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1 July 2009 : Column 272W—continued
Crime: Cambridgeshire
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) crimes of burglary, (b) violent crimes and (c) vehicle crimes were reported in (i) North West Cambridgeshire constituency, (ii) Cambridgeshire and (iii) Peterborough in each of the last five years. [281198]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The available information is given in the table. Recorded crime data are not specifically available at constituency level.
A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to suggestions in the 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.
| Selected offences recorded by the police in the Cambridgeshire police force area and Peterborough unitary authority | |||
| Number of offences | |||
| Area and year | Burglary( 1) | Violence against the person | Vehicle crime( 2) |
| (1) Includes burglary in a dwelling and other burglary. (2) Includes theft of or from a vehicle and interfering with a motor vehicle. | |||
Cycling
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to implement the bicycle purchase initiative in his Department’s agencies’ offices in Merseyside. [282557]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office is planning to introduce —during the current financial year—the ‘Cycle2Work’ tax efficient bicycle loan scheme across its estates.
Under the scheme rules the Home Office and its agencies cannot state from the outset that the cycles will be made available for purchase at the end of the 12 month hire period.
Departmental Data Protection
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what auditing his Department undertakes to ensure that IT security policies are being followed; and on how many occasions (a) IT security policies have been breached by employees and (b) a member of staff has been sanctioned for a breach of such policies in the last 12 months. [259805]
Mr. Woolas: Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
Depending upon the circumstances, a range of sanctions are available including disciplinary or administrative action, and in extreme or persistent cases, termination of employment/services and, if appropriate, criminal proceedings.
Compliance arrangements comprise a system of self-assessment, accreditation, assurance reporting, audit and review.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what IT security policy his Department has; what procedures are in place to ensure the policy is being followed; what his Department's policy is on encryption of data when they leave departmental premises; and what sanctions are in place for failure to comply with this policy. [259853]
Mr. Woolas: Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
The Home Office is compliant with the security policies contained in the Government Security Policy Framework including those for information security and assurance.
Depending upon the circumstances, a range of sanctions is available including disciplinary or administrative action, and in extreme or persistent cases, termination of employment/services and, if appropriate, criminal proceedings.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on energy efficiency measures for his Department’s estate in each year from 2004 to 2009; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that expenditure; and what plans he has for future energy efficiency measures. [280535]
Mr. Woolas: The Department is committed to the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) targets which include a reduction in absolute carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency per m(2) and action to apply the Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) to all of its own new build and major refurbishment projects.
Data on energy efficiency expenditure are not currently recorded separately, as implementation of these measures is generally carried out as part of wider design or refurbishment programmes. Overall progress against the SOGE targets is assessed by the Sustainable Development Commission for inclusion in their annual SDiG publication.
Recent examples of expenditure on energy efficiency include the installation of energy efficient lamps, and the upgrading of thermostatic controls to improve efficiency in certain buildings on the UK Border Agency (UKBA) estate in Croydon. Furthermore our newest office building, Vulcan House, a UKBA property, has a range of measures integrated into the design and construction to optimise
energy efficiency including setting the orientation to mitigate the effects of solar gain, building fabric insulation and a thermally efficient envelope including a vegetation roof that acts as a thermal barrier in both winter and summer.
The Department has recently signed up to the Carbon Trust Management Programme which will assist us in identifying low and no-cost measures as well as further investment opportunities to improve efficiency on our estate. This programme is supported by a staff awareness campaign. We shall also be monitoring the effectiveness of the programme.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which official is responsible for the energy efficiency of his Department’s estate. [280555]
Mr. Woolas: The permanent secretary, David Normington, has overall responsibility for the Department’s sustainable development policy, including energy efficiency. Each year the Home Secretary signs off the Department’s energy data for return to the Buildings Research Establishment.
Departmental Food
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the (a) meat, (b) fruit and (c) vegetables procured by his Department in the last 12 months was produced in the UK. [281941]
Mr. Woolas: A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased.
Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. The proportion of domestically produced food procured by the Home Office has gone up from 68 per cent. in 2006-07 to 70 per cent. in 2007-08. We expect to publish a third report at the end of 2009.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of invoices his Department and its agencies paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [278820]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Department has invested significantly in its people, with the creation of a professional Shared Service Centre and Procurement Centre of Excellence complemented by the creation of new processes and easy to use payment system.
A firm focus has been applied by the Procurement Centre of Excellence in the area of prompt payment. This focus has resulted in the Department exceeding the 90 per cent. target on three occasions in the fiscal year 2008-09 and able to meet the Prime Minister’s target of paying all small, medium enterprises within 10 days, announced in October 2008.
The Department has been working closely with colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) reporting on both our legislative obligations of 30 days as well as the 10 day PM’s commitment for SMEs for correctly presented compliant invoices.
The Department’s (Home Office HQ and UKBA) performance of paying compliant invoices since the PM’s announcement within 10 days is shown in the following table. The information shown for the Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service are for all invoices received and paid as separate figures for SMEs are not retained:
| All invoices | ||||||
| HO Headquarters and UKBA | CRB | IPS | ||||
| Month | SMEs, compliant invoices paid within 10 days | SMEs, percentage of invoices paid within 10 days | Number paid within 10 days | Percentage paid within 10 days | Number paid within 10 days | Percentage paid within 10 days |
Until October 2008 the Home Department and its Executive Agencies were required to monitor and publish payment performance against a 30 day payment target.
The first full month of formal recording against the 10 day target was November 2008 and therefore information about payment performance within 10 days is not available prior to this date.
DNA: Databases
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many young people aged under 16 years have their details recorded on the ONSET database; and how many such details have been added in the last 12 months; [283051]
(2) which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have access to the information contained in his Department’s ONSET database; [283052]
(3) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the ONSET database in predicting levels of future criminal activity; [283053]
(4) what rights of access an individual has to their personal information held on the ONSET database; [283054]
(5) how many people have had personal information held on his Department’s ONSET database removed in each year since its inception; [283055]
(6) for how long personal information held on his Department’s ONSET database is retained; and what criteria apply for its earlier deletion from the database; [283056]
(7) what his most recent estimate is of the average annual cost of the operation of his Department’s ONSET database; and how much has been spent on the ONSET database since the commencement of the project. [283057]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
ONSET is a set of assessment and referral tools designed by the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, for use by local authorities’ youth offending teams to support their work to prevent crime. ONSET identifies whether a child or young person would benefit from an early intervention in order to help prevent antisocial behaviour and offending.
ONSET also helps to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention by determining the risk factors that should be reduced and the protective factors that should be enhanced in any given case based on the individual’s assessment. In 2008-09, youth offending teams reported to the Youth Justice Board that 15,752 children and young people had an ONSET assessment.
The profiles generated by ONSET are stored on the electronic and paper record systems used by local authorities. These systems can be accessed only by the multi-agency staff working for youth offending teams, such as health workers, police officers, social workers, probation officers and housing officers. Access to and sharing of such information is subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. The Youth Justice Board has issued guidance to youth offending teams on compliance with the Act and on effective record keeping and information sharing practice. Children, young people and their parents can have access to the information on request. The guidance also advises on the periods for which certain data should be retained. The length of time ONSET data might be retained will depend on local authorities’ own data retention policies and on issues such as whether the young person goes on to offend, the nature of the offence and the disposal applied.
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