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13 July 2006 : Column 2028W—continued
Mr. McNulty:
At the end of September 2005 Wales had 7,575 police officers (983 more than in March 1997). The deployment of police officers to community based policing and to other specialist police units is an
operational matter for each Chief Constable in Wales. All police officers have the powers of the office of Constable. We aim to introduce Neighbourhood Policing in every community in England and Wales by April 2007. Communities will see increased patrolling, have better local information, and see a greater focus on confidence and reassurance.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place for removing the records of retiring police officers from the National DNA Database. [82551]
Mr. McNulty: Since 1 August 2002, police regulations require all new police recruits to provide a DNA sample for the Police Elimination Database (PED). This is in order to identify and eliminate any DNA profiles found at a crime scene which may have been inadvertently deposited there by an investigating police officer. Police officers who were in service prior to that date were asked to provide a sample on a voluntary basis. Police forces are responsible for notifying the custodian of the PED when officers retire or leave the police service in order that his/her DNA profile may be removed from the database. Police personnel who provided a sample for the PED on a voluntary basis can request removal of their profiles from the PED at any time without giving any reason.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will answer question 70884, tabled by the hon. Member for Islwyn on 10 May 2006, on funding to support the merger of police forces in Wales. [84798]
Mr. McNulty: I replied to my hon. Friend on 7 July 2006, Official Report, column 1672W.
Prisoners (Licensed Releases)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in respect of how many offenders out of prison on licence the probation service has no information on their location; [74593]
(2) for how many offenders out of prison on licence the probation service has no information on their location, broken down by category of offence; [79099]
(3) for how many of the prisoners free on licence following sentences for sex offences his Department does not have addresses. [79480]
John Reid:
Information is not collected or collated centrally on the detailed basis requested. Detailed information relating individual offenders under supervision is held locally by their supervising probation officer. All offenders released on licence, including sex offenders are subject to six standard licence conditions: three of which require them to ‘keep in touch with your supervising officer’, ‘permanently to reside at an address approved by your supervising officer’ and ‘notify him or her in advance of any proposed change of address or proposed stay (even for one night) away from that approved address’. In the event that any such licence conditions
are breached, the offender is liable to be recalled to prison upon the recommendation of the probation officer in order to protect the public. Once the licence is revoked and the offender recalled, the police are notified, in order to ensure a swift return to custody. In addition, any offender subject to sex offender registration requirements is required to notify to the police a home address within three days of leaving prison, and to notify any subsequent change of address within three days of the change thereafter while still subject to registration. Failure to supply that information, or supplying false information, is an offence punishable by up to five years imprisonment. Registration requirements were strengthened recently by the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Prisons
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to promote family contact in women’s prisons; and what recent assessment he has made of their effectiveness. [84408]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Strategy for Family and Parental Support in Women’s Prisons published in October 2005 provides comprehensive guidance to establishments and partner agencies on the elements of family support that should be provided in women’s prisons, resources permitting. Local arrangements will take account of the strategy and will be subject to review by governors/directors and inspection by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of prisons. No assessment has yet been undertaken centrally.
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners (a) were admitted to and (b) have been released from HMP Wellingborough in each of the last five years; [68918]
(2) how many prisoners who are foreign nationals (a) were admitted to and (b) have been released from HMP Wellingborough in each of the last five years; [68919]
(3) how many prisoners were released from HMP Wellingborough in each of the last 12 months; [68924]
(4) when the next foreign national is scheduled to be released from HMP Wellingborough; [68923]
(5) when the last foreign national prisoner was released from HMP Wellingborough. [68921]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answers 8 May 2006]: Information is held centrally on the number of initial receptions into the prison estate, on remand or following a custodial sentence. We do not hold information centrally on subsequent movements around the prison estate. In its capacity as a training prison, Wellingborough would not normally receive initial receptions from the courts (on remand or under sentence). We therefore do not have the requested information for Wellingborough. Comprehensive information on discharges is not available and information on release dates of individual prisoners is not issued publicly.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2006 , Official Report, column 1212W, on Leyhill open prison, how many of those prisoners originally convicted of murder who escaped and were subsequently captured have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of escape from lawful custody; and what sentence was delivered in each case. [84104]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 11 July 2006]: The information requested is not held centrally and may be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Probation Boards
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the risk assessment undertaken on the proposed reorganisation of probation boards and their services. [67301]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not our practice to publish internal management documents of this kind. The prospect of disclosure could inhibit the unrestrained and unprejudiced assessment of the risks attached to the programme concerned and thus jeopardise successful delivery.
