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13 Jan 2009 : Column 717W—continued
The figures reported to the Home Office on section 1 of PACE cannot separately identify searches for knives from the category of ‘offensive weapons’ reported to the Home Office. Additionally, the figures presented on
arrests as a result of searches under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 include arrests for possession of firearms, knives and other offensive weapons, but cannot separately identify the article found. Figures for arrests as a result of stops and searches do not identify the age of offenders.
The data reported to the Home Office are at police force area level only therefore information on arrests in Stockport metropolitan borough is not available.
Offensive Weapons: Teesside
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to address gun and knife crime in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [245849]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We are fully committed to tackling gun and knife crime through responsive policing, tough powers and funding for prevention projects. We published a Practical Guide on tackling gangs for local partners and a guide to parents to help prevent their child getting involved in gangs.
In summer 2008, we launched a £3 million three-year national anti-knife crime campaign aimed at mothers and young people, and have extended the expectation to prosecute nationally. A significantly higher percentage of those who get caught carrying a knife are being sent to prison, and a significantly higher percentage are getting more intensive community payback.
The Government's new £100 million Youth Crime Action plan launched on 15 June includes new measures which supports work to tackle knives, reflecting a triple-track approach of tough enforcement, intensive support and better prevention.
Official Residences
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 10 November 2008, Official Report, column 823W, on Ministers: official residences, if she will place in the Library a copy of the home information pack for the property at South Eaton Place; how much the pack cost; and whether a home condition report was purchased as part of the pack. [245930]
Mr. Woolas: A copy of the pack was placed in the Library on 11 December 2008. Preparation of the pack incurred £298.00 plus VAT in legal fees and £309.00 in statutory disbursements. The fee for the energy performance certificate is still to be invoiced but it is an estimated £100 plus VAT. There was no requirement for a home condition report.
Police Cautions
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases of (a) violence against the person , (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery, (d) burglary, (e) theft, (f) fraud and forgery, (g) criminal damage and (h) drugs offences police cautions were given in each of the last five years; and what proportion of such cases were first offences. [244428]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information provided by the Ministry of Justice showing the number of offenders cautioned for selected offence groups in England and Wales, from 2003 to 2007, are in the following table.
It is not possible to identify, from the information on cautions reported to the Ministry of Justice, how many of these cautions were for first offences.
| Number of offenders( 1) cautioned( 2) for Violence Against the Person, Sexual Offences, Burglary, Robbery, Theft and Handling Stolen Goods, Fraud and Forgery, Criminal Damage and Drug Offences, England and Wales, 2003 to 2007( 3,4) | |||||
| Offence type | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| (1) Includes other offenders i.e. companies, public bodies etc. (2) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (3) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. (4) 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 police. 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: E and A Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform | |||||
Police: Essex
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to ensure that information kept by Essex Police is (a) accurate and up-to-date and (b) kept securely; what recent discussions she has had with the Chief Constable of Essex Police on this; and if she will make a statement. [244874]
Mr. Coaker: These issues are a matter for the Essex police authority.
Police: ICT
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding her Department (a) spent on and (b) committed to the police portal; why the police portal was withdrawn; what plans she has to introduce a secure online reporting system for use by police forces; and if she will make a statement. [246855]
Mr. Coaker: The police portal provided a national communications channel for the police service. It was procured in January 2001 and the total annual cost of running this service was just under £2 million per annum.
There is no budget for the portal service in 2008-09 or 2009-10 and no staff are currently employed to maintain this website. This is because the police portal service ceased on 31 March 2007 when the contract with the service provider expired.
Although good use was made of the police portal services in some areas, the running costs increased in 2007-08 as a result of technical difficulties in the delivery of the replacement portal service. The Association of Chief Police Officers took the view that there was insufficient demand for this service to justify these increased costs.
There are no plans to reinstate the police portal at the current time, but a number of police forces have introduced online reporting facilities on their existing websites.
Police: Legal Advice
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is given to police on the application of (a) section 62 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 and (b) Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act 1998. [245032]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister issued joint guidance on effective use of enforcement powers to deal with unauthorised encampments in February 2006, including the application of section 62 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.
The Human Rights Act is embedded throughout all aspects of training and guidance given to police officers.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners held under immigration detention powers were held in (a) prison and (b) the immigration detention estate as at 1 December 2008. [245783]
Mr. Woolas: On 1 December 2008 there were 526 ex-foreign national prisoners held in prison and 1,175 held in the UK Border Agency's detention estate.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners held under immigration powers in the immigration detention estate on 1 December 2008 had been given (a) a custodial sentence of more than four years, (b) a conviction for importation of class A drugs, (c) a conviction for a serious violent offence and (d) a conviction for a sexual offence that required them to be placed on the Sex Offender Register. [245784]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not centrally collated and can be obtained only by conducting checks on each foreign national prisoner held in detention under immigration powers using the Police National Computer in order to identify the full range of offences each individual may have been convicted of.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has written to the Home Affairs Select Committee on a regular basis in order to provide all of the most robust and accurate information available. In her most recent letter of 8 December she advised the Committee that the agency had removed over 1,400 drug offenders, 30 killers, 12 attempted killers and more than 230 sex offenders. A copy of this letter is available in the Library of the House.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many foreign national prisoners with (a) custodial sentences of more than four years, (b) a conviction for importation of class A drugs, (c) a conviction for a serious violent offence and (d) a conviction for a sexual offence that required them to be placed on the Sex Offender Register have been granted immigration bail in each of the last five years; [245785]
(2) how many foreign national prisoners have been released into the community directly from Asylum and Immigration Tribunal hearings in each of the last five years; [245786]
(3) how many foreign national prisoners held under immigration detention powers have been granted bail in each of the last 10 years. [245792]
Mr. Woolas: Information relating to the numbers of foreign national prisoners subject to deportation action who have completed their custodial sentence and been released on bail is not centrally collated at present. In order to provide the information requested it would be necessary to examine individual case files at disproportionate cost.
When a foreign criminal who is subject to deportation action is granted bail by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and it is believed that the individual presents a risk of harm to the public, the UK Border Agency will always request that the tribunal impose the most robust restrictions possible in order to minimise the likelihood that the individual will reoffend.
The agency will continue to pursue deportation action against such individuals and is on track to not only meet but exceed its target of deportation or removing 5,000 foreign criminals in 2008.
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