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24 Jan 2006 : Column 2022W—continued

Departmental Finance

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of pension contributions incurred by (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06. [39978]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The table details the Home Office employer Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) for the financial years requested. These costs are for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. It is not possible to split these costs by country or region. The data has been broken down by Home Office Department, agency, non-departmental public body or other Home Office public body.

Entries on the table marked by an asterisk show that no ASLC was appropriate for the relevant body in that year. This may be because the body did not yet exist or has ceased to exist. In some cases, machinery of Government changes have moved the body to another Government Department.

The projected figures in the final column (for 2005–06) are extrapolated from the actual costs incurred in that financial year, up to the end of November 2005.
Employer pension costs for Home Office Departments, agencies, non-departmental public bodies and other public bodies.

£
Department, NDPB or other Home Office public bodyTotal ASLC 2002–03Total ASLC 2003–04Total ASLC 2004–05ASLC 2005–06(19)Projected ASLC for 2005–06
Assets Recovery Agency*220,394.43511,594.65625268.98937,903.47
Broadcasting Standards Commission65,027.16106,906.57***
CENTREX1,561,475.242,062,256.51***
Core Home Office, including Immigration and Nationality Directorate49,757,888.5158,474,892.6465,016,661.8061,977,643.3192,966,464.97
Criminal Cases Review Commission315,289.25215,275.19***
Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel138,026.04141,797.15155,677.81127,780.15191,670.23
Criminal Injuries Compensation Panel428,181.14416,774.55395,031.77374,479.95561,719.93
Criminal Records Bureau*635,012.10868,61026784,905.321,177,357.98
Electoral Commission231,150.54397,762.55488,259.39**
Fire Service College582,647.75636,163.68720,121.85684,903.941,027,355.91
Forensic Science Service8,753,230.929,327,242.979,151,785288,495,283.1312,742,924.70
Information Commissioner386,519.00478,483.54546,491.41573,084.82859,627.23
National Offender Management Service***2,512,638.583,768,957.87
Parole Board121,622.75178,181.81202,837.97206,406.09309,609.14
Police Complaints Authority241,468.51254,961.47***
Police Information Technology Organisation1,792,689.112,193,834.902,643,128.602,561,360.123,842.040.18
Prison Service133,659,518.52143,155,506.59148,593,570.69134,113,712.58201,170,568.87
United Kingdom Passport Service5,521,555.435,011,449.545,553,783.325,975,619.368,963,429.04
Youth Justice Board437,504.42537,860.51666,486.06704,691.281,057,036.92


(19) Up to November 2005.



 
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Departmental Posts

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time is for identifying candidates for vacant posts in his Department; and if he will make a statement. [42638]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Information is not held centrally on average time taken to identify successful candidates for vacant posts in the Department and information varies across the Department. Within the public sector some recruitment responsibilities are devolved to the various business areas. The Home Department operates a number of different arrangements for filling vacancies each with unique features. Time scales for filling a vacancy can vary considerably depending on the approach taken, the post to be filled and local circumstances. It is not possible therefore to provide this information without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departmental Staff (Secondments)

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) full-time and
 
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(b) part-time staff have been seconded to his Department for each year since 2000 from (i) British Telecom, (ii) the Dixons group, (iii) Camelot, (iv) the National Lottery, (v) the Football Association, (vi) Tracker and (vii) the RAC; and if he will make a statement. [42780]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Since 2000 no members of staff, either part-time or full-time have been seconded from the organisations in question.

Drugs Offences

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) fined the maximum amount and (b) imprisoned for the maximum period for possessing (i) cannabis, (ii) cocaine and (iii) heroin in each of the past four years; and what percentage of all people convicted of these offences these figures represent. [43572]

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of people fined and imprisoned for the maximum period of possessing cannabis, cocaine and heroin is shown in the tables as follows.
Number of people given a maximum custodial sentence for possession offences

2001percentage of all sentences2002percentage of all sentences2003percentage of all sentences2004percentage of all sentences
Cannabis254386496516
Cocaine583442191795
Heroin725715483495




Notes:
1. Cannabis possession maximum period is five years.
2. Cocaine and heroin possession maximum period is seven years.





Number of people given a maximum fine for possession offences

2001Percentage of all fines2002Percentage of all fines2003Percentage of all fines2004Percentage of all fines
Cannabis181191151282
Cocaine40308040
Heroin170140290170




Notes:
1. The maximum fine given in the magistrate court is £1,000.
2. 0" indicates less than one per cent.




Dum-dum Bullets

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of dum-dum-style bullets by the police. [43065]

Hazel Blears: It is for Chief Officers to decide what ammunition and weapons are appropriate to use in order to meet their own operational requirements, subject to the general law that use offeree by the police must be reasonable in the circumstances. Hollow point ammunition (sometimes, misleadingly, called dum-dum bullets) is used by police in a number of countries.

Fireworks Misuse

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for the misuse of fireworks, broken down by police force area. [42560]

Hazel Blears: Offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 (made under section 11 of the Fireworks Act 2003) for breach of the national fireworks curfew, the illegal possession of category 4 fireworks and the possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework attract penalty notices for disorder, as well as the offence of throwing fireworks. The offence of
 
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throwing fireworks has been included in the penalty notice for disorder scheme since it was introduced nationally during 2004. The offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 were brought into the
 
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scheme with effect from 11 October 2004. The number of penalty notices issued by police force area for 2004 and provisional data from January to September 2005 are provided in the following table.
Number of penalty notices for disorder issued for fireworks offences, by police force area, England and Wales2004 and January-September 2005

2004
January-September 2005 (provisional)
Police forceThrowing
fireworks
Breach of fireworks curfewPossession
of a category 4 firework
Possession
by under 18 of adult firework
Throwing
fireworks
Breach of
fireworks curfew
Possession
of a category 4 firework
Possession
by under 18 of adult firework
Avon and Somerset11
Bedfordshire2
Cambridgeshire12
Cheshire62
Cleveland41
Cumbria11
Derbyshire311
Devon and Cornwall642
Dorset5
Durham
Essex66112
Gloucestershire111
Greater Manchester14944
Hampshire81141
Hertfordshire2
Humberside5112
Kent7212
Lancashire11111421
Leicestershire21
Lincolnshire2025
London, City of1
Merseyside5612621
Metropolitan39251
Norfolk11
North Yorkshire21
Northamptonshire52
Northumbria3
Nottinghamshire12
South Yorkshire58114
Staffordshire861
Suffolk12
Surrey2
Sussex2619
Thames Valley233
Warwickshire13
West Mercia51
West Midlands17711
West Yorkshire27111812
Wiltshire11
Dyfed Powys11
Gwent81111
North Wales91181
South Wales
England and Wales3321074177121220




Source:
RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform.





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