Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: Cycling
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether she has made an estimate of the number of tickets which will be available to (a) members of the public and (b) civic and other official guests for the two Olympic Games Mountain Bike events in Hadleigh. [323167]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 22 March 2010]: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for ticketing for the London 2012 Games. LOCOG's ticketing approach will ensure that it raises the funding required to stage the games and that it provides affordable and accessible tickets to deliver full venues, including Hadleigh Farm. LOCOG is working now to finalise the sports competition schedule and venue seating plans, and this work needs to be completed before LOCOG will know the numbers of seats and tickets. It is critical that as many tickets as possible end up in the hands of the public. Tickets will go on sale in 2011.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Legal Costs
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department and its predecessors have spent in (a) legal fees and (b) compensation on legal cases concerning remuneration of its employees in each of the last 10 years. [322055]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not spent any money on legal fees or compensation on legal cases concerning remuneration of employees since October 2007.
No information or record is held by the Department prior to October 2007.
Departmental Publications
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the dates of publication of any regular statistics or reports by his Department have been affected by planning for the forthcoming general election. [323463]
Mr. Bradshaw: On the announcement of a general election, the Cabinet Secretary issues guidance to Departments on their activities during the pre-election period. This will be published on the Cabinet Office website.
Regular statistical releases and reports will continue to be issued and published during the election period on dates which have been pre-announced.
Television: Smoking
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department intends to take to ensure adherence to the Ofcom code on smoking on television. [323714]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Ofcom Broadcasting Code sets out the rules for broadcasters regarding smoking in programmes. Within the framework of the code it is the responsibility of each broadcaster to make judgments about what individual programmes should contain and at what time they are broadcast. Enforcement of the code is a matter for Ofcom, which operates independently of Government.
Tourism: Finance
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has allocated to the tourism industry in (a) the UK and (b) Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in each of the last 10 years. [322936]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 18 March 2010]: The information requested about tourism funding for Westmorland and Lonsdale is not held centrally. The North West Regional Development Agency (NWRDA) has the primary role in taking forward the north-west regional tourism strategy, and in deciding on investment to promote tourism that would affect Cumbria. The NWRDA spent £14 million in support of tourism in 2008-09.
The overall level of public sector investment in UK tourism from local, regional and national sources is likely to exceed £2 billion in the current spending review period.
In partnership with the industry and the wider public sector, DCMS has a clear and coherent policy framework for promoting tourism. The funding provided for heritage and museums and galleries; for branding and marketing improvements led by VisitBritain and VisitEngland; for the National Skills Strategy for tourism and hospitality; and for the work across Britain to drive up product quality through accommodation grading schemes are all investments by Government which support tourism.
Home Department
Dogs: Crime
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the incidence of the use of dogs in crime. [322940]
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the incidence of the use of dogs in crime. [322961]
Meg Hillier [holding answer 22 March 2010]: These data are not collected centrally. We are aware of the growing concerns about the use of dangerous dogs to harass and intimidate people. This has promoted the Government to introduce the new gang injunction power under the Policing and Crime act 2009 and launch a public consultation on managing and controlling dangerous dogs.
Crime: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences committed within the City of York area have been recorded by North Yorkshire Police under the National Crime Recording Standard in each year since 2003-04. [323366]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 22 March 2010]: All the offences recorded by the police and notified to the Home Office for the period requested have been recorded in accordance with the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) and the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime.
Offences recorded in the York Community Safety Partnership area are given in the table.
| Total offences recorded by the police in the York Community Safety Partnership area | |
| Number of offences | |
Crimes of Violence: Crime Prevention
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking with local authorities to tackle gang activity. [322997]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Gangs are part of the wider serious youth violence agenda, on which the Government have spent £17.3 million since September 2007 as part of the Tackling Gangs Action Programme (TGAP) and Tackling Knives and Serious Youth Violence Action Programme (TKAP). On 17 March 2010 my right hon. Friend the Minister for Policing, Crime and Counter-Terrorism announced a further £5.5 million for tackling serious youth violence in 2010-11. £1.5 million of this funding has been made available through the Community Fund, ensuring that 150 voluntary and community sector organisations are able to deliver intensive interventions at a local level to young people involved in serious youth violence, including gangs.
Through the Policing and Crime Act 2009 the Home Office created Gang Injunctions, a civil tool to allow local authorities and police to tackle over 18s involved in gang related violence. Parliament is currently considering provisions in the Crime and Security Bill which will allow this civil tool to be used in relation to 14 to 17-year-olds. The £17.3 million funding since September 2007 to tackle gangs and serious youth violence has included £1.6 million to the four cities that were the focus of the TGAP programme, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, to assist in the multi-agency risk management of violent offenders, including gang members. In Merseyside, for instance, this funding has resulted in the UK's first Violent Offender Management Unit. The Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have also jointly established a team of experts from police forces, local authorities and central Government that will be available to local partnerships to deliver focused advice and guidance on gangs.
