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14 Jan 2008 : Column 1038W—continued

and 93 per cent. after three

We have also appointed IPSOS Mori to undertake a qualitative study investigating the circumstances in which different antisocial behaviour interventions are most effective. Antisocial behaviour orders are just one of these. This research is due to be published later this year.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women have been served with an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) for prostitution-related activities; and how many women have been sent to prison for breach of such an ASBO. [177014]

Mr. Coaker: Data are not collected centrally about the behaviour leading up to the granting of an antisocial behaviour order.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in each (a) police authority area and (b) criminal justice system area; how many of these have been breached; how many people received a custodial sentence for such a breach; and how many people have been taken to court for a breach. [176313]

Mr. Coaker: Police force areas and criminal justice system areas are co-terminous. Data showing the number of antisocial behaviour orders issued and breached broken down by criminal justice area are shown in the following table. Unfortunately, data on the number of orders incurring a custodial sentence for a breach; and how many people have been taken to court for a breach, are not available broken down by area. The breach rate nationally is 47 per cent. overall with 57 per cent. for juveniles and 41 per cent. for adults.

14 Jan 2008 : Column 1039W

Number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued, breached and breaches subsequently receiving a custodial sentence as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2005
	Number of ASBOs
CJS area	I ssued	B reached( 1)
Avon and Somerset	213	103
Bedfordshire	82	32
Cambridgeshire	96	34
Cheshire	208	90
Cleveland	115	74
Cumbria	115	68
Derbyshire	125	51
Devon and Cornwall	177	53
Dorset	77	51
Durham	96	71
Dyfed Powys	35	16
Essex	149	81
Gloucestershire	68	41
Greater London	1,163	463
Greater Manchester	1,227	686
Gwent	72	46
Hampshire	272	133
Hertfordshire	145	54
Humberside	236	100
Kent(2)	159	22
Lancashire	357	176
Leicestershire	120	59
Lincolnshire	43	21
Merseyside	300	136
Norfolk	117	45
Northamptonshire(2)	84	9
Northumbria	302	131
North Wales	168	77
North Yorkshire	91	41
Nottinghamshire	255	109
South Wales	147	59
South Yorkshire	245	132
Staffordshire	170	67
Suffolk	165	65
Surrey	110	48
Sussex	245	121
Thames Valley	162	70
Warwickshire	87	48
West Mercia	231	103
West Midlands	776	373
West Yorkshire	692	384
Wiltshire	52	25
England and Wales	9,749	4,568
(1) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table on the area of ISSUE. (2) Breach data from the magistrates court administrative systems in Kent and Northamptonshire are known to have been under-reported. Notes: 1. On the occasion of the severest sentence received. Custodial sentences for breaching an ASBO may have been given concurrently with custodial sentences for other offences for which the person was found guilty. 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. Sources: Issued—As reported to the Home Office by the Court Service. Breached—OCJR Court Proceedings Database.

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Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistics her Department collates on alcohol-related crime in (a) England and (b) each local authority area. [176707]

Mr. Coaker: The British Crime Survey collects information on the number and proportion of violent incidents where the victim believed the offender to be under the influence of alcohol. While these statistics are published for England and Wales as a whole they are not available at local authority area level.

The Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales on an offenders basis. These data include information on the age of the defendants, their gender, the police force area and court where proceedings took place as well as the specific offence and statute for the offence. Alcohol offence categories collected include offences of drunkenness with and without aggravation and offences under the licensing acts. The court proceedings database does not hold specific information on offences beyond descriptions provided by the statutes under which prosecutions are brought. For example information on prosecutions for the offences of ‘violent disorder’ cannot identify which offences involved alcohol use.

The Home Office is also leading an evaluation of the Licensing Act 2003 on levels of crime and disorder, using a range of measures and statistics at both a national and local level. It is planned to publish the results from this evaluation in the spring.

