| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Feb 2007 : Column 1334W—continued
Community psychiatric support to our patients has also increased, and there are now two full-time community psychiatric nurses in post at Selly Oak.
Furthermore, additional funding has been provided to help meet the travel and accommodation costs of patients' families who need to travel to Selly Oak. Transport and drivers have been made available from HQ5 Div resources to enable the transfer of patients and dependants between railheads, accommodation and the various hospital locations. Six rooms have been allocated in the Alexander Wing at Selly Oak for relatives of service personnel who are listed “very seriously ill” (VSI) or “seriously ill” (SI), where relatives can stay whilst visiting a patient. These rooms are provided free, and (depending on availability) may also be used by families/relatives of non-VSI/SI listed patients. The Alexander Wing has wi-fi connectivity and six laptops have been provided from HQ5 Div resources to enable internet access for visitors and patients.
Trident
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which budget heading the spending on a Trident replacement will come; and if he will make a statement. [116649]
Des Browne: The Government's plans for the maintenance of the independent nuclear deterrent were set out in the White Paper ‘The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent’ (Cm 6994, published in December 2006). I have nothing further to add.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much military-grade (a) plutonium and (b) enriched uranium the UK has produced in the last five years; what level of production is required for the existing Trident missile programme; what additional amounts of each type of military-grade material will be produced by the proposed UK nuclear power development programme; how much of each type of military-grade material is expected to be required following the proposed replacement of the Trident missile programme; and if he will make a statement. [122881]
Des Browne: On 18 April 1995 the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK had ceased the production of fissile material for explosive purposes. This voluntary moratorium stands and there are no plans to change this. Work continues in the Conference on Disarmament to promote the early negotiation and agreement of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty to bind countries into ceasing production altogether of fissile material for weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
Home Department
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the police have received evidence of members of the Tamil community in the
UK being intimidated by representatives of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in order to raise funds for that organisation; and if he will make a statement. [120278]
Mr. McNulty: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the Metropolitan police service. I understand that his office has already written to you in response, and I shall place a copy of his letter in the House of Common Library.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he defines binge drinking; what assessment he has made of the impact of binge drinking on crime levels; and if he will make a statement. [123795]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 27 February 2007]: The Government follows the Department of Health’s definition of binge drinking, which is drinking more than double the daily recommended limit of three-four units for men and two-three for women in a single session.
The most recent assessment the Home Office has made of the impact of binge drinking on crime is from the 2003 Offending, Crime and Justice survey on alcohol-related crime and disorder which defined binge drinking as “feeling very drunk at least once a month”. This survey identified 44 per cent. of young adults (18-24 year olds) as binge drinkers. Among this age group, 27 per cent. of binge drinkers admitted that they had committed an offence in the past 12 months. The Home Office no longer uses the definition of binge drinking that was used in this report and now follows the Department of Health’s guidelines. The Offending, Crime and Justice survey is currently under review and a decision is yet to be made on whether or not it will be continued.
According to the 2005-06 British crime survey published on 20 July 2006, victims believed the offender or offenders to be under the influence of alcohol in 44 per cent. of all violent incidents, approximately the same level as for 2004-05. The offender was judged to be under the influence of alcohol in 54 per cent. of incidents of stranger violence, a decrease from 60 per cent. in 2004-05.
Antisocial Behaviour
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether funding allocated to local authorities for respect zones will be ring-fenced specific grants; [120779]
(2) what additional obligations and responsibilities will be placed on local authorities with respect zones; [120781]
(3) for how long local authorities will be funded centrally if they are given respect zone status; [120782]
(4) on what criteria funding will be allocated to local authorities for respect zones. [120783]
Mr. McNulty:
Respect areas will have access to up to £125,000 from the Department for Education and Skills specifically to help improve parenting
programmes linked to tackling antisocial behaviour. Areas are required to commit to action on:
a family intervention project that challenges and changes the behaviour of the most problematic households;
a significant increase in the availability of parenting programmes for families at risk of/or behaving antisocially;
greater openness and accountability for action to local communities through Face the People sessions;
a renewed commitment to using the full range of available tools and powers to tackle antisocial behaviour; and
promoting the Respect housing management standard to ensure a consistent, responsive service from landlords for all social housing tenants.
Funding is currently being agreed to the end of March 2008. Decisions on subsequent years have yet to be taken.
