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6 May 2009 : Column 294W—continued

Proscription orders since 2000:

Coming into force 29 March 2001

Coming into force on 1 November 2002:


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Coming into force on 14 October 2005:

Coming into force on 26 July 2006:

Coming into force on 25 July 2007:

Mujaheddin e Khalq was removed from the proscribed list on 24 June 2008.

The following entry

was substituted for the entry

with effect from 18 July 2008.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on which date each organisation that has been removed from the proscription list under the Terrorism Act 2000 was removed; what the reasons for the removal were in each case; and if she will make a statement. [272166]

Mr. Coaker: Mujaheddin e Khalq, also known as the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), is the only organisation to have been removed from the list of proscribed organisations. The Order proscribing the organisation came into force on 24 June 2008 following rulings from the Court of Appeal and the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) that the organisation was no longer concerned in terrorism as set out in the Terrorism Act 2000.

Racial Discrimination: Internet

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Minister in her Department has policy responsibility for tackling racism on the internet; what funds her Department has allocated to
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tackling racism on the internet in 2009-10; what steps are being taken to tackle (a) racism and (b) anti-Semitic hate on the internet. [271850]

Mr. Coaker: I am responsible for tackling hate crime on the internet. This includes racism on the internet. In February 2009 a ministerial seminar met to discuss how to more effectively tackle hate crime on the internet, including anti-Semitic hate crime. Work following this meeting is ongoing with officials currently researching options and costings on how best to tackle internet hate crime. Consideration will be given to the costed proposals in due course.

Reparation by Offenders: Publicity

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on its advertising campaign Justice Seen, Justice Done to date. [272882]

Mr. Coaker: The Justice Seen Justice Done Campaign comprised two elements—communications about the new Policing Pledge and communications about Community Payback.

The total media spend on the Policing Pledge campaign was £3,427,521.The total media spend on the Community Payback campaign was £621,266.

Sexual Offences

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) complaints and (b) items of correspondence (i) her Department and (ii) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has received in respect of historical investigations of allegations of sex abuse in each year since 2001. [270817]

Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not hold this information.

Stop and Search: Essex

Mr. Burns: 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) West Chelmsford constituency and (ii) Essex in each of the last 10 years. [271985]

Mr. Coaker: Information on the number of arrests arising from stop and search procedures for illegal weapons and drugs in Essex police force area from 1998-99 to 2007-08 (latest available) is provided in the table.

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 the West Chelmsford constituency area.


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Number of persons arrested for the possession of offensive weapons and drugs after stop and search procedures by police in Essex police force area, 1998-99 — 2007-08
Stops 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

1998-99

55

491

—

1999-2000

76

354

—

2000-01

73

408

—

2001-02

90

308

—

2002-03

97

339

—

2003-04

91

300

1

2004-05

127

309

3

2005-06

118

286

1

2006-07

109

270

—

2007-08

133

432

2

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.

Telecommunications: Databases

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the annual cost to businesses of implementation of her proposals to retain email and web information on customers. [272582]

Mr. Coaker: Current legislation, the Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 (Statutory Instrument 2009/859), provides that the Secretary of State may, subject to prior agreement, reimburse any expenses incurred by a public communications provider in complying with the regulations for retention of communications data. On 27 April the Home Secretary published a consultation paper, “Protecting the Public in a Changing Communications Environment” seeking views on options for maintaining the capability of law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies to obtain communications data to protect the public.

The paper outlines that high level initial estimates of the cost of the options are in the range of up to £2 billion over a 10 year period. The Government are actively seeking the views of business on the proposed options to help meet its Better Regulation commitments to minimise their impact on business.

Territorial Support Group: Complaints

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many complaints were received against officers of the Territorial Support Group in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; and how many such complaints have been received in 2009 to date; [271848]

(2) how many allegations of assault were made against officers of the Territorial Support Group in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009 to date; and of these, how many were (i) upheld, (ii) allegations of assaults against ethnic minorities and (iii) allegations of assaults against women. [272359]


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Mr. Coaker: These data are not held by the Home Office. The Metropolitan Police Service may be able to provide such information.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is responsible for collecting the general complaint statistics that are published annually. However, these statistics are not broken down to the specific policing duty area where the officer works.

Terrorism: Anthrax

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment has been made of the level of risk of anthrax infection to workers in Government Department postal sections arising from the terrorist action; and if she will make a statement; [271429]

(2) what guidance her Department has given to companies on the vaccination of key workers against anthrax infection arising from terrorist action; [271430]

(3) whether personnel in the 18 chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear preparedness centres planned in the Government's Contest counter-terrorism strategy will be vaccinated against anthrax infection; [271431]

(4) what assessment she has made of the likely effects on public health of the release of anthrax spores on a platform at a deep-level London Underground station serving multiple Underground lines; and if she will make a statement; [271432]

(5) which manufacturers of vaccines against anthrax are represented on (a) the security and resilience suppliers community (RISC) and (b) the RISC chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear industry advisory group; [271433]

(6) what steps her Department took following the spreading of anthrax contamination by postal means in the US in 2001; and if she will make a statement. [271434]

Mr. Coaker: From 2001, and following the anthrax incidents in the United States of America, the United Kingdom’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Resilience programme has provided the framework for comprehensive planning and preparation for dealing with the possible consequences of a CBRN attack. In addition, the Government’s wider Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST) deals, among other things, with all aspects of protection to the public, including security advice to the private sector. While for security reasons it would be inappropriate to detail all aspects of such planning, the Government’s approach is to prevent terrorists from obtaining or using hazardous materials; to put in place safeguards to protect the public, public places or critical national infrastructure from such attacks; and to ensure that measures are in place to reduce the impact of any such attack should it occur. The Health and Safety Executive has, for example, produced guidance on “Biological/Chemical Threats by Post” and general advice to businesses is provided by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure.

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