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12 May 2008 : Column 1374W—continued


12 May 2008 : Column 1375W

Strip Clubs

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the change in the number of lap-dancing clubs licensed by local authorities since the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003. [205404]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department does not hold this information. As part of its data collection in connection with the Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing Statistical Bulletin, which was published on 8 November 2007, the Department has broadly recorded a number of licensable activities that have been carried out under the 2003 Act. However, these data are not broken down into specific types of entertainment, such as lap dancing.

Tourism

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to publish his Department’s report on measuring elasticities of tourism demand. [203012]

Margaret Hodge: We expect to publish our report estimating elasticities of tourism demand in July.

VisitBritain: Publications

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to publish the VisitBritain Strategic Review of UK Tourism Support. [203877]

Margaret Hodge: I expect to publish the VisitBritain Strategic Review by the end of July.

Justice

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its predecessors spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting have been made in each such year. [204109]

Maria Eagle: As a central Government Department, the Ministry of Justice supports DEFRA’s Global Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF). As the Ministry was created in May 2007 and the 2007-08 data have not yet been verified and offset, we are unable to provide data for the Ministry of Justice. For 2005-06, the Home Office will report on their old structure and the Ministry of Justice will report on the Department for Constitutional Affairs.


12 May 2008 : Column 1376W

The Department for Constitutional Affairs joined the GCOF in 2006 and offset £606.72 for the 2006-07 reporting year. The payment was made to the GCOF approved portfolio of Certified Emission Reductions from Trading Emissions plc. More information can be found at:

Departmental Domestic Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions he visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [204391]

Mr. Straw: In the last 12 months, Ministers in this Department have visited Scotland twice, Wales six times and Northern Ireland five times. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Diamond Project

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will hold discussions with (a) Unlock, (b) other representatives of the third sector, (c) individuals and (d) companies on the Diamond Project. [203197]

Mr. Hanson: There has been regular communication between my Department and Unlock over the past six months, the latest of which was a letter I wrote to them on 22 April 2008. They have also met with officials.

Drugs: Misuse

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been (a) proceeded against, (b) found guilty and (c) imprisoned for the offence of possessing (i) heroin, (ii) cocaine, (iii) ecstasy and (iv) LSD under section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in each of the last 10 years. [200549]

Mr. Straw: The number of people proceeded against at magistrates courts for possession of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and LSD, and subsequently found guilty at all courts, and sentenced to immediate custody in England and Wales, for the years 1997 to 2006 can be viewed in the following tables.

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 offence 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.

Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.


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12 May 2008 : Column 1378W
N umber of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for possession of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and LSD, and subsequently found guilty at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody in England and Wales, 1997 to 2006( 1,2,3,4)
Proceeded against
Having possession of a controlled drug: Cocaine Having possession of a controlled drug: Heroin Having possession of a controlled drug: LSD Having possession of a controlled drug: MDMA

1997

1,194

3,698

205

1,132

1998

1,829

4,819

173

810

1999

2,268

5,236

150

1,369

2000

2,048

5,436

68

2,064

2001

2,133

5,849

77

2,626

2002

2,387

5,494

47

2,277

2003

2,668

4,832

49

2,156

2004

2,901

4,461

45

1,921

2005

3,352

4,158

68

1,765

2006

4,190

4,184

54

1,618


Found guilty
Having possession of a controlled drug: Cocaine Having possession of a controlled drug: Heroin Having possession of a controlled drug: LSD Having possession of a controlled drug: MDMA

1997

1,050

3,248

203

1,048

1998

1,644

4,331

167

753

1999

2,039

4,814

141

1,262

2000

1,874

5,058

67

1,951

2001

1,968

5,411

67

2,493

2002

2,230

5,042

40

2,165

2003

2,448

4,556

43

2,009

2004

2,740

4,256

40

1,853

2005

3,183

3,954

61

1,677

2006

4,001

3,961

47

1,539


Sentenced to immediate custody
Having possession of a controlled drug: Cocaine Having possession of a controlled drug: Heroin Having possession of a controlled drug: LSD Having possession of a controlled drug: MDMA

1997

70

319

15

62

1998

103

500

16

51

1999

146

591

13

69

2000

140

595

3

106

2001

147

635

3

151

2002

142

560

100

2003

153

484

81

2004

132

428

60

2005

154

384

4

61

2006

187

370

2

62

(1) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(2) Data include the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes:
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(2) (Class ‘A’ Drug).
Having possession of a controlled drug:-Cocaine.
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(2) (Class ‘A’ Drug).
Having possession of a controlled drug:-Heroin.
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(2) (Class ‘A’ Drug).
Having possession of a controlled drug:-LSD.
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(2) (Class ‘A’ Drug).
Having possession of a controlled drug:-MDMA.
(3) MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is also known as “ecstasy”
(4) 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 courts, other agencies, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Source:
Court proceedings data held by RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice

House of Lords: Reform

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on further reform of the House of Lords. [204016]

Mr. Straw: Following an invitation from the Leader of the House, the Cross-Party Group on House of Lords Reform has received three written representations from peers. These have been circulated to members of the Cross-Party Group, with an invitation to comment on proposals in the papers. In addition, I have received one representation from a joint group of MPs and peers. We also continue to receive correspondence on this subject from members of the public.


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