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9 July 2008 : Column 1598W—continued
Driving: Disqualification
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department takes to prevent disqualified drivers from driving. [216840]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 8 July 2008]: Driving while disqualified is a criminal offence carrying a penalty of a maximum fine of £5,000 or six months imprisonment or both. How the offence is enforced is an operational matter for the police. We have supported the growing use by the police of automatic number plate recognition technology. These enable the rapid identification of vehicles of potential interest, including those linked with a disqualified driver. We have given police the power to seize immediately vehicles that are being driven by someone otherwise than in accordance with a licence or who does not have insurance and to return them only on production of licence and insurance.
Hunting: Foxes
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were charged with offences relating to fox hunting in each police force area in each of the last two years. [215822]
Mr. Coaker: Information on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts under the Hunting Act 2004 in 2005 and 2006, broken down by police force area, is provided in the following table. Statistics for court proceedings in 2007 will be published in the autumn.
The figures provided relate to the principal offence for which persons 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.
| Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences under the Hunting Act 2004, England and Wales 2005 and 2006( 1, 2, 3) | ||
| Police force area | 2005 | 2006 |
| (1 )These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )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 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. (3 )Where a police force area is not listed in the table then no prosecutions have been reported to the Ministry of Justice Source: Court proceedings database—Criminal Justice Evidence and Analysis—Office for Criminal Justice Reform | ||
Offenders: Deportation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who left the UK under the Facilitated Returns Scheme were arrested (a) trying to re-enter the UK and (b) while in the UK in each month since its inception. [208833]
Jacqui Smith: Obtaining the information requested would require the detailed examination of individual casefiles at disproportionate cost. All individuals who leave the United Kingdom under the Facilitated Returns scheme are fingerprinted and excluded from the country and placed on watch lists in order to prevent them from returning to the United Kingdom after they are removed.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 18 February and advised them that, as of 28 January 2008, there were around 1,200 foreign national prisoners removed under the scheme. She will continue to update the Home Affairs Committee with the most robust and accurate information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners as requested.
Sexual Offences: Travel Restrictions
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered sex offenders are known to have travelled abroad without informing the police. [213823]
Mr. Coaker: The number of registered sex offenders travelling without first notifying their intention to do so is not currently collated.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of meeting urgent operational requirements in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan was in each year from 2001-02 to 2007-08; what provision he has made for meeting such requirements in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10, (iii) 2010-11, (iv) 2011-12 and (v) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [216903]
Des Browne: For the cost of urgent operational requirements (UORs) approved from 2001-02 to 2007-08, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 May 2008, Official Report, column 594W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox). These costs are for UORs in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
We have agreed with HM Treasury an estimate for Reserve expenditure on UORs in 2008-09 of £900 million. We have not made any estimates for potential UOR costs beyond this. UORs are designed to fulfil unforeseeable urgent capability gaps identified by commanders in the field driven by the situation on the ground, and as such can only be forecast with limited accuracy.
Armed Forces: Health Services
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much service personnel in (a) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital and (b) Headley Court rehabilitation centre are charged for use of (i) television, (ii) internet and (iii) telephone services per (A) minute, (B) 20 minutes, (C) 30 minutes, (D) 45 minutes and (E) hour. [206914]
Derek Twigg: Telephone, television and internet services are not charged at Selly Oak on the basis requested. However, military patients benefit from casualty welfare package including a daily payment towards meeting these costs.
At Headley Court, which is a military establishment, television and internet are provided in communal areas without charge. There is also a payphone provided for their use.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the latest Defence Medical Services Continuous Attitude Survey. [216179]
Derek Twigg: I have placed in the Library of the House the result reports of the latest Defence Medical Services Regular and Reservists Continuous Attitude Surveys, conducted during May and June 2007.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provision the Government has made for the healthcare of service personnel serving overseas. [216538]
Derek Twigg: The MOD aims to ensure that members of the armed forces serving overseas (other than those on operational deployments) have access to a range of medical and dental services that are wherever practicable broadly equivalent to those available in the UK through the NHS.
Primary care services (including dental treatment) will normally be provided by medical centres located in the major base areas, or through arrangements with local providers. Secondary care will normally be provided through arrangements with local medical services, or (for personnel based in Gibraltar and Cyprus) through military hospital facilities run by the Defence Medical Services (DMS).
The DMS also have two regional rehabilitation units in Germany, at Gutersloh and Hohne, which provide specialist treatment for musculoskeletal and similar injuries. Finally, there are DMS Community Mental Health Teams in Germany, Cyprus and Gibraltar.
For members of the armed forces on operational deployment, the DMS provides basic primary care. Depending on the scale and type of operation, other provision will include appropriate emergency treatment for those who become ill or injured, including the initial management of combat casualties and emergency surgery in field hospital facilities. Again depending on the scale and type of operation, further in-theatre care may be available, for example from deployed rehabilitation and mental health teams. Personnel who are unable for any medical reason to carry out their designated operational role (either through wounding, other injury or illness) will be returned to the UK for any necessary treatment and longer-term care.
Armed Forces: Housing
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of (a) single living accommodation and (b) service family accommodation in (i) Germany, (ii) Cyprus, (iii) Gibraltar and (iv) the Falkland Islands there are in each grade for charge classification; and what percentage of the total each represents. [216240]
Derek Twigg: Service family accommodation (SFA) and single living accommodation (SLA) in Germany, Cyprus, Gibraltar and the Falkland/Ascension Islands (SAI) are currently at the following grades:
| Germany | Percentage | Cyprus | Percentage | Gibraltar | Percentage | SAI | Percentage | |
Grade for Charge is an assessment of the accommodation's chargeable condition, which does not only take into account its physical condition but other factors such as its size and closeness to amenities.
The low grade given to accommodation in the South Atlantic islands for example reflects the remote location and environmental factors rather than the actual condition of the accommodation which is considered reasonable. It should be noted that a large proportion of overseas SLA is only used during operational deployments. Although much of this accommodation is G4fC, residents are not charged for it.
In Cyprus, some 650 bed-spaces will be upgraded by 2012 for use on a permanent basis. In addition, there are ongoing programmes of improvement work in all the above locations including the Hired Accommodation Revitalisation Programme project, which aims to replace or upgrade the entire hired estate in Germany over the next five years.
Over the next decade the MOD will spend over £8.4 billion on accommodation, including some £3 billion on bringing accommodation up to the top condition. This will include the delivery of some further 30,000 new or improved SLA bed-spaces by 2013.
Armed Forces: Water
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government has taken to guarantee access to clean water for personnel serving overseas. [216539]
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