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3 Mar 2009 : Column 1384W—continued
Departmental Redundancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 1163W, on redundancy, what estimate has he made of the annual payroll savings resulting from staff exit schemes in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09 excluding the cost of severance packages; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures for 2009-10. [254469]
Mr. Woodward: Further to the answer given on 25 November 2008, as corrected on 24 February 2009, Official Report, column 1MC, all staff referred to left the Northern Ireland Office on early retirement terms and not on staff exit schemes.
Local Government: Elections
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the reasons are for the postponement of the 2010 local council elections in Northern Ireland until 2011; and if he will make a statement. [260028]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Assembly recently passed legislation to reduce the number of councils in Northern Ireland from 26 to 11. This reduction is being implemented and it is planned that it will be in place by 2011. For this reason Parliament recently approved legislation to postpone the local elections previously scheduled for 2009 in Northern Ireland until 2011, so that the next local elections can be held under the new 11 council model.
Home Department
Anti-Semitism: West Midlands
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will request the Chief Constable of the West Midlands to compile a report on the (a) number and (b) location of reported anti-Semitic incidents in the West Midlands since December 2008; and if she will make a statement. [256535]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government abhor all forms of hate crime including that of anti-Semitism. From April 2008 police forces have been collecting hate crime statistics, using the race, faith, disability or homophobic flag to indicate whether an offence is considered to be aggravated by these factors. These data are for intelligence purposes, to better understand any trends in hate crime and to target resources. These will include anti-Semitic hate crime.
Appropriate Adults
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times an appropriate adult has been called to a police station because of concerns that a suspect is mentally disordered or mentally vulnerable in each police force area in each year since 2000; and if she will make a statement. [251162]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not held centrally.
Asylum
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department’s policy is on granting asylum to applicants who claim to have been persecuted by members of (a) another ethnic group and (b) armed groups operating unlawfully in their country of origin. [259321]
Mr. Woolas: Our policy in deciding whether to grant asylum is set out in the immigration rules.
In accordance with this policy, UK Border Agency case owners carefully consider asylum claims to determine whether the person has a well-founded fear of persecution on grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. This will include persecution by members of another ethnic group or armed groups operating unlawfully in the country of origin where the state authorities, or the organisation (including international organisations) controlling the state territory, are unable or unwilling to provide protection against persecution or serious harm and where the individual cannot reasonably be expected to avoid the persecution by relocating within the country concerned.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what documentation her Department provides to asylum seekers when they claim asylum after arrival in the UK; and what services such people are entitled to receive on arriving in the country. [259655]
Mr. Woolas: Asylum applicants and their dependants are issued with an Application Registration Card (ARC) on or after arrival in the United Kingdom, as an acknowledgement of an asylum claim made to the UK Border Agency. The card contains information about the identity and immigration status of the holder.
Asylum applicants are also issued with information sheets which set out the services they are entitled to receive for the duration of their claim. This includes health care, schooling for children and, subject to their financial circumstances, access to legal representation and benefits.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to expand the Gateway refugee programme; and if she will make a statement. [260094]
Meg Hillier: We have no plans to increase the quota from its current level.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 9 December 2004, Official Report, columns 733-7W, to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on asylum and immigration, how many asylum seekers have been dispersed to each parliamentary constituency in the latest two-year period for which figures are available. [260455]
Mr. Woolas: Information on the number of asylum seekers that have been dispersed to each parliamentary constituency over a two-year period is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are published in tables 5 and 6 of the quarterly bulletin Control of Immigration on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support at the end of the quarter, broken down by Government office, region and local authority.
Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Further break downs by parliamentary constituency are available from the Library of the House.
Asylum: Children
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to bring forward proposals to amend the Leaving Care Act 2000 to allow unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to return to their country of origin. [257209]
Mr. Woolas: None; the Children Act 1989 as amended by the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 has no effect on the return of unaccompanied asylum seeking children to their countries of origin.
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress her Department is making in relation to special authority status for local authorities who are dealing with unaccompanied asylum seeking children. [257215]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency will shortly be seeking proposals from local authorities, or groups of local authorities, setting out the numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children they could accommodate, and at what cost.
Bail
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many persons arrested were later released on police bail of (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to nine months, (d) nine to 12 months and (e) more than 12 months in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2006-07; [259470]
(2) how many persons were (a) arrested, (b) arrested and later released on police bail and (c) arrested but not charged in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2006-07; [259471]
(3) how many persons arrested and later released on police bail sought a court review of their bail conditions in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; and how many such bail conditions were subsequently (i) varied and (ii) rescinded in each of those years. [259472]
Mr. Alan Campbell: There were 1,429,800 persons arrested in England and Wales in 2005-06 and 1,482,200 persons arrested in 2006-07.
