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25 Jun 2008 : Column 334W—continued
| Number of persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by age group and type of offence( 1) , 2001-02 to 2005-06, England and Wales | ||||||
| Rounded | ||||||
| Notifiable offence group | Aged under 10 | Aged 10-17 | Aged 18-20 | Aged 21 and over | Age unknown | All ages |
| (1) Violent offences includes the offence categories of: violence against the person; sexual offences; robbery offences. Other offences includes the offence categories of: burglary; theft and handling stolen goods; fraud and forgery; criminal damage; drug offences; other offences. (2) Figures updated since publication of 2004-05 bulletin. Note: 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 these data are used. | ||||||
Crime: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were made in Bournemouth in each of the last five years; and how many led to a conviction. [212466]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 19 June 2008]: The arrests collection held by the Ministry of Justice covers persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by age group, gender, ethnicity and main offence group. Data collected centrally are not available below police force area level nor can they be linked to subsequent convictions or other outcomes.
Crimes of Violence: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes there were per head of population in Essex in each of the last five years. [213010]
Mr. Coaker: A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to suggestions in the two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term ‘violent crime' is no longer used in connection with recorded crime statistics and figures are now provided for violence against the person.
Statistics giving the number of offences of violence against the person per 1,000 population in Essex are given in the following table.
| Number of offences of violence against the person per 1,000 population in Essex. | |
| Rate per 1,000 population | |
Genetics: Databases
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under the age of 16 years were registered on the national DNA database at the most recent date for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [186906]
Meg Hillier: As at 31 December 2007, there were 147,367 subject profiles on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) from persons currently aged under 16 submitted by forces in England and Wales. The estimated number of individuals represented on the NDNAD is lower than the number of subject profiles as some profiles are replicates. The subject profile replication rate is currently calculated as 13.3 per cent. The estimated number of individuals aged under 16 is, therefore, 127,767.
Police: Pay
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what effect her decision not to backdate the police pay award will have on her Department’s expenditure in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [211525]
Jacqui Smith: It will have no effect on Home Office expenditure. Funding for the police service for the three years beginning 2008-09 was announced on 6 December 2007. The staging of the 2007-08 police pay award means that around £40 million is realised for police authorities to invest in the provision of policing services.
Racially Aggravated Offences
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances a person may be charged with a racially aggravated offence against a person of the same ethnicity. [211106]
Mr. Coaker: The Association of Chief Police Officers’ definition of hate crime is very broad and inclusive as follows:
A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.
It is therefore possible that the ethnicity of the offender could be the same as the victim’s—for example, if a person in a mixed-race relationship was attacked by someone of the same ethnicity who disagreed with that type of relationship.
Sexual Offences
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2008, Official Report, columns 1519-20W, on sexual offences, whether there is a requirement for a person convicted of a sexual offence overseas, who would be included on the Sex Offender Register if the offence had been committed in the UK, to declare the conviction when seeking to visit or remain in the UK. [211163]
Mr. Coaker: A person convicted of a sexual offence overseas is not generally required to declare the conviction when seeking to visit or remain in the UK. However, if the person needs a visa to enter the UK, he is required to disclose on his visa application form whether he has ever been convicted of any criminal offence.
We are aware that obtaining such information in relation to sex offenders is vital in ensuring that notification orders are used for the purposes for which they were intended, and that any other measures appropriate to protect the public can be taken. To try and ensure this we are actively engaged with a number of countries to try and develop ways of obtaining information on their convicted sex offenders and have already established such an arrangement with the Republic of Ireland.
Strip Clubs: Licensing
Lynda Waltho:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to give increased powers to local authorities to regulate lap dancing clubs, in particular by (a) extending the
category of sex encounter establishments across England and Wales and (b) removing the exemption for establishments that possess a premises licence. [212217]
Mr. Coaker: The Government are consulting with local authorities on any concerns they have which they feel cannot be addressed by existing controls, including the Licensing Act 2003 and whether we need to do more to protect local communities. We do recognise that people do not necessarily want lap-dancing establishments in their neighbourhoods and we want to ensure local authorities have the powers to reflect the views of local people when considering applications. We will therefore consider whether or not lap-dancing clubs should fall under the category of sex encounter establishments under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 and legislate if this is necessary.
Truancy
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps (a) police officers and (b) police community support officers who discover a child truanting from school may take; and if she will make a statement. [213093]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
Under Section 16 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (as amended), police officers may, if authorised to do so by a chief police officer, take excluded pupils who are in a public place during normal school hours and children who they believe are out of school without lawful authority to a designated place established by the local authority or to the school. This power is often used during a "School Attendance and Exclusions Sweep”.
This Department and the Home Department have issued joint guidance to local authorities and police services on the use of the power to remove pupils from public places and the organisation of exercises using it called "School Attendance and Exclusions Sweeps: Effective Practice and Advice" which explains the law and gives examples of practice that is in use.
Under Section 444A of the Education Act 1996 (as amended) police officers may issue fixed penalty notices to parents who fail to secure their child's regular attendance, if they have been authorised to do so by the local code of practice on the use of penalty notices.
Police community support officers may also use the powers to remove pupils from a public place and to issue fixed penalty notices, if they have been designated to do so under the Police Reform Act 2002 by the .chief officer of the force concerned.
The Department has not collected data on the number of "school attendance and exclusions sweeps" conducted by local authorities since autumn 2006, when we ceased co-ordinating national sweeps-allowing authorities to run sweeps according to local need. I have put the data we collected as part of the rationally co-ordinated exercises in the Library of the House.
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