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3 May 2006 : Column 1618W—continued
Firearms
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many converted firearms have been used in criminal acts where a shot has been fired in the last five years. [65424]
Hazel Blears: Statistics for crimes involving certain converted weapons have only been collected separately since April 2004. There were six offences where 'converted air pistols' or 'converted imitation handguns' were fired.
In these offences a converted weapon was specified as a weapon type. It is likely that some other offences involved converted weapons being fired, but the weapon type would have been specified differently, handgun for example.
Gun Crime
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many gun crimes have been committed in the past 5 years using .22 calibre sports pistols. [67143]
Hazel Blears: Crimes involving this type of handgun cannot be identified from data collected centrally.
Handgun Legislation (Olympics)
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice has been given by the police to his Department in relation to a possible relaxation to the handgun legislation for Olympic target shooters. [67140]
Hazel Blears: We liaise closely with the police in relation to the arrangements needed to allow pistol shooting disciplines to take place at major international events held or to be held in this country including the Olympic games. No specific advice has been given by the police as regards a possible relaxation to the handgun legislation for Olympic target shooters.
Home Detention Curfews
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department within what time period the Parole Board is required to reconsider its decision to refuse a Home Detention Curfew (a) when the Prison Ombudsman has asked a prison for an urgent review of the decision; and (b) what action can be taken when the Board does not meet the deadline. [65708]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The Parole Board has no involvement in Home Detention Curfew (HDC) decisions. The decision rests in the vast majority of cases
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with the relevant prison taking into account the views of other relevant agencies. If the Ombudsman makes a recommendation to review an HDC decision I would expect the review to take place as quickly as possible; taking into account the need to re-assess the risk posed by the individual prisoner, and the need to protect the public.
Homeless People (Arrests)
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many homeless people have been arrested in each of the last eight years. [67107]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not available centrally.
Immigration Detention (Children)
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce a statutory time limit for the detention of children. [66787]
Fiona Mactaggart: Regulations made by the Home Secretary under section 22 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 set custody time limits that restrict the period during which a defendant (including a defendant under 18) who is remanded in custody awaiting trial may be held in custody.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will ensure that welfare assessments for children who are detained are carried out after (a) seven and (b) 21 days; [66788]
(2) if he will ensure that welfare assessments of detained children are undertaken by independent welfare panels. [66789]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Youth Justice Board's National Standards for Youth Justice Services, issued in 2004, specify how welfare assessments are to be carried out., An initial medical assessment of the young person is undertaken on arrival. This is conducted by a qualified nurse or doctor and looks at vulnerability (i.e. risk of self-harm or suicide), as well as any mental health needs and any substance abuse issues.
The National Standards stipulate that a full assessment of the detained young person will be carried out within 10 working days. The full assessment covers the health, social, educational, vocational and any other needs of the young person. After assessment, each young person is to be given a comprehensive induction to the establishment and be allocated a key worker, case worker or case manager.
The National Standards are currently being updated by the Youth Justice Board.
International Arrest Warrants
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received documentary evidence from the Israeli Government on potential changes to UK law on international arrest warrants. [66292]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The Home Office has received written representations from the Israeli Government on the issue of arrest warrants in international cases.
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Mobile Telephones
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment his Department has made of the level of mobile telephone theft in each year since 2001; [66297]
(2) how many people have been successfully prosecuted for the false reporting of mobile telephone theft in the last 12 months for which figures are available; [66298]
(3) how many successful prosecutions there have been in relation to the re-programming of mobile telephones in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [66296]
Hazel Blears: Assessing the true level of mobile phone theft and the false reporting of such theft is not straightforward. This is because these are not distinct offence categories. Rather they are subsumed under broader headings such as 'theft' or 'wasting police time'. As a consequence, specific figures for mobile phone theft and successful prosecutions for false reporting are not held centrally.
In 2001 the Government invested in, and published, a major study of mobile phone theft (Harrington and Mayhew, 2001). Drawing on the British crime survey and youth surveys, the study estimated 710,000 mobile phones were stolen in 2000–01.
The British crime survey (BCS) routinely collects information which assesses the rate of theft among adult mobile phone users. According to the latest published figures, based on the 2002–03 BCS 6.9 per cent. of adult mobile phone users had experienced a theft in the previous 12 months. Younger people, those from a black and minority ethnic background, and those living in areas of high deprivation were significantly more likely to have their mobile phones stolen.
Parole Boards
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what complaints his Department has received from (a) individuals and (b) groups regarding the decisions of parole boards in each of the last five years. [45864]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Party Wall Act
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted under the Party Wall Act 1996 in each year since 1997. [66834]
Fiona Mactaggart: Data from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform shows that since 1997, one person was prosecuted in 1999, and one person was prosecuted in 2004 under the Party Wall Act 1996. Statistics for 2005 will be available in the autumn of 2006.
Police
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on police community support officers. [66850]
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Hazel Blears: We do not track and compile all correspondence on this subject. A number of bodies replied last summer to our public consultation on proposals to establish a standard set of powers. Our response was published on the Home Office website on 18 January at:
Correspondence both then and over the autumn with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities concerned funding for community support officers. More recently, this has been raised again in the light of the Budget Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time police officers there were as at 1 April 2006 in the (a) Northern, (b) Central and (c) Southern Division Basic Command Units of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary; and if he will make a statement. [67442]
Hazel Blears: The latest available information is as at 31 March 2005. Part-time figures for BCUs are not collected centrally. As at 31 March 2005, there were 1,392 full-time police officers and 40 part-time police officers in Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
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