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28 Jun 2006 : Column 510W—continued
Foreign Prisoners
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Somalian nationals were prosecuted for criminal offences in the UK in each of the last five years. [68882]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Hizb-ut-Tehrir
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ban Hizb-ut-Tehrir under his powers of proscription of extremist and terrorist organisations; and if he will make a statement. [76535]
Mr. McNulty: The Terrorism Act 2006, which received Royal Assent on 30 March, widened the criteria for proscription to encompass those groups which glorify terrorism. All possible candidates for proscription will be considered against these widened criteria. We do not comment on individual groups that may be possible candidates for proscription.
The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review. For further information on proscribed groups please see:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups?version=1
Hunting Act
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought under the Hunting Act 2004, broken down by offence. [80156]
Mr. Coaker: The Hunting Act 2004 came into force on 18 February 2005. Data on the number of prosecutions in 2005 will be available this autumn.
Khat
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has conducted research into the prevalence of the use of khat in (a) England and (b) the London borough of Newham. [80632]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office has not conducted research into the prevalence of khat use either nationally or at a local level. However, in 2005 the Home Office published the results of an interview study with 602 Somali people from communities in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Sheffield. This study reported the level and nature of khat use found among those interviewed as well as their attitudes towards khat use and their perceptions of its social and health effects, but it was not designed to assess general prevalence levels. The report is available in the House of Commons Library and on the Home Office website.
Labour Party Conference
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the costs of policing the Labour party conference in September 2006 will be met by Greater Manchester police. [76506]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office provide special grant to police authorities to pay for the policing of the main annual party conferences.
Greater Manchester police have submitted a bid of £3.2 million (revenue) plus £1 million (capital) for policing the 2006 Labour party autumn conference. The application is being considered and a decision will be taken shortly.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when (a) he and (b) his predecessors have met (i) the chairman and (ii) the members of the Sentencing Guidelines Council to discuss their roles within the criminal justice system. [80644]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Secretary has regular meetings with the Lord Chief Justice to discuss matters of mutual interest. The previous Home Secretary visited the Sentencing Guidelines Council on 4 May 2006 and met the members.
National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the funding for the National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit for 2006-07 is being provided by his Department; and what arrangements are in place for the future funding of this Unit. [80769]
Mr. Coaker: In 2006-07 the Home Office is providing 5 per cent. of the funding towards the National Wildlife Crime Unit. This is one half of one full-time post.
Discussions about the future funding of the Unit will take place later in the year.
Offender Managers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government expect to have a named offender manager for all offenders. [80375]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Based on current planning assumptions, all offenders sentenced to a community order or custodial sentence will have an offender manager by September 2008.
Parking Tickets
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parking tickets were issued by the Trent Valley division of the Staffordshire police force in each of the last five years. [80142]
Mr. Coaker:
Available information on fixed penalty notices relating to all offences of obstruction, waiting and parking within the Staffordshire police force area
during the calendar years 2000 to 2004 (latest available) is given in the following table. It is not possible from the data collected centrally to identify the Trent Valley division within the geographical area covered by the Staffordshire police force.
Information for 2005 will be available early in 2007.
| Fixed penalty data for obstruction, waiting and parking offences( 1) , Staffordshire police force area, 2000-04 | ||
| Number of tickets | ||
| Endorsable | Non-endorsable | |
| (1 )Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.22; Transport Act 2000 ss. 173 (5); 173 (6); 173 (7); 174 (3); 175 (2); 175 (3); 175 (4); 190 Highway Act 1835 ss 72 & 78; RTA 1988 ss. 19 & 21; Highways Act 1980 s. 137 (1); Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 ss. 5 (1), 8, 32-36 & 45-53; Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 Regs. 101 & 103; Transport Act 2000 Part III. | ||
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why it took until 22 May 2006 to send a substantive reply to question 48371 on HMP Chelmsford tabled by the hon. Member for West Chelmsford for answer on 6 February; and if he will make a statement. [73866]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 5 June 2006]: I am sorry the hon. Member did not receive a more prompt reply to his question.
Ministers and officials make every effort to answer questions substantively in accordance with performance guidelines. However this delay is unacceptable.
I have asked those responsible for oversight of my Department’s PQs to improve our performance.
Passports
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who applied to renew their UK passports in 2005 did so with a current address in the Irish Republic. [80750]
Joan Ryan: The number of passports issued by the British embassy in Dublin in financial year 2005-06 is 10,817.
Identity and Passport Service (IPS) do not issue passports to applicants with a current address outside of the UK. This is due to the security issues relating to distributing passports by post.
Applicants who reside in the Irish Republic and who do not have a valid UK address are required to renew their passports via a local British embassy office.
Police
David Davis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce final
proposals for police force restructuring in the South West of England. [77127]
Mr. McNulty: As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced during the course of Home Office oral questions on 19 June, no Orders for Home Secretary initiated police force mergers will be laid before the summer recess. Instead, we want to spend the coming months engaging with police forces and police authorities, including those in the South West, in discussions on the best way forward.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial assistance his Department intends to give to Lancashire and Cumbria police authorities to assist in their voluntary merger. [79818]
Mr. McNulty: We have currently offered Lancashire and Cumbria police a total of £17.8 million in restructuring grants, reflecting our commitment to paying 100 per cent. of reasonable set up revenue and capital costs of restructuring, net of reasonable savings, and reflecting their trailblazer status. We expect to come to a final agreement in the autumn.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the cost of bringing protective services in the four Welsh police forces up to the level considered fit for purpose in the report Closing the Gap. [60353]
Mr. McNulty: The case submitted by the four Welsh police authorities in December 2005 identified costs and benefits of force merger, including a considerable investment to provide an uplift in protective services.
Our assessment, based on independent financial review and professional moderation, is that the same benefits could be realised for a much lower investment. The Home Office continues to work with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Welsh police forces and authorities to review the business case, to refine the costs and benefits of providing the necessary uplift in protective service provision while achieving best value for money.
The operational assessment that a single authority and force for Wales is the best for protecting people better from serious crime and terrorism remains unchanged.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been shot by police firearms units and subsequently not been charged with any offence in each of the last five years. [76396]
Mr. McNulty: This information is not collected centrally.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been shot by police firearms units resulting in (a) an injury and (b) a fatality in each of the last five years. [76397]
Mr. McNulty:
The information is not collected in the form requested. Since 2001 there have been 27 separate incidents where conventional weapons were discharged by armed police officers in England and Wales. I
understand from ACPO that 16 people have been fatally shot, and a further six people have received an injury. A breakdown by year is shown in the following table.
| Number of incidents at which firearms discharged by a police officer (England and Wales) | ||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006( 1) | |
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated cost involved in the reorganisation of existing police forces into the Yorkshire and Humber regional force is; and from where the required resources will be provided. [67511]
Mr. McNulty: Based on financial projections currently available and being refined, a net saving from restructuring of £37 million is projected during the first five years of operation of a combined authority.
The Government have undertaken to pay 100 per cent. of reasonable set up revenue and capital costs, net of reasonable savings.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of the (a) civilian staff and (b) specialist police staff involved in level 2 operations and forensic management who are working at the new Gloucestershire constabulary headquarters at Quedgeley if the proposed police restructuring goes ahead. [65519]
Mr. McNulty: The proposed merger of police forces into new strategic forces addresses an identified weakness in current provision and is intended to strengthen forces’ ability to deliver protective services to the public. No decision has yet been made in respect of forces in SW England including Gloucestershire. Decisions about future posts will be for the new strategic forces management teams to determine. Should a new force be created, staff and police officers in post in precursor forces at the time its creation would transfer to the new force.
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