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27 Oct 2008 : Column 669W—continued
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK Government development aid and assistance was given to (a) India and (b) China in the latest year for which figures are available. [230971]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Total UK development expenditure, including an imputed share of multilateral Official Development Assistance, in India and China in 2006-07 was £375.4 million and £72.2 million respectively.
The Department for International Development (DFID) will end its bilateral assistance to China in 2011.
Home Department
Tackling Knives Action Programme
10. Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the Tackling Knives Action Programme; and if she will make a statement. [229778]
Meg Hillier: Since 5 June we have focused £2 million on intense work in 10 areas to tackle teenage knife crime, including prevention and focused enforcement. A further £3 million is being provided for after-school patrols, safer schools partnerships and Operation Staysafe in TKAP areas.
Stop and search and test purchase operations are being conducted, and the “It Doesn't Have to Happen” anti-knife crime campaign continues to grow.
Criminal Activity: Publication of Details
12. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with representatives of local newspapers on police force policies on the publication of details of individual incidents of criminal activity. [229780]
Mr. Coaker: All forces provide local crime information on their websites every month and, through the Policing Pledge, they are committed to publishing neighbourhood crime maps by December 2008.
Police forces cannot provide information about crimes in every case because there are individual privacy issues which they must rightly consider.
Knife Crime
13. Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to reduce knife crime. [229781]
Meg Hillier: In April 2007 we introduced the collection of information on knife-related offences as part of police recorded crime data.
Since the start of the Tackling Knives Action Programme in June 2008, the numbers remanded in prison for weapons possession has doubled and the proportion sent to prison has increased by almost a third compared to last year. Nearly 100,000 people have been stopped and searched and almost 2,200 knives recovered.
Scientific Procedures on Animals
14. Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely number of scientific procedures on animals which will be carried out in 2009-10. [229782]
18. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely number of scientific procedures on animals which will be carried out in 2009-10. [229787]
Meg Hillier: Animal experiments continue to be a vital tool in developing improvements in health care, and in protecting people and the environment from other hazards.
I would expect the number of animal procedures carried out in 2009-10 to remain at or around the current level of 3.2 million per year.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
15. Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes to immigration legislation, guidance and practice will be introduced following the Government's decision to remove its reservations to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. [229783]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency's treatment of children must be as sensitive as possible.
We have transformed our children's policy, introducing a code of practice and have even legislated to impose a duty on UKBA to take appropriate steps to ensure that while children are in the UK they are safe from harm.
Withdrawing the reservation was made possible largely because of developments in child protection arrangements since 1991. No additional changes to legislation, guidance and/or practice are currently envisaged as a result of its removal.
DNA Samples
16. John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for serious crimes are recorded as substantially based on evidence provided by the retention of DNA samples in 2007-08. [229785]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Data are available on the number of detections with DNA, but not the number of convictions. In 2007-08, 83 serious violent crimes and 184 rapes were detected in which a DNA match was available. It is not possible to say whether the DNA match was the key factor in solving the crime.
Alcohol Misuse
19. Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health on informing young people of the dangers of alcohol misuse as part of the Government's strategy on alcohol abuse. [229788]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Home Office Ministers have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Health, and with other Departments in relation to young people as part of the Government's Alcohol Strategy ‘Safe.Sensible.Social’. The most recent meeting that took place was prior to the launch of the Youth Alcohol Action Plan earlier this year, when we informed our colleagues in other Departments about the development of the plan.
Safer Neighbourhood Teams: West Yorkshire
20. Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many safer neighbourhood teams have been introduced in West Yorkshire since 2002. [229790]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Since April 2008 every area in England and Wales has had a neighbourhood policing team. There are currently 47 safer neighbourhood teams in West Yorkshire police.
Overseas Workers: Visas
21. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas workers were granted visas to enter the UK in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [229791]
Mr. Woolas: Between October 2007 and September 2008, around 57,000 visas were granted to overseas nationals with Home Office work permits. In addition, over 39,000 visas were issued in permit-free employment categories.
Had the new points bases system been in place last year there would have been 12 per cent. fewer people coming in to work through the equivalent work permit route.
Victims of Crime: Female Prostitutes
22. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to prevent female prostitutes from becoming victims of crime. [229792]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Prostitution is inherently dangerous, and the most effective way to prevent those involved from becoming victims of crime is to help them to leave prostitution.
Our prostitution strategy provides a framework for local areas to develop their own strategies, including the provision of tailored support for those involved in prostitution.
Violent Crime: Plymouth
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of trends in the level of violent crime in Plymouth. [229779]
Mr. Coaker: There was a 6 per cent. reduction in ‘Violence against the Person’ offences within Plymouth between 2006-07 and 2007-08 (from 6,114 to 5,761). Plymouth has been supported by the Government’s Tackling Violent Crime Programme to effectively tackle night-time violence with the city and to develop innovative responses to domestic violence.
Police Community Support Officers
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effect of the work of police community support officers on crime levels. [229786]
Mr. Coaker: In January 2006 the Home Office published an evaluation of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) which found that PCSOs were valued by the police, the public and businesses for their visibility and accessibility.
We recognise the need for greater clarity and standardisation around the role—including uniform and powers—therefore a further evaluation and consultation on PCSO powers is under way and will report back in December.
Antisocial Behaviour
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to deal with those who persist in antisocial behaviour. [229784]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We have put in place powerful tools to tackle disorder, including the new power to close premises where there is persistent antisocial behaviour which commences on 1 December. We have also launched the new antisocial behaviour squad to help local agencies make best use of the full range of tools and powers to tackle perpetrators who persist in antisocial behaviour.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps she is taking to ensure that the police, local authorities and other interested agencies work together to address antisocial behaviour; [229875]
(2) what assessment she has made of the use of the powers available to address antisocial behaviour; [229876]
(3) what future steps the Government plan to take to prevent antisocial behaviour. [229877]
Mr. Alan Campbell: No one should have to put up with antisocial behaviour. I want communities to know that the Government are firmly on their side and are turning the tables on those who persistently make others' lives a misery.
We have put in place powerful tools to tackle antisocial behaviour. Three independent reports including the Home Affairs Select Committee report (2005), the Audit Commission report (May 2006) and the NAO report (December 2006) have confirmed that they work. Indeed the NAO reported that 65 per cent. of people stop committing antisocial behaviour after intervention one rising to 93 per cent. after intervention three. Latest figures available show that local agencies across the country used these tools and powers available to tackle antisocial behaviour more than 16,000 times between April and June 2008.
People's fear of antisocial behaviour has fallen. The British Crime Survey shows a reduction in the proportion of people with a high level of perceived antisocial behaviour from 21 per cent. in 2002-03 to 16 per cent. in 2007-08.
Successful delivery of any local antisocial behaviour strategy depends on effective partnership working through Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. To assist this work, the Home Office has renewed the funding for antisocial behaviour co-ordinators for the period 2008-11 and created powerful tools to tackle disorder, including the new power to close premises where there is persistent antisocial behaviour. This new power will commence on 1 December and the statutory guidance sets out the obligations on the police and local authorities to consult each other and the advisability of consulting others. We have also launched the new antisocial behaviour squad to help local agencies make best use of the full range of
tools and powers to tackle perpetrators who persist in antisocial behaviour. Furthermore we are consulting the public on antisocial behaviour on public transport.
Asylum: Cameroon
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she or her predecessor last discussed the issue of Cameroonian citizens seeking asylum in the UK with the Cameroonian High Commissioner. [228486]
Mr. Woolas: The previous Home Secretary did not meet the Cameroonian High Commissioner to talk about Cameroonian citizens seeking asylum in the UK.
British Nationality: Right of Abode
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) British Overseas Citizens, (b) British Nationals (Overseas) and (c) other British nationals who do not have a right of abode in the UK. [225966]
Mr. Woolas: This information is not readily available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Older records are not held on computer and so an estimate would involve the examination of individual paper files.
Christmas
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Christmas functions (a) she, (b) officials from her Department and (c) officials from its executive agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse was; and if she will make a statement. [226949]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Community Support Officers: Manpower
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers there were per head of population in each police authority area in England and Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available. [229733]
Mr. Coaker: The available data are given in the table.
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