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26 Jan 2007 : Column 2087Wcontinued
we ran a mental health awareness raising seminar in October 2006 and our Director of Human Resources (HR) will follow this up with an article on living with depression;
we have developed a Mental Health Communication Strategy, which outlines the various promotional activities we have planned, including a poster campaign highlighting the role of our welfare and counselling services;
we are currently undertaking a full analysis of barriers in our recruitment programme and this will take account of the needs of people with a mental illness;
HR Division is taking steps to ensure the process for making reasonable adjustments is more robust and consistent, as well as more effective at meeting the needs of disabled staff; and
we carried out a stress Audit in 2004, and as a result, DFIDs welfare and counselling service now offer seminars for staff and managers on Managing Work/Life Balance under pressure, as well as promoting the use of Askwell, an interactive health website that gives advice on many issues, including stress.
DFID is responsible for 21 appointments to three non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs):
Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK
Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board
Overseas Service Pensions Scheme Advisory Board
Only the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission is currently active. DFID is committed to the Governments agenda for improving diversity on the boards of public bodies. To this end, and to encourage applications for all appointments from women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and disabled people, we advertise in a range of publications and ensure that each advertisment makes it clear that applications are welcome from all parts of the community.
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent by his Department on microfinance projects in each of the last five years; and how much is planned to be spent over the next five years. [117301]
Mr. Thomas: The UKs 2006 White Paper on International Development commits us to tackling barriers to access to markets and financial services, and supporting microfinance initiatives in partnership with banks and regulators.
For DFID, microfinance is part of a broader strategy to promote stronger and more inclusive financial sectors. In addition to programmes that have microfinance as the central activity, DFID supports programmes to improve access to finance for poor people where microfinance is just one component. These programmes aim to encourage the entry of financial institutions into the microfinance sector and assist Governments to improve the regulatory environment for financial institutions to serve the poor.
In the last three financial years (not including the present year) DFID spent the following on microfinance and financial sector projects.
April to March: | £ million |
The totals for the years preceding this were not disaggregated and calculating this now would involve a disproportionate cost. In total, DFID has spent over £165 million to support microfinance and financial sector projects and had committed £140 million more at 31 October 2006.
DFID continues to design and implement new programmes which will improve access to finance. Since the last review of commitments in October, DFID has approved a £9.3 million, five-year financial sector development programme in Nigeria and a £32.8 million seven-year PROSPER programme in Bangladesh, which includes capacity building for microfinance institutions.
A number of the international agencies that DFID supports are active in promoting microfinance and financial sector development. The World Bank, the International Finance Corporation and several regional development banks all provide significant funding or technical assistance in these areas. We do not have the necessary level of disaggregation of figures to provide a figure for the total spent on microfinance and financial sector development.
DFID has also been successful in leveraging financing from the private sector. For example, DFID provided a first-loss facility of £820,000 via the Financial Deepening Challenge Fund that generated a total fund of £80.6 million from 13 institutional investors for the Deutsche Bank Community Microfinance Facility.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and (b) others on the destruction of the habitat of the orangutan due to the increased demand for palm oil in the UK. [116859]
Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
I have had no recent discussion with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry or others on this issue. Following my discussions with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Malaysia in June last year, I reported to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State about the loss of habitat to oil palm in that country.
In the UK sustainable development strategy, Securing the Future (http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/ publications/uk-strategy/uk-strategy-2005.htm) we make clear that the Government are very conscious that increasing consumption of goods and services in the UK can have environmental and social consequences overseas. We believe that one of the best ways to deliver more sustainable patterns of consumption and production is through effective partnerships between all stakeholder groups.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a good example of this approach, involving palm oil growers, environmental organisations, and manufacturers and retailers of products containing palm oil in the development of criteria for more sustainable palm oil production. RSPO are running a number of practical projects to facilitate the implementation of sustainable best practice. More information about the Round Table is available at www.sustainable-palmoil.org
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which partnerships are in Wave 2 of the national 101 programme; and which are in Wave 3; [116060]
(2) what the planned date is for national coverage of the 101 Hotline; [116059]
(3) what date has been set to sign funding agreements between his Department and the Wave 2 101 Partnerships. [116061]
Mr. McNulty: Evaluation and assessment of the introduction of the Single Non-Emergency Number, 101, in the five Wave 1 Partnership areas are currently ongoing. Plans for future Programme development beyond Wave 1 Partnership areas will depend on the outcome of this evaluation and assessment, including optimum costs and benefits, to be completed in autumn 2007.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acceptable behaviour contracts were issued in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) West Bromwich East in the most recent year for which figures are available. [111857]
Mr. Coaker: Data on numbers of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) are not collected by the Home Office as they are voluntary agreements and therefore not suitable for central data collection.
