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25 Mar 2009 : Column 381W—continued
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many incidences of (a) bullying and (ii) harassment were recorded in his Department in each of the last three years; and how many staff have been subject to disciplinary procedures as a result of such incidents. [266068]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There have been no bullying or harassment cases in the last three years in DCMS.
Gaming Machines
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much and what percentage of the Tote’s revenue came from category B2 gaming machines in 2007-08. [265661]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Tote switched to a new generation of gaming machines in the middle of the 2008 financial year. In its annual report and accounts for 2008, the Tote did not report the mix of revenue between over the counter betting and gaming machine business in its licensed betting offices. This was because the information was deemed by the Tote to be commercially sensitive as it would allow its competitors to benchmark machine performance and inform their choices. That position has not altered and the Tote remains of the view that machine revenue is commercially sensitive information.
Licensing Laws: Music
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to hold a consultation on exemptions from the Licensing Act 2003 for low risk music events. [265973]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 24 March 2009]: No date has been set for a consultation on this matter. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to consider how best to encourage live music, including the possibility of workable exemptions from the Licensing Act 2003. Any exemption would maintain necessary public protections in accordance with the licensing objectives.
Metal Detecting
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Government plan to respond to English Heritage’s Nighthawking Survey report; and if he will make a statement. [266508]
Barbara Follett: English Heritage is preparing an implementation plan to take forward the recommendations of the Nighthawking Survey; English Heritage expects this to be ready before the summer.
Swimming
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many swimming pools he has visited on official business in the last 12 months. [267030]
Andy Burnham: In the last 12 months I have visited five swimming pools on official business.
Swimming: Finance
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether local authorities which have currently opted out of the Government’s free swimming scheme will have the opportunity to access funding from it at a later date. [265413]
Andy Burnham: We have given those local authorities who withdrew their expression of interest in the under 16s element of the scheme one final opportunity to opt back in before the Free Swimming Programme launches on 1 April. When the scheme is launched, there will not be an opportunity for non-participating local authorities to participate. We will be closely monitoring the impact of the scheme over its two year duration to inform any future funding and delivery arrangements.
Home Department
Airguns: Children
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions are in place on the sale of ball-bearing guns to children. [265178]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Ball-bearing guns which fire small plastic pellets are usually referred to as airsoft or BB guns. They are not lethal and are treated in law as imitation firearms. The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 made it an offence to sell an imitation firearm to someone aged under 18, and for someone aged under 18 to buy one.
Children: Safety
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what finance and support her Department provided for the production of series (a) one, (b) two and (c) three of the Kids Taskforce Watch over me DVD. [262476]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office provided the following support and finance for the production of the Kids Taskforce Watch over me DVD.
(a) Series One—No Funding
(b) Series Two—£400,000 (with a small amount going towards research for the third series).
(c) Series Three—No funding outside that mentioned above.
Additionally, in 2008-09, £480,000 was given from the Home Office and DCSF to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to pay for the copyright of The Kids Taskforce Watch Over Me DVDs for three years supplemented by 60 training days for teachers and partners. ACPO, DCSF and the Home Office are working with The Kids Taskforce on the national roll out of the DVD.
The Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing also attended the launch of the third series at a reception at the CEOP Centre on 5 December 2006.
Crime: Motor Vehicles
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles of each type have been seized in each police force area under section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in each year since 2005. [264619]
Mr. Alan Campbell: This information is not collected centrally.
I understand from information submitted by police forces to the motor insurance industry's Motor Insurance Database that in 2007 153,822 vehicles were seized under this power for being driven without insurance and that approximately 185,000 were seized in 2008. The type of vehicle is not identified.
Crimes of Violence: Females
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Ministers attended her summit on violence against women on 9 March 2009. [265193]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The cross-Government consultation paper entitled ‘Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Children' was launched at a breakfast roundtable on Monday 9 March, 2009. Ministers who attended this launch event are:
Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary
Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Vera Baird, Solicitor-General
Vernon Coaker, Minister of State for the Home Office
Alan Campbell, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office
Crimes of Violence: Telephone Services
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what freephone 24-hour telephone lines her Department provides for victims of violent crime. [265685]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 23 March 2009]: The Government provide funds to a matrix of national helplines which provide support and information to the public who may be experiencing problems related to violent crime. Of these, the National Domestic Violence Helpline is the only freephone 24-hour telephone line.
In addition, the Government provide funding to Victim Support to provide services to victims of crime and witnesses. Part of the annual Grant in Aid provides funding for the national Victim Support line. This is a telephone helpline offering emotional support and practical advice to victims who call. An annual grant is also provided to SAMM (Support After Murder and Manslaughter). This charity provides support and advice to those bereaved by homicide. Both of these are national helplines but not 24 hours and calls are charged at a local rate.
