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12 Jan 2009 : Column 273W—continued
Community Relations
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at which sites the Channel Project has been rolled out to date; and at which sites she plans to roll out the project in the future. [245498]
Mr. Coaker: To date Channel Project sites are currently operational in London, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Bedfordshire and more recently in South Wales. Plans are in place to expand the project further in London, West Midlands, Lancashire, Thames Valley, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to publish the full evaluation of the Channel Project referred to on page 46 of the Audit Commission report Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise. [245499]
Mr. Coaker: An OSCT process evaluation of the Channel Project is currently underway. We will be sharing implementation lessons in spring 2009.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures she has put in place to (a) provide accountability and (b) maintain community confidence in relation to the Channel Project. [245500]
Mr. Coaker: The Prevent Strategy: A Guide for Local Partners in England makes it clear that the police and local authorities need to take a lead in ensuring that local partnerships have been clearly tasked with driving delivery of a jointly agreed programme of action that:
Meets the specific objectives of the Prevent strategy;
Is jointly agreed and managed by the police, local authority and other partners;
Is proportionate to the level of threat in the area;
Reflects local needs; and
Sets out clear and tangible milestones in tracking progress.
The guide makes it clear that local communities should be actively engaged in multi-agency partnerships and should shape the development and implementation of the jointly agreed programme of action.
Where Channel is operational it will form an important part of local areas' programmes of action.
All local authorities have to report on progress on the prevent strategy through National Indicator 35 —‘Building Resilience to Violent Extremism’, which is replicated in the Assessments of Policing and Community Safety performance framework. The introduction of the Comprehensive Area Assessment in April 2009 will further ensure effective and efficient performance by local authorities and other local partners on Prevent.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which areas (a) have set up multi-agency partnerships focused on preventing violent extremism, referred to on page 9 of the report The Prevent Strategy: A Guide for Local Partners in England published in June 2008, (b) have set up groups focused specifically on the Prevent Strategy and (c) are using an existing group, such as a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership or Local Strategic Partnership. [245559]
Mr. Coaker: Government offices provide information on Prevent partnership working each quarter for the 78 areas that received preventing violent extremism funding this financial year as part of their area based grant. The last return provided in September 2008 reported that 60 of these areas had a multi-agency Prevent partnership in place. We do not specifically request information on whether the named partnership is a new group but we understand that most areas have decided that an existing partnership, such as a crime and disorder reduction partnership or local strategic partnership, should be tasked to oversee their work on Prevent at a strategic level.
Government offices continue to work with local areas to ensure that effective delivery arrangements are in place and are providing challenge and guidance to those areas that have yet to agree a multi-agency partnership to lead on Prevent.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who will have overall responsibility at a local level for the regular assessment and reviews of the threat of individuals and communities becoming involved in violent extremism, referred to on page 12 of the report The Prevent Strategy: A Guide for Local Partners in England; how often such assessments will be carried out; and if she will make a statement. [245560]
Mr. Coaker: The police are developing a new process for sharing information which will enable all BCU Commanders and Local Authority Chief Executives to see an assessment of the vulnerabilities in their areas, and will be responsible for co-ordinating this activity with a range of partners. Assessments will be reviewed at least annually, depending on the threat in a particular area.
Community Relations: Police
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which constabularies have undertaken exercises with objectives similar to Operation Nicole referred to on page 29 of The Prevent Strategy: A Guide for Local Partners in England. [245596]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not collect this information centrally. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Terrorism and Allied Matters) has national responsibility for co-ordinating and overseeing police led counter-terrorism tabletop exercises.
Control Orders
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 3 April 2008 to the hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire, (Mr. Vara) Official Report, column 1314W, on control orders, how many individuals are currently subject to control orders; and how many of those are receiving benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, broken down by type of benefit. [244725]
Mr. Coaker: In relation to the total number of individuals currently subject to control orders, I would refer the hon. Member to the latest written ministerial statement in relation to control orders which was published on 15 December 2008. This statement explains that, as of 10 December 2008, there were 15 control orders in force.
The latest information that the Home Office holds shows that eight of the individuals currently subject to control orders are in receipt of benefits that are administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Some individuals are in receipt of more than one form of DWP administered benefit. Of these individuals: two receive incapacity benefit, five receive job seeker’s allowance, one receives disability living allowance, two receive income support and two receive child tax credit.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much her Department has spent on (a) accommodation, (b) council tax, (c) utility bills, (d) telephone line rental, (e) pre-paid telephone cards and (f) any other necessary subsistence payments, for individuals subject to control orders who have been prevented from gaining employment or rendered ineligible for benefits in each year since 2005; [244726]
(2) how many individuals currently subject to control orders have been prevented from gaining employment or have been rendered ineligible for benefits due to their terms of their control order; and how many of those individuals are currently receiving subsistence payments from her Department, broken down by type of subsistence payment. [244727]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office has not spent any money on providing accommodation, council tax, utility bills, telephone line rental or pre-paid telephone cards for individuals subject to control orders due simply to their being prevented from gaining employment or rendered ineligible for benefits as a result of their control orders.
