| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Feb 2006 : Column 83W—continued
Departmental Staff
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to change the London allowance of its staff; and if he will make a statement. [50016]
Mr. Charles Clarke: London locational allowances are normally reviewed as part of the annual pay award settlements and takes account of the Home Office business needs to recruit and retain staff, local employment markets and cost of living pressures. The last review of these allowances occurred in 2005. For the non-agency Home Office these allowances were increased by 12 per cent. with a further review timetabled for 2007. For the Prison Service there was no increase in the value of local pay allowances in London. However, a further review will be carried out in 2006 and the value of any increases has yet to be determined.
Domestic Violence
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many domestic violence prosecutions were undertaken in each English police region in each of the last five years. [51350]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 13 February 2006]: Offences involving domestic violence are not identifiable on the Office for Criminal Justice Reform Court Proceedings database as no specific statute covers such offences.
Data held by the Crown Prosecution Service for the number of domestic violence cases dealt with during the financial year 2004–05, and April to December 2005 are provided in attached table. Figures for previous years are not available.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 84W
Drug Classification
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are performance measures by which the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs can review the efficacy of its advice to classify drugs in a particular class. [47810]
Paul Goggins: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs keeps under review all the recommendations it makes in respect of the classification of individual drugs, and will update its advice in the event of any change in circumstance, including the emergence of new evidence.
Drug Offences
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted by North Wales Police for the offences of (a) supply of, (b) possession with intent to supply and (c) possession of a (i) Class A and (ii) Class B controlled drug in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [47731]
Paul Goggins: The available information relates to the number of persons dealt with at court and is given in the table.
(26) Includes those found not guilty.
(27) Class B data for 2004 exclude cannabis offences due to its reclassification to class C drug on 29 January 2004.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 85W
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) cautioned and (b) prosecuted by North Wales Police for the offence of possession of cannabis in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [47732]
Hazel Blears: The requested information is given in the table. Available data for prosecutions relate to the number of persons dealt with at court.
(28) Not including police formal warnings for cannabis possession which are not counted as police cautions.
(29) Includes those found not guilty.
Drug Treatment Programmes
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on drug treatment in each of the last five years. [47720]
Caroline Flint: The Department and the Home Office have combined the funding provided centrally for drug treatment. Known as the pooled treatment budget, this money is allocated to the 149 drug action teams (DATs) across the country. This budget has increased from £142 million in 2001–02 to £300 million in 2005–06.
The pooled treatment budget allocation since 2001 is shown in table one.
| Amount (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 142 |
| 2002–03 | 191 |
| 2003–04 | 236 |
| 2004–05 | 253 |
| 2005–06 | 300 |
The 149 DATs also receive funding and time-limited funding from the local organisations that form part of the DAT. These include primary care trusts (PCTs), local authorities (LAs), strategic health authorities (SHAs) and probation services. The National Treatment Agency monitors how this money is spent. Estimates of these amounts for the past five years are shown in table 2.
| Amount (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 145 |
| 2002–03 | 131 |
| 2003–04 | 200 |
| 2004–05 | (30)204 |
| 2005–06 | (30)208 |
(30) Local funding increases based on 2 per cent. inflation increase.
Drugs (Afghanistan)
David Davis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been
27 Feb 2006 : Column 86W
prosecuted in the UK in each of the last four years for drugs offences related to the import of illegal drugs from Afghanistan. [47726]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The requested information is not collected centrally.
Executive Agencies
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) targets, (b) advice and (c) guidance his Department has given to executive agencies that fall under the remit of his Department on the reorganisation of their administrative functions on a regional basis; and if he will make a statement. [41646]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is as follows.
The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is based in Liverpool and therefore no advice has been provided centrally on reorganisation of administrative functions on a regional basis. The Home Office is represented on the CRB Management Board and there is ongoing dialogue about how greater integration and alignment of support services can be achieved, particularly in the area of human resources.
Her Majesty's Prison Service is the only executive agency within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The management of all its prisons, except for the High Security Estate which is managed nationally, is already established on an area structure based upon the boundaries of Wales and the nine government regions of England. Three prison service areas fall within the south-east region due to the number of prisons within that location.
United Kingdom Passport Service
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) does have planning links with the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS), and as part of this have regular bi-laterals at an official level. However IND does not provide UKPS with targets or any guidance on their organisation. Furthermore while Ministers are consulted about policy objectives to improve passport security and counter fraud, the UKPS set their own business drivers and as part of this will be opening sixty nine interview offices across the United Kingdom in 2006.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |