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2 Apr 2008 : Column 984W—continued
Written Questions
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of Parliamentary questions for answer on a named day to her Department received a (a) holding and (b) substantive answer on the named day in each year since 2001. [190286]
Mr. McNulty: Details of how many and what proportion of named day parliamentary questions the Home Office answered since 2006-07 is given in the following table:
Information prior to 2006-07 is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many questions for written answer to her Department had not received an answer as at 25 February 2008 for (a) between two and four, (b) between four and six, (c) between six and eight and (d) more than eight weeks; and how many in each category were tabled for named day answer. [193396]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is given in the following table.
| Questions that had not received an answer as at 25 February 2008 | ||
| Questions awaiting answer | ||
| Weeks | Ordinary written | Named day |
Domestic Violence: Victim Support Schemes
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of women who are experiencing domestic abuse who are not in receipt of assistance funded by the public purse. [196723]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 25 March 2008]: There are approximately 500 women per year who identify themselves as victims of domestic violence, who have been granted leave to enter the UK in order to marry a UK national, and whose leave to remain is subject to a condition that there shall be no recourse to public funds, in order to prevent abuse of the marriage concession.
Recognising that their lack of access to public services may put them at risk of further abuse, the Government are developing a new scheme whereby victims of domestic violence who have no recourse to public funds who successfully apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will be able to have their housing and living costs met. The new scheme will be announced later in the spring.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support she plans to make available to women subject to domestic abuse who are not entitled to existing provision on grounds of citizenship; and if she will make a statement. [197385]
Mr. Coaker: The Government are aware of the problems faced by women with insecure immigration status who suffer domestic violence. We will shortly be announcing details of a new scheme where victims of domestic violence with no recourse to public funds will be eligible to receive support for their housing and living costs. Under the new scheme victims of domestic violence whose applications for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) are successful may qualify for a contribution towards these costs.
The Home Office is also working with the Border and Immigration Agency to re-examine the fee regulations for domestic violence ILR applications, to ensure that genuine claims are not hampered by prohibitive costs.
Drugs: Caribbean
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to tackle drug trafficking into the UK from the Caribbean; and if she will make a statement. [195625]
Mr. Coaker: Preventing the importation of cocaine from the Caribbean region is a priority for the UK's international counter-narcotics efforts. The UK works closely with the Governments of the region and other international partners to disrupt trafficking and interdict consignments of illicit drugs.
The FCO has invested in various counter-narcotics projects in the Caribbean through its Global Opportunities Fund's drugs and crime programme. Projects such as the UK Security Advisory Team based in Bridgetown have helped to build capacity among various Caribbean law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.
HM Revenue and Customs Operation Airbridge was set up in 2002 to reduce the number of couriers arriving in the UK from Jamaica and since its inception the number of couriers arriving in the UK has fallen from about 1,000 to five in the last financial year.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency maintains a team of resident liaison officers in the region, which works with local partners, US agencies, and others, against major organised crime syndicates. In the Caribbean region during 2007-08 this operational work led to the seizure of 1 tonne of cocaine and 6.5 tonnes of cannabis, and to the arrest of a total of 76 suspects.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funds have been made available to (a) Thames Valley Police force and (b) Oxfordshire County Council to further the Government’s 2008 drug strategy: Tackling drugs, changing lives. [196534]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office has a provisional allocation of £804,860 from the Drug Interventions Programme for Thames Valley police force in 2008-09. This funding is for drug testing those arrested or charged with trigger offences or for offences where there are grounds to suspect that class A drug use may have caused or contributed to the offence, and for the wider strategic delivery of DIP.
The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) main grant is a Home Office grant aimed at getting adult drug-misusing offenders out of crime and into treatment and other support. The drug action team (DAT), a partnership of which Oxfordshire county council is a member, will receive (via the primary care trust) main grant funding of £1,213,041 for the Drug Interventions Programme in 2008-09. It is for the DAT to decide how best to use the funding to deliver the Drug Interventions Programme in their area, taking account of Home Office guidance.
The Home Office, Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health are providing funding alongside mainstream funding to support local areas in preventing and reducing substance misuse-related harm (including illegal drugs, alcohol and volatile substances) for children and young people. The funding is routed through to all areas through the area-based grant which is paid on an un-ring-fenced basis to allow maximum flexibility, to primary care trusts through the Pooled Treatment Budget and to youth offending teams through the Youth Justice Board. Oxfordshire will receive funding of £356,613 in 2008-09.
Finance Act 2003
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded under the Finance Act 2003 in each year since its entry into force, broken down by offence; and what percentage
of these offences (a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators, (b) led to a conviction and (c) resulted in a sanction detection. [196011]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available. Offences under this legislation are recorded in one of the following offence classifications:
Offences against Laws relating to Customs, Excise and Inland Revenue; or
Disclosure, Obstruction, False or Misleading Statements.
These offences cannot be separately identified from other offences within those classifications. As a result, information on the percentage which resulted in court proceedings and convictions for those offences cannot be provided.
Firearms Act 1968
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded under the Firearms Act 1968 in each year since 2002, broken down by offence; and what percentage of these offences (a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators, (b) led to a conviction and (c) resulted in a sanction detection. [196024]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available. Offences under this legislation are recorded in either the ‘Possession of weapons’ or ‘Firearms Act 1968 and other Firearms Acts’ offence classifications and cannot be separately identified from other offences within those classifications. As a result, information on the percentage which resulted in court proceedings and convictions for those offences cannot be provided.
Illegal Immigrants
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department gives to chief constables on the consideration to be given to duty of care to the community when considering the grant of authorisation for operations to remove illegal immigrants. [197025]
Mr. Byrne: There is an agreed Memorandum of Understanding between the Border and Immigration Agency and each police force in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This understanding ensures that all operations are risk assessed prior to deployment. Part of this risk assessment entails a community impact assessment being carried out by the police force governing the operation. Each police force reserves the right to veto any operation on grounds of adverse community reaction.
Immigration: Personal Records
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of records missing from the register of foreign nationals granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. [194118]
Mr. Byrne: There is no central register of people who have been given indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.
Applications for indefinite leave have been recorded on the Case Information Database and on the United Kingdom Visa Database since 2003. There is no estimate made as to records missing from this database.
International Criminal Court Act 2001
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken by her Department since the International Criminal Court Act 2001 came into force to publicise its applicability to United Kingdom residents. [180939]
Meg Hillier: No special measures have been taken to publicise the Act’s applicability to UK residents. The International Criminal Court (ICC) can only take jurisdiction over an offence committed in the UK or by a UK national if our domestic authorities are unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute the case.
The 2001 Act incorporates the offences of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes into domestic law so that our domestic authorities will always be in a position to investigate and prosecute any ICC crimes committed in this country, or committed overseas by a UK national, a UK resident or a person subject to UK Service jurisdiction.
Merchant Shipping Act 1995
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 in each year since 2002, broken down by offence; and what percentage of these offences ( a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators, (b) led to a conviction and (c) resulted in a sanction detection. [196022]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available. Offences under this legislation are recorded in one of the following offence classifications as appropriate:
Endangering life at sea;
Public Health offences;
Disclosure, Obstruction, False or Misleading Statements or
Other indictable or triable either way offences.
These offences cannot be separately identified from other offences within those classifications. As a result, information on the percentage which resulted in court proceedings and convictions for those offences cannot be provided.
National Identity Register
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what access local authorities will have to the national identity register. [194996]
Meg Hillier: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 March 2008, Official Report, column 73W.
Offensive Weapons Act 1996
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded under the Offensive Weapons Act 1996 in each year since 2002, broken down by offence; and what percentage
of these offences (a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators, (b) led to a conviction and (c) resulted in a sanction detection. [196025]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available. Offences which would have been recorded under this legislation would be included in the ‘Possession of Weapons’ offences classification and cannot be separately identified from other offences within that classification. As a result, information on the percentage which resulted in court proceedings and convictions for those offences cannot be provided.
Offensive Weapons: Crime Prevention
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government have taken to reduce gun crime since 1997. [197680]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 1 April 2008]: The Government have taken a range of action since 1997. This has focused on legislation, enforcement and prevention.
the introduction of a five-year minimum sentence for unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm;
the creation of a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon;
banning the sale, manufacture and importation of realistic imitation firearms;
doubling the sentence for the possession of an imitation firearm in public; and
banning the sale, manufacture and importation of tandem cartridge air systems, such as the Brocock.
We support the work of dedicated intelligence-led enforcement such as Operation Trident, which has a good track record in dealing with gun crime in London. Similar operations have been established in other priority areas.
We held a national firearms amnesty in April 2003, which resulted in 44,000 guns and over a million rounds of ammunition being handed in and removed from circulation.
In September 2007, we set up the Tackling Gangs Action Programme (TGAP), to focus work in areas of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool which were particularly affected by street gangs and gun crime. A Day of Action in November 2007 resulted in 124 arrests. Further robust enforcement activity has followed, including during a targeted month of action during March 2008.
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