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5 Mar 2009 : Column 1778W—continued
Human Trafficking
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-British citizens have been convicted and subsequently imprisoned in relation to human trafficking offences in each of the last five years. [243319]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Figures from the UK Human Trafficking Centre show a total of 92 foreign nationals have been convicted and imprisoned for the offence of human trafficking.
Kent
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) revenue payment, (b) capital grant and (c) supported borrowing funding has been made available by her Department to (i) Kent county council, (ii) Thanet district council and (iii) Dover district council in 2008-09; and how much such funding is planned for 2009-10 in each case. [255089]
Mr. Woolas: The following information conveys the structural funding provided to local councils; it does not include any ad hoc grants paid to specific local councils for individual projects. To provide information to this level would incur disproportionate cost.
| Local authority | Funding type | Fund | 2008-09 (£) | Planned 2009-10 (£) |
| (1) Not yet known. | ||||
A breakdown of other allocations to Thanet district council and allocations to Dover district council are not retained by the Home Office.
No supported borrowing funding has been provided to Kent county council or its constituent district councils by the Home Office.
Learning Disability: Females
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to amend legislation for which her Department is responsible to remove the term ‘female defective’ to define a woman with learning difficulties; and if she will make a statement. [259553]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The term ‘female defective’ was used in section 7 and section 9 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
This term was considered as part of a major review of sexual offences which informed the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The review noted that this was an ‘insulting and unhelpful’ term which stemmed from a bygone, unscientific age (“Setting the Boundaries”, volume 2, published July 2000).
Section 7 and section 9 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 were subsequently repealed when the Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into effect on 1 May 2004.
Members: Correspondence
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a reply will be sent to the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood's email to the UK Border Agency of 30 January 2009 on behalf of Amina Mohammed Osman (Home Office Reference Number 01064728, acknowledgement reference B3194/9). [260079]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency wrote to the right hon. Member on 26 February 2009.
Ministers: Security
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of special protection for Government Ministers and officials was in 2007-08. [259954]
Mr. Coaker: It is long established policy not to comment upon matters of personal protective security and their associated costs. Disclosure of such information could compromise the integrity of those arrangements and affect the security of the individuals concerned.
Offenders: Drugs
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of those arrested subsequently tested positive for Class A drugs in 2008; and what the level of voluntary take-up for treatment was. [259557]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Drug testing of offenders for specified Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine/crack) in police custody takes place in 107 BCUs. Offenders arrested or charged with a “trigger offence”—largely acquisitive crime related offences—are required to provide a sample to be tested.
The average rate of positive tests for specified Class A drugs for offenders arrested or charged with a trigger offence in 2007-08 was 38.7 per cent.
The figure for number of offenders entering treatment through DIP includes individuals from both DIP intensive areas (i.e. the 107 BCUs operating drug testing and related interventions) and the non intensive areas of the programme. Offenders from the DIP non intensive BCUs are not drug tested.
The data on the proportion of those who test positive and voluntarily agree to treatment is not available in the format requested. The Drug Interventions Programme does not routinely hold data on those entering treatment only as a result of a positive drug test.
In 2007-08 the number of offenders entering treatment voluntarily through the Drug Interventions Programme was 43,903.
Offensive Weapons
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the knives used in knife crimes where convictions have been secured in the last 12 months were domestic or kitchen utensils. [249879]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not provide details of the weapon used. This information may be held on individual court records, but due to their size and complexity are not reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. The cost involved investigating these court records would be disproportionate.
Olympic Games: China
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of policing the Olympic torch relay in London in April 2008; and if she will make a statement. [261577]
Mr. Coaker: The Metropolitan Police reported to the Metropolitan Police Authority that the costs of policing the relay event was £746,000.
Police Community Support Officers: Hemel Hempstead
Mike Penning:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers operating in Hemel Hemsptead are
(a) funded wholly by Hertfordshire Police, (b) funded in part by Dacorum borough council and (c) funded wholly by Dacorum borough council. [260087]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information on contributions from local authorities to fund or part-fund PCSO posts is not collected centrally.
