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9 Jun 2008 : Column 74W—continued
Human Trafficking: Children
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking regarding source and transit countries to prevent child trafficking. [208311]
Mr. Coaker: The Government’s UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking encompasses a range of measures for tackling the trafficking of humans from source and transit countries. As part of our overseas programmes in developing countries we are working with our partners to raise awareness of the factors that make children vulnerable to trafficking and reducing the risk of children being trafficked.
The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) are working with their counterparts in source and transit countries in their joint efforts to disrupt and prevent human trafficking. The Home Office is leading a multi-agency group which includes the Metropolitan Police Service, UK Border Agency, London Councils, UKHTC, CEOP and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to co-ordinate a response to the issue of children from some European states being trafficked for criminal exploitation.
The Government have strengthened the entry clearance rules for issuing visas to children which has helped to prevent adults using the system to traffic children from source countries. Similarly as a result of the Action Plan, Airline Liaison Officers (ALO) are now better trained to identify cases of child trafficking and advise airline staff in over 30 countries to be aware of the signs of child trafficking.
Human Trafficking: Females
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department’s most recent estimate is of the number of women in the UK who were trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation purposes. [208337]
Mr. Coaker: The nature of the crime makes it difficult to make an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem although intelligence suggests there has been an increase in the trafficking problem over the last few years. In order to better understand the situation the Serious Organised Crime Agency along with the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre continue to work on improving intelligencer collection as a priority. The intelligence collected as part of the current Operation Pentameter 2 will assist with improving our understanding of the nature and scale of trafficking throughout the UK.
However, Home Office analysis suggests that at any one time in 2003 there were in the region of 4,000 female victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK.
Identity Cards: Aviation
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether airline pilots with (a) British and (b) foreign nationality will be required to possess identity cards along with other airside staff ahead of the general population. [203834]
Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service will begin to issue the first identity cards to people working in sensitive areas (such as airport workers who work airside) from the second half of 2009. The precise details of the scheme have yet to be decided, but it is intended that, in due course, it should cover airport staff with a restricted zone pass, whether of British or foreign nationality and this could include some airline pilots.
Intelligence Services: Conditions of Employment
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will put in place measures to ensure that security service personnel declare all additional paid employment. [209000]
Mr. McNulty: All security service employees are required to obtain approval from the Security Service Director of Establishments before undertaking any paid employment outside the service. For reasons of national security and personal privacy, details of approvals or refusals are not made public.
Islam: Broadcasting Programmes
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the police was of (a) the investigation of Undercover Mosque conducted by the West Midlands Police and (b) the subsequent legal case. [206768]
Mr. McNulty: This information is not held centrally. This is a matter for West Midlands police.
Kidnapping: Children
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure that copies of the leaflet issued by the Official Solicitor providing advice to the public on international child abduction and contact are made available in each police station; and if she will make a statement. [208260]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Susan Kramer) on 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 456W.
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 456W, on kidnapping: children, what guidance her Department has issued to police on the availability of International Child Abduction and Contact Unit information leaflets in police stations. [208341]
Mr. McNulty: International Child Abduction and Contact Unit information leaflets are a matter for the Official Solicitor and are available from the Child Abduction Unit of the Ministry of Justice, or can be found at:
The National Policing Improvement Agency, of which the Missing Persons Bureau is now a part, has not issued any guidance to police on the availability of these leaflets in police stations.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will reply to the letter of 27 November 2007 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr A. Hussain. [179332]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 12 May 2008.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer the letter of 23 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mr P. Jeffries. [208634]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 4 June 2008.
Missing Persons
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of police man hours spent investigating reports of missing people in the last 12 months. [204138]
Jacqui Smith: The number of police officer hours spent investigating reports of missing people in the last 12 months is not collected centrally.
An estimate based on Home Office research indicates that the number of persons that go missing each year is approximately 210,000. The Lancashire constabulary report ‘mountains to molehills’ estimates that the average cost of investigating missing person’s cases is £1,000 per investigation. While it is likely that force costs in investigating missing persons cases will vary, an extrapolation of the figures produces an estimated cost of investigating reports of missing persons at £210 million per year.
