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20 Nov 2008 : Column 709W—continued
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Public Places
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the maximum fine for anyone not obeying an instruction to stop drinking, or to give up their drink in a designated public place will increase from £500 to £2,500. [234306]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 10 November 2008]: The Home Office intends to legislate to raise the maximum fine for anyone not obeying an instruction to stop drinking, or to give up their drink in a designated public place (DPPO) area as soon as the parliamentary timetable allows.
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken following the publication of the Youth Alcohol Action Plan to assist the police, local authorities and communities to identify hotspots where underage drinking is a problem. [234564]
Jacqui Smith: The Youth Alcohol Action Plan stated that the Home Office would “support the police, local authorities and communities to identify problem hot spots”. This is a reiteration of a commitment made in Safe.Sensible.Social. - the next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy to gather further evidence on how high risk licensed premises can best be identified i.e. those premises that have a higher likelihood of being associated with crime and disorder, public nuisance and risk to children.
Officials within the Home Office have commissioned expert practitioners from Dorset police and Lancashire constabulary to develop a toolkit for licensing officers to help identify problem premises. The toolkit identifies best working practices from across the country and provides a structured approach to tackling the problem. We are currently in consultation with ACPO, LACORS and the police regarding the document and a possible publication date.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Office of the Surveillance Commissioner has made of the level of use of automatic number plate recognition; and what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of such usage. [236822]
Mr. Coaker: The use of automatic number plate recognition systems, which compare CCTV pictures with automated databases, is a matter for the Information Commissioner. The CCTV Code of Practice, revised recently by the Information Commissioner, makes it clear that information held by organisations that is about individuals is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998 (‘DPA') and the Code helps operators comply with their legal obligations under the DPA.
Borders: Personal Records
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will reduce for leisure boaters the period of notice required for the passenger and crew manifests and boat details of boats entering or leaving UK waters to be submitted under the e-borders scheme. [233577]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 6 November 2008]: The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is required to balance its obligation to the security of the United Kingdom's border with that of facilitating the entry and exit of legitimate travellers. The e-Borders system will assist in providing that balance.
Under the e-Borders system, leisure boaters will have 48 hours before an international voyage takes place to submit crew information and 24 hours for passenger information.
The data should be submitted before the voyage occurs and they would be expected no later than 30 minutes before departure. It is recognised that precise timing is not always possible in this environment, and hence there is considerable flexibility in this regard.
Community Safety Accreditation Schemes
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which approved organisations have had enforcement powers granted to them through community safety accreditation schemes; and which enforcement powers have been granted in each case. [236498]
Mr. Coaker:
The Home Office does not collect data on which individual organisations have been given powers under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS). However, a Home Office CSAS audit this year
collected data on the number of accredited organisations and, also, which powers were given within each police force area. The audit is on the Home Office website:
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces have a community safety accreditation scheme in place; and what enforcement powers have been granted to each scheme. [236499]
Mr. Coaker: The 2008 Home Office audit of the community safety accreditation scheme (CSAS) found that 23 police forces in England and Wales, including the British Transport police, had a CSAS scheme in place. The audit shows which forces have a scheme and is on the Home Office website:
The Home Office does not collect data on the powers given to individual schemes but the audit does show which powers have been granted within the police force area.
Community Support Officers: Manpower
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been stationed in Crosby constituency in each year since 1997. [236718]
Mr. Coaker: The available data for Merseyside Police and the Basic Command Unit (BCU) of Sefton are given in the following table. Police Personnel Statistics are not collected by parliamentary constituency.
| Police Community Support Officer Strength( 1) (FTE)( 2) as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2008( 3) | ||
| Merseyside Police | Sefton Basic Command Unit | |
| (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Full-time equivalent exclude those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data is not available prior to 2002-03. (4) Strength figures as at 31 March 2005 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table. (5) 2006-07 is the first year that police community support officer strength by Basic Command Unit has been collected centrally. | ||
Crime Prevention
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Pendle of 9 March 2001, Official Report, column 310W, on the Home Office, which police forces used cardboard mock ups of police
officers in crime prevention initiatives in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [177991]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not collected centrally by the Home Office. I understand that mock-ups have been used on a limited basis in some crime prevention initiatives.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) computers and (b) hard drives in her Department contain non-encrypted data. [232847]
Jacqui Smith: We are unable to answer this PQ because to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Information and Communications Technology
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department’s staff have remote access to the Department’s IT infrastructure. [234735]
Jacqui Smith: The Home Office does not monitor the number of people who access IT systems remotely. We provide remote access capabilities through mobile working solutions but we cannot state where these are used (home or office).
In terms of potential usage, based on September 2008 data, there are currently 3,274 laptops, and 461 Blackberries in circulation.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what costs her Department incurred in internet and website design and hosting in each year since 2001. [232982]
Jacqui Smith: The most recent redevelopment/redesign of the Home Office website, was in 2005. Costs were embedded in the business as usual costs for that year and could be extracted only at disproportionate cost. Hosting costs are also embedded in budgets spread around the organisation and likewise, could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 259W, on departmental procurement, what payments her Department made to Chelsea Football Club in 2007-08; on what dates; and for what purpose in each case. [233437]
Jacqui Smith: Pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 259W, on departmental procurement, based on the purchase order data held in the Home Department’s financial database, the details of the payment made to Chelsea football club in 2007-08 are as follows:
| Date of purchase | Description of purchase | Payment (£) |
| (1) By the National Offender Management Service. | ||
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 259W, on Departmental procurement, what payments her Department made to (a) Abolish Pest Control, (b) Exact Pest Control, (c) Hawkins Pest Control, (d) Independent Pest Control Ltd, (e) Mitie Pest Control, (f) Moores Pest Control Services Ltd, (g) Zest Solutions Ltd and (h) Barford Pest Control Services in 2007-08; on what dates; and for what purpose in each case. [233438]
Jacqui Smith: Pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 259W, on departmental procurement, based on the purchase order data held in the Home Department's financial database, the details of the payments made to (a) Abolish Pest Control, (b) Exact Pest Control, (c) Hawkins Pest Control, (d) Independent Pest Control Ltd, (e) Mitie Pest Control, and (f) Moores Pest Control Services Ltd in 2007-08 are as follows:
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