| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
31 Mar 2009 : Column 1075W—continued
| Expenditure on newspapers and journals for period 2006-08 | |||
| £ | |||
| SWETS (journals) | Jones Yarrell (newspapers) | Total | |
Departmental Publications
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the (a) production and printing and (b) other costs to her Department of producing its most recent (i) departmental annual report and (ii) autumn performance report. [266692]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is as follows:
(a) To the nearest £1,000, the 2008 departmental report cost £34,000 to produce and print, and the 2008 autumn performance report cost £5,000. These figures include the costs of design, typesetting and printing.
(b) Producing and reviewing the text and data contained in both documents involves staff across the Home Office and other departments, and it is not possible to produce an estimate of the costs of their time without incurring disproportionate cost.
Detainees: Afghanistan
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 5 March 2009, Official Report, columns 65-67WS, on the Justice and Home Affairs Council, what discussions she had with her EU counterparts on the return of Guantanamo detainees at the lunchtime meeting during the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 26 February 2009. [266187]
Jacqui Smith: During the Justice and Home Council on 26 February 2009 I took part in a closed working lunch for Interior Ministers during which there was an informal exchange of views on the situation in Guantanamo. Specifically, for the first time, Interior Ministers discussed the decision by US President Barack Obama to close the Guantanamo detention centre within a year.
Following discussion in the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 26 January, where it was recognised that the primary responsibility for closing Guantanamo rests with the United States, discussions focused on whether there were ways in which member states could assist the United States, given common interests in counter-terrorism, human rights and the rule of law. It was also acknowledged that such potential assistance raised a number of political, legal and security issues which would need further study and consultation.
Ministers agreed that any decision to accept former detainees was a national decision. Ministers also agreed that further discussion with the United States on this matter was desirable.
Detainees: Immigration
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been detained in immigration removal centres for (a) working illegally and (b) offences under section 7 of the Theft Act 1968 in each year since 2001. [264500]
Jacqui Smith: We do not hold the information requested centrally and it would require each record to be examined individually, which would be at disproportionate cost.
Domestic Violence: Crime Prevention
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce incidents of domestic violence in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands. [265067]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 24 March 2009]: Every Government office received £350,000 in 2008-09 to support work to tackle domestic and sexual violence across their region. In Coventry a range of initiatives have been supported such as: early intervention pilots, an independent domestic violence adviser and associated training, a domestic violence enforcement campaign and capacity building to support the roll out of the Coventry Multi Agency Risk Assessment conference.
Group of Twenty: London Summit
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2009, Official Report, columns 1186-7W, on Group of Twenty: London Summit, how much of the cost to the public purse is accounted for by policing costs. [266082]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 24 March 2009]: Policing costs are an operational matter for the Chief Officers of the forces concerned.
Of the current estimate of £19 million for the costs of the London Summit it is thought that about a third of this is related to policing and security costs.
Illegal Immigrants: Expenditure
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on establishing the identity of (a) illegal immigrants and (b) foreign national prisoners in 2008. [267447]
Mr. Woolas: Efforts to establish the identity of a foreign national typically form a part of overall enforcement activities. As such it is not possible to disaggregate the funding and other resources in place to establish the identity of a foreign national from the overall budget and resources attributed to enforcement activities.
Appendix A of the UK Border Agency Business Plan for April 2008 to March 2011 contains a table which shows the overall budget allocation and staffing plans for the agency for the current financial year. This document is available to view in the Library of the House and at the following website:
Immigration Controls: Overseas Students
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2009, Official Report, columns 636-37W, on immigration controls: educational institutions, what will be acceptable as verifiable evidence that the necessary funds are available. [267785]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 30 March 2009]: The information requested by the hon. Gentleman is set out in paragraph 132 of the Tier 4 Policy guidance. This document is available in the House of Commons Library and has also been published on the UK Border Agency website.
Khat
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will consider the merits of (a) controlling and (b) prohibiting the sale of khat under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. [264909]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Pursuant to our commitment in the Government’s 2008 Drug Strategy Action Plan, we are currently updating our understanding of the individual and social harms caused by khat use, the needs of khat users and their families, and its impact on the UK Somali, Ethiopian and Yemeni communities. Following the outcome of this research work, we will reconsider our position on the control of khat under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. This consideration will look at the various options for control.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 10 February 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr T Veal. [266373]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 25 March 2009.
