| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Mar 2006 : Column 800W—continued
Animal Welfare
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) charges, (b) investigations and (c) prosecutions there have been under (i) the Animals (Cruel Poisons) Act 1962, (ii) the Abandonment of Animals Act 1960, (iii) the Docking and Nicking of Horses Act 1949, (iv) the Cockfighting Act 1952, (v) the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999, (vi) the Protection of Animals Act 1934, (vii) the Protection of Animals Act 1911 and (viii) the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 in the last 10 years. [53337]
Fiona Mactaggart: Data is not available for the number of defendants charged with, or investigated for offences relating to animal cruelty.
Data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of prosecutions made for offences relating to animal cruelty, is provided in the following table.
(17) All data given refer to the principal offence only.
1 Mar 2006 : Column 801W
Antisocial Behaviour
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Government plan to improve help for parents in Swindon whose children are involved in antisocial behaviour. [52918]
Hazel Blears: Parenting is a core element of the Respect programme and is essential for creating a strong society based on mutual respect. Over the next two years we will invest an additional £52 million to start a national programme of change in the way that public services respond to parents.
Nationally all local authorities will receive funding through the roll-out of children's centres and extended schools—a key aim within this being to improve parenting provision. The Respect programme will also include investment in early intervention measures to support vulnerable children and young people and their families, including pathfinders which develop leading practice in supporting parents.
A further £28 million of new funding will be used to set up intensive family support programmes and provide parenting support to the most difficult families. To support parenting professionals a National Parenting Academy will be established to ensure that they have the necessary skills to delivery high quality parenting support.
Swindon is one of the Government's action areas, committed to tackling antisocial behaviour and the Respect Task Force will continue to support local practitioners who are tackling antisocial behaviour and delivering parenting programmes locally.
Mr. Jenkins: 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 Tamworth. [53450]
Hazel Blears: Our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour has been to prioritise what matters to our communities—empowering people and local agencies to play an active role in establishing and reinforcing the boundaries of what is acceptable. Publicising actions taken to tackle antisocial behaviour is a key element of this work.
As a result of the Crime and Disorder Act Review, the new Police and Justice Bill proposes to create the power to develop national standards for all Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). These will, among other things, ensure that all CDRPs consult and engage with their communities on a regular and on-going basis. National standards will be developed in the
1 Mar 2006 : Column 802W
coming months. This issue was also covered in more detail in the Government's Respect Action Plan. We want to make sure that we build on good practice and promote a dialogue between local people and local services by ensuring that CDRPs hold regular face the people" briefings—question and answer sessions open to the public, media and community groups. This should ensure that the public are made aware of actions that are being taken locally to tackle antisocial behaviour in their communities.
Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in (a) Bath and North East Somerset and (b) South Gloucestershire in each year since 1998. [54402]
Hazel Blears: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act (1998) were made available to the courts from one April 1999. From commencement up to one June 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area. A table giving annual data broken down by the local government authority area in which prohibitions are imposed within ASBOs (since one June 2000) is available on the Crime Reduction website at www.crimereduction.gov.uk. This table gives data up to 30 June 2005 (latest available).
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the research studies which have been (a) conducted and (b) commissioned by the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit in the last 12 months; and how many of these studies have been subject to peer review by (i) the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics department and (ii) external academies. [54071]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Anti-Social Behaviour Unit have commissioned the following projects in the last 12 months:
1. An evaluation of work carried out by ENCAMS to reduce criminal damage. The early stages have been reviewed by the Home Office Research and Statistics department (RDS).
2. A survey of the use of powers to tackle antisocial behaviour amongst Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) areas which was undertaken by RDS.
3. Trailblazer perceptions survey which is continually reviewed by RDS.
4. It's Your call which was reviewed by RDS.
1 Mar 2006 : Column 803W
The following projects are RDS-led and have been endorsed by the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit:
1. An assessment of the effectiveness of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs). This will be peer reviewed by external academics.
2. Evaluation of new powers to remove graffiti from street furniture.
3. Drivers of perceptions of antisocial behaviour.
4. National data collection exercise on dispersal orders.
Cautions (Recidivism Rates)
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to conduct research into recidivism rates for people issued with cautions. [52373]
Fiona Mactaggart: There are currently no agreed plans for conducting research into the recidivism rates for people issued with cautions.
Information on re-offending is published annually to monitor the target to reduce re-offending for offenders dealt with by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The re-offending target for juveniles includes re-offending for young offenders given reprimands or final warnings and these rates are published annually. The most recent data are available on-line in Home Office OLR 08/05: 'Juvenile reconviction: results from the 2003 cohort' http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/onlinepubs1.html.
The corresponding target for the adult population does not include cautions, only those offenders starting community penalties or being discharged from prison.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |