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18 Apr 2006 : Column 317W—continued
MI5 Files
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many files on individuals MI5 holds; how many of these are active; and how many have been destroyed in each year since 1997. [63596]
Mr. Charles Clarke: In accordance with the long-established practice of successive Governments we do not comment on security matters.
Michael McCartney
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the issue of anonymity for the accused prior to conviction in the context of the trial of Michael McCartney. [62171]
Paul Goggins:
Independently of the case of Michael McCartney an assessment was recently carried out by the Interdepartmental Ministerial Group on Sex Offending of the current arrangements for anonymity for suspected sex offenders prior to charge. The review
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found that there had been no complaints about the operation of the guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Press Complaints Commission. The issue will be kept under review.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will re-examine the provisions in the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 which banned media identification of sex offence defendants repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in the context of the trial of Michael McCartney. [62174]
Paul Goggins: The Government remain of the view that all defendants should be treated equally in accordance with the principle of open justice. We have no plans to amend the law to ban media identification of sex offence defendants.
Mini-motorcycles
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce controls on the sale of mini-motorcycles for use by young people. [63165]
Hazel Blears: We have no plans to introduce such controls. There are already powers available to the police and local authorities to deal with the problem caused by misuse of the vehicles. Where mini-motorcycle nuisance has been identified as a problem locally, we would expect a local strategy to address it. This could involve the local police working with retailers to ensure that customers are aware of the law on the use of mini-motorcycles.
Ministerial Residence
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated market rental value of the former official residence of the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) was in each year since 2001. [59182]
Mr. Charles Clarke: There is no market rental value held for this property.
Mr. Harry Hammond
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider a posthumous pardon for Mr. Harry Hammond. [63591]
Fiona Mactaggart: Generally, I consider the Royal Prerogative of Mercy only where it is impractical for the case to be referred to the appellate court. Where that is the case, the exercise of the Prerogative is considered where there is new evidence which has not been before the courts demonstrates beyond any doubt that either no offence was committed or that the person convicted in a court of law did not commit the offence. I am not aware that such evidence has been presented in the case of Mr. Harry Hammond.
It is open to those representing Mr. Hammond to seek a review of his case by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Where the Commission consider that there is a real possibility that a conviction would be quashed they can refer the case back to the appropriate appellate court.
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Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement Panels
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the Guidelines for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement panels. [63502]
Fiona Mactaggart: We have arranged for copies of the current Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Guidance Manual to be placed in the Library. The guidance is available online at: http://www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk/output/page30.asp.
National Offender Management Service
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated annual cost of commissioning arrangements under the National Offender Management Service. [50055]
Fiona Mactaggart: The planned expenditure on commissioning arrangements by the National Offender Management Service in 2005–06 is £7.4 million.
Mrs. Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated to the end-to-end supervision of offenders under National Offender Management Service arrangements for long-term prisoners. [53442]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 27 February 2006]: We expect Offender Management to be cost neutral over the long-term, with any costs balanced by the benefits of the system. There will, however, be some start-up costs. These are estimated to be £10 million in 2006–07. We do not have separate figures related to long-term prisoners.
Newspaper Displays (Adult Material)
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department will monitor implementation levels by retail newsagents of the new code of practice published by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents relating to the display of magazines and tabloid newspapers which contain adult material. [63105]
Paul Goggins: I refer to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy), to my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, East (Mrs. James) on 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 651 w. The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) have agreed to issue fresh advice to newsagents which includes guidance about the sale and display of 'top shelf' adult material as well as advice about the appropriate placement and display of other publications containing some sexual material.
This voluntary code of practice will be implemented with the agreement of its members. The NFRN will send a copy of the code to each of its members and will continue to highlight the code on an ongoing basis in its trade magazine. They have also shared the code with the Association of News Retailing and the British Retail Consortium.
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My officials, along with those from DTI and DCMS, will continue to meet with the NFRN and other retail trade associations to discuss the implementation of the guidance.
Nightclubs
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nightclubs in (a) London, (b) Havering and (c) England and Wales have been raided by police for drugs in each of the last seven years. [63018]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is not collected by the Home Office.
Non-emergency Situations
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he used in deciding that (a) drug dealing, (b) drunken behaviour, (c) harassment and (d) intimidation should be treated as non-emergency situations; and if he will make a statement. [61124]
Hazel Blears: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will not be making a statement as the criteria for what constitutes an emergency or non-emergency situation is an operational matter for which the Association of Chief Police Officers have existing standards for call handling in police contact centres that include definitions of emergency and non-emergency contacts. 101, the new single non-emergency number, complies with these standards and will work alongside 999 and other non-emergency numbers to provide a service for less urgent community safety and antisocial behaviour problems.
101 operators will direct callers to the emergency service if the call requires a 999 response. A non-emergency situation will also require an immediate priority response if the situation relates to serious criminal conduct or concern for somebody's safety even if the situation is not considered an emergency.
The initial scope of the 101 service has been developed through research with the general public, and in consultation with a wide group of stakeholders and local authority and police force partnerships.
The new service will improve the delivery of these services by providing a more informed and better coordinated response by local agencies. 101 will be provided by local authorities and police forces working in partnership to both handle calls and deliver services.
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