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Iran

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the inclusion of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of
 
15 Dec 2005 : Column 2227W
 
Iran in the list of proscribed organisations under the Terrorism Acts; whether this list will be reviewed regularly; and if he will make a statement. [34563]

Mr. Charles Clarke: We review continually organisations for proscription and deproscription. We do not however comment upon which groups are being considered.

Khat Use (Somali Community)

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government will publish its report on khat use within the Somali community. [35314]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 5 December 2005]: The Government published its report on khat use in the Somali community on 24 November 2005. It is available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/notes/november_summaries.html. A summary of the Findings of the research is available at the same site in Somali translation.

Maladministration

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many payments for maladministration have been made by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies, (c) its non-departmental public bodies and (d) other bodies for which his Department has responsibility in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [32248]

Mr. Charles Clarke: It is the policy of the Home Department, its agencies, non-departmental public bodies and, where appropriate, its sponsored organisations to make financial redress in accordance with the guidance set out in Chapter 18.7 and Annexes 18.1 and 18.2 of Government Accounting. However, the information you requested is not held centrally by the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

National Minimum Wage

Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employees in his Department were affected by the rise in the national minimum wage on 1 October. [28972]

Mr. Charles Clarke: None.

The minimum rates for the Department already exceeded the new national minimum wage on 1 October.

Organised Crime

Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from police forces in the United Kingdom requesting that the European Union develops an EU-level strategy for tackling organised crime. [35096]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 5 December 2005]: We have not received any representations from UK police forces requesting that the European Union develop an EU wide strategy for tackling organised crime.
 
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Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what (a) legal and (b) constitutional basis the European Commission is entitled to develop and implement a strategy on tackling organised crime at a European Union level. [35281]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 5 December 2005]: The European Council of 4/5 November 2004 invited the Commission (and the Council) to contribute to developing a strategy on tackling organised crime at the EU level under the auspices of the Hague programme. This programme includes subject areas such as immigration policy which fall within Title IV of the treaty establishing the European Community and police and judicial co-operation which fall within Title VI of the treaty of European Union. The Council therefore has an interest in working together with the Commission to develop this strategy.

Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the European Commission's document Developing a Strategic Concept on Tackling Organised Crime would involve the formulation of criminal offences at an EU level. [35530]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 6 December 2005]: As my Explanatory Memorandum of 25 July sets out, the document is a Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament. While implementing some elements of the Commission's strategic concept will require negotiation, scrutiny and potentially legislation, for example the Framework Decision on Fight Against Organised Crime, the Communication itself does not.

Sexually Explicit Print Media

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the availability to children of newspapers and magazines in retail stores that contain sexually explicit material. [34795]

Paul Goggins: I am aware that there is concern about the placement of certain magazines and newspapers that contain sexually explicit material in retail stores and their possible availability to children.

A combination of legislative and self-regulatory measures exist to protect the public: the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981 are designed to protect children and others from exposure to inappropriate material. In addition, a voluntary code of practice, issued by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) encourages retailers to display pornographic magazines on the top shelf and not to sell them to people under 18.

However, I have asked my officials to raise this matter with colleagues from other Departments, the NFRN and others to ensure that the interests of children are properly safeguarded in this respect.

Sick Leave

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of his Department's employees who are within one year of the official retirement age are on extended sick leave. [32597]

 
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Mr. Charles Clarke: Staff who are 59 and above on extended sick leave are detailed in the table.

	Staff on extended sick leave
Home Office	22
Prison Service	82
FSS	0
UKPS	4

Note:
1.Adelphi sickness figures commencing 1 January to 8 December 2005.
2.For HMPS and HO greater then or equal to two calendar months.
3.For UKPS greater then or equal to 26 days.
4.FSS ceased to be HO Agency on 5 December 2005. Its included because status change postdates question. No staff in category reported.

Social Enterprises (Milton Keynes)

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much Government funding social enterprises in Milton Keynes have received in the last three financial years. [35269]

Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.

An estimate of Government funding to social enterprises delivered via the South East of England Development Agency over the last three years in Milton Keynes is £112,000. On a broader level, such is the diverse nature of social enterprises that significantly more funds have been made available. A further £40,000 has been put into the Wolverton social enterprise project and Growth Areas Funding has been made available to social enterprises in Milton Keynes; for example £375,000 for refurbishment of Acorn House part of the Milton Keynes Community Foundation and £300,000 towards the Milton Keynes Economic and Learning Partnership's Vision Building". Milton Keynes will receive a professionally trained adviser for social enterprises supplied via money from the Home Office. Other funding streams going into Milton Keynes may also be considered to benefit social enterprises either directly or indirectly.

Speed Cameras

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are plans to introduce a test for slip effect in respect of mobile speed guns. [33681]

Paul Goggins: There are no plans to introduce such a test. To ensure accuracy, all equipment already undergoes very rigorous laboratory and field testing prior to the grant of type approval. The code of practice for the Operational Use of Road Policing Enforcement Technology issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers includes guidance on the avoidance of any potential problems arising from slippage.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 328W, on speed cameras, how many (a) convictions and (b) fixed penalty notices there were for speeding offences in each year from 1994 to 2004. [37015]

 
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Paul Goggins: Available information on court convictions and fixed penalty notices issued for the offence of speeding detected by camera from 1997 to 2003 (latest available) is given in the table. 2004 data will not be available until March 2006.
Convictions and fixed penalty data for speeding offences detected by cameras⁽¹⁴⁾, England and Wales, 1997 to 2003 Number

	Type of action
	Court proceedings (Findings of guilt(15))	Fixed penalty (Number of tickets(16))
1997	20,800	288,600
1998	25,700	338,800
1999	32,600	423,000
2000	32,000	599,200(17)
2001	40,800	877,500
2002	46,700	1,135,400
2003	61,900	1,657,000

⁽¹⁴⁾Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and The Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.
⁽¹⁵⁾Includes cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.
⁽¹⁶⁾Only covers tickets paid where there is no further action.
⁽¹⁷⁾Following publication of 2000 data, Northamptonshire police force revised their 2000 figures for the number of fixed penalty notices issued for speeding offences from 70,300 to 34,800 (a decrease of 35,500). In consequence, national data has been revised.

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