Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Work and Pensions
Carers: National Insurance Contributions
[holding answer 29 June 2009]: Since 1976, people receiving carer's allowance (formerly invalid care allowance) have normally been awarded National Insurance credits for weeks for which the allowance is paid unless they have a valid married women's election. The National Insurance Contributions Credits (Transfer of Functions) Order 2009 is an enabling instrument which allows HMRC to award and administer National Insurance credits on behalf of the Secretary of State. It does not provide for any new credits. However, it is anticipated that regulations will be introduced shortly which will extend the range of credits available for certain people engaged in caring from April 2010. These credits will have no monetary value in 2009-10 since they will not be available before 6 April 2010.
International Labour Organization
At least one DWP Minister normally attends the annual International Labour Conference. My hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Jonathan Shaw) was scheduled to attend the 2009 event but had to withdraw at very short notice due to unforeseen parliamentary business arising on the day of his planned visit.
Members: Correspondence
I refer my right hon. Friend to the replies given on 11 May 2009 and 21 May 2009, Official Report, columns 571W and 1502W.
New Deal Schemes: South East
[holding answer 29 June 2009]: None. Following the announcement of the preferred bidders on 29 May 2009 we remain committed to bringing in the Flexible New Deal Phase 1 from October 2009. At this time, Phase 1 contracts have not been let.
Pension Protection Fund
Information relating to the Tamworth constituency could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Such information as is available is as follows:
Year ending 31 March People receiving compensation People due to receive compensation on retirement 2006 Nil Nil 2007 1,457 5,621 2008 3,596 8,577 2009 12,778 17,737
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
To detect both fraud and error once a benefit claim is active within our systems we match our data against that from other sources. We do this using a range of data from both other Government Departments and private sector sources. Data are extracted from these sources at routine intervals and matched against our benefit data to identify anomalies, which are then referred for investigation.
Social Security Benefits: Low Incomes
The changes made to frequencies and paydays are a key step in the, long-term, simplification of the benefits system. Before implementing this policy we consulted extensively with customer representative groups to ensure that customer's interests were fully considered.
We do, however, recognise that the initial move from weekly payments to fortnightly payments may be difficult for some of our customers but have addressed this by making a repayable loan equal to the customer's weekly benefit.
Unemployment
[holding answer 8 June 2009]: The available information is in the following table:
Date On-flow Off-flow Net difference November 2008 350,920 265,555 85,365 December 2008 288,192 191,255 96,937 January 2009 290,785 163,585 127,200 February 2009 474,127 298,035 176,092 March 2009 336,234 272,085 64,149 April 2009 311,697 276,360 35,337 Notes: 1. This information is published on the Nomis website at: www.nomisweb.co.uk 2. Off-flow data are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (computer held cases only).
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
[holding answer 16 June 2009]: No UK nationals suspected of links to the insurgency have been arrested by British forces in Afghanistan since 2001.
Since 2004, the number of arrests on a variety of charges and not necessarily specifically linked to insurgency of UK nationals in Afghanistan by Afghan authorities is provided in the following table.
Number of arrests1 2008-09 4 2007-08 4 2006-07 3 2005-06 3 2004-05 2 1 From 2004-08 as reported in the Consular Annual Return from the British embassy Kabul and from 2008 as reported from the Consular Assistance Database held by the British Embassy Kabul. Information on arrests prior to 2004 and on arrests made by International Security Assistance or American Forces are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Air Force: Military Aircraft
The information requested covers a large number of aircraft and will take some time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member when this work is complete.
Substantive answer from Quentin Davies to Liam Fox:
I undertook to write to you in response to your Parliamentary Question of the 17 June 2009, (Official Report, column 334W) about the number of cannibalisations undertaken, broken down by each type of RAF aircraft, in each year since 2005 and in each of the last 12 months, once officials had completed collating the data.
As I am sure you will be aware, cannibalisation is where one aircraft benefits from the removal of serviceable parts from another. It is a routine and temporary measure to ensure that the maximum number of aircraft is available for front line duty.
The number of cannibalisations in each year since 2005 broken down by aircraft is provided in the following table.
2005 2006 2007 2008 Harrier (all types) 530 505 862 924 Tornado GR4 1,863 2,048 1,838 2,012 Tornado F31 872 667 667 238 Typhoon 243 542 540 621 Nimrod MR2 510 224 344 151 Nimrod R1 48 61 41 69 Sea King 270 204 115 126 Tristar 154 182 126 90 VC10 177 82 167 148 Hercules C130K 203 167 185 207 Hercules C130J 662 691 591 541 Sentinel R12 — — 7 36 Sentry 51 140 81 95 BAe 125 58 49 23 46 BAe146 8 9 17 15 C17 40 45 39 39 Dominie 161 95 46 53 Hawk 415 398 241 135 Tucano 4 8 32 34 Vigilant 10 29 20 24 Viking 4 1 2 0 1 The drop in cannibalisations for the Tornado F3 in 2008 is due to the drawdown of the force and its replacement by Typhoon. 2 Sentinel R1 did not enter service with the RAF until 2007.
