Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Easington
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) were granted in the criminal justice system area covering Easington constituency in each of the last five years; and what the most common reason was for granting an ASBO in each such year. [109649]
James Brokenshire: The number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued at all courts in the Durham Criminal Justice System (CJS) area in each year between 2006 and 2010 (the latest year for which data are currently available) can be viewed in the following table.
The reasons for granting an ASBO are recorded in individual case files held by the courts, but not collected centrally.
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| Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued at all courts(1) in the Durham Criminal Justice System (CJS) area as reported to the Ministry of Justice(2) by the Court Service, 2006 to 2010 | |||||
| CJS area | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| (1) Includes ASBOs issued on application by magistrates courts acting in their civil capacity and county courts, which became available on 1 April 1999, and ASBOs made following conviction for a relevant criminal offence at the Crown court and at magistrates courts (acting in their criminal capacity), which became available on 2 December 2002. (2) Prior to the creation of the Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007, numbers of ASBOs issued were reported to Home Office by the Court Service. Note: 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 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. Source: Prepared by Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice. | |||||
Antisocial Behaviour: Alcoholic Drinks
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tackle alcohol-related antisocial behaviour. [108860]
James Brokenshire: The Government have taken decisive steps to tackle with alcohol-related antisocial behaviour. We have set out further radical proposals to tackle the harms caused by alcohol misuse in the Government's Alcohol Strategy, which was published on 23 March. We have also legislated to give the police and local communities more powers to deal with problems caused by irresponsible businesses and late night drinking.
Association of Chief Police Officers
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding her Department plans to provide to the Association of Chief Police Officers for the financial year 2012-13. [109576]
Nick Herbert: The Home Secretary plans to provide the Association of Chief Police Officers headquarters with funding of £1,400,000 in financial year 2012-13. A breakdown of the figures is provided in the table.
| Grant stream | Planned funding (£000) |
|
Preparing/delivering the Olympic and Paralympic Safety and Security Strategy | |
Asylum: Young People
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will evaluate the effects of the age assessments dental x-ray pilots; and if she will ensure that young people are consulted as part of such an evaluation. [106406]
Damian Green: When the dental x-ray trial is completed it will be fully evaluated. The trial will be open only to those asylum applicants who are assessed by Croydon council as adults. The agency expects to take into account the views of participants as part of the trial evaluation.
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Benzodiazepines
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to EU Council Directive Decision 2008/206/JHA, whether 1-benzylpiperazine is subject to control measures and criminal provisions in the UK. [109858]
James Brokenshire: 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP) became a controlled Class C drug under Schedule 2 (Part III) to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 on 23 December 2009, together with its related compounds by way of a generic definition provided by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
Closed Circuit Television
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of criminal cases have been investigated by the police using CCTV evidence in 2012. [107437]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 15 May 2012]: This information is not held centrally.
Complaints
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints about the work of her Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement. [108948]
Damian Green: Details of those complaints received by the Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are shown in the following table.
There are no centrally-held data about the number of complaints received. Available data are shown in the following table:
| Home Office/agency/non-departmental public body | 2010-11 | 2011-11 |
|
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (now known as the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration) | ||
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Confiscation Orders
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many confiscation orders have been (a) transmitted to and (b) received from other EU member states under EU Council Framework Decision 2006/783/JHA in each year since 2007. [109356]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 24 May 2012]: The UK has not implemented this Framework Decision and so has not transmitted cases under its provisions. Statistics on the number of confiscation cases received from EU member states since 2007 are as follows:
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| Confiscation cases for EU countries by year | |
| Incoming | |
It is not possible to identify the instrument under which these requests were made to the UK.
Correspondence
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters to Ministers in her Department were (a) not answered, (b) not answered within six months and (c) not answered within three months in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; how many such letters were from hon. Members; and if she will make a statement. [109438]
Damian Green: Available data, for letters received centrally in the Department, are as follows:
| Letters received between April 2010 and March 2011 | Letters received between April 2011 and March 2012 | |||
| In general | From MPs | In general | From MPs | |
The Cabinet Office publishes an annual report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members' correspondence. The report for 2011 was published on 15 March 2012, Official Report, columns 30-33WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
Crime: Alcoholic Drinks
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2012, Official Report, columns 185-90W, on alcoholic drinks, what assessment she has made of any link between the decrease in average weekly consumption in the 16 to 26 age group between 2000 and 2010 and the decrease in crime during this period. [108859]
James Brokenshire: The Home Department has not made any assessment of the link between the decrease in average weekly consumption in the 16-26 age group between 2000 and 2010 and the decrease in crime during this period.