Police: Accountability
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to ensure transparency in the administration and operation of police forces. [258858]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 2 March 2009]: The Government are committed to ensuring that policing is transparent and responsive and are taking a number of steps to achieve this. Key to ensuring the operation of policing meets this ambition is the Policing Pledge, which has now been implemented in all 43 forces. The pledge sets out a national standard on what the public can expect from the police, underpinned in each area by a set of local priorities, agreed by people in each neighbourhood. The views of local people must also be considered in the drawing up of local policing priorities. These priorities must be contained in the three year policing plan that each police authority is required to produce annually, explaining how they intend the force to realise their objectives.
To bring more transparency to the administration of policing, this work will be supported by the new, more independent role or Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which will mean that information on the way policing is administered will be available to the public in a readily accessible way for the first time.
The Policing and Crime Bill seeks to improve both transparency and responsiveness in the operation and administration of policing by placing a new duty on police authorities to consider the views of the public in the exercise of their functions. It will also ask HMIC to consider the extent to which this duty has been met when they inspect a police authority.
Police: Deployment
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers will be deployed to police the G20 meeting in London in April; and what the estimated cost of policing the meeting is. [260281]
Mr. Coaker: This is a matter for the Chief Officers of the forces concerned.
Police: Firearms
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been paid to how many people under the compensation schemes pursuant to section 18 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997. [258936]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Over £97 million has been paid out under the schemes in respect of 72,000 claims.
Risk Analysis UK
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 723W, on Risk Analysis UK, what use her Department made of (a) Kroll Associates, (b) Risk Analysis UK Ltd. and (c) other private investigators between June 2001 and May 2005; and for what purposes. [258588]
Mr. Woolas: From records the Home Department inclusive of its agencies has had no contracts with private investigators, Kroll Associates or Risk Analysis UK Ltd. between June 2001 and May 2005.
Security: Entertainers
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of policing the wedding of Jade Goody. [259203]
Mr. Coaker: This is an operational matter for the chief constable of Essex.
Theft: Metals
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) functions, (b) budget and (c) timetable for operations of the National Metal Theft Crime Unit are; and if she will make a statement. [260449]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 March 2009]: The National Metal Theft Crime Unit (NMTCU) is currently being piloted regionally. The unit will enforce compliance of scrap metal dealers with relevant existing legislation, including the Scrap Metal Dealers Act and Environmental legislation. The operation brings together all the agencies with enforcement powers around the scrap and waste recycling industry including, police, local authority, Environment Agency, HMRC, Trading Standards, Health and Safety. It will ensure compliance with existing legislation and demonstrate the positive affect of working with the legitimate businesses to reduce opportunities for thieves to dispose of their stolen material and profit from crime.
The budget for the NMTCU pilot is £175,000.
The regional pilot is running from 19 January to 31 March 2009.
Victim Support Schemes
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people she plans to appoint to work with the Victims’ Champion; what budget her Department will provide for the Victims’ Champion for 2009-10; and what arrangements have been made to enable the public to contact the Victims’ Champion. [259622]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
Ms Payne is supported by a dedicated team at the Office for Criminal Justice Reform comprising one full-time and one part-time (three days per week) members of staff. The budget for the Victims’ Champion for this calendar year is £60,000.
Members of the public can contact the Victims’ Champion via e-mail at:
victimschampion@cjs.gsi.gov.uk
or in writing c/o Office for Criminal Justice Reform. These contact details are available to the public via the Home Office, Ministry of Justice or Attorney-General’s Office. The Victims’ Champion is keen to hear from members of the public but will not be taking on individual cases or complaints.
Justice
Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times information concerning penalty notices for disorder has been disclosed in the context of seeking an anti-social behaviour order. [260069]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to improve the consistency of use of penalty notices for disorder across police constabularies. [260072]
Mr. Straw: The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 enables the Secretary of State to issue guidance about the exercise of the discretion given to police officers when issuing penalty notices for disorder. The current guidance is being revised with the aim of clarifying the circumstances in which a PND should, and should not, be issued.
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