The number of cannibalisations in each of the last 12 months broken down by aircraft is provided in the following table.
Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Harrier (all types) 82 71 58 102 89 75 61 91 45 88 55 78 Tornado GR4 172 188 132 140 158 198 160 178 163 194 104 119 Tornado F3 27 13 10 11 9 10 7 5 5 7 10 0 Typhoon 44 61 47 59 61 36 53 36 55 80 55 22 Nimrod MR2 16 7 17 14 8 8 8 5 18 14 2 6 Nimrod R1 0 2 3 1 0 4 2 10 9 7 2 3 Sea King 10 21 14 17 12 15 12 9 13 13 16 12 Tristar 5 6 16 3 4 0 7 3 5 6 9 1 VC10 14 6 6 10 19 13 10 3 4 14 7 3 Hercules C130K 35 16 13 25 21 15 11 12 15 9 8 11 Hercules C130J 66 48 33 57 55 37 33 42 15 24 34 17 Sentinel R11 — — — — 2 2 12 10 7 2 4 8 Sentry 4 9 3 5 7 1 3 5 3 2 13 6 BAe 125 2 13 4 2 4 2 0 4 7 10 1 2 BAe 146 0 1 1 0 0 5 3 5 1 0 4 0 C17 3 7 5 4 3 5 4 1 3 5 3 4 Dominie 17 11 5 2 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 Hawk 13 14 5 7 13 14 11 13 22 37 13 26 Tucano 1 3 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 Vigilant 1 2 2 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 Viking 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1. Sentinel R1 figures for June to September 2008 are not available
Army: Clothing
The Ministry of Defence has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to the use of faux fur products in military ceremonial clothing wherever a suitable alternative can be found to real fur. Examples of this include the Busby cap worn by the members of the Royal Horse Artillery and the Shako hat worn by the Rifles Regiments.
Officials met with representatives of several potential suppliers at an Industry Day on 23 October 2008 to investigate whether the market could deliver an alternative solution to meet the Guards' requirements. Our conclusion is that industry is not currently able to produce a synthetic material with the properties required for the ceremonial cap, whose iconic design is closely associated with this nation's traditions and is recognised around the world.
However, we remain open to testing material that industry might offer us as a potential synthetic alternative.
Defence: Inflation Index
The programme of work is on course and in April 2010, as notified to the HCDC over scrutiny of the 2006-07 annual report and accounts, the MOD will publish estimates of defence inflation for financial years 2006-07 through to 2008-09. For financial year 2009-10 a provisional estimate of defence inflation will be produced in September 2010.
Departmental Older Workers
1,157 MOD civilian employees will reach age 65 by the beginning of the year 2011.
Nuclear Weapons: Arms Control
We believe in the vision of a world free from nuclear weapons. We are committed to working towards multilateral nuclear disarmament, and are encouraged that Russia also shares this commitment. We also welcome the fact that Russia and the US are currently engaged in negotiations over a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. As the Prime Minister announced on 17 March, we will soon be publishing further UK proposals in a “Roadmap to 2010”.
Northern Ireland
Bill of Rights: Northern Ireland
(2) when the consultation on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland will be launched.
The Government have been considering the proposals put forward by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for a package of new statutory rights and duties on public authorities. It is taking time to consider fully all these detailed proposals. The Government aim to publish a consultation paper after the parliamentary summer recess.
Departmental Training
Oasis is the Northern Ireland Office in-house IT network infrastructure, providing a platform for e-mail and general administration tools.
Olympic Games 2012
House of Commons Commission
Members: Allowances
[holding answer 24 June 2009]: The scanning and redaction of material relating to hon. Members’ allowances was undertaken by staff employed by The Stationery Office, the contractor employed for this project. Final figures are not yet available but, to the end of March 2009, the cost of redaction has been £451,966.
The redaction was undertaken in two phases—copies of the redaction guidelines for each phase will be placed in the Library.
Leader of the House
Ministerial Duties: Working Hours
I was on ministerial duty at all times.
Ministers spend as much time as necessary to fulfil their ministerial duties.
