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27 Mar 2009 : Column 765W—continued
Custody: Ex-servicemen
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will ensure that the Veterans in Custody Support programme's Have you served? leaflet is made available to those detained in police custody suites who have previously served in the armed forces; and if she will make a statement. [261048]
Mr. Coaker: Posters and leaflets for Veterans Prison In-Reach will be circulated shortly under the Veterans Prison In-Reach Initiative to all UK prison establishments. We will consider with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice the suitability of providing information specific to veterans held in police custody in England and Wales.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many civil servants in her Department have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for breaches of the Civil Service Code in each of the last three years; [241408]
(2) pursuant to her Statement of 4 December 2008, if she will place in the Library a list of relevant leaks, by broad category of highly classified material which was passed to the police. [241409]
Mr. Woolas [h olding answer 9 December 2008]: Information on breaches of the civil service code is not held centrally, because cases where staff are disciplined or dismissed are recorded in relation to the category of offence (for instance, abuse of IT or general misconduct). Collating this information would incur disproportionate cost.
But the figures in relation to all discipline and dismissal cases, on disciplinary grounds, attendance grounds and efficiency grounds in Home Office HQ and the UK Border Agency for the last three years are:
| Numbers of staff dismissed | ||
| Home Office HQ | UK Border Agency | |
| Numbers of staff disciplined | ||
| Home Office HQ | UK Border Agency | |
The police were passed papers relating to a range of identified leaks from the Home Office. It is Home Office policy not to comment on the nature of leaked material.
Domestic Violence: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many men and teenage boys have reported being subject to domestic violence in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in the last 12 months; [265791]
(2) how many women and teenage girls have reported being subject to domestic violence in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in the last 12 months. [265792]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We do not collect this information centrally.
Drugs: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of possession of (a) cannabis, (b) cocaine, (c) heroin, (d) ecstasy, (e) ketamine and (f) LSD have been recorded by police in (i) Eastbourne and (ii) East Sussex in each of the last 10 years. [267272]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Recorded offences of possession of cannabis have been collected separately since 2004-05 and the available figures are given in the table. Possession of other drug types are included in the Home Office classification 'Possession of controlled drugs (excluding cannabis)' but the drug type cannot be separately identified.
Recent rises in recorded possession of cannabis offences are largely associated with the increased police use of powers to issue warnings for cannabis possession, these powers first becoming nationally available from 1 April 2004.
Offence categorisations as used in police recorded crime have always been broader than those used in court proceedings and the detailed returns on cautioning. From 1 April 2004, it was agreed that cannabis possession be separated from other drug possession offences to better monitor the use of police powers to issue cannabis warnings. It has not been considered necessary to record more detailed breakdowns on other drug possession offences as overall detection rates for these offences are high.
Information on court proceedings and cautioning give a good picture of the extent of other drug possessions that come to the attention of the police by type of drug.
| Possession of cannabis offences recorded by the police | ||
| Eastbourne local authority area | East Sussex Basic Command Unit | |
| n/a = Not available. | ||
Dual Nationality
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2009, Official Report, column 116W, on dual nationality, where the information requested is held; and if she will collect and publish it. [267361]
Mr. Malik:
There is no requirement under the British Nationality Act 1981 for a person to renounce their
previous nationality when acquiring British citizenship. Nor is there any bar on holding another nationality at the same time as British citizenship, for example where one nationality is held by birth and the other by descent.
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) does not request information about applicant's dual nationality as part of the application for a British passport there is, therefore, no information held by the IPS or Home Office to provide a response to this question.
Furthermore if a British passport holder subsequently gains the nationality of another country they are not required to inform the IPS or the Home Office.
Firearms
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of police investigations of suspected offences involving ball-bearing guns in each of the last three years; what guidance is issued to the police on conducting such investigations; and if she will make a statement. [265777]
Mr. Coaker: Available data relate to the number of offences recorded by the police involving the use of a BB gun or soft air weapon, where they were fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person, or used as a threat. Latest data relate to 2007-08 and were published in table 2.03 of ‘Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2007-08’ (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/09, 22 January 2009), which is available online at:
A copy of the relevant table is shown as follows.
How suspected offences are investigated is an operational matter for the force concerned. To help them tackle the misuse of any kind of imitation firearm we have strengthened the controls considerably on several recent occasions. It is now an offence to have an imitation firearm in a public place without reasonable excuse; they cannot be sold to persons under 18; and there is a general ban on the sale, importation and manufacture of realistic imitations. It is also a serious offence to threaten other people with an imitation firearm.
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