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22 Nov 2005 : Column 1926W—continued
Firearms
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the replacement to the Firearms Consultative Committee will be established. [26634]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 10 November 2005]: We will reconsider whether a two-tier firearms advisory committee should be established once we have determined how to deal with the review of firearms controls.
Fixed-penalty Notices
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued by (a) community support officers and (b) police officers for truancy under Paragraph 1(2)(aa) of Schedule 4 to the Police Reform Act 2002 in each of the last three years, broken down by police authority. [29343]
Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.
My Department began collecting data on penalty notices (in cases of non-attendance at school) from local authorities in England in September 2004. These penalty notices may be issued by authorised local authority staff, head teachers and school staff authorised by them, police and community support officers. Between September 2004 and 31 July 2005 (the latest date for which information is available) local authorities have reported that 3,483 penalty notices have been issued. We do not collect data on who issues penalty notices. The data are broken down by local authority not police authority and are available on the school attendance section of my Department's website, www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when in 2006 he expects figures to be available on the number of prosecutions and fixed penalties issued in 2004 for each of the police forces in England and Wales for the offence of using a mobile phone while driving. [29347]
Paul Goggins: Motoring offences statistics are part of National Statistics. The pre-announced date for availability of data is March 2006.
Forensic Services
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether the forensic services have sufficient capacity available to facilitate the investigation of terrorist offences; and if he will make a statement. [28843]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: Forensic services called upon to assist terrorism investigations come from a number of organisations including specialist services provided by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the Forensic Science Service. These services have the capacity available to facilitate investigations of terrorist offences through the provision of a range of forensic services and techniques. These include the recovery and analysis of DNA, which can assist in the identification of offenders and victims, the analysis of explosives and the recovery of data from electronic devices. Resources are allocated by the organisations as needed, with priority given to terrorism investigations and prosecutions.
Hunting Act
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers on the enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004; and if he will make a statement. [26834]
Hazel Blears: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has made it clear that the police will enforce the Hunting Act 2004. ACPO has issued guidance for police forces on the practical aspects of enforcing the Hunting Act and a training package.
IT Systems
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to achieve the full connectivity between the probation and prison IT systems, referred to on page 100 of the 2005 Departmental Report. [26700]
Fiona Mactaggart: The departmental report includes the target of connecting the probation and prison OASys IT systems in the financial year 2005–06. Following successful piloting the rollout of connectivity is under way. Four probation areas are now connected to the Prison Service and we expect to achieve the target set in the Report.
Licensing Act
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implications of the Licensing Act 2003 in determining the 2006–07 revenue support grant for police authorities in England. [30179]
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. The provisional grant settlement for 2006–07 will be announced in late November/early December.
Murder Investigations
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on the role of the media in investigations of murder; and if he will make a statement. [24377]
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Hazel Blears: It is for individual senior investigating officers to decide on media handling for individual murder investigations. The media can play an important role in the detection of serious offences and advice on media handling in these offences is provided by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the National Centre for Policing Excellence.
National Sanction Detection Rate
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the change in the national sanction detection rate referred to on page 97 of the 2005 departmental report. [26776]
Hazel Blears: The departmental report 2004–05 refers to the aim to increase the national sanction detection rate to bring more offences to justice in order to deliver the SR04 PSA3 aim of bringing 1.25 million offences to justice by 2007–08 (with an interim target of 1.15 million for 2005–06). It is estimated that to bring 1.25 million offences to justice by 2007–08 will require a sanction detection rate of 25 per cent, a figure which was included in the National Policing Plan 2005–08.
The Government acknowledge the need to improve sanction detection rates across all police forces. For that reason, a major drive has been under way since last summer with the aim of achieving a significant increase in sanction detection rates. This includes a range of operational improvements intended to build the investigative capability of the police service, together with some targeted support for forces with performance concerns.
Data for 2004–05 show that this concerted effort is leading to performance improvements, with the sanction detection rate increasing from 19 per cent. in 2003–04 to 21 per cent. in 2004–05. Provisional data for 2005–06 (unchecked management information) indicates that there have been continued improvements in sanction detection rates nationally, and that performance is currently ahead of the estimated required trajectory to achieve both the interim 2005–06 target and the PSA3 target in 2007–08.
PACE and CPI Acts
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the codes of practice associated with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996; and what the reference numbers of the codes are in each case. [28437]
Hazel Blears: There are currently six Codes of Practice under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE):
PACE Code A—Exercise by: Police officers of statutory powers of stop and search; Police officers and police staff of requirements to record public encounters.
PACE Code B—Searches of premises by police officers and the seizure of property found by police officers on persons or premises
The current version of the Codes came into effect on one August 2004 and were introduced by SI 2004/1887 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/20041887.htm.
The current version of the Code of Practice under section 23(1) of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 came into effect on four April 2005 and was introduced by SI 2005/985 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20050985.htm.
Copies of these Codes of practice are available from The Stationery Office (PACE Codes—ISBN 0113412940/CPIA Codes—ISBN0113413033) or can be found on the Home Office website:
PACE Codes—http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational -policing/powers-pace-codes/pace-codes.html CPIA Code— http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-publications/pub lication/operational-policing/Disclosure_code_of_practice. pdf
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