Energy and Climate Change
Committee on Climate Change: Buildings
The CCC leases the fourth floor of Manning House and does not have control over the management of the building. The building managers have not as yet applied for a display energy certificate or advisory report to be undertaken, although the CCC has requested that this is done. We are therefore unable to place a copy of these in the Library. The CCC has installed carbon footprint trackers and is monitoring energy usage for its floor of the building. It has also applied to have an energy performance certificate produced for its offices. The CCC's corporate carbon management policy will be published in its annual report and accounts for 2008-09 which will be laid before both Houses’ Libraries by 22 July 2009.
Fuel Poverty
The Department does not hold a copy of the agenda and minutes of the summit.
Information about the summit can be found on Ofgem's website. This includes introductory remarks from Lord Mogg, Ofgem's chairman, at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Publications/Documentsl/Action%20Programme%20for%20Energy%20Summit.pdf
the Fuel Poverty Action Plan which was agreed at the summit at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Publications/Documents1/Fuel%20Poverty%20Summit%20Action%20Programme.pdf
and the relevant press release at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/media/pressrel/Documentsl/FP%20Summit%20Action%20Planthrid%20final.pdf
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Beaches: Barmston
The Environment Agency, with the agreement of DEFRA, decided to stop sampling water quality at Barmston at the start of 2008. This decision was taken due to increased coastal erosion which placed staff under unacceptable health and safety risks when accessing the necessary sampling point.
Barmston is an identified bathing water under the Bathing Water Directives (76/160/EEC and 2006/7/EC). An alternative site for the sampling point is being considered.
The Secretary of State has not received any representations regarding sampling bathing water quality at Barmston and will not be making a statement.
Departmental Energy
The permanent secretary is responsible for DEFRA’s energy efficiency.
Departmental Food
A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS supply chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased.
Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. The proportion of domestically produced food procured by DEFRA has gone up from 79.5 per cent. in 2006-07 to 85 per cent. in 2007-08. We expect to publish a third report at the end of 2009.
Forests
The potential area of lowland heath based on recent Forestry Commission surveys in each forest district and the area that has been replanted since 2005 is given in the following table. The area scheduled for replanting following clear felling is given based on the existing management plans to 2020. These plans are subject to revision in the light of new policy developments and any operational considerations such as wind damage, disease etc.
Forest district Area (ha) Area (ha) Percentage of potential Area (ha) Percentage of potential Kielder FD 108 0 0.0 0 0 North West England FD 0 0 0.0 0 0 North York Moors FD 225 6 0.0 20 9 Sherwood and Lincolnshire FD 4,733 108 0.8 527 11 West Midlands FD 1,527 46 0.4 298 20 Northamptonshire FD 32 0 0.0 0 0 East Anglia FD 18,595 662 2.6 3,436 18 Peninsular FD 0 0 0.0 0 0 Forest of Dean FD2 367 4 0.0 58 16 New Forest FD1 (Dorset) 2,711 68 0.2 1,103 41 South East England FD 1,135 23 0.1 279 25 Total 29,433 917 0.4 5,721 19 1 The New Forest forest district includes land managed by the Forestry Commission in Dorset. The table does not include the SSSI/SPA/SAC designated land managed by the Forestry Commission in the New Forest national park. 2 The figures for the Forest of Dean forest district include land in Gloucestershire and the surrounding counties managed by the Forestry Commission. It does not include the area of the Forest of Dean’s statutory inclosures.
Water Charges: Voluntary Organisations
Since 1 April 2009, DEFRA has received about 40 letters and one e-petition on the No. 10 website from voluntary and community groups on charges for surface water drainage.
Transport
Airports: Carbon Emissions
The Department for Transport published in January 2009 its assessment of the carbon dioxide emissions from each of the 31 UK airports included in the Department’s UK air passenger demand and CO2 forecasting framework. These airports accounted for 94 per cent. of total UK air traffic movements in 2005.
This assessment is reported for the year 2005 and can be found in Annex G, Table G10 of “UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts”:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/atf/co2forecasts09/
Aviation: Fares
Regulation EC 1008/2008, which came into force last November, requires airlines to include in the advertised fare all applicable taxes, charges, surcharges and fees which are unavoidable and foreseeable at the time of publication. It also requires the existence of any optional price supplements to be clearly communicated at the start of the booking process. Department for Transport officials are working with the Civil Aviation Authority and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to establish an enforcement regime for the Regulation, which will include appropriate penalties for non-compliance. The OFT has also taken successful action on all-inclusive pricing by airlines under existing consumer protection legislation.
Multi-Purpose Test Centres
The Driving Standards Agency originally intended that a new single-event practical motorcycle test should be delivered from 66 multi-purpose test centres (MPTCs).
