboration and co-operation between forces.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of police time was spent on front line policing in 2004–05. [13746]
Hazel Blears: The police performance monitors published in September 2004 showed that 63.6 per cent. of police time is spent on front line policing. We expect the police service as a whole to improve the average to over 72 per cent. by 2007–08. This will be a gain in time equivalent to more than 12,000 extra officers. Police authorities have set local improvement targets for their forces.
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