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28 Mar 2007 : Column 1623W—continued
Ministerial Activities
Mike Penning: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what activities she has undertaken in a ministerial capacity in the last 12 months; and what costs were associated with each activity. [129177]
The Minister without Portfolio: My ministerial activities include membership of Cabinet and 20 Cabinet committees, participation in the ongoing policy review process, and involvement and discussion with ministerial colleagues in specific policy areas as appropriate.
The costs associated with these activities are not held separately.
Project George
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will publish the business case for Project George. [129141]
Hilary Armstrong: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 8 March 2007, Official Report, column 2198-99W.
Home Department
Administration of Justice: Females
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2007, Official Report, column 391W, on the administration of justice: females, whether he plans to make an estimate of the cost implications of implementing the recommendations of the Corston report. [130335]
John Reid: Yes. We welcome Baroness Corston’s report and will now be looking at the recommendations in detail. This work will include an assessment of the resource implications of her proposals.
Bronzefield Prison: Foreigners
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners housed in HMP Bronzefield are not British citizens, broken down by nationality. [128492]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Information on the numbers of prisoners held in Bronzefield under immediate
custodial sentence on 31 January 2007 showing the numbers of non-British nationals can be found in the following table.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. It is for this reason that the information on all nationalities is not provided by individual prison establishment, as the numbers are not necessarily accurate to this level of detail.
| Prisoners under immediate custodial sentence held in HMP Bronzefield on 31 January 2007 | |
| Number | |
Cannabis
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons (a) under 18 and (b) over 18 years were (i) cautioned and (ii) convicted by the courts in each of the last five years for possession of cannabis. [130355]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 27 March 2007]: Available information relates to persons in England and Wales dealt with under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 of unlawfully possessing cannabis between 2000 and 2004. Figures are in the following table.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, police forces and other agencies. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
| Number of persons (a) aged under 18 and (b) aged 18 and over cautioned or found guilty of unlawfully possessing cannabis: England and Wales, 2000 to 2004 | |||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
| (1 )Separate figures for reprimands and warnings, which replaced cautions for persons aged under 18 in selected areas of England and Wales on 30 September 1998, are not available for 2000 to 2002. (2 )Formal warnings data for cannabis possession have been available since April 2004. Those aged 18 and over who are caught in simple possession of cannabis can be eligible for a police formal warning which would not involve an arrest. Police issued 27,520 formal warnings between April and December 2004. | |||||
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of those convicted by the courts for possession of cannabis in each of the last five years (a) received a custodial sentence and (b) received a fine. [130356]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 27 March 2007]: Available information relates to persons found guilty in England and Wales under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 of unlawfully possessing cannabis between 2000 and 2004. See following table.
| Percentage of persons found guilty of unlawfully possessing cannabis who (a) received a custodial sentence and (b) were fined: England and Wales, 2000 to 2004. | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Custodial sentence( 1) | Fined | |
| (1) Includes suspended sentences. (2) Formal warnings, which do not involve an arrest or court appearance, were introduced nationally in April 2004 for persons aged 18 and over caught in simple possession of cannabis. Police issued 27,520 such warnings between April and December 2004. | ||
Chemical Weapons
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies his Department has undertaken of the capacity of the UK emergency services to cope with a chemical attack on UK populations and towns. [129168]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office reviews such capacity on a regular and ongoing basis and through a variety of means. These include direct contact with individual area emergency services; exercising of response capability; audits and assessments as part of the Cabinet Office led Capabilities Programme, and analysis of the results of the National Capabilities Survey.
Chemical Weapons: Training
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training exercises have been undertaken by (a) UK emergency services and (b) UK Government Departments on chemical attacks since 2001. [129169]
Mr. McNulty: Of the large-scale live counter terrorism exercises led by the Home Office since 2001, two have had a specific chemical attack element. In addition to such national exercises, a wide range of regional and local counter terrorism and consequence management exercises (both live and table top) are held each year. The Home Office does not collate details of all of these, nor of exercises involving other Government Departments, and does not therefore have information on the total number of such exercises held since 2001 which may have included chemical attack scenarios.
Community Service Orders: Finance
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the average daily cost of supervising an offender on a community order. [127877]
John Reid: For 2005-06 the average annual cost per case for a community sentence (including Suspended Sentence Orders) has been estimated as £3,265. This gives a simple average figure of £9 per day.
As 2005-06 was a transitional year, with sentences running under both the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and the previous regulations, this estimated cost should be treated with caution.
Crime Statistics: Somerset
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2007, Official Report, column 189W, on crime statistics: Somerset, how many people were charged with (a) possession of illegal drugs and (b) possession with intent to supply in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police authority area; and how many of those charged were (i) found guilty and (ii) under the age of 18 years. [125459]
Mr. Coaker: Information on charging for these offences is not held centrally.
Available information relates to persons dealt with under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 by police force area in England and Wales between 1995 and 2004 who were: (a)i found guilty; (b) aged under 18 years and found guilty; (c) cautioned by police; (d) aged under 18 years and cautioned. The information has been placed in the House Libraries.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, police forces and other agencies. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Crimes against the Person: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were charged with assaulting a police officer in Lancashire in each of the past five years. [127098]
Mr. McNulty: Data on charging are not collected centrally.
Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of people proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts for the offence of assaulting a constable in Lancashire, 2001 to 2005, are shown in the following table.
| The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and convicted at all courts for the offence of assaulting a constable in Lancashire police force area 2001-05( 1, 2) | |||||
| Proceeded against | |||||
| Offence description | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Found guilty | |||||
| Offence description | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| (1 )These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform | |||||
Crimes of Violence: Police Cautions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cautions for the offence of common assault were issued in 2006. [128173]
Mr. McNulty: Information on cautions given to offenders for common assaults in 2006 will be available in the autumn of 2007.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation was granted by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in each of the last five years, broken down by postcode area of the address of the recipient. [127879]
John Reid: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many applications for compensation have been received by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in the last 12 months; [128431]
(2) how many applicants for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority have received payments in the last 12 months; [128432]
(3) what the cumulative total is of payments made to applicants for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in the last 12 months. [128433]
John Reid: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme: Data for the 12 months 1 March 2006 to 28 February 2007 | ||
| Tariff scheme | Old (pre-1996) scheme | |
| (1) This records the number of cases re-opened on medical grounds in the 12 months ending 28-02-2007. (2) This records the number of payments made during the period. If a claim has had more than one payment during the period, it is only counted once. If the same victim has had payments on separate claims during the period, these are counted, but again only once for each claim. The table does not show the number of claimants whose applications are unsuccessful. On average, some 46 per cent. of claimants do not qualify for compensation under the scheme. | ||
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