House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 12 Oct 2009 (pt 0131)

12 Oct 2009 : Column 565W—continued

Internet

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2009, Official Report, column 963W, on the internet, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of sponsoring such systems in each of the next five years; [289050]

(2) for what reasons such communications data are collected; [289051]

(3) on how many occasions stored communications data have been used in the last two years; [289052]

(4) what contribution internet service providers make to the cost of systems sponsored by his Department; [289053]

(5) what proportion of the cost of sponsoring systems to enable communications service providers to store communications data his Department funds; [289048]

(6) to what use his Department puts the information stored by communication services providers; how often it has accessed such stored information in each of the last five years; what steps his Department takes to ensure the security of such information; and on how many occasions in the last five years such information has assisted in the positive identification of a person preparing terrorist acts. [289448]

Mr. Hanson: Communications service providers (CSP) are reimbursed by Government grant for their reasonable and agreed costs in retaining communications data that they are required or permitted to retain under the Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 or under the code of practice on data retention approved by Parliament under Part 11 of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA).

The Regulations require the retention of communication data for the investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crime. The ATCSA permits communications
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data retention for the purposes of safeguarding national security and for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime. The Government grant covers the total cost of installing or modifying equipment or implementing new processes to enable the effective and efficient retention of communications data. An independent and regulated audit firm is retained by the Home Office to ensure that costs are reasonable; that the reimbursement is for legitimate expenditure; and that CSPs do not derive commercial benefit from processes developed with these grants. CSPs are required to contribute if they receive a commercial benefit.

The independent and regulated audit firm also conducts security assessments to ensure that each CSP's data retention solution meets both industry best practice and Government and law enforcement rules on handling personal data.

The passing of the security assessment is a requirement of being reimbursed by the Home Office.

The UK Borders Agency (UKBA) is the only part of the Home Office that is able to acquire communications data. The UKBA acquires communications data to prevent and detect crime in relation to immigration offences or customs detection work at the UK borders. The Interception of Communications Commissioner compiles statistics on the acquisition of communications data by public authorities under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. In calendar year 2008 there were 504,073 requirements made of CSPs; the corresponding figure for 2007 was 519,260. The Interception Commissioner has not detailed the figures by individual public authority.

The forecast expenditure on communication data retention systems is £30.35 million which is broken down as per the following table:

£ million
Financial year	Capital	Resource
2009-10	12.10	1.90
2010-11	12.20	2.63
2011-12	6.05	2.99
2012-13	6.05	2.88
2013-14	6.05	2.76

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter of 13 July 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Muhammad Irfan. [290646]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 9 September 2009]: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 8 September 2009.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter to him dated 27 July 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr S Malik. [290990]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 14 September 2009]: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 10 September 2009.

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Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to respond to the letter of 27 July 2009 from the hon. Member for Walsall North concerning a constituent. [291088]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 September 2009]: My hon. Friend's letter was passed to the Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency for reply. The Chief Executive replied on 11 September 2009.

Michael Shields

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the cost Merseyside police has incurred in investigating the case of Michael Shields. [291013]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 14 September 2009]: The Home Office does not hold this information. This is a matter for the chief constable of Merseyside.

National Identity Register

Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means persons who (a) hold and (b) wish to renew a passport will be able to opt out of the National Identity Register. [290464]

Mr. Hanson: For the time being, the identity details of anyone issued with a passport will continue to be held on the existing passport database by the Identity and Passport Service and from this autumn, the identity details of anyone issued with an identity card will be held on the National Identity Register.

However, the Government intend to legislate, so that anyone applying for a passport or identity card from 2012 onwards would have their identity details held on a single National Identity Register and would be offered a choice of receiving a separate identity card or passport or both documents.

Offences Against Children: Internet

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data his Department holds on the relationship between viewing images of child abuse online and child abuse. [291750]

Mr. Alan Campbell: This is a subject that is of concern to the UK and other countries, and earlier this year law enforcement, represented for the UK by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), Government and academic experts from the G8 nations and others came together to discuss these issues. This led to a G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Statement on "The risk to children posed by child pornography offenders". The experts concluded that there was a relationship between viewing and contact offending, although more work was required to determine the exact nature of that relationship. Additionally there was a recognition that, based on conviction evidence a significant proportion of "image" offenders had committed some form of contact offence; and the exchange of child abuse images and communication between child sexual offenders was used by them to legitimise and normalise their beliefs and behaviours providing a social context which encourages the further exploitation of children.

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Offensive Weapons

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the change in the number of knife and sharp instrument offences recorded by the police between 2007-08 and 2008-09. [289596]

Alan Johnson: Comparisons between 2007-08 and 2008-09 are possible for the offences of homicide (figures for 2008-09 are provisional), attempted murder and robbery.

Homicides and attempted murders are rare and account for less than one per cent. of all knife offences. As such, comparisons should be interpreted with caution.

Information for these offences is given in the following table.

Additional offence categories (threats to kill, ABH, sexual assault and rape offences where a knife was involved) were added to the knife crime collection in 2008-09; therefore comparisons are not possible.

For GBH offences, it is not possible to compare between 2007-08 and 2008-09. This is due to a change in the clarification rules for recording GBH with intent, and a change in the definition of GBH without intent. Under advice from the National Statistician the offences of GBH with and without intent and ABH and other injury were combined when published. Further information is given in Box 2.1 on page 14 of Crime in England and Wales, 2008-09: Volume 1.

Number of knife and sharp instrument offences recorded by the police for homicide, attempted murder and robbery
Offence	2007-08	2008-09	Percentage change between 2007-08 and 2008-09
Homicide⁽¹⁾	270	252	-7
Attempted murder	245	271	11
Robbery	17,058	16,701	-2
⁽¹⁾ Includes provisional figures for 2008-09. For 2007-08, offences are those currently recorded by the police as at 4 November 2008 and are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of (a) deaths and (b) injuries arising from knives used in the course of a crime (i) in total and (ii) per person in (A) England and (B) Wales in each year since 1997. [291170]

Mr. Hanson [holding answer 14 September 2009]: Centrally available information relates to homicides by sharp instrument recorded in England and Wales each year from 1997-98 to 2007-08.

Injuries data are not collected centrally.

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Homicides currently recorded^{( 1)} where apparent method of killing is sharp instrument^{( 2)} : England and Wales 1997-98 to2007-08^{( 3)}
Year offence initially recorded as homicide^{( 4)}	England	Wales
1997-98	191	11
1998-99	189	12
1999-2000	204	9
2000-01	208	7
2001-02	247	14
2002-03	256	10
2003-04	239	3
2004-05	247	13
2005-06	212	7
2006-07	258	11
2007-08	259	11
⁽¹⁾ As at 4 November 2008; figures are revised as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. ⁽²⁾ Includes knives as well as other sharp instruments. ⁽³⁾ Data for 2008-09 are scheduled to be published in January 2009. ⁽⁴⁾ Offences are shown according to the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.

Offensive Weapons: Convictions

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) under 18-year-olds and (b) 18-year-olds and over were convicted in each police authority area of illegally carrying (i) knives and (ii) other weapons in (A) 2007-08 and (B) 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [290972]

Mr. Hanson [holding answer 14 September 2009]: The information is provided by the Ministry of Justice.

Information showing the number of defendants found guilty at all courts of illegally carrying knives and other weapons in England and Wales, broken down by age and force for 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the table. Court proceedings data are published by calendar year; 2007 is the latest available, data for 2008 are due to be available towards the end of 2009.

