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3 Feb 2009 : Column 1052W—continued
Immobilisation of Vehicles: Regulation
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by the Security Industry Authority on its feasibility study of options for the regulation of vehicle immobilisation companies operating on private property. [252982]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 21 January 2009, Official Report, column 1489W, to the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Leech).
Internet: Standards
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to introduce a content filtering scheme for the internet. [241568]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 9 December 2008]: The Home Office and OFCOM have developed a Kitemark in partnership with BSI, which will set a standard for filtering software which is aimed at protecting children online.
The Home Office is currently working with industry with regards to the implementation of the Kitemark. The Home Office looks forward to industry putting forward their products for testing the Kitemark.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answers of 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 2253W, to questions 226398 and 226400 on entry clearances: biometrics, when she plans to write to the hon. Member for Beaconsfield. [241491]
Mr. Woolas: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to the hon. Member for Beaconsfield on 19 January 2009.
Offences Against Children: Internet
Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps the Government have taken in co-operation with its international counterparts to encourage the closure of overseas-hosted websites which contain images of child abuse. [251831]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The UK is firmly behind efforts to spread the use of blocking internationally, but that it is only one in a whole range of tactics that need to be deployed to tackle the issue of child sexual abuse where technology is a factor. There is a range of activity that either the UK leads, or is part of, across a spectrum of international political and law enforcement arenas which all work towards: the identification and safeguarding of victims of sexual abuse; locating and apprehending the perpetrators behind their abuse; and tackling those who profit from the sale or distribution of the images from that abuse.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to ensure that 100 per cent. of internet service providers demonstrate their use of filters against child pornography; what timetable she has set for achieving this objective; and if she will make a statement. [250875]
Mr. Alan Campbell: In 2006 the Government stated that they wished to see 100 per cent. of consumer broadband connections covered by blocking, which include child pornography, by the end of 2007. Currently in the UK 95 per cent. of consumer broadband connections are covered by blocking. The Government are currently looking at ways to progress the final 5 per cent.
Sex Offender Register
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals there were on the Sex Offender Register in each of the last five years. [252350]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The number of registered sex offenders in each of the last five years is represented in the following table, as reported in the annual MAPPA reports.
| Number or registered sex offenders | |
| Note: Figures as recorded in the National Statistics for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements annual reports 2007-08 | |
Speed Limits
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what devices are used by police forces to measure the speed of motor vehicles. [253003]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The enforcement of the law on speeding and the use of devices to assist such enforcement is an operational matter for the police. The Home Secretary type approves certain speed measurement devices that have satisfied rigorous scientific and operational tests to prove their accuracy and reliability.
Evidence from such devices is then admissible in court without the need for corroboration. Information on devices that are currently type approved is given on the HO police website:
Speed Limits: Cameras
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and which police forces use hidden speed enforcement cameras; and how many are planning to use such cameras in the next two years. [253008]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Enforcement of the law on speeding and how speed cameras are used to assist with this is an operational matter for the police. They will decide what methods are most appropriate and effective in different circumstances to deter this dangerous and criminal behaviour and detect those who engage in it.
UK Border Agency
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the efficiency of caseworkers in the UK Border Agency in terms of numbers of cases dealt with is monitored. [252120]
Mr. Woolas: As part of developing the annual business plans, performance targets and budgets are set as a joint process taking account of staff productivity. Performance and staffing are then monitored throughout the year as part of normal management reviews from team to board level.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent caseworkers there are in the UK Border Agency. [252121]
Mr. Woolas: The number of full-time equivalent caseworkers in the UK Border Agency is as follows:
7770 full-time equivalents engaged in core casework processes. These are defined as operational staff involved in making decisions on migration, visa, asylum or criminal case applications.
4600 full-time equivalents engaged in processes that support the decision making. These are staff undertaking tasks allied to the core casework process, for example: call centres, processing payments, registering applications, customer services, MP's correspondence, Freedom of Information Requests, enforcing decisions. These are teams that operate around registering and concluding aspects of dealing with applications.
These figures include posts abroad in International Group, previously known as UK Visa and then part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individual cases are with caseworkers at the UK Border Agency. [252122]
Mr. Woolas: We do not routinely collect this information in this way for all cases across all workstreams, we have therefore been unable to produce the answer at present. I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy in the Library of the House.
UK Border Agency: Correspondence
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects a reply to be sent to the letter of 23 October 2008 to the UK Border Agency on behalf of Rizwan Aslam (Home Office Reference Number A1264393). [249928]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency responded to the letter from my right hon. Friend on 27 January 2009.
Vetting
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken by the Criminal Records Bureau to process an application for clearance is; and if she will make a statement. [252689]
Meg Hillier: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, columns 317-18W.
Children, Schools and Families
Baby P
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families who the members were of the panel for the serious case review for the child known as Baby P. [240755]
Beverley Hughes: The membership of this serious case review panel is available on Haringey council's website.
Care Proceedings
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many applications for care proceedings have been made since 1 November 2008; and how many were made in the equivalent period 12 months earlier. [252643]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
The number of public law care and supervision applications under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 in November and December 2008 and November and December 2007 are given in the table. Public law cases are those brought by local authorities or an authorised person (currently only the NSPCC). Figures relate to the number of children that are subject to each application, are for England and Wales, and have been rounded to the nearest 10. Please note that 2008 figures are provisional.
Comparisons between short time periods (one or two months) as presented in the following table should be made with caution as these figures are subject to more volatility than those covering longer time periods.
| Number of Public Law Care and Supervision applications under section 31 of the Children Act 1989—England and Wales; County Courts and Family Proceedings Courts | |||
| Family proceedings courts( 1) | County courts( 2) | Total | |
| (1) There have been data quality issues with figures for Family Proceedings Courts. A new method of collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the coverage and completeness of data. (2) Research undertaken on behalf of Ministry of Justice has identified that some cases that have transferred from the Family Proceedings Court to the County Court have been incorrectly recorded as new applications in the County Court thus inflating the reported number of new applications through double counting (see Masson et al 2008). Source: HMCS FamilyMan and manual returns, as at January 2009 | |||
Children in Care: Foster Care
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in care in each local authority area have had more than (a) three, (b) five, (c) 10, (d) 20 and (e) 30 foster placements. [Official Report, 12 February 2009, Vol. 487, c. 18MC.] [251849]
Beverley Hughes: Information showing the number of children in care in each local authority that have had more than (a) three, (b) five, (c) 10, (d) 20 and (e) 30 foster placements in England during the year ending 31 March 2008 is shown in the following table.
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