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9 July 2007 : Column 1333W—continued
Counter-terrorism
Mr. Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received on the contents of her oral statement of 7 June 2007, Official Report, columns 421-37 on counter-terrorism; and what response she has made to those representations. [147193]
Mr. McNulty: We have received a small number of representations from members of the public since the statement of 7 June by the previous Home Secretary my right hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid).
Crime Prevention: Finance
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants were provided to the (a) Crime Reduction Partnership in Newcastle, (b) Newcastle city council and (c) the Newcastle Local Strategic Partnership in respect of safety and policing in each year from 2003-04 to 2007-08. [146308]
Mr. Coaker: Grant allocations made to Newcastle city council and available to the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) in each year since
2003-04 are set out as follows:
| Building Safer Communities and ASB Co-ordinators Grant (£) | Safer and Stronger Communities Fund (£) | |
Since 2005-06, the Building Safer Communities Fund and the Antisocial Behaviour Co-ordinators Grant have formed part of the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund. This is a pooled budget which consolidates a growing number of specific grants contributions from the Home Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government, and forms a funding block to support the delivery of Local Area Agreements (LAAs). As a round three LAA, Newcastle city council and its partners are able to use this grant flexibly to deliver a wide range of outcomes, including reductions in crime, antisocial behaviour and the harms caused by drugs. The 2007-08 figures are not directly comparable with previous years because the pooled budget now includes a larger number of funding streams.
These figures exclude any funding allocated to the CDRP that has been targeted at certain areas, such as the Street Crime Initiative and the Tackling Violent Crime Programme, and any discretionary allocations made by the regional director. This data is not held centrally or would be available only at disproportionate cost.
Crime: Offensive Weapons
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many knife crimes were recorded in each police authority area in each of the last five years for which figures are published. [147854]
Mr. Coaker: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) on 23 April 2007, Official Report, column 977W.
Criminal Investigation
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department provides to police on limiting access of the media to information on the removal of material as evidence during the evidence-gathering phase of a police investigation to protect the rights of an accused person. [147970]
Mr. McNulty: The control and management of information during a police investigation is an operational matter for the chief officer of the force concerned. Guidance is provided by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Media Advisory Group to the police on working with the media and releasing information about individual cases. The guidance can be found at:
Databases: Genetics
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the number of people whose DNA is held on the national database who have committed no offence. [147920]
Meg Hillier: The National DNA Database does not hold information on whether those on it have committed any offence. This is held on the Police National Computer but detailed cross-referencing between the two systems is not routinely available. Discussions are being held on being able to provide this information routinely in future.
Departments: Consultants
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on (a) management consultants and (b) other external consultants and advisers in each year since establishment; and which of these consultants undertook work for the Department with a total contractual value in excess of £10 million. [146335]
Mr. Byrne: Following the NAO report “Purchasing Professional Services” OGC issued guidance that re-defined consultancy to include the purchasing of all professional services and not just management consultancy. Professional services were defined as including: management consultancy, IS/IT consultancy, financial/accounting consultancy, property and construction consultancy (including architects and surveyors), project management, procurement, audit, legal services and human resource advice and assistance (including recruitment services).
We do not hold complete records for this entire period and therefore are unable to reliably identify those companies who have individual pieces of consultancy worth in excess of £10 million but from those records we do have we haven't identified any worth in excess of £10 million.
The information held by the Home Office and its Executive Agencies on its spend on consultants, which falls under the aforementioned definition; is as follows:
For the years 2000-01 to 2006-07, other than where indicated, we are unable to abstract data relating to those areas of responsibility for the Department and its Agencies which have since been transferred to other Government Departments or Agencies under machinery of government changes.
We do not hold information on the Department's total expenditure on consultants for 2002-03 and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The best information available for the financial year 2003-04, using the Business and Accounting Strategic System (BASS) for the core Home Office spend, indicates that the cost of external consultants to the Department and its Executive Agencies in 2003-04 was £113,875,847.
The best information available for the financial year 2004-05, using the Adelphi Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system Accounts Payable Module for the core Home Office spend, indicates that the cost of external consultants to the Department and its Executive Agencies was £59,828,639.
The Department awards contracts in open competition according to the EU Procurement Regulations based on best value for money. The use of external consultants in the Home Office provides the Department with specialist knowledge, skill, capacity and technical expertise that is not otherwise available in house.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which external consultants have carried out work for her Department under contracts in each year since 1997. [146964]
Mr. Byrne: We do not hold central records of the names of individual external consultants who have carried out work for the Department under contracts in each year since 1997 and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department's Enterprise and Resource Planning (ERP) system is able to identify the names of consultancy companies who have undertaken contracts for Home Office headquarters since May 2004.
Departments: Missing Persons
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) she and (b) Ministers or officials from her Department attended the meeting of the National Missing Persons Strategic Oversight Group on 27 June; what steps her Department is taking following the meeting; when she expects the next meeting to take place; whether she expects to attend the next meeting; and if she will make a statement. [148109]
Mr. McNulty:
Home Office officials attended the last meeting of the National Missing Persons Strategic Oversight Group on 27 June 2007. The Group was formally informed of the proposed transfer of work, including the secretariat function of the Group, to the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) by September 2007. The transfer of policy responsibility is part of the wider programme of enhancement and integration of the work of the Police National Missing
Persons Bureau into the NPIA by April 2008. The aim is to provide a fully coordinated approach to missing persons within the police service and to ensure that there is effective working together on this issue with stakeholders at national and local level. The next meeting of the Group is anticipated for October 2007.
Departments: Pay
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in her Department in the last three years; and at what total cost. [146985]
Mr. Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 26 June 2007, Official Report, column 714W.
Departments: Pensions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of staff in her Department are making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions; and what steps she has taken in the last 12 months to encourage more people to make such contributions. [147332]
Mr. Byrne: Of those staff paid by Home Office Pay Service, a total of 470 staff currently contribute to additional voluntary contribution (AVC) schemes. This represents 0.55 per cent. of employees. The figures cover the core Department, all agencies, all NDPBs and all other public bodies currently on the payroll and includes HM Prison Service.
Civil service pension scheme members receive an annual benefit statement showing the pension accrued to date, and also a projection of pension on retirement if the member continues in service to scheme pension age. The benefit statement provides details of the civil service pensions website where staff can obtain further information, including options for making additional voluntary contributions to boost their pension.
Home Office Pensions Service sends out information to new staff or those who rejoin the pension scheme. This includes a leaflet setting out the principles of AVC schemes.
Individual employers within the Home Office may also provide information on the availability of AVCs. Staff in the core Department and the Border and Immigration Agency can access an intranet service which includes pension scheme information and includes links to the civil service pensions website.
Departments: Public Transport
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of its staff using public transport to commute. [147328]
Mr. Byrne:
In its adherence to the June 2006 sustainable operations targets the Home Office is committed to deliver carbon savings by reducing carbon emissions from road vehicles used for Government administrative operations. The Home Office also has an ongoing programme of environmental awareness raising that encourages our
staff to minimise the impacts of their travel activities, including the provision of interest free loans for cycle purchases. No estimates on staff using public transport to commute are maintained centrally.
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