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10 Sep 2007 : Column 1932W—continued
Crime: Disabled
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proportion of victims of crime in England and Wales over the most recent period for which figures are available were (a) people with disabilities and (b) people with mental health problems; [152976]
(2) what requirements exist to record whether victims of crime have (a) disabilities and (b) mental health problems. [152995]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the risk of personal crimes (violence and personal theft) by whether the victim has a disability or illness. The latest results from the BCS 2006-07 are included in the following table. The BCS does not collect information on whether respondents have mental health problems.
Information on disability and mental health problems in relation to victims is recorded at a number of points during the criminal justice process by criminal justice agencies. For example, when an initial statement is taken from the victim, the MG11 form on which it is recorded requires police officers to record whether the victim is vulnerable or intimidated. The definition of “vulnerable” in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 includes any victim who
“suffers from mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983”
“otherwise has a significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning”,
“has a physical disability or is suffering from a physical disorder”.
Similarly, in cases that reach the point of charge or beyond, a witness care officer is required to conduct and record a detailed needs assessment that will reassess whether the victim is vulnerable or intimidated.
Departments: Aviation
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on (a) first class and (b) business flights in the last 12 months. [153144]
Mr. Byrne:
The Department's accounting system does not separately identify expenditure on first class,
business class and standard class travel for air travel. Such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department expects all official travel to be carried out by the most efficient and economic means available, taking into account the cost of travel and subsistence, savings in official time, management benefit, and the needs of staff with disabilities. This is in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
The Cabinet Office produces the annual list of Cabinet Ministers’ overseas travel, the one for 2006-07 was published on 25 July 2007.
Departments: Flowers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on flowers in the last 12 months. [153145]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office accounting system does not separately identify spend on flowers. To provide the detail requested would incur disproportionate cost.
Departments: Legislation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) Acts and (b) parts of Acts received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and 31 July 2007 for which her Department has policy responsibility; and which provisions in those Acts (i) have not yet come into force, (ii) have been repealed prior to coming into force and (iii) have been repealed after coming into force. [154936]
Jacqui Smith: The provisions of the following Acts (which received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and 31 July 2007) for which the Home Secretary has policy responsibility are fully in force:
Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act 1997
Special Immigration Appeals Act 1997
Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1997
Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) (Amendment) Act 1998
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999
Criminal Cases Review (Insanity) Act 1999
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
Football Disorder Act 2000
Terrorism Act 2000
Mobile Telephones Reprogramming Act 2002
Football Disorder (Amendment) Act 2002
Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Extradition Act 2003
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
Terrorism Act 2006
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006.
The following table lists provisions of Acts for which the Home Office has policy responsibility which received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and July 2007 which are not yet in force.
It is not possible to provide lists of provisions which have been repealed prior to coming into force or which have been repealed after coming into force without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departments: Manpower
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been appointed to her Department outside of civil service grades in the last 12 months. [153147]
Mr. Byrne: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Press
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on newspapers and magazines in the last 12 months. [153142]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office’s expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals for the last 12 months was £131,287.
Departments: Publicity
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of advertising commissioned by her Department in the last 12 months. [148515]
Mr. Byrne: In the 12 months to July 2007 the Home Office has implemented advertising campaigns covering its policy responsibilities relating to crime reduction, drugs, internet child protection, alcohol harm reduction, recruitment of police community support officers, local trials of the single non-emergency number, employing illegal immigrants, domestic violence and the passport application procedure for first time applicants.
These policies and programmes affect the lives of millions of people and in order for them to work they must be communicated effectively. A campaign will only be implemented where there is a clear role for communications in achieving the overall policy target. All campaigns are managed with cost efficiency in mind and there are strict rules to ensure value for money on Government advertising. All advertising media are bought using COI framework media agencies which have clear targets for achieving value for money.
Effective evaluation of campaign advertising is standard departmental practice. Particular evaluation techniques will depend on the objective of the campaign and the nature of the advertising implemented, however the Department would typically use a combination of:
Spontaneous and prompted advertising awareness and recall of messages;
Changes in key audience attitudes before and after the campaign;
Changes in claimed behaviour in key audiences before and after the campaign;
Specific policy/product detail recall;
Agreement with relevant statements (pre/post);
Response to advertising where appropriate (telephone, coupon, website);
Econometric analysis;
Advertising media cost audits.
Of the major advertising campaigns undertaken during this period, the Acquisitive Crime Reduction campaign has achieved 90 per cent. recognition with 60 per cent. of respondents claiming the adverts would make them take more precautions to protect them from becoming a victim of crime.
The alcohol ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign achieved 84 per cent. prompted recall of the TV advertising. Additionally 82 per cent. of respondents said the advertising made them rethink the consequences of drinking too much
The Police Community Support Officer recruitment campaign generated over 52,000 requests for application packs, helping achieve the recruitment target of 16,400 recruits—with those aware of the advertising campaign twice as likely to consider being a PCSO as those who were not (13 per cent. v . 5 per cent.).
The FRANK drugs helpline awareness campaign has achieved recognition among 94 per cent. of its key
15 to 18-year-old audience, with 70 per cent “very” or “quite likely” to call FRANK if they needed information in the future. Additionally, 81 per cent. of young people would recommend FRANK to friends.
Additionally, the Home Office is working with Cabinet Office on a number of initiatives to improve the efficiency of civil service recruitment process, such as combining advertising with other Departments where possible to reduce advertising costs. The Home Office is also contributing to an OGC-led initiative for a central framework contract for head-hunters and recruitment consultants.
Departments: Railways
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on first class train tickets in the last 12 months. [153143]
Mr. Byrne: The Department's accounting system does not separately identify expenditure on first class travel for train travel. Such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department expects all official travel to be carried out by the most efficient and economic means available, taking into account the cost of travel and subsistence, savings in official time, management benefit, and the needs of staff with disabilities. This is in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
The Cabinet Office produces the annual list of Cabinet Ministers’ overseas travel, the one for 2006-07 was published on 25 July 2007.
Departments: Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on (a) staff training and (b) communication training in the last 12 months. [153139]
Mr. Byrne: Home Office expenditure on training for the financial year 2006-07 was £29,732,614. Details of expenditure on communication training could be only provided at disproportionate cost.
The aforementioned figure includes expenditure by the core Home Office, the Border and Immigration Agency, the National Offender Management Service and the Office of Criminal Justice Reform. The latter two are now part of the Ministry of Justice.
The size of the expenditure reflects both the size of the Home Office, which employed almost 25,000 people in 2006-07, and the degree of importance the department places on equipping staff with the skills necessary to conduct their duties effectively in a changing working environment.
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