Missing Persons: Leicestershire
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports of missing people were made to Leicestershire Constabulary in 2007, broken down by local authority area; how many of them related to (a) vulnerable adults, (b) children under the age of 12, (c) children aged between 12 and 16 and (d) young people aged 17 to 18 years; and how many of the reports of a missing person under the age of 18 years related to a child or young person (i) in the care of a local authority, (ii) with a learning disability and (iii) with a physical disability. [208291]
Mr. McNulty: This is a matter for Leicestershire constabulary. Statistics on the number and age of individuals who are reported missing from home are not currently collected centrally.
One of the priorities for the Missing Persons Bureau is the development of a national picture of missing persons, including the relevant statistical information. The National Policing Improvement Agency is working
with key stakeholders, including Missing People and the Missing Persons Strategic Oversight Group, to take this work forward.
Motor Vehicles: Waste Disposal
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many respondents to the consultation on statutory charges for the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles supported the table of charges set out in Annex A of her Department's report on the consultation. [209259]
Mr. Coaker: The report on the consultation did not include a table of suggested charges. The table annexed to a letter sent out by the Home Office on 31 March went to various organisations and individuals who had been involved in the further work undertaken to consider the new charges and scenarios to which they would apply in the light of responses to the consultation. That work took account of the responses to the consultation and subsequent representations. The letter announced the Government's final conclusions.
Offensive Weapons: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of knife crime were reported in Suffolk in each of the last five years. [209387]
Mr. Coaker: It is not possible to identify those offences that are knife-related from the data centrally collected on overall recorded crime. However, since April 2007, police forces have been providing separate aggregate data on serious violence involving knives. Home Office statisticians will assess the quality of these data and it is planned that figures for 2007-08 will be published in the main crime bulletin in July 2008.
Olympic Games 2012: Dorset
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding will be provided for Dorset Police to undertake their responsibilities in relation to the forthcoming sailing events related to the 2012 Olympic Games. [207826]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 2 June 2008]: The Home Office made available £416,311 in 2007-08 to enable Dorset police to plan and prepare for security at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. It is in discussion with Dorset police about funding for the remaining years.
Police Authorities: Theft
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value was of items stolen from police authorities in (a) Lancashire and (b) England and Wales in each of the last five years. [208651]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 5 June 2008]: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
This is an operational matter for each Police Authority and Chief Officer.
Police Cautions: Worcestershire
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police cautions were given to persons aged (a) under 18 and (b) 18 years and over in each command area in North Worcestershire Division in each of the last 10 years. [206388]
Mr. McNulty: Data showing the number of reprimands and final warnings given to persons aged under 18 and cautions given to persons aged 18 and over in the West Mercia police force area are in the following table. The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide data by command area in the North Worcestershire Division, as the data are not held to the level of detail requested.
The statistics 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 principal offence is the offence 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.
| Number of offenders cautioned( 1, 2 ) in the West Mercia police force area, broken down by age group, 1997 to 2006( 3, 4) | |||
| 10 to 17 | 18 and over | All ages | |
| (1) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (2) Includes data for both simple and conditional cautions. (3) These data are on the principal offence basis. (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 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: CJEA-OCJR. | |||
Police Custody: Mentally Ill
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the use of police custody suites to detain (a) the mentally ill or those held for their own protection and (b) the drunk and disorderly. [198615]
Mr. McNulty:
With effect from 30 April 2008, a person may be transferred from one place of safety to another before an assessment has been carried out.
This commences section 44 of the Mental Health Act 2007 and recognises the importance of using a police station on an exceptional basis and that when it is used, there is the ability to transfer a person to a more suitable place at the earliest available opportunity.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is looking to publish a report later this year on the use of police stations as places of safety under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. Initial findings from the research show that 11,500 people were detained in police custody under section 136 during 2005-06. The average amount of time spent in police custody was 10 hours, with the vast majority of detainees leaving within 18 hours.
The arrests information held by the Ministry of Justice covers persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only. Summary offences of 'being drunk and disorderly' are non-notifiable and as a result are not covered by the collection. The Home Office has not made any assessments of the use of custody suites in relation to drunk people. However we are aware that a significant number of people rendered incapable by alcohol are being referred for medical treatment instead of being detained in custody suites.
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