---

5 Dec 2005 : Column 973W—continued

Breath Tests

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers received a positive breath test in the Easington constituency in each of the last five years. [33274]

Paul Goggins: Information on positive/refused screening breath tests is collected centrally at police force area level only. Data for 2004 will be published early in 2006.

Conferences

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Department spent on (a) organising and (b) sponsoring conferences in each of the last five years. [10275]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Total costs incurred by the Department in respect of conferences for each of the last five years are given in the table.

	Total conference costs
2000	1,322,102.20
2001	2,170,463.31
2002	3,550,268.99
2003	4,958,414.59
2004	5,189,640.56

Correspondence

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of public correspondence to his Department was answered within 20 working days in the period (a) January to March, (b) April to June and (c) July to September; and if he will make a statement. [32796]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Department monitors centrally received correspondence from the public except that relating to immigration, (a) In the period January to March, 84 per cent. of the 6,777 letters and e-mails received from the public were answered within 20 working days. (b) In the period April to June, 89 per cent. of the 5,898 letters and e-mails received from the public were answered within 20 working days. (c) In the period July to September, 92 per cent. of the 7,222 letters and e-mails received from the public were answered within 20 working days.

Council Tax Valuation

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the current maximum fine levied by the magistrates court is for intentionally
 
5 Dec 2005 : Column 974W
 
delaying or obstructing a Valuation Office Agency representative, who is conducting a council tax valuation inspection. [33152]

Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Brent East (Sarah Teather) on 23 November 2005, Official Report, column 2066W.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions have taken place and (b) orders have been made under section 14 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. [31839]

Paul Goggins: Information on prosecutions and convictions under section 14 of the Countryside and Right of Way Act 2000 is not available as this section was commenced in England on 19 September 2004 and in Wales on 28 May 2005. There were no prosecutions under the Act in 2004. Data for court proceedings for 2005 will be available in autumn 2006.

Custodial Sentences (Women)

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are in prison; and how many and what proportion of women in prison have children under (a) five and (b) 11 years of age for the most recent available date. [32315]

Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 24 November 2005]: As at 30 September 2005, there were 4,611 females in custody, 1,012 on remand, 3,539 sentenced and 60 non-criminal. There is no routinely collected data on the number of females in prison who are mothers but Home Office Research Study 208 found that 66 per cent. had dependent children under the age of 18. Of those with children, 34 per cent. had pre-school children aged under five and a further 40 per cent. had children aged from five to 10.

Cyclamen Programme

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the Cyclamen programme; what resources have been transferred from HM Revenue and Customs in connection with this programme; and for what purpose. [32417]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Programme Cyclamen is now operational at several ports and airports and remains on course to be completed by 31 March 2007. HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) on-going anti-smuggling activities have been expanded to include programme Cyclamen.

This has meant the employment of an additional 320 HMRC staff. Funding has been provided for the programme and this is managed jointly by HMRC and the Home Office.

Departmental Estate

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on the
 
5 Dec 2005 : Column 975W
 
maintenance of the Home Office's Marsham Street office (a) gardens and (b) water features since relocation. [31798]

Mr. Charles Clarke: This is the responsibility of the facilities sub-contractor to Annes Gate Property plc the PFI Service Provider. AGP are unable to confirm theprecise amount that has been spent on maintenance of the gardens and water feature by the sub-contractor but as a guide have indicated it is probably in the region of £40,000 since 26 January 2005.

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list parliamentary constituencies in which his Department (a) owns and (b) rents (i) land and (ii) property; what the land or property is in each case; and if he will make a statement. [32799]

Mr. Charles Clarke: This information is not held by reference to parliamentary constituency boundaries and could be researched only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Policies

Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Gateshead East and Washington West constituency, the effects in Gateshead East and Washington West of changes to his Department's policies since 1997. [22285]

 
5 Dec 2005 : Column 976W
 

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government has put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the constituency.

Between March 1997 and March 2005 the number of police officers in the Northumbria Police Force increased by 411 from 3,677 to 4,088. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 104 CSOs on Northumbria's streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour.

Northumbria Police will receive £232.2 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 4.87 per cent. (£10.81 million) over last year. General grants funding to Northumbria has increased by 33.7 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Northumbria will also receive around £20.36 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.

The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a £340 million intervention programme running for three years from April 1999. Figures are not available for constituency or local level. In Gateshead a total of 14 antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been issued and in Sunderland a total of 29 ASBOs have been issued as of 31 March 2005. (The latest figures available).
£

Scheme/area	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
Small retailers in deprived areas
Gateshead CDRP	27,845	24,000	24,000	—	—
Sunderland CDRP	35,856	35,000	35,000
Communities against drugs
Gateshead CDRP	189,400	189,400	—	—	—
Sunderland CDRP	278,600	278,600	—	—	—
Safer communities initiative
Gateshead CDRP	—	72,362	—	—	—
Sunderland CDRP	—	102,884	—	—	—
Building safer communities fund(21)
Gateshead CDRP	—	—	269,920	276,668	276,668
Sunderland CDRP	—	—	393,444	403,280	403,280
Basic command unit fund(22)
Gateshead West	—	—	87,784	87,784	87,784
Gateshead East	—	—	127,177	127,177	127,177
Sunderland City	—	—	154,546	154,546	154,546
Sunderland West	—	—	83,776	83,776	83,776
Partnership development fund(23)
North East Region	(24)1.235	(24)1.13	—	—	—
Home Office regional directors' allocation (HORDs)3
North East Region	—	—	724,900	724,900	724,900

⁽²¹⁾In the years 2004–05 and 2005–06 the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships received an additional £25,000 for ASB coordinator.
⁽²²⁾Figures for constituency level.
⁽²³⁾Figures for NE Region, not available for CDRP or constituency.
⁽²⁴⁾Million.



 
5 Dec 2005 : Column 977W
 

Table 1: number of offences recorded—1997⁽²⁵⁾

	1997
Gateshead CDRP:
Domestic burglary	n/a
Theft of a vehicle	n/a
Theft from a vehicle	n/a
Sunderland CDRP:
Domestic burglary	n/a
Theft of a vehicle	n/a
Theft from a vehicle	n/a
Northumbria police force:
Domestic burglary	17,113
Theft of a vehicle	13,703
Theft from a vehicle	18,635

⁽²⁵⁾The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.



Table 2: number of offences recorded—1998–99 to 2001–02⁽²⁶⁾

	1998–99(27)	1999–2000(28)	2000–01	2001–02
Gateshead CDRP:
Domestic burglary	n/a	1,945	1,705	1,946
Theft of a vehicle	n/a	1,952	1,703	1,375
Theft from a vehicle	n/a	2,743	2,766	2,239
Sunderland CDRP:
Domestic burglary	n/a	3,311	3,017	2,982
Theft of a vehicle	n/a	3,503	2,671	2,593
Theft from a vehicle	n/a	4,030	3,023	3,362
Northumbria police force:
Domestic burglary	15,334	12,539	11,381	11,250
Theft of a vehicle	12,498	10,395	8,693	7,837
Theft from a vehicle	16,918	15,804	13,662	12,571

⁽²⁶⁾The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
⁽²⁷⁾The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998–99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997.
⁽²⁸⁾Recorded crime figures for CDRPs were collected for the first time for the 12 months to March 2000.



Table 3: number of offences recorded—2002–03 to 2004–05

Offence	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
Gateshead CDRP:
Domestic burglary	1,685	1,733	996
Theft of a vehicle	1,158	1,029	754
Theft from a vehicle	1,996	1,881	1,723
Sunderland CDRP:
Domestic burglary	2,962	2,369	1,910
Theft of a vehicle	2,128	1,941	1,496
Theft from a vehicle	3,472	2,661	2,126
Northumbria police force:
Domestic burglary	11,179	10,223	7,897
Theft of a vehicle	6,981	6,445	5,189
Theft from a vehicle	13,283	11,644	10,836

Note:
The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

---