Antisocial Behaviour
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received on the compatibility with the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 of the use of ultrasonic Mosquito devices in public places; and if he will make a statement; [316226]
(2) whether he has made an estimate of the number of local authorities which use ultrasonic Mosquito devices; what recent representations he has received on that matter; and if he will make a statement. [316227]
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Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 8 February 2010]: The Home Office has received two representations on the use of Mosquito devices and human rights implications.
Our position on antisocial behaviour is that it should be tackled, not tolerated. We encourage local agencies to consider the full range of innovations and schemes and practices intended to reduce crime, the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour. It is for local agencies to decide on the most appropriate interventions based on their knowledge of what works best locally. The Home Office does not promote or recommend any particular commercial product or venture above this.
Information on the use of Mosquito dispersal devices is not collected centrally by the Home Office.
Asylum
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Mr. Jean Paul Manegabe (HO Ref: MBM348/EW/MANEGABE). [315056]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 10 June 2009.
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Mr. Bruno Medjiako Tcheuleu (HO Ref: T1053805); [315057]
(2) when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Mr. Abdi Mohamed Nur (HO Ref: Y1079438); [315058]
(3) when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Mr Bavell Makdir Karim (HO Ref: K1061849). [315069]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 12 November 2009.
Control Orders
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an assessment of whether the restrictions on the law reporting of control order judgements enable counsel and courts to follow precedent effectively; and if he will make a statement. [316657]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 9 February 2010]: Where sensitive intelligence material is used in control order proceedings, a closed judgment will normally be handed down by the court. These judgments cannot be made publicly available for public interest reasons. An accompanying open judgment will usually contain the court's findings on legal arguments of principle and is publicly available.
There are working practices which allow for judges and the special advocates appointed to act in the interests of the control person to access closed judgments in other cases where appropriate.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) individuals have been subject to control orders and (b) control orders
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are in force with a requirement for the controllee to relocate their home; how many such conditions were later rescinded; and if he will make a statement. [316658]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 9 February 2010]: Of the 45 individuals ever subject to control orders (including the 12 individuals referred to below), 17 individuals have been required to relocate and three relocations were subsequently overturned by the court.
Of the 12 individuals subject to control orders as of 10 December 2009 (the last date covered by the most recent quarterly written ministerial statement on control orders), eight have been required to, and have, relocated, two relocations were subsequently overturned by the court.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of the two control orders that were rescinded so as not to disclose the cases on which they were based, for how long each of the controllees was subject to the order before it was rescinded, whether the controllees are (a) UK or (b) foreign nationals and whether the controllees are subject to any other form of restriction; and if he will make a statement. [316659]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 9 February 2010]: Two control orders have been revoked and not replaced by new orders as a result of the June 2009 House of Lordsjudgment in AF & Others ([2009] UKHL 28).
The judgment of Mr. Justice Silber in the case of AE & AF dated 18 January 2010 ([2010] EWHC 42 (Admin)) sets out the timescales for each control order. Both controlees were subject to more than one control order and, where the control order lasted for longer than 12 months, renewals of the control order were made in accordance with the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
As set out in the House of Lords judgment in AF & Others one controlee is an Iraqi national and the other has dual British and Libyan nationality.
The individuals are no longer subject to a control order. We cannot comment on whether they are subject to any other form of restriction.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with those responsible for law reporting on the implications of the restrictions on reporting of control order judgments and internment orders; and if he will make a statement. [316660]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 9 February 2010]: The Secretary of State has not had any discussions on this matter with regard to control orders and is not aware of any taking place. There is no legislation providing for internment orders.
Open control order judgments are reported in the public domain in the same way as any other court judgments, subject to any specific reporting restrictions imposed by the presiding judge. Closed judgments are not made available publicly because they contain sensitive intelligence material which it would not be in the public interest to disclose.
There are working practices which allow for judges and the special advocates appointed to represent the interests of a controlled person to access closed judgments in other cases where appropriate.
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Crime
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) robberies, (b) violent incidents and (c) drug offences were recorded as taking place on university campuses in England and Wales in each of the last five years. [312105]
Alan Johnson: The information requested cannot be provided as specifics of offence location are not routinely reported to the Home Office.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) offences and (b) violent offences were committed between 3 am and 6 am in each year since 1997. [313018]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested cannot be provided as data on the time offences were committed are not routinely reported to the Home Office.
However, there is a Home Office online report on crime trends since the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003 that was based on a special data collection between October 2004 and November 2006. This indicates that there is some increase in the more serious violent crimes between the hours of 3 am and 6 am but that these accounted for only a very small proportion of a declining total.
Detailed information can be found at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/rdsolr1607.pdf
Crime Prevention: Expenditure
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding his Department allocated to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in respect of educating children on the dangers of (i) knife crime and (ii) gang involvement in the last 12 months. [315644]
Alan Johnson: The Home Office does not allocate funding direct to primary or secondary schools though our Tackling Knives Action programme (TKAP) partners (police forces and third sector organisations) have undertaken a range of work in school settings as part of the TKAP programme.
Crime Prevention: Wales
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to reduce crime rates in Wales. [316221]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Total recorded crime in Wales fell by 3 per cent. in 2008-09 compared with 2007-08. Violence against the person fell by 4 per cent. and domestic burglary by 7 per cent. According to quarterly statistics released in January 2010, total recorded crime in Wales fell by 3 per cent., violence against the person by 2 per cent. and domestic burglary by 6 per cent. in the 12 months to September 2009 as compared to September 2008.
These falls have been supported by investment in preventive measures to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour.
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Wales received £317,748 in 2009-10 as part of the Safer Homes programme to provide target hardening to 3,500 vulnerable properties identified through local intelligence. Wales received a further £384,208 investment in the same period through the Small Retailers Capital Fund to help enhance the security of vulnerable local businesses.
A strong focus on alcohol-related violent crime has revolved around the introduction of a formal and structured programme of complementary projects such as Taxi Marshalling. HOCTiW is leading the ‘Health and Crime Data Sharing Initiative’ which aims to improve the sharing of A and E data with all Community Safety Partnerships across Wales through the roll out of the Cardiff model. They have also initiated a data exchange programme between the Welsh Ambulance Service and all Community Safety Partnerships in Wales. These initiatives will contribute to providing a better understanding of violence and more effective targeting of resources to tackle violent crime.
Knife crime offences are low within Wales compared to other parts of the UK. Therefore energy is being concentrated on preventative work with young people. South Wales police, funded by the Home Office, have engaged young people to produce an interactive, educational DVD ‘At Life Point’, targeted at 11 to 18-year-olds, aimed at increasing awareness of the effects and consequences of carrying knives.
Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) are embedded throughout Wales which enables key statutory and voluntary organisations to work together to increase the safety, health and well-being of victims, adults and their children and reduce repeat victimisations.
In order to reduce drug misuse the Home Office and Welsh Assembly Government are working together to deliver the Tough Choices Project, which went live on 1 April 2009. By facilitating offenders engagement and retention in treatment, these measures will reduce the amount of crime that is committed by offenders in order to fund their drug misuse. British Crime Survey results show that the proportion of people who perceive there to be a high level of drug use or drug dealing in Wales has fallen in the 12 months to Sept ember 2009 compared with the 12 months to September 2008.
The Home Office Crime Team in Wales (HOCTiW) has driven and facilitated improvements in priority and prolific offenders (PPO) schemes across Wales by a variety of methods including PPO walkthroughs, securing capital funding to establish co-location of key agencies and IT case management systems.
South Wales has adopted the i-NSI approach to increase public confidence. This relates to an innovative community engagement methodology designed to deliver a richer community intelligence picture of neighbourhoods and their problems. Based upon a software package written specifically for the purpose, the approach allows front-line staff to diagnose the signal crimes and signal disorders that are driving insecurity at the local level. The recently published British Crime Survey figures show that the proportion of people in South Wales who agree that the police and local councils are dealing with the ASB and crime issues that matter in their area is statistically significantly higher in the 12 months to Sept ember 2009 compared to the 12 months to September 2008.
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Knives: Crime
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mobile knife scanners have been issued to police forces in England and Wales. [315641]
Alan Johnson: As part of the Tackling Violence Action plan, launched in February 2008, and the Tackling Knives Action programme, launched in June 2008, the Home Office provided 1,150 extra search arches and wands to police forces in England and Wales to take knives off the streets and reassure the public. This is in addition to search equipment sourced directly by forces. As a result of on-going activity, police forces tell us that there are encouraging signs that knife carrying is reducing among young people.
M4: Bus Lanes
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department takes to enforce restriction on the use of the M4 bus lane. [315912]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Enforcement of legal restrictions on use of the M4 bus lane is an operational matter for the police. Metropolitan police traffic officers are regularly deployed on that section of the M4 which includes the bus lane. They can deal with its illegal use by giving an oral or written warning, the issue of a £60 fixed penalty notice or by proceeding to prosecution. Any police officer who witnesses an offence taking place there will take whatever action is appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, I understand that the Metropolitan police are working in partnership with the Highways Agency and Transport for London to devise medium and long-term solutions in relation to the lane's use and safety.
National Identity Register
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the first annual report by the National Identity scheme Commissioner is expected to be published. [312172]
Meg Hillier: The Identity Commissioner has sent the Home Secretary a copy of his first annual report. The Home Secretary will lay the report before Parliament before the end of the month, after the practical arrangements for its publication have been made.
Passports
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) adults and (b) children applied for passports in each of the last five years. [316174]
Meg Hillier: In each of the last five years, the following figures show the passport application intake for adult and children:
|
| Adult | Child |
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Police National Computer
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many records have been (a) added to and (b) removed from the Police National Computer in each of the last five years. [316430]
Mr. Hanson: The Police National Computer (PNC) is an operational tool and is not designed to produce the information requested. To obtain the information would incur a disproportionate cost.