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4 July 2006 : Column 1051W—continued
Passports
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have applied for a passport in each of the last eight years; and how many of those who have applied were rejected due to the applicant's (a) criminal record and (b) antisocial behaviour in each year. [80308]
Joan Ryan: The number of passport applications received by the Identity and Passport Service (formerly UKPS) in each of the last eight calendar years is in the following table.
A criminal record or a record of antisocial behaviour does not disqualify a British national from holding a passport and applicants are not required to give this information. If notified by the police, the IPS would refuse a passport to a person for whose arrest a warrant had been issued in the United Kingdom, or a person who was wanted by the United Kingdom police on suspicion of a serious crime.
| Passport applications | |
People Trafficking
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of children trafficked into the UK in the last five years. [76842]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 15 June 2006]: We have no centrally collated data on the numbers of children trafficked into the UK. The Home Office recognises there is an urgent need to improve its intelligence on this issue and for this reason has commissioned a scoping project in partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to estimate the scale and nature of the problem including source countries. Additionally newly established Minors Intelligence Teams based at Croydon and Liverpool asylum screening units now provide monthly reports on children who have been identified as being at risk, including those that they believe have been trafficked.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 20 June 2006, Official Report, columns 1840-41W, on people trafficking, what proposals for combating human trafficking were discussed at the G8 meeting on 15 and 16 June. [81827]
Mr. Coaker
[holding answer 3 July 2006]: Both the Attorney General and my hon. Friend the Minister for Policing, Security and Community Safety addressed the issue of human trafficking when addressing
G8 Justice and Interior Ministers in Moscow 15 and 16 June. They urged that the G8 step up its work in tackling organised human trafficking and referred to a UK-led project to establish ways of further enhancing cooperation and the exchange of intelligence to combat organised trafficking and smuggling.
G8 Justice and Interior Ministers stressed the importance of cooperation with Interpol as well as Europol to enhance the efficiency of cooperation in the fight against smuggling and human trafficking and the use of the Interpol Lost, Stolen and Invalid Passports Database. They also called for increased interaction with relevant UN institutions, as well as the International Organization for Migration, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, and the Europol in combating illegal migration.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government have taken to meet their obligations under Section 7 of the Council of the European Union’s Framework Decision on combating trafficking in human beings to ensure appropriate assistance is provided for the families of child victims of trafficking. [79229]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 21 June 2006]: The Council of the European Union’s Framework Decision on combating the trafficking in human beings, places certain obligations on member states to criminalise and prosecute traffickers, and to protect and support victims of trafficking. Under Article 7, paragraph 3 (Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA) member states are obliged to take the measures possible to ensure appropriate assistance for the family of a child victim of trafficking.
All agencies and organisations within the criminal justice system aim to work in partnership to meet the needs of all victims of crime, including young victims. Advice and information will be offered to families in line with the detailed provisions of Article 4, (Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA), cross referenced in Article 7 (Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA), on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of trafficking people since Sections 4 and 5 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 came into force. [78813]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 20 June 2006]: To date there have been no prosecutions or convictions for trafficking under section 4 and 5 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004.
Police (Cultural Items)
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many specialist police there are with responsibility for theft and other crimes relating to cultural items in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [73433]
Mr. McNulty: There is no specific data collected for the number of police officers with responsibility for theft and other crimes relating to cultural items.
As at 31 March 2005, there were 727 full-time equivalent police officers whose main function was “burglary”. This includes staff who predominantly investigate offences of burglary. In the same period there were 16,887 full-time equivalent police officers whose main function was “CID”. This includes staff mainly employed in plain clothes for the investigation of crime, and includes any specialist squads, e.g. robbery.
