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18 Dec 2008 : Column 1067W—continued
As part of the changes identified in the “Raising Expectations” local authorities will work together in sub-regional groups to commission provision for 16 to 19-year-olds, developing a commissioning plan that will identify how learning will be commissioned. In addition to developing sub-regional groups, key players including: Regional Development Agencies; Government Offices; local authorities; and the new Young People’s Learning Agency and Skills Funding Agency will come together in Regional Planning Groups. The role of the Regional Planning Group will be to scrutinise the local plans that have been developed to ensure they are coherent, can be funded within the regional budget and will deliver the 14-19 entitlement. The Regional Development Agencies will help to ensure that the plans for young people deliver what is needed by employers, taking account of the regional economic strategy and regional skill needs. Our assumption is that the Regional Development Agencies will co-chair the Regional Planning Group with local authorities.
In respect of adult skills, the Skills Funding Agency will work with Regional Development Agencies and Jobcentre Plus to determine the regional skills strategy. Regional Development Agencies will also manage the new integrated brokerage service for employers that includes skills.
More detail on the Skills Funding Agency, together with information on the roles and responsibilities of key players in the adult skills landscape, can be found in the recently published ‘Adult Skills Reforms: An Update’, accessible via the following link:
More detail on the pre 19 proposals can be accessed via the following link:
Duchy of Lancaster
Cancer
Mr. Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many cases of (a) pancreatic and (b) liver cancer there were in each (i) primary care trust and (ii) strategic health authority area of England and Wales in each of the last 10 years. [240283]
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 18 December 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many cases of (a) pancreatic and (b) liver cancer there were in (i) each primary care trust and (ii) strategic health authority of England and Wales in each of the last 10 years. [240283]
The number of newly diagnosed cases for each year from 1997 to 2006 (latest available year) for (i) each primary care trust and (ii) strategic health authority for England, and by local health board for Wales are given in Table 1 for (a) pancreatic cancer and Table 2 for (b) liver cancer; these have been placed in the House of Commons library.
Departmental Public Consultation
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on which occasions his Department has convened a citizens’ jury or randomly
drawn panel of people to aid the Department's policy making since 2000; whether the participants were paid in each case; and if he will make a statement. [243044]
Mr. Watson: In respect of citizen's juries I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 5 December 2007, Official Report, column 1344W.
Information on the numbers of randomly drawn panels of people convened since 2000 is not collated centrally and is available only at disproportionate cost
Home Department
Alcohol Disorder Zones
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police services and (b) local authorities have issued a notice of proposal to designate an alcohol disorder zone. [243321]
Jacqui Smith: To date no police services or local authorities have issued a notice of proposal to the Home Office to designate an alcohol disorder zone.
Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what effect completion of promotion and event risk assessment forms under the Licensing Act 2003 has had on levels of violence at live performances. [243677]
Mr. Alan Campbell: This form is not a requirement under the Licensing Act 2003, and the Home Office does not hold any data on this subject.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to increase the number of prosecutions brought for selling alcohol to a drunken person. [243026]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The majority of people who drink enjoy alcohol sensibly, but we are determined to take action to reduce the health and social harms caused by those who do not.
The Government have recently announced actions to combat this problem. These include; a new mandatory code of practice to target the most irresponsible retail practices, a £3 million cash injection for CDRPs for enforcement activities in 198 areas. A further £1.5 million has been allocated to our priority areas where we are working closely with partnerships, making sure they make full use of all the powers available to them to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder.
We have introduced new powers including alcohol disorder zones, directions to leave and expedited license reviews, plus we are encouraging greater use of existing powers such as designated public place orders to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder.
In addition a responsible alcohol sales campaign took place in November and December 2007 which focused on enforcing the law concerning the sale of
alcohol to those persons who were drunk. The campaign took place over four weekends and involved 30 police force areas. This campaign is part of a sustained drive by police and trading standards, as well as the alcohol retail industry, to clamp down on irresponsible retailers.
Alcoholic Drinks: Sales
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the impact on the deployment of police resources of the introduction of a more liberal licensing regime for alcohol sales. [243056]
Mr. Alan Campbell: A review of the Licensing Act 2003 was published in March 2008 and revealed a mixed picture. The change in opening hours has not led to the widespread problems some people feared. Overall, crime and alcohol consumption are down. However alcohol-related violence has increased in the early hours of the morning and some communities have seen a rise in disorder. Our main conclusion is that people are using the freedoms, but people are not sufficiently using the considerable powers granted by the Act to tackle problems, and that there is a need to rebalance action towards enforcement and crack down on irresponsible behaviour.
Since the publication of the review, we have taken a number of actions. We have launched regional workshops for front-line practitioners, to ensure that they have the knowledge and confidence to use their existing powers under the Licensing Act. Two workshops have been held so far, with a further 11 scheduled to be held from January to March 2009.
