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Departmental Targets

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish details
 
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of the drug harm index required for the measurement of performance against 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 4. [29936]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Details of the Drug Harm Index and PSA baseline figure were published by the Home Office in March 2005 and can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr2405.pdf

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish an assessment of progress against 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 7. [29940]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Performance against the element of Public Service Agreement (PSA) seven covering perceptions of racial discrimination by organisations and in the labour market was published on 24 November in a research publication on the Home Office website. Performance against PSA seven will also be included in the Home Office Autumn Performance Report to be published in December.

This will be a Command Paper and available on the Home Office website. The baseline for the community cohesion element of PSA seven is 2005, so an assessment of progress will not be available for this element until 2007, when the next survey is carried out.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the first Voluntary and Community Activity Index data to be published, as required by 2004 Public Service Agreement number 6. [29941]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The State of the Sector Panel was introduced in the SR02 Public Service Agreement (PSA) set to measure progress against the then PSA8. The 2002–03 Baseline was published in the Home Office Targets Autumn Performance Report 2004" Cm 6423 published in December 2004 and this is available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ho-targets-autumn-report-04?version=1

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of asylum cases that go to appeal on performance against 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 5. [29942]

Mr. Charles Clarke: For PSA five the target is defined in the Public Service Agreement (PSA) technical notes (which can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/psa-technical-note-SR04-jul-05) as reducing the number of cases that are unfounded.

An unfounded asylum claim is one where the applicant and dependents of the applicant have not been granted full refugee status (indefinite leave to remain) under the 1951 UN Convention, i.e. failed asylum seekers (applicants refused refugee status at the initial decision stage for which no appeal is received, and applicants whose appeal rights are exhausted).

Asylum cases that go to appeal and are unsuccessful therefore are included in the measurement of the target. As the technical notes indicate, performance data, for the year as a whole, will be published in the asylum statistics, on the Home Office website, as soon as possible after the end of the financial year (once the data is judged sufficiently reliable).The latest available data
 
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will also be published in the Home Office Autumn Performance Report this December. This will be a Command Paper and available on the Home Office website.

Development Plus Programme

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1254W, on equality and diversity, what positive action development is expected to be provided for staff by his Department's Development Plus programme for under-represented groups. [28291]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Development Plus programme is a positive action learning and development programme for female, minority ethnic and disabled staff across the Home Office, at the levels where there is under-representation. The aim of the programme is to enable participants to increase their skills, address the barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential and to help them compete more effectively for promotion. This will enable all staff to progress on merit.

DNA Database

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what percentage of the population of London the police hold a record on their DNA database, broken down by (a) black, (b) ethnic minority and (c) white people. [22132]

Andy Burnham [holding answer 25 November 2005]: The information requested is not currently available. The data held by the National DNA Database
 
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(NDNAD) are not directly comparable with the census 2001 population data.

The NDNAD does not hold self-reported ethnicity data on arrested persons who have a DNA sample taken, but on their 'ethnic appearance'. Nor does it hold data on sampled persons by area of residence, but by the police force area where the person was arrested and their DNA sample was taken; this may not be the area where they reside.

The sampling police officer completes a form with the sampled person's name, sex, date of birth, ethnic appearance and sampling force details. The ethnic appearance data is based on the judgment of the police officer and is recorded for police intelligence purposes to assist in subsequent identification. It uses seven broad ethnic categories whereas the Office for National Statistics population data from census 2001 is based on 16 ethnic groups self-reported by individuals when completing the census return.

Domestic Violence

Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is available in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Normanton constituency to deal with domestic violence. [31563]

Fiona Mactaggart: The following table outlines the provisions that exist in each of the five areas within West Yorkshire, including Normanton to deal with domestic violence. The provisions cover both statutory and voluntary sector agencies and range from the police, domestic violence co-ordinators, refuge accommodation, outreach work and specialist support services for victims and children, as well as perpetrator programmes.
Domestic violence services for West Yorkshire

Area	Provisions
Bradford	Domestic abuse co-ordinator, monitoring officer and training co-ordinator
	Eight refuge accommodation facilities for women and children, including refuge for BME victims
	Nine outreach and support services , which includes a one-stop shop
	Two children's support services
	Three perpetrator programmes, including mandatory probation service programme.
	Three units covering police force areas and an Asian family liaison officer
Calderdale	Domestic violence co-ordinator
	Two refuge accommodation facilities for women and children, including refuge for BME victims
	Calderdale women's centre, which includes a helpline, support workers, legal caseworker, children's services, BME support services and housing support.
	Victim support for male and female victims of domestic violence.
	Police domestic violence unit
Kirklees	Domestic violence co-ordinator
	Four refuge accommodation facilities for women and children, including specialist support for BME victims
	Outreach and support and advice services for all victims of domestic violence.
	Domestic violence training for professionals
	Witness support group
	Mandatory probation service perpetrator programme and voluntary programme
	Police domestic violent unit
Leeds	Domestic violence co-ordinator
	Women's aid refuge accommodation facilities and Sahara black women's refuge
	Outreach workers within two hospitals and support for victims, including preventative action on homelessness and specialist support for BME victims
	HALT domestic violence service, providing support for women through civil and criminal justice system
	Domestic violence training for professionals
	Four police domestic violence units
	Voluntary perpetrator programmes
	Specialist domestic violence court-clusters
Wakefield(29)	Domestic violence co-ordinator
	Refuge accommodation facilities for women and children
	Two projects offering support to women and children affected by domestic violence; intercept project (also runs a perpetrator programme) and the wellwoman centre.
	Domestic violence training for professionals and an education pack for schools
	Police domestic violence unit

⁽²⁹⁾The provisions are district wide and cover Normanton.



 
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