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20 Apr 2009 : Column 154W—continued
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of cannabis seizures by (a) number and (b) weight or volume analysed by the Forensic Science Service had a tetrahydrocannabinol content of (a) less than three per cent., (b) four to six per cent., (c) seven to 10 per cent. and (d) 11 per cent. and over in each of the last 10 years. [265320]
Jacqui Smith:
The Forensic Science Service (FSS) Ltd has provided data in the following table. Only data from 2001 are readily available. The company reports that it
is asked to test for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content only in a small proportion of the seizures referred to them for analysis.
Data on average THC levels of cannabis have previously been published in the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' Reviews of Cannabis up to the year 2007. Data for 2008 can be found in the Home Office Cannabis
Potency Study 2008, published by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch, using test data prepared by the FSS. Another source of reference for 2005 is D. J. Potter, P. Clark and Marc B. Brown, Potency of D9- THC and other Cannabinoids in Cannabis in England in 2005: Implications for Psychoactivity and Pharmocology, J. Forensic Sci., 53(1), 90-94, 2008.
| Cannabis | ||||||
| THC range( 1) | ||||||
| Seizure year( 2) | Data | <=3 per cent. | 4-6 per cent. | 7-10 per cent. | >10 per cent. | Total per cent. |
| (1) THC = tetrahydrocannabinol (2) Data before 2001 are not readily available | ||||||
Civil Servants: Incentives
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has allocated for staff bonuses in 2008-09. [252248]
Mr. Woolas: For senior civil servants (“the SCS”) non-consolidated performance payments for 2008-09 have not been awarded yet as we are awaiting the recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body, the independent body which makes recommendations to the Government about SCS pay.
Under the current Home Office pay arrangements, up to 35 per cent. of staff below the SCS may receive non-consolidated performance payments for 2008-09 at a cost of up to £3 million: but these payments have not yet been determined. Non-consolidated performance payments are made to individuals who have made an exceptional contribution throughout the year.
There is also a scheme for awarding one-off non-consolidated special payments during the year. Up to 0.3 per cent. of the pay bill is allocated for this purpose. Special payments can be awarded for exceptional achievements by staff in particularly demanding tasks or situations at any time of the year.
All such non-consolidated performance-related payments are funded within existing pay bill controls, have to be re-earned each year against predetermined performance standards and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs.
Closed Circuit Television
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) financial and (b) other assistance her Department provides to local authorities for the installation of town centre closed circuit television security systems for the purposes of crime reduction and detection. [268409]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 2 April 2009]: Since the end of the Home Office initiative under the Crime Reduction Programme in 2003, no further funding has specifically been provided for the installation of town centre CCTV security systems by the Home Office.
Although no new specific CCTV funding has been introduced, funding streams such as the building safer communities fund are available to local authorities through crime and disorder reduction partnerships to allow them to tackle their local crime priorities using a number of interventions, including CCTV.
Community Relations: Internet
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which companies providing internet filtering products her Department has worked with to strengthen protection against online material which promotes violent extremism; and what the outcome has been of such work. [263166]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office is working with a range of companies that provide filtering and/or parental control software which offer products that allow users such as parents and schools to voluntarily restrict access to certain categories of material that may be harmful or offensive. Our engagement with the filtering industry is an ongoing process and I do not propose to provide a list of those we have worked with to date. Some companies, such as Smoothwall, have chosen to announce their participation in this work.
These companies are now able to receive from the Home Office details of material which we consider to be unlawful under the Terrorism Act 2006 in order to enhance the protection their products offer against terrorist material.
These products offer end-users a tool to make the internet a safer place for children and young people.
Convictions
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) burglaries, (b) thefts, (c) robberies and (d) assaults (i) were reported and (ii) resulted in a conviction in England and Wales in the last two years for which figures are available. [261890]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 9 March 2009]: Information is not available in the form requested.
Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason she decided to cease future funding to the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; what discussions she had on the matter with representatives of the National Policing Improvement Authority; and if she will make a statement. [269677]
Jacqui Smith: The original ministerial announcement of funding to the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners (CRFP) in 1999 was expressly subject to the CRFP’s performance, particularly the condition that it became self-financing through registrant’s fees and there should not be a long-term reliance on grant.
By the time CRFP closed, this goal of a self-funding independent accreditation body had not been achieved and the company was facing a long-term shortfall of funding, because the registration income did not match the expenditure—and would not have matched it, irrespective of whether the Government grant had been continued or not. This was likely to become considerably worse because of the withdrawal of support for the registration process by police forces.
The grant was latterly provided by the National Policing Improvement Agency, who last year jointly commissioned with the CRFP an independent analysis of CRFP’s finances. Following this, the CRFP’s financial situation, as detailed above, was clear and further commitment of public money to CRFP would have amounted to a long-term commitment to funding the company without full public control, which would not have been a justifiable or sustainable approach. I, and ministerial colleagues, were kept fully briefed on this issue throughout.
