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7 Mar 2007 : Column 2046W—continued
Religious Hatred
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legal safeguards are in place to prevent (a) the preaching of hatred and (b) incitement to commit criminal acts in religious communities. [119986]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 8 February 2007]: Under part III of the Public Order Act 1986 it is a criminal offence to use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent or likelihood to stir up racial hatred. This offence covers inflammatory comments made in public or in the media as well as the distribution of printed material.
Parliament has also passed the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, though it is not yet in force. This legislation was intended to close the loophole whereby racial groups (which the courts have deemed to include Jews and Sikhs) are afforded protection against incited hatred while religious groups (Christians and Muslims for example) are not. The Act contains specific protection for freedom of speech. The Government are working towards identifying a date for implementation of the Act in the next few months.
Nine racially-aggravated offences were introduced in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which include assaults, criminal damage and harassment, which make available to the courts higher maximum penalties where there is evidence of racist motivation or racial hostility in connection with offence. The Government extended these offences in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 by creating new religiously-aggravated offences.
For other offences, there is a requirement for courts to take account of racial or religious motivation in sentencing (Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000).
Incitement is an anticipatory common law offence so that incitement to commit violent or other criminal offences is itself an offence in religious or any other communities.
Sexual Offences
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the police have powers to enter the premises of a person on the sex offenders register; and if he will make a statement. [123765]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Section 58 of the Violent Crime Act 2006, which received Royal Assent in November 2006, provides for a police power to enter and search a registered sex offender’s home for the purposes of assessing the risk they pose to our communities. This section will be commenced later this spring. Guidance will be provided to practitioners in a Home Office circular.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the re-offending rate was of sex offenders who (a) attended and (b) did not attend the sexual offender treatment programme in each of the last five years. [123767]
Mr. Sutcliffe: An analysis of the data on overall reconviction rates for sex offenders who attended and did not attend the sexual offender treatment programme is not available.
Evaluations of the sex offender treatment programme provide evidence of a small but positive impact of the programme on future offending. For example, research found a statistically significant reduction in combined sexual and violent reconviction for HMPS SOTP participants compared to matched non-participants (although not for sexual reconviction) (Friendship, Mann & Beech, 2003). The National Offender Management Service is developing an evaluation strategy for the sex offender treatment programme.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department produces on the circumstances in which a sex offender on licence should be recalled. [123783]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
The circumstances in which recall action should be initiated on any offender on licence are laid out in National Standards 2005. These set out minimum standards to be followed in the event of any failure to comply with a requirement of a sentence. There is no specific guidance on recall of sex offenders.
Probation officers are trained to assess the level of risk in each case, including sex offenders, and act in order to protect the public.
Probation Circular 16/2005 provides additional guidance to offender managers on the procedures that they must follow when recommending to the Release and Recall Section (RRS) that an offender be recalled. RRS acts on behalf of the Secretary of State. The Circular includes specific instructions for emergency requests, where the offender presents a high, or increasing, risk of serious harm and is subject to Multi- Agency Public Protection Arrangements. In such cases, the offender’s licence is revoked within two hours of notification.
Speed Limits: Eastbourne
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue was received from fines related to speed cameras in Eastbourne in each of the last five years. [125448]
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.
Theft: Vehicle Number Plates
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in tackling theft of vehicle number plates. [125223]
Mr. Coaker: Latest published figures from the 2004-05 British Crime Survey show that number plates were stolen in 1.9 per cent. of all thefts from vehicles, and in 5 per cent. of thefts where vehicle external fittings were stolen.
Although the proportion of number plate thefts is low, we understand from anecdotal evidence that it is an emerging problem. In order to help address it, following consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency published in February 2006 a voluntary standard for vehicle registration plates which were resistant to theft. These plates are more difficult to detach from vehicles and cannot be fitted to other vehicles once detached. Products meeting the standard are currently available from about 300 retail outlets.
Wandsworth Prison: Dismissal
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff have been dismissed at HM Prison Wandsworth in each of the last 12 months; what the grounds were for each dismissal; and if he will make a statement. [124744]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is set out in the table and is that held by the establishment. The figures refer to the month of the governor’s initial decision to dismiss from the service.
