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9 Feb 2009 : Column 1668W—continued
Jacqui Smith: We will publish a Forensics White Paper later this year setting out how we propose to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 4 December 2008 in the case of S and Marper. Discussions with key stakeholders will take place ahead of publication.
Criminal Gangs
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to tackle the activities of criminal gangs. [254641]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Since the Tackling Gangs Action Programme delivered a 51 per cent. drop in firearms-related injuries across four cities, we have committed a further £1.8 million for enforcement, risk management and prevention work; launched guidance to CPS, schools and parents; and plan to legislate to provide local areas with civil powers to manage gangs.
Departmental Spending
Dr. Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what she expects the change in her Department’s spending in real terms to be between 2008-09 and 2009-10. [254642]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office budget for 2008-09 is £9.8 billion, and in 2009-10 it will rise to £10.1 billion. This represents a real terms growth of 1.5 per cent.
Visa Applications
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the performance of her Department’s commercial partners in carrying out work on visa applications. [254643]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency processes around 2.5 million visa applications a year.
Its commercial partners currently operate 106 visa application centres in 48 countries and assist with over 80 per cent. of all visa applications. They provide support services but play no part in decision making.
The performance of UKBA’s commercial partners engaged in visa services is continually assessed by regional managers against contract service levels and other key performance indicators.
In addition, UKBA senior managers review a dedicated commercial partner balanced scorecard with senior executives from both companies on a bi-monthly basis.
Community Crime Fighters
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the first community crime fighters to receive training. [254651]
Mr. Coaker: 500 people have attended the first three community crime fighters one-day training courses, so far.
3,600 activists will go through community crime fighter training by the end of 2009.
Crime Prevention
Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that police commanders co-operate with local authorities to maintain the effectiveness of local crime and disorder partnerships. [254639]
Mr. Coaker: The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Act places a statutory duty on the police and local authorities working with others in their local area to tackle local crime and disorder problems that matter to the public.
To further strengthen the delivery of effective partnership working, we will commence provisions for councillor call for action and crime and disorder overview and scrutiny committees in April 2009.
Detection Rates
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of crimes solved by each police officer was in England in 2007-08. [254691]
Mr. Alan Campbell: There were 1,373,933 recorded crimes detected by the police in 2007-08. There were 144,939 full time equivalent police officers as at 31 March 2008. Figures include the 43 police forces of England and Wales plus the British Transport Police.
On this basis, there were 9.5 detections per officer in 2007-08, although the real figure is likely to be much higher. This is because many officers are deployed on functions other than crime solving, and the detection total does not include non-notifiable crimes: that is, almost all summary offences.
Driving Offences: Insurance
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 704W, on driving offences: insurance, how many cars were seized for insurance offences and not returned in 2008; how many were sold; and how much was raised from their sale. [255017]
Mr. Alan Campbell: This information is not collected centrally. Available information provided to the Motor Insurance Database indicates that in 2008 there were 185,000 vehicles seized by the police for being driven without appropriate insurance. The Motor Insurers’ Information Centre, which is responsible for the database, indicated that in the preceding year about 40 per cent. of seized vehicles were subsequently destroyed or sold, rather than returned. The proceeds of disposal are paid to the vehicle owner, less any sums due in respect of removal and storage charges.
Drugs: Crime
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the level of acquisitive crime associated with drug addiction in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [247098]
Jacqui Smith: No annual estimates are made of the levels of acquisitive crime associated with drug addiction.
It is estimated that between a third and half of acquisitive crime is drug related. More recent government survey data points to the extent of acquisitive crime that is drug-related. For example, Home Office research has found that:
81 per cent. of arrestees who used heroin and/or crack cocaine (HC) on at least a weekly basis reported committing acquisitive crimes in the 12 months prior to arrest, in comparison to only 30 per cent. of those arrestees who did not take HC weekly.
Source:
Table 5.4 Home Office Statistical Bulletin 12/07.
Around two-fifths (39 per cent.) of drug treatment seekers reported committing an acquisitive crime in the four weeks prior to interview. This figure rose in the case of heroin and crack cocaine users, with 55 per cent. reporting that they committed an acquisitive crime in the four weeks before interview.
