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19 Feb 2007 : Column 307W—continued
Trident
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will extend the consultation period on the proposed replacement for Trident by three months. [120862]
Des Browne: On 4 December, Official Report, column 21, the Prime Minister said that there would be “a very full process of debate”. The Government have contributed to this debate in a number of different ways: for example, we have published a comprehensive White Paper; we have staged a full debate in the House of Lords; I have given a speech at King’s College London; we have given wide-ranging evidence to the Defence Committee; and we have arranged visits for hon. Members to the Faslane Naval Base. Further events are also planned.
It remains our intention, at the conclusion of the process, to have a full debate and vote in the House of Commons. No precise date has yet been fixed but it is likely to be in March.
Home Department
Policing
14. Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of front-line policing; and if he will make a statement. [121303]
Mr. McNulty: The Frontline Policing Measure for 2005-06 indicated that officers in England and Wales spent 63.1 per cent. of their time on front line duties.
Alcohol Addiction
15. Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated in 2006-07 to treatment for alcohol addiction in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [121304]
Mr. Sutcliffe: A comprehensive strategy for tackling prisoners' alcohol problems is in place and a range of interventions is available in prisons for those with an alcohol dependency:
clinical management including detoxification, in all local and remand prisons;
the substance misuse service for 16 to 18-year-old prisoners (has a particular focus on alcohol);
Alcoholics Anonymous run groups in around 50 per cent. of prisons;
an information pack and awareness video is available for all prisoners; and
where alcohol is part of a wider substance misuse problem, the full range of drug interventions are available.
The funding allocation specifically for alcohol treatment is not collated.
Antisocial Behaviour
17. Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made towards the Government's target to reduce antisocial behaviour. [121306]
18. Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the use of antisocial behaviour orders. [121307]
19. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of numbers of breaches of antisocial behaviour orders; and if he will make a statement. [121308]
Mr. Coaker: For the period to December 2005, 47 per cent. of ASBOs were breached. The effectiveness of the Government's antisocial behaviour policies has been assessed in two key independent reports published last year, by the National Audit Office and by the Youth Justice Board. Both confirmed that our twin track approach of support and enforcement is effective in protecting communities from antisocial behaviour. This is bringing results—nationally, the percentage of people who perceive high levels of antisocial behaviour has fallen from 21 per cent. in 2002-03 to 17 per cent. in 2005-06. This is the true measure of our success.
22. Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with representatives of local government on tackling antisocial behaviour. [121311]
Mr. McNulty:
We are continuing to work closely with colleagues in local government to deliver the Respect Action Plan and other measures to tackle antisocial behaviour. We recently announced 40 Respect Areas, which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary launched
on 22 January 2007. My right hon. Friend has also attended a parenting event as part of new £4 million funding for 77 local authorities to employ parenting experts to help families whose children are involved in, or at risk of exhibiting, antisocial behaviour.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of antisocial behaviour orders issued in Portsmouth. [121305]
Mr. Coaker: Portsmouth city council is one of only six local authorities nationwide to have been shortlisted for a Beacon Award for preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour, which is a positive reflection of their success in making good use of the full range of tools and powers that we have made available to them.
The effectiveness of the Government’s antisocial behaviour policies was assessed in two key independent reports published last year by the National Audit Office and by the Youth Justice Board. Both confirmed that our twin track approach of support and enforcement is effective in protecting communities from antisocial behaviour. This is bringing results—nationally, the percentage of people who perceive high levels of antisocial behaviour has fallen from 21 per cent. in 2002-03 to 17 per cent. in 2005-06.
Residency Rights
21. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many European Economic Area nationals gained residency rights in the UK during 2006. [121310]
Joan Ryan: Figures for 2006 will not be available until August 2007.
Figures for 2005(1) for EEA nationals who requested confirmation of residency rights or permanent residency in the UK are as follows:
(1)These figures come from HO Statistical Bulletin 09/06, "Persons Granted British Citizenship, United Kingdom, 2005", published by IRSS on 23 May 2006.
| Number | |
Prisons
23. Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on prison capacity. [121312]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Since 1997 we have increased prison capacity by nearly 20,000 places.
The Home Secretary has announced plans to increase capacity by a further 10,000 places. Around 2,500 of those places will be delivered in 2007.
Probation Service
24. David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent submissions he has received on reform of the probation service; and if he will make a statement. [121313]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have received correspondence from a wide range of Members of this House, writing on behalf of their constituents, as well as correspondence and briefing from key stakeholders. I have also held meetings with Members and with stakeholders to discuss our proposals for reform of the probation service.
