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12 Jan 2006 : Column 844W—continued
Victim Support
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Victim Support will be allowed to run the new victim care units. [37285]
Fiona Mactaggart: We have been working with Victim Support and will continue to do so to develop the models for victim care units. Through the green paper Rebuilding Lives; supporting victims of crime we are consulting widely on how to deliver our proposals.
We are making £1 million available in 2006–07 to pilot the models for victim care units in a number of areas. We will be working with the voluntary sector, particularly Victim Support to deliver these.
Visas
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of visa applicants were fingerprinted in November 2005. [40355]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.
The total number of visa applications received at our visa issuing missions overseas in November 2005 was 172,588. Of these, approximately 5,933 applicants were fingerprinted. This represents a figure of 3.44 per cent.
Fingerprinting of applicants is currently undertaken for applications received in Kinshasa, Addis Ababa, Djibouti, Kampala, Kigali, Asmara, Dar Es Salaam, Nairobi, Amsterdam, Colombo, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.
War Crimes
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is a maximum level of estimated costs for the investigation of alleged war crimes under the Geneva Convention beyond which action is deemed disproportionate to pursue. [40800]
Andy Burnham: There is no maximum level of estimated costs for the investigation of alleged war crimes under the Geneva Convention beyond which action is deemed disproportionate to pursue.
A decision to investigate is considered on a 'case-by-case' basis and resource issues may be taken into account among other factors, including the likelihood of a successful prosecution.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used by the police in deciding whether to make arrests of individuals (a) upon whom warrants for war crimes under the Geneva Conventions have been served and (b) against whom allegations of war crimes have been made. [40802]
Andy Burnham: There are no set criteria used by police in deciding whether or not to arrest individuals. In respect of the two situations mentioned in the Question :
(a) in cases where arrest warrants have been issued by a court, police should take reasonable steps to execute the warrant;
(b) in the case of persons against whom allegations have been made arrest is an operational decision and dependent upon the circumstances of that particular case.
Window Breakages (Cautions)
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what cautioning policy has been issued by his Department for breaking (a) a domestic property window and (b) a commercial property window. [24825]
Hazel Blears: General guidance on the cautioning of adult offenders is contained in the Cautioning of Adult Offenders circular 30/2005 issued by the Home Office. The circular offers a framework to help police officers exercise their discretion and professional judgment, but does not provide guidance in relation to specific offences. The questions to consider in each case are whether a caution is appropriate to the offence and the offender, and whether a caution is likely to be effective in the circumstances.
Broadly the criteria for cautioning are that there should be sufficient evidence of guilt and a clear and reliable admission of the offence, that it is in the public interest to use a caution as the appropriate means of
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disposal, and that the suspect should be 18 years or over. Indictable only cases must be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.
If all the above requirements are met, the police officer must consider whether the seriousness of the offence makes it appropriate for disposal by a caution. In order to assist with this decision, officers have been provided with a Gravity Factors Matrix, which is available on the Police National Legal Database.
Young Offenders
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people of school age (a) found guilty of a crime and (b) placed in custody had a previous history of being in care in (i) Ruislip-Northwood constituency, (ii) the London borough of Hillingdon, (iii) Greater London and (iv) England in each year since 1997. [40710]
Fiona Mactaggart:
This information is not collected centrally.
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HEALTH
Alcohol Misuse
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the adequacy of treatment services for alcoholics in Aylesbury Vale; [39661]
(2) what steps she is taking to tackle health inequalities in the area covered by the Aylesbury Vale Primary Care Trust. [39674]
Caroline Flint:
I announced the launch of Alcohol Misuse Interventions: Guidance on developing a local programme of improvement" as part of my keynote speech at Alcohol Concern's annual conference on 1 November 2005. The outcomes of this programme will enable local health organisations to focus on their
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decision-making on alcohol services at a local level. This will include identifying gaps in treatment pathways and mapping the best possible care pathways suited to need.
Local recommendations regarding tackling health inequalities have been reviewed in the report of Director of Public Health for Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust in November 2005.
Abortion
Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed in (a) Northampton Primary Care Trust, (b) Daventry and South Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust and (c) Northamptonshire Heartland Primary Care Trust in each of the last 10 years, broken down by the (i) reason for the procedure and (ii) age of the patient. [36421]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The available information is shown in the table.
(54)Prior to 2002 information was published by health authority and not directly comparable with PCTs
(55)Section l(l)(a) of the Abortion Act—that the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family.
(56)Other includes Sections l(l)(b)-(d) and Section 1(4) of the Act as set out below.
Section l(l)(b)—that the termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman
Section l(l)(c)—that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated
Section l(l)(d)—that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped
Section 1(4)—that the termination is immediately necessary to save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant women
(57)suppressed value where the totals are between 0 and 9. For confidentiality reasons totals less than 10 are not released
Notes:
Total includes women age under 16 where total <16 is fewer than 10 cases and therefore not available for release.
Total includes cases of 'other' where the total is fewer than 10 cases and therefore not available for release.
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