Additionally, we have announced that we will legislate for a new, mandatory code of practice. This will contain some compulsory national conditions, banning the most irresponsible practices and promotions which encourage people to drink excessively, or promote a binge-drinking culture. This will not affect the majority of businesses, small or large, who behave responsibly—but will target those that don't.
Further, the Government are funding a £4.5 million enforcement campaign, in addition to existing resources from the police, local authorities, and others, focused on 40-50 priority areas and led by ACPO Commander Simon O'Brien. There is additional funding for the 20 priority PCT areas, and a £10 million investment in national awareness campaigns.
Animal Welfare: Prosecutions
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests and (b) prosecutions there have been for animal cruelty in each of the last five years. [243771]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
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.
Offences of animal cruelty are summary offences which do not form a part of the arrests collection.
Information provided by the Ministry of Justice on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts for selected offences of animal cruelty in England and Wales from 2003 to 2007, the latest available, are shown in the following table.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
| The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts for offences of animal cruelty, England and Wales, 2003-07( 1, 2) | |
| Number | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Evidence and Analysis Unit. | |
Anti-social Behaviour
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities in England and Wales have applied to make (a) an alcohol disorder zone, (b) a section 30 dispersal order and (c) a designated public place order in each year since each was introduced. [243153]
Jacqui Smith: There are currently no alcohol disorder zones (ADZs) that the Home Office have been notified of. ADZs were only commenced on 5 June 2008 and require a number of steps to be taken before a full ADZ is implemented.
Between January 2004 and 31 March 2006, the police have used the power in section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 to disperse unruly groups in over 1,000 designated areas. Figures are not available broken down by year. Figures for 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008 are due to be published shortly.
The Home Office has been informed that 654 designated public place orders (DPPO)s have been implemented throughout England and Wales. This figure is broken down by year as follows; three in 2001, 68 in 2002, 79 in 2003, 99 in 2004,103 in 2005, 133 in 2006, 101 in 2007 and 68 in 2008.
A full list of the councils which have implemented the orders can be accessed at the following internet link which includes commencement date.
Assets Recovery Agency: Finance
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget was of the Assets Recovery Agency in its final year of operation. [243931]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The total financial resource allocation for the Assets Recovery Agency for 2007-08 was £18.007 million. This comprised a base budget £15.55 million and £2.45 million rolled forward using end-year flexibility from previous years.
Criminal Records Bureau
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who had already obtained Criminal Records Bureau clearance were required to apply for a further clearance after changing jobs in each of the last five years. [243593]
Meg Hillier: Disclosures are primarily designed to be used by an employer at the point of recruitment for a particular position. Ultimately it is for each employer, and not the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), to decide whether a new disclosure should be applied for, bearing in mind their legal and other responsibilities and subject to any statutory requirements.
There are a number of reasons why an employer may not wish to accept a disclosure that has been processed for a previous employment position, including:
The disclosure may not be at the right level (there are two different levels of CRB check; standard & enhanced);
Information revealed through a CRB check reflects the information that was available at the time of its issue—a person may have committed a crime in the intervening period;
The disclosure process may also include a search to establish whether an individual is subject to a direction under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002, or a check against the Protection of Children Act and Protection of Vulnerable Adults PoCA and PoVA) lists.
The CRB does not hold data to show the number of people who are required to apply for a further clearance after changing jobs.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if she will estimate the financial effects on the economy from effects on the length of time taken to complete Criminal Records Bureau checks in the last 12 months; [243807]
(2) if she will estimate the average financial effects on individual employees caused by the length of time taken to complete Criminal Records Bureau checks in the last 12 months. [243808]
Meg Hillier: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) does not record the financial loss to the economy or individual employees arising from delays in the completion of CRB checks and therefore this information is not available.
The CRB cannot assess the financial impact of any delays within its service for the following reasons:
Not all individuals checked will be employed.
Not all individuals that experience a delay will request an ex gratia payment.
The CRB is unaware of what other pre-recruitment checks are being undertaken by employers and whether these are completed prior to the issue of a disclosure.
The CRB has no way to assess the financial impact a new employee would make in any industry.
Delays in the CRB Disclosure Service do not disbar an individual from being employed under supervision.
The Police Act gives the employer the eligibility to apply for a disclosure for a potentially new employee but does not state that there is a requirement to do so.
The CRB operates to a set of published service standards (PSS) which include to issue 90 per cent. of standard disclosures within 10 days and 90 per cent. of enhanced disclosures within 28 days. In the financial year 2007-08, the CRB exceeded these targets, issuing 99.7 per cent. of standard disclosures within 10 days and 93.4 per cent. of enhanced disclosures within 28 days.
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