The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

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12 Oct 2009 : Column 572W

Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for illegally carrying knives^{( 1)} and other weapons^{( 2)} , England and Wales, by age and force, 2007^{( 3, 4)}
Force	Age	Knives	Other weapons
Avon and Somerset	10-17	29	29
	18 and over	134	148
	Total	163	177
Bedfordshire	10-17	19	13
	18 and over	43	75
	Total	62	88
Cambridgeshire	10-17	11	11
	18 and over	43	64
	Total	54	75
Cheshire	10-17	15	20
	18 and over	93	92
	Total	108	112
City of London	10-17	0	0
	18 and over	9	7
	Total	9	7
Cleveland	10-17	15	15
	18 and over	75	97
	Total	90	112
Cumbria	10-17	8	16
	18 and over	38	73
	Total	46	89
Derbyshire	10-17	21	25
	18 and over	78	118
	Total	99	143
Devon and Cornwall	10-17	19	21
	18 and over	119	95
	Total	138	116
Dorset	10-17	13	11
	18 and over	50	54
	Total	63	65
Durham	10-17	21	33
	18 and over	71	89
	Total	92	122
Essex	10-17	32	43
	18 and over	128	135
	Total	160	178
Gloucestershire	10-17	10	17
	18 and over	31	36
	Total	41	53
Greater Manchester	10-17	76	125
	18 and over	318	480
	Total	394	605
Hampshire	10-17	37	58
	18 and over	132	184
	Total	169	242
Hertfordshire	10-17	18	29
	18 and over	50	90
	Total	68	119
Humberside	10-17	27	34
	18 and over	120	112
	Total	147	146
Kent	10-17	0	36
	18 and over	5	152
	Total	5	188
Lancashire	10-17	24	64
	18 and over	127	200
	Total	151	264
Leicestershire	10-17	26	40
	18 and over	92	132
	Total	118	172
Lincolnshire	10-17	4	16
	18 and over	43	58
	Total	47	74
Merseyside	10-17	39	67
	18 and over	176	290
	Total	215	357
Metropolitan Police	10-17	321	415
	18 and over	1,138	1,448
	Total	1,459	1,863
Norfolk	10-17	8	15
	18 and over	70	66
	Total	78	81
North Yorkshire	10-17	12	25
	18 and over	40	77
	Total	52	102
Northamptonshire	10-17	1	6
	18 and over	3	33
	Total	4	39
Northumbria	10-17	62	76
	18 and over	197	269
	Total	259	345
Nottinghamshire	10-17	35	48
	18 and over	117	165
	Total	152	213
South Yorkshire	10-17	31	47
	18 and over	107	163
	Total	138	210
Staffordshire	10-17	21	30
	18 and over	65	138
	Total	86	168
Suffolk	10-17	17	17
	18 and over	72	66
	Total	89	83
Surrey	10-17	5	12
	18 and over	37	46
	Total	42	58
Sussex	10-17	31	34
	18 and over	109	119
	Total	140	153
Thames Valley	10-17	25	41
	18 and over	114	153
	Total	139	194
Warwickshire	10-17	6	8
	18 and over	26	43
	Total	32	51
West Mercia	10-17	19	21
	18 and over	81	101
	Total	100	122
West Midlands	10-17	77	121
	18 and over	315	420
	Total	392	541
West Yorkshire	10-17	36	60
	18 and over	154	265
	Total	190	325
Wiltshire	10-17	11	9
	18 and over	37	48
	Total	48	57
Dyfed-Powys	10-17	9	6
	18 and over	26	28
	Total	35	34
Gwent	10-17	13	12
	18 and over	53	72
	Total	66	84
North Wales	10-17	10	21
	18 and over	79	94
	Total	89	115
South Wales	10-17	16	33
	18 and over	124	209
	Total	140	242
England and Wales	10-17	1230	1780
	18 and over	4939	6804
	Total	6,169	8,584
⁽¹⁾ Covers; Criminal Justice Act 1988 S139, S139A(1)(5)(a) ⁽²⁾ Covers; Criminal Justice Act 1988 S139A(2)(5)(b). Firearms Act 1968 S1(1). S5(1). S5(1)(b),S5(1A)(b)('c),(d)(e)(f) or (g), 5(1A)(a), S2(1), S16.S16A, S17(2), S18 (1), S19, S21(4) S22(2),(3)1(4),{5). Prevention of Crime Act 1953 S1(1). ⁽³⁾ The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. ⁽⁴⁾ 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 courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit-Office for Criminal Justice Reform Ref: IOS 445-09

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