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9 Mar 2009 : Column 80W—continued
Police: Crime
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of (a) assistance to other agencies, (b) bail or curfew checks, (c) complaints against police and (d) police-generated resource activity, as defined by the National Incident Category List, were recorded by each police force in 2007-08. [258635]
Jacqui Smith: This information is held by each individual police force and is not collated or held centrally by the Home Office.
Police: Olympic Games 2012
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces will be responsible for the security of the training camps for teams competing in the London 2012 Olympics; and if she will make a statement. [261367]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 6 March 2009]: The location of specific training camps is not yet finalised. In general, the provision of security for training camps for teams competing in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games is a private matter between the venue owner and the teams concerned.
Our approach to security planning is risk-based and intelligence-led. Some teams will be at greater risk and we will work with them to ensure appropriate safety and security measures are in place.
If our understanding of threats changes and further measures are needed to protect specific camps and teams, the overall approach set out in our Security Strategy is sufficiently responsive and flexible, to allow us to take appropriate security measures.
Proceeds of Crime
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Serious and Organised Crime Agency has (a) spent on all forms of asset recovery and (b) recovered in proceeds of crime since its creation. [260271]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 March 2009]: Asset recovery work is mainstreamed into all tasked operations by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Within each operation it is not possible to identify the expenditure that relates to asset recovery elements of individual cases. Details of SOCA’s asset recovery performance since its inception in April 2006 to March 2008 were published in its annual reports 2006-07 and 2007-08. SOCA will report on its performance for the current financial year in the SOCA annual report 2008-09, which will be laid before Parliament following year end.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Serious and Organised Crime Agency has spent on receivers' fees for (a) civil and (b) criminal asset recovery since its creation. [260372]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 March 2009]: Civil recovery powers were extended to the Serious Organised Crime Agency and prosecutors in April 2008 under the Serious Crime Act 2007. SOCA's costs relating to this new function are subject to internal validation and will be available after the end of the financial year. The courts are responsible for the payment of receivers' fees that relate to criminal asset recovery.
Prostitution
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will commission research on the effectiveness of (a) compulsory and (b) voluntary counselling for prostitutes. [259205]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Home Office Research Study 279 Tackling Street Prostitution: Towards an holistic approach, published in 2004, considered the effectiveness of different approaches and identified models of needs and support for those involved in street prostitution. This and a range of existing research informed the Home Office Consultation Paying the Price (2004), and the subsequent development of the Co-ordinated Prostitution Strategy (2006).
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much local authorities spent on average in each of the last five years on providing voluntary counselling for individuals working as prostitutes. [259206]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The responsibility for disseminating local funding is devolved to local authorities. How this money is spent is a decision for each local authority. The level of spending of each authority on particular services is not monitored by central Government.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure local authority provision of specific services and schemes for people working as prostitutes to assist them with (a) housing, (b) poverty, (c) childcare, (d) drug addiction and (e) health care. [259210]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Co-ordinated Prostitution Strategy sets out a number of actions for local partnerships, including; to conduct a needs assessment, and where prostitution is an issue, to develop local measures to tackle street prostitution, including prevention, providing routes out, linking this activity to the drug strategy; and to develop prioritised and specialised drug treatment programmes and other services as part of the exiting process. The strategy also indicates a Home Office commitment to produce guidance on models of support and routes out, in order to assist local partnerships with the commissioning of appropriate support services for those involved in prostitution. This guidance is being developed and will support the implementation of legislative provisions which form part of a comprehensive approach to tackling problems associated with prostitution.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure local authority provision of services and schemes for people working as prostitutes to assist the reporting of violence and abuse. [259211]
Mr. Alan Campbell: As part of the Government’s Co-ordinated Prostitution Strategy the Ugly Mugs scheme which enables those involved in prostitution to share information on dangerous clients, has been expanded through the existing Crimestoppers helpline that allows crime to be reported anonymously. The Government’s Public Service Agreement 23 Making Communities Safer includes a priority action to reduce the most serious sexual offences and domestic violence. This will require local authorities to prioritise action to tackle these offences including through increasing the reporting of these offences.
Queen Elizabeth II: Anniversaries
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans her Department has to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. [243972]
Mr. Woolas: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in discussions with the royal household about how to mark the diamond jubilee.
Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding her Department has provided for each Regional Strategic Migration Partnership in the last 12 months. [259424]
Mr. Woolas: The UK border agency has paid, or will pay, the following amounts to Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships for the 2008-09 financial year:
| £ | |
Security Guards: Licensing
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private security licences have been granted to people of each nationality by the Security Industry Authority. [257050]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Security Industry Authority: Finance
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget of the Security Industry Authority has been in each year since it was established. [257056]
Jacqui Smith: The following table summarises the Security Industry Authority's (SIA's) budget for each year since it was established. Further details can be found in the SIA's Business Plans on their website at:
The Home Office funded the SIA's initial start-up costs and deficits but the SIA is now self-funding.
| Table: Security Industry Authority budget | ||||||
| £000 | ||||||
| Financial year | Planned variable licensing costs | Planned operating costs or expenditure | Planned capital | Total planned expenditure | Planned total income | Source = Corporate business plans |
| (1 )All income received was grant in aid from the Home Office. | ||||||
Security: Housing
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been provided for home security improvements for low income pensioners in each year since 1997 in Dacorum. [261179]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Data to this level of detail are not held centrally or locally and it would be a disproportionate cost to attempt to calculate the figures. However, in Dacorum the local authority provides a service offering home security improvements which include the fitting of locks, door chains, spy-holes and smoke alarms free of charge to actual or potential burglary victims. This service supports vulnerable groups, including older people. Between April and December 2008 they visited 556 older people to provide these services.
Special Constables: Dacorum
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in Dacorum in each year since 1997. [261182]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The Home Office collects figures for numbers of special constables at police force and Basic Command Unit (BCU) level only. Geographically, Dacorum does not match any of the BCUs in Hertfordshire.
UK Border Agency: Complaints
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library a copy of the audit memorandum drafted by the UK Border Agency Complaints Audit Committee. [260818]
Mr. Woolas: The audit memorandum is included as an appendix in the Complaints Audit Committee’s annual report 2007-08, copies of which are already available in the Library.
Visas: Iraq
Dr. Howells: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities there are to issue visas at the UK consulate in Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq; and if she will make a statement. [260247]
Mr. Woolas: UKBA are planning to trial a limited visa operation at the British embassy office, Erbil. Current planning is that the limited service will commence on 9 March 2009. Applications (by appointment only) will be accepted on a similar basis to the model operated in Baghdad. Applications will be forwarded to Amman for processing.
Justice
Departmental Detergents
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to ensure that no cleaning products or ingredients of cleaning products used by his Department have been tested on animals. [261122]
Mr. Malik: The Ministry of Justice does not have a corporate policy on cleaning products being tested on animals. However, HM Prison Service's current contract for provision of cleaning products is free from products tested on animals and this contract may be extended to the whole of the Ministry of Justice as part of the wider rationalisation of the procurement of goods and services.
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