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18 Dec 2008 : Column 1084W—continued
Security
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which sectors of industry have sites protected by armed police. [243809]
Mr. Coaker: We do not comment on the security arrangements in place either at sites or in industry sectors. However, I can assure you that security in all sectors of industry is kept under review by the Government and police in co-operation with the relevant companies and organisations.
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Assets Recovery Agency
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of (a) abolishing the Assets Recovery Agency and (b) merging the Agency's functions with those of the (i) Serious Organised Crime Agency and (ii) National Policing Improvement Agency has been; and what estimate she has made of the effect on public expenditure resulting from these changes. [243918]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) incurred costs of £725,000 which were attributable to the merger with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the National Policing Improvement Agency. The
costs to the National Policing Improvement Agency are included in ARA's costs. The Serious Organised Crime Agency incurred costs of £685,000. As the merger only took effect from 1 April 2008, no estimate of annual savings is currently available.
Serious Organised Crime Agency: National Policing Improvement Agency
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes were made to the funding allocated to (a) the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and (b) the National Policing Improvement Agency as a result of the merger with elements of the Assets Recovery Agency. [243926]
Mr. Alan Campbell: A total of £13.795 million of the Assets Recovery Agency's base budget of £15.55 million was transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency with effect from 1 April 2008. The remaining £1.705 million was transferred to the National Policing Improvement Agency.
Sexual Offences
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered sex offenders in England and Wales are currently recorded as having their whereabouts unknown. [241608]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not held centrally.
Terrorism: India
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has had discussions with her Indian counterpart on the implications of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai for the national security of the UK and India. [243819]
Mr. Coaker: I have not had any direct discussions with my Indian counterpart since the horrific attacks in Mumbai. However, discussions on the terrorist attacks in Mumbai were the focal point of the Prime Minister's visit to India on 13-14 December. During the course of that visit the Prime Minister offered to the Indian Government any help with the investigations that we can give, and discussed with them how we can work more closely together to tackle terrorism and its causes. As part of this the Prime Minister agreed a programme of work with India including work to improve aviation security, and work to improve the security of major sporting events such as the Commonwealth games in New Delhi in 2010, and the Olympic games in London in 2012.
Thames Valley Police
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were reported in the Thames Valley police force area in each of the last 10 years; and what the detection rate was in each such year. [244373]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
The available information relates to offences recorded and detected and is given in the following tables. Non-sanction detections that contribute to detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a
significant shift by many forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable.
From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
| Table 1: Number of offences and the detection rate for offences recorded in Thames Valley—1998-99 to 2001-02 | ||
| Period | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) |
| (1) Revised detections guidance was implemented on 1 April 1999. The new instructions provided more precise and rigorous criteria for recording a detection with the underlying emphasis on the successful result of a police investigation. | ||
| Table 2: Number of offences and the detection rate for offences recorded in Thames Valley—2002-03 to 2007-08 | ||
| Period | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) |
| Note: The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. | ||
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) burglaries, (b) violent crimes and (c) thefts were reported in the Thames Valley police force area in each of the last 10 years; and what the detection rate was in each such year. [244375]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The available information is given in the following tables. A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to suggestions in the two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term ‘violent crime’ is no longer used in connection with the recorded crime statistics and we now provide figures for violence against the person.
Non-sanction detections that contribute to detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable.
From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
| Table 1: Number of offences and the detection rate for offences recorded in Thames Valley — 1998-99 to 2001-02 | ||||||
| Burglary | Violence against the person | Theft offences | ||||
| Period | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) |
| (1) Revised detections guidance was implemented on 1 April 1999. The new instructions provided more precise and rigorous criteria for recording a detection with the underlying emphasis on the successful result of a police investigation. | ||||||
| Table 2: Number of offences and the detection rate for offences recorded in Thames Valley—2002-03 to 2007-08 | ||||||
| Burglary | Violence against the person | Theft offences | ||||
| Period | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) | Number of offences | Detection rate (percentage) |
| Note: The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. | ||||||
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions in respect of diagnosis code (a) F10, (b) K70 and (c) T51 there were in each (i) NHS primary care trust area and (ii) NHS region in (A) 1997, (B) 2001, (C) 2005 and (D) the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by age group of patient admitted; and if he will make a statement. [240484]
Dawn Primarolo: The information has been placed in the Library.
Billing
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many organisations his Department has contacted asking them to pay suppliers within 10 days of receiving an invoice. [244694]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has contacted 318 organisations to alert them to the Government’s commitment to paying suppliers within 10 days.
Bisphenol A
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department has taken to discourage the use of food and drinks packaging containing bisphenol A; [244954]
(2) what recent assessment his Department has made of the safety of food and drinks packaging containing bisphenol A. [244955]
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency has been working closely with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to ensure that the safety of bisphenol A (BPA) is kept under review. EFSA last reviewed the safety of BPA in July this year taking into account recent data from North America. They reiterated their conclusions from 2006 establishing a tolerable daily intake for consumers of 0.05 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight per day. Monitoring data from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has found that the level of BPA that UK consumers are exposed to is well below this level. The FSA has nevertheless explored with the packaging industry the possibility of developing alternatives to BPA. However, this is a long-term project which is likely to take several years to complete to ensure any alternatives maintain food safety.
Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to (a) raise awareness of and (b) prevent further deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. [244510]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department is committed to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning among the public and medical profession and to help prevent deaths and injuries caused by CO poisoning.
The Department's ‘Think CO’ awareness campaign, which supported the national 'carbon monoxide awareness week' on 17-23 November 2008, urged general practitioners, accident and emergency consultants and community nurses to ‘Think CO’ when patients present with specific symptoms.
This included an updated joint letter from the chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, and chief nursing officer, Christine Beasley, which was sent to every general practitioner and emergency physician in England, with an updated national health service public information leaflet. A wide range of other key stakeholders were also sent these resources. A diagnostic flowchart is also being prepared by the Health Protection Agency.
The letter and NHS leaflet are available at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Ministersand DepartmentLeaders/ChiefMedicalOfficer/CMOLetters/index.htm
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