| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Mar 2010 : Column 331W—continued
Justice
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many retailers have been prosecuted for selling (a) alcohol and (b) cigarettes to minors in England in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [323633]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts in England for 'sale of, or allowing the sale of, alcohol to a person aged under 18' and 'sale of tobacco to underage persons' in England from 2005 to 2008 (latest available) can be viewed in Tables 1 and 2.
Court proceedings data for 2009 will be available in the autumn of 2010.
| Table 1: N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for sale, or allowing the sale, of alcohol to a person under 18( 1) , England, 2005 - 08( 2, 3) | |
| Number | |
| (1) Data include the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises-Licensing Act 1964 S. 169 A and B as added by Licensing (Young Persons) Act 2000 S. 1 Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 S.3 (Sch. Para. 4(1)). Sale of alcohol to person under 18-Licensing Act 2003 S. 146. Allowing sale of alcohol to person under 18-Licensing Act 2003 S. 147. Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18-Licensing Act 1964 S. 181A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 S. 17. Persistently selling alcohol to children-Licensing Act 2003 S. 147A as added by Violent Crime reduction Act 2006. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice. | |
Children in Care: Child Trust Fund
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) of 17 March 2010, Official Report, column 853W, on children in care: Child Trust Fund, from which provider child trust funds managed by the Official Solicitor or Accountant of Court on behalf of looked-after children have been re-allocated. [323710]
Mr. Straw: The poorest performers were the Scottish Friendly Managed Growth UK and Engage Investment Growth Fund. In addition funds held in Druids Sheffield Fund were also recommended for switching as limited information regarding performance was available.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of prisoners in England and Wales are serving sentences following conviction for offences related to (a) fraud, (b) other financial sector crime and (c) other white collar crime. [323238]
Claire Ward: At the end of June 2009, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 1,875, or 3 per cent. out of a total of 68,375 prisoners serving sentences for fraud and forgery in all prison establishments in England and Wales.
While statistics are held on the numbers of prisoners serving sentences for fraud and forgery, they cannot be broken down further to show which of these convictions specifically related to the commission of financial sector or "other white collar" crime.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Training: Finance
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether employees of the National Offender Management Service are remunerated through his Department's Pay and Pensions Service. [323807]
Mr. Straw: Employees of the National Offender Management Services (NOMS) are remunerated through the Home Office Pay and Pensions Service. This arrangement came about because the Prison Service, which is a part of NOMS, was previously part of the Home Office. There are no plans to alter these arrangements.
Treasury
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what methodology his Department used to determine whether answers to questions in the formulation "if he will set out with statistical information related as directly as possible to the tabling hon. Member's constituency the effects on that constituency of his Department's policies since 1997" could be provided without incurring disproportionate cost; and if he will make a statement. [323874]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: HM Treasury seeks to answer all parliamentary questions that do not incur disproportionate cost. Disproportionate cost is determined via a disproportionate cost threshold (DCT). The current DCT is £800, announced in Parliament by ministerial statement on the 20 January 2010.
The calculation of DCT is based on eight times the average marginal cost of answering written PQs. Marginal cost excludes the fixed costs of parliamentary branches and departmental overheads.
Government Departments: Bank Cards
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Government procurement cards are in circulation; and how much was spent on such cards in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available. [323515]
Ian Pearson: During the period January to December 2009 there were 141,693 Government procurement cards in circulation.
