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23 Feb 2009 : Column 180W—continued
Proceeds of Crime: Northern Ireland
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the recent distribution of recovered criminal assets; and if she will make a statement. [255270]
Mr. Alan Campbell: There has been no need for discussions between Home Office and Northern Ireland Office Ministers on this matter. Under the Asset Recovery Incentive Scheme, 50 per cent. of all monies recovered are distributed among the front-line agencies involved, including agencies in Northern Ireland. The allocation of shares to individual agencies in Northern Ireland has been agreed with Northern Ireland Ministers.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was allocated for expenditure in Northern Ireland in the (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) first nine months of the 2008-09 financial year. [255683]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The allocations to Northern Ireland agencies under the Asset Recovery Incentive Scheme were as follows:
| Amount (£) | |
| (1 )April to September 2008. | |
Public Order
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance she issues to police forces on the grounds on which they may seek cancellation of public events where a threat to public safety is thought to exist; whether such guidance includes provisions on the furnishing to events organisers of the evidence underlying the assessment of any threat to public safety; and if she will make a statement. [256224]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not issue guidance to police forces on this matter. However, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) inform us that under the Licensing Act 2003, the police may make objections to the granting of a premise’s licence on the grounds of four licensing objectives. These include public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder. The police may also make objections to the granting of a temporary event notice solely on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder.
DCMS has issued guidance to licensing authorities under section 182 of the Act on relevant representations, and also guidance to police officers on the use of closure powers in the Act to deal with disorder or noise nuisance problems on premises. There are no provisions in the guidance for furnishing event organisers with the evidence underlying the assessment of any threat to public safety.
Rape
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number and percentage of reported rapes that were categorised by the police as no crime in each of the last five years. [255434]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the following table.
The methods by which police can ‘no crime’ a recorded offence are governed by the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime, Section C. The relevant criteria are as follows:
(a) The crime was committed outside the jurisdiction of the police force in which it was recorded. (Crimes committed within the jurisdiction of another police force area should be referred to the respective force—see also section G of the Home Office Counting Rules.)
(b) Where following the report of an incident which has subsequently been recorded as a crime, additional verifiable information is available which determines that no notifiable crime has been committed.
(c) If the crime, as alleged, constitutes part of a crime already recorded.
(d) If the reported incident was recorded as a crime in error.
| No crimes for rape offences | |||
| Number of recorded offences | Number of no crimes | No crimes as a percentage of recorded offences | |
Rashid Rauf
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any official in her Department had any contact with Mr. Rashid Rauf in (a) Pakistan and (b) Afghanistan during 2006. [245653]
Mr. Coaker: No official in the Department had any such contact.
Security: Olympic Games 2012
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated research into the use of high-powered microphones on closed circuit television cameras for security purposes at the 2012 Olympics; and if she will make a statement. [254794]
Mr. Coaker: No research has been commissioned or evaluated by the Home Department into the use of high-powered microphones on closed circuit television cameras for security purposes at the 2012 Olympics.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Hornchurch of 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 298W, on Olympic Games 2012: security, if she will break down the budget of £600 million by areas of spending. [256954]
Jacqui Smith: Work is continuing to finalise the strategy and plans for the security of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Decisions on funding will take account of the operational needs of the police and other agencies, affordability within the £600 million funding envelope and the need to secure value for money.
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Cost Effectiveness
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to publish information on the assets recovery function of the Serious Organised Crime Agency to enable value for money assessments to be made. [245951]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information on the asset recovery function of the Serious Organised Crime Agency will be published as part of its 2008-09 annual report.
Serious Organised Crime Agency
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer given of 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1239W, on the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), when she expects SOCA to publish its report for the financial year 2008-09; and what assessment she has made of the performance of SOCA during the first six months of 2008-09. [254976]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Serious Organised Crime Agency expects to publish its Annual Report in May 2009.
Home Office ministers have regular meetings with the chair and the director general of the Serious Organised Crime Agency and SOCA provides the Department with a performance report quarterly.
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Standards
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to monitor the systems used by the Serious Organised Crime Agency to (a) manage its cases and (b) produce (i) management and (ii) financial information on recovered assets; and if she will make a statement. [254943]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Home Office Ministers and senior officials have regular meetings with the Serious Organised Crime Agency to discuss performance against the strategic priorities and targets in their Annual Plan, including the recovery of criminal assets. The specific management information and other systems used by SOCA in relation to asset recovery are the responsibility of the director general.
