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26 Oct 2009 : Column 168W—continued
Home Department
Tuberculosis Screening: Migrants
11. Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether migrants to the UK are tested for latent tuberculosis as part of the pre-entry screening programme for tuberculosis. [295135]
Mr. Woolas: Pre-entry screening tests are conducted in order to detect tuberculosis. Latent or inactive infections very rarely develop active tuberculosis. It is when the infection is active that tuberculosis is highly infectious.
There are presently no widely accepted scientific methods for detecting latent tuberculosis.
Proceeds of Crime: Victim Support
13. Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that the proceeds of crime recovered by police forces are allocated to fund support services for victims of crime. [295137]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Earlier this month my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced details of local projects to be funded under the new £4 million Community Cashback scheme which gave local communities a say on how recovered criminal assets are spent. 11 projects are being funded which are victim-related. In addition £11 million from confiscated proceeds was paid last year as compensation to victims.
National Prison Intelligence Unit
14. Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of police forces to the work of the National Prison Intelligence Unit; and if he will make a statement. [295139]
Mr. Hanson: The National Prison Intelligence Unit (NPIU) was established in July 2007 to work with prison establishments to assess and counter the spread of violent extremism in prisons.
The effectiveness of measures to manage the risks of violent extremism in prisons are assessed on a regular basis.
Asylum Applications
16. Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken to process an application for asylum. [295141]
Mr. Woolas: In December we met our targets to conclude 60 per cent. of new cases within six months. That means not only that decisions were taken early but that in a significant proportion of refusals, removal from the UK was affected within six months of application.
In 1997 it took on average 22 months merely to reach an initial decision. We can only speculate how much longer than that it was taking to remove those who were refused at that time.
23. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the average time taken to process an application for asylum. [295148]
Mr. Woolas: In December we met our targets to conclude 60 per cent. of new cases within six months. That means not only that decisions were taken early but that in a significant proportion of refusals, removal from the UK was affected within six months of application.
In 1997 it took on average 22 months merely to reach an initial decision. We can only speculate how much longer than that it was taking to remove those who were refused at that time.
Immigration Policy
17. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account he takes of potential demographic changes in the UK in formulating his policy on immigration. [295142]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have mechanisms in place which are controlling the number of people coming to the UK to work and study through the points based system.
We are also consulting on a new points test for citizenship which will break the link between coming to the UK to work or study on a temporary basis and permanent settlement.
The figures published by the Office of National Statistics last week are projections and as they themselves say they do not take into account the reforms the Government
have made to the immigration system. As the ONS points out, they are projections, based on previous years' trends, not forecasts.
Sharia Councils
21. Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government the effect of the operation of Sharia councils on the policing of community relations. [295146]
Mr. Hanson: Sharia law is not part of the law of the United Kingdom and the Government have no intention of making any change to that position. The police service engages with all members of the community, inclusive of all backgrounds, and works in partnership with other community safety agencies to address the policing priorities for local areas.
Migrants
22. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many migrants were given permission to remain in the UK in (a) 1996 and (b) the last year for which figures are available. [295147]
Mr. Woolas: The number of persons granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom was:
(a) 61,730 in 1996; and
(b) 148,740 in 2008.
Human Trafficking
24. Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to tackle human trafficking. [295149]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government have a detailed Action Plan to tackle human trafficking, based on: prevention, enforcement prosecution and investigation, protection and support of adult victims and child trafficking.
We published the most recent update to the plan on 19 October.
Analgesics: Licensing
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licences have been issued for the manufacture of analgesics from poppies in the UK in the last three years. [287383]
Mr. Alan Campbell: One company in the UK is licensed, on an annual basis, to manufacture drugs, used in the production of analgesics, from poppies.
Animal Experiments
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licensed procedures were carried out on live animals for the purposes of testing household products in each year since 2002-03. [295462]
Meg Hillier:
The number of scientific procedures started on living animals in Great Britain in 2002, 2003,
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 for toxicology or other safety/efficacy evaluation in relation to substances used in the household, was, respectively 1,032, 234, 272, 21, 0, 1, 132.
The available information is published in table 9 (previously table 10) in the Department's annual publication Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain, copies of which are available from the Library of the House and from the Department's website at:
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the application of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs); and what recent discussions he has had with (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations on the effect of the use of ASBOs on community cohesion. [293884]
Mr. Alan Campbell: A Home Office research study carried out in 2004 showed that the cost of obtaining an Anti-social behaviour Order (ASBO) had significantly reduced since 2002 when this was previously assessed. Local agencies using Anti-social behaviour Orders (ASBOs) find them cost effective. The cost of not taking action is much higher.
Since ASBOs were introduced in 1998 there have been real changes in how people feel about anti-social behaviour: 17 per cent. of people felt that levels of ASB in their areas were high in 2008-09 compared to 21 per cent. in 2002-03. The tools and powers introduced by this Government over the last 11 years are working: the 2006 National Audit Office report on anti-social behaviour found that 93 per cent. of people desisted from ASB after the third intervention.
Burglary: Crime Prevention
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have obtained his Department's free burglary prevention advice pack since its launch in April 2009; and how many people have redeemed the discount vouchers included in that pack. [294213]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Since the launch of the 'Secure Your Home' burglary prevention advice pack in April:
| Number | |
|
Sent directly to members of the public through the action line | |
|
To police forces in England and Wales to distribute to victims of burglary, their neighbours and others at most risk | |
No data are available yet on how many discount vouchers have been redeemed. We are continuing to talk to the three DIY stores who provided the vouchers to obtain these figures.
Closed Circuit Television
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many CCTV surveillance cameras funded by (a) public and (b) private sources there are in England and Wales. [294944]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information is not held centrally. I refer to the reply given to the hon. Member on 20 July 2009, Official Report, column 906W in which I indicated that between 1999 and 2003, £170 million of Home Office capital funding under the Crime Reduction Programme was made available to local authorities for investment in public space CCTV.
Around 680 CCTV town centre schemes were set up with this funding. Local authorities benefit from Area Based Grant that allows them to spend on CCTV and other areas as they see fit to support the delivery of local, regional and national priorities in their area.
Crime
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) alcohol-related crime and (b) drug-related crime were recorded in (i) England, (ii) London, (iii) Richmond-upon-Thames and (iv) Twickenham constituency in each of the last five years. [294917]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The data requested on incidents are not collected centrally. However, the British Crime Survey provides figures for violent incidents where the victim believes the offender was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This information is provided in the following table:
| Table 3.16: Violent incidents where the victim believed the offender(s) to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, 1995 to 2008-09, BCS | ||||||||||||
| Percentages and numbers | ||||||||||||
| Statistically significant change | ||||||||||||
| 1995 | 1997 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 1995 to 2008-09 | 2007-08 to 2008-09 | |
| (1) 'All violence' includes wounding, assault with minor injury, assault without injury and robbery. See Section 5 of Volume 2 for more information. (2) Questions asked only if the victim was able to say something about the offender(s), and if there was more than one offender, victims were asked if any of the offenders were perceived to be under the influence. Questions were not asked if any offenders were perceived to be under school age. Note: For an explanation of year-labels see 'Conventions Used in Figures and Tables' at the start of this volume. Source: Table 3.16 at the following link: http:/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1109chap3.xls | ||||||||||||
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