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19 Nov 2008 : Column 578W—continued
Crime: Crosby
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding her Department has provided to (a) victim support and (b) neighbourhood watch schemes in Crosby constituency in the last 10 years. [236706]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Victim Support is an independent charity and is the main provider of services to victims and witnesses across England and Wales. In 2003, the Government increased the core grant for Victim Support to £30 million, and has maintained annual funding at that level. Victim Support has received a further £12.6 million from government (£5.6 million in 2007-08 and £7 million this financial year) to deliver enhanced services to victims.
Victim Support in Merseyside received £1,134,000 as part of the national grant to Victim Support in this financial year. This covers the Victim Support community service (including additional funds for Victim Support Plus) and grants to the Witness Service, which provides support to witnesses giving evidence in criminal trials at both Crown and magistrates courts.
The Home Office directly meets the costs of providing public liability insurance for all police-registered Neighbourhood Watch schemes. Funding for local partners and statutory agencies to work together to tackle crime, drugs, and anti-social behaviour in their areas is provided to local authorities through the area-based grant. The Home Office does not keep detailed records giving a breakdown of payments to local schemes.
Criminal Records Bureau: Appeals
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people contested details held on record by the Criminal Records Bureau in each of the last five years; and how many of these disputes were upheld. [231777]
Jacqui Smith: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) do not hold criminal records but do release information held on police records and other data sources.
The total number of disclosures where the details released by the CRB were contested by the applicant in the last five years and the total number of these that were subsequently upheld is detailed in the following table. These are referred to within the disclosure process as disputes and the CRB has procedures in place to allow an applicant to dispute the information provided.
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
The CRB enhanced its recording of disputes during 2005-06. Prior to this, the CRB did not hold figures for disputes not upheld.
Information released on a disclosure can be disputed for a number of reasons including the inclusion of locally held non-conviction information which the applicant believes to be inaccurate or misleading; situations where an applicant has had their identity stolen; or the inclusion of data which an applicant was unaware would appear on the disclosure.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether confidential or personal information has been compromised through the loss of property from her Department since 1997. [193447]
Mr. Woolas: Except in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment on breaches of security. However, following the publication of the Data Handling Procedures in Government: Interim Progress Report on 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 98WS, all Departments will cover information assurance issues in their annual reports.
Departmental Written Questions
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the average time taken by her Department has been to answer ordinary Parliamentary written questions in the Parliamentary session to date; [230573]
(2) how many ordinary Parliamentary written questions were tabled to her Department in (a) March 2008 and (b) April 2008; and how many such questions remain unanswered; [230574]
(3) how many members of staff are employed by her Department to support Ministers in answering Parliamentary written questions. [230575]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 27 October 2008]: The information requested is in the following tables.
| Number | |
| March 2008 | April 2008 | |
| (1) To 13 November 2008. | ||
There are four full-time equivalent posts in the Home Office parliamentary unit dedicated solely to supporting Ministers in answering parliamentary written questions. Many other officials contribute to answering questions, but this number can be quantified only at disproportionate cost.
Dispersal Orders: Enfield
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how dispersal orders have been issued in the London Borough of Enfield in each year since 2003. [235438]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The number of dispersal orders issued in Enfield since 2003 is as follows:
| Number | |
Driving Under Influence: Drugs
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department plans to give type approval for a device for use in testing a driver for the presence of a drug in his body under Section 6 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as amended. [237204]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 18 November 2008]: Before approving such a device, the Secretary of State must be wholly satisfied that it will be reliable in operational use and suitable for the purposes of criminal law enforcement. This will be ensured by requiring the device to be compliant with the necessarily rigorous, detailed and precise specification that is currently being developed. How soon a device might be approved will depend on how soon manufacturers present a device which they claim is compliant, how that device performs in tests and how quickly manufacturers then make any necessary adjustments.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of driving while unfit through use of a drug in the last year for which figures are available. [237205]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 18 November 2008]: Information provided by the Ministry of Justice shows that in 2006 (latest available) there were 92,671 convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Data for 2007 are due to be published at the end of November 2008.
The data cover both drink and drugs offences combined, as volumes of convictions and custodial sentences for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs cannot be accurately established.
Driving Under Influence: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of (a) drug and (b) drink driving were recorded in (i) Hemel Hempstead and (ii) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997. [233848]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Offences of driving while unfit through drugs or drink are summary offences and do not feature in the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.
The Home Office does collect data on recorded offences of ‘Causing death by dangerous or careless driving (including while under the influence of drink or drugs)’. However, it is not possible to determine from the information held centrally which, if any, of these offences were committed while the offender was under the influence.
The available information for the above offence is given in the following table. Hemel Hempstead comes within the Dacorum local authority area. Data for this offence have only been collected at local authority area level since 2000-01.
| Recorded offences of causing death by dangerous or careless driving (including while under the influence of drink or drugs) | ||
| Dacorum local authority area | Hertfordshire | |
| n/a = Not applicable | ||
Driving Under Influence: Police
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in England and Wales were convicted of drink driving offences in each of the last three years. [236911]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not available.
Information is not collected centrally on the occupation of offenders unless specific to the offence legislation.
Dungavel Detention Centre
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of detention period in Dungavel Detention Centre of (a) a family and (b) an individual, aged (i) under 18, (ii) under 16 and (iii) under 10 years old in each of the last three years. [232797]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 3 November 2008]: The average length of detention for a family in Dungavel House has remained at three days for 2006, 2007 and up until September for 2008.
The average length of detention for single detainees was 17 days in 2006, 23 days in 2007 and 27 days up until September 2008.
We do not have the data available in relation to age groups and to provide them would be at disproportionate cost.
Electronic Surveillance: Databases
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 30 October 2008, Official Report, column 1251W, on electronic surveillance: databases, whether local authorities will have access to mobile telephone geodata. [236140]
Mr. Coaker: No. Directive 2006/24/EC will not change the kinds of data that local authorities are permitted to access under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 30 October 2008, Official Report, column 1251W, on electronic surveillance: databases, whether local authorities will have access to communications data retained by internet service providers. [236141]
Mr. Coaker: Local authority access to communications data retained by internet service providers will be on the same basis as their access to communications data retained by any other communications service provider. That is they will continue under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to have access to service use and subscriber data, but not traffic data, the class of communications data that would indicate specific areas of internet interest or activity.
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