Fear of Crime
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by police forces to reduce the fear of crime and to increase public confidence in their personal security in public places. [269105]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Policing Green Paper: From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together which sets out the Government’s expectation that there will be a significant improvement in public confidence over the next three years.
Crime Prevention
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice her Department's online secure home scorecard tool offers in respect of each score achieved. [259602]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
The online scorecard has been designed so that each person who uses the tool will receive a number of suggestions on how to improve
their home security, targeted specifically to any potential weaknesses in their current home security arrangements, as identified from their answers.
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the installation of closed circuit television cameras in combating crime; and if she will make a statement. [265879]
Mr. Coaker: CCTV is a powerful crime fighting tool. Police operational experience and various research studies show that it deters and detects crime and helps secure convictions. It can also reduce fear of crime. CCTV works best as part of a package of measures to deal with specific events and crime problems.
A recent review of existing research was undertaken by the Campbell Collaboration, which was part funded by the National Policing Improvement Agency. The review found that CCTV has a modest but significant desirable effect on crime, is most effective in reducing crime in car parks, when targeted at vehicle crimes, and is more effective in reducing crime in the United Kingdom than in other countries. The main points of the review will be summarised and made available to police forces by the summer.
Crime Prevention: Coventry
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps her Department has taken to protect businesses in Coventry from criminal activities. [268765]
Mr. Woolas: Coventry was allocated £335,669 from the Police Basic Command Unit Fund by the Home Office in 2008-09 to deliver crime and disorder reduction, promote partnership working, and to assist in the delivery of the objectives set out in the Government's Public Service Agreements for 2008-11.
This funding has helped to fund two Business Improvement Districts in Coventry which work closely with Coventry's Community Safety Partnership with the aim of both improving relationships with business partners and also the response they receive in relation to tackling crime and disorder and antisocial behaviour. For example, deploying a business crime co-ordinator and working with businesses on prevention, education and target hardening advice/measures.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps her Department has taken to protect (a) domestic properties and (b) families in Coventry from criminal activities. [268766]
Mr. Woolas: The information is as follows:
(a) The Home Secretary recently announced a £15 million initiative to tackle burglary in domestic properties. This comprises: a national, regional and local media campaign providing crime prevention advice; specific advice on securing your home including a web-based toolkit; a safer homes fund to target measures designed to increase home security for the most vulnerable groups in society; increasing the pressure on prolific offenders; an on-line and leaflet version of home security assessment; and burglary advice packs including discount vouchers for DIY stores on home security products.
(b) Coventry has received Government funding for a number of specific projects that will protect both the community and families; for example, an initiative under the "Think Family" banner to promote early intervention that will prevent or reduce the circumstances that may lead to criminal or antisocial behaviour in families, and a Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre. Coventry is also part of several national schemes, which will help protect families from crime: it has been designated as an Alcohol Priority area; it is part of the Tackling Knives Action Programme, which includes actions such as safety arches being used at schools and additional police patrols during home time; it is part of the tackling violent crime programme; and it has also been successful in its bid for Youth Crime Action Plan funding for the next two financial years.
Crime: Maps
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure the delivery of local crime mapping. [268019]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The National Policing Improvement Agency is working towards the provision of a national crime map for England and Wales for the delivery to the public by the end of 2009. This will support and link the current 43 individual crime maps provided by forces since the end of December 2008.
Departmental Absenteeism
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of her Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on (a) 2 February 2009 and (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate she has made of the (i) cost to her Department and (ii) number of working hours lost due to such absence; and what guidance her Department issued to staff in respect of absence on these days. [260469]
Mr. Woolas: The disruption caused by the extreme weather conditions on 2 and 3 February this year caused severe difficulty for many Home Office staff travelling to and from work.
As a result guidance was provided to line managers to remind them that they should consider sympathetically circumstances where staff were unable to report for work or have had to leave early due to severe travel disruption. This guidance reflected existing departmental arrangements on travel disruptions set out in the Staff Handbook. These arrangements provide for situations where staff experience unavoidable travel delays due to travel disruption or other exceptional circumstances which may mean they are either late for work or are unable to attend work. In these circumstances those staff that use the departmental flexi time system may be given a credit to compensate for travel delays. Depending on circumstances, other staff might not be required to make up time lost.
It was left to managers to decide locally whether the provisions allowed for in the Staff Handbook should be applied in individual cases. Records of the number of staff who were not able to attend work on 2 and 3 February as a result of the disruption to the transport system were not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
For the same reason it is also not possible to provide an estimate of the cost to the Department or the total number of working hours that were lost.
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