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24 Apr 2007 : Column 1056W—continued
Crimes of Violence
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding was allocated to tackling (a) gun crime and (b) knife crime in each round of funding from the connected fund programme since its introduction; and to which groups that funding was given. [131216]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 16 April 2007]: Since being established in May 2004, the connected fund has allocated approximately £1.2 million over five rounds, funding 300 projects in England and Wales. The projects funded focus on tackling gun crime, knife crime and gangs. Many of the projects cover a wide range of issues with the aim of helping young people at risk of becoming involved in violent crime, and it is not possible to identify an exact figure spent specifically on gun crime or knife crime from the fund.
Full details of projects funded can be found on the Connected website:
Domestic Violence
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many copies of the Domestic Violence: an MPs Guide (a) leaflet and (b) supplementary booklet were printed; what the cost was of each; and how they were distributed to hon. and right hon. Members. [128075]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The development of the guide came about as an action from the inter-ministerial group on domestic violence. Its intention is to provide MPs with information on what they can do if they are approached by a constituent affected by domestic violence.
We initially placed 23 mock-up copies of the guide in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament on 6 March. A further 30 mock-up copies were distributed at an event attended by MPs on 6 March. We have printed a further 1,000 guides, 23 of which will replace the mock-up in both Libraries.
To reach a wider audience and ensure greater distribution of this resource, PDF versions of both the leaflet and a supplementary booklet are available on the Home Office’s Crime Reduction website. The supplementary booklet will not been printed.
The cost of producing the leaflet and supplementary booklet was approximately £1,500. The production costs for 1,000 copies were £380.69, and the design service costs, based on 30 hours work at £36.40 per hour, were £1,092.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2007, Official Report, column 1507W, on domestic violence, in how many and what percentage of domestic violence incidents dealt with by the police (a) the presence and (b) the residence of a child present was recorded at the incident. [133240]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is not collected centrally by the Home Office.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of incidences of domestic violence reported to each police force involved (a) male and (b) female victims in each of the last five years. [133309]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 February 2007, Official Report, column 1222W. This gave figures from the British Crime Survey for incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. The BCS does not have these data at police force area level and so the information requested is not available.
Fines: EC Law
Mr. Hands:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to implement the EU Council framework
decision 2005/214/JHA on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to financial penalties. [132950]
Joan Ryan: We are working towards implementation of the framework decision but it is not yet possible to indicate when we will do so because primary legislation will be required for implementation in England and Wales.
Human Trafficking: Children
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which agency is responsible for the welfare of victims of child trafficking once they have been identified. [132751]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 23 April 2007]: Local authority children’s services have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children including those that are thought to have been trafficked. Following an assessment of their circumstances and under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, a local authority has a duty to provide accommodation for any child within its area if it considers that the child is in need of care. Using the powers vested in them by the Children Act 1989 where there is a risk to the life of the child or a likelihood of serious harm, the local authority or police are required to act quickly to secure the immediate safety of the child.
Immigration: Telephone Services
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls were received by his Department’s immigration matters helplines from hon. Members’ offices in each year since 2001. [133017]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 20 April 2007]: The Border and Immigration Agency MPs’ hotline received 119,695 telephone calls from Members of Parliament, the House of Lords and members of the devolved assemblies during the period 1 June 2003 to 31 March 2007, which is the only period where statistical information is available.
Police: Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) non-emergency and (b) hate crime incidents were recorded and submitted through the police.uk website in the most recent year for which figures are available. [128849]
Mr. McNulty
[ h olding answer 20 March 2007] : All forces have their own websites that were linked to the police portal. The portal had a national crime and hate crime incident reporting facility as well as other capabilities including message broadcasting. However, the portal was not well used by the public and few forces used its other capabilities. The links have therefore been suspended and the Association of Chief Police Officers and the National Policing Improvement Agency are working together to find an alternative solution that recognises forces internal capability. In
the period January 2006 to February 2007 52,321 non-emergency and 2,827 hate crime incidents were submitted.
Prisons: Smuggling
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many HM Prison Service employees are being monitored as suspected of trafficking contraband; and if he will make a statement. [132972]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Staff corruption investigations are undertaken by prisons or at area manager level and information of this type is not collected centrally. It could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons: Tobacco
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the black market currency value of (a) a single cigarette, (b) a standard packet of 20 cigarettes and (c) 50 grams of hand-rolling tobacco in each prison establishment where a total no smoking ban has been introduced; and if he will make a statement. [132973]
Mr. Sutcliffe: None. Strategies are in place to manage the security risks posed by contraband and other articles which can be used as currency in a prison setting. Discipline issues have been taken into account in drawing up arrangements to implement anti-smoking legislation in prisons.
Schools: Crime
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences against the person carried out on school property were reported to police in each year since 1997; and how many of these offences involved as the victim (a) a teacher, (b) a pupil, (c) other staff and (d) a parent, broken down by local authority area. [133268]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available from the recorded crime statistics. Offences occurring on school property cannot be separately identified and no data is collected on the status of victims.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of (a) theft and (b) criminal damage from (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools were reported to police in each year since 1997; and how many and what percentage of those cases resulted in the arrest of a school pupil, broken down by local authority area. [133270]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available from the recorded crime statistics. Offences occurring on school property cannot be separately identified and information is not collected on the status of those arrested.
Vladimir Ismaili
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the Albanian Vladimir Ismaili
was granted bail after his recent conviction for human trafficking following a joint investigation by Manchester and Warwickshire police; and whether he has been recaptured. [132752]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 20 April 2007]: The decision of whether to bail or remand a defendant into custody is at the discretion of the court which must follow the clearly set out procedures in the Bail Act 1976. It would not be appropriate for the Government to pass comment on the actions of the court in this particular case.
Mr. Ismaili was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in his absence on 22 December 2006 for false imprisonment, two counts of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, causing or inciting prostitution for gain and blackmail, and is still at large. A warrant for his arrest has been issued by the court.
Youth Justice Board
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2007, Official Report, column 976W, on the Youth Justice Board, if he will provide a list of the Youth Justice Board's research studies and the corporate targets and outcome measures to which each relates. [131415]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Youth Justice Board has published a list of its research studies and the corporate targets to which each relates in the Youth Justice Board Research Strategy 2006-08. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library of both Houses. The report is also available on the YJB website at http://www.yjb.gov.uk.
House of Commons Commission
House of Commons Commission: Manpower
Mr. Maples: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many people are employed by the Commission; and how many of those employees earn over £60,000 per annum. [132980]
Nick Harvey: As at 31 March 2007, the Commission employed 1,657 staff of which 85 were paid at an annual rate of over £60,000.
International Development
Developing Countries: Health Professions
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures his Department has in place to assist developing countries in retaining their health workers. [132858]
Mr. Thomas:
In last year's International White Paper, DFID committed to help developing countries solve their staffing crises by supporting training,
providing staff incentives to work in underserved countries and increasing support for community health workers.
In Malawi, DFID has provided £100 million over six years to fund an innovative emergency human resource programme to support the training, recruitment and retention of health workers. This programme will double the number of Malawian nurses and treble the number of Malawian doctors.
The UK has drawn up a code of conduct for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals. This actively prevents the NHS from recruiting health workers from low and middle-income countries unless there is a Government-Government agreement in place to manage the process.
Developing Countries: HIV Infection
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work is being undertaken by his Department to assist developing countries in tackling mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. [132859]
Mr. Thomas: DFID is intensifying action on tackling mother to child transmission of HIV at country level. In Zimbabwe, DFID has initiated a £25 million project specifically to address maternal and newborn health and HIV. In Malawi, where DFID is the major donor in the health sector, with an investment of £100 million over the period 2004-10, a rapid scale-up in preventing mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services is taking place. During 2005, 5,000 of 7,000 HIV positive pregnant women received a complete course of antiretroviral prophylaxis. In Zambia, we support UNICEF's expansion of PMTCT.
In 2006 DFID supported research in the Republic of Congo and Uganda which demonstrated that pregnant women with HIV are between four to five times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than non-infected women. DFID is tackling stigma and discrimination that prevents women accessing PMTCT by funding education and mass-media campaigns in Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
In addition to core funding to UNICEF, DFID has provided over $1.5 million to an ‘Accelerating Action for Children Affected by HIV and AIDS’ programme. This gives focus to the “4 Ps—Protection, Prevention, PMTCT and Paediatric AIDS”. DFID is also participating in a US-led HIV and AIDS paediatric public-private partnership which seeks to develop formulations of HIV drugs suitable for children in developing countries together with the pharmaceutical industry.
HIV Infection: Drugs
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to remove trade barriers that prevent the production and distribution of generic medicines for HIV/AIDS. [132857]
Mr. Thomas: We are working closely with our colleagues across Government to facilitate access to generic medicines.
For World Trade Organisation members, trade in medicines is governed by the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). We are pleased that TRIPS has been permanently amended to allow for generic versions of patented medicines to be produced and exported under compulsory licence. EU producers are able to use this system, which was implemented by legislation agreed under the UK's presidency of the EU.
DFID is working with a number of international organisations, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to help developing countries to build capacity so that they are able to make use of the TRIPS flexibilities provisions related to the production and distribution of generic medicines, including those for HIV/AIDS.
World Bank
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the Government's position regarding Paul Wolfowitz's presidency of the World Bank. [132937]
Hilary Benn: At the spring meetings of the World Bank on 15 April, I and my fellow Governors agreed the following section of the development committee communiqué, dealing with the allegations against President Wolfowitz:
“We have to ensure that the Bank can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation, as well as the motivation of its staff. The current situation is of great concern to all of us. We endorse the board's actions in looking into this matter, and we asked it to complete its work. We expect the Bank to adhere to a high standard of internal governance.”
We expect the World Bank executive directors to meet again this week to discuss the next steps.
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