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13 Dec 2005 : Column 1921W—continued
Murder Statistics
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) children under 16 years and (b) young people between 16 and 18 years have been murdered in each of the last 20 years. [35277]
Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the following table.
The latest homicide statistics were published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 02/05, 'Crime in England and Wales 2003/2004: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime'. This can be found on the website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm
(44) Figures as at 22 October 2004 and are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and the courts or as further information becomes available.
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Offences against the Person
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) section 18 and (b) section 20 offences were committed in Essex in each year since 2000; and how many convictions were secured in each year. [34504]
Hazel Blears: The number of offences recorded for 'more serious wounding or other act endangering life' and 'less serious wounding' on the requested basis, are given in the table. Offences specifically relating to sections 18 and 20 cannot be separately identified in the recorded crime series.
Note:
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.
(45) The change in definition relating to resultant injury in common assaults and less serious woundings, which applies from 1 April 2002, is described in the 'Common Assault' text box in Chapter 5 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 'Crime in England and Wales 2004–05'.
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.
Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of offenders found guilty for offences under sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, for Essex Police Force Area 2000 to 2004 are provided in the table.
(46) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.
Source:
RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
Our ref IOS: 451–05
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Overseas Confiscation Orders
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been realised on behalf of other jurisdictions following enforcement of an overseas confiscation order; on behalf of which jurisdiction the order was made in each case; how much was (a) realised and (b) shared with the requesting country once the recovery costs had been deducted in each case; and whether the assets recovered were (i) the proceeds of corruption and (ii) the theft of a foreign state's assets in each case. [35401]
Andy Burnham: The Home Office does not record such information. Information available from the Crown Prosecution Service is as follows.
The Crown Prosecution Service is currently enforcing a total of three confiscation orders, one from the Republic of Ireland and two from the United States of America. The total amount realised to date is £686,000 (plus accrued interest). This comprises £21,000 (plus accrued interest) in respect of the Republic of Ireland order and £665,000 in respect of one of the US cases. These monies have not been shared with the requesting country to date.
In addition the Crown Prosecution Service enforced last year a US order with a value of £4.2 million. This sum was shared equally between the US and the UK.
None of the orders relates to the proceeds of corruption or theft of a foreign State's assets. Data for previous years is not available.
Passports
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether one of the proposed passport centres will be located in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. [32424]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 28 November 2005] A network of office locations has been designed to provide the optimum balance between convenience and costs. The design took into account customer opinion surveys, modelling of population and consultations with county and regional authorities. It was externally verified. It has resulted in a network of 69 potential locations in which the average two way journey from home to interview office and back will be just under 25
miles and take just under 40 minutes. However, the exact locations cannot be finally confirmed until the availability of premises has been ascertained, which will take several months.
The interview offices will generally be small and most will be able to meet the demand in their area without being open every day. On present plans, 59 offices will have three interview positions or less and 51 will be open for less than five days per week, but all will be open on Saturdays.
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis passport fees are calculated. [33879]
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Andy Burnham: Passport fees are set in order to recover the full cost of providing the service including an element for non-fee bearing consular services abroad. Fee levels are reviewed annually with Her Majesty's Treasury. The latest fee levels have been calculated as part of a two-year arrangement whereby all costs will be recovered by 31 March 2007.
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements will be made for personal interviews for passport applications in the areas of (a) Berwick-upon-Tweed, (b) Alnwick and (c) Rothbury. [32520]
Andy Burnham: A network of offices locations has been designed to provide the optimum balance between convenience and costs. The design took into account customer opinion surveys, modelling of population and consultations with county and regional authorities. It was externally verified. It has resulted in a network of 69 potential locations in which the average two way journey from home to interview office and back will be just under 25 miles and take just under 40 minutes. However, the exact locations cannot be finally confirmed until the availability of premises has been ascertained, which will take several months.
The interview offices will generally be small and most will be able to meet the demand in their area without being open every day. On present plans, 59 offices will have three interview positions or less and 51 will be open for less than five days per week, but all will be open on Saturdays.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of interviewing all first time adult passport applicants. [35380]
Andy Burnham: The UK Passport Service has not yet completed the procurement process for the introduction of the high street network of offices for conducting interviews for all first-time adult applicants for passports. It is therefore unable to release details on costs at this time as it could prejudice the contract negotiations.
As stated in the corporate and business plans, the average unit cost for the production of passports will rise from £42.36 in 2005–06 to £57.93 in 2006–07 to cater for a range of improvement initiatives, among which is the introduction of biometrics and the interview for all first time adult passport applications.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to introduce the e-passport with a chip containing the image of the holder's face; and if he will make a statement. [35385]
Andy Burnham:
The new biometric passport is planned to be introduced through a phased incremental approach from February 2006. During the early stages of transition, some customers will receive a biometric passport but most will continue to receive a digital passport. UK Passport Service will only switch over completely to biometric passports once it establishes it is safe to do so without compromising customer service. Both the current digital and new biometric passports will be valid international travel documents.
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Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted for passport (a) fraud and (b) forgery in each of the last five years. [35386]
Andy Burnham: The figures recorded by the UK Passport Service (UKPS) for the number of prosecutions made against individuals who have fraudulently applied for passports are given in the following table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 16 |
| 2002 | 5 |
| 2003 | 16 |
| 2004 | 54 |
| 2005(47) | 25 |
(47) until October.
It should be noted that UKPS does not routinely receive feedback from the police or prosecution authorities on cases of passport fraud which are referred to them. The figures given above are therefore likely to be a significant under representation of the number of prosecutions brought. UKPS is working with the police
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to develop a more effective feedback mechanism. The figures collated by UKPS do not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful prosecutions. Figures relating to prosecutions for passport forgery are not available.
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