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19 Feb 2007 : Column 152W—continued
All registered sex offenders are monitored in line with their individual risk management plan.
On 31 January 2007, the number of registered sex offenders recorded by police as missing from their registered address was as follows:
| Number of registered sex offenders | |
Sheppey Crossing
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police vehicles have been damaged in incidents relating to the closure of Sheppey Crossing. [111606]
Mr. McNulty: This is a matter for Kent police.
Smoking Ban
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the introduction of the smoking ban on levels of antisocial behaviour. [111193]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
The Department is not aware of any evidence that smoke free legislation will impact on levels of antisocial behaviour.
Smuggling: Firearms
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Minister of State's comments in the House on 7( )February 2007, what discussions his Department has had with HM Revenue and Customs on the importing of illegal firearms; and if he will make a statement. [121130]
Mr. Coaker
[holding answer 9 February 2007]: The Home Office works with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on a range of issues, including the importing of illegal firearms. HMRC are represented on the Home Secretary's Round Table on Guns, Knives and Gangs, which met most recently on 7 February. A further meeting will be held shortly. HMRC and the Home Office are also represented on the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Criminal Use of
Firearms group which is taking forward a wide ranging action plan which focuses on enforcement, intelligence and prevention issues, including the supply of prohibited firearms.
A Joint Firearms Intelligence Cell (JFIC) has recently been established between ACPO, HMRC, Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND), and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). The JFIC is working on an action plan on the illegal supply and distribution of firearms within the UK.
In addition, the ACPO CUF Secretariat represents the UK at the European Firearms Experts Working Group. A priority for that working group is the illegal distribution and supply of firearms from a European perspective.
The chair of the ACPO CUF (chief constable Keith Bristow, Warwickshire) currently chairs the G8 Law Enforcement Projects Sub Group (LEPSG). This group seeks to improve co-ordination and co-operation between the law enforcement agencies of G8 countries.
Speed Limits: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue was received from fines related to speed cameras in Bournemouth in each of the last five years. [119920]
Mr. Coaker: Information on revenue from speed camera convictions is not collected centrally.
The information collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform identifies the number of fixed penalties ordered to be paid and the number and amounts of court fines issued for such offences within each police force area. Not all fines and fixed penalties will have been paid.
Stray Dogs
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their obligations to receive stray dogs under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and what sanctions are available to him against those which are not fulfilling their obligations. [118891]
Mr. McNulty: The exercise of local authority statutory duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is a matter for the Department of Communities and Local Government.
Terrorism: Detainees
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from police forces indicating that individual cases of anti-terrorism inquiries since the period of detention was increased to 28 days would have been assisted if there had been a longer period of detention without charges being made. [119689]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 8 February 2007]: We have ongoing discussions on the limits on pre-charge detention in terrorist cases with the leaders of the police service and others.
Veritas
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will assess the suitability of the company Veritas in providing professional services to police forces in England; [112034]
(2) what contracts are held by English police forces with the company Veritas. [112035]
Mr. McNulty: Contractual arrangements with private companies are a matter for individual police forces and their police authorities.
Victim Support Schemes
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated (a) at a national level for the Restorative Justice Consortium and (b) to local victim care units. [119841]
Mr. Sutcliffe: In 2005, the Home Office provided the Restorative Justice Consortium with one-off investment funding of £36,000 to enable it to concentrate on securing alternative sources of sustainable funding.
£1 million has been allocated this financial year to pilot new and enhanced services for victims of crime.
Wandsworth Prison
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recreational facilities are available to prisoners at HMP Wandsworth. [120393]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The recreational facilities available include a variety of workshops and educational facilities and a library for prisoners to use.
There is a pool table and a table tennis table on all the residential units, televisions in all cells, for which prisoners pay £1 a week and all prisoners have access to exercise yards each day. There are gyms and fitness suites in the prison, and some units also have access to exercise equipment. Prisoners on the enhanced level of incentives and earned privileges can have access to DVDs and games consoles. There are also reading clubs, film clubs and a radio station.
Young Offenders
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation was undertaken on Prison Service Order Number 4950; and what representations were received. [120937]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The current edition of the Prison Service Order was published in December 2006 following consultation with, among others: the Youth Justice Board; the Department for Education and Skills; the Department of Health; governors/directors of young offender institutions; the Prison Governors' and Prison Officers' Associations; HM Inspectorate of Prisons; and the Independent Monitoring Boards Secretariat. Responses were received from 53 bodies or individuals.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice his Department makes available to (a) children, (b) their representatives and (c) their family members on the regime to which they are entitled under Prison Service Order 4950 on regimes for children in prisons; and for what reason (i) girls are no longer treated separately under the order, (ii) the requirement for prison staff to have training in dealing with girls was removed, (iii) the specification on hours to be spent out of the prison cell on purposeful activity was removed, (iv) the mandatory minimum number of hours of education was removed and (v) the requirement to produce records of achievement for children was removed. [120938]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Young people newly received into custody must be given information about the establishment and a sentence plan. General information for families and others can be accessed on HM Prison Service's website or requested from the local establishment. Prison Service Order 4950 is complemented by a service level agreement between the Youth Justice Board and the Prison Service, which contains a specific service specification for the service's five dedicated girls' units. The PSO requires that staff working with under-18s should receive specialist training as specified in the SLA. Training is currently provided through the Juvenile Awareness Staff Programme, which contains elements specific to young women. The SLA sets a level of at least 10 hours a day for time out of cell. The under-18 version of the Offender's Learning Journey (OLJ), the specification for the learning and skills delivery service, requires each learner to receive 25 hours learning a week. The SLA reinforces this with the requirement that young people in young offender institutions receive an average of 25
hours of education, training and personal development activity each week. The OLJ requires that every young person should have an Individual Learning Plan, which the learning provider is required to pass on as young people transfer between custodial institutions and, through the youth offending team, to the responsible learning provider following release.
Transport
Driving Offences
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motorists were found by police to be driving without (a) a valid UK driving licence, (b) insurance, (c) an MOT and (d) a valid tax disc in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force. [118290]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
Information held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the numbers of court proceedings and fixed penalty notices issued (where appropriate) for offences of ‘driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence’; ‘using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks’ and ‘using or keeping an unlicensed vehicle on a public road’, from 1997-2004 (latest available) is provided in the tables.
The motoring offences of ‘causing or permitting use of vehicle without test certificate’ contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988, s. 47 are not separately identifiable, on the court proceedings database, from other similarly grouped motoring offences.
2005 data will be available later this year.
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