Source:
Home Office Research Report 3.
Economic Situation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions her Department has had with outside organisations to discuss policy on reducing the effect of the recession on matters within her Department's responsibility. [254057]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government have long-standing, sound systems and flexible policies in place to deal with crime. These have led to significant reductions: overall crime, as measured by the British Crime Survey, has fallen by 39 per cent. since 1997. They also mean that we are well placed to prevent future rises in crime. As the Association of Chief Police Officers pointed out in January, the police service has never been in a better and stronger position to meet challenges caused by the economic downturn.
The Government are not complacent about crime and are taking early action to ensure that crime stays down. Burglary is a crime that people worry about during hard times; there are good programmes in place to tackle burglary but the Government are rightly keen to explore what more can be done to support people to protect their homes. That is why the Home Secretary held a summit on 4 February with a number of public, private and voluntary sector partners, including leading DIY retailers, the police, local government colleagues, British insurance industry representatives, residential landlords, Age Concern and others to discuss further practical measures to support people, particularly the most vulnerable.
Identity and Passport Service: Data Protection
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials in the Identity and Passport Service are authorised to access electronic files and databases relating to an individual’s (a) immigration status, (b) asylum application and (c) passport application. [254446]
Meg Hillier:
15 Identity and Passport Service (IPS) staff have authorised access to an electronic database
relating to an individual’s immigrations status and asylum application. 2,964 IPS staff have access to the electronic passport application support system (PASS), which supports the processing of passport applications. In addition, 1,711 staff of Siemens IT Solutions and Services, who IPS contract to support and maintain PASS, have authorised access to this system.
All IPS and Siemens staff that have authorised access have been subject to the relevant background checks and hold the appropriate security clearance in accordance with current Home Office policy.
Access is limited to staff who have a legitimate business need and is strictly controlled.
Identity Cards: Fees and Charges
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue is expected to be generated by fees, including charging for taking biometric information, for (a) identity cards and (b) biometric passports in each of the next 10 years. [243530]
Jacqui Smith: The fees and charges strategy for the next 10 years is still being developed and so the fee revenue for identity cards and biometric passports for each of the next 10 years is not available at this stage. Fee revenue from ID cards and biometric passports will be set to recover the operational resource costs incurred in delivering the products and the fees will be set so that the provision of both identity cards and biometric passports will be self financing for the Identity and Passport Service.
The exact price customers will be charged for a digital photo plus recording of fingerprints will be determined by the market, through commercial competition. So the total fee revenue for taking biometric information is not yet known at this stage.
Independent Police Complaints Commission: Costs
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost to the Independent Police Complaints Commission was of dealing with a complaint in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [253016]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not hold this information. This is a matter for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). A copy of your question has been sent to the IPCC and they will respond to you direct.
Interception of Communications Commissioner
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timetable for the publication of the (a) Interception of Communications Commissioner's Report for 2007 and (b) Intelligence Services Commissioner's Report for 2007 is. [253780]
Mr. Coaker: The Interception of Communications Commissioner's Report for 2007 and the Intelligence Services Commissioner's Report for 2007 were published on 22 July 2008 and presented to Parliament by The Prime Minister as required under sections 58(6) and 60(4) respectively of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when she plans to reply to the letter of 8 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mrs A. Rehman; [247850]
(2) when she plans to reply to the letter of 8 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs A. Rehman. [250860]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 19 January 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 7 November 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mr Faqir Hussain. [247851]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 19 January 2009.
Passports
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the contribution to the local urban economy of passport offices; and if she will make a statement. [253669]
Meg Hillier: While there has been no formal economic assessment, there is likely to have been some beneficial impact on the local economy of establishing passport offices and interview offices in multiple separate locations throughout the UK.
Passports: Manpower
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in each passport office; what her Department's projections are of future staff numbers in each such office; and if she will make a statement. [253671]
Meg Hillier: IPS currently employs the following number of FTEs (full-time equivalent) per regional passport office and the forecasted FTEs for end March 2009:
| Regional office | Currently employed FTEs | Forecasted FTEs end March 2009 |
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