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5 Dec 2005 : Column 986W—continued
Extradition
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK requests all related evidence from the relevant country as a matter of policy when an extradition request is received. [32155]
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Andy Burnham: No, the UK does not and to the best of our knowledge has never, as a matter of either policy or law, requested all the available evidence when it receives an extradition request. This is consistent with our international obligations and our domestic law.
Female Prisoners (Literacy)
Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he is planning to have with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills about improving the literacy of female prisoners. [33840]
Fiona Mactaggart: I discuss matters relating to learning and skills for all offenders on a regular basis with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Recently our discussions have focused on the matters to be set out in the forthcoming Green Paper Reducing Re-offending through Skills and Employment", which will include material relating to the needs of female offenders delivered through our new Offender Learning and Skills Service.
Festivals
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department took to celebrate and promote the events of (a) Ramadan, (b) Diwali and (c) Chinese New Year in 2005. [31163]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office hosted an Eid/Diwali celebration on 14 November 2005 which was attended by 200 guests from the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities as well as representatives from other faith groups. An internal staff event was held on 8 November. The Home Office also made staff aware of a number of external events including the Civil Service Islamic Society event for all civil servants Dusk til Dawn" on 10 October and the Greater London Authority (GLA) Chinese New Year event held in Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Soho held on 13 February as well as other London China events during this period. Information on the celebrations of Ramadan and Diwali was also circulated to staff within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.
Firearm Offences
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms offences were recorded in each year since 1997 in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England; and how many led to convictions. [23697]
Hazel Blears: The number of offences involving firearms, excluding air weapons, recorded by police is given in the table.
Convictions data for these offences are not collected centrally.
(33)There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998.
2Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard in advance of national implementation.
Note:
The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures after this date are not directly comparable.
5 Dec 2005 : Column 988W
| Northamptonshire | England | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 107 | 10,087 |
| 2003–04 | 123 | 10,169 |
Note:
The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before this date are not directly comparable.
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 littering under paragraph 1(2)(d) of Schedule 4 to the Police Reform Act 2002 in each of the last four years, broken down by police authority. [29344]
Mr. Charles Clarke: From 1 November 2004 littering became an offence for which a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) could be issued. The following table gives figures for the number of penalty notices issued for littering in 2004 by each police force, alongside provisional figures for January to July 2005.
Community support officers have the power to issue fixed-penalty notices for littering on behalf of local authorities. Information on these fixed-penalty notices is held by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
(34)Provisional data.
(35)Littering was introduced as a PND offence in November 2004.
Source:
RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform
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Gershon Review
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who in the Department has been made responsible for achieving the efficiency objectives set for the Department by the Gershon Review. [21311]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I am responsible for achieving my Department's value for money objectives. The permanent secretary is responsible for this work at official level.
Green Ministers
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work his Department's Green Minister has undertaken in the last three months in an official capacity in that role; and what meetings that Minister has attended in the last 12 months. [16192]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Following the general election in May, the Cabinet Sub-Committee of Green Ministers (ENV(G)) was replaced by the Ministerial Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development in Government (EE(SD)) whose members are departmental Sustainable Development Ministers. Andy Burnham was appointed as our departmental Sustainable Development Minister in June 2005.
In July, the Minister attended a breakfast seminar for Sustainable Development Ministers to discuss the sustainable development strategy and Ministers' role in
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delivering it. He has also held met with officials to discuss the Department's contribution to sustainable development.
Identity Cards
Mr. Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the identity cards scheme in helping to tackle online fraud. [27473]
Andy Burnham: Through the use of remote authentication technologies, there is an opportunity for the identity card scheme to combat online fraud. Currently , the identity cards programme is looking at various alternatives that allow the implementation of secure remote authentication including use of one-time password technology. These technologies offer a mechanism to obtain greater assurance of the identity of individuals during internet transactions.
Work is continuing with representative groups from both private and public sectors to assess how these technologies might be used to supplement existing procedures in practice. However, no final decisions regarding these options have been taken. As a result, no quantifiable benefits connected with online fraud have, as yet, been claimed with the scheme's benefits case.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effects of identity cards on card-not-present (a) credit card fraud in (i) on-line, (ii) telephone and (iii) mail order shopping and (b) internet banking fraud. [31507]
Andy Burnham: Through the use of remote authentication technologies, there is an opportunity for the identity card scheme to combat fraudulent card-not-present financial transactions. Currently, the identity cards programme is looking at various alternatives that allow the implementation of secure remote authentication including use of one-time password technology. These technologies offer a mechanism to obtain greater assurance of the identity of credit card or account holders when conducting transactions over the internet, telephone or post in the future.
Work is continuing with representative groups from both private and public sectors to assess how these technologies might be used to supplement existing procedures in practice. However, no final decisions regarding these options have been taken. As a result, no quantifiable benefits connected with reducing card-not-present fraud for online, telephone or mail-order shopping or banking have, as yet, been claimed within the scheme's benefits case to date.
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