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27 Oct 2009 : Column 296W—continued
Fixed Penalties
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued on (a) the use of fixed penalty notices and (b) the level of fines issued by fixed penalty for (i) shoplifting, (ii) sexual offences and (iii) household waste offences. [294894]
Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
The Secretary of State for Justice issued revised operational guidance to police forces on 16 July 2009, restricting the use of penalty notices for disorder for shop theft to first-time offenders who are not substance abusers, where the value of the goods is less than £100, and normally where the goods have been recovered. The guidance can be found at
The level of the penalty is fixed by law at £80 for adults and £40 for juveniles.
Fixed penalty notices cannot be issued for sexual offences.
Following the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, DEFRA issued guidance on the use of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for a range of offences, including those related to waste receptacles. A link to the guidance, as well as additional information on environmental FPNS is as follows.
Identity Cards: Costs
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of the (a) design and (b) development of identity cards was in each of the last eight years. [295431]
Meg Hillier: Since the merger of the Home Office Identity Cards programme and the UK Passport Service to create the Identity and Passport Service on 1 April 2006, projects to deliver passports including facial images and fingerprints, identity cards and other improvements have been necessarily combined. As much of the technology and operational processes needed to implement identity cards are also required for the implementation of these new passports, this is the most cost-effective way to deliver these initiatives.
Much of the work conducted by Identity and Passport Service cannot be categorised, either financially or operationally, as contributing towards either the introduction of passports with facial images and fingerprints or identity cards alone. The work is accounted for as future development projects. Total spend since April 2006 to September 2009 on future development projects encompassing the NIS is £216 million. The spend on future development projects in the 2006-07 financial year amounted to £30.9 million. The costs accounted for as future development projects in the 2007-08 financial year were £61.7 million, £81.5 million in 2008-09 and approximately £42 million for the period April to September 2009.
Between the financial years 2003-04 and 2005-06, £41.1 million was spent by the Home Office Identity Cards programme in total.
Passports: Fees and Charges
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average (a) overseas passport fee, (b) delivery charge and (c) issue time in days was for renewing a British passport for British citizens resident in each country of the European Union in the latest period for which information is available. [294173]
Chris Bryant: I have been asked to reply.
Straightforward passports must be issued within 10 working days of receipt of the application. Since rationalising the European network and creating three centres of excellence, 96 per cent. of straightforward applications have been issued within this target.
The cost of passports both in the UK and overseas increased with effect from 3 September 2009. The overseas fees are as follows:
32-page adult passport: £124.50
32-page child (under-16) passport: £79.50
48-page 'jumbo' passport: £150.50
Emergency passport: £69.00
Emergency travel document/temporary passport: £89.00.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issues fewer than 400,000 passports a year from about 60 locations and under HM Treasury rules must recover the full costs of issuing through the passport fee.
The passport fees are calculated on the basis of the cost of staff, accommodation and overheads involved proportionate to the average time taken worldwide to
perform the service. The calculations are carefully scrutinised by the Treasury, approved by the Privy Council and laid before Parliament.
Fees are set in London in sterling and collected overseas in various currencies depending on the location of the service. The rates of exchange used to calculate the local fee rates allows each overseas Post a small variance to ensure that, in countries where the exchange rate dramatically changes on a daily basis, the embassy does not have to amend its rates daily. The rates of exchange are scrutinised regularly to ensure that Posts do not exceed this.
For passport applicants applying by post, the average cost of courier delivery varies from country to country and ranges from £7 to £40 depending on location. Customers living in remote locations tend to have to pay more.
We have a consular business target that 90 per cent. of applications are issued within this processing target. The time it takes the courier to return the new passport to the customer, which in Europe averages two to three working days, is not part of the 10-day target.
Police Community Support Officers: Derbyshire
Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been recruited in (a) Derbyshire and (b) North East Derbyshire constituency since 2003. [295310]
Mr. Hanson: The available data are provided in the following table. Data are not collected centrally at constituency level.
| P olice community support officers (FTE( 1) ) recruited in Derbyshire, 2002-03 to 2008-09( 2, 3) | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2. Financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March inclusive. 3. Recruits include those officers joining as police staff standard direct recruits and those who were previously special constables. This excludes police community support officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining. | |
Police Custody: Health Services
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has estimated the cost of establishing a permanent medical staff presence in police custody suites. [293988]
Mr. Hanson: We have not estimated the cost of establishing a permanent medical staff presence in police custody suites.
