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Police: Firearms

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims have been made against her Department for being dilatory in paying compensation under the compensation schemes under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 to a person who has surrendered firearms and ammunition to police following the introduction of the prohibition on the possession, manufacture and sale of weapons under the Act. [258937]

Mr. Alan Campbell: One ex gratia payment was made in respect of a particularly complex claim where certain payments could have been made earlier.

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) weapons and (b) items of ancillary equipment handed into police forces following the entering into force of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 remain in the possession of police forces. [258938]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office has issued disposal notices in respect of all but 92 of the 72,000 claims received. It is for individual chief officers to keep records of such items still in their possession.

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many owners of weapons and items of ancillary equipment handed into police forces following the entering into force of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 have not received payment under the compensation schemes introduced under the Act. [258939]

Mr. Alan Campbell: Payments have been offered to all claimants in accordance with the terms of the schemes.

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests to police forces have been (a) made and (b) granted for the return of items deemed to be ineligible for compensation under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 compensation schemes. [258940]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not held centrally.

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James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the residual liability to the public purse for payments under the compensation schemes introduced under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997. [258941]

Mr. Alan Campbell: It is not possible to estimate any residual liability since some claimants may wish to resurrect issues of concern. However, we believe that claimants have all been paid in accordance with the schemes.

Prosecutions: Greater London

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of serious crimes reported to the police led to prosecutions in each London borough in the last 12 months. [258493]

Mr. Alan Campbell: Information is not available in the form requested. The Home Office collects statistics on the number of offences recorded by the police and the method of detection where appropriate. One of the methods of detection is ‘charge/summons’ but there is no way of establishing how many recorded offences actually led to a prosecution. Data specifically on defendants proceeded against are collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform in the Ministry of Justice.

Prostitution

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will commission research on the primary reasons for an individual to start working as a prostitute. [259204]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office consultation, Paying the Price, which was published in 2004 and informed the Co-ordinated Prostitution Strategy considered the issue of routes into prostitution. It drew on an extensive range of existing research which considered the reasons for persons’ involvement in prostitution.

Prostitution: Local Government

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to monitor local authority provision of services to individuals who work as prostitutes. [258310]

Mr. Alan Campbell: No such mechanisms exist.

Sex Establishments: Licensing

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that the frequency exemption contained in lap dancing licensing reforms is removed. [258987]

Mr. Alan Campbell: Clause 25 of the Policing and Crime Bill will require all venues that wish to offer lap dancing on a monthly basis or more frequently to hold a sex encounter venue licence. The Government believe that this would capture venues offering lap dancing events on a regular basis and therefore as part of their core business. However, in response to concerns raised during the committee stage in the House of Commons,
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the Government have agreed to look into these issues further and are currently considering whether any amendments are required.

Speed Limits: Fines

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were fined for speeding in each police force area in 2008; and how much was paid in fines for such offences. [256741]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The number of magistrates courts imposed fines for speed limit offences by police force area in England and Wales for 2007 are given in the following table. Court proceedings data for 2008 are scheduled to be published in the autumn of 2009.

It is not possible to identify separately the payment rate of fines arising from speeding offences. The latest enforcement rate for all financial penalties imposed by the courts is 85 per cent for the period April-December 2008.

In addition to court fines, police officers have the power to issue fixed penalty notices under section 54 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 for speeding offences. The decision as to whether to issue a fixed penalty notice is a matter for the police. Currently the amount payable for a fixed penalty notice for speeding is £60.

Information on the number of fixed penalty notices issued in 2006 (latest available) broken down by police force area is provided in table 2. Data for 2007 are scheduled to be published in April 2009 with 2008 data to be announced.

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Table 1: Number of magistrates courts imposed fines( 1 ) for speed limit offences( 2) by police force area, England and Wales, 2007( 3, 4)
Police force area	Number of fines( 1)
Avon and Somerset	5,761
Bedfordshire	4,238
Cambridgeshire	4,181
Cheshire	3,136
Cleveland	1,194
Cumbria	2,470
Derbyshire	2,846
Devon and Cornwall	3,940
Dorset	2,340
Durham	650
Essex	7,247
Gloucestershire	1,111
Greater Manchester	4,521
Hampshire	4,789
Hertfordshire	2,525
Humberside	2,182
Kent	3,181
Lancashire	7,463
Leicestershire	1,802
Lincolnshire	3,800
London, City of	460
Merseyside	3,010
Metropolitan police	5,882
Norfolk	2,669
Northamptonshire	2,919
Northumbria	3,570
North Yorkshire	2,004
Nottinghamshire	3,387
South Yorkshire	4,167
Staffordshire	4,540
Suffolk	3,401
Surrey	3,514
Sussex	3,965
Thames Valley	5,883
Warwickshire	1,340
West Mercia	2,651
West Midlands	4,652
West Yorkshire	5,638
Wiltshire	5,005
Dyfed Powys	945
Gwent	1,125
North Wales	4,345
South Wales	2,394
Total England and Wales	146,843
(1) Magistrates courts data only. Fines given at the Crown court total nationally (England and Wales) less than 10 each year. (2) Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 ss. 16, 81, 84, 86, 88 & 89; Motor Vehicles (Speed Limit on Motorways) Regs. 1973; Parks Regulation (Amendment) Act 1926 - byelaws made thereunder. (3) It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis unit. [Ref; IOS 98-09]

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Table 2: Fixed penalty notices issued( 1) for speed limit offences( 2) by police force area, England and Wales 2006
Police force area	Number
Avon and Somerset	52,606
Bedfordshire	48,407
Cambridgeshire	20,502
Cheshire	28,570
Cleveland	19,044
Cumbria	32,023
Derbyshire	31,484
Devon and Cornwall	42,467
Dorset	51,599
Durham	2,817
Essex	60,705
Gloucestershire	13,406
Greater Manchester	60,282
Hampshire	49,404
Hertfordshire	81,805
Humberside	36,718
Kent	47,179
Lancashire	57,658
Leicestershire	24,605
Lincolnshire	25,750
London, City of	5,089
Merseyside	33,049
Metropolitan	102,482
Norfolk	24,985
North Yorkshire	42,242
Northamptonshire	51,880
Northumbria	5,256
Nottinghamshire	42,916
South Yorkshire	51,462
Staffordshire	50,823
Suffolk	34,442
Surrey	39,520
Sussex	48,627
Thames Valley	137,312
Warwickshire	30,316
West Mercia	46,213
West Midlands	44,497
West Yorkshire	49,528
Wiltshire	51,458
Dyfed Powys	1,054
Gwent	531
North Wales	59,491
South Wales	33,208
England and Wales	1,773,412
(1) Only covers notices paid where there is no further action. (2) Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973. (3) Revised since original publication. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

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