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30 Jan 2007 : Column 185W—continued
Trading Relations
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value was of (a) exports from the UK to Tanzania and (b) imports to the UK from Tanzania in the last period for which figures are available. [111700]
Mr. McCartney: In 2005, UK exports of goods to Tanzania amounted to £71.5 million, while UK imports of goods from Tanzania amounted to £36.3 million.
UK Trade and Investment
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which UK overseas missions are due to receive more UK Trade and Investment employees; and whether these staff will be engaged on (a) export promotion and (b) the promotion of foreign direct investment into the UK. [110857]
Mr. McCartney: In keeping with the commitment to increase resource in the emerging markets in UK Trade and Investment's strategy ‘Prosperity in a Changing World’ published in July 2006, resource in UKTI’s overseas network is being redeployed to provide additional staff for UKTI activity in Brazil, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Dubai, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Vietnam and Russia. Resource has also been redeployed within some developed markets to ensure the UKTI effort is appropriately focused on areas within these markets offering the greatest potential for UK companies.
All redeployed staff will be engaged on either export promotion or the promotion of foreign direct investment into the UK, or both, depending on the opportunities afforded by the market.
UK-India Business Council
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether there are plans for the establishment of a UK-India Business Council. [110835]
Mr. McCartney: There are no plans to establish a UK-India Business Council.
Following the recommendation of the Trade and Industry Committee on Trade with India (June 2006) that the Indo-British Partnership Network (IBPN) “should become the de facto Indo-British Chamber of Commerce”, the Government are committed to increasing their support of the IBPN. In the coming financial year, UK Trade and Investment will provide funds of up to £1 million to increase the scope and scale of the work of the IBPN, which will be match-funded by private sponsorship, membership fees and revenue generated by the provision of IBPN services.
Wood Supplies
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on UK wood supplies for large-scale use as fuel of the introduction of the Large Combustion Plant Directive in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [112144]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department does not consider that the Large Combustion Plant Directive is a significant factor affecting the use of biomass for energy generation, or the operation of the wood panel industry. That industry has, however, expressed concern about co-firing.
Northern Ireland
Retirement Age
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, columns 189-90W, on the retirement age, what his Department's policy is on the application of the national default retirement age to staff below the senior civil service. [109550]
Paul Goggins: Under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, there is a default age of retirement but this does not affect the right of staff to retire from minimum pension age, which is age 60.
Staff who wish to work beyond the default retirement age of 65 may apply to do so, though it may not be possible in every case to approve such an application. Factors taken into account when assessing an application include ongoing staffing pressures, changing business needs and the normal performance and attendance requirements applied to all NIO staff.
Given the timescales involved in the normal retirement process, a set of transitional arrangements will apply to retirements taking place between October 2006 and March 2007.
Anyone retiring on or after 1 April 2007 will be subject to the full retirement procedure as stated in the regulations.
Home Department
Abortion Act
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for offences under the Abortion Act 1967 in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [111545]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 January 2007]: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of persons proceeded against for the offence of procuring illegal abortions under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 as amended by the Abortion Act 1967, are provided in the attached table.
Court proceedings data for offences of breach of regulations under the Abortion Act 1967 are not available as they are collected as a part of a miscellaneous group of offences which cannot be separately identified.
| Number of persons proceeded against for procuring illegal abortions under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 as amended by the Abortion Act 1967 England and Wales 2001-2005( 1,2) | |
| Proceeded against | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis (2 )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 police forces and courts. 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. Source: RDS - Office for Criminal Justice Reform | |
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders issued to residents of (a) Peterborough constituency and (b) Cambridgeshire were breached in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [110738]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 25 January 2007]: ASBO breach statistics are available at Criminal Justice System area level only. The available information is given in the following table.