We are however considering our response to Lord Bradley's 'Review of People with Mental Health Problems or Learning Disabilities in the Criminal Justice System' which recommended that the NHS and the police should explore the feasibility of transferring commissioning
and budgetary responsibility for health care services in police custody suites to the NHS at the earliest opportunity. The Government will announce their response in due course.
Police: Pensions
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to amend the Police Pension Scheme entitlements in respect of high earners who are members of the scheme. [295786]
Mr. Hanson: The provisions of public service pension schemes, including the Police Pension Scheme, are kept under review to ensure they are appropriate and sustainable at all levels.
Police: Public Appointments
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has issued any recent guidance to police authorities on the appointment of Chief Constables; what mechanism exists for the announcement of such appointments; and whether any arrangements are made to inform hon. Members. [295263]
Mr. Hanson: A Home Office guidance document on Recruitment and Selection of Chief Police Officers [Home Office Circular 60/2002] was published in 2002 and issued to all police authorities. Police authorities appoint chief constables and hence are responsible for announcing such appointments and informing interested parties as they consider appropriate.
Terrorism: Coventry
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people resident in Coventry were convicted of offences related to terrorism in Coventry in (a) 2008 and (b) 1997. [295343]
Mr. Hanson: The Home Office collates statistics showing the number of individuals convicted of offences related to terrorism and these were included in a Bulletin published on 13 May 2009 (Statistics on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes Great Britain 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008). These statistics, however, do not show the number of offences in a particular area or how many people convicted of offences related to terrorism are residents of that area. The Home Office does not hold statistics which are recorded in this way.
Theft
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of theft of a purse have occurred in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each year since 1997. [295751]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally from the recorded crime statistics.
Offences of theft of a purse would be recorded as theft from the person, robbery of personal property or other theft depending on the circumstances surrounding
each individual offence. Such offences cannot be separately identified from other offences recorded within these offence classifications.
Vetting: Schools
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are expected to be checked by the Independent Safeguarding Authority under the Vetting and Barring Scheme in each of the next five years. [294216]
Alan Johnson: Based on the expected number of registrants over the first five years of the Vetting and Barring Scheme's operation and the prevailing offending rates in the sectors covered by the scheme we estimate that between 500,000 and 750,000 individuals will be assessed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority over this period.
Weston Hostel
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect on public safety in West Dorset of the downgrading of Grade 3 Approved Premises Assistants to Grade 2 at Weston Hostel. [295062]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
Staff grades at the Weston Approved Premises are currently subject to review by Dorset probation area. Any changes will reflect the results of an established job evaluation process and a full assessment of risk.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies: Finance
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in respect of which academy schools committed sponsorship has not been (a) wholly and (b) partially received in each of the last five years. [296188]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: There are two types of sponsorship payments for academies: "Traditional Procurement" and "Endowment Model". In the case of "Traditional Procurement Academies", the timing of the receipt of cash sponsorship varies from academy to academy and is agreed as part of the funding agreement between the Department and the academy. In the case of the "Endowment Model", receipts commence only after the academy has opened, and usually over a period of five years. Payments are not required on an annual basis and the question has therefore been answered as set out below.
The answer contains two tables. The first, headed "Traditional Procurement Academies" shows for each academy where sponsorship is a contribution to capital costs, the total pledged, the amount for which the Department has evidence of receipt, and the amount still expected. In some cases further sponsorship payments may have already been received by the academy trust but not yet reported to the Department. The second table, headed "Endowment Sponsorship Academies" shows for each academy where sponsorship is in the form of contributions to an endowment fund, the amounts pledged, the amounts reported so far to the Department as received and the amount still expected. As with the first category, there may be cases where further sponsorship has already been received by the academy trust but not yet reported to the Department.
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