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4 Sep 2006 : Column 1829W—continued
Gambling
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for gambling offences in each of the last five years. [88495]
John Reid: Data from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for offences related to gambling, in England and Wales 2000-04 are provided in the following table. Because of the large range of offences included, data have been provided at offence class level, divided between summary and indictable gambling offences. Data for 2005 will be available in the autumn.
Gun Crime
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) shotguns, (b) rifles and (c) handguns were stolen in (i) Southend-on-Sea, (ii) Essex, (iii) Hertfordshire, (iv) the Metropolitan Police area of London, (v) City of London Police area and (vi) England and Wales in each year since 1986; and how many were subsequently recovered and returned to the owner. [82557]
Mr. McNulty: Information on firearms stolen, subsequently recovered and returned to the owner is not collected centrally. Data on stolen weapons for England and Wales are given from 1986 to 2004-05. Breakdowns of these weapons by police force area are not available centrally for years up to and including 1998-99; therefore force level data are given only from 1999-2000 to 2004-05. There was a 52 per cent. decrease in the reported number of shotguns misappropriated in England and Wales in 2004-05 (403) compared to 1986 (842), a 32 per cent. increase in the number of rifles (140 and 106 respectively) and a 55 per cent. decrease in the number of handguns (81 and 181 respectively). There was little fluctuation in the numbers of misappropriated shotguns, rifles and handguns recorded by police in Essex, Hertfordshire and City of London between 1999-2000 and 2004-05. Although the numbers recorded by the Metropolitan Police were also relatively small, there were large percentage decreases for misappropriations of each of these weapon types: 62 per cent. decrease in the number of shotguns (from 29 in 1999-2000 to 11 in 2004-05); 100 per cent. decrease in rifles (from 33 to 0 respectively); 97 per cent. decrease in handguns (from 61 to two respectively).
| Firearms Misappropriated( 1) in Crimes Recorded by the Police | |||
| Essex Police Force | |||
| Shotguns | Rifles | Handguns | |
| Hertfordshire Police Force | |||
| Shotguns | Rifles | Handguns | |
| Metropolitan Police Force | |||
| Shotguns | Rifles | Handguns | |
| City of London | |||
| Shotguns | Rifles | Handguns | |
| England and Wales( 2) | |||
| Shotguns | Rifles | Handguns | |
| (1) Misappropriated is defined as stolen, obtained by fraud or forgery etc., or handled dishonestly. (2) For years up to 1994,more than one firearm may have been misappropriated in each offence. (3 )From 1995, the figures relate to the number of firearms misappropriated. | |||
Hezbollah
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to make it unlawful (a) to fundraise and (b) to provide support for the Hezbollah terrorist organisation; and if he will make a statement. [87214]
Mr. McNulty: The military wing of Hezbollah, the External Security Organisation, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in February 2001. Under the proscription powers it is unlawful in the UK to be a member of Hezbollah's External Security Organisation, to fund it, recruit for it or support it in any way.
HMP Dartmoor
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on programmes addressing reoffending at HMP Dartmoor provided by (a) the voluntary sector and (b) the prison service in 2005-06. [88340]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service spent £1,210,000 on intervention programmes at Dartmoor in 2005-06. The amount spent by the voluntary sector is not known and is a matter for the voluntary sector.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the Inner Change programme at HMP Dartmoor; and if he will make a statement. [88341]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The programme was introduced as a pilot only. Following a review under Prison Service Order 4350 (Effective Regimes Interventions) the programme is currently being withdrawn. The Review Panel identified a range of concerns, the most significant being the poor quality of the manuals, which did not demonstrate a structured and coherent programme, a lack of consistency and clarity about the primary aims of the programme, a lack of understanding and appropriate sensitivity to the diversity agenda of HM Prison Service, and an absence of protocols for the management of the mentor system, making it unsafe.
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