You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Commons Debates by date > Commons Debates - previous sessions > Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1306W—continued


Twickenham Social Security Office

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for the disposal of Twickenham social security office at 121/125 Heath Road. [73166]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions has vacated 121/125 Heath Road Twickenham. It was surrendered to our Estates Service Providers, Land Securities Trillium, on 28 February 2006. The Department is not involved in any disposal plans for the building.

Home Department

Charity Commission

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expertise in the education field the Charity Commission has; and what further training he expects to be made available to Charity Commission staff before it assumes responsibility for the supervision of trust schools. [68429]

Edward Miliband [holding answer 8 May 2006]: I have been asked to reply.

The role of the Charity Commission as the regulator of charities in England and Wales is to secure compliance with charity law, to deal with abuse and poor practice, and to enable charities to work better within an effective legal, accounting and governance framework. In its work with charitable schools the Commission is concerned with the governors’ compliance with their legal obligations in exercising control and management of the school under charity law and it has substantial expertise in this area. The Commission is not competent to judge the quality and standard of education and care.


14 Jun 2006 : Column 1307W

Commission on Integration and Cohesion

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the Commission on Integration and Cohesion to report. [73390]

Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government expects to be in a position to make an announcement about the timetable and scope for the Commission on Integration and Cohesion before the summer recess.

Community Support Officers

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers there are in Coventry, South. [76528]

Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) at basic command unit level is collected annually. At the end of June 2005 (latest available data) the M2 operational command unit which covers the Coventry, South parliamentary constituency had four police community support officers. The deployment of PCSOs within the West Midlands police area is a matter for the chief constable. Data are not collected below operational basic command unit level.

Crime Control Orders

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) drug treatment and testing orders, (b) antisocial behaviour orders and (c) community orders have been (i) made, (ii) breached and (iii) revoked in the last 12 months. [68795]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on persons given drug treatment and testing orders and other community orders and those breaching them, is published in table 4.13 of ‘Sentencing Statistics, England and Wales, 2004’ (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 15/05). Information relating to termination of community orders, including DTTOs, is published in table 5.1 of ‘Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004’ (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 17/05).

These publications can be found in the Library and also on the Home Office website, as follows:

For offences committed after 4 April 2005, drug treatment and testing orders are no longer available. The new community order may comprise up to 12 requirements, one of which is the drug rehabilitation requirement.

The number of ASBOs issued at all courts in 2004, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, is 2,668. From 1 January 2005 to 30 September 2005 (latest available) 2,679 ASBOs have been issued. Between 1 January 2004 to 30 September 2005 notification has been received of 11 ASBOs being revoked.

ASBO breach data are currently available from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2003 for ASBOs issued since 1 June 2000. During this period, of the 1,892 ASBOs issued, 793 persons were convicted of
14 Jun 2006 : Column 1308W
breaching their ASBO on one or more occasions. Of these, 134 were for breach of ASBO alone.

Criminal Record Checks

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost to the Criminal Records Bureau is of processing a disclosure application. [76159]

Joan Ryan: The average unit processing cost for a disclosure for the financial year 2005-06 was £26.10. This figure includes payments to Police, the CRB’s Public Private Partner, Capita, and the Agency’s own costs. It does not include the Bureau’s development costs. 20 per cent. of applications processed in 2005-06 were for volunteers and did not attract a fee. While the 2005-06 Standard and Enhanced Disclosure fees were respectively £29 and £34, the non-paying status of volunteers meant that the average unit income for a disclosure during the financial year 2005-06 was £26.15.

E-crime

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate (a) the extent and (b) the cost to the UK economy of e-crime in each of the last five years. [76722]

Mr. Coaker: We do not collect figures specifically on e-crime. However, the “DTI Information Security Breaches Survey”, published April 2006, found that 52 per cent. of businesses (84 per cent. of large businesses) suffered premeditated and malicious breaches in 2006, compared with 68 per cent. in 2004 and 44 per cent. in 2002. In assessing costs, the survey showed the average cost of all incidents, both criminal and non-criminal, rose from £10,000 in 2004 to £12,000 in 2006 and estimates the total cost of all incidents is of the order of £10 billion per year, up roughly 50 per cent. since 2004.

The 2003-04 “British Crime Survey”, published April 2006, showed that 27 per cent. (compared with 18 per cent. in 2002-03) of households with internet access reported their home computer had been affected by a computer virus and a third of those reported the virus had damaged their computer. 2 per cent. (in both 2002-03 and 2003-04) of households with internet access reported that someone had accessed or hacked into files on their home computer in the previous 12 months.

APACS, the UK payments association, estimate that internet fraud using UK plastic cards amounted to £117 million in both 2005 and 2004 and that losses from online banking fraud were £23.2 million in 2005, up from £12.2 million in 2004 (figures from the APACS “Fraud: The Facts 2006” publication, February 2006).

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken to process a Criminal Records Bureau check was in the last period for which figures are available. [77334]

Joan Ryan: I refer the hon. Member for Eastbourne to my written answer of 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 1025W.


14 Jun 2006 : Column 1309W

Experience Corps

Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the Experience Corps has issued no public briefing papers since December 2003. [40240]

Edward Miliband [holding answer 9 January 2006]: I have been asked to reply.

The Experience Corps received grant-aid from the Home Office over three financial years until 31 March 2004. It is not a condition of Home Office grant aid that independent charities in receipt of public funding are required to issue public briefing papers.

Human Trafficking

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements will be included in the Government’s Action Plan for Tackling Human Trafficking to ensure that victims of trafficking are (a) treated as victims and (b) not detained. [76665]

Mr. Coaker: We are currently considering the responses to the consultation paper on proposals for tackling human trafficking, many of which focus on the issue of victims and how best to respond to their needs. A summary of the consultation paper responses will be published on the 21 June.

This is an area of concern which requires a careful response and consideration of these issues will form a central part of the National Action Plan against trafficking which will be published later this year.

Misuse of Drugs Act

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; if he will list the statutory instruments that have been made under this Act; and what recent representations he has received on the operation of the Act. [77111]

Mr. Coaker: The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 provides the legal framework for the control of drugs that are considered “dangerous or otherwise harmful”. Through the operation of the Act, the UK has a stable mechanism of drug control which allows the police and the criminal justice system to function effectively in respect of the enforcement of the Act. The Act also enables health professionals to have appropriate access to drugs that have proven medical use.

A list of the Statutory Instruments made under the Act is set out as follows.

The control of drugs gives rise to a wide variety of views and representations on the operation of the Act are regularly made across their full spectrum.


14 Jun 2006 : Column 1310W

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1311W

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1312W
Next Section Index Home Page