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20 Dec 2005 : Column 2906W—continued
Roads (Policing Costs)
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of policing roads in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [38450]
Paul Goggins: This available information is set out in the table.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 391,251 |
| 2001–02 | 410,868 |
| 2002–03 | 446,534 |
| 2003–04 | 460,219 |
| 2004–05 | 489,533 |
Source:
Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) police statistics—actuals 2000–01 to 2003–04 and estimates 2004–05
Skills for Security
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's role was in the establishment of Skills for Security as a sector skills body for the security industry; and if he will make a statement. [36373]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office has not been involved in the establishment of the new Skills for Security organisation. Traditionally, SITO (Security Industry Training Organisation—a subsidiary company of the British Security Industry Association) had been the national occupation standards setting body for the industry. That work was carried out co-operatively between the BSIA, SITO and the Security Industry Authority. It was considered crucial for the future good of the industry that the experience and knowledge within the SITO organisation should not be lost.
Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what events are planned as part of 'Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives'; and when they will be held. [38098]
Paul Goggins:
A key challenge faced by the Government are communicating the positive impact and tangible difference to communities that is being delivered by the Drug Strategy. To address this, a series of events have been organised that will engage communities directly.
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Nine public-facing regional events are taking place; one in each Government Office region. The events are designed to provide local communities with the opportunity to speak directly to Ministers and senior officials and hear what the Government are doing to tackle drugs. Events have taken place in the North West and the South West. The next event is due to take place in Hull, covering the Yorkshire and Humberside region, on 31 January 2006. Due to ministerial diary pressures, it is not yet possible to confirm the dates of the remaining regional events.
Terrorism
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to (a) develop the capacity of UK law enforcement agencies to detect and disrupt hostile reconnaissance of potential targets by terrorists and (b) to ensure that this work brings maximum benefit to (i) the public and (ii) commercial organisations; and if he will make a statement. [37898]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office works closely with police forces and the intelligence agencies to develop the strategy in tackling terrorism. It is the operational responsibility of the police to develop tactics to address local terrorist activity. Forces across the country have operations in place to gather and analyse information on hostile reconnaissance of potentially targeted sites. The Metropolitan, City of London and other forces have projects to share information and skills with business.
UN Convention against Corruption
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the timetable to introduce the Orders in Council which will enable the United Kingdom to meet its remaining obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption will allow the UK to ratify the Convention before the end of 2005. [33506]
Paul Goggins: The formalities of ratification of the Convention are completed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when they deposit the instrument of ratification with the body acting as depositary (in this case, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime based in Vienna). UK policy on ratifying treaties is that we move to formal ratification only when UK law is in compliance. The enabling legislation to achieve compliance requires four Orders in Council, two of which are the responsibility of the Home Office. Both of the Home Office Orders, which extend to England and Wales, were laid in Parliament on 25 November. The remaining two Orders are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Office and the Scottish Parliament. All of the Orders are timetabled to come into force at the turn of the year.
Under-age Drinking (Penalty Notices)
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State forthe Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for (a) selling alcohol to under-18s, (b) under-18s drinking alcohol, (c) attempting tobuy alcohol when under age and (d) selling alcohol toa person who is drunk; and if he will make a statement. [32793]
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Paul Goggins: The Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) scheme was brought into effect in England and Wales during 2003–04 to provide the police with a quick and effective means of dealing with minor offences. Under the scheme an offender is issued with a fixed penalty notice and has 21 days in which to pay the penalty or request a court hearing.
The numbers of penalty notices issued for offences related to selling and buying alcohol are provided in the table.
(40) Provisional data January-July 2005
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) businesses and (b) individuals were prosecuted for supplying alcohol to youths under the age of 18 years in (i) England, (ii) Staffordshire and (iii) Tamworth constituency in each of the past five years. [27486]
Paul Goggins: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts in England and Staffordshire police force area for Selling etc., intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 for consumption on the premises" (including wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18") 2000 to 2004 is contained in the following table. It is not possible to identify those prosecuted in Tamworth, as the data is not collected at this level of detail.
The penalty notice for disorder scheme provides for persons who commit specified penalty offences to be issued with a fixed penalty notice instead of being prosecuted. The offence of selling alcohol to persons aged under 18 was added to the Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) scheme on one November 2004 for use on bar or off license staff. License holders will be prosecuted. The court has powers to declare a justices' licence forfeit on a second or subsequent conviction. The Licensing Act 2003 allows the court on conviction to suspend a personal licence for up to six months or to declare it forfeit for first conviction.
In England, 112 penalty notices were issued for this offence in 2004 and provisional data for 2005 shows that 377 were issued to the end of July. In Staffordshire, no penalty notices were issued in 2004 or 2005 for this offence.
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n/a = Not available
(41) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.
(42) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.
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