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31 Mar 2009 : Column 1058W—continued

Tourism: Coastal Areas

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what steps he is taking to promote family-friendly holidays at traditional seaside resorts; [265491]

(2) how much VisitBritain spent in promoting British seaside destinations in each of the last five years. [265493]

Barbara Follett: VisitBritain have advised that they do not hold figures for how much they have spent promoting British seaside destinations as any such funding would form part of a wider campaign.


31 Mar 2009 : Column 1059W

Seaside locations did feature in two recent campaigns, “Enjoy England’s Waterside” and “Family Fun”. Family holidays and seaside locations will also form part of the value campaign which is due for launch in April 2009.

One specific step my Department is taking which will support the promotion of family-friendly holidays in seaside towns is the Sea Change programme. This programme places culture at the heart of regenerating England’s seaside resorts by investing in arts, public space, cultural assets and heritage projects. The scheme, which will run for three years from 2008-11, giving £45 million in total, will encourage new visitors to coastal areas and help support and enrich existing communities.

The scheme is being delivered through a partnership involving Arts Council England, the BIG Lottery Fund, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the museums, libraries and archives council and the regional development agencies.

Justice

Children: Abuse

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions for child abuse there were in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in each year for the last 10 years. [267212]


31 Mar 2009 : Column 1060W

Maria Eagle: The number of persons aged 18 and over proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to child abuse from 1998 to 2007 (latest available) in the Sussex police force area can be viewed in the following table. Information held centrally cannot be broken down sufficiently to supply data for Eastbourne or East Sussex, thus Sussex police force area data have been provided in lieu. Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.

As there is no specific offence of “child abuse”, statistics are only provided where the victim can be identified as a child from the description of the offence. Furthermore the term “child abuse” describes harm caused to a child arising from emotional, physical, sexual abuse or neglect caused by a parent or carer. A number of other offences such as offences against the person including assault may frequently be used by the police to charge offenders.

These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.


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31 Mar 2009 : Column 1062W
Number of defendants aged 18 and over proceeded against at all courts for offences relating to child abuse in Sussex police force area 1998 to 2007( 1,2)
Proceeded against
Statute Offence description 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 S.5(3)

Causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

—

—

—

Children and Young Persons Act 1933 Sec. 1

Cruelty to or neglect of children

14

15

15

12

11

10

7

14

3

13

Offences against the Person Act 1861 Sec. 27

Abandoning children under two years

—

—

—

1

—

3

—

—

—

—

Sexual Offences Act 2003 S. 5(4)

Rape of a female child under 13 by a male

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

—

3

3

—

Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.5(4)

Rape of a male child under 13 by a male

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

—

1

—

1

Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.7(4)

Sexual assault on a female child under 13

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

1

5

9

7

Sexual Offences Act 2003—S.8(1)(2)(3), S.9(1)(a)(b)(c)(ii),(2),(3), S.10(1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii),(2),(3)(4)

Sexual activity involving a child

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

1

7

7

7

Sexual Offences Act 2003—S.16(1)(e)(i)(ii),(2)-(5), S.17(1)(e)(i)(ii),(2)-(5), S.18(1)(f)(ii),(2)-(5)(4)

Abuse of a position of trust: Sexual activity with children

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

—

2

—

—

Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1(5)

Rape of a female aged under 16

9

6

1

15

19

8

7

14

14

11

Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1(5)

Rape of a male aged under 16

1

3

1

—

1

5

2

3

1

—

n/a = Not applicable
(1) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(2) 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 courts, and 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.
(3) Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 S.5 came into force on 21 March 2005.
(4) The Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force on 1 May 2004.
(5) Prior to 2004 the offences “Rape of a female aged under 16” and “Rape of a male aged under 16” came under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 Section 1 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 section 142.
Source:
OCJR—E & A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence & Analysis Unit

Defamation

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to abolish the offence of criminal libel; and if he will make a statement. [267172]

Mr. Straw: Government accept that there is a case for early abolition of the rarely-used offence of defamatory libel. At present, this is an issue on which we are preparing to consult as part of a consultation paper which will focus primarily on certain issues relating to defamation and the internet. However, there will be an opportunity to debate this issue and whether immediate repeal could be justified during the passage of the Coroners and Justice Bill.

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to abolish the offences of (a) sedition and (b) seditious libel. [267173]

Mr. Straw: The Government accept that there is a case for abolition of these rarely-used offences. We are considering whether this can sensibly be disentangled from the reform of the law on treason, a project in the Law Commission’s 10(th) programme. There will be an opportunity to debate this issue during the passage of the Coroners and Justice Bill.

Departmental Energy

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much (a) electricity, (b) gas and (c) other fuel has been used by (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies since its inception. [267339]

Mr. Malik: The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007, the table shows the consumption of electricity, gas and other fuel for the year April 2007 to March 2008.

 Energy type Annual consumption (kWh)

MOJ HQ core estate

Electricity

20,179,413

Natural gas

7,417,634

Other fuel

—

Her Majesty’s Courts Service

Electricity

143,502,717

Natural gas

142,798,412

Other fuel

974,467

Tribunals Service

Electricity

7,487,197

Natural gas

741,894

Other fuel

—

National Offender Management Service (custodial property)

Electricity

316,055,628

Natural gas

810,129,566

Other fuel

166,570,000

The National Archives

Electricity

12,477,836

Natural gas

7,773,972

Other fuel

—

Her Majesty’s Land Registry

Electricity

20,687,222

Natural gas

21,252,152

Other fuel

2,533,535

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