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Crimes against Young People
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the most common forms of crime committed against young people of school age in (a) Uxbridge, (b) the London borough of Hillingdon, (c) Greater London and (d) England in the last five years for which figures are available. [48513]
Hazel Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally. Apart from specific sexual offences, it is not possible to identify the age of the victim in the recorded crime statistics.
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the occasions when the Criminal Cases Review Commission have referred (a) convictions and (b) sentences imposed by the Crown court to the Court of Appeal in each year since 1996. [47385]
Fiona Mactaggart: The following table shows how many cases in total the Commission has referred each year to the appeal courts. The majority of the 308 cases relate to convictions and sentences imposed by the Crown court and referred to the Court of Appeal. However, the figures also include 13 convictions which have been referred to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland and 12 convictions and two sentences imposed by the magistrates courts which have been referred to the Crown court.
| Convictions referred | Sentences referred | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 10 | 1 |
| 1998–99 | 27 | 4 |
| 1999–2000 | 33 | 3 |
| 2000–01 | 41 | 4 |
| 2001–02 | 36 | 2 |
| 2002–03 | 32 | 3 |
| 2003–04 | 26 | 4 |
| 2004–05 | 35 | 10 |
| 2005–06 | 29 | 8 |
| Total | 269 | 39 |
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are proposed to the Crown Prosecution Service consequent upon the amalgamation of police forces. [50992]
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Mr Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is working closely with Home Office and police colleagues in identifying the implications for the CPS of police restructuring.
The CPS is examining various options on how best to respond to the proposed police restructure. The Law Officers and the Director of Public Prosecutions recognise the benefits of co-terminosity of CPS Areas with police forces.
DNA Samples
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to request DNA samples from serving police officers on a (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory basis. [47816]
Hazel Blears: The provision of a DMA sample by police personnel for inclusion on the Police Elimination Database (FED) is voluntary for those who were in employment by the police when the Database was set up in 2000. It is a condition of service for personnel who have joined the police since 1 August 2002. There are no plans to change this.
Dog Theft
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on dog theft and the actions being taken to combat it; [33670]
(2) if he will meet relevant associations to discuss the problem of animal theft and the creation of a British pet register. [33870]
Hazel Blears: Theft of property, including dogs, is a crime under the Theft Act 1968 and is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Where this problem emerges as a pressing local crime issue, it would be for the police, in consultation with the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, to take any necessary action. I do not therefore have any plans to meet with the relevant organisations to discuss this issue.
There are already voluntary databases for missing and found pets and owners can voluntarily undertake to have their pets permanently identified (through micro-chipping and tattooing) and registered.
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A compulsory dog licence system has already been tried but was repealed by the Local Government Act 1988 on the grounds that it cost more to administer than the revenue it raised, due in part to irresponsible owners who did not pay for a licence.
Drug Classification
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the evidence base was for determining the original classification system for controlled drugs. [47809]
Paul Goggins: The evidence for establishing the classification system under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was the system of controls placed on drugs under the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Substances 1961 together with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the standard criteria used by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs are when considering a drug for classification. [47811]
Paul Goggins: The ACMD cover three domains of harmfulness when considering the classification of drugs, namely:
Consideration of the harmfulness of a substance to physical and mental health includes: the acute harmfulness of a substance (i.e. its potential to cause harm during the immediate period after administration); the chronic harms (those which persist after short-term exposure or which develop as a consequence of repeated use), and the harms posed by those substances administered by intravenous injection.
Drug dependence is different for each substance. It can be related to the duration and amount used, as well as to characteristics of the user.
Social harms include the potential damage to others when individuals are under the influence of the substance.
Drug Treatment Orders
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of drug treatment orders. [43589]
Fiona Mactaggart: The National Probation Directorate routinely monitors Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) effectiveness through analysis of key performance data. This indicates that 89 per cent. of offenders on DTTOs are being retained in treatment for at least 12 weeks, which is the minimum treatment period reported by the National Treatment Agency as having some impact on drug use and offending.
Completion rates for DTTOs have also improved from 28 per cent. in 2003, as reported by the Public Accounts Committee, to 36 per cent. in 2004–05. An evaluation of DTTO pilots (Hough et al, 2003) found statistically significant reductions in reconviction rates between DTTO completers and non-completers, as well
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as between all those starting DTTOs and a comparison group. However, it is not known to what extent these results were due to the programme.
The DTTO has gradually been replaced by the Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR) of the community order from April 2005 for offenders aged 18 or over. The DRR is a more flexible order, aimed at a wider target group and treatment is more tailored to individual need.
Emergency Services (Criminal Convictions)
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those convicted of a criminal offence in the last year for which figures are available were employed by the emergency services at the time of their offence. [49186]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 6 February 2006]: Data is not held centrally by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform or by the Department of Health on the number of offenders who have been found guilty and who were employed by the emergency services at the time of their offence.
EU Migrants
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many migrants have entered the UK from each accession country since May 2004. [50655]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 February 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about how many migrants have entered the UK from each accession country since May 2004. (50655)
The latest available estimates of migrant inflows of residents from each EU accession country are for 2004. They are shown in the attached table 1. The estimates are produced annually from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) where a migrant is defined as a person who, on entry to the UK, states an intention to stay for a year or more. Such intentions may not be realised. On average, just over 70 per cent. of the annual inflows from the accession countries in 2004 occurred in the second half of the year. The estimates are subject to error because they are calculated from a sample survey. For this reason, estimates for some of the smaller migrant inflows from some accession countries have been grouped together.
A special monthly analysis of the number of visitors to the UK from overseas, by nationality, is available from the IPS for the EU accession countries. It is available at the following web address:
(62) Estimate is based on migrant inflows captured from the International Passenger Survey (IPS).
Note:
A10 = grouping of all the accession countries
Source:
Office for National Statistics
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