| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 Apr 2009 : Column 1312W—continued
Community Relations: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written answer by Baroness Andrews of 9 March 2009, Official Report, House of Lords, WA 212-3, on the Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund, if her Department will adopt a policy requiring public bodies that have received funding from it to prevent violent extremism to report annually (a) to which community groups and individuals they have allocated funding and (b) on the work they have undertaken and how they plan to monitor its effectiveness. [266852]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 26 March 2009]: The Home Office provides grant funding to a number of public bodies to assist in their activities to prevent violent extremism. This includes the Youth Justice Board, the National Offender Management Service and the police. These organisations are required to regularly report to the Department on expenditure, and account for their activities such that we can evaluate their effectiveness and value for money. This includes where they in turn, provide funding to community organisations.
In respect of funding provided via local authorities, this is allocated through the area based grant—a non-ring fenced grant fund which allows local authorities to decide the most effective and efficient routes to invest their resources for the delivery of local priorities.
Authorities are measured on the outcomes they achieve using this funding through the National Indicator Set.
All authorities, including those who have received area-based grant funding in support of their work to prevent violent extremism, must therefore report to Government annually against National Indicator 35, an indicator in the National Indicator Set which measures progress in building resilience to violent extremism. Work to prevent violent extremism is included in the Comprehensive Area Assessment process, led by the Audit Commission, which assesses how well local services are working together to improve the quality of life for local people.
We continue to work closely with local authorities to deliver this agenda and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons on 17 March, copied to Paul Goodman MP, agreeing to provide information about the groups that local authorities are working with.
Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the decision to close the Council of the Registration of Forensic Practitioners was taken before the conclusion of the Department's consultation on the review of the options for the accreditation of forensic practitioners. [267112]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 26 March 2009]: The Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners (CRFP) Board took the decision to wind up the company. By far the largest stakeholders in CRFP are the police who make up over 70 per cent. of the CRFP register, costing police forces about £350,000 per annum. Police forces recently gave notice of their intention to withdraw, leaving CRFP with significant funding shortages that could not be met by the grant in aid, regardless of the outcome of the regulator's review of the options for accreditation.
Crime: Detection Rates
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the crime detection rate in each police force in England was in 2007-08. [256685]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is provided in Table 7.03 on page 179 of “Crime in England and Wales 2007/08”. A copy of this publication is available at:
Crimes of Violence: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in the number of violent crimes committed in Tamworth constituency between 2007 and 2008 was. [267999]
Mr. Alan Campbell: A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to suggestions in two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term ‘violent crime’ is no longer used in connection with the recorded crime statistics and we now provide figures for violence against the person.
The available information shows that there was a fall of 19 per cent. in recorded offences of violence against the person in Tamworth between 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many named day questions tabled to her Department during the current session have received a holding reply; how many are awaiting a substantive reply; and if she will make a statement; [266991]
(2) what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken by her Department to answer named day questions; and if she will make a statement. [266992]
Mr. Alan Campbell: All parliamentary questions that do not receive a substantive answer on the day nominated by hon. Members receive a holding reply as a matter of courtesy.
The table shows current Home Office performance for providing a substantive response to named day questions in the 2008-09 session, to 25 March.
The Department continually reviews its processes for handling parliamentary questions, including named day questions, in order to improve performance.
| Named day( 1) performance, Session 2008-09, to 25 March 2009 | ||
| Answered | Total | Cumulative percentage |
| (1) Named day questions include oral questions that are unstarred or not reached on the day. | ||
Eddie Gilfoyle
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will refer the case of Mr. Eddie Gilfoyle to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. [260694]
Jacqui Smith: There were two separate supervised investigations conducted by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) (October 1993 to September 1994 and February 1996 to April 1997) into complaints made by Mr. Gilfoyle’s family about the Merseyside police investigation.
The IPCC reviewed the PCA investigation files and concluded that there was no new evidence of police misconduct to justify a referral to the IPCC.
Entry Clearances
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons working for her Department were discovered not to have the requisite permission to be in the UK in each of the last three years. [254415]
Jacqui Smith: No employees of the Home Office were found to be working without permission to be in the UK in these three years.
Forensic Science
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timetable she has set for publication of the Forensics White Paper. [267894]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We are currently considering the timetable for the Forensics White Paper, and are taking particular account of our commitment to respond to the recent European Court judgment relating to the retention of DNA profiles.
Hezbollah
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of links between the political and military wings of Hezbollah. [268155]
Mr. Coaker: In July 2008, the military wing of Hezbollah, including the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it (including the Hezbollah External Security Organisation) was added to schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000 (the proscribed list). Prior to that, only the External Security Organisation of Hezbollah was proscribed. The amendment to schedule 2 followed a thorough review of Hezbollah and the extent to which various parts of the organisation are concerned in terrorism. The review concluded that a distinction could be drawn between those parts of Hezbollah which are legitimately involved in Lebanese politics and those which are directly concerned in terrorism, and the new entry in schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000 reflects that distinction.