Asylum
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2007, Official Report, column 695W, on asylum seekers, how many asylum seekers will be dispersed and to which boroughs. [121967]
Mr. Byrne: It is not possible to indicate at this stage how many failed asylum seekers supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will be moved out of the Greater London area. This will depend on the outcome of a review of each case to identify whether there are circumstances that mean that the provision of accommodation in London remains appropriate.
Where a move away from London is arranged the preferred option will be to provide accommodation in the region where the individual was previously dispersed. Where this is not possible failed asylum seekers will be dispersed to regions in accordance with the normal criteria for the allocation of cases between regions. Decisions on where to place those accommodated within a particular region will take account of regional strategic co-ordination arrangements.
Asylum: Appeals
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of asylum seekers initially refused permission to stay subsequently win approval to stay after appeal or other further proceeding in the last period for which figures are available. [122483]
Mr. Byrne: The information is not available as some asylum cases refused at initial decision are still awaiting the outcome of first or second tier appeals. Management information predicts that 24 per cent. of all applications that were refused at initial decision during April to September 2006 were subsequently successful at appeal.
Asylum: Iraq
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsuccessful Iraqi asylum seekers have been granted humanitarian protection since April 2003. [122624]
Mr. Byrne: There were 10 grants of humanitarian protection at initial decision to Iraqi principal asylum applicants between April 2003 and September 2006 (figure rounded to the nearest 5).
Information on initial decisions is published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Bokhari Family
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he took to ensure that his decision to deport the Bokhari family of Grimsby was communicated to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby once his office had learnt that the hon. Member’s Grimsby office was closed. [112350]
Mr. Byrne: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 20 February 2007 with the information requested.
Community Policing: Liverpool
Jane Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers working with Merseyside police within the Liverpool city council boundary are funded by (a) Home Office resources, (b) Neighbourhood Renewal Fund resources, (c) New Deal for Communities resources and (d) local authority resources. [123798]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not collected centrally.
The Home Office is providing £5.6 million from the Neighbourhood Policing Fund (NPF) and £1.4 million in other PCSO funding to Merseyside in 2006-07. This funding will assist the force in reaching its target of 466 PCSOs by April 2007. All forces are encouraged to seek funding from a variety of sources including their local community safety partners to meet the costs of police community support officers (PCSOs). Police community support officers play a key role within neighbourhood policing teams in improving community safety. Community safety and the reduction of crime and disorder in all of our communities can only be achieved through effective local partnerships which include the police service and a range of others including the local authority, housing providers, and representatives of the voluntary and community sectors.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 22 December 2006 on the seasonal agricultural workers scheme (Home Office reference: M30604/06). [111565]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 26 January 2007]: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 17 January 2007.
Crime
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of crime rates in (a) high and (b) low income communities in (i) the most recent period for which figures are available and (ii) 1996-97; and if he will make a statement. [121845]
Mr. Coaker:
The most recent figures published from the British Crime Survey (BCS) relate to interviews carried out in 2005-06. Figures are not published for “low income communities”, but as a proxy, figures are provided by ACORN category (A Classification of
Residential Neighbourhoods) which groups households according to the demographic, employment and housing characteristics of the surrounding area. Figures are also provided for crime types (burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage and violence) by household income for 2005-06, as another proxy measure.
The 1998 BCS measured crime occurring in 1997 which is the nearest appropriate source of data for the 1996-97 period mentioned. Figures are provided for crime types (burglary, vehicle crime and violence) by ACORN and household income.
Figures for the 1998 and 2005-06 BCS can be found in the following tables.
| Proportion of households/adults victims of crime types by ACORN category, 2005-06 BCS—England and Wales | |||||
| ACORN category (based on 2001 census) | |||||
| Percentage victims once or more | |||||
| Hard pressed | Moderate means | Comfortably off | Urban prosperity | Wealthy achievers | |
| Source: 2005-06 British Crime Survey | |||||
| Proportion of households/adults victims of crime types by ACORN category, 1998 BCS —England and Wales | ||||||
| ACORN category (based on 1991 census) | ||||||
| Percentage victims once or more | ||||||
| Striving | Aspiring | Settling | Rising | Expanding | Thriving | |
| Source: 1998 British Crime Survey | ||||||
| Proportion of households/adults victims of crime types by household income, 2005-06 BCS—England and Wales | |||||
| Household income | |||||
| Percentage victims once or more | |||||
| Less than £5,000 | £5,000 less than £10,000 | £10,000 less than £20,000 | £20,000 less than £30,000 | £30,000 or more | |
| Source: 2005-06 British Crime Survey | |||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |