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18 Oct 2006 : Column 1310W—continued
Juvenile Prisoners
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the performance of Prisoner Escort and Custody Services in delivering juvenile prisoners within the contracted time; [91631]
(2) how many juvenile prisoners were delivered after 7pm to HM Young Offender Institution (HMYOI) Huntercombe in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) the first seven months of 2006; and what proportion of the total number of juvenile prisoners delivered to HMYOI Huntercombe this represented in each case. [91632]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The statistics requested are only available from 29 August 2004 when the current escort contracts became operational.
In the table, the figures for 2004 exclude information on the number of juvenile prisoners arriving from courts in London and the south-east, as this information is unavailable. In 2005 an additional 963 prisoners were delivered from courts in London and the south-east, however the number arriving after 7pm is not known.
A number of factors contribute to prisoners arriving after 7pm at Huntercombe. These include late court sittings, delays in placement orders from the Youth Justice Board, courts listing juvenile cases late in the day and prison population pressures, all of which have
a significant impact on the number of prisoners being redirected to establishments further away from their usual catchment area.
The Prison Escort and Custody Services continue to discuss improvements to performance with its Criminal Justice System partners. Courts are being encouraged to list juvenile cases earlier in the day so that juveniles can be escorted from court.
| Period | Total number of Juvenile prisoners arriving at HMYOI Huntercombe | Proportion arriving after 7pm | Percentage |
Knife Crimes
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his targets are for the reduction of knife crimes in the next three years. [92678]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 10 October 2006]: The Government have no separate target for crimes involving knives but do have a target to reduce all crime (involving violent) by 15 per cent. in the three year period from 2005, and more in the high crime areas.
Leave to Remain
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are awaiting decisions on applications for leave to remain under the provisions of the European Community Association Agreement. [30942]
Mr. Byrne: As at 1 July 2006, 3,733 people were awaiting a decision on their European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) applications.
This information has not been quality assured, and is not a national statistic. It should be treated as provisional management information and may be subject to change.
Managed Migration
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2006, Official Report, column 404W, on foreign students, when he expects to introduce a register of sponsors for academic institutions as part of Tier 4 of the points-based system for managed migration. [91087]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 13 September 2006]: We intend to set out our plans for the introduction of the sponsor register later this year.
Official Residences
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the occupants of each make towards running costs; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure was on those properties in 2004-05; how much was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2004-05; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment was in 2004-05. [50874]
Mr. Byrne: The cost of running the official residence for Ministers for which the Department is responsible in 2004-2005 was £7,372.00 excluding security provision, site rent and capital charge for the leasehold interest. The occupier was until 10 March 2006 the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Tax is paid on the ancillary services (lighting, heating etc) a sum limited to 10 per cent. of his taxable ministerial salary and benefits (if any). For the period when he was not a Minister, 1 January 2005 to 31 March 2005 the occupier paid £1,446.00 towards these costs. There was no capital or refurbishment expenditure. The occupier was responsible for meeting all expenditure on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) personal telephone bills. There are no domestic or maintenance staff employed by the Department. Information on costs of official phone calls can only be found at disproportionate cost.
Outsourcing
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what services in his Department have been outsourced since 1997. [82688]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 5 July 2006]: The Home Department has outsourced the following types of services since 1997:
delivery and maintenance of technical infrastructure;
facilities and estates management,
management of prisons,
prisoner escort services,
electronic monitoring,
videolink services,
technical and construction services,
IT services,
management of prisons shops and staff messes,
catering service,
works and stores,
prisons energy services,
cleaning services;
security guarding;
payment processing;
cash payment facility;
reception and car park bookings
file storage
HQ fire policy officer.
Passports
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports belonging to foreign nationals with pending leave to remain or asylum applications are being held by his Department. [91136]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 September 2006]: This information is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pensioners have taken up their entitlement to free passports. [93868]
Joan Ryan: Up to 30 September 2006, 376,668 people born on or before 2 September 1929 had taken up their entitlement to free passports.