There is no link between the arrests data reported to the Home Office and any subsequent outcome, therefore data on those arrested and then released on police bail are not available.
Crime: Economic Situation
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the likely effect of the recession on levels of (a) acquisitive crime, (b) violent crime, (c) fraudulent crime and (d) social disorder in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [258570]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office monitors crime levels quarterly through published statistics, and more often through management data to inform performance discussions. However, crime levels fluctuate in the short term, and it is too early to draw firm conclusions about longer term trends and the influence of individual factors on crime in 2008-09.
Academic research, including a study by the Home Office, has demonstrated an association between changes in the economy and some crime. However, in looking at future crime, these studies cannot fully allow for the impact of policy or other interventions and hence do not predict actual levels of crime.
Since March 2003, overall property crime has fallen by 18 per cent., exceeding the 15 per cent. target set out in the Home Office’s public service agreement. That reduction is greater than would have been forecast based on economic factors alone.
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 Department is confident that these policies and systems provide the flexibility needed to respond to future economic challenges.
Detainees: Prostitution
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to monitor the number of individuals who have worked as prostitutes and have subsequently been detained in (a) prisons and (b) immigration removal centres; and what schemes are available to offer support to such individuals. [258271]
Mr. Alan Campbell: This information is not available.
Firearms
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to prevent the (a) conversion to live fire of and (b) distribution of blank-firing firearms. [258492]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We are working with the police to tackle the supply of all firearms. An action day in November 2007 resulted in 124 arrests and the seizure of 10 real and over a thousand imitation firearms. We are also working with both the Serious Organised Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs, who have increased the priority and resources they focus on this issue, to prevent and detect illegal firearms entering the UK, including readily-convertible blank firers which are prohibited under the provisions of the Firearms Acts. Regulations are being prepared under section 39 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 setting out the specifications to which blank firing imitation firearms must conform.
Genetics: Databases
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1249-51W, on genetics: databases, how many and what proportion of recorded crimes have been detected using DNA from the national DNA database in each month since April 2008; and if she will make a statement. [251166]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The number and proportion of recorded crimes detected in which a DNA match was available for 2008-09 to date is shown in table 1. Data on the number of crimes detected with a DNA match are collected on a quarterly, rather than a monthly, basis. The figures provided are for quarters 1 and 2 of 2008-09; the quarter 3 figures are not yet available. Table 1 also includes projected figures for the full year 2008-09 which are based on the figures for quarters 1 and 2.
The figures for the number of crimes detected in which a DNA match was available only include crimes detected in which a DNA match was reported by the National DNA Database (NDNAD). They do not include DNA matches which arise through case work in serious crime, which usually involve comparing DNA profiles in a forensic laboratory; these data are not collected centrally. It is also important to note that the detections are achieved through integrated criminal investigation, not through DNA alone.
The presentation of crimes detected with DNA as a proportion of total recorded crime undervalues the relative contribution of DNA to the crime detection rate.
It should be noted that the majority of recorded crimes do not have a crime scene (for example, minor assault, drugs offences, theft, fraud etc.) and do not have a crime scene examination. In 2007-08, just over 854,000 crimes had a crime scene examination (17 per cent. of recorded crimes). In those crimes which have a crime scene examination, some do not yield any forensic material (DNA or fingerprints). In 2007-08, potential DNA material was collected at 102,400 crimes; and of
these, 41,800 crimes yielded DNA crime scene samples of sufficient quantity and quality for profiling and loading to the NDNAD. Of the 41,800 crimes in which a crime scene sample profile was loaded, a match was generated in 37,375 crimes (this represents 89 per cent. of crimes where DNA material was loaded to the NDNAD).
The proportion of ‘crimes detected in which a DNA match was available’, of those, ‘crimes where potential DNA material was collected’ is shown in table 2.
| Table 1 | |||||
| Detected crimes in which a DNA match was available (‘DNA d etections’) | Additional detections arising from the DNA match( 1) | Total detected crimes in which a DNA match was available or played a part | Total recorded crime | Proportion of ‘total crimes detected in which a DNA match was available or played a part’ of total recorded crime (percentage) | |
| (1) Additional detections may result from the original crime with the DNA match due to the identification of further offences through forensic linkage or through admission by the offender. (2) The projected figures for 2008-09 are based on the actual figures for quarters 1 and 2 of 2008-09 multiplied by two. | |||||
| Table 2 | |||||
| Detected crimes in which a DNA match was available (‘DNA d etections’) | Additional detections arising from the DNA match( 1) | Total detected crimes in which a DNA match was available or played a part | Crimes where potential DNA material collected | Proportion of ‘crimes detected in which a DNA match was available’ of ‘crimes where potential DNA material collected’ (percentage) | |
| (1) Additional detections may result from the original crime with the DNA match due to the identification of further offences through forensic linkage or through admission by the offender. | |||||
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