Detection Rates
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate was for incidents of violence against the person reported to the police in each month in the last two years. [262052]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 9 March 2009]: Police forces in England and Wales are asked to provide monthly cumulative data for use in the Home Office’s quarterly and annual crime statistics publication. However, the validation processes relate to quarterly rather than monthly data and therefore quarterly data for detection rates for violence against the person are given in the table. Detection rates are a ratio of crimes detected in a period to crimes recorded in a period. They are not based on tracking individual crimes recorded in a period as to whether they are eventually detected.
From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very small limited set of circumstances. This has significantly reduced the number of non-sanction detections which has been reflected in the overall detection rates.
| Quarterly detection rates for offences of violence against the person recorded by the police, 2006-07 and 2007-08 | |
| Quarter | Detection rate ( Percentage ) |
Human Trafficking
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding was made available to the Metropolitan Police for its Human Trafficking Unit in 2008-09; how much she plans to allocate in 2009-10; what assessment she has made of the unit's work; and if she will make a statement. [260377]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 4 March 2009]: In 2008-09 a total of £600,000 was given by the ACPO lead for Organised Immigration Crime to the Metropolitan Police towards the costs of Operation Maxim, including the dedicated human trafficking team.
The work of the team, as part of the wider Operation Maxim, is highly regarded. But the grant is time-limited with an expectation that this work will be mainstreamed into existing police budgets as part of core business.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2009 to Question 260378, when she expects to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Totnes of
24 November 2008 and 22 January 2009 on advice to the Government on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. [264781]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 19 March 2009]: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 March 2009.
Human Trafficking: Europol
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Europol's targets are for tackling international human trafficking offences. [262575]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Europol's work is central to the United Kingdom's European-wide efforts to combat this heinous crime. In this respect Europol has an excellent working relationship with both the UKHTC and SOCA.
Detailed information on the work carried out by Europol is contained in their Annual Report which we anticipate will be published in the near future.
Human Trafficking: Southampton
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her latest estimate is of the numbers of (a) people who have been trafficked into the UK through Southampton and (b) victims of human trafficking in Southampton and the surrounding area; what steps are being taken to reduce those numbers; and if she will make a statement. [261410]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The nature of the crime makes it very difficult to estimate the problem faced by the United Kingdom through its ports. However, we have previously estimated that at any one time in 2003 there were up to 4,000 victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in the UK. We hope to have a new figure by the end of the year.
All estimates are national in scale however. More robust data on the geographical location of victims will be collected with the introduction of the National Referral Mechanism which comes into force on 1 April 2009.
Immobilisation of Vehicles
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes to regulations regarding wheel clamping on private land she plans to make; and if she will make a statement. [264165]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 18 March 2009]: Ministers have recently received the results of the feasibility study undertaken by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) on the options for the compulsory licensing of vehicle immobilisation companies who work on private land in England and Wales. We are now working with the SIA to develop further their proposals.
Licensed Premises
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effects of premises with late alcohol licences on levels of disorderly behaviour in the surrounding area. [257992]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The most recently published report, The impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on levels of crime and disorder: an evaluation (2008) by Hough et al, found that violent offences between 3 am and 6 am had increased by 236 incidents in the first year following the introduction of the Act. These offences represent 4 per cent. of all night time offences. Overall the review found that crimes involving violence during the whole evening and night-time had reduced.
To understand what is happening in the 3 am to 6 am period, we will undertake further comprehensive research into post-midnight drinking patterns and their impact on crime and disorder.
The Government are determined to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder, this is why the Home Secretary recently announced a new mandatory code of practice to target the most irresponsible retail practices, a £3 million cash injection for CDRPs for partnership activities in 190 areas and a further £1.5 million for police enforcement in our priority areas.
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effects of the operation of the Licensing Act 2003 on levels of disorderly behaviour. [257995]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The first review of the Licensing Act reveals a mixed picture. Some people appear to be using the freedoms and are not sufficiently using the considerable powers granted by the Act to tackle problems. There is a need to rebalance action towards enforcement to tackle irresponsible behaviour.
Actions in response to the review of the Licensing Act include: increase the fine for anyone not obeying an instruction to stop drinking in a DPPO area to £2500 from £500, make it easier for the Police to disperse antisocial drinkers, extend the use of acceptable behaviour contracts and to extend the arrest referral pilots to include under 18s. We are working across Government to take these actions forward.
The Government are determined to tackle further alcohol related crime and disorder, this is why the Home Secretary recently announced a new mandatory code of practice to target the most irresponsible retail practices, a £3 million cash injection for CDRPs for partnership activities in 190 areas and a further £1.5 million for police enforcement in our priority areas.
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