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23 Feb 2010 : Column 446W—continued
Forced Marriage
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of vulnerable people being forced to marry against their will as a result of a financial agreement between family members and a foreign national; [317260]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of vulnerable people who have been forced to marry against their will as a result of a financial agreement between their family members and a foreign national seeking UK citizenship. [317261]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides confidential information and assistance to potential victims of forced marriage, those who have already been forced to marry and concerned professionals. The FMU also works with partners both in the UK and overseas to ensure that appropriate action is taken to prevent forced marriage from taking place.
In the last two years over 1,600 incidences of suspected forced marriage were reported in each year to the FMU. Forced marriage is, by its nature, an underground practice and therefore detailed statistics on the scale of the problem and patterns of abuse are not fully known. While the FMU is aware of some of the key motivators for forcing a person to marry and has seen cases where both these issues appear to be a factor among those with learning and physical disabilities, we do not collect specific data on the motivators as it is not always possible to clearly identify one particular cause.
However, data on the number of suspected incidences of forced marriage that involved a person with learning and or physical difficulties have been collected since August 2009. From August 2009 to the end of January 2010 at least 18 cases involving people with learning difficulties and seven cases involving people with physical difficulties were reported to the FMU.
In July last year the FMU published revised Multi-agency Practice Guidelines which provide step by step guidance for frontline professionals on how to deal with cases of forced marriage, including cases that may involve children and adults with support needs.
The FMU is also funding research to look at the prevalence of forced marriage among those with learning disabilities. One of the objectives of the research will be to examine the motivations for forcing people with learning difficulties into marriage.
Homicide: Children
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many homicides (a) of and
(b) by children there have been in each of the last 30 years; and what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of such homicides. [317967]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 22 February 2010]: Available information is from the Homicide Index as at 24 November 2009 and relates to the number of currently recorded homicides in England and Wales: (a) where the victim was aged under 16; and (b) where the principal suspect was aged under 16. Data are shown according to the year in which offences were initially recorded as homicide; this is not necessarily the year in which the offence took place or the year in which any court decision was made.
The number of homicides involving victims aged under 16 in England and Wales fluctuated quite substantially between 1979 and 2008-09, peaking at 101 offences in 1985 and dipping to 48 offences in 2005-06. However, due to the relatively small numbers, considerable year-on-year variation is to be expected. On average, there have been 75 such homicides per year over the 30-year period. The lower numbers recorded in the last few years are in keeping with the lower number of overall homicides.
Homicides where the principal suspect was aged under 16 are rare, accounting for between 1 and 4 per cent. of all currently recorded homicides each year between 1979 and 2008-09. As with homicide victims aged under 16, the number has fluctuated during this period, and slight year-on-year variations are to be expected.
Homicide: Reoffenders
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people convicted of homicide had a previous conviction for homicide at the time of their sentencing in each of the last five years. [317667]
Alan Johnson: Available information is from the Homicide Index and was included in table 1.11 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 01/10, available at:
Data throughout the homicide chapter reflect the position as at 24 November 2009 and are shown according to the year in which offences were initially recorded as homicide; this is not necessarily the year in which the offence took place or the year in which any court decision was made.
| Suspects convicted of homicide with previous homicide conviction( 1) : England and Wales, 2004-05 to 2008-09 | |
| Year offence initially recorded as homicide( 2) | Number |
| (1 )As at 24 November 2009; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. (2) Data are shown according to the year in which offences were initially recorded as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the offence took place, or the year in which any court decision was made. (3) In addition, one suspect who committed suicide had previously been convicted of homicide. | |
Immigration: Fraud
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign-born nationals have been permitted to retain (a) their UK citizenship and (b) indefinite leave to remain subsequent to their documentation being found to be fraudulent in each year since 2005. [317731]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested as to how many were permitted to retain citizenship since 2005 could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost. Although no one has been deprived of British citizenship, on the basis that that status was acquired on the basis of fraud, since 2005, the UK Border Agency has recently implemented a new deprivation policy and is pursuing deprivation action in a number of cases.
As regards indefinite leave to remain, a person who obtains (or seeks to obtain) leave to remain by deception is liable to removal under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. We do not however have records for those that have been identified as using deception but have none the less been allowed to retain their indefinite leave to remain, as these could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
Offenders: Deportation
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average period of time taken to deport time-served foreign prisoners held in the UK Border Agency's detention estate was in each year since 1998. [317663]
Alan Johnson: For those foreign national prisoners removed in 2007, 2008 and the first three quarters of 2009, the average length of time taken to remove once they have completed their sentence is approximately 27 weeks. This figure includes those who had been detained for a longer period while legal, country specific or documentation issues were addressed. Accurate figures relating before 2007 are not available and could only be obtained by investigating individual case-files. This would incur a disproportionate cost.
This information is from internal management information systems and should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to change.
Offensive Weapons
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) new and (b) amended powers relating to the possession of a concealed weapon have been created by legislation sponsored by his Department since 1997. [317608]
Alan Johnson: The law relating to the criminal use of both offensive weapons and firearms has been strengthened in a number of areas since 1997. The changes to the law do not make a distinction between concealed and non-concealed weapons.
Passports: Older People
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce free passports for people aged 75 years or more. [317111]
Meg Hillier: A free passport scheme was introduced as a special concession to second world war veterans who were attending 60th anniversary commemorative events in 2004. This was extended to cover all those who may have made a contribution to the overall war effort, whether or not they had served in the armed forces. It therefore applies to those who were born on or before 2 September 1929 and so would have been aged 16 or over at the end of the war.
The present free passport scheme is not an age-based concession and there are no plans to introduce free passports for people aged 75 or over. This would be considerably more expensive and could require an increase in passport fees for other applicants.
Police Community Support Officers: Assaults on Police
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults upon police community support officers have been recorded in each of the last five years. [317664]
Alan Johnson: Data for the numbers of assaults on police community support officers for 2005-06 to 2008-09 are provided in the following table.
For 2004-05 assaults data are not available separately for PCSOs. Data for the numbers of assaults on police officers, PCSOs and other operational support staff combined for 2004-05 can be seen in the HMIC Annual Report, available in the Library of the House and from:
The increase in assaults should be considered in the light of the 144 per cent. increase in the number of police community support officers in post from 6,769 in 2005-06 to 16,507 in 2008-09.
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