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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1350W—continued
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time was for a criminal injuries compensation claim to be processed in the latest period for which figures are available. [93443]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority advise that the median average elapsed time from the date of receipt of an application to the issue of a decision to the applicant over the last 12 months was 305 days.
Criminal Justice
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the responses to his Department’s public consultation document Criminal Justice System, Inspection Reform: Establishing an Inspectorate for Justice and Community Safety; how many (a) supported and (b) opposed his proposals; and if he will make a statement. [71020]
Mr. Sutcliffe: A summary of the responses to the consultation document ‘Inspection Reform: Establishing an Inspectorate for Justice and Community Safety, March 2005’ is to be found in the policy statement ‘Inspection Reform: Establishing an Inspectorate of Justice, Community Safety and Custody, November 2005’ at Annexe B, a copy of which was placed in the House Library.
There were 83 written responses to the consultation document of which 40 supported the proposals, 29 were against and 14 did not make clear their preference.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 are yet to come into force; and when he expects each to come into force. [76917]
John Reid: The information regarding provisions yet to come into force is provided in a table which I have placed in the House Library. It has not been possible to commence all 329 sections of the Act simultaneously as various sections are dependent upon a stage implementation of new procedures and practices. We expect that by the end of this year, the majority of the outstanding provisions will have been commenced.
Criminal Records
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people with a criminal record. [93922]
John Reid: The most up-to-date information on the proportion of the population with a criminal record is in Table 1 of “Criminal careers of those born between 1953 and 1978” which can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb401.pdf
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disclosures have been issued by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in each year since inception of the facility; and how many people have applied for CRB disclosures (a) in total and (b) in each year over the same period. [99110]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 6 November 2006]: Since the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) launched its Disclosure service in March 2002, it has received in excess of 11.4 million Disclosure applications. During the period March 2002 to the end of October 2006, the Bureau has issued over 10.8 million applications.
The following table provides the breakdown as requested.
| Calendar year | Receipts | Issued |
The difference of 557,000 between those received and those issued is made up of a combination of applications that have been suspended or withdrawn and those that are work in progress.
Departmental Databases
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which databases controlled by his Department have had confirmed security breaches in each of the last nine years. [90864]
John Reid [holding answer 11 September 2006]: In the last nine years there have been four confirmed security breaches of the IPS Passport Application system (PASS) and one confirmed breach of a HMPS legacy database containing life sentence management data.
Departmental Expenditure
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the expenditure was of his private office on (a) entertainment, (b) travel and (c) overnight subsistence in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [89203]
John Reid: Information specific to the question is not held in the format requested. Hospitality and travel and subsistence costs for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 are listed in the following table.
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on organising and hosting conferences in the last 12 months. [93098]
Mr. Byrne: The amount spent on conference activity in 2005-06 was £10,594,000. This included: events associated with 7 July 2005 London bombings; engagement with the Muslim communities; "Tackling Drugs: Changing Lives"; the Bichard Review; the EU Presidency; New Asylum Model and Rebalancing of Sentencing.
Departmental IT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of his Department’s databases are (a) wholly and (b) partly operated by external organisations or individuals; and which organisations and individuals own those databases. [97779]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is provided in the following table:
| Business | Database | Wholly externally operated | Partly externally operated | Owned by |
Departmental Publications
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) educational and (b) other materials about crime reduction his Department produces; and which of this information is available in a Welsh language version. [91431]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office produces a wide range of materials, all designed to educate the public about crime reduction, particularly with regard to the following types of crime:
(1) Acquisitive crime (robbery, burglary and car theft):
National TV, radio and poster adverts; leaflets, posters, stickers, videos and cassettes for the elderly containing advice for avoiding becoming a victim of distraction burglary; leaflets and posters about car, cycle, bike, truck, caravan, boat and plant theft; leaflets and posters containing advice for improving home security; leaflets, booklets, posters and stickers to support Neighbourhood Watch and Home Watch organisations; leaflets, postcards and posters aimed at retail and business offering advice on premises security; leaflets, posters and door hangers aimed at students educating them about keeping property secure.
(2) Child protection on the internet:
Regional radio and online advertising; a leaflet for parents containing advice for keeping children’s internet usage safe.
Regional radio, press and outdoor poster advertising encouraging witnesses to report domestic violence; a leaflet for victims explaining their rights and sources for help; posters for victims, perpetrators and witnesses aimed at a general audience, as well as the British Minority Ethnic and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual communities, promoting the helpline.
(4) Alcohol harm reduction (England):
TV, cinema, radio, poster, press and online adverts aimed at binge drinkers, highlighting the role that alcohol plays in increasing violent crime and sexual assault; leaflets containing personal safety messages in relation to alcohol.
(5) A leaflet “Be Safe, Be Secure”:
Available in multiple languages and summarises the content of all of the resources listed above.
Where marketing materials cover both England and Wales, we ensure that a Welsh language version is available.
Departmental Staff
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of staff in (a) the Prison Service, (b) the Identity and Passport Office and (c) the Forensic Science Service were (i) women, (ii) from ethnic minorities and (ii) foreign nationals in the most recent year for which figures are available. [88520]
Mr. Byrne: The current (2006) figures for (a) HM Prison Service, (b) Identity and Passport Service, and (c) the Forensic Science Service are in the table.
The number of EU foreign nationals employed by the HM Prison Service is not recorded centrally. The Forensic Science Service is a limited Governmental Company and ceased to be a Home Office Agency in December 2005. The foreign national figures for IDPS and FSS include EU Nationals.
The current (2006) figures for (a) HM Prison Service, (b) Identity and Passport Service, and (c) the Forensic Science Service are as follows:
| (i) Women | (ii) Ethnic minority | (iii) Foreign national | ||||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department will (a) carry out an audit of its staff to establish an age profile of its workforce, (b) negotiate an age management policy with trade unions and employees to eliminate age discrimination and retain older workers, (c) identify and support training needs and offer older staff flexible working to downshift towards retirement and (d) extend to over-fifties the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off; and if he will make a statement. [96496]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all staff and aims not to discriminate on the grounds of a person’s age.
(a) The department has carried out an age audit of its staff to establish an age profile of its workforce.
(b) When equality impact assessing policies and actions to eliminate age discrimination, the department consults trade unions and employees as appropriate.
(c) Training is available for staff of all ages, including pre retirement courses for older workers to help them prepare for retirement.
(d) The department offers a range of flexible working opportunities to enable staff of all ages to balance their work and home life.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department recognises the International GCSE as an acceptable substitute for a GCSE for the purposes of recruitment. [96729]
Mr. Byrne: The Prison Service does not currently recognise the International GCSE as an acceptable substitute for a GCSE for the purposes of recruitment, but is currently considering its position in this respect. The remainder of the Home Office, which includes Immigration and Nationality Directorate but not its Agencies, does recognise the International GCSE as an acceptable substitute for a GCSE for the purposes of recruitment.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of vacancies in his Department in the last 12 months required candidates to have at least a grade C in (a) English and (b) mathematics GCSE. [96752]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office, which includes Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the Prison Service but not its agencies does, in some circumstances, require candidates applying for posts to have specific qualifications which may include GCSEs. However we could only supply comprehensive information about the proportion of vacancies advertised in the last 12 months that required at least grade C in (a) English and (b) mathematics GCSE at disproportionate cost.
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