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30 Jan 2007 : Column 191W—continued
Identity and Passport Service
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the maximum distance individuals will have to travel in order to register their biometric details at an Identity and Passport Service office. [111241]
Joan Ryan: We are not yet in a position to determine the exact number and location of offices that will be used for enrolling biometrics.
The number and location of offices for biometric enrolment will utilise, and build upon, our estate of 69 Identity and Passport Service (IPS) Interview Offices that are currently being rolled out nationwide. We will be seeking to supplement only those existing buildings that are unable to deal with the predicted future number of applicants to be enrolled.
Identity Theft
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make identity theft a criminal offence; and what representations he has received on trends in identity theft. [112272]
Joan Ryan: The criminal law contains a range of offences to tackle crime related to fraudulent use of identity and the Government have no plans to introduce a new criminal offence of identity theft. In the Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud Consultation Paper, published in July 2002, we invited views on whether an offence of identity fraud should be created. Following the consultation period, the law was changed to align the maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment for fraudulently obtaining a driving licence with that for fraudulently obtaining a passport. The offences were also made arrestable.
The Fraud Act 2006, which came into force on 15 January 2007, created a new offence of fraud that can be committed in three ways: by making a false representation (dishonestly, with intent to make a gain, cause a loss or risk of loss to another); by failing to disclose information; and by abuse of position. New offences were also created of obtaining services dishonestly, possessing equipment to commit frauds, and making or supplying articles for use in frauds.
The Identity Cards Act 2006 created new offences relating to possession, control and intent to use false identity documents, including a genuine document that relates to someone else. These offences came into force on 7 June 2006 and apply to all identity documents, including identity cards to be issued under the national identity scheme. Other documents include UK passports, immigration documents and driving licences, as well as driving licences, passports and identity cards issued by other countries.
We have received a number of parliamentary questions, including ones from the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle, asking about numbers of offences, convictions and victims of identity theft and identity fraud.
Illegal Street Traders
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions against illegal street traders there were in each of the last 10 years. [111742]
Mr. McCartney: I have been asked to reply.
Statistics on the number of prosecutions, which might be attributable to the activities of illegal street traders, are not collected centrally. Assuming this information is collected by local authorities, it could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
Internet Crime
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the extent of crime associated with the use of electronic communication and the internet. [117555]
Mr. Byrne: The Government’s written evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry into Personal Internet Security sets out our best assessment of internet crime. For example:
IBM has stated that one in every 52 emails in January and one in 28 emails in June 2005 were affected with malicious content;
In 2004, total losses from online banking fraud were recorded for the first time and reached £12.2million (APACS 2005);
In 2005, online banking fraud grew to £23.3m, an increase of 90 per cent. from 2004;
The 2003-04 British Crime Survey found that 27 per cent. of adults who used the internet at home reported their computer had been affected by a virus (a third of those reported the computer had been damaged) in the previous 12 months;
2 per cent. of adults who used the internet at home reported their computer had been accessed or hacked into files on their home computer in the previous 12 months.
Magistrates Courts
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) sittings took place and (b) cases were heard in Llandrindod Wells and Brecon magistrates courts in each year since 2001. [111648]
Ms Harman: I have been asked to reply.
Information about the number of sittings and the number of cases heard in Llandrindod Wells and Brecon magistrates courts is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Motoring Offences
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions of uninsured drivers of motor vehicles there were in (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale and (b) Lancashire in each year between 2003 and 2006. [110466]
Mr. Coaker: Data are not available at constituency level.
Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, for the Lancashire police force area, from 2003-04 (latest available) is provided in the table.