Since the commencement of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 one individual subject to a control order was assessed as being ineligible for employment related benefits, for a short period, as a result of the terms of his control order. The individual concerned received subsistence payments totalling £240 over an eight-week period in 2006.
Although not as a result of his being made ineligible for employment related benefits, the Home Office has in 2008 also paid the following subsistence costs for this same individual:
(a) £7744 on his Home Office-provided accommodation;
(b) £429 on his council tax;
(c) £891 on utilities; and
(d) £88 on line rental.
The Home Office has not paid for this individual's accommodation, council tax, utility bills, telephone line rental, or pre-paid telephone cards in any preceding year.
Counter-Terrorism Act 2008
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which (a) statutory instruments, (b) departmental circulars and (c) other documents she plans to issue in the next 12 months consequential on the provisions of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008; and if she will make a statement. [242695]
Mr. Coaker: The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 received Royal Assent on 26 November 2008.
Part 5 (terrorist financing and money laundering) and part 6 (financial restrictions proceedings) of the Act came into force on the day after Royal Assent. The Lord Chancellor has made two sets of Rules of Court under section 72 of the Act. They are (i) the Supreme Court of England and Wales Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2008 (SI 2008/3085) and (ii) the Rules of the Supreme Court (Northern Ireland) (Amendment No.3) 2008 (S.R. (N.I.) 2008, No. 479). Both were laid before Parliament on 2 December 2008.
Sections 85-90 (costs of policing at gas sites) will come into force, by virtue of section 100(3) (commencement) on 26 January 2009, that is two months after Royal Assent. Following this the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will make an order designating the National Grid (NTS) as a gas transporter and subsequently they will issue directions to Ofgem and to the gas transporter.
Section 91 (appointment of special advocates in Northern Ireland) will come into force when section 27 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 (ch.26) comes into force.
The other provisions in the Act will be brought into force by commencement order.
The provisions relating to the power to remove documents (sections 1-9) and post-charge questioning (part 2 of the Act) require the PACE codes of practice to be revised when they are brought into force. Drafts of these revised PACE codes were laid in the House Library during the passage of the Act and they will be consulted upon in the normal way.
The formal consultation process is likely to be in January 2009.
In respect of section 28 (which provides UK-wide jurisdiction for terrorism offences) the Lord Advocate and the Attorney-General will set out some of the main considerations that may be relevant to decisions made under this section and this document will be made available in the House Library before the provisions are brought into force.
In relation to the provisions in Part 4 of the Act (the notification scheme for convicted terrorists) regulations will be made under section 52 (Travel outside the United Kingdom); Rules of Court will be made in relation to notification orders; a standard form for police acknowledgment of notification will be prescribed and regulations may be made prescribing further information that must be notified under the scheme.
Some of the other provisions in the Act will also require other supporting work to be in place before they may be implemented. Departmental circulars will accompany the commencement orders and other guidance will be issued where appropriate
Crime and Policing Bill
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to assess the social impact of the planned Crime and Policing Bill on those groups likely to be affected by it. [244951]
Mr. Coaker: Impact assessments have been produced for the necessary provisions within the Policing and Crime Bill and are available at:
Equality impact assessments for relevant provisions in the Bill will be published before Second Reading in the House of Commons.
Crime Prevention
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the Policing Green Paper of July 2008, what indicators will be used to measure her Department's performance in tackling serious crime. [243606]
Jacqui Smith: Policing performance is measured through the Assessments of Policing And Community Safety (APACS) framework, which contains key performance indicators for the police working alone or in partnership. These include performance indicators for serious violent crime, gun crime, knife crime and others. A full list of the indicators in APACS was set out in ‘The Police Authorities (Best Value) Performance Indicators Order 2008’ (10 March 2008).
Crime: Burglary
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the levels of domestic burglary in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, in each of the last five years. [245021]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The available information relates to recorded offences of domestic burglary and is given in the following table. The Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency comes within the Middlesbrough Basic Command Unit. Data for Tees Valley are not available.
| Offences of domestic burglary recorded by the police , 2003-04 to 2007-08 | |||||
| Number of offences | |||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| (1) Includes British Transport police | |||||
Crime: Motor Vehicles
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the levels of vehicle-related crime in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, in each of the last five years. [245022]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The available information relates to recorded offences against vehicles and is given in the following table. The Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency comes within the Middlesbrough Basic Command Unit. Data for Tees Valley are not available.
| Offences against vehicles1 recorded by the police , 2003-04 to 2007-08 | |||||
| Number of offences | |||||
| Area | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| (1) Includes offences of theft of and from a vehicle, aggravated vehicle-taking and interfering with a motor vehicle. (2) Includes British Transport Police. | |||||
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