Criminal Proceedings
George Freeman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many criminal cases a warrant has been issued to intercept the content of suspects' emails in the last three months; and if she will make a statement. [109199]
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James Brokenshire: All information about the number of interception warrants issued is provided by the Interception of Communications Commissioner in his annual reports. For the period in question, this would be covered within the annual report expected to be published in summer 2013. Past reports can be found via:
www.intelligencecommissioners.com
Criminal Proceedings: EU Law
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to EU Council Framework Decision 2008/675/JHA, in what circumstances she envisages that the UK would request special intervention units from other EU member states to operate on UK soil. [110125]
James Brokenshire: The United Kingdom's response to any incident will be individually tailored to the nature and scale of that incident.
Should we identify the need to seek the support of our allies in managing a crisis situation, we would of course do so.
Cybercrime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to respond to the Twelfth Report from the Science and Technology Committee, Session 2010-12, on Malware and cyber crime. [109351]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 24 May 2012]:The Government responded to the report on 2 April 2012.
Databases: Telecommunications
Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a notification under the Technical Standards Directive will be required prior to the implementation of the Communications Capabilities Development Programme; and if she will place in the Library a copy of any such notification. [107072]
James Brokenshire: We will consider whether a notification under the technical standards directive is required and, if so, a copy will be placed in the House Library.
Debts Written Off
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much bad debt was written off by her Department in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement. [110214]
Damian Green: The Home Office did not write off any bad debt in 2010-11. No figures are available for 2011-12, as the accounts are currently being audited and due to be published in July.
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Deportation: EU Nationals
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of other EU member states (a) were deported from the UK to the country of their nationality and (b) faced restrictions on the right of entry and the right of residence on the grounds of public policy, public security or public health under Article 27 of Directive 2004/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the rights of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states in each of the last five years. [110134]
Damian Green: In the following answer, deportations refers to the number of foreign national offenders removed from the United Kingdom.
In 2010-11, 5,339 foreign national offenders were removed or deported from the UK. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) policy is not to disclose the countries to which foreign national offenders are removed or deported as this could jeopardise diplomatic relations.
The figures above have been obtained from electronic management information records. Figures for the years prior to 2010-11 are not available.
All decisions to make a deportation order against EEA nationals and their family members on public policy grounds are made in accordance with the 2006 Regulations and, therefore, Directive 2004/58/EC.
Such a decision is akin to a conducive decision under s.3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971. A deportation order prevents entry to the UK while it remains in force, in accordance with section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 1971. It remains in force until it is formally revoked by the UKBA.
Detention Centres: Children
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any unaccompanied children were detained for immigration purposes in Wales in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) up to 30 April 2012. [109237]
Damian Green: No unaccompanied children were detained for immigration purposes in Wales in the period from 1 January 2008 to 30 April 2012.
Disclosure of Information
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of EU Council Framework Decision 2006/960/JHA in simplifying the exchange of information and intelligence between the member states of the EU. [109362]
James Brokenshire
[holding answer 24 May 2012]: The UK must decide, no later than 31 May 2014, whether to accept full European Court of Justice jurisdiction over those EU police and criminal justice measures adopted before 1 December 2009 which have not been amended or replaced. This measure, Council Framework
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Decision 2006/960/JHA, also referred to as the Swedish Initiative falls within the scope of that decision and will be reviewed accordingly.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on the updating of published data in line with the Government's transparency agenda in each month since September 2011. [110708]
Damian Green: The costs of publishing data to support the Government's transparency agenda have not been disaggregated from other aspects of managing the work to which the data relate. In the main, they form a small proportion of those overall costs. The principal exceptions to this are the publication of financial spend data and the costs of maintaining Police.uk.
We have estimated that the annual cost of publishing financial spend data, at the current threshold of £25,000 and over, is £110,000. The maintenance and support costs of the national crime mapping website, Police.uk, are £163,000 per annum.
We also publish our energy consumption data using a third party supplier: the cost of this is less than £10,000 per annum. In all three cases, monthly figures are not available.
Emergency Services: Scotland
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of cross border issues arising from the creation of a single (a) police force and (b) fire and rescue service in Scotland. [107711]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 17 May 2012]:We will stand ready to work with the Scottish Government to ensure that there is no impact upon the operational effectiveness of law enforcement agencies in England and Wales through the creation of the Scottish Police Service.
The fire and rescue service in England is not the responsibility of the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Empty Property
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will list the empty or largely empty buildings owned by her Department; and if she will make a statement. [110845]
Damian Green: The Department owns no empty or largely empty buildings, except where held for purposes related to national security.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many buildings owned by her Department and the bodies for which she is responsible have been empty for more than two years; and if she will make a statement. [110863]
Damian Green: The Department and the bodies for which it is responsible own no buildings that have been empty for more than two years, except where needed on grounds of national security.
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Entry Clearances: Pakistan
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 434W, on entry clearances: Pakistan, what the longest time was between the receipt by her Department of a determination allowing an entry clearance (a) settlement appeal and (b) appeal for a family visitor and the issuing of entry clearance to the appellant by the British high commission in Pakistan for entry clearances issued in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 to date. [110598]
Damian Green: This information is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
Eurojust
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of EU Council Decision 2008/426/JHA on strengthening Eurojust. [109610]
James Brokenshire: The UK must decide, no later than 31 May 2014, whether to accept full European Court of Justice jurisdiction over those EU police and criminal justice measures adopted before 1 December 2009 which have not been amended or replaced. This measure, EU Council Decision 2008/426/JHA on strengthening Eurojust, falls within the scope of that decision and will be reviewed accordingly.
Extradition Review
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what she plans to respond to the review of the UK's extradition arrangements by Lord Justice Scott Baker. [110502]
Damian Green: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) on 22 May 2012, Official Report, columns 595-96W.
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 in (a) Lancashire and (b) England in each of the last five years. [108985]
Lynne Featherstone: We do not hold estimated figures for Lancashire and England for each of the last five years. It is difficult to estimate the scale of forced marriage in the UK. The very nature of forced marriage means that it is likely that many cases go unreported.
Research by the National Centre for Social Research commissioned by the then Department for Children, Schools and Families estimated that the national prevalence of reported cases of forced marriage in England was between 5,000 and 8,000 in 2008.
The following statistics reflect the number of cases reported to the joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) and their regional distribution. Unfortunately we do not hold figures specifically for Lancashire.
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Statistics for January to December 2011
1,468 cases where the FMU have given advice or support related to a possible forced marriage.
Within the UK the geographical distribution of instances was as follows: London .(18.9%), West Midlands (13.4%), North West (12.7%), Yorkshire & Humberside (10.3%), South East (8.9%), East of England (3.7%), East Midlands (3.4%), Scotland (2.3%), South West (1.4%), Wales (1.3%), North East (1.0%), Northern Ireland (0%) and unknown (22.6%).
Statistics for January to December 2010
1,735 instances where the FMU have given advice or support related to a possible forced marriage.
Within the UK the geographical distribution of instances was as follows: London (21.4%), West Midlands (13.6%), North West (13.6%), South East (9.1%), Yorkshire & Humberside (8.8%), East Midlands (5%), East of England (3.6%), North East (3.2%), Scotland (2.7%), South West (2.2%), Wales (1.1%), Northern Ireland (0.1%) and unknown (15.7%).
Statistics for January to December 2009
1,682 instances in which the FMU gave advice or support related to possible forced marriage.
Within the UK the geographical distribution of cases where known was as follows: London (29%), North West (17%), West Midlands (14%), Yorkshire and Humberside (10%), South East (9%), East Midlands (7%), East of England (4%), North East, Wales, South West (3% each), Scotland (1%).
Statistics for January to December 2008
1,618 instances in which the FMU gave advice or support related to possible forced marriage.
Within the UK the geographical distribution of cases where known was as follows: London (25%), West Midlands (16%), North West (15%), Yorkshire and Humberside (10%), South East (10%), East Midlands (7%), East of England (5%), North East (4%), Wales (3%), Scotland (3%), South West (2%).
Prior to 2008 the FMU only collated data on cases where actual assistance was provided, which comprised the following:
Statistics for January to December 2007
262 cases of forced marriage, including both assistance (168) and immigration cases (94), dealt with by the FMU in the UK and overseas.
Fur Trade
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the extent of the illegal animal fur trade in London; and what plans she has to reduce such trade. [107037]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office has made no recent assessment of the illegal animal fur trade in London. The Metropolitan Police Service's Wildlife Crime Unit is responsible for enforcing wildlife laws in the London area, and reducing the trade of endangered species in London is part of their normal enforcement duties.
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Human Trafficking Ministerial Group
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who attended the April 2012 meeting of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking; what items were on the group’s agenda at that meeting; and what conclusions were reached. [109728]
Damian Green: The group discussed human trafficking and the Olympics, its role as National Rapporteur and assessments of trends in human trafficking. It agreed revised terms of reference to reflect its role as the National Rapporteur. A list of members and attendees for this meeting is provided as follows:
Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) on Human Trafficking
Ministerial-level meeting attendees and non-attending members
Damian Green MP, Minister for Immigration (Chair)
Tim Loughton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State, FCO
Crispin Blunt MP, Minister for Justice
Baroness Hanham MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities
David Jones MP, Wales Office
David Ford MLA, Northern Ireland Executive
Lynne Featherstone MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information
Stephen O’Brien MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1)
Anne Milton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1)
Chris Grayling MP, Minister for Employment(1)
Kenny MacAskill MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1)
David Mundell MP, Scotland Office(1)
Carl Sargeant AM, Welsh Assembly Government
Edward Garnier QC MP, Solicitor-General(1)
(1) Indicates official level deputies present at the meeting.
Human Trafficking: Children
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Burnley of 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 256W, on human trafficking: children, what steps she is taking to (a) enhance her Department's ability to act early upstream and (b) achieve smarter multi-agency work at the border in order to tackle child trafficking. [109523]
Damian Green: The Government's human trafficking strategy includes a number of actions designed to enhance the United Kingdom's ability to act early and to deliver smarter multi-agency working at the border to better identify and protect human trafficking victims, including child victims.
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Specifically, the Home Office, working in partnership with a range of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other partners, is using existing networks abroad to tackle this issue. For example we have written to Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posts stationed in identified priority countries to include human trafficking in their country business plans and to raise awareness. We have also facilitated contact between Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre International Child Protection Networks abroad and NGOs to ensure that we combine all our efforts to act early upstream on this issue.
The Home Office is also reviewing the information available on embassy websites for people intending to travel or work in the UK, in order to raise awareness of the threat of trafficking.
The Department for International Development (DFID) is also supporting a new regional anti-trafficking project in South Asia, focusing especially on labour migration of women and girls in the garment and domestic sectors in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The programme aims to reduce trafficking of 60,000 women and girls in these sectors over four years and the Home Office is represented on its steering group.
The Government are also working to raise awareness locally and build on the success of multi-agency child safeguarding teams at the border such as Operation Newbridge and Paladin by mapping the key components of these models and working to ensure that intelligence structures are in place to support identification of priority threat ports. We are raising awareness of these models locally for example through inclusion of these good practice examples in updated guidance for practitioners ‘Safeguarding Children who may have been trafficked'. This guidance can be found at:
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFE-00084-2011
We are also raising awareness of child trafficking as a form of human trafficking with the airline industry, and this has successfully been tested with Virgin Atlantic.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 19 April 2012, Official Report, column 459W, on human trafficking: children, how many UK nationals were victims of child trafficking in each year since April 2009. [109595]
Damian Green: The following data, provided by the UK Human Trafficking Centre, set out the numbers of conclusive decisions made on UK minors under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), in each year for which data are available since 2009.
| Victims of human trafficking—UK national minors | |
| Number | |
These data show the number of minors referred to the NRM who have received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision and have, therefore, been found to be a victim of trafficking.
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Immigration controls
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements her Department has put in place to ensure improvement in the event that the UK Border Force does not meet the target times for queues for entry into the UK at airports. [106657]
Damian Green: Our sampling of queues shows that the vast majority of EEA passengers pass through immigration control quickly. However queue lengths have on occasions reached unacceptable levels and we introduced a range of measures to combat this. We will continue to monitor queues closely (and are developing more efficient methods for doing this), as well as reviewing our performance on a regular basis.
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements she is establishing to measure the length of time passengers queue at airports on arrival in the UK. [106658]
Damian Green: We are designing and testing better, more precise ways of measuring queues, and have assembled a panel of expert scientists to check our reasoning. BAA and Border Force have agreed to work in close collaboration on this.
Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the passports presented to UK Border Agency staff at desks designated for UK and EU passport holders which were screened under the e-passport accelerated procedure were from UK passport holders in the latest period for which figures are available. [107684]
Damian Green [holding answer 17 May 2012]: In April 2012, 631,383 passengers used one of the 63 e-Gates at one of the 15 airport terminals equipped with this technology.
Of these, 478,032 passengers used a UK passport, equating to 75.17% of passengers using an e-Gate.
Immigration Controls: Ports
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) detentions and (c) customs seizures there were at UK entry ports in (i) April 2012, (ii) April 2011 and (iii) April 2010. [108235]
Damian Green [holding answer 21 May 2012]: We are unable to provide any statistics for the number of detentions at UK entry points. Published seizure statistics are available on drug seizures and tobacco seizures. Data on other commodities seized are not published.
The data on drug seizures are available on the Home Office website:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1711/
However, please be aware that these statistics do not differentiate between the seizures made at the border and those made inland.
The data on tobacco seizures are available on the UK Border Agency website:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/annual-level-of-tax/
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Immigration: Lancashire
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate (a) the number of asylum seekers resident in and (b) the level of net migration into Lancashire in the most recent period for which figures are available. [109829]
Damian Green: County level data are not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols.
However, the UK Border Agency publishes statistics on a quarterly and annual basis that cover all asylum applications to the UK broken down by nationality. Published statistics regarding asylum applications can be found in the Library of the House and by following this link:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-tabs-q4-2011/asylum1-q4-2011-tabs
Net migration on a national level is published on the Office of National Statistics website, and can be found at the following location:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-256033
Investigatory Powers Tribunal
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to publish its 2011 annual report; and if she will make a statement. [110378]
James Brokenshire: The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is entirely independent from Government, and has no statutory obligation to produce an annual report. That said, the Government understand that the IPT will be placing statistics for cases received and resolved in 2011 on its website
www.ipt-uk.com
Khat: Smuggling
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the level of smuggling of khat from the UK by organised crime and terrorist groups. [108748]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office has not made any formal assessment into the level of khat exportation from the UK by organised crime and terrorist groups. The Government are currently reviewing the case for control of khat under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will consider all evidence on this issue available to it. Its advice will inform the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s decision.
Larne Detention Centre
Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to enable detainees in Larne Detention Centre to access legal advice. [110517]
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Damian Green: People detained at Larne House are advised of their rights from the outset of detention. They are given access to legal advice at any time during their stay at the facility. Assistance provided includes help from immigration and custody staff, and information leaflets and posters about how and where to access legal advice. Detainees also have free phone and internet access and private rooms for meetings with legal representatives.
Licensed Premises: Security
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2012, Official Report, column 65W, on licensed premises: security, (1) if she will set a date by when the guidance will be available; [109121]
(2) whether existing guidance on false identification documents for door supervisors remains operational; and if she will make a statement. [109122]
Lynne Featherstone: Previously published guidance has been withdrawn. Therefore it does not remain operational. Work continues to revise the guidance and it will be published shortly.
Licensing Laws: Enfield
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department holds on the number of alcohol licences revoked by the London borough of Enfield since the coming into force of the Licensing Act 2003. [109487]
James Brokenshire: The latest available information shows the number of premises licences, club premises certificates and personal licences surrendered, lapsed, revoked, forfeited, suspended or withdrawn in the London borough of Enfield, between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2010. These figures can be seen within the following tables. They include all such authorisations for licensable activities under the Licensing Act 2003 in the London borough of Enfield, including the sale of alcohol.
| Table 1: Premises Licences surrendered, lapsed, suspended by a court, closure notice, London borough of Enfield, 2006-07 to 2009-10 | ||||
| Financial year | Surrendered(1) | Lapsed(2) | Suspended by a court(3) | Closure notice(4) |
| (1) Where a premises licence is surrendered under section 28 of the Licensing Act 2003. (2) Where a premises licence has lapsed due to the death, incapacity, insolvency etc. of the licence holder, as set out under section 27 of the Licensing Act 2003. Excludes instances where a premises licence was in effect for a limited period, but the period has since expired (e.g. one-off events). (3) Where a premises licence is suspended by a court, under section 147B(1) of the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006) for the sale or supply of alcohol, following an offence of persistently selling to under-age children. (4) Where a premises is prohibited from selling alcohol for 48 hours following a closure notice under S.169A. (5) Unknown (not collected in 2006-07). | ||||
| Table 2: Club premises certificates surrendered, lapsed, withdrawn, London borough of Enfield, 2006-07 to 2009-10 | |||
| Financial year | Surrendered(1) | Lapsed(2) | Withdrawn(3) |
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| (1) Where a club premises certificate is surrendered under section 81(3) of the Licensing Act 2003. (2) Where a club premises certificates has lapsed because it had effect for a limited period, but that period has since expired. (3) Where a club premises certificate is withdrawn under section 90 of the Licensing Act 2003. | |||
| Table 3: Personal Licences surrendered, revoked, forfeited, suspended by a court, London borough of Enfield, 2006-07 to 2009-10 | ||||
| Financial year | Surrendered(1) | Revoked(2) | Forfeitedt(3) | Suspended by a court(4) |
| (1) Where a personal licence is surrendered under section 116 of the Licensing Act 2003. (2) Where a personal licence is revoked under section 124 of the Licensing Act 2003. (3) Where a premises licence has been forfeited following a court order under section 129 of the Licensing Act 2003 in the time period specified (and where that order has not been suspended, pending an appeal under sections 129(4) or 130 of the Licensing Act 2003). (4) Where a personal licence is suspended following a court order under section 129 of the Licensing Act 2003 in the time period specified (and where that order has not been suspended, pending an appeal under sections 129(4) or 130 of the Licensing Act 2003). | ||||
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to answer the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 16 April 2012 with regard to Mr M. Ayub. [110476]
Damian Green: I refer the right hon. Member to my letter of 28 May 2012.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to answer the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 16 April 2012 with regard to Mr S. A. Hasan. [110477]
Damian Green: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 30 May 2012.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to answer the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 18 April 2012 with regard to Mr G. Fletcher. [110480]
Damian Green: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 30 May 2012.
Mutual Societies
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff who will transfer from her Department, its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies workforce to a mutual in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement. [110194]
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Damian Green: There have been no transfers of staff to a mutual in 2011-12 from the Home Office, its agencies or non-departmental public bodies.
There are no plans to transfer any staff from within the Home Office, its agencies or non-departmental public bodies in 2012-13.
Departmental Administration Costs
Mr Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on the administration of her Department in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [109843]
Damian Green:
The Home Office spent £190.9 million on administration in financial year 2009-10 and £180.3 million in financial year 2010-11. The spending data for
11 Jun 2012 : Column 82W
the financial year 2011-12 are currently being audited and are due to be published in July.
Passports
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average processing time was from time of receipt to time of dispatch to applicant for passport postal applications received by the Identity and Passport Service (a) in each month of the year of receipt and (b) at each passport application processing facility in each of the last three years. [109734]
Damian Green: The information in the table, provided by the Identity and Passport Service shows the monthly average turnaround times for applications in days for each location processing postal passport applications for 2009, 2010, and 2011.
| Average passport turnaround | ||||||||
| days | ||||||||
| London | North West and Central | East and Midlands | Wales and South West | Scotland | Northern Ireland | North East | National Average | |
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Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Identity and Passport Service has not met its obligation in applicable service level agreements on passport postal application turnaround times in each of the last three years. [109735]
Damian Green: The performance of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) against its agreed targets is reported in its annual report. Monthly performance against targets is published on the Home Office website.
Copies of the IPS annual reports for 2009-10 and 2010-11 can be found in the House Library.
The 2011-12 annual report will be published in summer 2012 and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
Pay
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff working for her Department, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are employed through off-payroll engagements costing less than £58,200 per annum; and if she will make a statement. [110821]
Damian Green: At 31 January 2012, the Home Department, including its Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, had 20 staff employed through off-payroll arrangements costing less than £58,200 per annum. The reference date used is consistent with recently published information for engagements costing more than £58,200 per annum.
Police and Crime Commissioners
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what process she has put in place in respect of the management of historic data and information held by police authorities following the election of police and crime commissioners; [109565]
(2) what procedures her Department has put in place for the wind-up of police authorities following the election of police and crime commissioners; [109566]
(3) what she proposes will happen to the assets held by police authorities following the election of police and crime commissioners. [109606]
Nick Herbert: I chair the national transition board to manage the main transition arrangements that need to be addressed before police and crime commissioners (PCCs) come into post. Each Police Authority has set up a transition board to prepare locally for PCCs. The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 will automatically transfer assets and staff employed by police authorities to PCCs. Duties to hold information and records will also transfer and transition boards will be making arrangements for this handover.
Police and Crime Commissioners: Wales
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2012, Official Report, column 600W, on police and crime commissioner elections, who will be responsible for meeting the cost of police and crime commissioner elections in Wales. [110141]
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Nick Herbert: The cost of elections for Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales and England will be provided by central Government. This money will not come from funds that would otherwise have gone to forces.
Police: Court Orders
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effects on her policies of the judgement on 17 May on journalistic material collected at Dale Farm and the use of production orders; and whether she plans to hold a central register of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications for production orders. [109276]
Nick Herbert: I have made no such assessment and have no plans to create a central register.
Police: Retirement
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had on the remuneration on retirement for senior police officers who have been found to have committed disciplinary offences. [109564]
Nick Herbert: The Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions recommended that misconduct hearings should have the power to remove some or all of a severance payment of a chief officer who has been found to have violated the relevant misconduct regulations. This has been put to the Police Negotiating Board for consideration.
Police: Rural Areas
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress she has made on rural policing; and if she will make a statement. [108083]
Nick Herbert: The Government fully recognise the vulnerabilities of rural communities to particular crimes, and are committed to ensuring that policing priorities are focused on what matters to local people. The election of Police and Crime Commissioners in November 2012 will ensure that rural communities are given a stronger voice in determining local policing priorities, and the Government are providing the public with more street-level information about crime and antisocial behaviour on a monthly basis to ensure that they have the information to hold local forces to account. Schemes such as Farmwatch show how a local policing approach which empowers rural communities, working in partnership with the police and business, can share good practice to tackle rural crime.
Proceeds of Crime
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2012, Official Report, column 67W, on proceeds of crime, how the sums provided to the bodies listed were used; and which local authorities received funds from assets recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. [109195]
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James Brokenshire: In 2010-11, of the sums allocated under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme to relevant bodies, 94% was used on further asset recovery work, 3% on crime reduction initiatives and 3% on community projects.
Local authorities that received funds from this scheme in 2010-11 are as follows:
List of local authorities that received recovered assets in 2010-11:
Birmingham City Council
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Bridgend County Borough Council
Bristol City Council
Cardiff County Council
Carmarthenshire County Council
Central Bedfordshire Council
Cheshire East Borough Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
City and County of Swansea
City of Stoke-on-Trent Council
City of York Council
Coventry City Council
Cumbria County Council
Denbighshire County Council
Derbyshire County Council
Dorset County Council
Flintshire County Council
Gloucestershire County Council
Hampshire County Council
Herefordshire Council
Hertfordshire County Council
Kirklees Metropolitan Council
Lancashire County Council
Leeds City Council
Leicestershire County Council
Liverpool City Council
London Borough of Bexley
London Borough of Brent and Harrow
London Borough of Bromley
London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Enfield
London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Havering
London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Lewisham
London Borough of Southwark
London Borough of Sutton
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Newport City Council
Norfolk County Council
North Yorkshire County Council
Northamptonshire County Council
Nottingham City Council
Nottinghamshire County Council
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Plymouth City Council
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
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Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Sheffield County Council
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Staffordshire County Council
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Warrington Borough Council
West Yorkshire Joint Services
Wirral Borough Council
Worcestershire County Council
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what her policy is on distribution of the proceeds of crime; [109619]
(2) what steps she takes to allow community projects to utilise the proceeds of crime. [109621]
James Brokenshire: Under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, frontline agencies receive 50% of the assets they recover. The use of incentive payments is a matter for each agency but at least a portion should be used to improve performance on asset recovery and, where appropriate, to fund local crime-fighting priorities for the benefit of the community.
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value was of proceeds of crime in the UK in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011. [109620]
James Brokenshire: The value of net receipts in England and Wales recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in 2009-10 was £153.7 million and in 2010-11 was £157.6 million. The Home Office does not hold information on Scotland and Northern Ireland as assets recovered by agencies there are returned to the devolved Administrations.
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of EU Council Decision 2007/845/JHA in tracing and identifying the proceeds of crime. [109743]
James Brokenshire: The UK must decide, no later than 31 May 2014, whether to accept full European Court of Justice jurisdiction over those EU police and criminal justice measures adopted before 1 December 2009 which have not been amended or replaced. This measure, Council Decision 2007/845/JHA concerning co-operation between asset recovery offices of member states in tracing and identifying the proceeds of crime, falls within the scope of that decision and will be reviewed accordingly.
Public Expenditure
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish a statement of her Department's expenditure in each of the last 36 months; and what steps she is taking to avoid an annual underspend. [110080]
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Damian Green: The Home Office spent £10.7 billion in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Details for financial year 2011-12 are currently being audited and due to be published in July. The Home Office only publishes audited figures of its annual spend. The Home Office manages its budget tightly and in accordance with Treasury guidance on managing public money.
Publications
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) circulars and (b) consultation documents were issued by her Department in each of the last two years. [110508]
Damian Green: The number of circulars published on the Home Office website in each of the last two years is as follows:
15 in 2011; and
11 in 2012 to date.
Home Office circulars can be found at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/corporate-publications-strategy/home-office-circulars/
The UK Border Agency does not issue individual circulars but an update for partners can be found at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/ukba-news/
The Identity and Passport Service issued 14 circulars in 2011 and seven in 2012 to the local registration service. The circulars deal with operational matters and are not publicly available.
The Criminal Records Bureau does not issue circulars.
The number of consultation documents published on the Home Office website in each of the last two years is as follows:
14 in 2011; and
13 in 2012 to date.
Information on Home Office publications can be found at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/consultations/
The number of consultation documents published on the UK Border Agency (UKBA) website in each of the last two years is as follows:
four in 2011; and
0 in 2012.
Information about UKBA consultations can be found at:
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/consultations/
The Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service have not issued any consultations in the last two years.
Security: Football
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of EU Council Decision 2007/412/JHA in improving security at football matches. [109355]
James Brokenshire
[holding answer 24 May 2012]: The UK must decide, no later than 31 May 2014, whether to accept full European Court of Justice jurisdiction over those EU police and criminal justice measures
11 Jun 2012 : Column 88W
adopted before 1 December 2009 which have not been amended or replaced. This measure falls within the scope of that decision and will be reviewed accordingly.
Suicide: Internet
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will give the National Crime Agency responsibility for the monitoring of suicide recipe sites; and if she will make a statement. [109584]
Nick Herbert: The Government do not routinely monitor the internet and the National Crime Agency (NCA) will not be asked to do so. However, where there is evidence of serious, organised or complex online criminal activity the NCA will have the ability to lead or support an appropriate law enforcement response in collaboration with partners.
The Government are committed to suicide prevention. In July 2011 the Government published a Consultation on preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives. As part of a range of measures to reduce the suicide rate, the draft strategy highlighted the need for continuing to support the internet industry to remove content that encourages suicide and provide ready access to suicide prevention services. The consultation period ended on 11 October 2011. Around 200 responses were received from a broad range of organisations and individuals. The Government are now considering all the responses received and intend to publish the final strategy later this year.
Telephone Services
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many call centres provide services for her Department and the bodies for which she is responsible; and how many such call centres are based abroad. [107010]
Damian Green: The number of external public call centres providing services on behalf of the Home Office, its executive agencies and its non-departmental public bodies to the public is 51.
Of the 51 external public call centres, 38 are based abroad (and these all provide visa application services on behalf of the UK Border Agency for specific geographic locations).
Terrorism
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the 2007 Agreement between the US and the EU on the processing and transfer of Passenger Name Record data in combating the threat of terrorism. [109563]
Damian Green: The exchange of passenger name record data has been a useful tool in combating the threat of terrorism. The 2007 EU-US PNR Agreement has now been superseded by the new Agreement concluded on 26 April 2012.
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Metal Theft
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of metal theft in (a) Newton Abbot constituency and (b) the South West in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011. [108286]
James Brokenshire: Information on the cost of metal theft is not collated centrally. A new recording classification for metal theft offences reported to the police commenced on 1 April 2012 which will, for the first time, provide accurate information, on the number of offences and where they have been committed.
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions her Department has had with the British Transport Police fusion intelligence unit regarding export of stolen metal. [109933]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office has had a number of recent discussions with the British Transport Police about a range of issues involving metal theft as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will order a review into the export of stolen scrap metal. [109934]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office has no plans to commission such a review at present.
Theft: Mobile Phones
Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of reported robberies and thefts have involved a mobile telephone handset in each of the last five years. [108011]
James Brokenshire: The requested data are not available from police recorded crime data collected centrally.
However estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales are provided for the proportion of thefts involving mobile phones (in Table 1). It is not possible to provide figures for robberies due to the low numbers of this offence captured in the survey.
| Table 1: Proportion of theft incidents in which mobile phones were stolen, 2006-07 to 2010-11 | |||||
| Percentage of incidents in which a mobile phone is stolen: | |||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
11 Jun 2012 : Column 90W
| Note: The unweighted base refers to the number of incidents of each specified offence captured by the survey. In 2010-11 the unweighted base for each offence type was as follows: ‘Theft from the person’, 308; ‘Other theft of personal property’, 704; ‘Theft in a dwelling’, 120; and ‘Theft outside a dwelling’, 1,361. Unweighted bases for previous years will be similar for each offence type. Source: Crime Survey for England and Wales | |||||
UK Border Agency
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to bringing back in house each of the contracts currently held between the UK Border Agency and private sector providers since May 2010. [110471]
Damian Green: Prior to contracting out a service, all options with regard to the delivery of that service receive due consideration, including whether an in-house solution is appropriate or not. Delivery of a service is contracted out to a private sector provider where it is able to deliver the service in a more efficient way, be that based on the service cost, technical capability or capacity.
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual outturn cost has been for each contract between the UK Border Agency and private sector providers in each of the last five years. [110474]
Damian Green: We are unable to specifically outline, contract by contract, the annual outturn cost for each of our contracts for the past five years as this information is not centrally held. To provide this information would require us to go through each individual contract, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what cost savings have been achieved on each of the contracts held between the UK Border Agency and private sector providers; and if she will estimate the projected cost of bringing the work inhouse in each case. [110482]
Damian Green: We are unable to specifically outline, contract by contract, the cost savings achieved in each one our contracts for the past five years—or the projected cost of bringing this work inhouse—as this information is not centrally held. To provide this information would require us to go through each of our contracts, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Defence
Cadet Forces
18. James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to increase the number of cadet forces. [110561]
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Mr Robathan: We are very keen to increase the number of cadet forces, and in our Positive for Youth Strategy the Government committed the MOD and Department for Education to look at options to increase the number of cadets in the MOD sponsored cadet forces. As part of this work the Schools Commissioner and I held a scoping event with key stakeholders on 25 April 2012 and we continue to develop our options. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 26,000 adult volunteers on whose dedication and excellent leadership the cadet forces rely.