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Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions for (a) reckless and (b) deliberate transmission of sexually transmitted diseases have been (i) brought to court and (ii) succeeded in each year since 1997. [26016]

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of prosecutions and convictions for the reckless or deliberate transmission of sexually transmitted diseases is not available. Cases of this kind are likely to be dealt with as grievous bodily harm under Sections 18 or 20, Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and cannot be
 
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separately identified from other cases of grievous bodily harm as the circumstances surrounding an offence are not centrally collected

Terrorism

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to review the amount of Government compensation given to British victims of terrorism abroad; whether he intends to conduct a consultation on changes to the current system; and if he will make a statement; [21134]

(2) if he will make a statement on the compensation available to British victims of terrorist acts abroad. [21135]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 24 October 2005]: Victims of terrorist incidents, and of other violent crime, within Great Britain are eligible for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. The scheme does not cover incidents abroad, though British victims of terrorism within the European Union are entitled to 'fair and appropriate' compensation from the member state in which they were injured. Some other countries also pay compensation to foreign nationals injured within their territory.

I refer the hon. Member to the response given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 19 October 2005, Official Report, column 839WS that officials are considering the possibility of introducing a scheme to provide compensation for, for example, UK victims of terrorism, wherever that may happen. That consideration is ongoing.

Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to monitor the impact of the effects of the implementation of the Terrorism Acts (a) on the different ethnic groups and (b) on race relations. [21567]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Section 71 of the Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended) requires public authorities, including the police, to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups. These requirements apply to police operations to enforce the Terrorism Acts, as well as their other activities. Furthermore, the Secretary of State has made the police and many other public bodies subject to a further specific duty to produce a race equality scheme setting out how they intend to meet their general statutory duty. The Commission for Racial Equality is responsible for enforcing the Race Relations Act and has produced statutory guidance for public authorities on how to comply with the statutory duties.

The Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended) also requires all Government polices that are relevant to race equality to be fully impact assessed for any potential adverse impact on racial groups. Accordingly, a Race Equality Impact Assessment was carried out on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in February 2005. This assessment laid out the procedures for monitoring the impact of the legislation. The Terrorism Act 2000 and Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 were introduced before this became a legal requirement.
 
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Both the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 require the Secretary of State to lay reports before Parliament on the working of those Acts. The independent reviewer of both Acts, currently Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, is responsible for compiling these reports. His latest reports can be viewed on the Home Office website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk).

The Home Affairs Select Committee oversees and monitors various issues including the impact of counter terrorism legislation on communities. The Committee has taken evidence from Ministers, Government officials, police and independent stakeholders. The Committee published a report on Terrorism and Community Relations in June this year.

Mr. Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, broken down by (i) year, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity and (iv) religion. [16738]

Hazel Blears: There are no arrest powers under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. My hon. Friend could be referring to the Terrorism Act 2000. The latest arrest figures are published on the Home Office website.www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/

The statistics requested in parts (b) and (c) are only held by individual police forces and not by the Home Office.

Under-age Product Sales

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many businesses were prosecuted for selling (a) tobacco products and (b) lottery tickets and scratch cards to under 16s in Coventry, South in the last five years. [27238]

Hazel Blears [holding answer 14 November 2005]: Information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings database shows that between 1999 and 2003, there were two prosecutions in 2001 and one prosecution in 2002 of businesses having been proceeded against at magistrates' courts in the West Midlands police force area for the sale of tobacco etc. to persons under 16. There are no records of any prosecutions under s13a National Lottery etc. Act 1993. However, the lottery operator is required to ensure sufficient controls are in place to prevent sales to under 16s. Examples include test purchasing programmes and retailer training and education. It will also remove the lottery terminal if a retailer is found to have made repeat sales to people under 16.

It is not possible to identify those prosecutions in Coventry, South, as the data are not collected at this level of detail.

Court statistics for 2004 will be available in late November.

Visa Waiver Programme

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what time limits apply to information about minor convictions of UK citizens given to United States' authorities under their Visa Waiver programme. [29432]

 
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Mr. McNulty: The UK does not provide the US authorities with criminal conviction information for visa application or similar purposes. Under the Data Protection Act 1984 an individual is entitled to obtain his criminal record details. It is a matter for the individual whether to disclose the information in support of a visa application or similar purpose.

Criminal conviction information is drawn from the Police National Computer (PNC). All offences that might attract a prison sentence on conviction are recorded centrally together with about 50 more minor, non-imprisonable offences. The time limits for retaining such information on the PNC are in accordance with the current ACPO weeding" rules.

Wildlife Crime

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police forces in England which have designated wildlife crime units; and if he will make a statement. [30080]

Hazel Blears: The deployment of police officers and other staff in each force area is an operational matter for the Chief Officer concerned, based on operational priorities. Virtually every police force has a wildlife enforcement capability of some form, although this varies from force to force.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

A Parent's Guide to Direct Payments"

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons A Parent's Guide to Direct Payments", distributed by her Department, is no longer available in languages other than English; and if she will make it available in other languages. [29562]

Beverley Hughes: 'A Parents Guide to Direct Payments' was originally the responsibility of the Department of Health. It transferred to the Department for Education and Skills in June 2003 as part of the machinery of Government changes. Officials at DfES are arranging for the guide to be reprinted to reflect policy developments since the original version, and with the appropriate departmental changes. The reprinted guide will be available in the full range of languages from DfES Prolog 'reference 31213' by the end of January 2006.

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