It was subsequently decided to split the new test into two modules with module 1 being the specific manoeuvres conducted off-road to ensure safety and module 2 the on-road riding test. This has allowed us to provide 88 per cent. of candidates access to one of the 66 centres offering module 1 testing within our target of 45 minutes or 20 miles, and 97 per cent. can reach one of the 105 centres offering the module 2 test at the same access standard.
When the new test was introduced on 27 April 2009, candidates were able to take their module 1 test at 66 facilities—44 MPTCs, six casual-hire sites, 16 part-time Vehicle Operator and Services Agency sites, and module 2 tests at 105 facilities—43 MPTCs, one casual-hire site; and 61 other suitable Driving Test Centres.
The Driving Standards Agency report information on collisions during motorcycle driving tests in the calendar year up to 28 April 2009 as follows:
Number Collisions not involving injury 39 Collisions involving injury 42
The original plans for 66 centres would have enabled 83 per cent. of the population to reach a practical motorcycling testing facility within 45 minutes travelling or 20 miles.
Our decision to split the test into two modules enabled us to increase the number of service delivery points. When the new test was implemented on 27 April 2009, 88 per cent. could access a module 1 testing facility for the off-road element within the travel/distance criteria— 97 per cent. for module 2. The 5 per cent. difference between planned and actual coverage for the off-road element is accounted for by the actual, rather than the previously planned location of the new off road testing facilities.
In total nine planning applications were refused and three were made and withdrawn following discussions with the local planning authorities.
There were numerous other informal discussions with local planning authorities about possible sites where the case did not progress to formal planning application.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has spent, up to the end of the 2008-09 financial year, a total of £51 million of capital funds (£49.29 million on new DSA permanent centres; £1.12 million on shared with Vehicle and Operator Services Agency sites and £600,000 on casual hire sites).
The forecast final capital spend is £71 million which is in line with the agreed programme business case and budget.
Public Transport: Hampshire
The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities for capital investment in transport. Funding provided by the Department to local authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, such as the provision of public transport. Spending in Test Valley is a matter for Hampshire county council as local transport authority. The table shows funding support for Hampshire and Southampton in 2008-09:
2008-09 £ million Hampshire 30.601 Southampton 4.158
Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Formula Grant.
In 2008-09 and 2009-10 special grant funding is being provided by the Department for Transport to meet the additional cost of the new, England-wide concessionary bus travel. The allocations made to Test Valley and Southampton for 2008-09 is shown in the table:
£ million Southampton 1.059 Test Valley 0.225
Railways: Carbon Emissions
The Department for Transport does not hold data in the form requested. The rail industry reports its traction related carbon emissions annually to the Office of Rail Regulation.
In 2007-08, the most recent year for which figures are available, the rail industry reported combined freight and passenger traction carbon emissions of 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Of this 2.7 million tonnes relates to passenger operations. This information is found in Rolling National Rail Trends 2008-09 on the Office of Rail Regulation website at:
http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.2026
Treasury
Banks: Loans
In November 2008, the Chancellor set up a lending panel to monitor lending to the UK economy, and to promote best practice across the industry in dealing with borrowers facing financial difficulties. The Bank of England collects data covering aspects of lending to the UK corporate and household sectors on behalf of the lending panel and publishes a monthly trends in lending report. These reports provide an assessment of the latest developments in lending to the UK economy. The first report was published in April and the most recent report is available at:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/other/monetary/trendsinlending.htm
Financial Services: Crime
(2) what steps his Department is taking to prevent organised criminal groups from infiltrating financial services firms; and if he will make a statement.
Ministers and officials meet the FSA on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has a statutory objective under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to reduce the extent to which it is possible for an authorised firm to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime. As part of that remit, the FSA has drawn attention to the financial crime risks posed by inadequate systems and controls for the recruitment of staff.
All directors of financial services firms are required to satisfy the FSA that they are "fit and proper persons" when they apply for authorisation, and on an ongoing basis. The suitability of each individual person who performs a controlled function will be assessed by the FSA under the approved persons regime. In certain circumstances, the FSA may consider that the firm is not suitable because of doubts over the individual or collective suitability of persons connected with the firm.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) also operate a fit and proper test for key individuals involved in the management and ownership of money service businesses and trust and company service businesses that must be registered with them for supervision under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. If any key individual within the business is not found to be fit and proper, HMRC will not register the business and the business must not operate.
Members: Correspondence
A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
[holding answer 16 June 2009]: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
[holding answer 18 June 2009]: HMRC has in excess of 200 different 0845 numbers and cannot therefore provide waiting times for each of these numbers. The majority of calls to HMRC are centrally managed through contact centres and the performance data for these calls are aggregated by each tax/head of duty. In the last 12 months, customers calling the main lines of business waited, on average, the following minutes and seconds before their call was answered by an adviser.