| The number of antisocial behaviour orders issued at all courts in the Cambridgeshire Criminal Justice System (CJS) area( 1) that were subsequently proven in court( 2) to have been breached, for orders issued between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2005 (latest available) | |
| Number breached( 3) at least once in each year by the end of 2005 | |
| (1) There were 95 ASBOs issued between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2005. As reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform by the Court Service. (2 )Breaches are counted irrespective of where in England and Wales the breach proceedings took place. (3 ) Source: OCJR Court Proceedings Database. 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 data systems generated by the courts. 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. | |
British Citizens: Convictions Abroad
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information was given to the Association of Chief Police Officers when they bid to become the UK central authority for the exchange of criminal records on outstanding notifications from other countries of British citizens who had committed crimes abroad. [116105]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 16 January 2007]: The latest available information was set out in my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary’s statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has asked for an urgent operational response involving ACPO, CRB, Prisons and Probation in order to clear the backlog of overseas convictions notifications. My right hon. Friend has asked the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office to set up an inquiry into the Home Office's handling of these notifications. This will include a chronology of events, the practices and procedures in place at different times, whether appropriate action was taken and the lessons to be learned.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the outstanding notifications from other countries of British citizens who committed crimes abroad were (a) notified and (b) passed to the Association of Chief Police Officers. [116106]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 16 January 2007]: The latest available information was set out in my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.
Child Sex Offenders
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to prevent convicted child sex offenders from being employed as school bus drivers. [112001]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 29 January 2007]: I have been asked to reply.
We are currently consulting on draft school transport guidance. This states that local authorities should ensure that the authority's employees or employees of contractors whose duties involve a high level of contact with children or vulnerable adults are subject to enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks. This should include bus drivers and escorts.
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 introduces a new Vetting and Barring Scheme which will be launched in autumn 2008. Under it, school bus driver and escort post holders will be regulated meaning that anyone employed in these roles must be monitored under the scheme.
Correspondence
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to letters from the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire of 6 September and 19 October on the subject of unsatisfactory replies to parliamentary questions. [107370]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 30 January 2007]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 30 January.
Crime Statistics: Somerset
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were charged with (a) possession of illegal drugs and (b) possession with intent to supply in Somerset in each of the last 10 years, broken down by basic command unit area; and how many of those charged (i) were found guilty and (ii) were under the age of 18 years. [112135]
Mr. Coaker: Information on charging for these offences is not centrally available. Details about court outcomes and the age of drug offenders are only available at police force level.
Criminal Justice Act
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted murderers have been sentenced since the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. [111147]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 25 January 2007]: Section 269 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which relates to the determination of a minimum term in relation to mandatory life sentences, came into force on 18 December 2003, and figures reported to the Home Office show that 766 persons were sentenced for murder between that date and 31 December 2005, the latest date for which sentencing information is currently available.
Although care is taken in collating and analysing the returns used to compile these figures, the data are of necessity subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Consequently, although figures are shown to the last digit in order to provide a comprehensive record of the information collected, they are not necessarily accurate to the last digit shown.
Criminal Records Backlog
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his oral statement of 10 January 2007, Official Report, columns 285-86, on the criminal records backlog, on what date the first enquiry about notifications was made by his Department or the Association of Chief Police Officers to a notifying country in order to obtain further details to establish the identities of the 280 offenders referred to. [115800]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 15 January 2007]: The latest available information was set out in my right hon. friend the Home Secretary's statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his oral statement of 10 January 2007, how many of the 525 British nationals convicted abroad of serious offences have been convicted of offences in the UK subsequent to their conviction abroad; how many of these subsequent convictions have resulted in a custodial sentence; and what steps he has taken to ascertain such information. [115825]
Mr. McNulty: The latest available information was set out in my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.
English Language Skills
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any individuals seeking to move to the UK to marry have been refused entry for not meeting the required level of English language skills. [110631]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 23 January 2007]: There is no requirement to demonstrate English language skills on entry and so the question of entry being refused on this basis does not apply. We will however introduce a test of English language skills at settlement from 2 April this year. These will require applicants for settlement to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the English language and of life in the UK. Those who have moved to the UK to marry will therefore have to meet this requirement if they apply.
Escape Histories
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) sentencing judges and magistrates, (b) prison governors and (c) probation officers are given details of an offender's previous history of escapes, attempted escapes or absconds from prison. [116209]
John Reid: Details of an escape or attempted escape from custody which led to a conviction are available to sentencers along with all other recorded convictions. Records of an offender's custodial history, including escapes, attempted escapes and absconds, are available to governors. These records may be accessed by probation staff upon request.
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