For the same period £995,872,758 was spent on these cards.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of (a) unauthorised and (b) fraudulent transactions using Government procurement cards there have been to date; and who is responsible for assessing the risks of fraud within the scheme. [323517]
Ian Pearson:
In the period January-December 2009 no incidents of card misuse were reported by card issuers on the Government procurement card (GPC) framework agreement. Each Department or organisation
using GPC is responsible for controlling and monitoring its own card programme and is not required to report incidents centrally.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Government procurement card transactions there were in the last year for which figures are available. [323518]
Ian Pearson: During the period January to December 2009 there were a total of 6,565,825 transactions made on Government procurement cards.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his Departments' officials have a Government procurement card; and what the approval mechanisms to authorise expenditure on such cards are. [323519]
Ian Pearson: The current numbers of officials within the HM Treasury family using a Government procurement card are as follows:
HM Treasury: 620
Treasury Solicitors: 46
OGC: 367
Buying Solutions: 340
Debt Management Office: 0
Each organisation has its own rigorous approval mechanism to authorise expenditure on such cards.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the average cost of processing a transaction on a Government procurement card. [323520]
Ian Pearson: This information is not available and in any event would vary by Department or organisation dependant on their internal processes.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which public bodies participate in the Government procurement card scheme. [323521]
Ian Pearson: There are currently 1,649 UK public sector organisations utilising the Government procurement card service. A full list has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Revenue and Customs: Debt Collection
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions the alignment of the (a) criteria and (b) guidance used to determine hardship when considering the recovery of monies owed. [323203]
Mr. Timms: Debt recovery decisions are made on the basis of the specific facts of each case and the statutory framework within which HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) respectively operates.
In my statement to the House on 14 September 2009, Official Report, column 141WS, I set out details of the collaboration between HMRC and DWP on debt recovery. This collaboration has not yet identified alignment on hardship as a priority area for supporting the Departments' debt recovery objectives.
Tax Allowances: Part-time Employment
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals for a pilot scheme to implement an earnings disregard of £50 a week to assist people who are on benefits to take jobs of 16 or fewer hours a week. [322239]
Helen Goodman: I have been asked to reply.
Within the benefits system, some groups can already earn £50 per week or more without any loss of benefit. These include people on employment and support allowance and incapacity benefit who have access to a permitted work rule which allows them to earn up to £93.
The progression to work pathfinders will operate in four Jobcentre Plus districts. They will come into effect from the date of claim for people claiming after 25 October 2010 and from April 2011 for people already on benefit at that date.
The pathfinders will build on the existing regime for lone parents of regular work-focused interviews and action planning and require customers to undertake work-related activities which will aim to move them closer to the labour market and, ultimately, into work, when they become ready to do so. A £50 financial incentive/disregard was announced during the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill.
The Government believe that we should improve work incentives for lone parents and intend to include an enhanced earnings disregard for them in the pathfinders. We are currently considering the level and structure of this disregard with a view to providing the most effective incentive for lone parents to try out work.
Home Department
Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the Government has to reduce the frequency of inspections carried out under the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. [322470]
Meg Hillier: There are no plans to reduce the frequency of inspections carried out under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. In line with the Government's principles for Better Regulation, inspections are performed with a frequency based upon a risk assessment of each designated establishment. The risks are regularly reviewed by the local inspector in the light of fresh information such that the frequency of inspections to each establishment may be altered at any time to match the perceived risk. Overall, it is not expected that this will result in a significant change in the total number of inspections carried out by an inspector over the course of a year.
Animal Welfare: EC Action
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects his Department's response to its consultation on EU proposals for a new Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes to be published. [322469]
Meg Hillier: We expect the response to the consultation on the proposals for the revision of EC Directive 86/609 to be published by early April 2010.
Asylum: Housing
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 25 January 2010, Official Report, column 630W, on asylum: housing, how many asylum seekers are housed in dwellings that were formerly vacant social housing. [323198]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency contracts with a number of local authorities for the provision of accommodation for eligible asylum seekers. The agency's contracts with local authorities do not stipulate what type of housing they use to fulfil their contractual requirements.
British Nationality
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for British nationality through naturalisation were made in each of the last three years. [322988]
Mr. Woolas: The following table provides the number of naturalisation applications that were made in the last three years.
| Applications for naturalisation as a British citizen received, 2007-09 | ||
| Case type | Number of persons | |
| (1) Provisional figures. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 5. | ||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |