Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 25 June 2009
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Retail Trade
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to restrict the means by which business may promote alcohol consumption. [281267]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government have introduced legislation to establish a new code of practice for alcohol retailers. This will ensure that all alcohol retailers sell alcohol responsibly, by banning irresponsible promotions which encourage excessive drinking and can lead to crime and disorder.
The legislation for the new code of practice in the Policing and Crime Bill is an enabling power, which will allow the Home Secretary to set out a small number of national mandatory licensing conditions which could apply to all alcohol retailers. It will also give licensing authorities more power to tackle local problems which occur in many town centres, allowing them to impose a more detailed set of conditions on two or more premises at the same time, in an area experiencing particularly high levels of alcohol-related nuisance and disorder.
Ministers have not yet taken any final decisions on the content of the mandatory code but some of the measures we are consulting on include:
banning offers like “all you can drink for £10”;
outlawing pubs and bars offering promotions to certain groups, such as “women drink free” nights;
banning staff dispensing alcohol directly into customers’ mouths;
requiring that consumers are able to make informed choices when they buy alcohol; and
requiring bars and pubs to offer smaller measures available for customers who want them.
We are holding a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including representatives of local government, enforcement agencies and the general public about the content of the code.
Details of the consultation can be found at:
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) anti-social behaviour orders and (b) acceptable behaviour contracts have been issued in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each of the last five years. [282060]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
The latest available data on antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) cover the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2006. Information on the numbers
of ASBOs issued is not available below criminal justice system (CJS) area level. The available information is shown in the table.
The number of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) is collected by the Home Office through a voluntary survey of crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) use of antisocial behaviour tools and powers. The latest data published indicate that over 30,000 ABCs have been made between October 2003 and September 2007, with over 563 issued in the Essex during the same period.
Currently, data on the number of ABCs issued are not available below regional level.
| Table 1: Number of anti-social behaviour orders ISSUED at all courts in the Essex criminal justice system (CJS) area, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, January 2002 to December 2006 | |
| CJS a rea | Number |
Anti-Terrorism Control Orders
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to bring forward proposals to amend counter-terrorism legislation in light of the recent Law Lords ruling on control orders; and if he will make a statement. [281856]
Mr. Hanson: The Government keep individual control orders and counter-terrorism legislation under review. We are considering the impact of this judgment and our options carefully. The Government will continue to take all steps we can to manage the threat posed by suspected terrorists.
Community Policing
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing schemes in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point. [282064]
Mr. Hanson: It is for individual police forces and authorities to ensure the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing in their area. The Government will hold forces to account for progress through the single top-down target we have set them to improve public confidence that crime and anti-social behaviour issues are being tackled locally, and in the light of inspection work by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC).
HMIC has inspected every force in England and Wales to assess their capabilities in delivering neighbourhood policing and developing citizen focus. HMIC’s assessment in September 2008 was that all forces, including Essex police, had met this standard.
Data Protection Act 1998
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all refusals of access to personal data held by his Department for the purpose of safeguarding national security are subject to a certificate signed under section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [281500]
Mr. Hanson: A certificate is not necessary to claim the exemption under section 28 of the Act. Normally, a certificate will be issued when the use of the exemption has been challenged and the Home Secretary has satisfied himself of the need to certify the exemption.
Fingerprints: Databases
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who have not been convicted of a crime have their fingerprint records retained on the National Fingerprint Database. [279618]
Alan Johnson: The National Fingerprint Database does not hold criminal conviction data; it stores biometric data and basic identity details which can be used to align identity with records on the Police National Computer (PNC). The PNC is an operational tool and not designed to produce the information requested. To obtain the information would incur disproportionate cost.
Entry Clearances
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which countries the UK has a visa facilitation agreement. [277743]
Mr. Woolas: The EU has concluded visa facilitation agreements with a number of Western Balkans states, as well as Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The UK does not participate in these EU visa facilitation agreements.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications from (a) Afghanistan and (b) Pakistan were referred from entry clearance points in those countries to London for decision (i) in each of the last five years and (ii) since 27 October 2008. [280125]
Alan Johnson: We do not hold statistics on the number of visa applications from Afghanistan or Pakistan which have been referred for decisions to be made by colleagues in the UK in the past five years.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the colleges that withdrew of their own volition from the new UK Border Agency register process currently sponsor visas for foreign students. [278542]
Mr. Woolas: A total of four foreign students are currently sponsored by colleges who have withdrawn of their own volition from the UK Border Agency register. The students have leave to remain which was granted to them prior to the introduction of new procedures on 31 March 2009. If, when their current leave lapses, these students wish to seek further leave to remain to continue studying here, they will need to qualify under the points-based system.
The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
Police Community Support Officers: Clothing
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers were assaulted while on duty in each of the last three years. [279111]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 12 June 2009]: The information requested is contained in the following table. The increase in assaults over the last three years should be considered in the light of larger percentage increases in number of police community support officers in post over the same period.
Police: Plymouth
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the budget for policing in Plymouth was in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09; [282444]
(2) what percentage of the budget for policing in Plymouth was spent on policing in Plympton and Plymstock in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [282446]
Mr. Hanson: The Government allocate funding to police authorities as a whole. The allocation of resources to Plymouth is a matter for the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall police and the police authority, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
Devon and Cornwall’s final budget was £256.8 million for 2007-08 and £268.1 million for 2008-09.
Police: Procurement
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to promote the uptake of collaborative procurement strategies within police forces in England, as recommended in HM Treasury’s May 2009 review, “Operational Efficiency Programme: collaborative procurement”. [279712]
Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 39W.
Women and Equality
Gender Pay Gap
John Penrose: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality on what criteria her most recent estimate of the gender pay gap in the (a) public and (b) private sector is based. [282094]
Michael Jabez Foster: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the response given earlier today.
Breast Feeding
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality if she will bring forward proposals to provide a legal right for women to breastfeed in public places. [280408]
Michael Jabez Foster: The Equality Bill which is currently before Parliament makes it clear that it is unlawful discrimination to ask a mother to leave places such as cafes if she is breastfeeding her baby.
At present we have no plans to bring forward proposals to provide a legal right for women to breastfeed in public places.
Females: Human Trafficking
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what her estimate is of the number of women trafficked into the UK for the purpose of sexual exploitation in 2008. [282208]
Michael Jabez Foster: The latest estimate supplied by Home Office is that at any one time in 2003, there were up to 4,000 women had been trafficked into the UK.
The UK Human Trafficking Centre is undertaking an analysis of the outcomes of Operation Pentameter 2. This analysis, in conjunction with the work based within the regional intelligence units, will inform a more up to date assessment of the extent of trafficking in the UK, which is due by the end of the year.
Rape: Victim Support Schemes
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2009, Official Report, column 826W, on rape: victim support schemes, what use was made of the £200,000 of the £1.1 million special fund for rape crisis centres which was not paid out. [282259]
Michael Jabez Foster: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 19 June 2009, Official Report, columns 551-52W.
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