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15 Jan 2008 : Column 1128W—continued
| 2004 | 2005 | |||
| District Command Unit | Prosecutions | Convictions | Prosecutions | Convictions |
| (1) Includes the offences of ‘burglary with intent to steal—non-dwelling’, ‘burglary and theft non-dwelling and burglary and attempted theft—non-dwelling. (2) Missing data relate to those offenders for whom police DCU information is not available. | ||||
Emergency Services: Crimes of Violence
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland were charged with attacking emergency service workers in each of the last five years. [164446]
Paul Goggins: While there is no specific offence of attacking emergency service workers, the following tables set out the number of offences against the person and criminal damage offences recorded and cleared where:
the primary occupation of the victim is recorded as the emergency services (although it is not known whether they were on or off duty at the time of the offence) or;
the details recorded of the victim indicate “emergency services”—this denotes a general offence against an emergency service rather than a named individual (for instance an attack on a manned police vehicle or ambulance).
The term “offences against the person” covers a range of matters of varying severity, from minor incidents to more serious assaults.
| Offences against the person where the victim's primary occupation is “emergency services”( 1) | |
| Offences cleared by means of charge/summons | |
| (1)Offences against the person include offences of assault on police. | |
| Criminal damage where the victim is listed as “emergency services” | |
| Offences cleared by means of charge/summons | |
The PSNI have stressed that these figures include all the emergency services, and that they encompass many incidents which, while categorised as “offences against the person”, are relatively minor in nature. The majority relate to interactions between police and public during arrests, interventions in assaults etc. rather than deliberate premeditated attacks on police.
During recent years, as policing with the community embeds, officers are having more and closer interactions with the public during night time economy operations and therefore are more likely to intervene in tense situations.
National Identity Register
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans his Department has to make use of data on the National Identity Register when it is established; and what the estimated annual cost to his Department of that use is. [174032]
Paul Goggins:
The Northern Ireland Office will work with the Home Office prior to the introduction of the National Identity Scheme to establish how identity
information held on the proposed National Identity Register might be used to provide easier access to the Department's services.
It is too early in the process to estimate the costs of using the register within the Northern Ireland Office.
Orange Halls
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will bring forward legislative proposals to facilitate the provision of criminal damage compensation in relation to arson attacks on Orange halls. [177313]
Paul Goggins: The Orange Order is entitled to make claims for statutory compensation in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977. Following a meeting in February 2007 between the then Secretary of State and representatives of the Orange Order, Ministers have been working with the Orange Order, PSNI and the Compensation Agency to ensure the existing system operates more effectively.
Defence
Afghanistan: Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons he chose the Ridgeback to meet his requirement for additional specialist protected vehicles for Afghanistan. [176279]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Ridgback is the name that will be given to the vehicle that the Ministry of Defence selects to meet the requirement for additional protected patrol vehicles for Afghanistan—a requirement stated by military commanders. We are considering a number of factors, including mobility, capacity and protection as part of our assessment work. Negotiations are continuing and I am withholding further details on the likely vehicle or vehicles being considered as their release would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of our armed forces.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government have taken to improve the morale of armed forces personnel on operational duty. [179179]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
The MOD spends some £54 million per year on the provision of welfare services for our forces on operations. The exact provision of welfare facilities is dependent on location and the operational situation, but wherever possible personnel should receive 30 minutes of free telephone calls per week to anywhere in the world; free e-mail and internet access; a free forces aerogramme (bluey), e-bluey, fax bluey and photo bluey service; a free postal packet service; access to TVs, radios, DVD players and video gaming machines; British Forces Broadcasting Service TV and radio transmissions; books, newspapers, magazines and board games; combined services entertainment live shows and celebrity visits; rest and recuperation (R and R); the provision of basic shop facilities; a free Christmas box; the provision of financial assistance to home units to assist with families' welfare; the provision of concessionary families' travel;
and post deployment leave. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, the nature of some operations means that our personnel can often be deployed from a permanent base to a forward operating base where facilities are necessarily more basic, but even in these situations we aim to provide iridium satellite telephones and Textlink e-mail/SMS messaging terminals as a minimum.
The morale of our forces personnel in operational areas is good.
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