| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
15 Mar 2010 : Column 609W—continued
Crime Prevention: Retail Trade
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with shopkeepers and representatives of small businesses to identify methods of enhancing the security and safety of their properties and staff. [321469]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which was set up by the Home Office in partnership with the British Retail Consortium in 2007. The NRCSG provides a forum for representatives from Government, law enforcement agencies, the larger retailers and business and trade organisations such the Association of Convenience Stores and Federation of Small Businesses to discuss and devise strategies for tackling crimes of concern to retailers and includes addressing the security and safety of staff and premises.
The NRCSG published a joint Retail Crime Action Plan which details a range of work to tackle crime. For details of the plan see:
Both the Home Office and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fully support USDAW 's Freedom from Fear campaign to promote the safety and well-being of shop workers. We are working with the HSE to help reduce the incidence of work-related violence in the retail sector. In October 2008, the HSE published a toolkit to help employers cut the risk of violence against shop workers. The toolkit provides practical advice on how to conduct a risk assessment and how to take action to prevent or control work-related violence. It contains information on a wide range of possible control measures and good practice that other businesses have found effective.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with representatives of the security industry on the provision of cheaper and more up-to-date security systems for shops and small business premises. [321470]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which provides a forum for representatives from Government, law enforcement agencies, the larger retailers and business and trade organisations such the Association of Convenience Stores and Federation of Small Businesses to discuss and devise strategies for tackling crimes of concern to retailers.
My advice on security systems and equipment is provided by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch which is a key member of the NRCSG. They are preparing a CCTV standards leaflet for small shops and for licensed premises to contain all the basic information on what to expect from a CCTV system, and provides a list of key requirements such as minimum image quality, recording, camera placement.
We are currently distributing the Small Retailers Capital Grants Fund which is designed to help fight crime and is being allocated to around 1,000 small retailers in 50 priority areas across England and Wales. The grants are being used for a variety of purposes including purchasing security equipment for individual retailers such as CCTV; infrared security cameras; security shutters and rollers; safes; alarms; anti-fraud equipment such as UV markers to detect counterfeit notes, and anti-graffiti paint.
Crimes of Violence
Mr. Hepburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports of (a) violent crime and (b) serious violent crime there were in (i)
Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) England and Wales in each year since 1997. [321592]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The term 'violent crime' is no longer used. Data are supplied for violence against the person offences. The requested information is shown in the table. Recorded crime statistics at constituency level are not collected centrally.
| Table 1: Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police, 1997 | |
| Number | |
| (1) Not available. | |
| Table 2: Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police, 1998-99 to 2001-02 | ||||
| Number | ||||
| Offence | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
| (1) Not available. Notes: 1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998-99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997. 2. The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. | ||||
| Table 3: Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police, 2002-03 to 2008-09 | |||
| Number | |||
| South Tyneside CDRP | North-east region | England and Wales( 1) | |
| (1) Includes British Transport police from 2002-03. Note: The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. | |||
Identity Cards: Procurement
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department paid to each management consultancy for client-side advice in relation to the Identity and Passport service National Identity Scheme Procurement programme; how much time was taken (a) to complete the pre-procurement process and (b) between issue of prior indicative notice and the award of contracts; what the value was of each contract awarded; what requirements there were on bidders in respect of the presentation of their bids; and how many submissions bidders were required to make. [314812]
Meg Hillier: The information is as follows:
(a) The information is not held in a format easily available to answer the question. The external consultancy cost relating to projects for both passport and identity card projects were approximately £16 million in 2007-08 and approximately £40 million in 2008-09 as published in the agency's annual report and accounts. Costs for external consultancy in 2009-10 will be published in the IPS annual report and accounts for 2009-10.
(b) It took eight months to create the Strategic Supplier Group Framework from which the Transforming Customer Experience, National Identity Assurance Service (NIAS) and the Critical Workers Identity Card (CWIC) contracts were awarded. For the Passport Book Design Production contract the pre-procurement process was eight months.
No Prior Indicative Notices were published in relation to the award of the Strategic Supplier Framework Contract or the National Identity Service contracts let from the Framework.
The values of the contract awarded are-Transforming Customer Experience (TCE) £385 million, National Identity Assurance Service (NIAS) £265 million, Critical Workers Identity Cards (CWIC) £18 million and Passport Design Production (PDP) £400 million.
Dialogue sessions were held with bidders to help inform the finalisation of the requirements and to help the bidders understand the agency's needs. Formal presentations were made to senior officials.
The number of submissions that bidders were required to make were as follows:
| Number | |
Motor Vehicles: Seized Articles
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cars were seized by Lancashire Constabulary for (a) crushing and (b) other means of disposal in each of the last five years. [322021]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 12 March 2010]: The police are empowered to remove and store vehicles under various provisions, in particular the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (vehicles illegally, obstructively or dangerously parked or broken down or abandoned), the Road Traffic Act 1988 (vehicles driven without appropriate licence or insurance) and the Police Reform Act 2002 (vehicles causing alarm, distress or annoyance).
The police must return these vehicles on payment of prescribed charges and satisfaction of any other prescribed conditions. If payment is not made or relevant conditions are not satisfied, the police may dispose of the vehicle concerned as they consider most appropriate, usually by crushing or sale. Information on the numbers of vehicles removed under the different powers and what subsequently happens to each of them is not collected centrally.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue was raised from (a) crushing and (b) other means of disposal of cars in (i) Lancashire and (ii) England and Wales in each of the last five years. [322022]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 12 March 2010]: Any vehicle seized by the police can be reclaimed on payment of charges prescribed by statute to meet police costs and on satisfaction of any other prescribed requirements. If a vehicle is not reclaimed, the police may dispose of it as they consider appropriate. Any proceeds of the disposal are used to meet the prescribed charges; any surplus is returned to the owner. Information is not collected centrally on these transactions.
National Identity Register
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2010, Official Report, column 817W, on the National Identity Register, what the estimated total monetary value is of contracts in each of the framework agreements. [318321]
Meg Hillier: The suppliers that comprise the IPS Strategic Supplier Framework agreement for the National Identity Service (NIS) are: Computer Sciences Limited (CSC), Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Fujitsu Services Ltd. (Fujitsu) IBM United Kingdom (IBM) and Thales UK Ltd. (Thales). IPS signed contracts with three out of these five suppliers for the delivery of the NIS. They are Thales, CSC and IBM. The breakdown is as follows:
Thales UK Ltd. was awarded a contract in July 2008 for the technology and process for the early releases of the NIS which is worth £18 million. It has been awarded for four years with four successive 6-month options to extend.
CSC was awarded a contract in April 2009 for the Application and Enrolment of passports and Identity (ID) Cards which is worth £385 million. The contract is awarded for a period of 10 years.
IBM was awarded a contract in May 2009 to operate the biometric database for passports and to support ID Cards, which is worth £265 million. The contract is awarded for a period of seven years with one three-year option to extend.
Each of the above values exclude any subsequent contract variations.
Transport
Cycling: Safety
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what priority his Department gives to increasing safety for cyclists; [321903]
(2) if he will arrange a press conference to publicise the report commissioned by his Department on the potential for cycle helmets to prevent injury; [321904]
(3) what the cost to his Department was of publishing the report on the potential for cycle helmets to prevent injury; and to whom and by what means it was distributed; [321905]
(4) if he will bring forward proposals to make it compulsory for children aged 14 years and under to wear cycle helmets when cycling on the public highway; [321906]
(5) what estimate he has made of the number of (a) lives that could be saved and (b) serious injuries that could be prevented if the wearing of cycle helmets by children when cycling on public highway was made compulsory, as recommended by the recent report commissioned by his Department, "The potential for cycle helmets to prevent injury". [321907]
Paul Clark [holding answer 12 March 2010]: The Department for Transport's proposals for policies to improve road safety for all road users, including cyclists, were set out in our consultation paper "A Safer Way: Consultation on Making Britain's Roads the Safest in the World", which was published in April 2009.
The Government want to see more people cycling, while at the same time minimising the risks of cycling. There are a number of initiatives under way at present, aimed at improving cycle safety. These include:
promoting bikeability cycle training for children;
using the Highway Code and the Think! road safety campaign to provide advice to child and adult cyclists on safe road use, including use of protective equipment such as high visibility clothing and cycle helmets;
providing more safe cycle routes to schools and other locations;
providing guidance to local authorities on the design of safer road infrastructure, including effective cycle-specific measures, as well as more general measures that benefit all road users, such as 20 mph zones;
improving motor vehicle driver testing and training;
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |