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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1524W—continued
Mr. Coaker: The Review of the Protection of Children from Sex Offenders, referred to in the ministerial statement, included two actions relating to the disclosure of information on child sex offenders’ convictions to the public. Implementation of Action 3 of the review will introduce a legal duty on MAPPA responsible authorities to consider the disclosure of information about convicted child sex offenders to members of the public. Under Action 4 a separate process will be piloted whereby members of the public will be able to register their child protection interest in a named individual and receive information on any convictions for child sex offences that individual may have, where appropriate.
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill will amend the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to impose a duty on MAPPA responsible authorities to consider disclosure of a child sex offender’s convictions to members of the public. The convictions that the MAPPA authorities must consider disclosing are set out at schedule 24 to the Bill. However, under their common law powers, the police are able to disclose details of other convictions in appropriate circumstances (see R v. Chief Constable of North Wales ex parte Thorpe (1998) 3 AII ER 310). The extent of the information disclosed will be decided on a case by case basis.
The MAPPA authorities will decide who, if anyone, should be provided with the information, and will be able to impose conditions, in order to prevent further dissemination of the information. Under the Bill, the MAPPA authorities will have discretion as to the extent of the conditions that they impose. When imposing such conditions, the MAPPA authorities will need to be mindful of their obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and what is necessary and proportionate to prevent harm to the child or children concerned.
Existing statutory MAPPA guidance will be updated to take account of the new statutory duty to consider disclosure.
In deciding whether to disclose details of convictions for child sex offences to a member of the public under the pilot scheme, MAPPA meetings will consider the risk of the recipient disclosing this information to others. Before a disclosure is made, the intended recipient will be required to sign a declaration that they will not share this information with others.
Applicants for disclosure under the pilot scheme will be asked to provide documentary proof such as the child’s birth certificate to demonstrate their relationship with the child with respect to whom they are declaring a child protection interest.
The Government will ensure that the police are issued with comprehensive guidance on all stages of the pilot process, and are currently working with the four force areas participating in the pilot to develop the disclosure process.
The extent of information disclosed under the pilot process will be considered on a case by cases basis by the MAPPA authorities.
It is intended that the statutory duty will come into force following Royal Assent being given to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, by means of a Commencement Order. It is intended that the pilots will commence this summer.
Wildlife: Crime
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful wildlife protection prosecutions were launched in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by police authority area. [198454]
Mr. Coaker: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Deer Act 1991, Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulation 1997, and the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, by Police Force Area, in England and Wales for the year 2006 can be viewed in the following table.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Written Questions: Government Reponses
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to answer Question 174965 tabled on 12 December 2007. [196977]
Mr. McNulty: I replied to the hon. Member on 31 March 2008, Official Report, column 606W.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to answer Question (a) 162615, (b) 162124 and (c) 162271, tabled on 6 November 2007. [196978]
Mr. McNulty: I replied to the hon. Member (a) on 1 April 2008, Official Report, column 756W, and (b) and (c) on 25 March 2008, Official Report, column 73W.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will answer question 182636 on the national DNA database, tabled on 24 January 2008 by the hon. Member for Cardiff Central; and if she will make a statement. [192956]
Meg Hillier: The question was answered on 3 April 2008, Official Report, column 1318W.
Young Offenders
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pupils permanently excluded from school committed a criminal offence in each police authority area in each of the last 10 years; and what the detection rate was for crimes committed by young offenders who (a) were and (b) were not permanently excluded from school in each such area in each of those years. [199331]
Mr. Coaker: The requested information is not collected centrally.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his policy is on the merits of academies for 11 to 16 year olds only. [198465]
Jim Knight: Our policy is to strongly encourage all academies to offer post-16 places because we recognise the positive impact of such provision on standards and aspirations for 11 to 16-year-olds. However, exceptionally, where the quantity and quality of local post-16 provision is very good we have agreed to the establishment of 11 to 16 academies.
Building Schools for the Future Programme: Energy Conservation
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidelines he has issued on the use of (a) insulation standards and (b) microgeneration technologies in (i) new and (ii) refurbished schools buildings under the new Schools Building Programme. [199258]
Jim Knight: All new and refurbished school buildings must comply with the insulation standards laid down in the Approved Document Part L2 in support of the building regulations. We have issued comprehensive guidance on how to apply low and zero carbon technologies, including microgeneration, to our school building programmes on our website:
Building Schools for the Future Programme: West Sussex
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when West Sussex will have access to the Building Schools for the Future funding stream. [198761]
Jim Knight [holding answer 3 April 2008]: Building Schools for the Future aims to renew all secondary school in England where there is need in 15 waves of investment which started in 2005-06. In early 2005, we announced the national programme for Building Schools for the Future, based on the expressions of interest for inclusion in the programme which authorities proposed. Expressions of interest include how authorities group their schools into geographically coherent projects. These projects were prioritised on the average social and educational need of the schools in them. Information on the national programme is available in the Parliamentary libraries. West Sussex proposed three projects, which are prioritised in waves 10 to 15. Later this year, when we have consulted on management of the later waves of the programme, we will invite authorities to revise their expressions of interest if they wish.
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