Sexual Assault Referral Centres
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding her Department has allocated to sexual assault referral centres for 2009-10. [255362]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The 2009-10 funding round for new and existing Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) was split into two tranches to enable partnerships to plan expenditure and ensure they were able to spend the full amount of funding awarded within the financial year. £1.6 million was made available in total.
Bids were initially invited in November 2008. £574,000 was awarded to 20 SARCs in that initial round. A further bidding round to spend the remainder of the funding will open in April 2009.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sexual assault referral centres will open in (a) the next 12 months and (b) the next five years. [255617]
Mr. Alan Campbell: There are currently 27 sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) open and a further 10 in development. Of those in development, the Government estimate that five will open within 12 months and an additional three will offer a partial service. By the end of 2010 those offering a partial service will open fully, as will the other two SARCs in development.
The Home Secretary has made a commitment to have at least one SARC in every police force area by 2011. A bidding round for funding for new and existing SARCs will be announced in April.
Sexual Offences
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to ensure that police forces have adequate resources to protect people in local communities from sex offenders. [255821]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Resources are essentially an operational issue for individual police forces. However, the Government grant on services for the police will have increased by over 60 per cent (or by over £3.7 billion) between 1997-98 and 2010-11.
Sexual Offences: Crime Prevention
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to reduce levels of sexual violence and abuse; and if she will make a statement. [255618]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government set out their plans to tackle this issue in the cross-Government Action Plan on Sexual Violence and Abuse published in 2007. This set out three aims: increasing access to health and support services for victims, improving the criminal justice response, and maximising prevention. Action has been taken to support each of these aims and an update will be available later in the year.
Speed Limits: Measuring Instruments
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies her Department has conducted to assess the potential for human error when using the VASCAR system of speed detection. [255896]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The VASCAR speed measurement device is approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) as a device that is suitable for police use to support an officer's opinion that a vehicle was speeding. ACPO have issued guidance which requires officers to be trained and to pass a test of their performance. I am satisfied that when a trained and successfully tested operator uses a VASCAR device in line with the ACPO guidance, the device will be accurate and provide useful corroborative evidence.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies her Department has conducted to assess the impact of police radio waves on the VASCAR system of speed estimation. [255898]
Mr. Alan Campbell: When the police Airwave radio system was introduced, there were comprehensive tests as to the likelihood that it might interfere with other technological devices, such as VASCAR. Advice was issued on operational practice.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent guidance her Department has given police forces on use of the VASCAR system of speed estimation in the light of their withdrawal from use in Scotland; and if she will make a statement. [255901]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
VASCAR is a device approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) as a means of corroborating an officer's opinion that a vehicle was speeding. Guidance on its use is a matter for ACPO. I understand that use was suspended briefly in Scotland while existing guidance was clarified, but that it has now been reinstated. It is now clearly understood
that VASCAR can always be used without the risk of Airwave radio interference if the radio is switched off or its transmit inhibit function has been activated, or if an active radio is outside a police vehicle and VASCAR inside, there is a distance of at least two metres between them.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces in England and Wales use the VASCAR system of speed estimation. [255902]
Mr. Alan Campbell: This information is not available centrally. The decision as to which devices to use in speed limit enforcement is a matter for individual chief officers of police.
Standing Advisory Committees
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what standing advisory committees her Department has; and what the membership is of each. [255318]
Jacqui Smith: Details of Home Office Public Bodies, including its advisory committees, are published annually on the Home Office website. The latest publication can be found using the following link:
The membership of each committee can be found on their individual websites.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of her Department's science advisory committee have (a) received and (b) applied for grants for research from her Department. [255319]
Jacqui Smith: No members of the Home Office Science Advisory Committee are currently funded as a project leader for research either from a grant or a research contract from the Home Office.
The Home Office does not keep lists of named, unsuccessful, grant or research contract applicants. The
Home Office keeps the individual bids for a period of time, but an answer cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has paid in grants to research projects in which each member of the Department's science advisory committee has taken part in the last 12 months. [255320]
Jacqui Smith: No current members of the Home Office Science Advisory Committee have directly received funding either as a grant or a research contract, as a project leader, in the last 12 months. While we record the project leader and other key researchers on contracts or grants, we do not record the names of all scientists that may take part in the research. It is possible that some Home Office Science Advisory Committee members have taken part in projects in a lesser capacity than project leader or key researcher.
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