It would not be appropriate to list the reasons for dismissal by month as this would enable individuals to be identified, but of the 15 individuals listed in the table nine were dismissed for medical inefficiency, four for conduct and discipline reasons, and two for a failed probationary period. Some of these dismissals are still in the appeal process.
| Staff dismissed from Wandsworth prison in each of the last 12 months | |
| Month | Number of staff |
Duchy of Lancaster
Data Sharing
4. Mr Mackay: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will make a statement on plans to increase data sharing across Government. [125521]
Mr. McFadden: My colleagues in the Department of Constitutional Affairs set out the Government’s position on data sharing last September. Of course this must be done in a responsible manner but we believe there can be significant advantages for the public if different Departments co-operate to ensure services are personalised and built around individual needs rather than forcing people to give the same information, over and over again, to different Departments and agencies.
Fuel and Water Prices
5. Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the impact of recent trends in fuel and water prices on socially excluded groups. [125522]
Mr. McFadden: The Government have put in place a number of measures to help socially excluded groups with fuel and water costs. These include spending some £800 million on Warm Front between 2005 and 2008, and almost £2 billion on winter fuel payments last winter. We have also removed the threat of water disconnection for all households.
In addition to these measures, we welcome the recent falls in energy prices for domestic customers.
Social Exclusion Frameworks
6. Meg Hillier: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps she is taking to involve voluntary sector groups in building future social exclusion policy frameworks. [125523]
Hilary Armstrong: The third sector plays a key role in providing advice and support services to socially excluded groups. As part of the Cabinet Office’s responsibility for the Social Exclusion Task Force and Office of the Third Sector, Ministers and officials from my Department regularly meet with stakeholders and members of voluntary organisations and groups.
Charities: Statutory Funding
7. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether she has met the chief charity commissioner to discuss her recent report on the effect of statutory funding on charities; and if she will make a statement. [125524]
Edward Miliband: I met the Chair of the Charity Commission, Dame Suzi Leather today, and discussed a range of issues with her.
Data Sharing
8. Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will make a statement on plans to increase data sharing across Government. [125525]
Mr. McFadden: My colleagues in the Department of Constitutional Affairs set out the Government’s position on data sharing last September. Of course this must be done in a responsible manner but we believe there can be significant advantages for the public if different Departments co-operate to ensure services are personalised and built around individual needs rather than forcing people to give the same information, over and over again, to different Departments and agencies.
Social Exclusion: Health Interventions
9. Mr. Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of health interventions on social exclusion. [125526]
Hilary Armstrong: The Government believe that health interventions can be highly effective in tackling social exclusion. As set out in the Social Exclusion Action Plan, we will launch two sets of pilots that will test different health interventions. These are the ten Nurse Family Partnership pilots based on the US model which has seen incredible results; and up to four Multi-systemic Therapy pilots which are well evidence-based in the US, which will help tackle mental health problems in childhood.
Social Exclusion: Education and Employment
10. Mr. McGovern:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the correlation between educational qualifications and
employment in developing proposals to tackle social exclusion. [125527]
Mr. McFadden: Getting a job has an obvious and positive effect on life-chances and is an important means of tackling social exclusion. We also know that getting good educational qualifications is the best way of securing a job.
The Government have prioritised engagement with people who are not in education, employment or training because the correlation between good educational qualifications, employment and tackling social exclusion is such a strong one.
Gift Aid
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment the Charity Commission has made of the effect of the extension of Gift Aid tax relief on levels of charitable giving. [124348]
Edward Miliband: The Charity Commission has not made any assessment of this kind as it is the responsibility of the HMRC to assess the effect of Gift Aid tax relief. HMRC has published research on levels of charitable giving, “Individuals’ Donations to Charities and their Use of Tax Relief.”
A copy of the research reports can be found on the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/rep9-main.pdf. Copies will be made available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Ministerial Policy Advisors: Redundancy Pay
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what rules govern the payment of severance pay to political advisers who leave the civil service; [125228]
(2) how much severance pay was paid to political advisers who left the civil service in each year between 1997 and 2006; [125229]
(3) how the amount of severance pay paid to political advisers who leave the civil service is calculated; and what sums are involved. [125368]
Hilary Armstrong: The rules on severance pay, including how amounts are calculated, are set out in Section 14 of the “Model Contract for Special Advisers”, copies of which are available in the Library. Since 2002, the Government have published on an annual basis the cost of special advisers. This includes the cost of severance payments. Copies of the statements are available in the Library for the reference of Members. Information for previous years is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Smith Institute
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether her Department has held discussions with the Smith Institute concerning the recently announced Charity Commission inquiry. [125781]
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