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25 July 2006 : Column 1338W—continued
Racially Aggravated Crimes
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded (a) perpetrators and (b) victims of racially aggravated crimes there were in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by ethnic origin. [77412]
Mr. McNulty: The available information relates to the number of offences recorded as racially aggravated and the number convicted or cautioned for these offences.
The number of racially or religiously aggravated crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2004-05 was 37,028. This collection does not identify the ethnicity of the victims or offenders.
The Home Office Court Proceedings database contains information on the number of persons convicted and cautioned at courts for racially aggravated offences. In 2004, 897 persons were cautioned and 6,379 persons prosecuted for racially aggravated offences in England and Wales. Of those prosecuted, 3,512 persons were convicted at courts for such offences. Information on ethnicity of defendants is not available.
Relocation Support
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what government (a) grants and (b) other initiatives are available for inner city London boroughs to encourage relocation of residents (i) outside London and (ii) in Essex. [71211]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
The Government do not make specific grants to London boroughs for relocation schemes. Support for relocation services is made via the Housing and Employment Mobility Services (private sector) contract which facilitates relocation out of London via a scheme known as LAWN.
Security Industry
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the most recent performance statistics are of the (a) Security Industry Authority for the issuing of licences for door supervisors and (b) Criminal Records Bureau on the vetting procedure for door supervisors. [82748]
John Reid: The information is as follows:
(a) As at 14 July 2006, 47,597 door supervisor licences have been issued by the Security Industry Authority.
(b) Specific performance statistics for the vetting of door supervisors are not available. Door supervisors are eligible for the Standard Disclosure check provided by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). The most recent performance figures show that in June 98.6 per cent of applications for Standard Disclosure were processed by the CRB within its Public Service Standard.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of persons engaged in the security industry (a) requiring a licence and (b) in receipt of a licence. [62304]
Mr. Coaker: The Security Industry Authority’s most recent estimate is that about 183,000 individuals require a licence to work in the private security industry. As at 5 July, the SIA had accepted 162,452 complete applications, granted 119,653 licences, and refused 4,231. The remaining 38,568 applications were in the SIA’s processing system. There are also 213 companies with Approved Contractor Status that are able to legally deploy a proportion of their staff while their licence applications are being processed, who are between them legally deploying about 15,000 staff.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Security Industry Authority will process the application for a door supervisor's licence submitted by Mark Fleet-Chapman on 5 January. [87509]
Mr. Coaker: I will write to my hon. Friend on this matter.
Sexual Offences
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial support his Department provided for the National Organisation for Rape Crisis and Sex Abuse Victims in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [86338]
Mr. Coaker:
The Home Office core-funded the Rape Crisis Federation from April 2001 until it closed in November 2003 due to internal issues: £406,000 in
2001-02; £432,000 in 2002-03; and £209,800 in 2003-04.
The Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group has received grants totalling £79,000 from the Victims Fund since 2004: £18,200 in 2004-05; £30,800 in 2005-06; and £30,000 in 2006-07. The Victims Fund has also awarded grants to a number of local Rape Crisis organisations.
Special Advisers
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role is played by special advisers in answering parliamentary questions asked of his Department. [80655]
Mr. McNulty: Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers.
Terrorism Act
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act 2003 and subsequently charged with a non-terrorism related offence. [86721]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office does not collate the information on charges in the specific format requested. Statistics compiled from police records show that between 11 September 2001 and 31 March 2006, 997 people were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT). Of these, 175 people were charged with offences under legislation other than TACT.
However, it must be pointed out that a charge under other legislation is not necessarily a non terrorist related charge because not all offences with which suspected terrorists may be charged are necessarily contained in the Terrorism Act. Many are charged with offences under the general criminal law, for example, murder. Other offences such as those involved in the use of firearms and explosives are contained in the legislation dealing with those matters.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act 2003; and how many were held for the full 14 days. [86811]
Mr. McNulty: Statistics compiled from police records show that between 11 September 2001 and 31 March 2006, 997 people were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT). The maximum period of detention pre-charge was extended to 14 days with effect from 20 January 2004. Our records show that from 20 January 2004 to 31 March 2006, which are the most recent statistics available, 14 people have been held for 13-14 days.
Violent Crime
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) gun and (b) knife-related crimes there were in Brent in each year since 1997. [87491]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available centrally. Statistics on offences involving firearms are only collected at police force area level. With the exception of homicides, offences involving knives cannot be identified in the recorded crime statistics.