Further support for local schools, partnerships and practitioners can also be found in guidance on safeguarding children and young people who may be involved in gang activity, recently published jointly by the Home Office and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). This guidance builds on the advice already offered in Tackling Gangs: A Practical Guide, published in 2008, which provides key approaches to help local partnerships devise a gangs strategy.
Criminal Records: Vetting
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which countries the United Kingdom has bilateral agreements on exchanging criminal records information for employment vetting purposes; and if he will make a statement. [323590]
Meg Hillier: We do not currently have any bilateral agreements in place but we are in negotiation with a number of countries.
We have reached provisional agreement to exchange criminal record information with Australia and New Zealand for employment checking purposes with an applicant's consent. We are aiming to conclude negotiations around the exact mechanisms for doing so by the end of 2010. We have also reached agreements in principle with Ireland and France in relation to those seeking to work with children.
Within the European Union, under the terms of Council Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA on the organisation and content of the exchange of information extracted from the criminal record between member states, the United Kingdom is told by other member states when a British citizen is convicted of an offence within their jurisdiction. Member states are required to take the necessary measures to comply with this Framework Decision by 27 April 2012. Similarly, information may be received through Interpol channels in relation to British citizens convicted outside the EU. Conviction information received through either channel is recorded on the Police National Computer and so will be disclosed in the same way as convictions in United Kingdom courts.
In many countries individuals, and in some cases third parties, can request criminal records certificates for employment checking purposes. We are currently looking at where we can strengthen the guidance for employers to encourage them to ask to see such certificates, particularly in relation to those seeking work with children and vulnerable adults. We aim to put in place all the information that we have on this process in relation to each country to help employers and prospective employees obtain certificates and understand what is disclosed on them. However, obtaining criminal records is only one aspect of pre-employment checks and good practice is also for employers to obtain character and employment references.
Departmental Publications
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the dates of publication of any regular statistics or reports by his Department have been affected by planning for the forthcoming general election. [323491]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 22 March 2010]: On the announcement of a general election, the Cabinet Secretary issues guidance to Departments on their activities during the pre-election period. This will be published on the Cabinet Office website.
Regular statistical releases and statistical reports will continue to be issued and published during the election period on dates which have already been pre-announced.
Domestic Violence: Crime Prevention
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the level of domestic violence of restraining orders made under section 12 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. [322838]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Section 12 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 was implemented on 30 September 2009. There has been no assessment of the effects of this legislation on the levels of domestic violence.
Immobilisation of Vehicles: Fees and Charges
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what cap he plans to impose on the charge levied by vehicle immobilisation businesses for the release of a vehicle. [323480]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 2010]: Proposals contained in the Crime and Security Bill will make it mandatory for all wheel clamping businesses working on private land to be licensed and to adhere to a strict code of practice. The code will include maximum release fees which may be charged in connection with wheel clamping of vehicles and the related activities of towing and impounding. The details of the code of practice, including maximum fees, will be set out after further consultation with stakeholders.
Independent Police Complaints Commission
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in holding the actions of police forces to account; [323275]
(2) if he will take steps to require police forces to implement the recommendations of the Independent Police Complaints Commission or to state publicly the reasons why they do not intend to implement them. [323276]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 22 March 2010]: On receipt of a report of an investigation conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) police chiefs are required to report back to the IPCC on the action the police force proposes to take in respect of the matters dealt with in the report. Such matters will include consideration of recommendations from the IPCC as to whether disciplinary proceedings should be brought against a person serving with the police.
Where the force does not accept the recommendation of the IPCC as to the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, the IPCC has the power to direct that disciplinary proceedings are brought.
The Public Accounts Committee's Fifteenth Report on the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), published in March 2009, recommended that the Home Office clarify responsibility for monitoring the implementation IPCC recommendations. Work is currently under way to put in place a suitable framework to achieve this.
The work of the IPCC is crucial to maintaining an effective and efficient police complaints system in England and Wales. The work of the IPCC is subject to detailed scrutiny in for example, criminal, coroners' and disciplinary proceedings. It has led directly to holding individual officers to account.
More widely, the IPCC also chairs a national Learning the Lessons committee with police stakeholders, ensuring that key lessons from investigations are identified and promulgated, leading to overall improvements in policing.
Passports
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens who hold a valid (a) UK passport and (b) UK biometric passport. [317215]
Meg Hillier: The latest estimate is that in September 2008 there were some 47 million valid United Kingdom passports covering some 77 per cent. of the population. The split between non-biometric and biometric passports (which were first issued in 2006) is not available.
Police
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in England and Wales in 2009. [323511]
Mr. Hanson: There were 144,353 police officers (including those on maternity leave and career breaks) in the 43 police forces of England and Wales as at 30 September 2009.
These and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.
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