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Murders: Mental Illness
Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many murders committed in the last 12 months were committed by people with (a) a history of mental illness and (b) no history of mental illness. [110396]
Mr. Coaker: Latest available data relate to offences currently recorded as homicides and were published in “Violent Crime Overview, Homicide and Gun Crime 2004/05” (HOSB 02/06). As of 28 November 2005, there were 820 offences currently recorded as homicide in England and Wales during the financial year 2004-05. In 30 of these cases the apparent circumstance of the offence was classed as being an ‘irrational act carried out by an apparently insane or disturbed subject’, included in the above publication as ‘suspect mentally disturbed’. However, as only one circumstance can be recorded per case, these figures do not include all those homicides committed by a suspect with mental health problems. Full data for 2005-06 are scheduled to be published in late January 2007.
The Home Office also publishes annual criminal statistics and data about persons managed under Mental Health Act powers, including those convicted of homicide. In 2004, 626 persons were convicted of homicide (“Criminal Statistics 2004”, HOSB 19/05). Ninety-nine persons convicted of homicide were detained under part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 (“Statistics of Mentally Disordered Offenders 2004”, HOSB 22/05).
National DNA Database
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of retaining DNA samples linked to the National DNA Database in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by police force. [109248]
John Reid: The costs for retaining DNA samples fall to individual police forces and establishing this is dependent on the contractual agreement between the force and the forensic supplier. This information is deemed to be commercially confidential.
National Offender Management Bill
Mrs. Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances he would put out to tender an entire probation service under the National Offender Management Bill. [107970]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Offender Management Bill places the statutory responsibility for delivering probation services on to the Secretary of State, so that he may contract with other providers for services.
“Improving Prison and Probation Services: Public Value Partnerships”, published in August 2006, sets out our strategic intentions for contestability and outlines our plans for competition to 2010-11. In our current plans, it is only if a probation board or trust is failing, by not adequately protecting the public and addressing offending behaviour, and has failed to improve sufficiently despite support, that we will consider competing an entire probation service.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations were conducted with (a) prison governors and (b) probation officers in preparation of the Offender Management Bill. [110113]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Offender Management Bill contains a range of measures aimed at more effective and efficient management of offenders in custody and the community. These include new arrangements for the provision of probation services. These proposals were initially outlined in a consultation paper, “Restructuring Probation to Reduce Re-offending”, which was published in October 2005. 748 written responses were received, the majority of those coming from probation service interests, including the National Association of Probation Officers and a number of individual members of staff. The Prison Governors’ Association did not submit a formal response to the consultation paper.
The consultation paper, “Youth Justice—the Next Steps”, published in September 2003, sought opinions on whether suitable young people could be placed in open and semi-secure, as well as closed, conditions in different types of establishments, as is now proposed in Clause 25. Neither prison governors nor the probation service were specifically consulted on these proposals.
No other measures in the Bill were the subject of formal consultation.
National Offender Management Service
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what complaints were received by the Chief Executive of the National Offenders Management Service about (a) her and (b) her organisation in October and November. [104755]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost as our correspondence tracking system does not provide this level of detail.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the production of the detailed business case for the National Offender Management Service; what the milestones are for the creation of a detailed business case; when he expects it to be published; and if he will make a statement. [110262]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We published the Strategic Business Case for NOMS reform in October 2005, the publication ‘Improving Prison and Probation Services: Public Value Partnerships’ in August 2006 and a Regulatory Impact Assessment in November 2006 for the provisions of the Offender Management Bill which give the Secretary of State the power to commission probation services from a range of providers. This last will encourage partnership working between the public, private and voluntary sectors generate new ideas and ensure that the best services are available to reduce reoffending and protect the public. NOMS had been in operation for over two years and is fully committed to delivering these objectives.
Copies of the publication ‘Improving Prison and Probation Services: Public Value Partnerships’ have been placed in the Library of the House.
Copies of the other two documents are not published in glossy form, but can be found at the following web addresses:
Strategic Business Case for NOMS reform:
http://www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk/files/pdf/NOMSpercent20Strategicpercent20Outlinepercent20Businesspercent20Casepercent20(Octpercent202005)percent20.pdf
Regulatory Impact Assessment for the provisions of the Offender Management Bill:
http://noms.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-publicationsevents/publications/consultations/OM-Bill-RIA
National Security Co-ordination Centre
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the National Security Co-ordination Centre shares information with its counterparts in other countries. [108325]
Mr. McNulty: NISCC is recognised as a world leader in the field of information sharing. It pioneered the Meridian Conference?an annual event now supported by more than 30 countries?designed to encourage the aims of information sharing relating to Critical Information Infrastructure Protection.
Police Interpreters
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by police forces in England on interpreters in each of the last five years. [106418]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 5 December 2006]: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Police Searches
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many searches were conducted by police officers in each of the last five years; how many seizures of money were made; and how much money was seized in each year. [109670]
John Reid: The police have search powers under various pieces of legislation and the seizure of cash is often incidental to the main purpose of the search. Information held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of searches within England and Wales of persons or vehicles under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and other legislation from 2000-01 to 2004-05 (latest available) is given in the table 1 2005-06 data will be issued in 2007.
The information available on the numbers of seizures of cash by the police under the powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and the amounts seized, is set out in table 2.
| Table 1: searches of persons and vehicles under s1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and other legislation( 1) , England and Wales, 2000-01 to 2004-05 | |
| Total searches | |
| (1) Includes searches for drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and those for firearms under the Firearms Act 1968. Also includes other powers such as s43 of the Terrorism Act 2000; various poaching and wildlife conservation legislation; s27(1) of the Aviation Security Act 1982; s163 and 164 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; and the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data used. Source: Home Office Statistical Bulletin ‘Arrests for Recorded Crime (Notifiable Offences) and the Operation of Certain Police Powers under PACE, England and Wales, 2004/05’. Issue 21/05. |
| Table 2: police cash seizures | ||
| Number | Value (£ million) | |
| n/a = not available. (1) The powers for police to seize cash under this Part of POCA came into effect on 30 December 2002. Source: Reports of the Appointed Person for England and Wales, and Northern Ireland 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, under Part five, Chapter three of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.(POCA). |
Prisons
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) convicted prisoners in each prison in England and Wales, (b)
remand prisoners and (c) remand prisoners under control orders are Muslim; and what percentage of re-offenders were Muslim in the latest period for which figures are available. [103816]
Mr. Sutcliffe: At the end of September 2006, (a) 10 per cent. of all sentenced prisoners and (b) 12 per cent. of all prisoners held on remand (untried and convicted unsentenced) within prison establishments in England and Wales were recorded as being of the Muslim faith. Information on the percentage of Muslims within each prison establishment is in the table.
Information on re-offending by religious affiliation is not held and would be available only at disproportionate cost.
No control orders have been served against prisoners on remand.
Control orders are preventative orders that are used particularly where it is not possible to prosecute individuals for terrorist-related activity and in the case of foreign nationals, where they cannot be removed from the UK.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and although shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level.
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