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25 Feb 2008 : Column 1245W—continued
Neighbourhood Policing
20. Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her assessment is of the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing schemes. [188134]
Mr. Coaker: By April, every area will benefit from dedicated, accessible and visible neighbourhood policing teams. Over 3,600 teams are already in place, engaging with their local communities, agreeing priorities and tackling them with community safety partners.
Youth Initiatives
21. Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to further engage local communities in initiatives to divert young people from antisocial or criminal behaviour. [188135]
Mr. Coaker: The Government funds various initiatives, for instance Positive Futures and Positive Activities for Young People, which exist to divert young people from a number of negative outcomes, including becoming involved in crime and antisocial behaviour. Local authorities have discretion over how they use funding to deliver projects most appropriate for both their young people and their local communities.
Police Bureaucracy
22. Chris Mole: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effect of implementation of the recommendations of the Flanagan report on levels of police bureaucracy. [188136]
Mr. McNulty: In his report of 7 February, Sir Ronnie Flanagan identified a number of initiatives, which if implemented would free up time equivalent to 2,500 to 3,500 extra police officers. We welcomed these recommendations on the day and in our forthcoming Green Paper will set our proposed actions to turn this into a reality.
Ama Sumani
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will reconsider the procedures used in removals to Ghana following the recent case of Ama Sumani. [184185]
Mr. Byrne: There are no plans to change procedures for removals to Ghana. Each case will continue to be assessed and reviewed in accordance with existing legislation and guidance.
Anabolic Steroids: Misuse
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people who (a) took anabolic steroids and (b) took anabolic steroids for non-medical reasons in each year since 1997. [186318]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 18 February 2008]: Information is not held on (a) the number of people who have taken anabolic steroids since 1997. The number of prescription items for anabolic steroids which were dispensed in the community in England are contained in table 1 and shows steady decline over the last 10 years.
Estimates on (b) the proportion of 16-59 year olds in England and Wales who have taken anabolic steroids for non-medical reasons are available from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and are included in table 2 which also shows a decline in use since 1996 when questions were first included in the survey.
| Table 1 | |
| Total items ( T housand) | |
| Source: Information Centre for Health and Social Care | |
| Table 2: Proportion of 16 to 59-year-olds reporting use of anabolic steroids in the last year, 1996 to 2006-07 | ||
| BCS | ||
| Anabolic steroids | Unweighted base | |
Assets Recovery Agency
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress the Assets Recovery Agency is making in recovering assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. [187099]
Mr. Coaker: Since its inception in 2003 the Assets Recovery Agency has used its exclusive powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act in relation to civil recovery and tax as well as providing support to outside agencies in securing criminal confiscation orders. The Agency's Centre of Excellence has consistently delivered against its targets for the delivery of financial investigation courses. Key results are provided in the following table.
The agency has also established important case law with regards to civil recovery legislation and spent considerable time working with the Home Office, Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Attorney General's Office to identify ways in which to speed up case progression and reduce costs.
The agency was pleased to announce in its 2006-07 Annual Report that it had, for the first time, been successful in meeting its cost recovery target, having recovered more money than the agency is granted by the Treasury. Furthermore, during the lifetime of the agency it has had success in concluding cases to the value of £97.2 million and gained enforcement receipts of £28.2 million. A notable recent success was a joint investigation between the Assets Recovery Agency, Thames Valley police and the Serious Fraud Office, which led to a confiscation order worth nearly £41 million—the largest believed to have been secured under criminal proceedings to date.
| Key results of the assets recovery agency | ||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | Q1-Q3 2007-08 | Total | |
| (1) Covering civil, criminal and tax disruptions. These as defined as: obtaining of freezing orders/Marevas/interim receiving orders/property freezing orders, issuing of tax assessments, obtaining of recovery order where freezing has not taken place; or undertaking not to deal with assets, where freezing has not taken place, obtaining of a restraint order or obtaining of confiscation order, where assets are not under restraint. (2 )Covering civil, criminal and tax. These are defined as: recovery orders; voluntary settlements; tax agreements and criminal confiscation orders. (3) Covering civil, criminal and tax. These are receipts obtained following concluding actions. | ||||||
Asylum: Sudan
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the findings of her Department’s inquiry into the alleged illegal interviews of Darfuris with an active asylum case by a Sudanese embassy official in Home Office facilities in March and April 2007 will be published. [187457]
Mr. Byrne: Investigations are currently still ongoing and we expect to reach a conclusion in the near future. Until the investigation is completed, the Border and Immigration Agency will not be in a position to comment.
Border and Immigration Agency: Correspondence
Clare Short:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the Border and Immigration Agency to reply to the letter from the hon.
Member for Birmingham, Ladywood of 27 November 2007, on behalf of Mohammed Hussain Aziz (Home Office reference: A1024255, acknowledgement reference: B3422817). [184753]
Mr. Byrne: I am sorry for the delay. The Border and Immigration Agency replied to the right hon. Member on 6 February 2008.
British Nationality
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate her Department has made of the number of people eligible for UK citizenship as a result of their ancestry who have not taken up citizenship; [187852]
(2) how many people were granted UK citizenship as a result of their ancestry in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [187881]
Mr. Byrne: The requested information is not available
There is no provision by which someone can gain British citizenship on the basis of United Kingdom ‘ancestry’.
Those with a United Kingdom born father, or a mother born in the United Kingdom after 1 January 1983, will normally acquire citizenship automatically.
Those Commonwealth citizens who can apply for ancestry visas to enter the United Kingdom, on the basis of having a United Kingdom born grandparent, do not have a specific avenue to acquire citizenship on similar grounds. They would need to qualify for naturalisation in the usual way. There is no way of establishing how many of those naturalised had a United Kingdom born grandparent.
British Nationality: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people resident in Tamworth constituency have become naturalised UK citizens since 2005. [187853]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only through the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
Capita
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid by her Department to Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries in each financial year since 2000; which contracts were awarded by her Department to Capita Group plc in each year from 2000-01 to the most recent available date; what the cost was of each contract; what penalties for default were imposed in contract provisions; what the length was of each contract; whether the contract was advertised; how many companies applied for the contract; how many were short-listed; what criteria were used for choosing a company; what provision was made for renewal without re-tender in each case; and if she will make a statement. [180689]
Mr. Byrne: Home Office HQ figures on the total value of spend on contracts with the Capita Group and its subsidiaries are available from 2003-04 when the Department's ERP system was initiated. Earlier data could be collected only at disproportionate cost. Taking into account the May 2007 machinery of government changes, the available information held by the Department and its agencies on spend for each year since 2000 is as follows:
| £ | ||||
| HO HQ incl. BIA | CRB | IPS | Total | |
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