Public Order
Mr. Laws: 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 Yeovil police in the last 12 months. [82150]
Mr. McNulty: Figures reported to the Home Office on exclusion and curfew orders in the South Somerset petty sessional area (which includes Yeovil) are small and their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Although care is taken in collating and analysing the returns used to compile such figures, the data are of necessity subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.
We have started a programme of work in the Home Office looking at the quality of existing data on court sentencing and how this might be improved. 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.
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) prosecuted for crimes committed during the protests in London last February against cartoons which were published in Denmark. [83124]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested on arrests is not available centrally.
Road Safety
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motorists have received penalties for exceeding the speed limit in areas covered by average speed cameras in the past 12 months. [82311]
Mr. McNulty: Information on penalties for speeding offences detected by cameras do not distinguish between the different types of cameras used.
Road Traffic Offences (Victims)
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime will apply to (a) those injured and (b) families of those who die as a result of a road crash caused by someone committing a road traffic offence. [83715]
Mr. McNulty: The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime covers all victims of crimes recorded under National Crime Recording Standards. In the case of road traffic offences this includes causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, and dangerous driving. In addition to this, where a person has died as a result of a road collision and the police are investigating whether an offence under Section three of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (careless and inconsiderate driving) has been committed, the family will be entitled to services under the Code.
Telephone Advice Lines
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many telephone advice lines his Department and its non-departmental public bodies support; how many telephone advisers each employs; and how much funding is provided to each by (a) his Department and its non-departmental public bodies, (b) other Government departments, (c) the private sector and (d) the voluntary sector. [66587]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
Violent Crime (Humberside)
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crime offences were recorded in the Humberside police authority area in each year between 1992 and 1997; and if he will make a statement. [84574]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is given in the table.
| Violent crimes recorded by the police in Humberside | |
| Number of offences | |
Health
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 22 June 2006, Official Report, column 2088W, on abortion, if she will place in the Library comments made by her Department on the draft of the evidence-based guideline prior to its publication; and if she will make a statement. [81177]
Caroline Flint: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) evidence-based guideline, ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (2004)’, states that a summary table of comments received and actions taken is available on request from the RCOG.
Accident and Emergency
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated in the accident and emergency department at (a) the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and (b) Worthing Hospital in each of the last three years. [83416]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 10 July 2006]: The information requested is not available centrally on an individual hospital basis. The table shows the number of first attendances, follow-up attendances and total attendances at accident and emergency departments and minor injuries units for national health service organisations for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust for the periods shown.
| Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust | Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust | |
| Source: Hospital activity statistics, Department of Health | ||
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were taken via ambulance to the accident and emergency department at (a) the Royal Sussex county hospital in Brighton and (b) Worthing hospital in each of the last three years. [83417]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 10 July 2006]: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Adult Hearing Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to publish a national action plan for adult hearing services; who is responsible for drawing up the action plan; what representations she has received from interested parties on an action plan; and whether interested parties will be asked for their views for the purposes of informing the action plan. [84015]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Work is under way at official level and a plan will be published in due course following ministerial approval. Representations have been received from various stakeholders including parliamentarians and there has been a great deal of correspondence on the topic. The Department is keen that the plan should have the support of stakeholders and therefore will be endeavouring to involve them in its development.
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