Treasury
32 (The Royal) Squadron
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer(1) why 32 (The Royal) Squadron made two return flights to Brussels on 21 January 2003 on his behalf; and if he will make a statement; [66147]
(2) in respect of which official duties he used 32 (The Royal) Squadron for flights (a) on 23 May 2003 and (b) in the first week of April 2002; what the approximate take-off and landing times were of each flight; whether the carbon emissions were offset in respect of each flight; what other transport options were considered on each occasion; why other transport options were not used; and if he will make a statement. [66162]
John Healey: The rules on the use of special flights are set out in “Travel by Ministers”. The annual lists of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500 set out when special flights are used, and the purpose of each trip. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
Carbon dioxide emissions arising from 32 Squadron flights are included in the Government’s carbon offsetting commitment. Carbon emissions arising from the use of these flights will be recorded and offset in the same way as the use of scheduled flights by all Departments from April 2006
The Chancellor of the Exchequer travelled by The Royal Squadron on 21 January 2003 to attend a meeting of ECOFIN in Brussels. The squadron returned to England to re crew during the visit.
Agency Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what average hourly rate was paid by his Department to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06. [81489]
John Healey: Information relating to payments made to individual employment agencies is commercially confidential. The average hourly rate, averaged across all employment agencies used by the Treasury in 2005-06, was £25.67.
Alcohol Excise Duty
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his policy to veto proposals from the Finnish EU presidency to raise EU minimum excise duty rates on alcohol. [83830]
John Healey [holding answer 10 July 2006]: To date the European Commission has not published a proposal on EU alcohol duty rates under the Finnish EU presidency. It is not the Government’s policy to comment on specific proposals before they have been published.
Art (Downing Street)
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the 10 most valuable pieces of publicly owned art in 11 Downing street are. [87581]
John Healey: The 10 most valuable pieces of art held in the official areas for which HM Treasury is responsible for, at 11 Downing street are:
| £ | |
|
Table, demi-lune console George III carved giltwood (circa 1780) | |
| (1) Total value. | |
Average Incomes (Brent, East)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the average income in (a) Brent and (b) Brent East in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) sex, (ii) age and (iii) ethnicity. [87425]
Dawn Primarolo: Available information on HM Revenue Customs' website for taxpayers at a national level broken down by gender and age, can be found in table 3.2 "Distribution of median and mean income by age range and gender".
Information on mean incomes at borough, district and unitary authority level and constituency level can be found in tables 3.14 "Income by borough and district or unitary authority " and 3.15 "Income by parliamentary constituency". http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income distribution/menu-by-year.htm - 31
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold data regarding the ethnicity of taxpayers and therefore breakdowns by ethnicity are not available.
Background Reading
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what publications have been provided by his civil servants as background reading for his ministerial duties since taking office; and if he will make a statement. [87593]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers read a wide range of publications in connection with their official duties.
Barker Review
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost has been of the Barker Review, separately identifying the cost of (a) consultants and (b) civil servants working on the review; and what Ms Barker’s fees are for the work. [88218]
John Healey: The Barker Review of Land Use Planning is funded through existing Department for Communities and Local Government and HM Treasury budgets. It is due for completion later this year so the final costings of the review are not currently available. To date the review has spent approximately £8,700 on outside experts. The Bank of England is compensated for Ms Barker’s time.
BBC
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the BBC received as a VAT rebate under section 33 of the VAT Act in each of the last five financial years. [87388]
Dawn Primarolo: Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 does not permit HM Revenue and Customs to disclose information relating to the tax affairs of individual taxpayers.
Betting
Mr. Moss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax taken from betting on sport in the UK in each of the last five years. [87236]
John Healey: Tax receipts from betting are not broken down according to the nature of a bet. Revenues from gambling taxes are published in the HM Revenue and Customs Betting, Gaming and Lottery Duties Bulletin, available at http://www.uktradeinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?task=bullbett.
Biodiversity
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the extent to which public bodies which report to him comply, from October, with their duty to conserve biodiversity in exercising their functions, under section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. [74394]
John Healey: Under Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, all public bodies have a duty to have regard to the conservation of biodiversity in the exercising of their functions. There is no statutory obligation on Departments to monitor the extent to which public bodies comply with this duty. However, we understand DEFRA is working with a wide range of partners to develop guidance for public bodies to support the implementation of this duty and will involve all relevant Departments on the development of guidance.
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