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28 Jun 2006 : Column 515W—continued
Private Security Companies
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he estimates the backlog of licence applications will be cleared by the Security Industry Authority. [79289]
Mr. Coaker: Having received a large number of late applications, the SIA currently has a backlog waiting to enter the system. This is currently adding between two and four weeks to the processing time, so it is now taking up to 10 weeks to process most applications. The SIA has put significant additional resources into clearing this backlog, and expect it will have been cleared by early August.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private security companies were not compliant with the Private Security Industry Act 2001 at 21 March (a) 2001 and (b) 2006. [79291]
Mr. Coaker: The Private Security Industry Act 2001 requires individuals (not companies) who undertake designated activities to hold the appropriate Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. Security companies can seek to achieve approved company status (ACS) but this scheme is voluntary.
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how long he expects applications submitted for the licensing of close protection industry operatives to take to be processed; [68444]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of close protection licences. [68445]
Mr. Coaker: The information is as follows.
(a) The SIA have a published target of processing 80 per cent. of all applications within six weeks, measured from the date that a properly completed application enters the processing system to the date that a licence is issued. Since September 2005, there has been a backlog of applications that have been waiting to enter the system. These have added an additional time of between two and four weeks to the process, so it is now taking up to 10 weeks to process most applications. As of 13 June there were 7,933 of applications for the manned guarding sector in this backlog.
(b) The SIA has put significant additional resources into clearing this backlog, and expect that by early August applications will achieve the SIA’s published target.
Restorative Justice
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to increase the use of restorative justice. [80376]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government strongly support the use of restorative justice given its proven benefits for victims. We published our restorative justice strategy in July 2003, best practice guidance for practitioners was issued in December 2004 and guidance on setting up adult restorative justice schemes was issued to local criminal justice boards in March 2005.
Restorative justice has been a central part of the youth justice system since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Contact with the victim or reparation can be part of all youth justice disposals, including Final Warnings, Referral Orders, Reparation Orders, Action Plan Orders and Supervision Orders.
We encourage the use of restorative justice in the adult criminal justice system, particularly as a service to victims and it can, for example, be delivered as part of a conditional caution. We are building an evidence base on the impact of restorative justice on re-offending to inform our longer-term strategy for adults.
Sentencing Bodies (Appointments)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Department for Constitutional Affairs, (b) the Lord Chancellor and (c) the Lord Chief Justice on the appointment of members to the (i) Sentencing Guidelines Council and (ii) Sentencing Advisory Panel. [80354]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice consult each other, as required by statute, on the appointments to the Sentencing Guidelines Council and the Sentencing Advisory Panel.
Terrorism
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) trained surveillance teams and (b) individuals are employed by the Home Office to monitor terrorist suspects in the UK. [66870]
Mr. McNulty: The monitoring of terrorist suspects is primarily carried out by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, not the Home Office.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has given to police officers on identifying those who should be stopped and searched under the Terrorism Act 2000. [50229]
Mr. McNulty:
We are continuing to work with police and other stakeholders to develop detailed guidance on the circumstances in which stop and search powers
under the Terrorism Act 2000 should be used in order to increase consistency and reassure the public that the powers are used appropriately. This work has had considerable input from police authorities, community representatives and other interest groups. Interim guidance was published on 22 December 2005 by the National Centre for Policing Excellence on this subject, and can be viewed on the ACPO website. A final version of the guidance will be published later this year.
The Home Office also published the Stop and Search Manual in March 2005, which provides guidance on best practice in relation to all stop and search powers. The Codes of Practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 also include guidance on the use of stop and search powers, both generally and specifically in relation to powers under the Terrorism Act.
Young Offenders
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the re-offending rate was for inmates detained at (a) local authority secure units, (b) secure training centres and (c) young offenders’ institutions in the last period for which figures are available. [79863]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Re-offending rates are not available broken down by type of custodial institution.
The most recent information on the re-offending of juveniles was published in June 2006 as ‘Juvenile re-offending: results from the 2004 cohort. Home Office On-Line Report 10/06’. The report is available on line at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1006.pdf. This includes re-offending rates for juveniles given custodial sentences.
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