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Home Department

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) committees and (b) sub-committees of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs are; when each such committee last met; and who the (i) chair and (ii) members of each committee are. [311140]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) last met on 14 December 2009. The current interim Chair is Professor Les Iversen, appointed on 13 January 2010.

The current membership of the Council is as follows;


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Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Committees and Sub-Committees

Technical Committee

The Technical Committee is a standing committee of the ACMD; and last met on 29 October 2009. The Technical Committee is currently undertaking the work on New Psychoactive Substances and Cognition Enhancers in addition to maintaining a 'watching brief' on a number of other substances.

The membership of the Technical Committee is as follows:

In addition to the above, the Technical Committee has a number of co-opted members with expertise in forensic science, chemistry and medicine.

Anabolic Steroids Working Group

The Anabolic Steroids Working Group is a short-term working group, considering the misuse of anabolic steroids in the UK. The working group last met on 1 October 2009.

The membership of the Anabolic Steroids Working Group is as follows:

In addition to the above, the Anabolic Steroids Working Group has a number of co-opted members with expertise in chemistry, forensic science, anabolic steroid misuse and service provision.

Simultaneous Poly-substance Misuse Working Group

The Simultaneous Poly-substance Misuse Working Group last met on 30 September 2009. The Chair of the Simultaneous Poly-substance Misuse Working Group
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was Dr. John Marsden. Dr. Marsden resigned from the ACMD on 10 November 2009. It is proposed that this working group will be chaired by Dr. Fiona Measham.

The membership of the Simultaneous Poly-substance Misuse Working Group is as follows:

In addition to the above, the Simultaneous Poly-substance Misuse Working Group has a co-opted member with expertise in cellular mechanisms.

Arrests: Bexley

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people resident in the London borough of Bexley have been arrested but released without charge in each of the last five years. [311567]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The arrest statistics held by the Home Office are broken down by police force area only and therefore we cannot provide information for the London borough of Bexley area.

Statistics relating to the stages after a person has been arrested are not reported to the Home Office, so we are also unable to provide these data.

Closed Circuit Television: Complaints

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers the interim CCTV regulator will have to investigate complaints of the abuse or misuse of CCTV; and what sanctions the regulator will be able to invoke against such abuse or misuse. [311781]

Mr. Alan Campbell: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House on 15 December 2009, Official Report, column 113WS. Part of the role of the Interim Regulator will be to promote public awareness of the complaints process and criteria for complaints to the relevant agencies (for example, Information Commissioner, local authority or private organisation); and how to deal with complaints relating to technical standards. This will include working with and encouraging CCTV system owners and users to have in place a suitable process to raise awareness of what the public can do if they have a particular concern about the operation of CCTV in their area.

Closed Circuit Television: Greater London

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding his Department has given to local authorities in Greater London for the provision of CCTV in each of the last five years. [311564]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The information is not held centrally. 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.
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Local authorities benefit from area based grants that allow 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.

Control Orders

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many independent medical assessments of the (a) mental and (b) physical condition of individuals subject to a control order have been undertaken since the implementation of such orders; and what criteria are used to determine when such an assessment is appropriate. [309970]

Mr. Hanson: The Home Office is aware of 24 independent medical assessments-22 in relation to mental health and two in relation to physical health-that have been undertaken on individuals subject to control orders since March 2005. Of these assessments, eight were commissioned by the Home Office, 12 were commissioned by controlled persons' legal representatives and two were jointly commissioned by the Home Office and the controlled person's legal representatives. These independent medical assessments relate to nine individuals as some controlled individuals have had more than one medical assessment. Individuals subject to control orders are not required to notify the Home Office when they undergo an independent medical assessment so these figures are not necessarily comprehensive.

The Home Office may commission a medical assessment if a controlled individual, or lawyers acting on their behalf, have commissioned a medical assessment. However unless an individual is sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 they cannot be forced to undergo a medical assessment.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of individuals subject to a control order have been assessed as requiring care in relation to their mental health since the implementation of such orders; and what proportion of such individuals had a mental health condition at the time they were made subject to a control order. [309971]

Mr. Hanson: As of 10 December last year 45 individuals had been subject to a control order. Of these, the Home Office is aware of 12 individuals who have been assessed as having mental health issues, including depression, while on a control order. Individuals subject to control orders are not required to notify the Home Office of any diagnosis in relation to their mental health or of any medical care that they are assessed to require so these figures are not necessarily comprehensive.

The Home Office is aware that seven of the 12 individuals referred to above had mental health issues prior to the imposition of the control order.

Crime

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents with notifiable crime codes (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 4.1, (d) 4.2, (e) 4.3, (f) 4.4, (g) 4.6, (h) 4.7, (i) 4.8, (j) 4.9, (k) 4.10, (l) 5A, (m) 5B, (n) 5C, (o) 8A, (p) 8D, (q) 8F, (r) 8G, (s) 8H, (t) 8J, (u) 8K and (v) 37.1 which were also
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monitored under Priority 1 of Public Service Agreement 23 were recorded by each police force in each month since April 2006. [310732]

Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 14 January 2010]: Since 2007-08, the Home Office have reconciled recorded crime data with forces on a quarterly basis but not for months, so only quarterly data are provided. Quarterly data are provided for 2006-07 to 2008-09. Data at police force level for quarters in 2009-10 have not yet been published.

Data for 2006-07 are broken down by quarter and data are shown in Tables A to D. Similarly, data for 2007-08 are shown in Tables E to H and data for 2008-09 are shown in Tables I to L placed in the House Library.

Data are in line with data published in October 2009. Updated data will be available after the publication of the next quarterly bulletin on 21 January 2010.

Crime: Nature Conservation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he issues to chief constables on recording crime involving wildlife. [310147]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) is the guidance issued to all police forces in England and Wales on the recording of crime. It has two basic principles, that of a victim focus and consistency of recording.

The Notifiable Offence List (NOL) is a list of crimes that when they come to the notice of the police (including some wildlife offences) the police have to record using the guidance within NCRS. The police must notify the Home Office of the following wildlife offences:

Most wildlife offences are not on the NOL, but cautioning and conviction data on these types of offences are collected by the Ministry of Justice.

The NOL can be found on the Home Office website at:

Crime: Preston

Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in numbers of (a) overall recorded crimes, (b) recorded violent crimes, (c) burglaries and (d) vehicle thefts in Preston has been since 1997. [310997]

Mr. Alan Campbell: Information is not available in the form requested. Since 1997, there have been two major changes to the way crime is recorded. The effect of extending the coverage and changing the counting rules in 1998 was to artificially increase total recorded crime nationally by 14 per cent. It is estimated that the effect of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002 caused a further artificial increase of 10 per cent. in total recorded crime in its first year. For these reasons data between 1997 and 2008-09 are not directly comparable.


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The latest comparable data are for offences recorded in Preston between 2002-03 and 2008-09 and are given in the following table.

Percentage change in selected offences recorded by the police in Preston between 2002 - 03 and 2008 - 09

 Percentage change

Total recorded crime

-20

Violence against the person

+27

Burglary

-45

Theft of a vehicle

-47

Theft from a vehicle

-54


Crimes of Violence

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of violence against the person (a) with and (b) without injury were recorded by each police force in each month since April 2006. [310709]

Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 14 January 2010]: Since 2007-08, the Home Office have reconciled recorded crime data with forces on a quarterly basis but not for months, so only quarterly data are provided. Quarterly data are provided for 2006-07 to 2008-09. Data at police force level relating to quarters in 2009-10 data have not yet been published.

Data for 2006-07 are broken down by quarter and data are shown in Tables A to D. Similarly, data for 2007-08 are shown in Tables E to H and data for 2008-09 are shown in Tables I to L placed in the House Library.

Data are in line with the data published in October 2009. Updated data will be available after the publication of the next quarterly bulletin on crime on 21 January 2010.

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