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23 Feb 2009 : Column 158W—continued
Offences Against Children
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under the age of 18 were the victims of sexual crimes in each of the last three years. [253854]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally.
The British crime survey (BCS) collects information on sexual offences experienced by adults aged 16 years and over, resident in England and Wales. However, due to the small number of sexual offences identified by the BCS it is not possible to provide robust estimates for children of 16 and 17 years of age.
Police recorded crime figures held by the Home Office are based on aggregate returns from police forces of the number of notifiable offences reported to and recorded by the police. These returns do not contain information on the characteristics of victims or their families.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many SCD5 child abuse investigation trained officers are stationed in (a) each London borough and (b) each police authority area outside London; and if she will make a statement. [254814]
Mr. Coaker: The requested figures are not available centrally.
Offensive Weapons
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the use of catapults as offensive weapons; and if she will make a statement. [255843]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 10 February 2009]: The Home Office has received both public and ministerial correspondence on the use of catapults as offensive weapons. The law is clear that if someone is carrying a catapult with intent to cause injury he may be liable to prosecution under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 which makes it an offence to carry an offensive weapon in public without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.
Offensive Weapons: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) gun crimes and (b) arrests relating to gun crime there were in England in 2007-08. [256753]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Firearms (excluding air weapons) were reported to have been used in 9,656 crimes in England during 2007-08. Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument or used as a threat.
Data on arrests relating to gun crime cannot be provided by the Home Office since (a) the centrally held firearm offences database does not record detection or suspect data, and (b) offences involving firearms cannot be identified on the centrally held arrests database.
Offensive Weapons: Police Cautions
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were cautioned for carrying a knife in the last year for which figures are available. [254497]
Jacqui Smith: The number of offenders cautioned for illegal knife possession in 2007 (the latest year available) in England and Wales was 7,404.
ACPO guidance issued on 22 July 2008 makes it clear that anyone over the age of 16 caught in possession of a knife can now expect to be prosecuted on the first offence. Those under 16 can expect a formal final warning coupled with a knife education scheme to help them understand the potentially devastating consequences of carrying knives.
Revised guidance issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council on 1 August states that the starting point for sentencing a level one (i.e. least serious) first time adult offender caught in possession for a knife who pleads not guilty should be 12 weeks in custody. More information can be found at:
Illegal knife possession includes the following offences:
Having an article with blade or point in public place and having an article with blade or point on school premises.
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 total.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Official Residences
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 719W, on official residences, for what reason a home condition report was not purchased. [256498]
Mr. Woolas: The selling agents did not advise procurement of a home condition report as they consider that the most likely potential purchaser will wish to carry out substantial works to the property and a home condition report would not be likely to materially assist such a purchaser.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 719W, on official residences: whether the property at 62 South Eaton Place was placed on the market before the home information pack was completed and finalised. [256775]
Mr. Woolas: No. Our agents have confirmed that the home information pack was finalised on 18 September which was the date that the property was made live by them for the purpose of placing it on the market.
Operation Cast Lead
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contribution (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department made to the briefing note on Operation Cast Lead produced jointly by her Department's Research and Information Unit and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and if she will make a statement. [256538]
Mr. Coaker: Home Office officials and officials from other Government Departments contributed to the communications briefing note produced by the Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) on Operation Cast Lead. Contributions were made to press lines and to a list of ministerial and official media and community engagement. Ministers made no direct contributions to the note although their engagement activities were recorded.
Passports: Languages
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what language facilities other than English have been required to assist staff in dealing with non-English speaking passport applicants at the passport office in Belfast during 2008. [248423]
Meg Hillier [holding answer 19 January 2009]: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) Belfast does not keep records of all instances when language facilities other than English are required in dealing with non-English speaking passport applicants. All applications are made in English and when foreign documents support these and require translation, customers are asked to provide a translation from an independent and verifiable translator. Given the range of applications submitted from persons whose birth, marriage, divorce, or change of name may take place abroad, it is impossible to provide a definitive list of the number or type of translation services that may be required.
On the rare occasion when a caller making an application or inquiry at the public counter does not speak English, they may communicate through a friend or family member. Given the infrequency of the requirement for translation or interpreter services at Belfast, it would not be cost effective for IPS to make separate permanent provision for this.
