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12 Jan 2006 : Column 840W—continued
Proceeds of Crime Act
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) the total value and (b) value per head of relevant population was of assets seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 by each police force in England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available, ranked in descending order. [40826]
Paul Goggins:
Police force performance on recovering the proceeds of crime is measured by the value of cash forfeiture orders and confiscation orders obtained by a force. The total value of orders obtained by each police force in England and Wales in 2004–05 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and earlier legislation is shown in table A. The total value of orders obtained by each police force in England and Wales in 2004–05 per 100,000 of relevant population is shown in table B.
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(49)Calculated per 1000 as deputation is under 100,000
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Ricin
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date his Department was informed that the substance thought to be ricin discovered in an incident in 2003 was not ricin. [21890]
Hazel Blears: An initial test conducted by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down on 6 January 2003 on an exhibit taken by police from the flat occupied by Kamal Bourgass gave an apparent positive result for ricin. However, confirmatory tests which were conducted throughout the period from 7 January 2003 to 28 January 2003 failed to detect the presence of ricin.
Ricin was identified and confirmed on 7 January, 2003 in a second exhibit, consisting of 22 castor beans seized from the flat. Nicotine poison was also identified and confirmed. Other materials, specifically mentioned in the poison recipes recovered from the flat were also found including acetone and isopropyl alcohol.
The Prosecuting Counsel (Mr. Sweeney QC), Crown Prosecution Service, was verbally informed of the ricin test result at a case conference on 20 March 2003, by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch was also represented at the meeting where the information was provided. The result was also provided in a written statement which was made available to the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan police at that time.
Further tests on the first exhibit on 27/28 April 2003 also did not detect ricin.
We do not have a record of the date this information was passed from the police to the Home Office and subsequently to Ministers.
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Traffic Wardens
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will amend the Functions of Traffic Wardens (Amendment) Order 2002 to allow police and community support officers to enforce section (a) 14(3), (b) 15(2) and (c) 15(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988; and if he will make a statement. [40976]
Paul Goggins: Under the provisions of Sections 14 and 15 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence for persons who are driving or riding in motor vehicles on a road not to wear seat belts or to convey children who are not wearing seat belts. Police officers can already take enforcement action as appropriate against persons they see breaking the law in this way.
The Functions of Traffic Wardens Order 1970, as amended by the 2002 (and other) Amendment Orders relates only to traffic wardens and cannot be amended in the way suggested.
The powers with which Community Support Officers (CSO) can be designated are as set in Schedule four of the Police Reform Act 2002 as amended. There are no plans to increase the number of traffic powers available to CSOs. Our concern is that CSO powers should focus on issues around neighbourhood policing.
UK Passport Service (Fraud)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials employed by the United Kingdom Passport Service have been (a) investigated, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted of fraudulent issuing of passports in each passport office in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [40792]
Andy Burnham: The information requested on the number of people employed by the UK Passport Service (UKPS) who have been investigated, prosecuted and convicted of fraudulently issuing passports is given in the following table.
The UK Passport Service takes very seriously any allegations or suspicions of fraud among members of staff. All such allegations or suspicions are investigated thoroughly and appropriate legal and disciplinary action taken where there are sound grounds to do so.
| Investigated | Prosecuted | Convicted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 1 | 1 | (50)1 |
| 1996–97 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997–98 | 3 | 3 | (51)3 |
| 1998–99 | 4 | 1 | (52)1 |
| 1999–2000 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001–02 | 4 | 1 | (53)1 |
| 2002–03 | 6 | 1 | (53)1 |
| 2003–04 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004–05 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 49 | 7 | 7 |
(50)Glasgow
(51)All London
(52)Newport
(53)London
Notes:
1.Prosecutions and convictions did not necessarily take place in the year an investigation commenced.
2.These figures do not include any ongoing and current investigations which UKPS may be conducting.
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