| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Nov 2009 : Column 1134W—continued
Crime: Children in Care
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences committed by children in care have been recorded in each of the last five years. [297238]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally. From the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office it is not possible to identify either the age of the alleged offender or their individual circumstances.
Crimes of Violence: Care Homes
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents where residents of (a) children's care homes and (b) older people's care homes were victims of violent crime have been reported in each local authority area in each of the last five years. [296431]
Mr. Alan Campbell: This information is not collected centrally.
Drugs: Arrests
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug-related arrests there have been in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) the Tees Valley and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland in each year since 1997. [296367]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories including drug offences.
Information on arrests for drug offences covering the years 2002-03 (previous years data not available) to 2007-08 (latest available) is provided in the following table. It is not possible to separately identify the number of 'drug related' arrests for other offence groups (such as violence against the person or sexual offences) from the information on arrests reported to the Home Office.
Arrests in Teesside and Middlesbrough south cannot be separately identified as the data reported to the Home Office are broken down by police force area level only.
Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Executive and information for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.
| Persons arrested for drug offences in selected areas, 2002-03 to 2007-08 | ||||||
| Area | 2002-03( 2) | 2003-04 | 2004-05( 3) | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| (1) The North East Region includes three police force areas; Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria. (2) Data for 2002-03 excludes Durham as they were unable to supply arrests data for that year. (3) Data for 2004-05 excludes Cleveland as they were unable to supply arrests data broken down by offence group for that year. | ||||||
Entry Clearances: Religious Persons
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what vetting procedures his Department applies in respect of imams from abroad who are seeking employment in the UK. [295823]
Alan Johnson: Imams, like all Ministers of religion from other faiths, from outside the EEA who wish to preach in the UK must apply under our new points-based system. They can only do so if they have a job offer from an organisation that has been licensed by the UK Border Agency to act as a sponsor.
The Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) category requires migrants to have a high standard of English language skills. This ensures that they are able to speak to and for the religious communities that they will represent, and in particular that they are able to communicate effectively with the younger generation. The level of English required is equivalent to level B2 on the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference.
In addition, imams, as with all migrants applying for leave to enter or remain in the UK, are subject to checks against their immigration history, criminal records, and any other factors that may mean their exclusion from the UK would be conducive to the public good.
Fireworks
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the effectiveness of legislation on (a) the misuse of fireworks and (b) the sale of fireworks over the internet in respect of public safety. [297588]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
The legislation on the misuse of fireworks has been reviewed as part of implementation of the Pyrotechnics Directive due to be implemented early in 2010. Fireworks ordered over the internet are governed by the same legislation as shop sales. UK companies either deliver to a pick-up point, or to the buyer by special carrier; they are not allowed to deliver through the Royal Mail.
Forensic Science Service
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Forensic Science Service spent on (a) travel and (b) expenses for its Chief Executive in each of the last five years. [296012]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 27 October 2009]: The information is as follows:
| £ | ||
| Year ended 31 March | Travel | Other |
Since August 2007, the role of CEO has been the responsibility of the executive chairman. From this date to October 2009, the figures outlined above relate to the duties carried out to support the CEO role.
Forensic Science: Digital Technology
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the time taken by forensic teams to process (a) computer data and (b) other digital evidence; what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of models for forensic triage in relation to digital evidence; and if he will make a statement. [296661]
Mr. Alan Campbell: No information is collected centrally on the time taken by police forces or forensic service providers to process forensic evidence contained on computers and other digital media.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) e-crime strategy published in May 2009 includes work on the development of forensic triage, which is being taken forward by ACPO.
Gun Sports: Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2009, Official Report, column 183W, on gun sports: Olympic Games 2012, how many permits under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 have been issued in the UK to those wishing to represent their country at the London 2012 Olympics. [297222]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 2 November 2009]: Section 5 authorities have been issued to 13 potential competitors as identified by British Shooting.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2009, Official Report, column 1441W, on Olympic Games: gunsports, whether there are plans to allow pistol training to take place at Bisley before the London 2012 Olympic Games. [297372]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 2 November 2009]: The Home Office will be responding shortly to a request from British Shooting for section 5 authorities to be amended to allow holders to train with their pistols at Bisley prior to the London 2012 Olympics.
Identity Cards: Fraud
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions an identity card has been withdrawn because the application was (a) suspected of having been and (b) found to have been fraudulently made. [294285]
Alan Johnson: Identity cards are issued to foreign nationals after a decision has been made to grant them a period of leave to remain in the UK. No cards have been withdrawn after issue.
Immigration Controls
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sponsor licence applications have been processed without payment of the relevant fee in each of the last 36 months. [294391]
Alan Johnson: No sponsor licence applications have been processed without payment of the appropriate fee since the launch of the points-based system in November 2008.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent members of staff at the UK Border Agency have been assigned to process sponsor applications under each tier of the points-based immigration system in each of the last 24 months. [294394]
Alan Johnson: The number of full-time equivalent members of staff engaged on processing sponsor applications in each of the months that the points- based system has been in operation are as follows. Separate figures for each tier are not available. Staff are deployed across the tiers as demand dictates.
| Month and year | Number of full - time staff |
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for sponsor licences have been received in each of the last 36 months. [294395]
Alan Johnson: The following table show the number of sponsor licence applications received each month since the start of the scheme.
| Number of sponsor license applications received each month since the start of the scheme | |
| Number | |
| Note: 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. | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |