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31 Jan 2006 : Column 372W—continued
National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of the National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit after the establishment of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. [45846]
Paul Goggins: As wildlife crime does not fit within the remit of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, discussions are currently taking place in order to find a long-term location for the National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit, so that it can continue its valuable work in the future.
Police
Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many business plans for police forces in Wales were received by 21 December 2005. [41835]
Hazel Blears: A joint submission from all four Welsh forces was received on 23 December 2005.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the allocation was of (a) police officers and (b) civilian police staff in each of the three basic command units in the Cambridgeshire constabulary area in (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05. [45464]
Hazel Blears: The available information relating to the numbers of police officers in each basic command unit (BCD) within Cambridgeshire police force area, is provided in the following table.
Information on the allocation of police staff in each BCD within Cambridgeshire has not been published as this figure cannot be disaggregated from other police support staff groups. As at 31 March 2003 Cambridgeshire had 786 police staff, as at 31 March 2004 this was 838 and as at 31 March 2005 this was 832.
(18) Contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of the business plans and implementation plans he has received relating to police force restructuring. [44279]
Hazel Blears: No. As part of the process for determining viable options, police forces and authorities have submitted detailed and sensitive data on protective services. I will not be placing this information in the Library although some of this may be available directly from forces and authorities.
Policy Reviews
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the policy reviews his Department has conducted in each year since 1997. [44329]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Department maintains all of its key policies under review. In 2004 the Department used this ongoing review work to inform Confident Communities in a Secure Britain, which sets out the Department's policy priorities until 2008. The Department has subsequently published 'Controlling our Borders: Making Migration Work for Britain' and, in conjunction with the Department of Constitutional Affairs and Office of the Attorney-General, Cutting Crime, Delivering Justice, setting out our respective five-year strategic visions on asylum and immigration and criminal justice. Copies of these documents are available on the Home Office websites (www.homeoffice.gov.uk; www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk).
In addition, the Department monitors the functioning of its policies. Key policies and reviews which are publicly disclosable are placed on the Department website to enable full public access.
Prisons
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to publish all the data from the Prisons Resettlement Survey 2003. [21787]
Fiona Mactaggart: The key findings from the 2003 resettlement survey were published in February 2005 in Home Office Research Findings 248". This was published as an online publication and can be found at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/rfpubs1.html
The findings from this survey (and equivalent surveys for 2001 and 2004) form the basis of a reconviction study which is currently being undertaken. This will include an analysis of any association between a range of factors (such as having employment and/or accommodation arranged and having received a visit during custody from a family member or partner) and subsequent proven reoffending. Initial results will be available in early summer, with publication later in the year.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons have a service level agreement; and if he will make a statement. [34320]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The Office for Contracted Prisons has performance management responsibilities for the three service level agreement (SLA) prisons (Her Majesty's Prison Blakenhurst, Her Majesty's Prison
31 Jan 2006 : Column 374W
Buckley Hall and Her Majesty's Prison Manchester) who operate contracts won by the public sector following a commercial tendering process.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prisoners (i) entering adult prisons and (ii) leaving prison on release from their first sentence and (b) under 21-year-olds entering young offender institutions on their first custodial sentence could not read or write to a sufficiently high standard to apply for a job via a job centre in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [41547]
Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
We do not collate the information requested centrally, however Home Office statistics show that 37 per cent. of prisoners have reading skills below level 1. (Prison Statistics for England and Wales 2002).
As a result of learning and skills provision in prisons, the number of basic skills awards achieved by offenders in custody exceeded 63,000 in 2004–05 and the national probation directorate exceeded its annual target for basic skills awards with nearly 9,500 awards achieved by offenders in the community.
The Green Paper, Reducing Re-offending through Skills and Employment" (Cm 6702) launched by Ruth Kelly on 15 December, set out the Government's strategy to improve the skills and job prospects of all offenders, so that more offenders secure employment in order to reduce reoffending.
Prostitution
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) cases have been reported and (b) persons have been prosecuted for employing a prostitute (i) under the age of consent and (ii) who has no right to work in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years for which information is available. [45711]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 26 January 2006]: Prior to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 coming into force the relevant offences were related to brothel keeping and living on the earnings of a prostitute. The 2003 Act introduced a new offence relating to the abuse of children through prostitution and pornography. The available statistics are set out in the table, but it is not possible to break them down in terms of the age or immigration status of the victim.
| Exploitation of prostitution(19) | Abuse of children through prostitution or pornography(20) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 129 | n/a |
| 2001–02 | 129 | n/a |
| 2002–03 | 127 | n/a |
| 2003–04 | 183 | n/a |
| 2004–05 | 117 | 98 |
(19) Keeping a brothel is a summary offence and not included in the recorded crime series. The exploitation of prostitution group includes living on immoral earnings.
(20) The Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force in 2004.
31 Jan 2006 : Column 375W
| Brothel keeping offences | Living on immoral earnings | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 27 | 35 |
| 2001 | 14 | 34 |
| 2002 | 18 | 47 |
| 2003 | 11 | 41 |
| 2004 | 27 | 42 |
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