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Detention

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by whom he was advised that the proposals for detention without charge for 90 days would be compliant with the European convention on human rights. [27119]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It has been a long standing convention that Governments do not disclose the legal advice that they have received.
 
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Driving Prosecutions

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were prosecuted for driving without insurance in each police authority area in each year since 1997. [25039]

Paul Goggins: Available data taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, 1997 to 2003 (latest available) is given in the table. Data for 2004 will not be available until early in 2006.
Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks⁽³⁴⁾,England and Wales 1997 to 2003

Number of offences
Police force area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Avon and Somerset	15,354	16,892	15,098	14,609	13,022	15,124	17,163
Bedfordshire	4,724	4,449	3,479	3,594	4,651	4,731	5,041
Cambridgeshire	3,440	3,425	3,058	2,929	2,508	2,875	3,301
Cheshire	4,838	4,961	5,463	5,729	4,975	5,765	6,385
Cleveland	3,925	4,204	4,331	4,793	4,789	5,994	5,575
Cumbria	4,223	3,787	3,597	3,507	3,595	3,540	3,488
Derbyshire	5,565	5,137	5,120	5,318	5,429	5,614	5,793
Devon and Cornwall	8,422	7,232	7,493	9,234	8,648	9,598	9,676
Dorset	5,271	4,198	4,776	6,035	5,262	6,176	7,034
Durham	3,992	4,261	5,899	5,470	5,394	5,840	5,802
Essex	7,161	7,025	7,336	7,898	7,708	7,811	7,489
Gloucestershire	3,577	4,465	4,443	4,174	4,683	4,417	4,412
Greater Manchester	30,655	30,836	33,228	33,783	37,088	36,337	38,208
Hampshire	11,768	11,557	11,553	10,559	10,349	10,912	10,619
Hertfordshire	4,580	5,799	4,748	5,258	5,816	6,612	7,216
Humberside	4,408	4,279	4,894	5,024	4,730	4,464	5,509
Kent	6,935	6,958	6,151	9,033	9,592	10,059	9,788
Lancashire	20,334	18,794	18,111	18,354	16,280	17,555	21,229
Leicestershire	9,706	9,481	11,054	10,263	10,475	10,699	11,304
Lincolnshire	4,589	5,000	5,345	4,500	4,083	4,242	5,883
London, City of	2,671	3,127	2,521	1,738	1,826	2,353	2,563
Merseyside	10,896	9,747	8,932	10,054	9,467	10,360	12,776
Metropolitan Police	42,283	35,064	31,285	29,649	32,032	36,485	43,100
Norfolk	3,932	3,434	3,468	3,951	4,744	5,563	6,322
Northamptonshire	4,999	4,849	5,571	3,926	2,028	1,211	4,157
Northumbria	12,470	11,837	13,296	13,195	12,504	12, 309	12,951
North Yorkshire	3,926	3,744	4,003	3,905	3,545	3,340	3,774
Nottinghamshire	8,078	8,726	7,957	7,748	7,856	7,460	9,224
South Yorkshire	11,228	11,553	11,763	12,690	14,623	13,859	13,745
Staffordshire	8,180	8,210	8,021	8,777	6,027	7,056	7,214
Suffolk	3,258	3,743	4,189	3,923	4,123	4,759	5,808
Surrey	4,942	3,908	4,436	4,941	5,101	5,554	4,657
Sussex	9,333	8,202	7,415	6,796	6,814	6,413	5,808
Thames Valley	11,887	11,948	13,543	12,816	11,728	12,842	14,516
Warwickshire	4,316	3,769	3,523	4,135	4,204	3,711	3,756
West Mercia	7,082	8,207	7,450	7,686	7,787	7,849	7,735
West Midlands	29,878	30,928	27,409	28,148	27,010	32,339	36,409
West Yorkshire	23,980	23,549	25,776	26,529	27,618	24,873	26,966
Wiltshire	3,463	4,820	4,708	4,901	5,292	5,326	4,794
Dyfed-Powys	3,079	2,852	3,017	3,072	2,953	3,316	3,094
Gwent	4,097	4,478	4,451	4,680	4,758	4,508	4,083
North Wales	4,859	4,452	4,102	3,697	3,376	4,048	5,968
South Wales	14,829	16,187	15,406	14,615	13,805	16,499	16,932
England and Wales	397,133	390,074	387,419	391,659	388,298	410,398	447,267

