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25 July 2006 : Column 1329W—continued

Immigration Cases

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the last 12 months (a) he has and (b) Ministers in his Department have declined a request to meet hon. Members to discuss immigration cases. [67700]

John Reid [holding answer 3 May 2006]: The information is not available in the form requested.

Juvenile Deaths (Police Establishments)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public inquiries have taken place in the last 30 years into the deaths of children in police establishments. [86233]

Mr. McNulty: To the best of our knowledge there have been no public inquiries regarding deaths of children in police establishments over the last 30 years.


25 July 2006 : Column 1330W

Knives

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asaults with knives were recorded in England and Wales in each of the last five years, broken down by length of blade. [88573]

Mr. McNulty: From the information collected on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify those offences which are knife related. Such offences are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in the recorded crime statistics.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans (a) to extend the knife amnesty and (b) to introduce a permanent knife amnesty. [87968]

Mr. Coaker: There are no plans to extend the knife amnesty or to bring in a permanent knife amnesty. It is open to police forces to run local amnesties where they consider this to be appropriate.

Ministerial Meetings

Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has met (a) Sir Christopher Evans and (b) representatives of Merlin Biosciences Ltd. in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [61766]

John Reid: The Home Secretary has not met with either Sir Christopher Evans or representatives of Merlin Biosciences Ltd. in the past 12 months.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which probation centres Ministers in his Department have visited in each year since 1997; and for what purposes. [63059]

John Reid: This information can be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Motoring Offences

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the 10 most common motoring offences were for which women were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted, (c) fined and (d) sent to prison in (i) Essex, (ii) Hertfordshire, (iii) the Metropolitan Police area of London and (iv) England and Wales in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by age group. [78832]

Mr. Coaker: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the 10 most common motoring offences for which women were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted, (c) fined and (d) sent to prison within Essex, Hertfordshire, the Metropolitan police force areas and England and Wales from 2002 to 2004 (latest available) is given in the following tables.

Data for 2005 will be available early in 2007.


25 July 2006 : Column 1331W

25 July 2006 : Column 1332W
10 most common motoring offences for which women aged 21 and over were prosecuted, found guilty, fined and given a custodial sentence, England and Wales, 2004
Rounded
Offence description Total proceedings

Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks

36,400

Motor vehicle licence - failing to pay appropriate duty

33,500

Vehicle test offences

31,200

Speed limit offences

30,500

Driving, or causing or permitting another person to drive other than in accordance with licence

26,600

Other miscellaneous motoring offences

20,500

Other insurance offences (excluding fraud and forgery)

12,000

Failing to produce driving licence

8,700

Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit

8,500

Other vehicle registration offences (excluding forgery and deception)

6,600


Rounded
Total findings of guilt

Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks

30,800

Motor vehicle licence - failing to pay appropriate duty

28,200

Speed limit offences

25,600

Driving, or causing or permitting another person to drive other than in accordance with licence

17,600

Vehicle test offences

16,900

Other miscellaneous motoring offences

12,500

Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit

8,400

Other vehicle registration offences (excluding forgery and deception)

4,700

Driving without due care and attention

4,200

Dangerous driving

3,700


Rounded
Total fined

Motor vehicle licence - failing to pay appropriate duty

27,600

Speed limit offences

25,400

Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks

20,500

Other miscellaneous motoring offences

11,400

Driving, or causing or permitting another person to drive other than in accordance with licence

8,900

Vehicle test offences

7,300

Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit

6,200

Other vehicle registration offences (excluding forgery and deception)

4,400

Driving without due care and attention

3,400

Other obstruction, waiting and parking offences

1,900


Rounded
Total immediate custody

Driving while disqualified

700

Dangerous driving

400

Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit

200

Causing injury and damage by aggravated vehicle taking

70

Causing death by dangerous driving

60

Unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle etc

50

Unfit to drive through drink and drugs (impairment)

30

Driving and failing to provide specimen for analysis (breath, blood or urine)

20

Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs

20

Failing to stop after accident, etc.

10

Notes: 1. A person appearing in court can be dealt with for more than one offence at that appearance. The tables show the number of offences dealt with and not the number of persons appearing in court. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

25 July 2006 : Column 1333W

Neighbourhood Watch

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes are in operation; and if he will make a statement. [88646]

Mr. McNulty: Neighbourhood Watch groups are not required to register with the Home Office and therefore we do not have information on exactly how many schemes exist. However, Neighbourhood Watch schemes requiring public liability insurance cover funded by the Home Office need to register with the insurance provider, and the most recent figure for the number of schemes registered is 137,238 (as of 1 July 2006). Information on the number of schemes existing that have not registered for PLI is not collected.

News of the World

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has held with representatives of the News of the World in the last four weeks. [79809]

John Reid: The Minister has meetings with the media from time to time and this has included discussions with the News of the World.

Offenders (Licensed Release)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders on licence given permission to travel abroad in the last 12 months have (a) returned late, (b) absconded and been re-arrested and (c) absconded and not been recaptured, broken down by the type of offence for which they were convicted. [79596]


25 July 2006 : Column 1334W

John Reid: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, revised arrangements are being put in place in relation to life sentenced prisoners which require the notification centrally of any trip abroad that is due to take place and any trip which has been undertaken. This requirement forms part of a recent update to the Lifer Manual which shortly will be communicated formally to probation areas via a probation circular.

Parliamentary Questions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will answer questions (a) 44633 on the Probation Service, (b) 50812 on Cumbria Police Authority and (c) 64424 on crime in Cumbria, tabled by the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale. [75140]

Mr. McNulty: I replied to the hon. Member as follows:

My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State (Mr. Sutcliffe) replied to (a) question 50812 on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 883W.

Police

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations have closed in (a) Devon, (b) Cornwall, (c) Somerset and (d) Dorset in each of the last five years. [76251]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 12 June 2006]: Information provided by the respective police forces is set out in the following table.

Number of police stations opened and closed since 2002
Devon and Cornwall Avon and Somerset Dorset
Year (as at 31 March) Open Closed Total Open Closed Total Open Closed Total

2002

(1)—

(1)—

61

2

0

43

3

2

23

2003

0

0

61

1

1

43

0

1

22

2004

0

0

61

0

0

43

2

1

23

2005

3

3

61

1

1

43

2

1

24

2006

0

0

61

0

1

42

0

1

23

(1) Data not available.
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