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23 May 2006 : Column 1699W—continued
Feltham Young Offenders Institution
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how often psychiatric risk assessment tests are conducted on inmates at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution; [17797]
(2) what proportion of offenders at Feltham Young Offenders Institution are recognised as having (a) mild and (b) severe psychiatric disorders; [17798]
(3) what post-release psychiatric care prisoners receive who have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders whilst detained at Feltham Young Offenders Institution. [17799]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the frequency of psychiatric risk tests at Feltham Young Offenders Institution is not collected centrally. Although inmates may be referred to the community mental health in-reach team, in line with national policy, information is not then collected that would allow a count of the number of psychiatric risk assessment tests that are carried out.
Information on the proportion of offenders with psychiatric disorders at Feltham is not available centrally.
On release, offenders who meet the appropriate criteria are subject to the care programme approach, and leave prison with a full care plan for their future mental health care.
Firearms
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used in drawing up proposals (a) to restrict the use of .338 and .50 calibre rifles and (b) to ban the use of semi-automatic shotguns and .22 calibre weapons. [65426]
Mr. McNulty: Proposals are based on a recommendations by the Firearms Consultative Committee that weapons of excessive power, including those chambered for .50 calibre BMG rounds, should not be permitted for target shooting.
Identity Cards
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued on the level of facial recognition required for wearers of burkas and other facial coverings applying for (a) an identity card and (b) a travel freedom pass. [72088]
Joan Ryan: The identity card will be an international travel document and will have to comply with passport photograph standards, which require a full-face image. Enrolment facilities will be designed so that this can be handled sensitively.
The freedom pass is managed by the Association of London Government on behalf of all London councils, not by the Home Office.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 758W, on identity cards, whether the second identity card issued to the same standard but not for the purposes of travel will be issued automatically; and whether a charge will be imposed. [71711]
Joan Ryan: Arrangements regarding the surrender of an identity card valid for travel by an individual subject to a football banning order will be specified closer to the time of introduction of identity cards. An identity card which will not be valid for travel will be issued to the same standard as a card which will be valid for travel.
Identity Theft
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of identity theft were recorded in (a) Suffolk and (b) the East of England in each of the last five years. [72636]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available centrally. Offences of identity theft cannot be separately identified in the recorded crime series.
Illegal Vehicles
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional powers have been made available for (a) police officers and (b) local authorities to confiscate (i) illegal off-road vehicles and (ii) untaxed motor vehicles since 1997. [71370]
Mr. Coaker: Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 empowers the police to seize vehicles being driven inconsiderately or carelessly on road contrary to section three of the Road Traffic Act 1988, or off-road without authority, contrary to sections 34 of the Act if at the same time they are being driven in such a manner as to cause or be likely to cause alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public.
Section 152 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, creates a power for the police to seize immediately vehicles, including off-road vehicles, which
are detected being used on the road by someone who does not have appropriate insurance or driving licence.
The Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 1997 authorise the clamping and impounding of unlicensed vehicles on the public road. Regulation three allows the Secretary of State to authorise local authorities, police forces or any other person to use these powers.
Sections 79 to 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 empower local authorities to seize off-road vehicles causing a noise nuisance. Since 1997 local authorities have acquired no other vehicle seizure powers.
Independent Monitoring Boards
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the performance of each Independent Monitoring Board; and if he will make a statement. [16373]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Each Independent Monitoring Board’s annual report provides detail and analysis of Board activity during the year as well as the Board’s observations of issues of concern and good practice in the running of the prison or immigration removal centre. In addition Boards undertake an annual team performance review, an exercise that involves all members in taking stock of the Board’s performance over a period of time to identify good practice and recognise where there is scope for improvement.
Legislation
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received about the operation of sections 4, 4A, 4B and 4C of the Theft Act 1968; and whether he has plans to amend this Act. [70376]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have not received any representations recently about the operation of any part of section four of the Theft Act 1968. I have no current plans to amend this part of the 1968 Act.
MI5 (Northern Ireland)
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any (a) disciplinary and (b) criminal investigations are under way into the failure of MI5 to pass threat information to the Police Service of Northern Ireland on a possible bombing at Omagh prior to 15 August 1998. [66525]
John Reid: There are no such investigations.
The Chief Constable, for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, made it clear in his statement of 1 March to the Policing Board that the Security Service did not withhold intelligence that was relevant or that would have progressed the Omagh inquiry.
Motoring Offences
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the police take to
contact insurers to trace the owners of vehicles wanted for moving road traffic offences. [70181]
Mr. Coaker: The police have access to the motor insurers' database. What further investigation they undertake is an operational matter for individual chief officers.
National Criminal Intelligence Service
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what complaints were received about the recruitment process for National Criminal Intelligence Service posts at the new regional office in Belfast advertised in autumn 2003; and what changes have been implemented as a result. [64732]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 24 April 2006]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Dodds) on 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 377W.
National Hi-Tech Crime Unit
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to replace the contact service formerly provided via the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit website. [72507]
Mr. Coaker: The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), as part of the National Crime Squad, became part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on 1 April 2006 and now operates under the title of SOCA e-Crime.
