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4 July 2006 : Column 1047W—continued
Female Genital Mutilation Act.
Royal Assent received during the 2003-04 session.
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act
Domestic Violence, Crime & Victims Act
Royal Assent received during the 2004-05 session
Prevention of Terrorism Act
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act
Drugs Act
Royal Assent received during the 2005-06 session
Racial & Religious Hatred Act
Identity Cards Act
Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Act
Terrorism Act
The following Bills on Home Office subjects are currently before Parliament:
The Charities Bill
The Fraud Bill
The Police and Justice Bill
The Violent Crime Reduction Bill
The following table lists the number of statutory instruments, Orders in Council and local orders made by the Home Office in each year since 1996:
| SIs, Orders in Council, and Local Orders 1996 to 2006 (up to 25 May 2006) | ||||
| Statutory Instruments | Orders in Council | Local Orders | Total | |
Deportations
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of its potential liability for compensation to the victims and their families following an offence committed by an individual who has been released from prison and has failed to have been deported or removed by the Home Office and its responsible agencies. [67857]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 May 2006]: We would not expect there to be any significant exposure to liability in civil law applying the normal principles. Victims of violent crime are of course entitled to apply for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in the normal way.
DNA Database
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests have been received from other nations for details from the national DNA database concerning people who were added to the database when they were under 18 years and not charged or cautioned with any offence. [79025]
Joan Ryan: Requests for the exchange of DNA information between the United Kingdom and other countries are usually made through the United Kingdom National Central Bureau for Interpol (UK NCB) based at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Other requests may be made as a result of bi-lateral direct liaison between law enforcement authorities; and formal mutual legal assistance channels.
We understand from SOCA that it has not received any requests from other countries for details from the National DNA Database concerning people who had a DNA sample taken and added to the database when they were under 18 years of age and who were not charged or cautioned with any offence. No data are available on the number, if any, of exchanges of DNA information in such cases which occur through direct liaison between law enforcement authorities or formal mutual legal assistance channels.
Drug Intervention Programme
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases in the Drug Intervention Programme (a) handling stolen goods, (b) attenuated acquisitive crime and (c) begging was the trigger for a drugs test in 2004-05. [69542]
Mr. Coaker: I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member on 1 March 2006, Official Report, column 811W.
Ethnic Minority Community Liaison
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with representatives from the (a) African, (b) North African, (c) Arab and (d) Iranian communities since 7 July 2005. [77986]
Mr. McNulty: All Home Secretaries and their Ministers meet with representative groups from an array of countries and organisations during the course of their duties.
Foreign Criminals
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals who are in UK prisons have previously been imprisoned in the UK; for what offences they were imprisoned; and what the dates are of their previous (a) convictions and (b) imprisonment. [68724]
John Reid: The information requested is not available centrally and establishing it from case files would incur disproportionate cost.
Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a policy has been introduced that all foreign national prisoners are placed in category C prisons. [79501]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: No. The policy on categorisation remains unchanged. The overriding purpose of categorisation remains to ensure that prisoners are retained in custody with a level of security consistent with the need to protect the public.
Knives
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many knives have been handed in during the current amnesty in (a) Beverley and Holderness and (b) Humberside Police Authority area; and if he will make a statement. [81702]
Mr. Coaker:
Figures for the number of items handed in during the first week of the knife amnesty have been collected at police force level. Humberside police report that 259 items were surrendered to them. 17,715 items were handed in England and Wales during the first week of the amnesty. We worked closely with ACPO to develop the arrangements for the amnesty, which was part of our wider strategy to tackle knife crime. We are also focusing on legislation, enforcement, education and prevention. We have brought forward provisions in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill that will raise the age at which someone can be sold a knife to 18; are introducing a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon; and giving head teachers powers to search pupils for knives. The Home Secretary announced on
19 June that he was giving very serious consideration to the suggestion that the maximum sentence for having a knife or blade in a public place should be increased from the current sentence of two years.
Many police forces are undertaking tough enforcement operations, for example, the Metropolitan police’s Operation Blunt and the British Transport police’s Operation Shield, which uses search equipment to detect those carrying knives and other weapons on our transport network. We are also supporting educational initiatives that demonstrate to young people the dangers of carrying knives, and reinforce the message that carrying a knife can result in it being turned on you. Though our small grants programme, the Connected Fund, we are also supporting a wide range of local community projects which work with young people to provide mentoring, training, education and other support.
Leave to Remain
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants from each of the countries which joined the EU in May 2005 have outstanding applications for leave to remain under the one-off exercise announced on 24 October 2003. [79018]
John Reid: I am advised that as of 16 June 2006, 20 principal applicants from these countries have outstanding applications.
This figure is from internal management information.
London Terrorist Attacks
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those seriously injured in the terrorist attacks on 7 July 2005 have received (a) partial and (b) full compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; and if he will make a statement. [68701]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 8 May 2006]: As at 21 June 2006 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) had received 522 applications for compensation arising from the incidents on 7 and 21 July 2005. They had offered 255 final awards and 165 interim awards, and had paid out over £2Â1/4 million in respect of these claims.
CICA advise that they have made large interim awards in 17 cases where the injuries might be described as extremely serious. These injuries include loss of one or more limbs, loss of an eye, and serious burns to extensive areas of the body.
CICA have not yet been able to finalise any of these seriously injured cases, as they all involve claims for compensation additional to the basic tariff awards for loss of earnings and special expenses, and in all cases the final prognosis for recovery is not yet clear.
CICA will continue to make substantial interim awards in cases where final settlement is not in prospect, provided they have a police report confirming
the claimant’s involvement in one of the incidents and a medical report confirming the nature and extent of the injuries.
We announced on 8 June 2006 that we were making an extra donation of £2.5 million to the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund to give assistance to bereaved and the injured victims of the 7 July London bombings. The further support was being made on a special, one-off basis in recognition of the exceptional circumstances of the London bombings, rather than under the rules of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which would require a change to legislation 8 June 2006, Official Report, column 38WS.
North Yorkshire Constabulary
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) regular constables and (b) community support officers have been recruited to the North Yorkshire constabulary in the last 12 months. [79482]
Mr. McNulty: In the period 1 June 2005-31 May 2006 the North Yorkshire constabulary have recruited (a) 114 police officers and (b) 12 police community support officers.
Offenders (Unpaid Work)
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the funds saved through the use of unpaid work by offenders in each of the last 10 years. [63024]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to give a precise figure but the following table provides a broad estimate of the value of the unpaid work done by offenders since 1995. It takes no account of the costs to the probation service of managing the work. Orders that include unpaid work vary in length but the calculation is based on the average number of hours per order. An allowance has been made for the fact that not all offenders complete their orders. The estimated total number of hours has been multiplied by the national minimum wage for each year. (Because the minimum wage came into force in 1999, the introductory figure of £3.60 has been used for 1995 to 1998.)
| Estimated total value (£ million) | |
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