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Women and Equalities

Equality: Local Government

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of the effects on sex encounter establishments of the gender equality duty placed on local authorities. [2827]

Lynne Featherstone [holding answer 17 June 2010]: No such assessment has been made.

It is for each local authority to identify how to meet its obligations under the Gender Equality Duty and to report on the actions the authority has taken towards the achievement of those objectives.

Rape: Rights of Accused

Caroline Flint: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on extending anonymity to defendants in rape cases; and when those discussions took place. [2740]

Lynne Featherstone: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Justice, on a range of issues, and will continue to do so to develop the policies and priorities included in the coalition programme for Government.


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Home Department

Anti-Semitism

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take account of the published anti-Semitic views of any individuals seeking to enter the UK when deciding whether to grant entry to such individuals; what representations she has received on that matter since her appointment; and if she will make a statement. [2912]

Damian Green: We take seriously any form of incitement to religious or racial hatred as this threatens social cohesion and could provoke inter-community violence or tension. We will seek to prevent propagators of hate crime from entering the country.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's seminar on race hate, anti-Semitism and the internet. [3009]

James Brokenshire: While an assessment of the ministerial seminar has not been undertaken, we will analyse previous efforts at tackling hate crime on the internet in considering future policy in this area.

Drugs: Misuse

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made for benchmarking purposes of the levels of problem drug use in (a) the UK and (b) other EU member states. [2882]

James Brokenshire: The information requested is as follows:

Estimates for 2008-09 are currently being produced by the National Treatment Agency, in conjunction with the Home Office and the Department of Health.

Mr Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the level of problem drug use in the UK relative to that level in other EU countries. [3109]


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James Brokenshire: The Home Office commissioned a three year series (covering the years 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07) of national and regional estimates of the prevalence of Problem Drug Use (defined as use of opiates and/or crack

cocaine) in England. The most recent of those studies (2006-07) found there were an estimated 328,767 problem drug users in England (with a range of 322,128-340,196), corresponding to an estimated rate of 9.76 per thousand population.

Source:

'National and regional estimates of the prevalence of opiate use and/or crack cocaine use 2006-07: a summary of key findings' Table 1, Research Report 9. This report is available on the Home Office RDS website:

Estimates for 2008-09 for England are currently being produced by the National Treatment Agency, in conjunction with the Home Office and the Department of Health.

Each of the other UK administrations (Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) produce their own estimates.

Estimates for problem drug use across the EU are published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), in its online Statistical Bulletin. The most recent rates published by EMCDDA in 2009 range from 2.7 to 9.9 per thousand population aged 15-64, the highest rate being that for the UK, although the different ways the estimates are calculated in different countries mean they cannot be directly compared.


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Further information can be found in the EMCDDA Statistical Bulletin at:

Harlow: Crime Statistics

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of cases of (a) violent crime and (b) burglary in each ward of Harlow constituency since 1997. [3099]

James Brokenshire: The available information is for offences recorded by the police and is given in the tables. Data have been provided for violence against the person and burglary in a dwelling offences.

Statistics for the individual wards of Harlow are not available centrally and data for Community Safety Partnership (CSP) of Harlow have been provided. Data at this level are available from 1999-2000 to 2008-09.

The information has been provided in two tables to make clear that figures before and after the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in 2002-03 are not directly comparable.

Table 1: Offences recorded by the police in the Harlow Community Safety Partnership area 1999-2000 to 2001-02( 1)
Number of offences, recorded crime
Offence 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02

Violence against the person

737

879

1,028

Burglary in a dwelling

301

248

369

(1) The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.

Table 2: Offences recorded by the police in the Harlow Community Safety Partnership area 2002-03 to 2008-09( 1)
Number of offences, recorded crime
Offence 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Violence against the person

1,576

2,149

2,246

2,187

1,990

1,949

1,800

Burglary in a dwelling

481

540

300

240

298

327

468

(1) 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

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in Stoke-on-Trent have purchased a voluntary identity card. [2657]

Damian Green: The Identity and Passport Service is not able to provide information relating to particular constituencies or regions for identity card applications. However, as of 11 June 2010 there have been fewer than 15,000 identity cards issued in the United Kingdom.

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the cost of the identity cards scheme. [2881]

Damian Green: Between 2003 and March 2006, the Home Office spent a total of £41 million developing the policy, legislation and business case for the introduction of identity cards.

Responsibility for identity cards was transferred to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) on its establishment in April 2006. Between then and March 2010, IPS spent a total of £251 million on projects to establish identity cards, second biometric passports and other related programmes.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to her contribution to the debate on second reading of the Identity Documents Bill of 9 June 2010, Official Report, column 348, what assistance her Department is giving to staff in Durham who have been released early as a result of the Government's policy to end the voluntary identity cards scheme. [2935]

Damian Green [holding answer 17 June 2010]: The restructuring of IPS resulted in 60 temporary staff being released three months earlier than expected.

The people affected generally commenced their temporary employment with IPS between January and March 2010.

All those affected have received five weeks paid notice; employment references, the offer of time off for job interviews; help/support of line managers, PCS trade union representatives and use of the IPS Employee Assistance Programme.


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Immigration: Legacy Programme

Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has in respect of the Legacy Programme for the backlog of immigration and asylum cases introduced by the previous Government; how many cases under the programme (a) have been dealt with, (b) have resulted in the grant of leave to remain and (c) remain to be dealt with; and if she will make a statement. [2776]

Damian Green [holding answer 17 June 2010]: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Lin Homer last updated the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) regarding the progress made in resolving the legacy cases in her letter of February 2010. She informed the committee that the Case Resolution Directorate had concluded 235,000 cases up to the end of December 2009. She will provide a further progress update on the conclusion of these cases in her next correspondence to the HASC.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Aviation: Trade Competitiveness

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with Ministers in (a) the Scottish Executive, (b) the Welsh Assembly Government and (c) the Northern Ireland Executive on the effect of the Government's fiscal policies on the competitiveness of businesses in the aviation sector. [3562]

Mr Prisk: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any discussions with Ministers in the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government or the Northern Ireland Executive on this subject, as this is a matter for the Department for Transport. However, he is keeping abreast of issues in this and other industrial sectors.

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with representatives of the aviation industry on the effect of the Government's fiscal policies on (a) their levels of business and (b) their competitiveness; and if he will make a statement. [3564]

Mr Prisk: The Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not had any discussions with representatives of the aviation industry on this subject, as this is a matter for the Department for Transport. However, he is keeping abreast of issues in this and other industrial sectors.

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the (a) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Secretary of State for Transport on the effect of the Government's fiscal policies on the competitiveness of the aviation industry, with particular reference to freight carriers; and if he will make a statement. [3565]


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Mr Prisk: The Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not had any meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Secretary of State for Transport on this subject, as this is a matter for the Department for Transport. However, he is keeping abreast of issues in this and other industrial sectors.

Business: Government Assistance

Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which of his Department's programmes to assist industry are under review. [2354]

Mr Prisk: In common with other Government Departments, this Department, in conjunction with the Treasury, has undertaken a review of all significant expenditure approvals since 1 January 2010, which included several Industry Support projects. The full list of these projects is as follows:

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