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10 May 2006 : Column 320W—continued
Drug Confiscations (Prisons)
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the quantities of each drug that have been confiscated in prisons in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [67758]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information my hon. Friend has requested is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The Prison Service is improving its data collection and is shortly to begin implementation of a new system called CNOMIS for recording gathering data.
Ex-prisoners
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the involvement of crime reduction partnerships in the resettlement of ex-prisoners. [65585]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The importance of involving crime reduction partnership agencies in the resettlement of offenders is recognised in the NOMS regional strategies to reduce re-offending as well as nationally in the
Government's Reducing Re-offending Delivery Plan. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland launched three alliances, including the Civic Alliance which set out how NOMS can work with local authorities and local communities to reduce re-offending.
These are now being rolled out across the nine regions and Wales by Regional Offender Managers (ROMs). The ROM in the East Midlands, along with the Local Government Association and Society of Local Government Chief Executives, is leading a demonstration project on how NOMS will work with local Strategic Partnerships and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) through local area agreements to reduce re-offending in local communities. To date no evaluation of the effectiveness of CDRPs’ involvement specifically in the resettlement of ex-prisoners has been completed. However, work has recently begun in London to examine the operation of a scheme aimed at meeting the needs of prisoners resettling in eight London boroughs.
The scheme—the London Resettlement Pilot—forms part of the London Resettlement Strategy published in September 2005. The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in the eight boroughs (Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Brent, Barnet, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Harrow and Ealing) are working with Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London. They have nominated local strategic leaders who are working to develop enhanced and co-ordinated responses to the needs of resettling prisoners. An action research project has been commissioned which will report in summer 2006 on the resettlement pilot and will include an assessment of progress being made through working with local partnerships in this way.
An evaluation is also currently underway of the impact of Prolific and other Priority Offenders Programme (PPO), which is being implemented by CDRPs and local Strategic Partnerships. One strand of the programme is aimed at rehabilitating and resettling PPOs who are in custody or serving sentences in the community, through closer working between all relevant agencies and continued post-sentence support. A final report on this work is due in autumn 2006.
Foreign Prisoners
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what prison programmes there are to assist the rehabilitation of foreign national prisoners. [69539]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service offers a range of opportunities to develop the skills and meet the needs of prisoners including foreign nationals. These include education and training, specialist programmes, work and resettlement courses. English for speakers of other languages is provided where that need is present, and may have to be undertaken prior to engagement in other interventions.
Identity Cards
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the effectiveness of identification
cards and associated data in (i) thwarting acts of terror and (ii) helping identify perpetrators; and if he will make a statement. [47960]
Joan Ryan: We have carefully evaluated the effectiveness of identity cards in contributing to preventing and disrupting terrorism, and in identifying those engaged in terrorism. For reasons relating to national security, it is not possible to go into details. The Security Services have said that an ID card will help. Eliza Manningham-Buller, Director General of the Security Services, said:
“Widespread use of false documents is an essential aspect of terrorist activities. Al-Qaeda's own training manual requires its operatives to acquire false identities to hide their terrorist activities. ID Cards will make it more difficult for terrorists to operate”.
In the translation of the Al-Qaeda training manual (found by the Manchester Police during a search of an Al-Qaeda member's home) it states in the Third Lesson relating to Counterfeit Currency and Forged Documents:
“The brother who has special work status (commander, communication link,...) should have more than one identity card and passport. He should learn the contents of each, the nature of the [indicated] profession, and the dialect of the residence area listed in the document.”
Informants (HMP Wandsworth)
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been made about the use of illegal informants at HM Prison Wandsworth; what action was taken in each case; what disciplinary sanctions resulted; and if he will make a statement. [69420]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not Prison Service policy to discuss the use of informants in individual establishments.
International Arrest Warrants
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2006, Official Report, column 1619W, on international arrest warrants, if he will place in the Library copies of the written representations from the Israeli Government. [69808]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not our practice to deposit in the Library representations received from foreign Governments in confidence.
Israel
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2006, Official Report, column 1416W, on which dates his officials met representatives of Israel; who those representatives were; and what written submissions those representatives presented on the issuing of arrest warrants in international cases. [68401]
Joan Ryan: Discussions took place with the Minister Plenipotentiary from the Israeli embassy on 10 April this year. The written representations concerned the potential for arrest warrants to be sought against Israeli citizens and members of the Israeli defence forces visiting the United Kingdom.