However, three annual surveys carried out by the Home Office of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) indicated that a total of 18,349 ABCs were made in England and Wales between October 2003 and September 2006.
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were issued in (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in 2006. [117508]
Mr. McNulty: Antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) data are currently available up to 31 December 2005. A table giving the number of ASBOs issued annually, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, by the local government authority area in which prohibitions have been imposed, up to 31 December 2005 (latest available), can be found on the Crime Reduction website at: www.crimereduction.gov.uk. ASBO data are not available at parliamentary constituency level.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions were dropped in (a) Essex police force area, (b) Southend police area and (c) England and Wales as a result of the alleged offender not being cautioned by the arresting officer before being (i) questioned and (ii) a written statement being taken in each of the last five years for which information is available; what steps he (A) has taken and (B) plans to take to remind police officers of the requirement to caution an alleged offender before questioning or taking a written statement; and if he will make a statement; [117239]
(2) under what legislation an offender is required to be cautioned by the arresting officer before (a) being questioned about an alleged offence and (b) required to make a written statement; and if he will make a statement. [117300]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available as the individual circumstances of prosecutions are not centrally collected on the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
Powers relating to the conduct of police investigations are governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984, and the accompanying Codes of Practice. The Code of Practice for the Detention, Treatment and Questioning of Persons by Police Officers (PACE Code C), the Code of Practice on Audio Recording Interviews with Suspects (PACE Code E) and the Code of Practice on Visual Recording with Sound of Interviews with Suspects (PACE Code F) provide clear guidance to the police on the requirements for cautioning suspects in relation to interviews and written statements and formally recording the giving of the caution. The PACE codes are subject to regular review and revision. PACE Code C was last revised in July 2006 and PACE Codes E and F were last revised in January 2006.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual costs are of recruiting a community support officer including training, equipment, wages and pensions (a) for their first year of service and (b) for subsequent years; and what the corresponding costs are for a police constable. [116055]
Mr. McNulty: The following table shows the current basic salary of a police constable on commencing service, on completing initial training and in successive years. There is no corresponding scale showing police community support officers (PCSO) salaries, which are determined by the respective police authorities, and are not routinely collected centrally. Data on the other annual costs of recruiting, training and maintaining a PCSO or a police constable in the first and other years of service are not centrally held.
Police constable pay from 1 September 2006 | |
Amount (£) | |
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been cleared by a Criminal Records Bureau check and subsequently found to have committed an offence which should have been disclosed in that check in each of the last nine years. [111878]
Joan Ryan: The latest available information was set out in the Home Secretarys statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criminal record checks are carried out on (a) mini-cab drivers and (b) school assistants from non-EU countries; and if he will make a statement. [115963]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 17 January 2007]: Recent events have made clear the complexity of the issues faced across Government and beyond. This is not helped by the differences in systems, procedures and criteria for recording and using for public protection information about criminality in this country and outside the UK. The Home Secretary has therefore instigated a Government-wide review of the way in which such information is shared and used.
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget is for the Drug Intervention Programme for 2007-08; and what the percentage change is since the 2006-07 Budget. [116157]
Mr. McNulty: Expenditure proposals for 2007-08 remain under review and final decisions will be taken shortly.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fines were issued for fireworks offences in Bassetlaw in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [110986]
Mr. Coaker: The court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform does not hold information on the number of fines issued in Bassetlaw as data is not held to that level of detail. However, there were no fines issued in 2005 in the whole of the Nottinghamshire police force area (of which Bassetlaw is a part) for fireworks offences. Court proceedings data for 2006 will be available in the autumn of 2007.
In addition, the penalty notice for disorder (PND) Scheme was introduced in England and Wales in 2004. Under the scheme, the police can issue an £80 fixed penalty for a number of fireworks offences under the Explosives Act 1875 and Fireworks Act 2003. The offence of throwing fireworks in a thoroughfare (Explosives Act) came into force in August 2002: the offences of breach of the fireworks curfew, possession of category 4 fireworks, and possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework (Fireworks Act) were added to the PND Scheme on 11 October 2004. The following table shows the number of PNDs that were issued in the Nottinghamshire police force area for 2005 and for January to June 2006 (provisional). We are unable to give the number of PNDs issued in Bassetlaw during the aforementioned period, as data are not collected to that level of detail.
Persons issued with penalty notices for disorder for all fireworks offences, in the Nottinghamshire police force area, 2005 and January to June 2006( 1, 2) | ||
Number | ||
Offence | 2005 | 2006( 2) |
(1) 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 data systems generated by the police. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) January to June 2006 data are provisional. |
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