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14 Oct 2008 : Column 1063W—continued
Crime Prevention: ICT
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of computer modelling of crime and its causes. [217325]
Jacqui Smith: Officials in the Home Department use a wide range of techniques to analyse crime and its causes, drawn from economics, social research, statistics and operational research. Alongside the qualitative assessment of crime and its effects, models of the causes of crime can help us understand the simultaneous impact of those causes and show which are the most significant.
Crime: Business
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time members of staff her Department employs to deal with business crime. [221381]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Many parts of the Home Office support work to tackle crimes affecting business. This includes developing responses to specific crimes such as fraud, e-crime, retail crime, commercial robbery and criminal damage as well as work to encourage and support business to work closely in partnership with the police and local authorities through the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). All of this activity is supported by a number of staff who provide performance advice, and statistical and analytical support.
Crime: Cambridgeshire
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prolific and priority offenders there were in each Basic Command Unit in the Cambridgeshire Constabulary area at (a) 31 December 2007, (b) 30 March 2008 and (c) 30 June 2008; and if she will make a statement. [226101]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 13 October 2008]: The most recent data available from the performance management arrangements for the Prolific and other Priority Offender programme covers the period from January to March 2008. This shows that there were 134 Prolific and other Priority Offenders within the area covered by Cambridgeshire Constabulary at the end of March this year. The figure for the end of December 2007 was 135.
A more detailed breakdown is given in the table.
| Basic Command Unit | CDRP/PPO scheme | December 2007 | March 2008 |
Crime: Economic Situation
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to address potential increases in levels of crime resulting from a downturn in the economy. [223849]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Since March 2003, overall crime has fallen by 18 per cent., exceeding the 15 per cent. target set out in the Home Office's public service agreement. That reduction is greater than would have been forecast based on socio-economic factors alone, and the Department is confident that the right policies and systems are in place to continue to cut crime and that they provide the flexibility needed to respond to future economic challenges.
Crime: Torbay
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were (a) charged and (b) convicted of (i) public order offences and (ii) offences against the person in the Torbay area in each of the last seven years. [225373]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the Offences against the persons Act 1861 s.18, 20, and 47, and the Public Order Act 1986 s.1 to 5, in Devon and Cornwall police force area, 2000 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table.
Court proceedings data are unable to be broken down further than police force area level; hence data has been provided for Devon and Cornwall police force area in lieu of Torbay area.
Charging data are not held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. Therefore prosecution data is provided in lieu.
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.
Crimes Against Humanity
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases the War Crimes Unit in the Border Agency investigated for (a) suspected war crimes, (b) crimes against humanity and (c) genocide in each year since 2004. [224629]
Mr. Woolas: The following table shows numbers of cases considered by the war crimes team in each year. The figures quoted are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
| Cases considered by war crimes team | |
| Number | |
The figures cover all cases in the three categories requested. The information could not be further broken down into the individual categories without the detailed examination of individual case records.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private contractors have been granted access to personal data held by her Department in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [223603]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 11 September 2008]: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small and medium-sized businesses were paid within 30 days of receipt by (a) her Department and ( b) the agencies for which her Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if she will make a statement. [226491]
Mr. Woolas: Details of the prompt payment record can be found in the annual report section (page 23) of the Department's 2007-08 Resource Accounts on the Home Office website at:
It is the Department's policy to pay its suppliers within 30 days of the receipt of a valid invoice, and it subscribes to the CBI code and the British Standard (BS 7890) on the prompt payment of suppliers.
Departmental Security
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many security passes of staff in (a) her Department and (b) its departmental agencies were reported (i) lost and (ii) stolen in each year since 2001. [195037]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 18 March 2008]: The number of Home Office security passes reported lost or stolen (broken down where known) yearly since 2001 are in the table. As soon as passes are reported missing, they can be deactivated to prevent entry to the circle door locks. The passes do not have any logo to indicate that they can provide access to the Home Office or a particular building. This is in accordance with the Cabinet Office Manual of Protective Security, which advises each Department to have its own design.
The number of passes reported lost or stolen increased over 2002-06 due in part to the increase in the numbers of staff and contractors employed but also to improvements in record keeping.
| Table 1: Number of Home Office passes lost or stolen since 2001 | |
| Number | |
Drugs: Smuggling
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) arrested for and (b) convicted of drug trafficking offences as a result of operations by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08. [219437]
Jacqui Smith: In 2006-07, SOCA recorded that there were 601 arrests and 236 convictions in operations where drug trafficking offences was the primary threat. Similarly in 2007-08 there were 774 arrests and 243 convictions in operations where drug trafficking was the primary threat.
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