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24 July 2006 : Column 1147W—continued
Drugs
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there have been for drug offences in Leicester South constituency in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by local authority ward. [86370]
Mr. McNulty: Drug offence data cannot be broken down by constituency or to a more local level. Available data relate to persons found guilty of drug offences at Leicester's crown, magistrate and youth courts and are given in the following table.
| Persons( 1) found guilty of drug offences in Leicester, 2002 to 2004 | |
| Number | |
| (1) Where a person is found guilty of two or more drugs offences at the same court appearance the sentence or order shown in this table is the most severe penalty. | |
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons are for the differences between figures given in the England and Wales Findings Paper 265 and the latest Home Office Drug Seizures and Offenders Statistical bulletin in relation to seizures of methadone in 2000 and cocaine and heroin in 2001. [67894]
Mr. Coaker: After a very thorough review of data, I can confirm that the figures quoted in “Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales 2003” (Findings 265) for the number of seizures of methadone in 2000 (1,010) and both number/quantity of seizures of cocaine (6,530/5,210 kg) and heroin (14,630/4,000 kg) in 2001 are correct.
Seizures data for Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise published in “Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics,
UK, 2001 and 2002” (Home. Office Statistical Bulletin 08/04) were restricted to seizures at the London airports. However, data presented in Findings 265 were for all Customs' seizures in England and Wales. While the number of seizures were largely unaffected, it resulted in increased overall figures for the quantity of drugs seized.
The figure quoted in Findings 265 for the quantity of methadone seized in 2000 (380 kg) is, however, incorrect. Police in England and Wales seized 91.585 kg of methadone in 2000, with Customs seizing 0.68 kg as well as 284 tablets. For the purposes of reporting the tablets should not have been included in the Findings' tables. The revised total quantity figure is 92.265 kg, which will be rounded down to 90 kg in the next “Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales” Home Office Statistical Bulletin.
Education Act
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times prosecutions have been brought by North Tyneside local education authority under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 in each of the last five years. [85376]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 14 July 2006]: Prosecutions for truancy related to section seven are brought under section 444 of the Education Act 1996.
We do not collect prosecutions data under the Education Act 1996 by Local education authority. However, data from the Court Proceedings Database (held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform), for the Tyneside local justice area shows the number of prosecutions under the Education Act 1996 as:
Four in 2000, six in 2001, 36 in 2002,17 in 2003 and 10 in 2004. There were no prosecutions recorded specifically under sections 444(1) or 444(1 A) of the Act—though we consider the figures provided may include offences under section 444.
Court proceedings data for 2005 will be available in autumn of 2006.
Electronic Tagging
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in England and Wales are electronically tagged; and how many are (a) on the Home Detention Curfew Scheme and (b) under a curfew order passed down by the courts. [75702]
Mr. Sutcliffe: According to the latest figures available, the total number of people who are subject to electronic monitoring in England and Wales is as shown in the table.
| Number | |
Feltham Young Offender Institution
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to satisfy himself that the (a) Governor and (b) management team at Feltham Young Offender Institution are able to carry out the recommendations of the Mubarek Report. [84403]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Mr. Justice Keith’s report into the death of Zahid Mubarek contains recommendations to be implemented by the National Offender Management Service, Court Service, Department of Health, Department for Communities and Local Government and the police.
The recommendations do not specifically apply to Feltham prison they apply to all prisons. A full response to all the recommendations will be given within two months as stated by the Home Secretary in his statement of 29 June.
Fixed Penalty Notices
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) fixed penalty notices were issued to drivers of commercial vehicles in each London borough in the last year for which figures are available. [87378]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information collected centrally by my department on motoring offences does not distinguish between the characteristics of the vehicles involved.
Foreign Prisoners
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners have claimed to be from (a) Russia, (b) Romania, (c) Georgia, (d) Armenia, (e) Azerbaijan, (f) Ukraine, (g) China, (h) Belarus, (i) Iceland, (j) the United States, (k) Canada, (l) Antarctica, (m) Argentina, (n) Chile, (o) Peru, (p) Ecuador, (q) Bolivia, (r) Brazil, (s) Uruguay, (t), Paraguay, (u) Angola, (v) Namibia, (w) Botswana, (x) Zambia, (y) Burundi, (z) Tanzania and (aa) Malawi (i) on being sentenced to a custodial sentence and (ii) on arrival in custody in each of the last nine years for which figures are available. [82237]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the number of foreign nationals who have claimed to be from the countries listed at (a)-(aa) (i) on being sentenced to a custodial sentence, and (ii) on arrival in custody in each of the last nine years is not held centrally.
In a written ministerial statement of 19 July 2006, Official Report, Columns 28-30WS, my hon. Friend the Minister of State Minister of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality updated the House on the progress which has been made on the eight priority action areas to improve our effectiveness in deporting foreign national prisoners. He made clear that the criminal justice agencies are working together with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to ensure that information on the nationality of those who come into contact with the criminal justice system are collected as early as possible.
Information on the nationality recorded on the central prison IT system for foreign nationals held in prison establishments in England and Wales is available as follows:
1997-2002: Table 6.2 of Prison Statistics England and Wales 1997 to 2002, available from the House of Commons Library.
2003: Table 8.27 of the web tables for Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2003.