⁽³⁴⁾ An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 143 (2)

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted for (a) driving while uninsured, (b) driving while banned and (c) driving without having passed a test in the Humberside police area in each of the past five years. [24760]

Paul Goggins: The available information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database on prosecutions for the specific offences of, using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, driving while disqualified and driving or causing or permitting another person to drive other than in accordance with a licence within the Humberside police force area 1999 to 2003 (latest available) is given in the table. 2004 data will not be available until early in 2006.
 
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Proceedings at magistrates courts for specific motoring offences1 within Humberside police force area, 1999 to 2003

Number of defendants
Offence type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
(a) Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks [RTA88 s. 143 (2)]	4,894	5,024	4,730	4,464	5,509
(b) Driving whilst disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence [RTA88 s. 103 (1)]	895	888	783	888	1,195
(c) Driving or causing or permitting another person to drive other than in accordance with a licence (full or provisional) [RTA88 s. 87 (1) and (2) as amended]	2,779	3,040	3,082	2,984	3,567

⁽³⁵⁾ Covers offences under legislation pertaining to the involvement of a motor vehicle (i.e. mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads, and includes motor cycles, motor scooters, mechanically propelled invalid carriages, road rollers and tractors).

E-borders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to have fully implemented e-borders in (a) seaports and (b) airports. [21851]

Mr. Charles Clarke: e-Borders capabilities began to roll out to selected air routes through Project Semaphore in December 2004. They will roll out incrementally to major air sea and rail ports to ensure complete coverage of international services in and out of the UK by 2010.

The remaining small air and sea ports will be covered in the last stage of the programme from 2010–14. Full coverage of all ports will be achieved by March 2014.

Fixed Penalty Fines

Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of fixed penalty fines issued by the police were unpaid in the Tendring district in the most recent 12 month period for which data are available. [25445]

Hazel Blears: It is not possible to identify the number of fixed penalty notices which were unpaid in the Tendring district as figures are not collected at this level of detail.

Literacy and Numeracy

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to promote uptake of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy among employees of his Department. [23411]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Department offers a wide range of job related training which includes both literacy and numeracy skills development relevant to staff jobs.

Staff in the main Home Office have access to a range of 'Key skills for work courses' which embed literacy and numeracy skills to at least level 2 national standard.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate have offered basic skills courses for some time as part of its ongoing programme of development offered to all staff.

Prison Service staff are encouraged to use either a Prison Officer Association (POA) or HMPS learning centre, or a local provider, to address any developmental needs arising from a formal assessment, including, when appropriate, the promotion of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many employees in his Department requested training to improve their (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills in each year since 2002; [23419]
 
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(2) what training in (a) literacy and (b) numeracy is offered to employees of his Department. [21116]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Departments internal training providers IND College and the Centre for Learning and Development keep records of attendees on their courses but do not keep central records of training arranged locally through external providers.

The Department seeks to embed literacy and numeracy as part of the job related development opportunities available to staff. It is therefore difficult to assess all staff development offered that embed literacy and numeracy skills but details of the numbers of staff who have attended training for 2002 to 2004 are in the following table.
Table 1: Applications for internal provision of literacy development opportunities

		Number of applications
	Course type	2002	2003	2004
IND	Back to Basics"(36)	150	108	72
Non-IND, Non-Agency	Key Skills for Work- courses(36)	136	129	82

⁽³⁶⁾ These courses have a core literacy element.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of new recruits to his Department do not have a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics. [23774]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office does not maintain a central record of staff qualifications. The information required therefore could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what methods of assessment of (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills are used as part of the recruitment process by employees of his Department. [23790]

Mr. Charles Clarke: In accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, the Home Office uses a variety of methods to assess an applicant's literacy and numeracy skills during the recruitment process. These include competency based application forms, the use of specific tests of ability, aptitude or potential and assessment centres for staff entering the service at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and grade 7 level. For both of our assessment centres, candidates are presented with materials in written form and this provides a substantial test of literacy skills. Certain of the exercises we also use include numerical material.

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