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6 Mar 2008 : Column 2692W—continued
Passports: Personation
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review the procedure for returning expired passports to their holders in order to reduce the risk of identity theft. [189031]
Meg Hillier: The Secure Delivery service, which is used by the Identity and Passport Service to send out new passports, is available for passport applicants to have their expired passports returned to them. Applicants are encouraged to opt for this service, for which a fee of £3 is charged. Where this service is not chosen, expired passports are returned by second class post, the cost of which is included in the application fee. All expired passports are cancelled before being returned. These arrangements are kept under review.
Theft: Metals
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what progress has been made in reducing crime by the national task force on metal thefts; and if she will make a statement; [192133]
(2) what assistance she is planning to give to Operation Saruman in Cambridgeshire on the reduction of metal theft; and if she will make a statement. [192134]
Mr. Coaker: The national task force on metal theft set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is currently developing its plan for co-ordinated preventative and enforcement action on metal theft.
The plan will be the focus of a national conference on metal thefts on 25 March 2008 which will be attended by representatives from the public and private sectors. The conference follows a national day of action on 28 January 2008, the results of which are currently being collated.
We are aware of police operations against metal thieves in several different force areas including Operation Saruman in Cambridgeshire. A significant part of the developing action plan will outline how local operations can be supported by national and regional partners including the provision of good practice advice and examination of the effectiveness of current legislation.
Vehicle Number Plates: Police
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent guidance she has issued to police on illegal vehicle number plates; and if she will make a statement. [191227]
Mr. Coaker: Enforcement of the law on illegal vehicle number plates is an operational matter for the police. At the end of January this year police forces across the country joined together in “Operation Larch”. The operation was intended to provide evidence on links between illegal number plates and wider criminality, inform debate on changes that might be proposed and maximise disruption to criminal activity. I look forward to the police collation and analysis of data from this operation.
Youth Taskforce
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families on setting the priorities for the Youth Taskforce. [167108]
Mr. Coaker: The Government's response to youth crime is cross-cutting.
The Youth Task Force's forthcoming action plan will be agreed by Ministers across Government, and Ministers and officials from both Home Office and Department for Children Schools and Families have been involved in discussions on the priorities of the Youth Taskforce.
Justice
Immigration: Deportation
David Davis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the 359 appeals against a notice of intent
to deport between 1 August and 31 October 2006 were successful; on what grounds they were successful; and how many of those that were successful cited breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights as a ground for appeal. [191896]
Mr. Straw: Of the 359 oral appeal hearings against a notice of intent to deport held at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal between 1 August and 31 October 2006, 70 were successful.
The grounds, and any specific articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, cited in any appeal which was successful could not be determined without examination of the individual files. This would incur disproportionate cost to the Tribunal.
Licensed Premises: Closures
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many closure notices have been given to premises licence holders for persistently selling alcohol to children since the coming into force of section 23 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. [191310]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
This information is not currently held centrally.
The latest DCMS Statistical Bulletin on Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment, which shows a breakdown of licensing data between April 2006 and March 2007, was published on 8 November 2007. The most recent data therefore covers the period prior to section 23 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 coming into effect in April 2007.
Matrimonial Proceedings
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many legal aid certificates have been issued (a) in total and (b) in relation to ancillary relief within matrimonial proceedings in (i) south region, (ii) London region, (iii) midlands region, (iv) Wales region and (v) north region since 2004. [191436]
Maria Eagle: Ancillary relief related cases are not separately recorded by the Legal Services Commission, but are classified under ‘financial provision proceedings’. Also included under this heading are: property adjustment/lump sum orders, periodical payments orders and transfers of tenancy. The table outlines the total number of civil legal aid certificates issued and the number of legal aid certificates issued for ‘financial provision proceedings’ in each financial year since 2004.
The number of certificates issued for financial provision has shown a steady decline since 2004-05. This is partly due to changes made to eligibility for legal aid for ancillary relief, introduced in October 2005, which tightened the criteria where alternative sources of funding may be available.
Proceeds of Crime Acts 2002: Prosecutions
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions under the Proceeds of Crime Acts 2002 and 2005 there have been; how much has been recovered under these Acts; and what the cost of recovery was. [190754]
Maria Eagle: The information requested covering defendants found guilty at all courts and unsuccessful prosecutions under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002(1) for money laundering offences for the years 2003-06 have been provided in the table.
(1) The proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
| Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences under the Proceeds of Crime act 2002, and the number of ‘unsuccessful prosecutions’, England and Wales 2003-06( 1,2,3) | ||
| Found guilty | Unsuccessful prosecutions | |
| (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis. (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 police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those date are used. (3) Includes defendants acquitted at crown courts, cases dismissed and ‘left on file’, juries discharged and cases where there is ‘no case to answer’ or no evidence offered. | ||
Information provided by the Home Office shows that the total amounts of criminal assets recovered in England Wales and Northern Ireland in the years 2003-04 to 2006-07 are as follows:
| £ million | |
Information on the cost of recovery is not held by the Ministry of Justice.
Public Protection
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many critical public protection cases there were at the most recent date for which figures are available; and what mechanisms are in place for public protection in relation to those cases. [191908]
Maria Eagle: As at 4 March, there are 153 critical public protection cases registered with the Public Protection Unit (PPU) in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Each critical public protection case is managed under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Within MAPPA, the Police, Probation and Prison Services collaborate to assess and manage the risks presented by offenders, with co-operation from a number of other agencies. The NOMS PPU may provide additional funds to support local risk management arrangements for critical public protection cases.
Youth Opportunities Fund: Finance
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was allocated to the Youth Opportunities Fund and the Youth Capital Fund in the City of Newcastle (a) in total and (b) for administrative overheads and recharges in each year from 2005-06 to 2007-08. [191627]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
The Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds (YOF and YCF) were established in April 2006 as complementary, universal funds operating under a single management framework. In 2006-07, £179,521 was allocated to the city of Newcastle for YOF and £155,271 was allocated for YCF. The same amounts were allocated to the city of Newcastle in 2007-08. In each of these years, up to £15,000 of the YOF allocation could be used for administrative overheads.
In 2006-07, the city of Newcastle spent both its YOF and YCF allocations in full. Details of 2007-08 expenditure are due to be submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families by the end of June.
Children, Schools and Families
Departmental Recycling
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what weight of paper his Department recycled in each of the last five years. [179462]
Kevin Brennan: In the five years to 2006/07 my Department’s predecessor, the Department for Education and Skills, reported the following volumes of paper recycled:
| Recycled paper (metric tonnes) | |
| (1) Information on office paper waste was not separately identified for this year but information on a project to recycle Departmental publications was. | |
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