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2 Nov 2005 : Column 1107W—continued

Indefinite Leave to Remain

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to supply Mr. T. M. of Aylesbury (ref. M1194191; CTS ref. M20613/5) with formal documentation to confirm the grant to him of indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. [22429]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 25 October 2005]: The case of Mr. T. M. of Aylesbury is being treated as a priority. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate will grant him indefinite leave to remain when certain documents that were requested from Mr. T. M. on the 25 October have been received.
 
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Licensing Hours

Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of violent assaults in England and Wales were attributed to alcohol abuse in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [18556]

Hazel Blears: The Home Office does not hold data on violent assaults attributable to alcohol abuse (ie involving people with problems with alcohol).

Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has conducted into the impact of extended licensing hours on the allocation of police resources; and if he will make a statement. [18558]

Hazel Blears: Under the outgoing licensing law, the police are annually engaged in over 1.6 million administrative licensing processes which will be streamlined to around 170,000 under the Licensing Act 2003 resulting in a saving of up to £15 million annually. The Act will also give the police further powers to tackle alcohol related disorder, for instance through allowing temporary or permanent reductions in trading hours.

Missing Children

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to establish the whereabouts of the African and Caribbean boys between the ages of four and seven who were recently identified as having gone missing from London schools over a three-month period; and what steps have been taken to encourage the Department for Education and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to work more closely together to improve systems of record keeping. [19680]

Hazel Blears: Initial inquiries made by Metropolitan Police Officers investigating the 'Adam' murder found that a number of African boys had not returned to school following the summer break in 2001. Following their further investigations, I understand from the Metropolitan Police Service that in every case there were legitimate reasons for the boys not returning to school and none of the boys reported as missing is unaccounted for.

There has been considerable media speculation that these children were trafficked for the purpose of ritual abuse. There is no evidence that any of them has come to any harm or been involved in ritualistic practices and there were no allegations from either the families or schools that the welfare of these children was at risk. The Metropolitan police have made it clear that they believe this type of crime to be extremely rare, and that there is no evidence to suggest that any children are at risk.

The Department for Education and Skills, the Home Office and the police service are continuing to work together to reinforce local procedures to ensure that any children at risk might be identified. Every Child Matters: Change for Children, published by the Department for Education and Skills on 1 December 2004, iterates the Government's expectation that by
 
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December 2005 every local authority should have systematic arrangements in place to identify children missing from education, so that suitable provision can be made for them.

Motoring Offences

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) hit and run accidents, (b) hit and run accidents in which the driver did not have insurance and (c) hit and run accidents for which drivers were taken to court and (i) fined, (ii) imprisoned and (iii) acquitted there were in (A) Southend, (B) Essex, (C) the Metropolitan police area of London and (D) England and Wales in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what percentage of these fines remain unpaid. [20630]


 
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Fiona Mactaggart: Information on the number of drivers without insurance who are involved in hit and run accidents is not collected centrally.

Available information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database and given in Tables A—D2 show the number of offences proceeded against by result for the offence of 'failing to stop after an accident' under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 170 (4) from 1999 to 2003 (latest available). 2004 data will be available early in 2006.

Table E, provided by the Department for Transport, details data for those accidents classified as hit and run.

Fines are collected by the courts and the current payment rate for fines in general is around 80 per cent.
Table A: Court proceedings for accident offences(20) within Southend-on-Sea magistrates court by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedingsCharges withdrawn/dismissed (21)Total findings of guiltImmediate custody (22)Fine
1999250381641095
200032910519812107
2001286761908100
20023091001841390
20033198421510105


(20) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(21) Includes cases under Magistrates Courts Act 1980 s9 (when court, after hearing the evidence, decide the defendant is not guilty).
(22) Includes sentences of Secure Training Order, Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.



Table B1: Proceedings at magistrates courts for accident offences(23) dealt with by Essex police by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedingsCharges withdrawn/dismissed (24)Total findings of guiltImmediate custody (25)Fine
199999832659430366
20001,10341660524360
20011,18538071036413
20021,21438573134379
20031,30942178749403


(23) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(24) Includes cases under Magistrates Courts Act 1980 s9 (when court, after hearing the evidence, decide the defendant is not guilty).
(25) Includes sentences of Secure Training Order, Detention & Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.



Table B2: Proceedings at the Crown court for accident offences(26) dealt with by Essex police by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedings for trialAcquittedTotal findings of guiltImmediate custody (27)Fine
1999651
2000844
2001622
200266
20032710174


(26) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(27) Includes sentences of Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.



Table C1: Proceedings at magistrates courts for accident offences(28) dealt with by the Metropolitan police by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedingsCharges withdrawn/dismissed (29)Total findings of guiltImmediate custody (30)Fine
19992,5441,0291,29344891
20002,2128841,11536737
20011,92682796039577
20021,91976898633603
20031,83874695740535


(28) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(29) Includes cases under Magistrates Courts Act 1980 s9 (when court, after hearing the evidence, decide the defendant is not guilty).
(30) Includes sentences of Secure Training Order, Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.





 
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Table C2: Proceedings at the Crown court for accident offences(31) with by the Metropolitan police by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedings for trialAcquittedTotal findings of guiltImmediate custody (32)Fine
19993211192
200028523132
20011559
200234121933
200340122855


(31) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(32) Includes sentences of Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.



Table D1: Proceedings at magistrates courts for accident offences(33) within England and Wales by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedingsCharges withdrawn/dismissed (34)Total findings of guiltImmediate custody (35)Fine
199927,2598,95616,2085629,503
200026,6929,21115,5125188,917
200128,10510,15015,6245188,573
200228,39410,05915,9125138,320
200329,54910,29016,6915408,813


(33) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(34) Includes cases under Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 s9 (when court, after hearing the evidence, decide the defendant is not guilty).
(35) Includes sentences of Secure Training Order, Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.



Table D2: Proceedings at the Crown court for accident offences(36) within England and Wales by result, 1999–2000

Number of offences
Total proceedings for trialAcquittedTotal findings of guiltImmediate custody (37)Fine
199932198220917
2000348622845119
2001342632742518
2002465843722922
20035581154002727


(36) Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4)
(37) Includes sentences of Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.
Source:
RDS-OCJR (PQM&SDC151–05)





Table E: Hit and run accidents by area and severity: 1999–2004

Year of accident
199920002001200220032004
Local authority (district): Southend-on-Sea
Fatal011100
Serious7910121110
Slight676777748991
Total74778887100101
County: Essex
Fatal154322
Serious4972759312686
Slight507571602730683683
Total557648681826811771
Police force code: Metropolitan police
Fatal261527302920
Serious376507629680617470
Slight3,1043,7184,6915,1214,7323,870
Total3,5064,2405,3475,8315,3784,360
Country: England and Wales
Fatal131100126148137131
Serious1,9362,1842,2752,6002,5372,091
Slight17,73620,16022,44823,73423,48421,127
Total19,80322,44424,84926,48226,15823,349




Source:
Department for Transport.




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