| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 July 2006 : Column 1137W—continued
| Secure children’s homes: occupancy rate at 31 March 1999 | |
| Percentage | |
| Source: Department for Education and Skills | |
| Secure children’s homes: occupancy rate at 31 March 2000 | |
| Percentage | |
| Source: Department for Education and Skills | |
Dispersal Orders
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2006, Official Report, column 1035W, on dispersal orders, if he will make it his policy to collect information centrally on the number of dispersal orders authorised. [72665]
Mr. McNulty: We have been collecting the number of authorisations for dispersal powers by police force area since April 2006. This data will be collected on a quarterly basis. Data will be published later this year.
DNA Database
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), of 5 June 2006, Official Report, columns 293-4W, on the DNA database, if he will break the figures down by country making the request. [86494]
Joan Ryan: The majority of requests for the exchange of DNA information between the United Kingdom and other countries are routed through the United Kingdom National Central Bureau for Interpol (UK NCB) based at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Other channels may include bi-lateral direct liaison between law enforcement authorities; and formal mutual legal assistance channels. Exchanges of DNA information via these channels will almost always be a response to the needs of a specific criminal investigation.
Requests from international law enforcement agencies for a search of the National DNA Database are only processed where it is clear that the request is in the interest of prevention and detection of crime, national security or the data subject. They are also subject to a risk assessment, taking into account the justification for and proportionality of disclosure of the information in line with human rights. If cleared for processing, a one-off speculative search of the Database is made by the Custodian and information fed back to UK NCB.
The UK NCB is not currently able to provide data on the number of requests received from other
countries but only on the number of requests processed and dealt with by the Database Custodian. As indicated in the answer of 5 June, 519 search requests have been dealt with by the Database Custodian since 2004 and responses provided back to UK NCB in each case (this includes searches of the UK DNA Database at the request of other countries as well as preparing profiles in order for UK law enforcement agencies to request searches overseas).
Data on the countries to which DNA profiles have been sent in pursuit of specific criminal investigations could only be provided at disproportionate cost as the majority of the data are not currently held electronically. This information will be available later this year following the introduction of a new data collection system (this will not apply to retrospective data).
Data are not collected on the number of exchanges of DNA information which occur through direct liaison between law enforcement authorities or formal mutual legal assistance channels.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2006, Official Report, column 1409W, on the DNA database, if he will place in the Library the data on use of DNA for crime detection in 2005-06. [86496]
Joan Ryan: Data provided to the Home Office by police forces indicates that there were 20,349 direct DNA detections in 2005-06 i.e. there were 20,349 crimes detected in which a DNA match report was available. In addition, a further 19,960 crimes were detected in 2005-06 as a result of further investigations linked to the original case in which DNA was recovered. This gives a total of 40,309 detections in 2005-06 arising directly or indirectly from the DNA match, compared with 35,605 detections in 2004-05.
Drink-driving
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions for drink-driving resulted in custodial sentences in each year since 1997, broken down by police authority. [84913]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally. Information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on convictions and custodial sentences for drink-driving offences by police force area 1997 to 2004 (latest available) is given in the table.
Data for 2005 will be available early in 2007.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |