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6 May 2009 : Column 298W—continued
With regard to anthrax vaccine, the Health Protection Agency is the sole manufacturer of the UK’s licensed anthrax vaccine. The vaccine is manufactured for and on behalf of the UK Government. As a public body,
the HPA is not a member of RISC. Routine vaccination against anthrax is generally used only to protect individuals who may be exposed to anthrax in the workplace (for example working with animal hides).
Terrorism: Arrests
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions have been made under the (i) Terrorism Act 2000 and (ii) Terrorism Act 2006 in each year since their implementation. [272196]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not currently available.
The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Office are currently working with the National Coordinator for Terrorist Investigations to improve the quality of data on arrests and convictions under terrorist legislation and other related legislation. As soon as this is complete a statistical bulletin to cover information on arrests and convictions will be published.
Terrorism: Convictions
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of indictments on charges of terrorism has resulted in convictions in the last two years. [273315]
Mr. Coaker: The information required will be contained in the Statistical Bulletin on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes which is due to be published shortly. The data contained in the Statistical Bulletin are recorded up until 31 March 2008.
Statistics for 2008-09 are expected to be published in late 2009.
Terrorism: Crime Prevention
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional training is proposed for employees of (a) civil nuclear facilities, including research laboratories, and (b) military bases in support of the resilience strategy set out in the report, “The United Kingdom's Strategy for Countering International Terrorism”. [267593]
Mr. Coaker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Ministry of Defence are among the wide range of stakeholders involved in the delivery of the strategy for countering international terrorism, including work to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and to recover from its aftermath. Civil nuclear installations in the UK operate within a strict regulatory regime. Robust emergency plans are in place to ensure an effective response in the event of an emergency at a civil nuclear site. These plans are subject to regular exercise and review. We do not comment on the arrangements for security of military facilities for obvious reasons.
Theft: Motor Vehicles
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many thefts from vehicles were recorded in Staffordshire Police Authority area in each of the last five years; [271269]
(2) how many incidents of vehicle crime were recorded in Staffordshire in each year since 2005. [271272]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the table.
| Numbers of offences against vehicles recorded in the Staffordshire police force area | |||||
| Offence | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to reduce the incidence of vehicle crime in rural areas since 2005. [271273]
Mr. Coaker: The Government are committed to ensuring that the response to motor vehicle and other motor vehicle enabled crime is as effective as possible.
Crime and disorder reduction partnerships and Community safety partnerships are required to prioritise the crime types and problems of most concern locally based on a robust strategic assessment. This involves an appropriately differentiated approach between areas.
Total recorded offences against vehicles fell by 20 per cent. between 2004-05 and 2007-08.
We also know from British crime survey statistics published in July 2008 that theft of vehicles fell by over 21 per cent. from 2005-06 to 2007-08, and that theft from vehicles fell by over 14 per cent. over the same period.
66 per cent. of vehicle crime involves theft from vehicles, and this is being tackled through local crime prevention initiatives such as reminding drivers about leaving items visible in vehicles.
Success in the reduction of theft of vehicles has been achieved, in part, through successful problem solving—particularly in reducing repeat victimisation and improved vehicle security which has been achieved by partnership working between the Government, motor manufacturers and insurers.
British crime survey statistics consistently show that crime is lower in rural areas. The following table shows the percentage of households in each area type that were victims of vehicle related thefts:
| Vehicle crime | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Urban | Rural | |
Vehicle Number Plates
Mr. Benyon:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions have been brought for offences related to (a) speeding,
(b) jumping red lights and (c) stolen vehicles as a result of the use of automatic number plate recognition technology in each police force area in each of the last five years. [271767]
Mr. Coaker: Automatic Number Plate Recognition is now in regular use in all aspects of operational policing. Records relating to the number of successful prosecutions as a result of the use of this technology are not held centrally.
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which (a) individuals, (b) private businesses and (c) public authorities are able to access data collated by automatic number plate recognition systems operated by police forces. [271768]
Mr. Coaker: The handling of ANPR data by police forces is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, and any requests for access would be considered within that context.
(a) Individuals have no specific right to access data collated by ANPR systems operated by police forces.
(b) Private businesses have no specific right to access data collated by ANPR systems operated by police forces.
(c) Public authorities have no specific right to access data collated by ANPR systems operated by police forces. However, some local authority CCTV control rooms have the provision to be alerted to ANPR hits to enable efficient operation of CCTV cameras. In such circumstances, the reason for the interest in the vehicle is not shared with the control room. Local authorities have—by agreement with the police—the ability to alert police to a vehicle.
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what period of time police forces are allowed to retain data acquired via automatic number plate recognition systems. [271769]
Mr. Coaker: Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data are, in general, retained for the first 90 days after collection, for viewing by authorised persons for post-crime interrogation and investigation. This enables investigations to use the ANPR tool to identify suspects, witnesses or patterns.
Some data maybe retained for up to two years, however, these data are partitioned from general viewing. A senior officer (superintendent or above) must authorise any access to data older than 90 days. This authorisation is restricted to serious crime and counter-terrorism investigations only.
The Association of Chief Police Officers is currently revising its guidance around data retention.
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation governs the operation of automatic number plate recognition systems by police forces. [271770]
Mr. Coaker: In their usage of Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems, police are bound by the provisions of legislation including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 247959, on loss of departmental property, tabled on 12 January 2009. [262507]
Mr. Woolas: Question 247959 was answered on 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 160W.
Children, Schools and Families
Adoption: British Overseas Territories
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make it his policy to apply The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to all overseas territories. [270404]
Beverley Hughes: For the Hague convention to be extended to any overseas territory, that territory must have the necessary legislation for implementing the convention in place. The ‘overseas territories’ are self-governing and our position is that implementation of the convention is a matter for them. Should an overseas territory wish to implement the convention, then we could extend the convention to that territory once the necessary legislation was in place.
We would encourage all countries to implement the Hague convention to protect the best interests of children in intercountry adoptions.
Children in Care
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of grandparents and other family members in England who are (a) family and friends carers but not foster carers and (b) family and friends foster carers. [270228]
Beverley Hughes: One of the key principles of the Children Act 1989 is that children should be cared for by their families where this is consistent with the child's welfare.
Where a child needs to be looked after by the state, local authorities are required to consider the potential benefits of a placement with family and friends before all other options. A family or friend who has a child placed with them by the local authority must become an approved foster carer. The number of foster carers who are related to the child placed with them is not collected centrally. However, information collected in the SSDA903 return from local authorities shows that the number of looked after children at 31 March 2008 in a foster placement with a relative or friend is 6,900.
Family and friends caring for children who are not looked after by the state are a very broad group. Some will be caring for the child as a private family arrangement with the child's parents, where state intervention will not necessarily be appropriate and the child and their carers may not be known to the local authority.
If a child being cared for by a family or friend is assessed as being in need, the local authority may provide support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (“the Act”) in order to promote their upbringing by their family. The number of families receiving support under section 17 of the Act is not collected centrally.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in care in 2008 had had more than (a) 60, (b) 70, (c) 80, (d) 90 and (e) 100 foster placements while in care. [270905]
Beverley Hughes: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 3 February 2009, Official Report, columns 1055-58W.
The response showed that there were no children looked after in 2008 that had more than 30 foster placements. This means that there were also no children looked after in 2008 that had more than (a) 60, (b) 70, (c) 80, (d) 90 and (e) 100 foster placements while in care.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in council care homes subsequently moved into private housing in (a) Leeds West constituency, (b) the Leeds metropolitan area and (c) England in the last five years. [271113]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of looked after children in private housing is not collected centrally by the Department.
However information on the number of looked after children placed in homes is available from tables A3 and LAA2 in the Statistical First Release entitled ‘Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008’, which is located at
Table A3 (national level) can be found within the 1st set of national tables and table LAA2 (local authority level) can be found within the first set of additional tables.
Children: Databases
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) which local authorities have not completed the first phase of implementation of the ContactPoint database; and if he will make a statement; [266639]
(2) when he expects the ContactPoint database to be fully operational; and if he will make a statement. [266640]
Beverley Hughes: We are taking a prudent and incremental approach to ContactPoint delivery. Local authorities provided a progress update on their shielding activity 13 March, which included whether they had robust arrangements in place to deal with shielding requests on an ongoing basis. Two thirds of local authorities confirmed that they had completed the required shielding actions. We are aware of a number of issues raised by local authorities and are working closely with them to address these issues.
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