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14 Jun 2010 : Column 285W—continued
Drugs: Crime
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) jailed as a result of offences committed under the terms of the Drugs Act 2005. [2025]
James Brokenshire: The information requested on arrests is not held centrally.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and drug offences. From these centrally reported categories it is not possible to separately identify arrests made under the Drugs Act 2005.
Data on immediate custodial sentences under the Act, provided by the Ministry of Justice, can be found in the following table.
Firearms
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) firearm registrations and (b) gun-related crimes there were in 2008-09; [2012]
(2) if she will take steps to ensure that the eligibility criteria for a shotgun certificate are brought into line with those for a firearm certificate so that a justification for ownership is required to be provided at the time of application; [2015]
(3) if she will bring forward proposals to reduce the period of time for which a firearm ownership certificate is valid; [2017]
(4) what assessment she has made of the merits of a limit on the number of firearms that can be owned under one firearms certificate. [2000]
James Brokenshire: I refer to the statement given by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 3 June 2010, Official Report, column 592. The Government will lead a full debate about our current gun laws once we know more about the tragic shootings in Cumbria.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what her most recent estimate is of the percentage of gun-related crimes in which the intentional use of firearms has resulted in death; [2014]
(2) what percentage of firearm-related crime resulted in fatal or serious injury in 2008-09; and what percentage of such crime involved (a) rifles and (b) shotguns. [2016]
James Brokenshire: Firearms (including air weapons) were reported to have been used in 14,250 recorded crimes in 2008-09. Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument or used as a threat. A fatal or serious injury was incurred in 3% of these offences (431 offences), including 0.06% that involved rifles (eight offences) and 0.51% that involved shotguns (72 offences).
From information collected centrally it is not possible to determine whether or not firearms had been used intentionally, though it is worth noting that the firearm offences database includes only those incidents that police forces have initially recorded as crimes.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of recorded crime involved a firearm in 2008-09; [2064]
(2) how many recorded crimes involving a firearm there were in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009; [2065]
(3) what percentage of recorded crime involving a firearm involved (a) shotguns, (b) rifles and (c) imitation weapons in 2008-09. [2066]
James Brokenshire: Available information was included in the most recent chapter on offences involving firearms, published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 01/10 in January 2010. Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument or used as a threat.
Firearms (including air weapons) were reported to have been used in 14,250 recorded crimes in 2008-09. These accounted for 0.3% of all recorded crimes, or one in every 330. Firearm offences as a proportion of all recorded crime by principal weapon category are shown in the table.
| Offences recorded by the police in which firearms were reported to have been used( 1) , by weapon type: England and Wales, 2008-09 | ||
| Principal weapon | Number of offences | % of all recorded crime |
| (1) By weapon being fired, used as a blunt instrument or as a threat. | ||
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for possession of a firearm were (a) rejected and (b) rejected due to mental health issues in 2008-09. [2067]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not use the term "rejection" but publishes the number of refusals of firearm certificates. In the period between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, 133 new applications, 24 renewal applications and 22 variation applications were refused. Thus, in total 179 applications for firearm certificates were refused. The Home Office does not hold any information on the reasons for the refusals.
All available data are published in the National Statistics Bulletin "Firearm Certificates in England and Wales 2008/09" at the following link:
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in how many cases in 2008-09 those owning a firearm and wanting to renew their licence have had it revoked; and of these cases, what number have been related to mental health; [2068]
(2) how many holders of a licence for the possession of a firearm had their licence (a) revoked and (b) revoked due to mental health issues when seeking to renew their licence in 2008-09. [2069]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office only holds data on the total number of revocations. In the period between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, 260 firearm certificates were revoked. The Home Office does not hold any information on the reasons for the revocations.
All available data are published in the National Statistics Bulletin "Firearm Certificates in England and Wales 2008/09" at the following link:
Forced Marriage
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of forced marriages which occurred in (a) Lancashire and (b) England in each of the last five years. [1036]
Mr Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply.
Due to the underground nature of forced marriage it is very difficult to estimate the scale of this practice in the UK and it is therefore likely that many cases go unreported.
The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), a joint unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office, was established in 2005 as the 'one-stop shop' for dealing with forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It operates both inside the UK, where support is provided to any individual, and overseas, where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals.
The FMU collects data on (i) the number of reports it receives relating to possible forced marriages and (ii) the number of cases where the FMU provides direct support to a victim in the UK or overseas. Data on the number of reports made to the FMU relating to possible forced marriages were not collected prior to 2008. Data collected since then are recorded by UK region (where
this is known) and are not broken down further. Data on the number of cases where the FMU provided direct support are available from 2005. Details are as follows:
Reports to the FMU relating to possible forced marriage
In 2008: 1,618 total reports across the UK. Of these, 1,252 reports were from England (where the region was known) and 197 of these reports originated from the north-west of England (where the region was known).
In 2009: 1,682 total reports across the UK. Of these, 1,200 reports were from England (where the region was known) and 210 originated from the north-west of England (where the region was known).
Cases where the FMU gave direct support to victims of forced marriage in the UK or overseas
In 2009: 377 cases, including both assistance and immigration cases.
In 2008: 430 cases, including both assistance and immigration cases.
In 2007: 262 cases, including both assistance and immigration cases.
In 2006: 197 cases, including both assistance and immigration cases.
In 2005: 152 cases, including both assistance and immigration cases.
Incitement: Internet
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a Ministerial cross-Government champion on reducing incitement on the internet has been appointed. [2061]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office is looking at the challenges posed by hate crime on the internet. As part of this process, we will look at how work on this issue is led across Government.
Independent Police Complaints Commission
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former police officers are engaged by the Independent Police Complaints Commission to undertake investigations into their former forces; and if she will take steps to end that practice. [1715]
Nick Herbert: The Independent Police Complaints Commission has a team of investigators from varying backgrounds. The way in which they are deployed is an operational matter for the IPCC, which will write to the hon. Member direct.
Independent Police Complaints Commission: Standards
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average it took the Police Complaints Commission to investigate and report on complaints in each of the last three years. [1892]
Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not hold this information. This is a matter for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The IPCC will write to the hon. Member about the information sought.
Passports: Fraud
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of the investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency into the use of counterfeit British passports in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on 19 January 2010; what co-operation the Agency received from the Government of Israel; what discussions (a) officials and Ministers of her Department, (b) officials of the Identity and Passport Service and (c) officials of the Serious Organised Crime Agency have had on the issue with representatives of the Government of Israel; what the outcome of such discussions was; and if she will make a statement. [1805]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 10 June 2010]: The outcome of the Serious Organised Crime Agency's investigation was reported by the then Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary in his statement to the House of 23 March.
An officer of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) had discussions with the Israeli police but there were no discussions between representatives of the Government of Israel and Home Office Ministers, officials of the Department, officials of the Identity and Passport Service, or officers of SOCA.
Police: Training
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost to the public purse of training a police recruit to the point of joining a police force as an officer was in the latest period for which figures are available. [896]
Nick Herbert: There is no fixed training cost for training for police officers. The responsibility for delivery of training to new officers was devolved to police forces in England and Wales in 2006.
Transport
A31: Ferndown
Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve traffic flows at the Canford Bottom roundabout on the A31. [2402]
Mike Penning: Various studies have been undertaken by the Highways Agency, and a scheme is being developed to install traffic signals on the Canford Bottom roundabout and to create a two-way dual carriageway through the central island. These alterations are designed to reduce congestion on the A31 east and westbound carriageways on the approach to the roundabout. Traffic modelling indicates that traffic flows at peak times on local roads converging at this junction would also improve.
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