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Gun/Drug Crime

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has commissioned into the link between gun crime and drug crime. [43588]

Hazel Blears: The Home Office has commissioned a qualitative study among young men convicted of firearm offences with the aim of exploring criminal pathways into this type of crime as well as the associated motivations and barriers to carrying and using illegal firearms.

The research explores the associations between gun related crimes and the procurement and use of drugs. The Home Office also sponsored the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) survey, which involved interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police, included questions on carrying guns.

A paper based on the data has been published by T. H. Bennett and K. Holloway, Possession and use of illegal guns among criminals in England and Wales" (Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol 43, No 3, pp 237–252).

Sir Iqbal Sacranie

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the investigation by the police of recent statements by Sir Iqbal Sacranie relating to homosexuality. [44451]

 
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Hazel Blears: The chief constable is responsible for the day to day operational management of the force. You may therefore wish to redirect your query to him.

IT Systems

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many probation areas are connected to the prison OASys IT system; and if he will make a statement. [42632]

Fiona Mactaggart: Five probation areas are currently connected to the Prison Service OASys system. They are Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Licensing Reforms (Offences)

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) over 18 years and (b) under 18 years have been (i) arrested for, (ii) charged with and (iii) convicted of (A) public order offences and (B) public drunkenness since the introduction of 24 hour licensing in England and Wales. [43585]

Paul Goggins: The information requested on arrests and charges is not collected centrally. The information requested on convictions is not currently available. The Licensing Act 2003 came into force on 24 November 2005 and data for convictions in 2005 will not be available until autumn of 2006.

Methadone

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered methadone users there are in (a) Altcourse, (b) Bullingdon, (c) Elmley, (d) Holme House and (e) Hull prisons; and if he will make a statement. [37508]

Fiona Mactaggart: Individual prisons do not hold any central register of individuals who are receiving treatment by particular categories such as methadone.

Ministerial Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent in each year from 1 May 1997 on ministerial travel arrangements, broken down by (a) provision and running costs of vehicular transport, (b) first class travel by rail, (c) standard class travel by rail, (d) first class travel by air, (e) club or equivalent class travel by air and (f) economy class travel by air. [27782]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide would incur disproportionate costs. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Library.

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office (Mr. Murphy) has asked Roy Burke, chief executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) to write to the hon. Member with details of the costs of ministerial vehicles provided to Departments in 2004–05. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library. For information for the financial years 2000–01 to 2003–04 I refer the hon. Member to the letters from the chief executive of the GCDA to the hon.
 
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Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) dated 10 January 2005 and to the then hon. Member for Arundel & South Downs (Howard Flight) dated 13 September 2003. Copies of these letters are available in the Library. In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year.

The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information for the financial years 1995–96 to 2004–05. Information for 2005–06 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current financial year.

Mobile Phones

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many instances have been recorded of the police using mobile phone location data (a) to track a criminal and (b) to effect a rescue operation; [42704]

(2) how many instances have been recorded of the police using mobile phone location data (a) to track a criminal and (b) to effect a rescue operation. [43782]

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not available centrally from the recorded crime statistics.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Immobilise Phone Crime Initiative in reducing levels of mobile phone theft. [42577]

Hazel Blears: The Immobilise Phone Crime campaign was launched in March 2003, to publicise that stolen phones could now be blocked across all UK networks. This was a key step in tackling mobile phone theft, as it removed the incentive to steal a mobile phone because it could now be rendered useless.

We do not hold figures for mobile phone theft centrally, but Home Office research (HORS 235) shows that a mobile phone is involved in about half of all robberies. A number of interventions occurred at a similar time to the Immobilise campaign, most notably, the Street Crime Initiative. Figures show that robbery fell by 32 per cent. between 2001–02 and 2004–05 in the areas in which the Initiative was implemented, despite increases in mobile phone ownership. The targeted nature of the Immobilise campaign, and the link between mobile phones and robbery would indicate that the campaign may have contributed to this reduction.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish statistics from the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit on tackling mobile handset theft and related street crime. [42578]

Hazel Blears: Figures for mobile phone theft are not held centrally as it is not a distinct offence category. However, based on Home Office research (HORS 235) we know that a mobile phone is involved in about half of all robberies. The National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) is a dedicated law enforcement unit set up to focus specifically on this serious crime and operates primarily in an intelligence gathering capacity. A key
 
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driver for mobile phone theft has been the ability to re-programme the IMEI number (unique serial number) of a phone, thus turning a useless object into a valuable and re-sellable commodity.

The NMPCU has been proactively targeting individuals engaged in this activity. Since January 2004 there have been 400 individual operations and 34 successful cautions and convictions. This has resulted in a number of custodial sentences and fines under the Mobile Telephones (Re-programming) Act 2002 and related legislation.

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for using a mobile phone while driving a vehicle in (a) the UK and (b) Greater Manchester. [43097]

Paul Goggins: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that the number of people proceeded against at the magistrates courts for the use of a hand held mobile phone while driving, under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 Reg.110(1) was 54 in Greater Manchester and 475 in England and Wales, 2004. Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Office and that for Northern Ireland for the Northern Ireland Office.

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