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to provide a substantive reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 17 February 2009 to the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency concerning a constituent, reference M3560/9. [267784]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 30 March 2009]: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Lin Homer, wrote to my hon. Friend on 25 March 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter to her dated 19 February 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regard to Rana Faisal Mahmood. [268027]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 25 March 2009.
Metropolitan Police: Complaints
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with (a) the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and (b) the Metropolitan Police Authority on the steps to be taken by the Metropolitan Police Service following the High Court judgment in the case of Babar Ahmad. [267170]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 27 March 2009]: I have noted the High Court decision in the Babar Ahmad case. This is an operational matter and is for the Metropolitan Police Service and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
National Wildlife Crime Unit
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has allocated to the National Wildlife Crime Unit in each year since its inception. [266955]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office funded the National Wildlife Crime Unit in the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08 at a total amount of £15,367.28 and then at a total of £150,000 in 2008-09. The increase in the contribution was to secure the unit's continued future operation and to match the level of funding contributed by DEFRA.
Offences Against Children
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the results of Operation Glover against organised criminal sexual exploitation. [267015]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Operation Glover was a successful operational policing exercise, the main outcomes of which were contained in pages 32-33 of the July 2008 update of the UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking. A copy of the plan was placed in the Library. No formal report of the operation was produced, and no further results will be published.
Offensive Weapons: Crime Prevention
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to reduce levels of knife crime; and what assessment she has made of the efficacy of each type of intervention. [266405]
Mr. Alan Campbell: In June last year, the Government, with the support of the police service, launched the Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) to address the pressing concern around teenage knife crime in England and Wales, focusing resources in 10 areas of the country. In total, over £5 million was given for targeted action. On 11 March, the Home Secretary announced the extension to the Programme for another year, with an extended focus on gang-related and serious youth violence, targeting 13 to 24-year-olds. Two new police forces, Hampshire and Kent, have also now joined the programme.
In the past 10 months, the TKAP forces and their local areas have undertaken a wide range of work to clamp down on teenage knife violence. This includes enforcement operations, education and other work with schools, and an award-winning marketing campaign.
Provisional data published by the Department of Health on 12 March show encouraging results to date. In June to November 2008 there were 31 per cent. fewer admissions to NHS hospitals for stab wounds, among those aged 13 to 19 years, in the nine English TKAP areas, compared to the same period last year. This is compared to an 18 per cent. reduction in non-TKAP areas over the same period.
Police: Publicity
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been allocated to advertising the policing pledge on radio in the United Kingdom; and what the objectives of this advertising campaign are. [267373]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 30 March 2009]: The Home Office have spent £670,000 on buying radio advertising in England and Wales to advertise the Policing Pledge.
The campaign's objectives are to raise awareness and understanding of the Policing Pledge, explain the public's entitlement and signpost the public to further sources of information.
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions there have been of drivers of high vehicles for offences committed in connection with crashes with low bridges in the last five years. [267300]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery. It is not possible to separately identify offences of dangerous and careless driving from within these offence groups.
Additionally, data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on court proceedings for motoring offences do not contain information about the type of vehicle involved, other than the description provided in the statute under which proceedings are brought. Information is also not held centrally on the circumstances which were brought to the courts’ attention as part of the proceedings.
Stop and Search: Greater London
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals were found to be carrying illegal (a) weapons and (b) drugs during stop and search procedures by the police in (i) Bexley and (ii) London in each of the last 10 years. [266902]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information on the number of arrests arising from stop and search procedures for illegal weapons and drugs in Greater London from 1998-99 (previous data too unreliable) to 2006-07 (latest available) are provided in the table. Information for 2007-08 is due to be published on 30 April 2009.
The information reported to the Home Office on searches is broken down at police force area level only and cannot separately identify arrests resulting from searches conducted in Bexley.
| Number persons arrested for the possession of offensive weapons and drugs after stop and search procedures by police in Greater London( 1) ,1997-98 to 2006-07 | |||
| Stop and searches under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 | Searches in anticipation of violence under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 | ||
| Arrests for offensive weapons | Arrests for drugs | Number of arrests for possession of offensive weapons or dangerous instruments | |
| (1) Includes City of London and Metropolitan Police. Note: 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 police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used. | |||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |