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8 May 2007 : Column 92W—continued
Refugees: Iraq
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the number of Iraqi refugees that have been taken in by each EU member state. [133477]
Mr. Byrne: Information on the number of Iraqi refugees that have been taken in by each EU member state is held by individual member states and is not collated by the Home Office.
Information on the number of applications received for asylum in Europe is published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Re-offenders
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the re-offending rate for people placed on drug treatment and testing orders was in each of the last three years. [134419]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The most recent re-offending rates for drug treatment and testing orders were 88.9 per cent. for those started in the first quarter of 2002, 86.3 per cent. for 2003 and 82.3 per cent. for 2004.
For more detailed information on re-offending rates please see ‘Re-offending of Adults: results from the 2004 cohort’. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 06/07. The report is available on line at:
Sentencing
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Sentencing Guidelines Council on the consistency of sentencing in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [135331]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Secretary has not met with the Sentencing Guidelines Council in the last 12 months.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 placed on the Sentencing Guidelines Council a duty to have regard to the need to promote consistency in sentencing when framing or revising sentencing guidelines.
Staffing Costs
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed to promote understanding of issues relating to (a) ethnicity and (b) diversity in (i) his Department and (ii) each police force in England and Wales; and what the estimated cost is of these posts in 2006-07. [107513]
Mr. Byrne: The Department actively promotes equality and diversity in developing policies on its range of public responsibilities and in its treatment of its staff. The core Home Office, Border and Immigration Agency, HM Prison Service and Identity and Passport Service have specific teams who promote, assist and monitor the integration of equality and diversity issues into the work of the Department. The number of staff involved is set out in the following table.
| Home Office | Number of staff FTE | Estimated cost 2006-07 (£) |
Terrorism Act 2000
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider compiling statistics on the number of people awaiting trial under the Terrorism Act 2000. [134936]
Mr. McNulty
[holding answer 30 April 2007] : According to figures compiled by the police service,
there were 98 individuals at or awaiting trial for terrorist offences as of 31 December 2006.
Further information on those arrested, charged and awaiting trial under terrorism legislation is available on the Home Office website at:
I will arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library.
Vetting
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of Criminal Records Bureau checks which failed to pick up and list criminal offences in the latest period for which figures are available. [129474]
Joan Ryan: During the Disclosure process, administered by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are made by the CRB of an individual's personal data supplied with Disclosure applications for any criminal record (or caution, reprimand or warning) held at that time on the Police National Computer (PNC).
In the first quarter of 2007 the CRB has issued approximately 817,000 Disclosures. During that period they have identified one case where an individual was issued with a Standard Disclosure which, on subsequent investigation, did not correctly reveal that the individual had received a police caution that was recorded on the PNC. Having identified the case the CRB have issued an amended Disclosure.
Victims Fund
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much he estimates will be raised in the 2007-08 financial year for the Victims Fund from the £15 levy on fines imposed by courts for motoring offences; [132531]
(2) what estimate he has made of the proportion of the money raised for the Victims Fund which will be allocated to those injured in road crashes; [132532]
(3) which organisations he expects to receive money from the Victims Fund; and how much he estimates will be allocated to each organisation; [132533]
(4) whether he plans to extend to fixed penalty fines the £15 levy on fines imposed by courts for motoring offences; and if he will make a statement. [132534]
Mr. Sutcliffe: From 1 April 2007 anyone convicted in the criminal courts for an offence or offences committed on or after that date and ordered to pay a fine (whether or not any other penalty is imposed) will have to pay the surcharge, at a flat rate of £15, irrespective of the size of the fine.
In a full year it is expected that the surcharge on fines will raise £16 million. It is estimated that about 70 per cent. of this will come from fines on motoring offences.
Money from the surcharge will be spent on a range of services for victims of crime and witnesses. These include £3 million for witness care units, £3 million for independent domestic violence advisers, and £8 million for other support services for victims, the details of which will be announced in due course.
Another £2 million is being allocated to the Victims Fund. Money from the fund is being allocated in two phases. Under the first phase, £1Â1/4 million will be allocated to voluntary organisations helping victims of sexual violence. Applications for funding are currently being considered, and an announcement about which organisations the money has been allocated to will be made as soon as possible. Under the second phase, the other £Â3/4 million will be allocated to organisations helping victims of other types of crime. We will make an announcement about eligibility and how to apply in due course.
A proportion of this money will be allocated for organisations helping victims of road traffic incidents. We cannot give further details at this time, but will make further information available as soon as we can.
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial provision he has made for proposed alterations to bird registration under section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 following the review carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [135832]
Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
My Department is still considering what, if any, changes need to be made to bird registration legislation following the public consultation that ended on 16 February 2007. No financial provision has been made for any proposed alterations to bird registration.
Young Offenders: Homicide
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many youths aged 18 years or under who were convicted of murder in England and Wales for each year since 1997. [133789]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows data extracted from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform in respect of convictions for murder by defendants aged 18 years or under in England and Wales from 1997 to 2005.
| Number of defendants aged 18 years or under convicted of murder at all courts, England and Wales, 1997 to 2005( 1,)( )( 2) | |||
| Age | 10 to 15 | 16 to 18 | Total |
| (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: Office for Criminal Justice Reform | |||
Young Offenders: Sentencing
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days elapsed between arrest and sentence for persistent young offenders in each Criminal Justice Board jurisdiction in (a) Quarter 4 2004, (b) Quarter 4 2005 and (c) Quarter 4 2006; and if he will make a statement. [134946]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 May 2007]: The following table shows data extracted from the DCA PYO statistical bulletin in regard to the average number of days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales by Criminal Justice Area, 2001 to 2006.
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