John Joseph Tourney
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken by the Criminal Cases Review Commission to comply with the Order of the Divisional Court in the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland made on 22 June 2005 in connection with the application by John Joseph Tourney for judicial review of a decision by the Commission. [67690]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not the practice to comment on the outcome of individual cases. The hon. Member's letter of 19 April 2006. In their letter they set out their consideration of the case and how they have complied with the Order of the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Murderers
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of convicted murderers were on (a) probation, (b) early release and (c) parole when they committed their offence in each of the last five years. [65495]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is not available in the precise form requested. Data on the number of murder convictions in England and Wales from 2000-04 can be found in the table. Individuals are subject to probation supervision when there is a statutory requirement following a community penalty or release from a custodial sentence (including parole and automatic conditional release). Data on the number of individuals who were convicted of murder while being supervised by the Probation Service can be found in the table.
The information is not available to show how many of those offenders who were convicted of murder when being supervised by the Probation Service, were serving community sentences or were on licence following release from custody. Until 2004, the data on the number of individuals convicted of a serious offence while subject to probation supervision was collected under the Serious Incident Reporting (SIR) process by calendar year. From 1 April 2004, when the SIR process was replaced by the Serious Further Offence process, data on the number of murders and other serious offences committed by offenders being supervised by the Probation Service began to be collected by business year. Between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005, 26 offenders being supervised by the Probation Service were convicted of murder.
| Data on the number of murder convictions in England and Wales from 2000-04 | |
| Total number of murder convictions( 1) | |
| (1 ) Source Office for Criminal Justice Reform |
| Data on the umber of individuals convicted of murder whilst under probation supervision | |
| Murder convictions by individuals under supervision by the Probation Service( 1) | |
| (1) Source RDS NOMS Offender Caseload Statistics |
National Offender Management Service
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what areas of the prison estate the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has taken over direct responsibility. [67346]
Mr. Sutcliffe: NOMS is responsible for all areas of the prison estate.
Passports
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which retail outlets are allowed to hold passport application forms. [67763]
Joan Ryan: Passport application forms are available from those Post Office branches and Worldchoice travel agents that offer the passport “Check and Send” service. There are around 2,800 such outlets across the UK. Application packs are also available from the Passport Adviceline, the Application Form Request line, and the Identity and Passport Service website. Application packs are regularly reviewed and updated. These arrangements ensure that passport applicants are able to obtain up to date application packs, and also allow for the efficient control of stock.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to reduce the number of passports lost by the UK Passport Service since the introduction of the use of the special mail service. [68702]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 8 May 2006]: The Identity and Passport Service is working closely with SMS to reduce losses in the delivery process. The following actions have been taken:
“To deal with the threat of courier attacks, delivery routes and delivery times are changed regularly, and double manning used.
Security at SMS branches has been strengthened, and vehicle tracking improved.
A higher standard of secure delivery for 80 per cent. of addresses.
New technology is being deployed to improve location of addresses, and evidence of delivery.
As there is a clear audit trail for the delivery of each passport, every loss is fully investigated including to check whether postcode details have been correctly captured, and performance and procedural improvements made.”
Where losses are confirmed, the passport details are recorded on IPS's lost and stolen passport database to prevent misuse. Also, all passports contain security features to prevent counterfeiting and forgery, and to recognise it when it is attempted. Since the introduction of secure delivery in February 2004, secure mail services have successfully delivered nearly 13 million items 98 per cent. on the next day.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fraudulent passport applications were made in each of the last 10 years; and how many of those applications involved (a) identity theft and (b) false declarations where the individual was otherwise entitled to a passport. [68705]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 4 May 2006]: Figures for the number of fraudulent passport applications detected by the Identity and Passport Service since 1996 are set out in the table.
| Number | |
IPS introduced in March 2005 a new and comprehensive fraud casework and management information system. This is used for the progression of cases of suspected fraud and the collection, collation and analysis of information relating to passport fraud. Prior to the introduction of this system information relating to frauds detected was collated through manual processes and the analysis of breakdowns of types of fraudulent applications was not available. Figures relating to fraudulent applications involving identity theft and false declarations where the individual was otherwise entitled to a passport, for the period April 2005 to January 2006 are as follows:
| Number | |
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dispatched passports have been reported lost since February 2004; and what estimate he has made of the number of such lost passports that may have been stolen. [68706]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 8 May 2006]: The estimated number of passports lost whilst in the delivery process for the period February 2004 to January 2006 is 1,561. Of these, 308 are known to have been lost as a consequence of robbery or theft, or lost whilst being delivered by secure mail services. The remainder are passports that have been misposted by couriers, and not subsequently recovered.
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