The NHTCU was never a crime recording centre and always requested members of the public to contact their local police force. The NHTCU provided a website that contained a great deal of advice relating to harm reduction and awareness surrounding the use of computers and the internet. The content of the website has been saved and discussion is ongoing as to the most appropriate location for this to be available. Organisations and members of the public who wish to report a crime should continue to contact their local police force in the normal way.
National Identity Register
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there exists a prohibition in law on supplying data from the National Identity Register to a foreign government for purposes connected with (a) national security and (b) the prevention and detection of crime. [67293]
Joan Ryan: Section 18 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 allows information to be provided to overseas authorities, for example law enforcement agencies, for the purposes of criminal proceedings and investigations, as provided for in section 17 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. This is subject to safeguards provided in section 21 of the Identity Cards Act and section 18 of the 2001 Act.
Other than that, there is no provision, or power to make provision, in the Identity Cards Act for information from the NIR to be provided, without consent, overseas.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Identity Register will include information and data supplied by (a) the Valuation Office Agency, (b) Ordnance Survey, (c) HM Revenue and Customs, (d) electoral registers held by local authorities and (e) the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors. [70713]
Joan Ryan: The National Identity Register will not be an amalgam of information held on existing Government databases. It is intended to be populated with identity information provided by applicants as they apply for an identity card, either as an individual card or in conjunction with an application for a designated document.
Section 9 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 does permit the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to verify identity information provided by applicants against data held by other organisations as part of the enrolment process, subject to secondary legislation. Details of such steps to validate the information provided by applicants and its results may be held on the National Identity Register, as stated in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 of the Act. However, as stated, such checks cannot occur unless they have received the prior approval of Parliament in secondary legislation under the affirmative resolution procedures.
IPS is currently working with other Government Departments, including Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to identify which government data sources would provide the most accurate verification of identity information provided by applicants. Ordnance Survey information may be used as a secondary check to verify that an address provided by an applicant exists.
It is also possible that data sources used as part of this check may in turn have verified their data through conducting a check against electoral roll registers. For example, the Personal Information Process being introduced to validate passport applications includes a check of identity information against credit reference agency records, which were checked against information on electoral registers.
However, there are no plans to verify identity information provided by applicants with information held by the Valuation Office Agency or the proposed Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what secure remote authentication in connection with the National Identity Register will be available over the (a) telephone and (b) internet; and what technological options have been proposed for these purposes. [73167]
Joan Ryan: At present, the Identity and Passport Service is working with experts to review various alternatives that allow the implementation of secure remote authentication. This includes research into the concept of a ‘challenge response’ process, which allows for the generation of a one-off password for a person to use in a single transaction.
However, the purpose of this research is to inform requirement setting as the National Identity Scheme prepares for the start of a procurement process as well as to provide a basis on which to judge solutions proposed by potential suppliers.
Thus, as it will be for bidders to propose technical options that meet the Scheme’s requirements for secure remote authentication, no definitive options have been proposed, nor can they be, until the procurement process is underway.
Offences Against the Person Act
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances an offender found guilty of an offence under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 would be released from prison without (a) consultation with the police and (b) supervision; and if he will make a statement. [65009]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The police are routinely informed of the release of all prisoners. Police are partners in multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), which are statutory arrangements operated by criminal justice and social care agencies to manage serious sexual and violent offenders and protect the public. The police are therefore involved in the management of potentially dangerous offenders, generally those sentenced to 12 months or more for a sexual or violent offence. All fixed-term prisoners serving 12 months or more, or aged less than 22 years at the point of release, and all prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence are subject to statutory supervision upon release. The only exception is the small number of prisoners released at the end of their custodial term under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1967.
Parking Fines
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Government have made of the total revenue raised from parking fines in England in the most recent year for which figures are available. [70721]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the total revenue from parking fines is not collected centrally.
However estimates are given in the table based on information collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of fixed penalties issued and fines given at court for 2004 (latest available). This information is published in the Home Office publication “Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales Supplementary tables”. Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
The Court Proceedings Database and the Fixed Penalty Notices collection do not distinguish between obstruction, waiting and parking contraventions. The decision as to whether to issue a fixed penalty notice is a matter for the police and where the offence is decriminalised, a matter for the local authority.
Not all fines and fixed penalties will have been paid.
Information for 2005 will be available early in 2007.
Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) powers allow local authorities to take over responsibility for enforcing parking contraventions from the police. Not all local authorities operate decriminalised parking enforcements so such data on fixed penalty charges issued under DPE powers are not included within the table. Data on penalty charge notices (PCNs) from local authorities operating Decriminalised Parking Enforcement can be found in the Home Office publication “Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales 2004, Supplementary tables”. The latest publication 2004 (Tables 22(a)-22(b)) lists data by local authorities partaking in the scheme. Copies of the publication are available in the Library. The publication can also be accessed on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics (RDS) website.
Parole
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many convicted murderers released on parole in each of the last 15 years have broken the terms of their release; [53126]
(2) how many convicted rapists released on parole in each of the last 15 years have subsequently broken the terms of their release; [53130]
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