2005 data will be available later this year. Data for 2006 will be available in the early part of 2008.
| Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks( 1) , within Lancashire police force area, 2003-04 | ||
| Number of offences | ||
| 2003( 2) | 2004 | |
| (1) An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 143 (2) (2 )As from 1 June 2003, ‘driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks’ became a fixed penalty offence. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is underway to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 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 the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when these data are used. | ||
Open Source Software
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of his Department's computer systems use open source software; what percentage of the systems planned to be installed use such software; and whether he plans to increase the use of open source software in his Department. [111168]
Mr. Byrne: The choice of software to meet the business needs of the Home Office now largely rests with its strategic IST suppliers who are contracted, largely under the Private Finance Initiative (and PPP arrangements), to meet business requirements and provide value for money solutions, including the consideration of open source solutions. In the main, the Home Office no longer chooses specific software. This factor, combined with the large number of computer systems operated by the Department prevent us from providing percentage figures for the number of systems in which open source software is used and planned.
Within our business requirements the Home Office ensures that any technical choices should meet relevant Government software standards and provide for interoperability with our public and business partners. Currently this does not include the extensive use of open source software.
Parliamentary Questions
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will provide a substantive reply to question 104193, tabled by the hon. Member for New Forest, East for named day answer on 29 November 2006; and what the reason is for the time taken for a response. [110901]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 23 January 2007]: I replied to the hon. Member on 23 January 2007, Official Report, column 1690W.
Police
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is collected about complaints made against police community support officers. [112403]
Mr. McNulty: The Independent Police Complaints Commission is an independent body responsible for the management of the police complaints system. I will ensure that the chairman receives a copy of the question and replies to the hon. Gentleman directly. Copies of the letter containing the IPCC’s response will be placed in the House Libraries.
Police Patrols
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to carry out a review of the effectiveness of the function of police patrol. [111550]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 26 January 2007]: Research has found that random patrol had no impact on crime rates or on calls for service. Targeted patrol of crime hotspots was found to have an impact. Furthermore there is some evidence of a positive impact on crime and confidence in officers who had higher levels of doorstep contact with the community, rather than contact through patrol. There is a growing evidence base to suggest that patrol, as part of a neighbourhood policing strategy, is effective in its impact on crime, perceptions of crime and antisocial behaviour, feelings of safety, and public confidence in the police.
The Home Office's evaluation of the national reassurance policing programme was published in January 2006 and provides strong evidence of the impact of neighbourhood policing. A copy is available in the Library of the House. The roll-out of neighbourhood policing is due to be complete by April 2008. Ongoing Home Office research will evaluate its impact on police performance, and the results will be published in due course.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) of 11 January 2007, Official Report, column 658W, on prisons, how many years' experience the previous head of operations at HM Prison Pentonville had working in operations departments at prison establishments; at what grade this experience was gained; and if he will make a statement. [111804]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The previous head of operations had six years’ prison service experience. It is not appropriate to provide further personal information. The reply referred to above made it clear that those appointing the previous head of operations considered that they had sufficient experience for the post.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were assessed on reception into prison as having literacy and numeracy skills below level one at each prison establishment; and if he will make a statement. [115787]
Phil Hope [holding answer 15 January 2007]: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the most recent Home Office statistics show that 37 per cent. of prisoners had reading skills below level 1, 43 per cent. had numeracy skills below level 1, 46 per cent. had spelling skills below level 1 and 62 per cent. of prisoners had punctuation skills below level 1. (Prison Statistics for England and Wales 2002).
Public Order
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders were breached in Essex in each of the last five years. [109764]
Mr. McNulty: [holding answer 20 December 2006]: The available information is given in the following table.
Regional Crime Squads
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reintroduce regional crime squads. [117742]
Mr. McNulty: There are no plans to reintroduce regional crime squads.
Russian Federation Visitors
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether new passport and immigration controls are being considered on visitors from the Russian Federation. [111050]
Mr. Byrne: No changes are planned to immigration control in relation to visitors from the Russian Federation following the alleged poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
Seat Belts
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motorists were prosecuted for not wearing seat belts in each of the last five years, broken down by police authority. [111186]
Mr. Coaker: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, from 2000 to 2004 (latest available) is provided in the table. As the majority of seat belt offences are dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty notice these are also included.
2005 data will be available later this year.
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