2004: Table 8.27 of the web tables for Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004.
2005: Detailed web table 2.14 of Population in Custody Quarterly Brief April to June 2005.
These web tables are available at the following web address.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/omcs.html
Information is not presented separately for the following nationalities:-
Antarctica—this is not a recognised nationality and any such records are included in unrecorded/other in the statistical tables;
Ukraine and Belarus are not recorded separately on the current prison IT systems and are included in Russia;
Although the nationality recorded on the central prison IT system is likely to be based on prisoners' declared nationality, in some cases an individual's nationality may have been updated because of new information received.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and so is not necessarily accurate to the last whole number.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners in each open prison were moved into closed prisons in (a) May and (b) June. [86629]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Fraud
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) will take of the National Fraud Strategy in planning its work; and whether SOCA will have specific targets for the prevention and reduction of fraud. [75258]
Mr. Coaker: We need to have a coherent strategy for preventing, detecting and bringing fraud to justice that meets our current need; this issue has been considered by the wide ranging cross Government Review of Fraud. The Home Secretary’s letter setting priorities for the Serious Organised Crime Agency in its first three years of operation has been laid before Parliament. The priorities set out there include tackling organised crime threats from fraud against individuals and the private sector. The SOCA Board has subsequently determined that approximately 10 per cent. of its overall effort should be devoted to this area.
Headcam Technology
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the (a) reliability and (b) usefulness of headcam technology in tackling crime; if he will make resources available to make this technology more widely available to the police; and if he will make a statement. [86256]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 19 July 2006]: The potential for this technology to assist in tackling crime is recognised. The Police Standards Unit, supported by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch and the Police Information Technology Organisation is consequently organising and funding a six-month trial to evaluate reliability, usefulness and other aspects. The trial is planned to commence on 1 September 2006 in conjunction with Devon and Cornwall constabulary, with the intention of establishing good practice and procedure by the end of the year.
Once the results of the trial are available, an assessment will be made of the cost-benefit of making the technology more widely available to the police, in comparison with other investment options for tackling crime.
Heroin/Cocaine
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government’s policy on reducing the supply of heroin and cocaine was informed by the Strategy Unit Phase one Drugs Report of 2003; and if he will make a statement. [85575]
Mr. Coaker: The report was submitted as a contribution to a debate across Government on drug strategy, and influenced the revised supply side strategy, adopted in 2004, which has as its objective the reduction of the harms caused by drug supply to UK communities.
Hizb-Ut-Tahrir
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from (a) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) the security services on the proscription of Hizb-Ut-Tahrir; and if he will make a statement. [69261]
Mr. McNulty: We do not comment on individual groups that may be possible candidates for proscription.
HM Prison Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is provided by HM Prison Service to governor grade staff on authorising release of prisoners (a) under the Criminal Justice Acts, (b) on temporary licence and (c) on home detention curfew; and whether this training is mandatory. [85480]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
For the information about training provided by the Prison Service to governor grade staff, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on
5 June 2006, Official Report, column 295W. Since February 2003 no training has been described as mandatory: training is provided when necessary to enable an individual to fulfil a role.
Honour Crimes
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of honour crimes committed in each London borough in each of the last five years. [83679]
Mr. McNulty: Estimates on the number of honour crimes are not available from the recorded crime statistics.
Human Trafficking
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by his Department to raise awareness of human trafficking amongst the clients of prostitutes. [81612]
Mr. Coaker: On 5 January 2006, the Home Office launched a three month national consultation exercise on proposals for a UK action plan on human trafficking. A summary of responses report was published on 21 June. A number of respondents commented on the issue of raising awareness amongst those who pay for sexual services of the consequences of having sexual intercourse with a trafficked person. We intend to consider the consultation responses over the next few months with the aim of producing a final UK Action Plan by the end of the year.
During the recent, police-led operation on trafficking for sexual exploitation (called Operation Pentameter) specific awareness raising measures were undertaken. These included writing to publishing houses that have men’s magazines and pornographic titles asking for them to be informed on the issue of trafficking and for support in terms of editorial copy and advertising space. In addition, leaflets were produced and distributed at airports to raise awareness amongst men travelling to the World Cup. An article was also placed in the England supporter’s magazine ‘Fanzine’ handed out before the England football matches in Germany. The work undertaken by Operation Pentameter will be carried on by the UK Human Trafficking Centre which was announced on 21 June.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of raising awareness of human trafficking amongst the clients of prostitutes. [81613]
Mr. Coaker:
The recent consultation exercise on proposals for the UK Action Plan included questions on how to reduce demand for the services of trafficked persons. As part of the development of the final UK Action Plan consideration will be given to how awareness campaigns can be monitored for their effectiveness. During the course of Operation Pentameter internet websites for users of prostitutes were monitored. The monitoring demonstrated that
there was an increased awareness of the issue as a direct result of the activity undertaken by Operation Pentameter.
The work undertaken by Pentameter will be carried on by the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the establishment of which was announced on 21 June.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police and (b) government officials have been seconded to the source countries of victims of human trafficking to discuss and implement prevention strategies in the last five years; and how many reciprocated secondments of staff there have been from those countries. [82668]
Mr. Coaker: It would not be appropriate to comment on the operational deployment of law enforcement staff involved in the prevention of serious organised crime.
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