The only exception arises in the case of interviews to authenticate identity at the regional office public counter at Hampton House High street Belfast or at the IPS Interview Office at Norwood House, Great Victoria street, Belfast. In such cases for security reasons IPS will provide an interpreter if required.
In 2008 no interpreter services were required at the Hampton House public counter. Eight cases arose at the Interview Office in Norwood House, comprising six cases interpreting Chinese Mandarin, one case interpreting Cantonese and one case interpreting Bengali.
Police
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average number of police response units on call at any one time. [254817]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not held centrally.
Police Authorities
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings (a) she and (b) her officials have had with (a) the Association of Chief Police Officers, (b) the Association of Police Authorities, (c) the Local Government Association and (d) Connect Public Affairs or consultants engaged by them or clients represented by them at which proposals for directly elected police authority representation to be contained in the Policing and Crime Bill were discussed. [247063]
Mr. Coaker: Home Office Ministers and officials have frequent meetings with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities, and from time to time with the Local Government Association. These proposals were discussed at several of these meetings.
There have been no meetings with Connect Public Affairs itself, but the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Police Authorities and a number of individual police authorities appear to be clients of this organisation.
Police Community Support Officers: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers serving in Hertfordshire constabulary have unspent criminal convictions. [256491]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not hold such information. This is a matter for the chief constable of Hertfordshire constabulary.
Police Patrolling
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average number of hours per day a police officer spent on patrol in 2007-08. [256745]
Mr. Coaker: It is not possible to calculate the number of hours per day spent on patrol, because different forces will have different shift patterns and hence different numbers of hours per day.
However, 13.8 per cent. of police officer time in England and Wales was spent on patrol in 2007-08.
Time spent on patrol is defined as the time when an officer is patrolling but engaged on no other duties. A fuller picture of the activities undertaken by a police officer will include not only time on patrol but also other core duties such as responding to 999 calls or community involvement activities. In 2007-08, 64.9 per cent. of police officer time in England and Wales was spent on such front-line duties.
All the figures quoted above exclude Staffordshire, for which data are not available.
Police Stations
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to require police authorities to publish the number of police stations in their area and their opening times. [256128]
Mr. Coaker: I do not intend to require police authorities to publish such information; this is a matter for individual police authorities.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations there are in England and Wales. [257073]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally. The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for the police authority and chief constable for each force, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
Police: Convictions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) male and (b) female police officers of each rank in each police force were (i) arrested, (ii) prosecuted and (iii) convicted for drink-driving in each of the last three years for which information is available. [256721]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office and the data held by the Ministry of Justice on court proceedings do not include information on the individual circumstances of persons arrested, prosecuted or convicted. As a result the occupation of individuals arrested or brought before the courts cannot be separately identified.
Police: Demonstrations
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2009, Official Report, column 1674W, on police: demonstrations, how many (a) assaults by protesters were made and (b) police vehicles were damaged during the course of demonstrations in support of (i) Palestinians and (ii) Israel; and if she will make a statement. [256897]
Mr. Coaker: The assaults by protesters and damage to police vehicles took place at and around demonstrations against the invasion of Gaza.
Police: Driving Offences
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times police cars exceeding relevant speed limits have been detected by speed cameras in each police force area in each of the last five years; and how many and what proportion of such detections resulted in (a) a prosecution, (b) a caution, (c) no further action and (d) words of advice from a senior officer. [256536]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The law on speeding offences applies to police officers as it does to the general public. The police can however claim exemption from speed limits in the circumstances set out in section 87, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. This provides that speed limits do not apply to vehicles being used for an emergency service purpose if observing the limit on that specific occasion would hinder such
use. In the event of dispute, it would be for the courts to decide if the exemption was properly claimed or a speeding offence committed.
Within the constraints of the legislation, the use of the speed limit exemption is an operational matter for the police. The police will take into account the need on each specific occasion to reach an emergency scene as quickly as possible and to preserve road safety. Police have been convicted or offered fixed penalties for speeding when on duty, but there is no evidence that they are routinely acting inappropriately.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of driving offences which occurred while the officer (i) was and (ii) was not on duty which led to incidents where civilians have died in each year since 1997. [257004]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Data on prosecutions and convictions held by the Ministry of Justice do not include information on the individual circumstances of persons prosecuted or convicted. As a result the occupation of defendants cannot be separately identified.
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