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4 Mar 2009 : Column 1627W—continued
Paramilitary Organisations
8. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of current levels of activity of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. [259273]
Mr. Woodward: Dissident republican activity remains at a very high level. They remain determined to kill or injure police officers and have a reckless disregard for public safety. In relation to loyalists, this House has sent a very strong message that they have one last opportunity to decommission.
Republican Paramilitary Groups
9. Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of links between dissident republican groups and drug-related crime in Northern Ireland. [259274]
Paul Goggins: The IMC has confirmed that dissident republican groups are involved in drug-related crime. The PSNI will continue to work with the other members of the Organised Crime Task Force to disrupt their criminal activities.
Vehicle Excise Duty
10. Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on rates of vehicle excise duty evasion in Northern Ireland. [259275]
Paul Goggins: I have had no such discussions as Northern Ireland Office Ministers are not responsible for these matters. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has responsibility for the registration and licensing of vehicles and the enforcement of vehicle excise duty across the UK.
Consultative Group on the Past
12. Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the recommendations of the Consultative Group on the Past; and if he will make a statement. [259278]
Mr. Woodward: I am reflecting carefully on the proposals, and want to hear a wide range of views before developing the Government’s full response.
It is clear that there is no consensus on the recommendation of recognition payments and I have stated that the Government will not be accepting that recommendation. But this was just one of over 30 recommendations and I hope that the other proposals can now receive the careful consideration they deserve.
Saville Inquiry
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent estimate is of the cost of the Saville inquiry. [259269]
Mr. Woodward: I have taken urgent steps to ensure the remaining running costs of the Bloody Sunday inquiry are kept as low as possible, and a package of measures has been agreed to reduce the projected cost by 20 per cent. over the remaining stages. The final cost of the inquiry is now expected to be in the region of £190 million.
Billy Wright Inquiry
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Wright inquiry has spent on security for (a) legal companies and (b) witnesses. [257115]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that the Billy Wright inquiry has spent £577,000 on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs associated with providing security for either legal teams or witnesses.
Robert Hamill Inquiry
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Hamill inquiry has spent on security (a) overall and (b) for (i) legal companies and (ii) witnesses. [257127]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that the Robert Hamill inquiry has spent £641,000 on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs associated with providing security for either legal companies or witnesses.
Rosemary Nelson Inquiry
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Nelson inquiry has spent on security for (a) legal companies and (b) witnesses. [257107]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that the Rosemary Nelson inquiry has spent £957,000 on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs associated with providing security for either legal teams or witnesses.
Royal Ulster Constabulary: Reserve Forces
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will bring forward proposals formally to recognise the work of part-time reserve officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. [259270]
Paul Goggins: Service within the PTR is already recognised in a number of ways:
unlike special constables in GB, the part-time reserve are paid, in recognition of the special circumstances in which they operate in Northern Ireland;
PTR are awarded the long service medal after 15 years’ service;
the specific conditions in Northern Ireland have been recognised by payment of a NI transitional allowance to all police officers from 1974, including the PTR on a ‘pro rata’ basis;
a stakeholder pension scheme was introduced in 2001 to provide pension provisions for all part-time workers. Favourable rates were secured for PTR members; and
the Secretary of State recently paid tribute to the men and women of the PTR during a reception at Hillsborough Castle in recognition of the service of members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Part-Time Reserve on 11 October 2008.
I have sought information and advice from officials on how this Government might make further recognition for the service given by the Part-Time Reserve and I am currently considering this.
Terrorism
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has had made of levels of paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland. [259267]
Paul Goggins: The Chief Constable has made it clear that the dissident republican threat has increased in recent months. Loyalists must continue to make progress and take advantage of the recent extension to the decommissioning legislation.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under the age of 15 years have been cautioned or arrested for drunken behaviour in (a) North Wiltshire, (b) Wiltshire, (c) London and (d) England in each of the last 10 years. [255328]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Cautions, reprimands and final warnings data are collected centrally at police force area level and are not further broken down. Therefore data for the constituency of North Wiltshire are not available.
The number of persons aged under 15-years issued with a caution for offences of drunkenness in the Wiltshire police force area, the Metropolitan police force area (including the City of London) and England, from 1998 to 2007, are given in the following table.
| N umber of persons aged under 15-years cautioned( 1) for offences of drunkenness, by area, 1998 to 2007( 2, 3, 4) | |||
| Wiltshire p olice f orce a rea | Metropolitan p olice f orce a rea( 5) | England | |
| (1) 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 totals. (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) 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 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. (4) Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions: Licensing Act 1872 s.12 Being found drunk in a highway or other public place. Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 ss.l(4) and 1A(4) Drunk on a vehicle Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 s.2(2) Drunk in, or when entering, a designated sports event. Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 s.12 Alcohol consumption in designated public places. Offences against similar provisions in Local Acts (5) Includes the City of London police force area. (6) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit [Our ref: IOS 95-09] | |||
Alternatives to Prison
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of
community service alternatives to prison sentences in reducing rates of re-offending; and if she will make a statement. [259560]
Mr. Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the latest re-offending figures for people who were released from a custodial sentence, or commenced a court order under probation supervision, between 1 January 2006 and 31 March 2006. The table shows the number of offenders in the cohort, the proportion of offenders that committed at least one further offence and the number of further offences committed per 100 offenders.
| Number of offenders | Actual re-offending rate | Number of offences per 100 offenders | |
| (1 )Court orders include pre-CJA 2003 community sentences, new community orders and suspended sentence orders. | |||
These statistics should not be compared to assess the effectiveness of sentences as there is no control for known differences in offender characteristics. There are known differences between characteristics of these two groups of offender which may affect the choice of disposal, such as number of previous offences.
For a time series, and more detailed breakdown of the aforementioned table, please see table A5 in the publication Re-offending of .Adults: results of the 2006 cohort:
The Government want community sentences to be tough, effective and visible. Part of this programme of work has been creating seven Intensive Alternatives to Custody (IAC) demonstrator projects, which provide intensively delivered and supervised community sentence options to courts as an alternative to short-term custody. These projects were announced by the Justice Secretary on 5 December 2007 and the first project commenced operations in March 2008. The seven projects will run for three years and will be subject to a rigorous evaluation to be delivered in 2011.
Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many enhanced disclosures issued by the Criminal Records Bureau have disclosed penalty notices for disorder. [260068]
Meg Hillier: The Criminal Records Bureau does not hold this information.
Asylum
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities had signed up to take part in the Gateway refugee programme on 31 January 2009. [260096]
Meg Hillier: There are 15 local authorities currently participating in the Gateway protection programme.
Crime Prevention: International Cooperation
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to (a) monitor compliance with those United Nations conventions on drug control which have been ratified by the UK and (b) assist the work of the International Narcotics Control Board. [256804]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The UK has ratified three United Nations conventions on drug control—the 1961 single convention on narcotic drugs, the 1971 convention on psychotropic substances and the 1988 convention against the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The 1961 and 1971 conventions form the basis of drug control in the UK and are given effect through the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Compliance with the UN conventions is, therefore, an ongoing process through the daily operation of the 1971 Act and its subordinate legislation. As custodian of the UN conventions, the Home Office supports the work of the International Narcotics Control Board by supplying manufacturing and transaction data and ensuring industry adherence to the statutory controls, both national and international, through a system of vetting and licensing of those companies involved in the manufacture and trade of controlled substances.
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