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14 Oct 2008 : Column 1073W—continued
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals serving a sentence in a UK prison refused to provide their personal details, including their country of origin, resulting in their remaining in prison at the end of their sentence in the latest period for which figures are available. [225386]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested can be obtained through the detailed examination of individual case files only at disproportionate cost. The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly updated the Home Affairs Committee with the most accurate and robust information available. In her most recent letter of 23 July, she advised the Committee that there are a number of reasons for delay in the deportation process such as last minute legal barriers, obstacles obtaining travel documents and non-compliance.
Proceeds of Crime
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conditions are attached to the use of funds allocated to police forces under the assets recovery incentive scheme. [225221]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 8 October 2008]: There are no formal conditions attached to the use of funds allocated under the asset recovery incentive scheme. Police forces are encouraged to use the funds for further investment in asset recovery and financial investigation, tackling crime and ,where appropriate, on local community initiatives. The Home Office monitors use of incentive monies by police forces and other agencies to ensure propriety. Returns from forces on the use of these funds indicate full compliance with Home Office recommendations.
Security Guards: Licensing
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement of 13 November 2007, Official Report, column 531, on the Security Industry Authority, whether any members of her Department were prosecuted in relation to the employment of foreign persons without leave to work while residing in the United Kingdom. [221667]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 22 July 2008]: No member of the Home Office has been prosecuted in connection with the employment of illegal migrant workers in the security industry.
Serious and Organised Crime Agency: Finance
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the running costs of (a) the Assets Recovery Agency and (b) the Serious and Organised Crime Agency were in each year since their inceptions. [219435]
Jacqui Smith: Net expenditure by the Assets Recovery Agency in each year since its inception is as follows:
| £ million | |
Resource funding for the Serious Organised Crime Agency is as follows:
| £ million | |
Serious and Organised Crime Agency: Secondment
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency have been seconded to partner agencies overseas in each year since its inception. [219425]
Jacqui Smith: The number of SOCA officers working in partner agencies overseas since 2006 is as follows:
| Number | |
Sexual Offences
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sexual offences were recorded in each crime and disorder reduction partnership in England and Wales in 2007-08. [221495]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 22 July 2008]: The information requested is available on the Home Office website at the following address:
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons figures for recorded sexual offences in each Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership have not been published in the supplementary tables to the Crime in England and Wales 2007-08 publication. [221517]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 22 July 2008]: Home Office statisticians are in the process of applying new methods of statistical disclosure control. The data will be released on the Home Office website as soon as this process is completed.
Surveillance
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of abuse of intrusive surveillance powers have been made against (a) local authorities and (b) central Government-controlled bodies in each of the last three years. [225229]
Mr. Coaker: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the then Minister of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty), to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1374W.
Terrorism: Stop and Search
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department has given to the police on the exercise of their power under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to stop and search those taking photographs in public places. [219421]
Jacqui Smith: Guidance on stop and search powers under section 44 Terrorism Act 2000 was issued by the Home Office in Home Office Circular 038/2004 on 1 July 2004 covering the authorisations for the use of the power.
Operational guidance on the use of section 44 stop and search powers was issued by the National Policing Improvement Agency and the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2006.
Following a commitment given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in October 2007, the operational guidance issued to the police on section 44 is currently being reviewed by the Home Office, the police, community groups and other stakeholders. The National Police Improvement Agency will issue revised guidance to all police forces in November. This will cover the taking of photographs in public places, although the general position is that there is no legal restriction on photography in such places.
Duchy of Lancaster
10 Downing Street: Food
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps the Prime Minister’s Office is taking to reduce levels of food waste produced in 10 Downing Street. [225648]
Kevin Brennan: The Prime Minister’s Office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for the Third Sector to the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) on 5 June 2008, Official Report, columns 1144-45W.
Departmental Computers
Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the Cabinet Office’s policy is on the disposal of hard disks from redundant personal computers. [223963]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the Data Handling Report, the publication of which was announced in the statement made by the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the right hon. Member for Doncaster, North (Edward Miliband) on 25 June 2008, Official Report, columns 25-6WS. The report and the cross government mandatory minimum measures state the core requirements that Departments must adhere to in relation to the secure disposal of both paper and electronic records. A copy of the cross government mandatory minimum measures has been deposited in the Libraries of the House and is available on the following website:
Paragraph 16 of the mandatory minimum measures for Government Departments states that “All material that has been used for protected data should be subject to controlled disposal”.
Guidance to Departments on the secure erasure and disposal of different types of magnetic, semi-conductor and optical media is published by CESG, the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance and is available on their website accessible from the Government Secure Intranet.
Government Communications: Higher Civil Servants
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to appoint a new Permanent Secretary for Government Communications. [222606]
Mr. Watson: The post of Permanent Secretary, Government Communications, was advertised in September 2008 under open competition rules.
Infant Mortality
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many notices of death were received by the Registrar General relating to (a) babies born after 24 weeks gestation and (b) neonatal deaths for each of the last three years, broken down by (i) registration district and (ii) notifying hospital. [224451]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking how many notices of death were received by the Registrar General relating to (a) babies born after 24 weeks gestation and (b) neonatal deaths for each of the last three years, broken down by (i) registration district and (ii) notifying hospital. (224451)
The Registrar General is notified of all babies born after 24 weeks of gestation with no signs of life at birth (known as stillbirths). It is not possible to provide information on all babies born after 24 weeks gestation as gestational age for live births is not collected by the Registrar General. ONS routinely uses local authority of residence rather than registration district to produce birth and death statistics.
(a)(i) Table 1 shows numbers of stillbirths by local authority of residence of the mother in England and Wales for the aggregated years 2005 to 2007 (the latest year for which data are available). It is not possible to provide numbers of stillbirths for each of these years separately in order to protect the confidentiality of individuals.
(a)(ii) Numbers of stillbirths by hospital (where the still birth occurred) in England and Wales for each of the years from 2005 to 2007 are shown in table 2.
(b)(i) Numbers of neonatal deaths by local authority of residence in England and Wales for each of the years from 2005 to 2007 are shown in table 3.
(b)(ii) Numbers of neonatal deaths by hospital (where the death occurred) in England and Wales for each of the years from 2005 to 2007 are shown in table 4. Copies of these tables have been placed in the library.
Solicitor-General
Prosecutions
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions were brought in all courts in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion were cases with outcomes of (a) guilty pleas, (b) discontinuances, (c) convictions after trial, (d) acquittals and (e) other. [226406]
The Solicitor-General: The following tables show the number of defendants prosecuted by the CPS whose case was completed in either the magistrates courts or in the crown court in each of the last ten years, together with the outcome of those proceedings. The table also shows the number and proportion of defendants whose case resulted either in conviction (which includes both guilty pleas and convictions after trial) or an unsuccessful outcome (which comprises all outcomes other than a conviction).
These figures represent all cases prosecuted by the 42 Areas of the CPS, but do not include the small volume of more specialised casework handled at CPS headquarters by the casework directorate, figures for which are compiled on a different basis.
| Table 1: Magistrates court outcomes | ||||||||
| (a) Guilty pleas( 1) | (b) Discontinuances( 2) | (c) Convictions after Trial | (d) Acquittals | |||||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
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