Landlords
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many landlords were prosecuted for allowing drunkenness or riotous behaviour in their premises in the last year for which statistics are available. [121299]
Mr. Coaker: There were 10 prosecutions resulting in four convictions in 2005 for the offence of allowing drunkenness or riotous behaviour in licensed premises under the Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983. The Licensing Act 2003 repealed the 1983 Act when it came into effect on 24 November 2005 and created separate offences of allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises and selling alcohol to people who are drunk. Conviction of each offence can lead to suspension or forfeiture of personal licences and a maximum fine of £1,000.
Agency Funding Requests
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures his Department has in place for processing funding requests from departmental agencies. [115869]
John Reid: Agencies submit cash forecasts to the Home Office, which in turn are incorporated into the forecast monthly cash requirement for the Department. This is submitted to the Treasury under its cash management scheme and this forecast dictates the supply required.
On the first working day of the month the Treasury issues the Home Office with the funding requested and the Home Office in turn then supplies funds to the agencies as requested. The transfer of these funds is made by RFT (Request For Transfer)—a same day payment method for making payments from one Office of the Paymaster General account to another.
Animal Experiments
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made by the Inter-departmental Group on the 3Rs (reduction, replacement and refinement) on the merits of accelerating progress in implementing non-animal techniques in toxicology. [119314]
Joan Ryan: The Government fully accept the need to facilitate progress in identifying, developing, validating and implementing scientifically satisfactory and practicable advanced methods which reduce, replace and refine the use of animals in toxicology studies. This is reflected in the terms of reference of the Inter-Departmental Group on the 3Rs which are:
“to improve the application of the 3Rs and promote research into alternatives, reducing the need for toxicity testing through better sharing of data, and encouraging the validation and acceptance of alternatives”.
The Group, which is led by the Home Office, aims to ensure that United Kingdom regulators are abreast of progress made with the 3RS and that United Kingdom Government representatives are well informed and properly briefed to enable them to formulate 3Rs-related policies and to negotiate at international level. They also aim to identify areas of regulatory testing where 3Rs activities should be prioritised.
The Group’s consideration of developments in alternatives is wide ranging and includes areas such as teratogenicity and carcinogenicity studies, marine biotoxin testing (food safety), the testing of biologicals and vaccines (for example, botulinum toxin in medical products) and inhalation toxicology testing as well as wider progress in pharmaceutical research and development.
Crimes of Violence: Home Detention Curfews
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners sentenced for crimes involving violence have been granted home detention curfews in the last 12 months. [120021]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the number of prisoners serving sentences for violent offences released on the Home Detention Curfew release scheme (HDC) can be found in Table 10.19 in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005 which can be found at the following website:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1806section10.xls
It should be noted that serious violent offenders serving extended sentences for serious violent offences are statutorily ineligible for release on HDC. Eligible prisoners are not granted HDC unless they pass a careful risk assessment.
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.
As noted in the footnote to table 10.19, investigations suggest that around 5 per cent. of offence types recorded on this system do not relate to the offence they were released on HDC for, but relate to offences committed after release from prison and before the licence expiry date for their sentence. Our inquiries have shown that this is the case with the two offenders classified as sexual offenders in table 10.19.
Crimes of Violence: Homosexuality
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to tackle homophobic hate crime. [120653]
Mr. Coaker: All hate crime, including homophobic hate crime, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Any crime can be motivated by hate and victims of hate crime may have additional needs because of its very personal nature.
In December 2006 we produced guidance with examples of good practice of what is being done to tackle homophobic hate crime across the country. This can be found at: http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/sexual028.htm.
This includes ways to increase reporting, because it is an under reported crime, increasing confidence in the criminal justice system, improving the way we tackle hate crime and better use of data so as to prevent repeat victimisation, hate crime must be taken seriously and its perpetrators held to account for their actions.
Deportation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers were deported in each of the last 12 months. [118285]
Mr. Byrne: The following table shows the number of asylum applicants removed from the UK between October 2005 and September 2006, by month. This is the latest 12-month period for which figures can be provided: figures for the final quarter of 2006 are scheduled for release on 27 February and prior release is not permitted under the National Statistics Code of Practice.
It is not possible to say which stage in the asylum process applicants have reached at the time of their removal, as those departing voluntarily can do so at any stage.
Deportations are a specific subset of removals which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good; the deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. This is different from the removal of illegal entrants, persons who breach their conditions of leave, including overstayers, or persons who seek/obtain leave to remain by deception that are administratively removed, but not banned from returning to the UK.
Statistics on deportation action are obtained annually. This information is not available for 2005 owing to data quality issues. The immigration and nationality directorate is currently putting in place new processes to improve its data collection systems for the future in this area.
Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available on the Home Office’s Research Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
| Removals, voluntary departures and assisted returns( 1) of asylum applicants, including dependants, October 2005 to September 2006( 2, 3) | ||||||
| Number | ||||||
| October 2005 | November 2005 | December 2005 | January 2006 | February 2006 | March 2006 | |
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