To complement the findings of the main report, a monitoring exercise was carried out to get an indication of the change in police recorded crime statistics following the introduction of the Act. The results of this exercise were published in ‘Violent crime, disorder and criminal damage since the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003’, Home Office Online Report 16/07. A copy is available at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/rdsolr1607.pdf

No statistics on alcohol-related crime are available from the police recorded crime statistics. Such offences are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in the recorded crime data series.

Animal Experiments

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the potential for adverse physical and psychological effects, other than those included in the Guidance Notes to Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, to be experienced by animals for each of the severity bandings used to classify scientific procedures on animals; how often the procedures that fall within these bandings are reviewed; and when the last revision took place. [175621]

Meg Hillier [holding answer 8 January 2008]: Severity of suffering is classified in four categories: “unclassified”, “mild”, “moderate” or “substantial”. Sections 5.40 to 5.49 of the Home Office Guidance on
14 Jan 2008 : Column 1041W
the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (HC321) explain how these levels are assigned and provide examples of some of the adverse effects they may entail. The current guidance was published in March 2000 following a review of earlier guidance published in February 1990. At present, we have no plans to review the guidance as a whole or to expand on the examples provided in respect of severity limits.

The severity of suffering authorised in project licences is reviewed by inspectors during visits of inspection and in discussion with licensees. Severity is also reviewed by inspectors when amendments to existing protocols are considered. In addition, a standard condition of issue requires that project licence holders report to the Secretary of State if the severity limit of a protocol appears to have been or is likely to be breached, at which point the severity of the protocol is also reviewed. One of the duties of local ethical review processes in designated establishments is also to ensure that severity is minimised throughout the duration of project licences.

Animal Housing: Security

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance police provide to kennels on measures to be taken to protect kennels against the risk of attacks from the public and organisations wishing to prevent injured strays being put down. [177383]

Mr. McNulty: All police forces will give crime prevention advice through crime reduction officers to members of the public seeking assistance. This includes advice to owners of kennels who may be subject to threats of attacks from the public or organisations. In addition forces also employ officers with a specialist knowledge of domestic extremism who can provide advice on dealing with the unwelcome attention of extremist groups. They in turn have access to advice from specialist national police units such as the National Extremism Tactical Co-Ordination Unit which was set up to provide a consistent response to domestic extremism across the country.

The Government are clear that threats of attacks on individuals and businesses are unacceptable. The Government fully support a person's right to protest lawfully about activities they oppose, but is equally clear that people also have a right to be free to carry out their lawful business without fear of intimidation and violence. We therefore condemn individuals or organisations who are prepared to resort to criminal action to deliver their message.

Asylum

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of asylum seekers who have exhausted all avenues of appeals in England in each year since 1997. [171518]

Mr. Byrne: Information on asylum decisions and appeals relating to asylum seekers in particular areas of the UK is not available since applications are for asylum in the UK and not any particular part of it (and we do not generally require asylum seekers to
14 Jan 2008 : Column 1042W
reside in a particular location). Also, asylum seekers can leave the UK voluntarily at any time and some do so without informing the authorities.

Information on appeal rights exhausted is published annually; information prior to 2003 is not available. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will consider a system of pre-paid cards for asylum seekers as an alternative to the existing vouchers. [177064]

Mr. Byrne: Destitute asylum seekers who have been assessed as eligible for asylum support receive cash on a weekly basis by presenting their application registration card at a nominated post office.

Those refused asylum whose appeal rights are exhausted and who are unable to leave the UK immediately due to circumstances beyond their control may receive support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (IAA 1999). Section 4 support comprises self-catering accommodation with vouchers to purchase food and essential toiletries.

There are no plans to change these arrangements.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) dependants of asylum seekers have been given leave to remain in the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by type of leave granted. [177338]

Mr. Byrne: Information on the annual number of asylum seekers and dependants of asylum seekers given leave to enter is available from the annual Statistical Bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:

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