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26 Apr 2006 : Column 1137W—continued
Road Protests
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of removing protestors from road protest sites in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Southend-on-Sea in each year since 1997. [64660]
Paul Goggins: This information is not collected centrally.
Road Traffic Offences
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females driving an emergency vehicle received a notice of prosecution for committing an offence under section 89 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 in (i) Southend-on-Sea, (ii) Essex, (iii) the Metropolitan Police area of London and (iv) England and Wales in each year since 1996. [64682]
Paul Goggins: The information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females were imprisoned for failure to pay a fixed penalty as a result of their committing an offence under section 14 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in each of the last two years for which figures are available, broken down by age. [64704]
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Fiona Mactaggart: The information is not available.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the fixed penalty was for a contravention of (a) section 33A of the Road Traffic Act 1972 and (b) section 14 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in each year since 1983. [64703]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Road Traffic Act 1972 has been repealed, but its provisions concerning the wearing of protective helmets by riders of motor cycles were re-enacted in the Road Traffic Act 1988. Section 14 of the 1988 Act concerns the wearing of seat belts. The offences are non-endorsable. In 1983 the fixed penalty for non-endorsable offences was £10. In 1986 the penalty was raised to £12 . In 1990 the penalty was raised to £16 and in 1992 was raised to £20. From 1 November 2000 the penalty was raised to its current level of £30.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many speed camera tickets have been cancelled in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Southend because the driver could show he was attending an emergency in each year since 1997. [64691]
Paul Goggins: Information is not available centrally on the number of drivers of emergency vehicles who elect to challenge a speed camera ticket.
Sentencing Guidelines Council
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had during the last two years with the Sentencing Guidelines Council on the consistency of sentencing; what the (a) date, (b) time, (c) location and (d) duration was of each meeting; and if he will make a statement. [64698]
Fiona Mactaggart: Section 170(5)(a) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides that the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC) must have regard to the need to promote consistency in sentencing when framing or revising sentencing guidelines. Courts are required to have regard to relevant sentencing guidelines and, when departing from them, state the reasons for doing so.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department has not met with the SGC within the last two years.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the likely impact of the Sentencing Guidelines Council on the size of the (a) probation and (b) prisons case load over the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [65005]
Fiona Mactaggart:
Published projections of future workloads for prison and probation take into account legislative and other changes with an agreed timetable. This includes the new sentences under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 where the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC) guideline, published in December 2004, has been taken into account in estimating the likely impacts on workloads. The Updated and revised prison populations projections: 2005–2011 England and Wales (HOSB 10/05)" were published in July 2005. There may be impacts from future SGC guidelines on specific offences, but until these have been finalised and published, it is not possible to take account of them in our estimates.
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Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the occasions in each of the last three years when he has proposed to the Sentencing Guidelines Council (a) that sentencing guidelines and (b) allocation guidelines be framed or revised by the council (i) in respect of offences or offenders of a particular category and (ii) in respect of a particular matter affecting sentencing. [65008]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Sentencing Guidelines Council was set up in March 2004. In 2004, the council was asked to consider the level of fines imposed by courts where a fixed penalty notice had been declined for the offence of driving while uninsured. In 2005, the council was asked to consider issuing guidance on the provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 relating to the assessment of dangerousness.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Council Tax Rebate
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners received the council tax rebate announced in the 2005 Budget in (a) Manchester, Withington and (b) England. [64073]
Mr. Timms: This information is not currently available. I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as it is. I expect this to be by the summer.
Government Buildings (Lytham St Annes)
Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether he plans to end in the next five years any of his Department's activities currently undertaken on the Government building site at Heyhouses Lane, Lytham St. Annes; and if he will make a statement; [47074]
(2) if he will list (a) the sections of (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies and (b) those working on contract for the Department located on the Government building site at Heyhouses Lane, Lytham St. Annes. [47075]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 31 January 2006]: The Department continues to look for more efficient use of its property and is currently reviewing the size and shape of its Head Office estate as part of its efficiency challenge. Proposals, which include consideration of the Department's buildings in Blackpool and Lytham St. Anne's, including Heyhouses Lane, are currently with the Department's Executive Team and Ministers. Any proposals for change will, of course, be subject to full consultation with staff and departmental trade unions.
The following sections of the Department have staff that are located on the Government building site on Heyhouses Lane, Lytham St. Anne's.
The following agencies of the Department have staff that are located on the Government building site on Heyhouses Lane, Lytham St. Anne's.
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The following contractors of the Department have staff that are located on the Government building site on Heyhouses Lane, Lytham St. Anne's.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many recipients of incapacity benefit in Tamworth had their benefit reduced in each of the last five years, broken down by reason; and if he will make a statement; [48647]
(2) how many people living in Tamworth constituency claimed incapacity benefit in each year since 1997; and what proportion of the working age population in the constituency this represents in each year. [48648]
Mrs. McGuire [pursuant to the reply, 15 February 2005, Official Report, c. 2184W]: The only reason for a claimant's incapacity benefit to be reduced is the receipt of an occupational pension in excess of £85.00 a week. The number of cases so affected in Tamworth is too small to be able to provide a precise figure.
Information on the number of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Tamworth parliamentary constituency is in the table. Working-age population figures are not available for parliamentary constituencies, so the information about proportions cannot be estimated.
Notes:
1. The parliamentary constituency figures for the years 1997 to 1998 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
3. 'Claimant' figures include all IB and SDA, including IB credits only cases.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples from 1997 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of those making an incapacity benefit claim on grounds of (a) certain infectious and parasitic diseases, (b) neoplasms, (c) diseases of the blood and blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism, (d) endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, (e) mental and
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behavioural disorders, (f) diseases of the nervous system, (g) diseases of the eye and adnexa, (h) diseases of the ear and mastoid process, (i) diseases of the circulatory system, (j) diseases of the respiratory system, (k) factors influencing health status and contact with health services, (l) diseases of the digestive system, (m) diseases of the skin and subcutaneous system, (n) diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, (o) diseases of the genitourinary system, (p) pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium,
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(q) certain conditions originating in the perinatal period, (r) congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities, (s) symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified and (t) injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes; were disallowed following a personal capability assessment in each of the last three years. [64497]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the table.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. —" means nil or negligible.
3. Figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance, including IB credits only cases.
4. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total IB only terminations for May 2004 increased by 33 per cent. in the year following their initial release
Source:
Information Directorate, five per cent. samples.
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