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12 Mar 2007 : Column 110W—continued
| 31 December 2005 | 31 December 2006 | |||
| Contracted establishments | Employed | Profiled | Employed | Profiled |
Information has not been supplied by HMP Altcourse.
Prisoners: Day Release
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners on day release. [123787]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the numbers of temporary release licenses issued to prisoners in prison establishments within England and Wales can be found in table 10.6 in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005, a copy of which can be found within the House of Commons Library. This table can also be found at the following website:
It should be noted that the table refers to the number of releases rather than the number of prisoners-, so the same prisoner could appear multiple times in the table. Further, the table includes releases that last longer than one day.
These figures are management information and may be subject to change.
Racial Violence: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported racist offences in Lancashire there were in each of the last 10 years. [125746]
Mr. McNulty: The available information is given in the tables.
Racially aggravated offences are available only from the police recorded crime series from 1 April 1999.
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the (a) one-off and (b) recurring cost of implementing the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill: Parts 1 and 3 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators. [125610]
Mr. McNulty: Chapter I of Part I of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), which provides for the lawful interception of communications, entered into force in October 2000. When the RIP Bill was tabled, its regulatory impact assessment (RIA) estimated, accurately, total compliance costs to business (communications service providers (CSPs)) would not exceed the measure of significance (£20 million) used by the Regulatory Impact Unit of the Cabinet Office.
Chapter II of Part I of RIPA, which provides for the lawful acquisition and disclosure of communications data, entered into force in January 2004. In line with section 24 of RIPA, arrangements are in place for CSPs to recover the costs incurred by them in complying with disclosure required by public authorities. We estimate that in 2005-06 public authorities paid communications service providers less than £20 million for disclosing communications data when required to do so.
Part III of RIPA, which provides for the investigation of protected electronic data, is not yet in force although the Government have completed a public consultation on a draft code of practice which Parliament will be invited to approve shortly. The RIA for the RIP Bill estimated total compliance costs to business relating to Part III were not expected to exceed the measure of significance. That estimate is still valid.
Sexual Offences: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered sex offenders lived in the Peterborough city council area as at 31 December 2006; and if he will make a statement. [126226]
Mr. Coaker: The available data are not collated on a borough or constituency basis. Data on registered sex offenders are collated at multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) area and police basic command unit (BCU) levels within areas. MAPPA areas are coterminous with police and probation areas. The data are published in (MAPPA) annual reports which are available in the House Libraries and at:
The Peterborough city council area is not coterminous with any area or BCU but is covered by the data relating to the Northern BCU area in Cambridgeshire's MAPPA annual report. These data represent the number of registered sex offenders as at 31 March 2006—153 in the Northern BCU.
Theft: Vehicle Number Plates
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many number plate thefts were detected in (a) West Ham constituency and (b) London in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05 and (iii) 2005-06. [125222]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available centrally.
Constitutional Affairs
Bailiffs: Licensing
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what regulations are in place on the licensing of bailiff operators. [126040]
Ms Harman: Certificated bailiffs are governed by the Distress for Rent Rules 1988 and the Distress for Rent (Amendment) Rules 1999. High Court Enforcement Officers are governed by the High Court Enforcement Officer’s Regulations 2004. Activities of County Court bailiffs employed by Her Majesty’s Courts Service are regulated by the terms of their contracts of employment. All other private bailiffs are currently self-regulated.
The Tribunals’ Courts and Enforcement Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 16 November 2006 and had its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 5 March 2007. The Bill provides for the regulation of all enforcement agents, including bailiffs, who are not Crown employees. They will all have compulsory criminal record checks, all be subject to the same complaints system and all have to hold a certificate issued by a county court judge. In the longer term the Government are proposing that all non-Crown employed enforcement agents be licensed by an independent regulator, the Security Industry Authority.
Departments: Consultants
Mr. Francois: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the (a) organisations employed by her Department to provide and (b) cost to the public purse of providing external consultancy advice on departmental rebranding since December 2006. [125770]
Ms Harman: Part of my Department, the Public Guardianship Office, is using one company called Parity Resourcing Solutions to provide a consultant for implementation of new branding for the PGO.
Costs incurred since December 2006 are £22,325 including VAT.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many submissions her Department received in response to the consultation on the draft Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2007; if she will post all responses on her Department’s website; and when the final regulations are expected to be laid before Parliament. [126501]
Vera Baird: My Department has received 182 replies to the consultation on the draft Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2007. The consultation closed on 8 March 2007.
We will publish a summary of the responses to the document in line with the consultation code of practice set out by the Cabinet Office, which will be available on the departmental website.
We will analyse the responses to the consultation exercise before considering laying regulations.
Magistrates: Training
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance and training is given to magistrates and magistrates’ clerks on the use of their powers under section 6 of the Immigration Act 1971. [125928]
Ms Harman: A justices’ clerk or legal adviser advises magistrates in all cases in which an application under section 6 of the Immigration Act 1971 is made. As qualified barristers or solicitors, they are fully trained and experienced in the research of legal issues. In giving advice, justices’ clerks and legal advisers have access to the statutory provisions and commentary on it, as well as Home Office circulars giving guidance. Because of the relative infrequency of such applications, however, there is no specific national training for legal advisers or magistrates on the topic, although some courts may provide specific local training.
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