Prison Education
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place a much larger proportion of short-term prisoners in open prisons. [65573]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The length of a person's prison sentence is not the primary determinant for their categorisation. Prisoners are placed in the lowest security category consistent with the needs of security and control and the need to protect the public. Prisoners are subject to a rigorous and robust risk assessment when being categorised. Only prisoners categorised D and therefore considered to pose a low risk of escape and not represent a threat to the public may be placed in open prisons.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who listed a residential address in Hartlepool constituency at the time of sentencing received a prison sentence in each year since 1990. [77116]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There is no information recorded on the Court Proceedings database relating to the home addresses of persons sentenced. The information contained in the table shows, however, the number of persons sentenced to immediate custody in the Hartlepool Petty Sessional Area (PSA) (sitting at Hartlepool Magistrates Court) or committed by Hartlepool Magistrates Court to the Crown Court for trial or sentence from 1990 to 2004, the latest year for which data are available.
| Persons sentenced to immediate custody by the Hartlepool PSA( 1) , 1990 to 2004 | |
| Number of persons | |
| (1) Including cases sentenced at the Crown court following committal from Hartlepool PSA. | |
Prison Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed in the Prison Service Security Group; and if he will make a statement. [78184]
Mr. Sutcliffe: As at 31 May 2006, 65 staff were employed in the Prison Service Security Group.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many personnel the Prison Service Fraud Investigation Unit employs; how many investigations the unit has undertaken in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [80021]
(2) what assessment was made by the Prison Service of the risk of fraud in its latest assessment of business risk; what the date was of the last assessment; and if he will make a statement; [80024]
(3) how often within the last five years the Prison Service Fraud Investigation Unit interrogated Prison Service corporate data to identify indicators of fraud; and if he will make a statement. [80025]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: There are the equivalent of two full-time staff within the Fraud Investigation Unit, which is contained within the Audit and Corporate Assurance Group. The unit has undertaken 90 investigations over the last five years:
| Number of investigations | |
Individual establishments and headquarters groups are required to undertake a fraud risk assessment annually and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to mitigate this risk. In addition, one of the key systems in place to manage one of the Prison Service corporate risks measures the effectiveness of compliance with financial controls and standards. The Prison Service Management Board has assessed this as satisfactory at the last assessment on 24 April 2006.
The Fraud Investigation Unit along with other members of Audit and Corporate Assurance have been fully engaged in advising on the design of major Prison Service systems for human resources, Finance and Procurement, in order to reduce the risk of fraud. Once these systems have been fully implemented, it is intended that the Fraud Investigation Unit will use appropriate software to interrogate corporate data systems. It has not yet happened.
Prisons
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used to determine whether a prisoner should be categorised as category A. [81025]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prisoners are categorised according to the risk they present to the public, to the police or to the security of the state.
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what processes are in place for the review of category A status for prisoners; and what records are kept of such reviews. [81036]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The security category of a prisoner is assessed, decided, and kept under review in the light of all available information. The processes in place for reviews of category A status for prisoners are set out in Prison Service Order 1010 which provides for annual reviews of categorisation for sentenced prisoners. Records are kept in the prisoners file at prisons and also at Prison Service headquarters.
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the judiciary has changed the status of a category A prisoner to facilitate the prisoner's attendance at trial in the last 10 years. [81125]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service has responsibility for categorisation of prisoners. The judiciary cannot change the status of a category A prisoner to facilitate their attendance at trial.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates were being held in open conditions who had previously been Category A or Category B prisoners on 31 December of each of the last 10 years. [63082]
Mr. Sutcliffe: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only by examination of individual records at a disproportionate cost.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effect by 2010 on (a) the prison population and (b) prison costs of requiring all prisoners currently under sentence to serve their full sentences. [76608]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Projections of the prison population in 2010 if all prisoners were to serve to their sentence expiry date have not been produced. Prison population projections to 2011 have been produced for a range of scenarios and are published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/05, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether access to (a) naltraczone, (b) subutex and (c) methadone would increase the exchange of illegal drugs within the prison estate; and if he will make a statement. [78102]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prison Service Order 3550 requires that the administration and consumption of prescribed drugs used in maintenance and detoxification programmes is strictly monitored. In possession medication is not indicated for subutex and methadone. Naltrexone is an opiate antagonist which does not have the same potential for abuse as methadone and buprenorphine (subutex).
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