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16 Apr 2007 : Column 438W—continued
Crime: USA
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department had with the police departments of (a) Chicago, (b) New York and (c) Los Angeles on methods of countering street gangs and gang culture. [130055]
Mr. Coaker: The Strategic Criminal Use of Firearms Intelligence review was carried out in 2005 jointly by the Home Office Police Standards Unit (PSU) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Criminal Use of Firearms Group. This involved visits to New York, Boston and Washington, and discussions with Police Departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The PSU funded ACPO Criminal Use of Firearms Group also visited Washington to learn about gangs and gang culture in the USA. A representative of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) recently attended an ACPO Criminal Use of Firearms Intelligence Sub-Group meeting in the UK and presented details of the LAPD forensic approach to tackling gun crime involving gangs.
The current Director of the Home 0ffice PSU Police and Crime Standards Directorate is Paul Evans, the former Commissioner of Boston Police, who has extensive experience of dealing with gun crime and gangs in the USA.
The learning from these visits and discussions with law enforcement personnel in other jurisdictions is incorporated into police control strategies.
Crime: Young People
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions for (a) vehicle theft (b) theft and handling, (c) sexual offences, (d) robbery, (e) racially aggravated offences, (f) breach of public order, (g) (i) domestic and (ii) non-domestic burglary, (h) motoring offences, (i) fraud and forgery, (j) drug offences, (k) (i) death and (ii) injury by reckless driving, (l) criminal damage, (m) breach of (i) statutory order and (ii) bail, (n) arson and (o) violence against the person were brought against young people aged 18 years old and under that resulted in (A) acquittal and (B) conviction in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [126113]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Juveniles are defined in law as being aged 10-17 years of age and are subject to a separate sentencing framework to adults. In the interests of clarity 18 year olds, who are defined as adults, have therefore been excluded from this reply.
Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the number of prosecutions, convictions, and acquittals brought against young people aged 17 years and under for the years 2001 to 2005 in England and Wales for parts (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) [for (f) see offence code 125 offence against public order], (g), (h), (i), (k) (i) and (ii), (l), (m) (ii) [for (m) (ii) please refer to offence 83 Failing to surrender to bail] can be found in table(s) A to P, which have been placed in the House Library.
Crimes of Violence
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition of common assault the police use for the purposes of arresting people for that offence. [129025]
Mr. McNulty: Common assault is committed when a person either assaults another person or commits a battery. An assault is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend the immediate infliction of unlawful force. A battery is committed when a person intentionally and recklessly applies unlawful force to another. The full definition applied by the police is set out in the legal guidance provided by the Crown Prosecution Service and available at:
Crimes of Violence: Halifax
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the violent crime rate is in Halifax; and what it was in 1997. [130396]
Mr. Coaker: The number of offences for Halifax is recorded within the Calderdale Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP). CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.The first period in which the total number of offences was recorded for each CDRP is 2001-02.
The available figures are given in the following table.
| Number of violent crimes recorded for Calderdale CDRP, 2001-02 to 2005-06 | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| Notes: Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These data are therefore not comparable with earlier years. Violent crime comprises violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery. | |||||
Custodial Treatment
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which (a) retailers, (b) shopping centres, (c) town centres and (d) local authorities have expressed an interest in having a short-term holding facility; [130047]
(2) what legal advice in relation to (a) employment and (b) safety in the workplace legislation he has received on the introduction of short-term holding facilities. [130048]
Mr. McNulty
[holding answer 26 March 2007 ]: The consultation paper “Modernising Police Powers: Review of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984” indicates that any short-term holding facility would be under the supervision of a custody officer. Under PACE, a custody officer is appointed by the chief officer for the force concerned for each designated police station. Therefore, we would
anticipate that any facility would be under the control of the chief officer. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) believes that the proposal has merit and could help in the fight against rising levels of retail crime if used appropriately. We have had contact with retail outlets and the consultation exercise is seeking views on the appropriateness, use and process of designation of short-term holding facilities.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, column 144W, on departmental computers, how many computers (a) were stolen from his Department in 2006 and (b) have been stolen in 2007. [123694]
Mr. Byrne: In 2006, 19 computers were reported stolen from the Department. This number comprises 17 laptop computers, one PDA and one Blackberry.
Three computers have been reported stolen in 2007 to date. This number comprises two laptop computers and one Blackberry.
Departments: Advertising
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns in each year since 1997; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to (a) television, (b) radio and (c) print media. [128088]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 19 March 2007]: Home Office spending on advertising and promotional campaigns in 2004-05 and 2005-06 is set out in the following table. The cost of providing figures for earlier years would be disproportionate. Figures given are for media costs only and exclude VAT.
| 2004-05 | ||||||
| £ | ||||||
| Job. No. | Client | Campaign Title | Media Total (inc. VAT) | TV | Radio | |
| 2005-06 | ||||||
| £ | ||||||
| Job. No. | Client | Campaign Title | Media Total (inc. VAT) | TV | Radio | |
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