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Winter Fuel Payments

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Kettering constituency were entitled to winter fuel payment in each year since its introduction. [37048]

Mr. Timms: Information relating to winter fuel payments for the winters of 1997–98 and 1998–99 is not available. The information for Kettering constituency from winter 1999–2000 is in the following table. These figures are also available in the Library.

Kettering constituency	Payments made
1999–2000	17,360
2000–01	19,395
2001–02	19,745
2002–03	19,965
2003–04	20,425
2004–05	20,510

Notes:
1.Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
2.Local authorities and parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
Source:
Information Directorate, 100 per cent. sample

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received winter fuel payments in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster in 2004–05. [42118]

Mr. Timms: In winter 2004–05 there were 44,700 people in the Barnsley local authority area and 58,575 people in the Doncaster local authority area who received a winter fuel payment.

Notes:

1.Figures are rounded to the nearest five. 2.Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.

Source:

Information Directorate, 100 per cent. sample.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what factors he took into account when deciding that pensioners who reached pensionable age after 25 September 2005 should not be eligible to claim winter fuel payments for the winter of 2005–06; [42382]

(2) what the annual cost implications are of restricting eligibility for the winter fuel payments to those pensioners who reach pensionable age before 25 September of the year in which the allowance becomes payable. [42383]
 
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Mr. Timms: To be eligible for a winter fuel payment people must have reached age 60 by the end of the qualifying week, which for this winter was the 25 September 2005. This is to ensure that the majority of payments are made before Christmas.

If the qualifying week in Great Britain had been 31 December for this winter's payment, around an additional 160,000 people in Great Britain would have become eligible to receive a payment around March 2006 at a cost of approximately £23 million.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements are in place to suspend the payment of the winter fuel payment when a claimant enters residential care. [42662]

Mr. Timms: Anyone who satisfies the conditions for receiving a winter fuel payment for any day in the relevant week is entitled to receive a payment. Decisions about entitlement are based on information in the Department's record. Customers are entitled to question decisions if the information on which they are based is incorrect.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Central Witness Bureau

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the creation of a central witness bureau; and if he will make a statement. [42778]

Fiona Mactaggart: This project is progressing well and we expect to be able to make an announcement before the beginning of the next financial year.

Child Pornography

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) received a police caution for and (b) were convicted of possession of indecent photographs of children in each year since 1995. [42573]

Paul Goggins: The information from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform is contained in the table and gives the number of offenders cautioned and found guilty of possession of indecent photographs of children in England and Wales, 1995 to 2004.
Number of offenders cautioned and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to child pornography, England and Wales, 1995 to 2004⁽²⁸⁾

Offence Description	Disposal	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Take or make indecent	Cautioned	18	15	14	26	31	35	38	63	239	201
photographs of children(29)	Found guilty	44	69	103	82	139	218	289	434	1,048	978
Possession of an indecent	Cautioned	11	16	17	19	34	25	32	53	205	162
photograph of a child(30)	Found guilty	37	79	81	105	99	77	75	97	239	184

⁽²⁸⁾All data given refer to the principal offence only.
⁽²⁹⁾Offences under the Protection of Children Act 1978, section 1 and section 6 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 84.
⁽³⁰⁾Offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 160 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Services Act 2000, section 41(3) (previously 181/06).



 
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Criminal Cases Review Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals to the Criminal Cases Review Commission have been received; and how many cases the Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred back to the courts. [42025]

Fiona Mactaggart: The total number of applications received by the Criminal Cases Review Commission up to 31 December 2005 is 8,343. Out of these 308 have been referred back to the courts.
 
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Criminal Damage Act

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted during 2004 of an offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. [41010]

Fiona Mactaggart: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of males and females proceeded against at the magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, England and Wales, 2004 is given in the following table.
Number of males and females proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under section 1(1) Criminal Damage Act 1971, England and Wales, 2004⁽³¹⁾

		Males		Females
Offence description	Principal statute	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Arson not endangering life	Criminal Damage Act 1971 S.1(1) (named 'arson' by virtue of s.1(3))	1,163	850	174	172
Other criminal damage	Explosive Substances Act S.2 (in part) and S.3 (in part); Malicious Damage Act 1861 SS.35, 36, 47 and 48; Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Area Act 1979 S.28(1); Post Office Act 1953 S.60; Criminal Damage Act 1971 S.1 (1) (an offence or offences against the Criminal Damage Act 1971, value of damage over £5,000 or one offence under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 whatever the value of damage involved, when committed at the same time as an additional offence other than Criminal Damage)	12,032	8,157	1,327	972
Racially aggravated other criminal damage	Criminal Damage Act 1971 S.1 (1) as amended by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.30(1) and (2)	448	195	69	34
Religiously aggravated other criminal damage	Criminal Damage Act 1971 S. 1(1) as amended by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.30(1) and (2)	14	9	3	—
Racially or religiously aggravated other criminal damage	Criminal Damage Act 1971 S. 1(1) as amended by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.30(1) and (2)	74	43	13	9
Causing damage to an allotment through negligence or any unlawful act. Criminal damage, value £5,000 or less	Allotments Act 1922 S.1 9; Criminal Damage Act 1971 S.1(1); Magistrates Courts Act 1980 S.22 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 S.46	38,714	28,620	4,105	2,876

⁽³¹⁾These data are provided on the principal offence basis

Criminal Law (Environmental Matters)

Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to amend the criminal law in relation to environmental matters as a consequence of the judgment of the European Court of Justice of 15 September 2003. [41027]

Fiona Mactaggart: In its judgment of 13 September 2005 the European Court of Justice annulled certain European legislation to protect the environment through criminal law because it had been adopted under the wrong treaty provisions. That annulment has no impact on the application of national laws of the United Kingdom. Moreover, the United Kingdom relied largely on existing legislation in order to comply with the instrument. The Government have no plans to amend the criminal law in relation to environmental matters as a consequence of the judgment.

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