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15 May 2008 : Column 1733W—continued
Human Trafficking
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) convictions were secured and (b) how many sentences were passed, broken down by category, as a result of Operation Pentameter 2. [205457]
Mr. Coaker: From an interrogation of the police national computer as of 12 May there have been a total of 86 convictions for human trafficking since the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The number of convictions and range of sentences arising from Pentameter 2 is not yet known given that the operation is still ongoing and that cases are at various stages of the criminal justice system.
Internet: Crime
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance she has issued to police forces on the establishment of courts to deal with e-crime. [188917]
Mr. Coaker: The UK prosecutes on the basis of the offence committed, rather than the medium used. These is no offence of ‘e-crime’ but there are serious crimes committed by means of computers.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Organised Crime Division (OCD) prosecutes cases which are investigated by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). The CPS is finalising a protocol with Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) which will be issued by the Senior Presiding Judge. This protocol will provide for Designated Court Centres (DCC) for SOCA cases which are prosecuted by OCD. This will be an effective way to manage the prosecution of these cases which are typically multi handed, voluminous and raise complex and specialist issues of law. The process of designating court centres will take into account geographical factors and the size, security and facilities at court centres. The DCC, coupled with consistent judicial oversight of the management of these cases will help to ensure that justice is delivered swiftly and effectively without undue delay.
The protocol will apply to all SOCA cases that are prosecuted by OCD including cases involving e-crime.
Mugging
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons over 65 years old were subject to street robbery in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each year since 1997. [205763]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally. While the Home Office collects statistics on recorded offences of robbery it is not possible to determine the age of the victim or the location of the offence from this data.
Offenders: Protection
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sex offenders were subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements in each of the last three years. [193857]
Mr. Coaker: All sex offenders who become subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are subject to the multi-agency public protection arrangements. The figures for the number of sex offenders subject to the notification requirements are provided in the following table.
| Total number of registered sex offenders | |
Pornography: Internet
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with credit card companies to prevent the purchase of child abuse pictures over the internet. [188873]
Mr. Coaker:
APACS, the UK payments association, on behalf of their members contribute funds to support the operation of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) Hotline as does another credit card entity who is not a member of APACS. The IWF works in partnership with law enforcement agencies and
individual credit card companies by sharing information with them to assist their operations designed to tackle the commercialisation of indecent images of children. APACS played a key role in supporting a change in data protection legislation in 2006 which ensures that where paedophiles have used credit or debit cards to access child abuse images online, law enforcement can share that information with card providers so that they can terminate the contract and take away the card used.
Proceeds of Crime
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2008, Official Report, columns 212-6W, on proceeds of crime, how many confiscation orders were not successfully enforced, broken down by police force area in each month of the last year. [188863]
Mr. Coaker: The information is not available. Confiscation orders are made with time to pay and are often paid over several months. Enforcement in some cases does not relate to police force areas. Enforcement is primarily the responsibility of Her Majesty's Courts Service.
Tranquillisers: Rehabilitation
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons involuntary tranquilliser addicts are not included in the drug strategy. [196559]
Mr. Coaker: The Drug Strategy is focused on illegal drugs and the most dangerous drugs, including class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. The reason for this is that illegal drugs cause significant and wide ranging problems to individuals, families and communities, including drug-related crime and health harms. class A drug use generates an estimated £15.4 billion in crime and health costs each year and between a third and a half of acquisitive crime is estimated to be drug related. Due to this, the new strategy focuses on achieving a long-term and sustainable reduction in the harms associated with illegal drugs.
The mechanisms by which individuals may develop dependency and, therefore, the means by which such dependency may be tackled, differ in the cases of illegal drugs and legally prescribed drugs. For example, interventions to limit the supply of illegal drugs would be inappropriate to deal with prescription drugs. Similarly, the harms caused by prescription drugs differ from those generated by illegal drug use. The latter give rise to predominantly crime and social harms, whereas prescription drugs give rise to health harms and, indeed, health harms requiring interventions other than those employed in the treatment of dependency on illegal drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin. For these reasons, it would be inappropriate for prescribed tranquillisers to be subject to the measures set out in the strategy to tackle the harms caused by illegal drug use.
Treasury
Bank Services: Disadvantaged
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to encourage banks to offer banking facilities in deprived areas. [205206]
Kitty Ussher: The Government continue to work in partnership with banks and other financial services providers to ensure a full range of mainstream financial services are available to people living in deprived areas.
Since 2004 the Government and the banking industry have had a shared goal of halving the number of people without access to any kind of bank account. The Family Resource Survey data for 2005-06 showed encouraging progress against this goal—800,000 adults brought into banking since 2002-03—60 per cent. of progress towards the shared goal.
In December 2007 the Government also announced that 337 new, free to access cash machines are now operating in low income areas as defined by the ATM Working Group (since December 2006), with a further 206 due to be installed in the first half of 2008. These 543 new free cash machines will benefit around 1.2 million residents, who will no longer need to pay charges or travel outside their community to withdraw cash.
To increase the availability of affordable credit the Government also announced a commitment from the banking industry to support new third sector lending provision in 25 high priority areas identified by the Financial Inclusion Taskforce.
Bankruptcy
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many enforcement cases brought by HM Revenue and Customs involved taxpayers being declared bankrupt in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by level of claims made. [205744]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff worked in the (a) escalating cases team and (b) intermediaries team of group 33 on tax credits in each year since it was established; and if he will make a statement. [205814]
Jane Kennedy: Group 33 in Tax Credit Office (TCO) was formed towards the end of 2004-05 to handle referrals from HM Revenue and Customs Contact and Enquiry Centres and to manage the dedicated helpline for intermediaries in the voluntary sector. This is now known as the Escalated Cases and Intermediaries Team. It is not possible to isolate the number of staff allocated to each task as TCO deploys its resources according to demand. The average number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff allocated to these two tasks in each full year was:
| Average FTE | |
The reduction in the number of FTE staff reflects the general reduction in the number of cases being escalated by the Tax Credits Helpline.
Financial Services: Pay
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 142-3W, on financial services: pay, what guidance his Department has issued to the remuneration committees of those banks and financial institutions in receipt of financial support from the public purse. [205305]
Kitty Ussher: Further to my earlier answer, it is sensible to ensure that remunerations are based on merit and support the delivery of agreed objectives.
The Northern Rock Shareholder Relationship Framework Document published on 31 March 2008, a copy of which is available in the Library, set out how those principles will apply in relation to Northern Rock during the present period of temporary public ownership (see paragraphs 9 to 12).
Gaming Machines: Licensing
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much was received in amusement machine licence duty in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07, broken down by category of machine; [205739]
(2) how much was received in amusement machine licence duty in each month from April 2007 to March 2008, broken down by category of machine; [205740]
(3) what estimate he has made of likely revenue from amusement machine licence duty in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11, broken down by category of machine. [205741]
Angela Eagle: The total annual and monthly receipts from amusement machine licence duty can be found in the HM Revenue and Customs Betting and Gaming Statistical Bulletin, which is available from the HMRC website address at:
Information on amusement machine licence duty broken down by category of machine is not available.
Disaggregated estimates for individual duties within the overall revenue forecast for betting and gaming duties are not available. The most recent published forecast for betting and gaming duties can be found in Table C6 of the latest Financial Statement and Budget Report, at the following link:
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many applications for amusement machine licences were received in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07, broken down by category of machine; [205742]
(2) how many applications for amusement machine licences were received in each month between April 2007 and March 2008, broken down by category of machine; [205743]
(3) what estimate he has made of the number of applications for amusement machine licences in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11, broken down by category of machine. [205733]
Angela Eagle: Premises licences can authorise machines in more than one category. It is not possible to break down the number of licences by category of machine.
HMRC do not maintain historical records or produce forecasts of numbers of applications received. The numbers of licences issued for the historic periods in question are shown in the following tables.
| Number | |
| Number | |
Interest Rates
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on decisions of banks and building societies on whether to pass on interest rate changes to customers. [205212]
Kitty Ussher: The Chancellor receives representations from a wide range of stakeholders on issues relating to the bank and building society sector.
Decisions concerning products and pricing are commercial decisions for banks and building societies.
In order to strengthen support for home owners facing difficulties with their mortgage payments, the Government—working with the mortgage industry—announced on 9 May, a range of measures including improved access to debt advice.
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