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22 Jun 2006 : Column 2109W—continued
Antisocial Behaviour
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on action taken by groups of residents in response to antisocial
behaviour in their locality; and if he will make a statement. [78165]
Mr. McNulty: The Respect programme places the emphasis on local agencies to use the tools and powers they have been given to swiftly and effectively tackle antisocial behaviour and its causes. The implementation of neighbourhood policing teams and the increase in the number of police community support officers means that there are more resources than ever before on the streets to respond appropriately to antisocial behaviour and there will be no excuse for inaction.
The current programme of Respect academies outlines how important communications, accountability and visibility are for public services tackling antisocial behaviour. To successfully tackle antisocial behaviour we need people to work in partnership with the police and local authorities. We want to encourage people to come forward, complain and take a stand, collect evidence and play an active part in residents' and community groups. The Respect “Taking A Stand” scheme continues to recognise members of the public for their courage in tackling disrespect and antisocial behaviour in their communities.
This Government are determined to empower the public to hold their leaders to account and have their say about the issues that matter most to them. We will ensure that senior representatives of all Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships hold regular ‘face the people’ sessions to promote greater accountability and visibility in local services. And we are committed to introducing a ‘community call for action’, a power that will give local communities a formal way to request and ensure that action is taken by the police, local authorities and others in response to persistent antisocial behaviour or community safety problems, where action is not already being taken.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place in his Department to ensure that local agency reports of antisocial behaviour are standardised; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those measures. [78528]
Mr. McNulty:
In 2004 the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS) published “Defining and Measuring Antisocial behaviour” which contained a typology of antisocial behaviour intended to provide a practical guide to the main categories of behaviour that are widely accepted to be antisocial by both practitioners and the public. This has been used to develop a standard focus for work aimed at tackling antisocial behaviour problems locally. The introduction of the antisocial behaviour hotline “It's your call” in 49 areas since January 2005 has encouraged the public to report incidents of antisocial behaviour and has helped to further standardise local agencies' reporting of antisocial behaviour. Building on “It's your call”, the single non-emergency number, 101, is currently being rolled out by local authorities and police partnerships across England and Wales and will provide the public with easy access to community safety and antisocial behaviour services, advice and information. The recording and categorisation of incidents of antisocial behaviour reported to 101 will be standardised based on the Home Office RDS typology of antisocial behaviour as well as the Police National
Standard for Incident Recording. This will facilitate the greater standardisation of reporting by local agencies as well as supporting a more effective operational approach to reducing incidents and patterns of antisocial behaviour and improving the quality of services to the public. The 101 service will be operational across England and Wales by 2008.
Anti-terrorism Funding
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to paragraph 6.68 of the 2006 Budget, what projects will be funded by the increased anti-terrorism funding. [63440]
Mr. McNulty: The Government have dedicated £63 million extra this year and £100 million extra the year after to expand the police specialist CT capacity outside London, as well as an extra £30 million this year and an extra £45 million next year for the metropolitan police. The £42.5 million referred to in paragraph 6.68 of the 2006 budget report is included in these figures.
For obvious reasons I do not want to identify particular projects, but this additional funding will strengthen the police service’s intelligence and investigative capability both in the capital and across the rest of the service and will complement the additional funding provided for the Security and Intelligence Agencies already announced. In total, over the two years, the police service will receive £446 million specifically for countering the international terrorist threat and domestic extremism.
Asylum/Immigration
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been housed in (a) Greater London, (b) the London borough of Hillingdon and (c) Uxbridge constituency in each of the last seven years. [46604]
Mr. Byrne: The number of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) is published on a quarterly and annual basis, broken down by Government office region and local authority; this is available from December 2002. The latest publication covering the first quarter of 2006 and historic publications are available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html. Data on asylum seekers supported by NASS broken down by parliamentary constituency are also available from the Library of the House.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been given indefinite leave to remain having served a prison sentence for a non-political crime outside the UK in (a) the last 12 months and (b) each of the last five years. [75364]
Mr. Byrne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate does not currently record the information requested.
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers have been returned to Iran in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [75885]
Mr. Byrne: Information on the destination of asylum removals has only been recorded since the start of 2004. The latest published information on removal of asylum seekers covers the first quarter of 2006. The number of principal asylum applicants, excluding dependants, removed to Iran, was 220 in 2004, 350 in 2005, and 95 in the first quarter of 2006.
These figures include people departing voluntarily after enforcement action has been initiated against them and people leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. Since 2005 removal figures will include those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Information on removals of asylum seekers for the second quarter of 2006 will be published later this year on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers that have yet to be deported reside in (a) Peterborough constituency and (b) Peterborough city council area. [77922]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not readily available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers there are in (a) Peterborough constituency, (b) Peterborough city council area and (c) the East of England. [77926]
Mr. Byrne: Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are linked to the available information on the support that the asylum seeker receives. The number of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) is published on a quarterly and annual basis, broken down by Government Office region and local authority. The most recent publication covering the first quarter of 2006, and further historical publications are available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Data on asylum seekers supported by NASS broken down by parliamentary constituency are also available from the Library of the House.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time was after the 18th birthday of a person who arrived as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child for them to receive an interview for discretionary leave to remain in the last period for which figures are available. [78421]
Mr. Byrne: There are no published statistics for the length of time to interview unaccompanied asylum seeking children after their 18th birthday.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons granted bail by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal have committed offences while on bail in each of the last five years. [76198]
Mr. Byrne: The information is not collected centrally and therefore would be available only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been granted indefinite leave to remain in each of the last 10 years. [76349]
Mr. Byrne: Statistics on persons granted settlement in the United Kingdom since 1994 were published in Table 5.3 of the annual Command Paper “Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2004”. Copies are available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
The 2005 edition is due to be published on 22 August 2006.
