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27 Mar 2006 : Column 771W—continued
Probation Service
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters of complaint he has received on the probation service in Lancashire in each of the last five years. [60796]
Fiona Mactaggart
[holding answer 23 March 2006]: A National Complaints Procedure, agreed by the Secretary of State, enables local probation areas to handle complaints. Each probation area will maintain their own record of complaints received and the outcome of these cases. Unresolved local complaints are escalated to the independent prison and probation ombudsman. The table shows the number of complaints received by the prison and probation ombudsman for Lancashire probation area since 1 September 2001, the date on which
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the NPS complaints procedure and the ombudsman's responsibility for investigating complaints about the probation service were implemented.
The following table shows the number of complaints made by offenders or their representatives about the Lancashire probation area, received by the prison and probation ombudsman since 1 September 2001.
The number eligible column shows the number of complaints out of all those received, that have been eligible for the ombudsman to investigate. The ombudsman's terms of reference (and the NPS complaint procedure) require that all three stages of the complaint procedure must have been completed before the ombudsman may investigate a complaint. The three stages are: informal investigation by the local office, formal investigation by the chief officer or a senior officer nominated by the CO, and finally the appeal stage when a panel of three board members hears the appeal. The ombudsman may accept complaints that are referred to him within one month of the complainant receiving the result of the appeal.
Public Order
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2006, Official Report, column 2121W, on public order, what progress is being made by the Metropolitan Police in arresting the remaining protesters identified outside the Danish Embassy on 4 February 2006. [60455]
Hazel Blears: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tells me that every effort is being made to identify 16 people who are being considered for prosecution.
Rec. 61 Form
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been stopped and issued with a Rec. 61 form by the police force in each London borough since its inception, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) police station. [60557]
Hazel Blears: These figures are not collected centrally. The Commissioner is responsible for the day to day operational management of the force. You may therefore wish to redirect your query to him.
Sentencing Guidelines
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to allow peer pressure to be included as a mitigating circumstance in sentencing guidelines for young offenders. [60718]
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Fiona Mactaggart: The decision on what is included in sentencing guidelines is a matter for the Sentencing Guidelines Council. The Government and Parliament do have an opportunity to comment on any proposed guidelines when the council publishes them in draft form. However, the final decision on their content lies with the council.
Stop and Search
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) percentage and (b) numerical change in stops and searches has been in each London borough police force since 7 July 2005 broken down by ethnicity; and if he will make a statement. [60561]
Hazel Blears: These figures are not collected centrally. The Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the force. You may therefore wish to redirect your query to him.
Terrorism
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Department has taken to prevent terrorist attacks in (a) Manchester, (b) Birmingham, (c) Leeds, (d) Liverpool, (e) Edinburgh, (f) Glasgow, (g) Cardiff and (h) other major cities and towns in the UK. [59536]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government's counter terrorism strategy is a nationwide effort to reduce the threat of, and our vulnerability to, terrorism across the UK and involves a variety of Government Departments and agencies, particularly the Police Service, working in partnership with local and regional government and the private sector. Key elements of the strategy focus on the development of effective and proportionate protective security arrangements and ensuring that we are prepared to respond effectively to, and recover from, a terrorist attack. We do not comment on the specifics of the operational activity across the UK as this could assist those who may wish to perpetrate acts of terrorism. As I announced on 25 January, the Government have provided for 2006–07 and 2007–08 a total of £446 million specifically for countering the international terrorist threat and domestic extremism. This is in addition to £213 million provided in 2006–07 for the provision of police dedicated security posts.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many terrorist attacks targeted on areas outside London have been foiled since July 2005. [59538]
Mr. Charles Clarke: It is our policy not to comment on the details of alleged attempted terrorist attacks in the UK. These are operational matters for the police service and for the courts.
UK Passports
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK passports have been (a) lost and (b) stolen in London in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [60555]
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Andy Burnham: It is not possible for the UK Passport Service to identify exactly how many passports were reportedly lost or stolen in the London area. However, the London and Peterborough passport offices, which serve the Greater London area, processed the following reports of (a) loss and (b) theft of a passport for the calendar years of 2004 and 2005.
| London/Peterborough | Lost | Stolen |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 69,420 | 27,361 |
| 2005 | 64,769 | 19,572 |
The total figures across the UK for the last five years are as follows:
| Lost | Stolen | Other | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | — | — | — | (50)148,230 |
| 2002 | — | — | — | (50)166,358 |
| 2003 | — | — | — | (50)184,301 |
| 2004 | 212,745 | 50,737 | 11,558 | 275,040 |
| 2005 | 230,011 | 45,709 | 11,268 | 286,988 |
(50)Combined total.
Vehicle Registrations
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many road traffic offences were committed by vehicles that were registered at false or incorrect addresses in West Chelmsford constituency in each of the last five years; what offences were involved; what the estimated cost is of unpaid fines following such offences; and how many multiple offences were committed by the same vehicles in that period. [60168]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 17 March 2006]: The information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which motor vehicles registered at 25 Duke Street, Chelmsford, have been involved in (a) road traffic accidents and (b) road traffic offences in the last year for which figures are available. [60271]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 20 March 2006]: The information is not collected centrally.
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