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Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will publish their strategy for sports tourism.[HL520]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My department has no plans to publish a strategy for sports tourism. However, on 11 January, the British Tourist Authority launched their Sports Tourism Action Plan for Britain together with Janet Anderson, Minister for Tourism and Kate Hoey, Minister for Sport.
Knives Act 1997
Lord Windlesham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have been recorded since the commencement of the Knives Act 1997.[HL641]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton): Sections 1 to 7, 9 and 10 of the Knives Act 1997 came into force on 1 September 1997.
Data for England and Wales are given in the table:
| Offence description/Year | Prosecutions | Convictions | |
| Unlawful marketing of knives--Selling or hiring [s1 (4)(a)] | |||
| 1997 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1999* | -- | -- | |
| Unlawful marketing of knives--Offers or exposes to sell or hire [s 1 (4)(b)] | |||
| 1997 | -- | -- | |
| 1998 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1999* | 5 | -- | |
| Publication of any written, pictorial or other material in connection with the marketing of any knife--the material suggests or indicates that the knife is suitable for combat [s 2 (1)(a)] | |||
| 1997 | -- | -- | |
| 1998 | -- | -- | |
| 1999* | 1 | -- | |
* Provisional (Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 only).
For Scotland, such offences are not separately identifiable within the Scottish Executive's classification database of crimes and offences.
For Northern Ireland, there have been no prosecutions brought under the Act up to
31 December 1997. Data on prosecutions from January 1998 are not available.
Lord Windlesham asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend to introduce legislation to reform the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.[HL642]
27 Jan 2000 : Column WA210
Lord Bassam of Brighton: We hope to do so as soon as parliamentary time can be found.
Criminal Law Revision Committee
Lord Windlesham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the Home Office Criminal Law Revision Committee last met; when it last made any recommendations to Ministers; and whether it is still in existence.[HL643]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Criminal Law Revision Committee has not been active since its 1986 report Conspiracy to Defraud. The committee has never been formally disbanded.
Task Forces
Lord Roberts of Conwy asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Answer by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton that "the move towards task forces . . . makes for more transparent government and provides a much wider source of advice" (H.L. Deb., 11 January, col. 525), how such an analysis can be reconciled with their intention that information pertaining to the formulation of government policy should be a specific exemption from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Bill.[HL573]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: I expect to be in a position to send you a substantive reply by 4 February.
Attendance Centres
Lord Bruce of Donington asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to reform attendance centres.[HL790]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: In January last year, we set up a small working group, including attendance centre representatives and other experts, to consider the centres' future operation. It made a number of useful proposals for reform of their management and operation, including developing more individual programmes to tackle offending problems.
For the 84 junior attendance centres we have decided to combine reforms on these lines with organisational changes to match the philosophy of the youth justice reforms launched in the Government's November 1997 White Paper No More Excuses--A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales.
From April 2000, the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales will take over from the Home Office the central responsibility for commissioning and funding junior attendance centres. The board will invite youth offending teams to start taking over as local agents for these centres from April, that is generally from chief officers of police. Close liaison with the police will continue, through police membership of youth offending teams. The local changes will be made first in a number of pilot areas. They will also be invited to develop the centres' programmes in line with the working group's principles, and liaise with the courts to ensure centres play an appropriate role in the new range of youth justice disposals.
Senior attendance centres, which cater mainly for offenders aged 18 to 24, will remain the responsibility of the Home Office nationally and the police locally. Their future operation will be reviewed in the context of the adult sentencing framework.
Security Service: Accountability
Lord Gladwin of Clee asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will respond to the Home Affairs Committee's Third Report of Session 1998-99 on the accountability of the Security Service.[HL792]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government will respond tomorrow by way of a command paper.
Police Authorities: Funding
Lord Gladwin of Clee asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How they plan to allocate police grant in 2000-01 and what the final funding allocations for police authorities will be for that year.[HL791]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My right honourable friend, the Home Secretary, has today laid before the House the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2000-01 (HC 169). The report sets out his determination for 2000-01 of the aggregate amount of grants that he proposes to pay under Section 46(2) of the Police Act 1996, and the amount to be paid to each police authority including the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District.
Funding allocations for each police authority in England for 2000-01 are set out in the table. The table also shows allocations approved by Parliament for 1999-2000. Final funding allocations for police authorities in Wales will be announced shortly when the National Assembly for Wales publishes standard spending assessment determinations for Welsh authorities.
| Police Authority | 1999/2000 Allocation1 £ million | 2000/01 Allocation1 £ million |
| English Shire forces | ||
| Avon & Somerset | 168.4 | 173.7 |
| Bedfordshire | 61.4 | 64.1 |
| Cambridgeshire | 74.8 | 77.2 |
| Cheshire | 109.0 | 111.9 |
| Cleveland | 81.7 | 84.7 |
| Cumbria | 60.1 | 62.2 |
| Derbyshire | 102.1 | 105.4 |
| Devon & Cornwall | 174.3 | 178.9 |
| Dorset | 70.1 | 72.4 |
| Durham | 81.3 | 83.9 |
| Essex4 | 163.0 | 174.8 |
| Gloucestershire | 62.4 | 63.5 |
| Hampshire | 194.5 | 202.7 |
| Hertfordshire4 | 100.0 | 117.2 |
| Humberside | 113.0 | 116.9 |
| Kent | 183.1 | 191.2 |
| Lancashire | 178.2 | 185.3 |
| Leicestershire | 102.3 | 105.6 |
| Lincolnshire | 63.4 | 65.4 |
| Norfolk | 83.4 | 86.5 |
| North Yorkshire | 77.6 | 79.7 |
| Northamptonshire | 65.3 | 67.7 |
| Nottinghamshire | 126.3 | 130.0 |
| Staffordshire | 113.0 | 116.8 |
| Suffolk | 68.6 | 70.9 |
| Surrey4 | 91.9 | 112.8 |
| Sussex | 166.4 | 172.4 |
| Thames Valley | 224.6 | 231.7 |
| Warwickshire | 52.2 | 54.3 |
| West Mercia | 113.0 | 117.2 |
| Wiltshire | 64.9 | 66.7 |
| English Metropolitan forces | ||
| Greater Manchester | 375.7 | 386.1 |
| Merseyside | 236.3 | 242.3 |
| Northumbria | 213.0 | 218.4 |
| South Yorkshire | 171.3 | 177.2 |
| West Midlands | 380.6 | 392.7 |
| West Yorkshire | 286.3 | 297.1 |
| London forces | ||
| Metropolitan Police2, 1 | 1,743.9 | 1,731.2 |
| City of London3 | 55.4 | 56.4 |
| English Total | 6,852.8 | 7,045.1 |
Notes:
1 Rounded to the nearest £100,000. The Allocation is the sum of: Police Grant, Transitional Grant, Police SSA, Capital Finance SSA, SSA Reduction Grant and Central Support Protection Grant.
2 Figure for the Metropolitan Police does not include funding allocated to the Receiver under the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services SSA for school crossing patrols, Magistrates' Courts and the Probation Service. It does include its Special Payment.
3 Figure for the City includes Police SSA, Grant and SSA Reduction Grant, but excludes other SSAs (eg Capital Financing) and Central Support Protection Grant. These are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions.
4 These authorities will be affected by the changes to police force boundaries around London on 1 April 2000. To provide comparison. Indicative 1999-2000 totals for these authorities as on the new boundaries are Essex: £169.8 million, Hertfordshire: £114.3 million, Surrey: £113.6 million and Metropolitan Police: £1701.9 million.