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8 Feb 2007 : Column 1084W—continued
Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions under the provisions of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 have taken place since the Act’s implementation. [117897]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 February 2007]: There have been no prosecutions under the 2003 Act. However, educating communities to abandon the practice is the best way forward to break the cycle of mutilation and the Act is being widely used for that purpose.
Fixed Penalty Notices
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people have been issued with a fixed penalty notice and fine in Solihull in the past 12 months; what the average amount of the fines was; and how many of these fines were for being drunk and disorderly; [118657]
(2) how many people under the age of 18 years have been issued with a fixed penalty notice and a fine in Solihull in the last 12 months. [118658]
Mr. Coaker: Data on the number of penalty notices for disorder and fixed penalty notices for motoring offences issued in Solihull are not available at either local authority or constituency level.
In 2005, the latest period for which statistics have been published, 4,306 persons were fined in Solihull, an average of £129 per person. 16 people were fined for being drunk and disorderly, an average of £78 per person. 85 persons under the age of 18 were fined in Solihull in 2005, an average of £54 per person.
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.
Hit and Run
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were prosecuted for failing to stop after an accident under the Road Traffic Act 1988 in Suffolk in each year since 1997. [118655]
Mr. Coaker: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and given in the table shows the number of defendants prosecuted for the offence of ‘failing to stop after an accident’ under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.170 (4) from 1997 to 2005 (latest available).
Human Trafficking
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children found as a result of Operation Pentameter were pregnant; and what assistance was offered to such children. [118538]
Mr. Coaker: I understand that among the minors recovered as a result of Operation Pentameter, two were found to be pregnant. They are now in the care of local authority social services who are responsible for ensuring they receive adequate and appropriate care to meet their needs.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women have been accepted on to the Poppy Project since its introduction. [119002]
Mr. Coaker: Since the Poppy Project opened in March 2003 until January 2007 127 women have been provided with full accommodation and support and 33 have benefited from outreach support.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women accepted into the Poppy Project have (a) accepted voluntary return to their country of origin and (b) refused to accept voluntary return and consequently been deported. [119031]
Mr. Coaker: The Poppy Project does not collate this information. Women who are accepted onto the project are not subject to any removal action during an initial four week period whilst they make decisions about their future and longer-term support is offered in return for co-operation with the authorities. Some victims, who are legally entitled to do so, choose to remain in the United Kingdom. However where appropriate, victims are provided with information and assistance to help them voluntarily return to their country of origin and removal action is only ever taken as a last resort.
Human Trafficking: Children
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the report from the Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre national scoping study on child trafficking was received by his Department; and when will it be available to Parliament. [118557]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 5 February 2007]: The Home Department has received a first draft of CEOP’s scoping study report on child trafficking. We anticipate the report will be published and therefore made available to Parliament by April 2007.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the responsibilities are of (a) the Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre and (b) the Human trafficking Centre on child trafficking issues; and in what ways the organisations inter-relate. [118558]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 5 February 2007]: The main responsibility of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) is to combat child exploitation both in the online and offline environment. It does this by working with the Department for Education and Skills, police forces, offender managers, children’s services and other stakeholders.. Its priority is to work with its partners in making the internet as safe as possible for children and young people to use and alert the police of those posing a risk to children.
The responsibility of the UK Human Trafficking Centre is to establish a more joined up response across law enforcement agencies to tackling human trafficking. It will develop police expertise and co-ordinate targeted operations. The Centre will also promote the replication and expansion of support services to victims of trafficking. It is also playing an active part in devising training for investigating police officers in trafficking cases.
Both organisations are working together within the framework of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to develop operational and strategic working relationships to ensure that wherever possible trafficked children are identified and appropriately protected.
Legal Systems: Islam
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the extent to which Sharia courts have been used in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [118555]
Ms Harman: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. and noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, to the Lord Marlesford on 18 December 2006, Official Report, column WA 234.
Court Diversion Schemes
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Court Diversion schemes are in operation. [119114]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There are a variety of different disposals that provide opportunities for low risk, low-level and often first time offenders to get help and make reparation outside the court process.
In determining the most appropriate course of action for these offenders, the criminal justice agencies have available the following pre-court disposals: the caution (or final warnings and reprimands for youths), the formal warning for cannabis possession, the penalty notice for disorder, the fixed penalty notice and the conditional caution, as well as the restorative justice process, the acceptable behaviour contract and the anti-social behaviour order.
Information is not held centrally on the total number of local Court Diversion schemes.
Mentally Ill: Custodial Treatment
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people with mental health problems are (a) in prison and (b) held on remand; and if he will make a statement. [118281]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally.
The survey, psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics, 1998) showed that 90 per cent. of prisoners have at least one significant mental health problem, including personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence.
The survey also reported that some 10 per cent. of men on remand, 7 per cent. of sentenced men and 14 per cent. of all women had suffered a functional psychosis in the past year. Around 59 per cent. of men on remand, 40 per cent. of sentenced men, 76 per cent. of women on remand and 63 per cent. of sentenced women had suffered from a neurotic disorder in the previous week. Rates of personality disorder were 78 per cent. among remanded men, 64 per cent. among sentenced men and 50 per cent. among all women.
Source:
Singleton, N., Meltzer, R., Gatward, R. with Coid. J., Deasy, D (1998) Psychiatric morbidity among Prisoners in England and Wales. Office for National Statistics.
Prisoners
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many male prisoners are classified as category (a) A, (b) B, (c) C and (d) D in England and Wales. [112390]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the number of prisoners by category held in prison establishments in England and Wales at the end of November 2006, as provided by the prison IT system, is shown in the following table.
The figures provided 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 the totals have been rounded.
| Population( 1) of category A, B, C and D prisoners at prison establishments in England and Wales as at 30 November 2006 | |
| Number | |
| (1 )Totals will not add to total published prison numbers because (i) many prisoners recently sentenced are under assessment for security classification; and (ii) the security categories do not normally apply to remand prisoners, women or young offenders. | |
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners there are in each prison in the south west region; and what the operational capacity is of each prison. [112393]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Figures taken from the prison IT system giving prison population and operational capacity of all prisons in the South West region of England can be found in the table.
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.
| Prisoner population and operational capacity of prisons in South West as at December 2006 | ||
| Operational capacity | Population | |
These figures are taken from the prison service website at:
http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/assets/documents/100025D5pop_bull_dec_06.doc
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