Immigration Controls
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an applicant from the UK applying for Tier 1 migrant status is required to demonstrate evidence of funds of £800 or more in each of the three months preceding the date of the application. [268225]
Mr. Woolas: Overseas nationals wishing to apply under the Tier one (General), Tier one (Post-study Work) and the Tier one (Entrepreneur) categories from within the UK are required to demonstrate evidence of funds of £800 or more in each of the three months preceding the date of the application.
Overseas nationals wishing to apply under the Tier one (Investor) category are not required to demonstrate maintenance funds, due to the significant level of investment they are required to make in the UK.
Metropolitan Police: Costs
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average cost to the Metropolitan Police of an unsuccessful attempt to arrest an individual subsequently found to be in custody in the last 12 months. [267577]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 27 March 2009]: The information requested is not held centrally.
Police
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress has been made on implementation of the policing pledge. [268018]
Mr. Coaker: All 43 police forces across England and Wales have now implemented the policing pledge. As part of the 'Justice Seen, Justice Done' programme, a nationwide drive has been launched to inform the public of the levels of service that the police have committed to providing in the pledge.
The Policing Green Paper explained the new relationship between the Government, police and public. The Home Office has now adopted a more strategic role allowing for grassroots accountability and an enhanced role for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) in providing public assurance about the quality and standard of policing in all forces. The Home Office will not be directly assessing the performance of forces against the pledge; however HMIC will validate the delivery of the pledge through their inspection process. Police authorities
will also wish to be satisfied that the pledge is being delivered for local people. Additionally, if the public do not feel the standards within the pledge are being met they can raise it locally with the police themselves or through their police authority.
Police: Bureaucracy
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to reduce police bureaucracy. [268020]
Mr. Coaker: It is vital that the police are able to deliver for the public in the most efficient way. This is why in the Policing Green Paper, published last year, the Home Office attached so much priority to cutting red tape and investing in technology. The Government's approach to bureaucracy is to reform processes to free up officer time, while also returning discretion to police officers and encouraging them to use their professional judgment.
Following a recommendation by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Home Office has supported a project to reduce the length of the crime recording form for use in the majority of incidents. A shortened crime recording process was piloted in four police forces areas in 2008, which allowed officers to exercise greater professional judgment in completing forms. PACE Code A has now been changed to remove the requirement of police officers to complete the stop and account form, while retaining the recording of the ethnicity of those stopped for monitoring reasons. The Government are also investing £80 million to deliver 30,000 new mobile data devices in to the hands of front-line officers by March 2010 to help them work more efficiently and to carry out many of these processes out on the street and not in the station.
The Home Office is also committed to reducing by up to 50 per cent. the amount of data it collects from police forces and has now removed the requirement for police officers to complete time-sheets for the purposes of activity based costing as well as removing or reducing the data it collected from police forces across a total of 36 data streams. Furthermore, the Home Office has taken steps to streamline its police performance management process, including the move to a single top-down target on public confidence.
Finally, the Home Office has appointed Jan Berry as the independent Reducing Bureaucracy Advocate to challenge Government and the police service to make further reductions to bureaucracy. Jan Berry has established a practitioner group comprising police officers and staff which is already scrutinising a number of police processes to identify where further reductions in bureaucracy can be achieved.
Police: Firearms
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on firearms training for (a) the police and (b) the UK Border Agency staff in 2008. [267446]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office spent no money on firearms training for the police or UK Border Agency staff in 2008. Police firearms training costs are met from within police force budgets. UKBA staff do not carry firearms.
Public Order Offences
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the merits of (a) reducing the scope of the offence in section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 in respect of insulting words or behaviour and (b) issuing guidance to (i) police forces and (ii) the Crown Prosecution Service on the handling of complaints relating to section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986. [267174]
Mr. Coaker: Following my appearance before the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into policing and protest last December, I wrote to the ACPO lead on public order to seek her advice on the need for additional guidance to address the concerns that were raised by members of that Committee about section five of the Public Order Act.
There are potentially far reaching implications to any amendments to section five. In view of the Joint Committee on Human Right's recent recommendation to amend section five, we are considering the offence and will be responding to all the Committee's recommendations in due course.
Terrorism
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) has been spent and (b) is planned to be spent on the installation of radiological detection systems at ports of entry to the UK, as referred to on page 15 of the United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering International Terrorism, Cm 7547; how many such systems have been installed; and how many remain to be installed. [268064]
Mr. Coaker: Programme Cyclamen provides both a fixed and mobile capability to detect, deter and intercept smuggled radiological material. At the end of March 2009, the cost of installing the detection equipment at ports across the UK was £76.7 million. The roll out of equipment is continuing and the planned cost of installing equipment is a further £85.6 million over the next two financial years. Due to the sensitivities around live operations, details about the numbers or locations of fixed detection equipment and mobile radiation detection units cannot be disclosed.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what scientific research programmes are being carried out into chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorist threats, as referred to at paragraph 0.61, page 15 of the United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering International Terrorism, Cm 7547; and at which institution each programme is being carried out. [268065]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |