| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 May 2007 : Column 1675W—continued
Roads: Construction
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what provisions there are in the transport analysis guidance rules for taking tax implications of new road plans into account. [134636]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department requires an appraisal of the impact of a proposal on public accounts. The relevant guidance document is Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) Unit 3.5.1, available at www.webtag.org.uk, with more technical detail contained in TAG Unit 3.5.3.
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much central Government funding has been allocated to (a) Suffolk County Council and (b) each local authority for road improvements in each year since 1997. [134669]
Gillian Merron: The Department placed in the Library of the House detailed information on the funding allocated to local authorities in the local transport capital settlements between 1997-98 and 2005-06 (inclusive) in response to a written parliamentary question in the other place on the 18 January 2006, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA122. Similar information was summarised per mile of road in a written response in the other place on 2 February 2006, Official Report, House of Lords columns WA77-79.
I also refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 22 March 2007, Official Report, columns 7048-50W, which provided further details of the capital funding provision for Suffolk and a number of other authorities in the Eastern Region.
The local transport capital settlement allocations for all transport authorities in England for 2006-07 are posted on the Department’s website:
Those for 2007-08 are posted on the site too:
Rolling Stock: Bedfordshire
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when his Department expects additional rolling stock to be provided for train services between Bedfordshire and London; and if he will make a statement; [134361]
(2) what plans his Department has to increase capacity on train services between Bedfordshire and London; and if he will make a statement; [134362]
(3) what representations he has received on proposals to provide additional rolling stock on train services between Bedfordshire and London; and if he will make a statement. [134363]
Mr. Tom Harris: This summer, the Government will be publishing their High Level Output Specification (HLOS) for rail services for the period to 2014. This HLOS will include the specification for capacity on the three main routes that serve Bedfordshire—the East Coast, West Coast and Midland main lines.
Traffic Lights
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will investigate the effect on the flow of traffic of a flashing yellow traffic light during off-peak hours. [134877]
Gillian Merron: The Department has no plans to consider adopting flashing yellow traffic signals during off-peak hours. Removing the protection afforded by a red signal leads to concerns for the safety of pedestrians, especially blind or partially sighted pedestrians. The preferred method is for more traffic responsive operation of traffic signals which should lead to reductions in unnecessary delays.
Home Department
Community Support Officers: Great Yarmouth
Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police community support officers have been stationed in Great Yarmouth since 1997; [135214]
(2) how many police officers have been stationed in Great Yarmouth in each year since 1997. [135215]
Mr. Coaker: Data are not collected for the borough of Great Yarmouth; the available data for the requested dates are for the Norfolk police force, and are given in table 1.
Additionally, data are collected for the Eastern Basic Command Unit (BCU) of Norfolk police which contains North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth. These data are available for police officers from 2003 onwards, and are given in table 2; and for police community support officers from 2005 onwards, and are given in table 3.
Police strength data are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series “Police Service Strength, England and Wales”. The latest publication (data as at 31 March 2006) can be downloaded from:
| Table 1: police officer and police community support officer strength( 1) (FTE) by Norfolk police force as at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006( 2) | ||
| Norfolk | ||
| 31 March: | Police Officers( 3) | PCSOs( 4) |
| (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. (3) Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with earlier years figures). (4) Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. | ||
| Table 2: police officer strength( 1) (FTE) by Eastern Basic Command Unit of Norfolk police force as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2006( 2) | |
| Eastern BCU | |
| 31 March: | Police officers( 3) |
| (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. (3) Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. | |
| Table 3: police community support officer strength( 1) (FTE) by Eastern Basic Command Unit of Norfolk police force as at 30 June 2005 to 30 June 2006( 2) | |
| Eastern BCU | |
| PCSOs | |
| (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) This collection was undertaken by the Home Office Police Human Resources Unit and does not form part of the “Police Service Strength” statistical series. | |
Custodial Treatment: Courts
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions (defined as one prisoner night) prisoners were housed in court cells between 1 January 2006 and 1 April 2007. [133975]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Court cells were used on 33 occasions between 1 January 2006 and 1 April 2007.
Drugs: Crime
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number and proportion of offences that were drug-related in (a) Darlington, (b) County Durham and (c) England in each of the last five years. [135013]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available. Data collected centrally on recorded crime do not identify whether any offences (other than drug offences as defined by law) are drug related. The recorded crime series does include the number of specific drug offences and these are given in the following table.
| Table 1: drug offences recorded by the police 2001-02 | |
| Number of offences | |
| Table 2: drug offences recorded by the police—2002-03 to 2005-06 | ||||
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| Note: The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. | ||||
Extradition
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details of each extradition request by a foreign Government which has been (a) granted and (b) refused in each of the last five years. [134971]
Joan Ryan: For the purposes of this reply a copy of the table has been placed in the Library. The table has assumed that the details required in the question are the requesting country and the year of extradition, or the year in which the case was closed for other reasons. The figures exclude:
(i) any requests which may have been closed before arrests for extradition took place;
(ii) any requests made to Scotland or Northern Ireland, which are matters for the Scotland Office and Northern Ireland Office respectively; and
(iii) any requests made under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) mechanism as these are made by the judicial authorities of other European Union member states rather than by foreign governments.
European Union member states entered the EAW on the following dates:
1 January 2004—Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom;
27 July 2004—Austria, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta. Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia;
1 March 2005—Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Slovakia; and
28 July 2005—Italy.
Finally, it should be noted that the requests to which the figures relate will in many cases have been made in earlier years than those in which the resulting extraditions took place or in which the cases were closed.
HM Prison Coldingley
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recovery of (a) drugs and (b) pornographic material at HM Prison Coldingley earlier this month; what estimate he has made of the street value of the recovery of each; what mechanism was used in the transportation of this contraband into the prison establishment; what steps he plans to take to tighten (i) searching and (ii) monitoring arrangements at the prison establishment; and what assessment he has made of the (A) competency of staff and (B) adequacy of resources in the security department at the prison establishment in preventing contraband from being transported into the establishment. [135106]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
On 15 March a quantity of drugs, mobile phones and DVDs were found following an intelligence led search. This find was as a result of a joint operation with Surrey police. The police estimate
the street price of the drugs at £6,000 to £7,000. The staff involved in this operation have been commended for their actions and the resources available to ensure a positive response to the supply of controlled drugs are kept under review. For reasons of security, and to maximise the possibility of future finds, it would not be appropriate to comment further.
Identity Cards: Fraud
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of companies advertising and selling fake identity cards over the internet; and if he will make a statement. [132134]
Mr. Coaker: The Government are aware that there are certain websites which offer to sell fake identity cards, and that there is a concern that young people may try and use them to purchase alcohol unlawfully. It is, of course, illegal to sell alcohol to under-18s. It is the responsibility of retailers to have adequate procedures in place and appropriate training for staff, if they wish to have a licence to sell alcohol.
Many retailers have now adopted a ‘Think 21’ policy, where anyone appearing to be under 21 should be asked for identification prior to any sale of alcohol, which will prevent an offence being committed. Valid forms of identification include a passport or a driving licence with a photo. The Home Office also supports the Proof of Age Standards (PASS) scheme, which establishes a common standard for issuing the various proof of age cards that are available. PASS accredited cards carry a secure hologram which helps retailers to identify genuine proof of age cards. Following on from the success of the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns, in May 2007 we will be conducting a national Tackling Under Age Sales of Alcohol Campaign, which will test whether or not retailers ask for valid identification from potential underage purchasers of alcohol.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |