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11 Nov 2008 : Column 980W—continued
Members: Correspondence
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when she expects the Minister for Immigration to reply to the letter of 5 February 2008 from the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen on meeting the hon. Member and my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Mr. Pope) to discuss the case of Aso Mohammed Ibrahim; [191616]
(2) when she will answer the Question tabled on 28 February 2008 by the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen on the case of Aso Mohammed Ibrahim; and what the reasons are for the time taken to provide a reply. [203341]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 May 2008]: A response was sent to my hon. Friend on 8 September 2008.
Offences Against Children
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) male and (b) female victims of childhood sexual abuse there were in each of the last 10 years. [232302]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The recorded crime statistics are based on legal definitions and the available statistics for sexual offences where the victim can be identified as a child are given in the following tables. We are only able to identify the sex of the victim for offences of rape.
| Table 1: Selected sexual offences recorded by the police In England and Wales, 1998-99 to 2001-02( 1) | ||||
| Offence | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
| n/a = not available (1) The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. | ||||
| Table 2: Selected sexual offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, 2002-03 to 2007-08( 1,2) | ||||||
| Offence | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| n/a = not available (1) The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. (2) The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced in May 2004 altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences. (3) A small number of offences continue to be recorded relating to offences repealed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003; while these may continue to be legitimately recorded for offences committed prior to May 2004 it is also possible that some may have been recorded in these old categories in error, so recent changes based on small numbers should be interpreted with caution. | ||||||
Offenders: Deportation
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals who have been convicted of a crime in the UK are awaiting deportation. [232384]
Mr. Woolas: Case law and existing policy means that the UK Border Agency are only able to give consideration as to whether a foreign national who has committed a crime within the United Kingdom should be subject to deportation action until 12 months before the end of an individual’s sentence, except when their sentence length is shorter. As such the information requested is not available as it is not possible to provide an indication as to the eventual outcome of the case for a foreign prisoner who is currently serving their sentence.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Committee with the most robust and accurate information available. Copies of her letters are available in the Library of the House.
Having exceeded the Prime Minister's target of 4,000 deportations or removals of foreign prisoners in 2007, the Agency has now been set an even tougher target and aims to remove or deport more than 5,000 foreign prisoners in 2008. In the first six months of this year, the Agency had deported or removed nearly 2,500 which is a record performance, 22 per cent. higher than for the same period in 2007 and nearly 140 per cent. higher than in 2006.
Offensive Weapons: Arrests
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged 16 years and under were arrested for carrying knives in (a) Peterborough, (b) Cambridgeshire and (c) England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [234416]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery.
From these centrally reported data we are not able to identify knife possession offences from within the main offence groups.
Personal Records
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in (a) 2007 and (b) 1997 an individual was unable to leave the UK owing to the loss of relevant documents by her Department. [233309]
Mr. Woolas: This information cannot be provided because details of individuals unable to leave the UK owing to missing documents are not held centrally
Police: Licensed Premises
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department’s policy is on licensed premises which open late being required to make a contribution to costs of policing those premises; and if she will make a statement. [229429]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 27 October 2008]: A licensed premises which is open ‘late’ is not necessarily a problem premises. If a licensed premises is found to be breaching one of the four licensing objectives, then it may be reviewed (following application by a responsible authority such as the police, or an interested party such as a local resident) and conditions may be applied to solve the problem. The premises may also have its licensable activities curtailed if this is deemed necessary e.g. a reduction in hours for the sale of alcohol or, in more serious cases, suspension or revocation of the licence.
However, the Government introduced Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) in the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, and the powers were commenced in June 2008. ADZs provide police and local authorities with a measure of last resort for tackling high levels of alcohol related nuisance or disorder in parts of town and city centres where all other voluntary and statutory approaches have been exhausted.
ADZs are designed to allow police and local authorities to agree and implement an action plan with licensees in a designated area, subject to consultation, to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder linked to the misuse of alcohol in the public space. If the action plan is not implemented, charges can be levied for specified enforcement activity by statutory agencies including the police.
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Drug Seizures
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drugs seizures have been made by officers at the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each of the last two years. [232297]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The data below relate to individual seizures of Class A, B and C drugs, cutting agents and drugs precursor chemicals. If two different commodities are seized at the same time, that counts as two seizures.
SOCA has no powers itself to seize drugs outside the UK, therefore interdictions overseas involve SOCA providing key intelligence and/or operational support to others, not undertaking the physical act itself. At home, SOCA works collaboratively with UK police forces, HMRC and the UK Border Agency. Decisions on the interdiction phases of such joint operational activity are made according to local or operational imperatives, including protecting the use of sensitive intelligence sources.
| Seizures in SOCA operations | ||
| UK | Abroad/at sea | |
| (1) To 30 September 2008 | ||
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