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16 Feb 2006 : Column 2332W—continued
Class A Drug Offences
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under the age of 25 years were arrested for class A drug offences in each of the last five years. [47699]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The requested data are not collected centrally.
Community Sentences
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a requirement for all offenders sentenced in the community to perform unpaid work; and what resource implications are being taken into account. [50058]
Fiona Mactaggart: We believe that unpaid work should be at the heart of tough and effective community sentences. Highly visible community payback shows the public that offenders are making amends to the community for the harm they have caused. At the moment unpaid work is a part of about half of all community sentences. We expect the number of hours of unpaid work that offenders carry out in the community to rise from five million hours in 2003 to approaching 10 million hours by 2011.
Community Support Officers
Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police community support officers have been introduced in (a) Doncaster North, (b) the borough of Doncaster and (c) South Yorkshire since the scheme began; and what assessment he has made of the impact of community support officers on crime and antisocial behaviour; [50597]
(2) how many police officers there were in (a) Doncaster North, (b) the borough of Doncaster and (c) South Yorkshire in each year since 1997. [50598]
Hazel Blears:
Figures relating to the number of police officers are collected by police force area and have been collected at basic command unit (BCU) level since March 2003. These figures are given in the table. Figures for Doncaster North are not collected centrally.
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In South Yorkshire there were 14 PCSOs as at 31 March 2003. This figure increased by 45, to give a total of 59 at 31 March 2004. As at 31 March 2005 this figure had increased again by 66, giving a total of 125 PCSOs. This figure remained the same for September 2005. Information on the number of PCSOs in basic command units has been collected since June 2005. The Doncaster basic command unit had 36 PCSOs on 30 June 2005. Deployment of PCSOs with in Doncaster is an operational matter for the Divisional Commander. A National Evaluation of Community Support Officers" (Home Office Research Study 297) was published on 25 January.
A copy of the report has been placed in the Library and shows that PCSOs have been well received by the public. They are helping to restore respect in local communities by providing reassurance and tackling antisocial behaviour and low level crime.
(31) The figures in this table are based on full-time equivalent figures less staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave, and have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
(32) Police officer strength has only been collected at basic command unit level since 2003. The 2002 figure was provided by HMIC. Figures are based on full-time equivalent figures (including staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave) and have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Complaints Audit Committee
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken following the recommendations made in the latest Complaints Audit Committee report. [50691]
Mr. McNulty: Since the publication of the Complaints Audit Committee's 2004–05 Annual Report in July 2005, IND has undertaken a significant amount of work to implement their recommendations across the Department.
The 2004–05 Annual Report recommendations will form part of a wider rolling register" of action points that the Committee has raised for IND to consider. Also included in the register will be recommendations arising from their quarterly audits of complaints across IND.
IND's response to these recommendations will be published in our official reply to the CAC's annual report which is due for publication in October 2006.
Crime
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of violent crime there were in (a) Swindon and (b) England in each year from 1997 to 2005. [50918]
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Hazel Blears: Available information relating to recorded offences is given in the following table. Crime statistics for Swindon are recorded at Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) level and are available from 1999–2000 to 2004–05. It is estimated that the effect of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002 was a 20 per cent. increase nationally in recorded violent crime in its first year. Violent crime is comprised of the violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery offence groups.
| Period | Swindon CDRP | England |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | — | 326,993 |
Note:
The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the revised counting rules for recorded crime, which came into effect on 1 April 1998. Therefore, this figure is not directly comparable with those for later years.
| Period | Swindon CDRP | England |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | — | 571,027 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,906 | 662,525 |
| 2000–01 | 2,094 | 692,552 |
| 2001–02 | 2,315 | 773,897 |
Note:
The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
| Period | Swindon CDRP | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 3,191 | 935,019 |
| 2003–04 | 2,947 | 1,052,601 |
| 2004–05 | 2,794 | 1,127,681 |
Note:
The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes took place in Peterborough city council area in each of the last five years. [50730]
Hazel Blears: The information requested is given in the following table. It is estimated that the effect of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002 was a 20 per cent. increase nationally in recorded violent crime in its first year.
| Financial year | CDRP offences |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 2,761 |
| 2001–02 | 3,202 |
| 2002–03 | 5,203 |
| 2003–04 | 5,855 |
| 2004–05 | 5,827 |
Note:
The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures are therefore not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females were (i) prosecuted for and (ii) convicted of (A) murder and (B) manslaughter in Southend in 2004. [50857]
Fiona Mactaggart: Data from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at South East Essex petty sessional area for murder and manslaughter in 2004, are provided in the following table.
(33) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.
(34) Includes: manslaughter, child destruction, infanticide, causing death by dangerous driving, diminished responsibility and causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs.
Data for 2005 will be available in the autumn of 2006.
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he plans to take to publicise action taken to tackle antisocial behaviour to members of the public in Swindon. [50607]
Hazel Blears: The Respect Action plan sets out our intention to empower local communities to challenge and tackle antisocial behaviour through greater awareness of the powers available to them. We will ensure effective dialogue between local people and services by introducing regular and systematic face the people" briefing sessions, involving senior representation from the police and local authorities.
In addition, the respect Taking A Stand" awards and action days held nationwide will stimulate public debate about acceptable behaviour and inform antisocial behaviour practitioners and other specialists about local activities. The action plan also proposes a publicity campaign to counter disrespect such as physical violence, threats, intimidation, verbal abuse by the public towards public sector workers. Swindon is one of the Government's action areas, committed to tackling antisocial behaviour.
The Swindon Evening Advertiser has promoted local initiatives run by the antisocial behaviour team, such as Operation Crackdown, Operation Graffiti and It's Your Call and has publicised details of antisocial behaviour orders. Swindon borough council and Wiltshire police use local neighbourhood safety teams to communicate activity taken to tackle antisocial behaviour and in parallel, invite local residents to highlight community safety concerns in their area.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy not to charge victims of crime for the recovery of their property from (a) police and (b) those holding the property on behalf of the police. [46185]
16 Feb 2006 : Column 2336W
Hazel Blears: The police have powers to order the removal of any vehicle that is dangerously, obstructively or illegally parked, broken down or abandoned, including vehicles abandoned after being stolen .
The Government regards such removals as important for road safety and crime reduction. Before owners can regain any vehicle so removed, they are required by law to pay fees prescribed by the Secretary of State to meet the costs of removal and storage.
The Government considers it would not be appropriate for such costs to fall on the public purse We recognise, however, the concerns that have been expressed by and on behalf of the owners of stolen vehicles who have had to pay for return of their own property. We agreed with the Association of Chief Police Officers on recommended best practice in such cases.
This includes an immediate notification on report of a vehicle theft as to the need to pay the statutory fees when the vehicle is recovered, a follow-up letter with more detailed information and further information and advice on police force websites. A decision to charge for return of property other than vehicles is an operational matter for the chief officer of the individual force concerned.
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