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has received concerning the whereabouts of asylum detainees who escaped from the Yarl’s Wood detention centre on 14 February 2002; and if he will make a statement. [73925]
Mr. Byrne: Many records were burnt or destroyed on the night of the fire and, to the best of our knowledge, the following figures are correct. Of the 23 escapees 16 have been relocated. Of these, nine have been removed, four re-detained (three of whom were subsequently released), one reported to Croydon Enforcement Unit voluntarily and was released and two were granted temporary release. The whereabouts of seven remain unknown. Decisions on the 16 were made in line with the casework criteria as it applies to their individual circumstances.
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detainees who escaped from the Yarl’s Wood detention centre on 14 February 2002 have been deported. [73927]
Mr. Byrne: Of the 23 detainees who escaped from Yarl’s Wood on 14 February 2002, nine have been removed from the United Kingdom.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 26 April from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, Ref: M10324/6. [78042]
Mr. Byrne:
The correspondence was received in the Home Office on 28 April, but was subsequently transferred to the Department for Trade and Industry on 3 May. The subject matter then became the
responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government, who should be replying shortly.
Court Orders
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) exclusion orders, (b) curfews and (c) parenting orders have been issued by Luton police in the last 12 months. [78443]
Mr. McNulty: 75 curfew orders were issued in the Luton and South Bedfordshire petty sessional area during 2004 (including any heard at the Crown court, having been committed by the said petty sessional area), the latest period for which figures are available. Parenting orders are issued by courts. The Youth Justice Board collects the number of parenting orders related to youth offending or antisocial behaviour broken down by youth offending team area. It is currently reviewing these figures for the period 2004-05 and 2005-06.
I will write to the hon. Member when the reviewed figures are available Three notifications of exclusion orders made under section 40A of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act issued in the Luton and South Bedfordshire petty sessional area were received by the Home Office during 2004. There is no requirement to notify exclusion orders (made under the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) Act 1980) to the Home Office.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) curfews, (b) exclusion orders and (c) parenting orders have been issued in the Essex police area in the last 12 months. [78185]
Mr. McNulty: 187 curfew orders were issued at all courts in the Essex police force area during 2004, the latest period for which figures are available. The Youth Justice Board collects the number of Parenting Orders related to youth offending or anti-social behaviour broken down by youth offending team area. It is currently reviewing these figures for the period 2004-05 and 2005-06. I will write to the hon. Member when the reviewed figures are available. No notifications of exclusion orders made under section 40A of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act issued in Essex were received by the Home Office during 2004. There is no requirement to notify exclusion orders made under the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) Act 1980 to the Home Office.
Crime (Merseyside)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which areas in Merseyside are considered high crime areas; and if he will make a statement on measures taken to reduce crime in these places. [78524]
Mr. McNulty: There are five Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in Merseyside, of which only Liverpool is defined as a high crime area for the purposes of the Home Office Public Service Agreement 1. A range of measures have been put in place to reduce crime in Liverpool. It participates in targeted initiatives such as the Drugs Intervention Programme, the Tackling Violent Crime Programme and the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign, as well as the Prolific and Priority Offenders Strategy, which has been rolled out to all local areas to enable them to deal with their most problematic offenders. Merseyside is also a Specialist Domestic Violence Court Programme roll out area with specialist courts, supported through funding by the Home Office, developing across the Criminal Justice Area. Further measures tackle burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, antisocial behaviour and hate crime.
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the powers of crime and disorder reduction partnerships. [78328]
Mr. McNulty: Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have duties, rather than powers, under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The Home Office has recently conducted a review of the relevant provisions of this Act in order further to strengthen the visibility, responsiveness, membership and role of CDRPs. Our aim is to make-them the most effective possible vehicle for tackling crime and disorder, substance misuse, antisocial behaviour, and environmental crime at a local level. The review findings were published on 25 January 2006. A copy is available in the Library of the House. The legislative changes required to implement the recommendations of the review are included in the Police and Justice Bill, currently before Parliament..
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority expects to publish an annual report for 2003-04. [79020]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The annual report and accounts of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority were laid before Parliament on 15 June 2006, Official Report, column 71WS, and will be published by 30 June 2006.
Departmental Contractors
Mr. Wallace:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any contractors have been dismissed from contracts with his Department because
of illegal working practices since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [73876]
Mr. Byrne: A 100 per cent. manual search through all contract records would incur disproportionate cost.
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