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2 Nov 2006 : Column 595W—continued
Mr. Dhanda: The PSF agreement in October 2005 was about reforming normal pension ages in the schemes for civil servants, teachers and the NHS. Annualised savings figures to 2050-51 are not available but the capitalised savings over 50 years were estimated at around £13 billion and savings of at least this amount should be delivered through the scheme reforms once they have been finalised and implemented over the next couple of years.
Sex Education
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s “Let’s Leave it till Later” campaign; what recent representations he has received about this campaign; how much his Department has spent since its inception; what monitoring of the effectiveness of the campaign is planned by his Department; if he will place in the Library copies of materials and literature produced by (a) his Department and (b) the Teenage Pregnancy Unit in relation to this campaign; how many officials are employed by (i) his Department and (ii) the Teenage Pregnancy Unit to promote this campaign, broken down by (A) sex and (B) grade; and if he will make a statement. [97685]
Beverley Hughes: Giving young people the skills and confidence to resist pressure and delay early sex has been an integral part of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy from the start—both through the national media campaign and in our guidance on sex and relationships education. Data from the independent national evaluation of the strategy show that over the course of the strategy, young people aged 13-17 have become less likely to overestimate the proportion of under 16s having sex and more likely to feel confident to resist pressure from friends. There has been no change in levels of under-age sex since the start of the strategy. The Department has received no representations about this campaign.
We are now building on this work, by developing new messages on delay for the national campaign and, through the “Let’s Leave it till Later” training programme, giving professionals additional skills to discuss the benefits of delay with younger teenagers. This is part of broader sex and relationships education and training programmes which include information, knowledge and skills to equip young people who are having sex to make safe and responsible choices. The impact of the “Let’s Leave it till Later” training programme is being evaluated as part of the larger evaluation of the Young People Development Programme, being piloted by the Department of Health. The report will be produced in December 2006.
It is not possible to separate the costs of the peer pressure and delay messages from the overall cost of the national media campaign. The costs contributed by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit to support the “Let’s Leave it till Later” training programme were £16,598 in 2005-06 and £2,546 in 2006-07.
There are currently seven members of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The campaign has been supported by officials in the Department’s Communications Unit which has many other duties. It is the Department’s policy not to give details about individual officials in response to parliamentary questions.
A selection of the national campaign materials, including all the current materials on delay, has been placed in the Library.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Government’s policy is on statementing children with special educational needs; and what guidelines his Department issues on the implementation of the policy. [98458]
Mr. Dhanda: Local authorities have a statutory duty, where necessary, to assess children with special educational needs (SEN) and draw up statements. In carrying out this duty local authorities must have regard to the guidance in the SEN Code of Practice. The Code advises that a local authority should consider carrying out a statutory assessment with a view to drawing up a statement if a child has not responded to the Code’s school-based levels of support, School Action and School Action Plus, and that their needs are such that they cannot be met from the resources normally available to mainstream schools.
Our SEN strategy “Removing Barriers to Achievement” (2004) set out a long-term programme to improve provision in mainstream schools so that more parents can feel assured that their child’s needs are being met without the support of a statement. The proper implementation of this strategy does not lead to a reduction of entitlement: children who might previously have been given a statement will continue to have their needs met from improved school provision and those with severe or complex needs who still require statements would continue to be provided with them.
Sport
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policy changes he plans to make consequent on the recent statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that sport holds the key to a fitter nation. [99069]
Jim Knight: The Chancellor’s statement reconfirmed the Government’s commitment to PE and school sport and sought to build on and maximise the impact of an already successful strategy. The Government remain committed to improving sporting opportunities for all our young people. Our overall aim, a joint DfES/DCMS public service agreement target, is to increase the percentage of five to 16-year-olds who take part in at least two hours high quality PE and school sport each week to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008. Our long-term aim is that, by 2010, we want to offer all children four hours of sport a week. We are well on track to delivering on our commitments and the 2006 target has already been exceeded by 5 percentage points.
Tablighi Jammaat
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether (a) Ministers and (b) others in his Department have met representatives of Tablighi Jammaat during the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [94345]
Mr. Dhanda: This information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Home Department
“Mosquito” System
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what discussions he has had with (a) Compound Security Ltd, (b) police forces and (c) crime and disorder reduction partnerships on the “Mosquito” system; and if he will make a statement; [97088]
(2) what assessment he has made of the “Mosquito” system manufactured by Compound Security Ltd in terms of its (a) efficacy in reducing antisocial behaviour and (b) compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998. [97089]
John Reid: There have been no discussions held between the Home Secretary and Compound Security Ltd or with police forces and crime and disorder reduction partnerships on the “Mosquito System”.
We encourage local agencies to consider the full range of innovations, schemes and practices intended to reduce crime, the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour. It is for local agencies like the police and local authorities to decide on the most appropriate interventions to tackle antisocial behaviour based on their knowledge of what works best locally. The Home Office does not promote or recommend any particular commercial product or venture above this.
The use of any device like “Mosquito” which claims to disperse groups of young people should be treated with caution and if used should form part of an overall strategy to tackle drivers of that anti-social behaviour and to encourage more constructive behaviour.
Asylum/Immigration
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has received any information about a Tamil asylum seeker returned by UK authorities and subsequently killed; and if he will make a statement. [94886]
Mr. Byrne: We have recently seen reports of the deaths of two individuals in Sri Lanka after they have been returned to Sri Lanka by the UK. We are looking into these with the assistance of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I will write to my hon. Friend with the result of our inquiries when these have been completed.
We do not consider on the basis of the information we currently have about these incidents that there is reason to stop the removal of people to Sri Lanka who have had their claims rejected and any appeal dismissed.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many postal applications for a variation of leave to remain in the UK were awaiting determination in each quarter since January 2004; and if he will make a statement. [98116]
Mr. Byrne: The requested information is not available and could be obtained only by examination of individual records at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide additional (a) staff and (b) resources to deal with the backlog of immigration cases, paying particular attention to those submitted under the 14 year rule. [97682]
Mr. Byrne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate is being provided with additional staff to deal with arrears of immigration cases which include applications submitted under the 14-year rule. Further staff are currently being recruited and trained.
These staff deal with a variety of immigration cases not just those submitted under the 14-year rule.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people under the age of (a) 18 and (b) 10 years are being held for the purposes of immigration control; in which establishments they are held; and how many have been held for (i) six months or less and (ii) over six months. [88637]
Mr. Byrne: The following table shows the number of persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at 25 March 2006, recorded as being under 18, broken down by age and place of detention, having been held for a period of six months or less.
Information on the number of persons detained, broken down by those who are under 18 years of age is already in the public domain and was published in the “Quarterly Asylum Bulletin” on the 23 May 2006 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
| Minors( 1) recorded as being held in detention in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers, as at 25 March 2006, by age and place of detention( 2, 3) | |||
| Number of minors | |||
| Age of person as at 25 March 2006 | |||
| Under 10 | 11-17 | Total( 1) | |
| (1) People in detention recorded as being under 18 as at 25 March 2006. Figures are likely to overstate because applicants aged 18 or over may claim to be younger on arrival in the United Kingdom. (2) Excluding persons detained in police cells and those in dual detention. (3) Figures rounded to the nearest five. (4) Zero. (5 )1 or 2, and may not sum due to rounding. | |||
Cautions (Lancashire)
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of cautions issued by Lancashire Constabulary in each of the last five years were for (a) first offences, (b) second offences and (c) third or subsequent offences. [96553]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 24 October 2006]: It is not possible to identify the number of people who received cautions broken down by (a) first offences, (b) second offences and (c) third or subsequent offences in the last five years as the data held centrally are not collected at that level of detail.
Previous offending is, however, taken into account locally by police officers in deciding whether to issue a caution, reprimand or final warning, or refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Child Sexual Abuse
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of sexual abuse of children were made in 2005; and how many resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) an individual being (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted. [95721]
Mr. Coaker: Data for the number of allegations of sexual abuse of children are not held centrally. However information is available about the number of sexual offences recorded by the police where the offence is defined as being against a child e.g. sexual assault on a female aged under 13 years. Statistics for 2005-06 were published in Table 2.04 of “Crime in England and Wales 2005-06” in July 2006. A copy of this publication is available at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1206chap2.xls
Information on the number of charges brought is also not held centrally. Court proceedings data for the number of individuals being (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of sexual abuse of children in 2005 will be available in November.
Community Penalties
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders have been given a community penalty under the Criminal Justice Act 2003; and how many of those who received such an order (a) breached the order and (b) reoffended within six months. [97169]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 25 October 2006]: Statistics on court sentencing are due to be published in “Sentencing Statistics 2005”, a Home Office Statistical Bulletin, early in the new year.
However, data on persons starting court order supervision by the Probation Service which includes community orders, have been published in Table 1.2 of “Offender Management Caseload Statistics Quarterly Brief—October to December 2005” and are on the Home Office website, as follows:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/omcsq405.pdf
Information on re-offending within six months of a community order being imposed is not available.
Departmental Expenditure
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Department and its agencies have spent on (a) the design and production of new logos and (b) employing external (i) public relations and (ii) graphic design agencies in each year since 2000, broken down by project. [33220]
Mr. Byrne: The information that the hon. Gentleman requires is contained in the following table.
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