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK citizens aged (a) 18 and (b) 19 years hold a UK passport. [94278]
Joan Ryan: At the beginning of 2006, there were approximately:
(a) 610,000 valid passports issued to UK citizens aged 18 years; and
(b) 600,000 valid passports issued to UK citizens aged 19 years.
Police
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 60W, on police, what the latest estimated cost is of (a) setting up the agency and (b) the annual running costs in each year for which projections are available. [93457]
Mr. McNulty: In 2006-07 the establishment of the National Policing Improvement Agency will require £5 million to cover the cost of the Programme Team, plus an additional provision of £11 million to cover the cost of a shadow agency and other transitional costs such as redundancies.
The detailed funding requirement for future years has not yet been finalised.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department expects to meet the three per cent. increase recommended for police force pay. [94831]
Mr. McNulty: The police pay settlement for 2006 is currently being considered by the Police Arbitration Tribunal.
I therefore do not think it would be appropriate for me to comment on this matter while it is subject to this process
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) community support officers and (b) frontline police officers there were in Stockport in each of the last three years. [93010]
Mr. McNulty: Stockport is a basic command unit (BCU) within the Greater Manchester police force.
Data for police community support officer strength at the BCU level are not collected as part of national statistics; however they have been collected by the police human resources unit for 30 June 2005 and this figure is included. Data for police community support officer strength at the force level are available as part of national statistics and therefore data for Greater Manchester police are also given in the tables.
Data for police officer strength at the BCU level are given in the tables.
| Police community support officer strength within Greater Manchester police force (FTE)( 1) on 31 March 2004 to 2006 | |
| As at 31 March each year: | Greater Manchester police force |
| (1 )Full-time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. | |
| Police community support officer strength within Stockport BCU (FTE)( 1 ) 30 June 2005( 2) | |
| As at 30 June each year: | Stockport BCU( 3) |
| (1) Full-time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (2 )Data not available prior to 2005 and has not yet been validated for 2006. (3 )Data collated and published by police human resources unit. This data was provided by the force and does not form part of national statistics. | |
| Police officer strength within Stockport basic command unit (FTE)( 1) on 31 March 2004 to 2006 | |
| As at 31 March each year: | Stockport BCU |
| (1) Full-time equivalent. This figure includes those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. | |
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the police funding formula on (a) combined rural and urban forces and (b) the allocation of resources between rural and urban areas. [92080]
Mr. McNulty: The police funding formula provides an assessment of the relative need of each police authority in England and Wales. This assessment takes into account the degree of population sparsity which is considered to affect the cost of providing police services. A composite formula is applied to all police authorities regardless of how rural or urban they are.
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of crime reduction on the police funding formula in each of the last 10 years. [92081]
Mr. McNulty: The police funding formula provides an assessment of the relative need of each police force in England and Wales. This assessment is based on the social characteristics of each police authority which are considered to affect the level of demand for police services in the community. To avoid penalising police authorities which successfully reduce crime, actual crime data are not used in determining relative need.
Pre-sentencing Reports
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 October 2006 to question ref. 90116, on pre-sentencing reports, whether National Standards for writing Pre-Sentencing Reports are complied within each probation area. [93518]
Mr. Sutcliffe: National standards for the Probation Service are published in the document “National Standards 2005”. Copies are available in the Library of the House and at the following website address:
http://www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk/output/page32.asp#GuideWwO
The national standards specific to pre-sentence reports are SS2.5 to SS2.13.
To monitor each standard routinely would incur disproportionate costs. Area by area compliance with SS2.12, which requires reports to be prepared within the timescale set by the court, is set out in the attachment. In England and Wales in 2005-06 this standard was met in 97 per cent. of cases, exceeding the 90 per cent. target set by the Home Office.
| Timeliness of Court Reports July 2005 to March 2006 | |||
| Probation area | Total provided | Number provided on time | Performance against court’s timescale (Percentage) |
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