Average waiting time Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Child Benefit 03:24 03:34 03:44 04:51 04:15 03:33 02:16 01:53 00:09 00:07 00:28 01:21 National Insurance 01:20 02:06 02:04 00:34 00:50 00:31 00:16 01:12 00:36 00:45 00:55 01:13 Online Services Helpdesk 00:09 00:11 00:10 00:28 01:30 00:30 00:09 02:54 01:25 02:09 02:44 01:37 Stamp Taxes 00:20 00:33 00:17 00:06 00:11 00:10 00:11 00:04 00:04 00:05 00:17 00:20 Tax Credits 04:12 04:36 01:18 01:48 00:38 00:18 00:15 01:37 00:25 00:16 00:59 01:33 Taxes (PAYE) 02:42 04:06 02:12 01:47 00:38 00:26 00:36 03:14 01:35 01:49 01:48 03:12 Taxes Helplines 00:35 01:17 00:34 00:25 00:13 00:10 00:13 01:36 00:22 00:22 01:33 02:57 VAT 00:18 00:23 00:37 00:18 00:14 00:25 00:17 00:14 00:19 00:33 00:58 01:13
Call charges to customers are dependent on the tariff arrangements they have with their service provider, the device they use for the call and the location from which they call.
Callers to HMRC either enter the queuing system or, if the queue is full, are played a busy message. The vast majority of callers enter the queue through an initial interactive voice recognition (IVR) service. Some IVR options will advise customers to call back later if HMRC expects to be particularly busy, for example during a peak period. It is not possible to identify the number of callers who receive this specific type of recorded message.
Welfare Tax Credit: Repayments
The latest estimates of the number of families with tax credit awards, including information on overpayments by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes are given in the HMRC publication, “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised Annual Awards. Supplement on Payments Geographical Analyses”, for 2006-07. This publication is available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-statshtm
Information for 2007-08 is not yet available at parliamentary constituency level. The geographical finalised awards publications have been delayed following a problem identified with the delivery of geographical information, although this does not affect the UK level statistics which were published on 19 May 2009. More information can be found on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tc-delay-07-08.htm
Justice
Crimes against Property: Fines
The number of persons issued with a fine at all courts for offences of criminal damage in England and Wales for the years 2003 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in table 1.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one 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.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Under the Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) Scheme, the police can issue a fixed penalty notice of £80 for the offence of destroying or damaging property (Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971) where the value of damage caused is under £500. The number of PNDs issued in England and Wales for the years 2004-07 (latest available) can be viewed in table 2: the offence was added to the Scheme in November 2004.
The PND scheme was made available to all 43 forces in England and Wales from April 2004.
PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Statute Offence description 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec. 1(2) and (3). Arson endangering life 1 — — — — Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec.1(1) and 3 Arson not endangering life 36 25 22 22 21 Criminal Damage Act 19/1 Sec. 1(2). Explosive Substances Act 1883 Sec 2, Sec 3(l)(a). Malicious Damage Act 1861 Secs 35, 36, 47 Other criminal damage endangering life excluding arson 6 17 18 4 8 Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec 1(1) as added by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.30 (1) and (2) Racially aggravated other criminal damage 21 22 21 18 17 Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec. 1(1) as added by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec30(l) and (2). Religiously aggravated other criminal damage — 2 — — 3 Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec. 1(1) as added by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec30(l) and (2) Racially or religiously aggravated other criminal damage (any amount) 3 7 4 2 3 Criminal Damage Act 19/1 Sec. 1(1). Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 S.22 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 Criminal damage, value £5,000 or less 7,370 7,129 6,519 5,655 5,634 1 The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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 it 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. 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 courts and police forces. 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: Evidence and Analysis Unit
Offence 2004 2005 2006 2007 Criminal Damage (under £500) 1,190 12,168 20,620 19,946 1 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. 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. 2 The Penalty Notice for Disorder Scheme commenced in 2004. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice
Departmental Information Officers
Since its inception on 9 May 2007, the Ministry incurred the following expenditure on press office staff other than press officers:
Financial year £ 2008-09 150,337 2007-08 76,167
Press Office staff other than press officers are interpreted as being secretarial and administrative staff. The increase in expenditure has occurred because it was recognised that, in the transition from the Department of Constitutional Affairs to the Ministry of Justice, the press office function needed to be enhanced to satisfactorily meet the demands placed upon it from all forms of media. As a major Department of state, the Ministry touches the lives of all citizens, and it is important that the public understands how taxpayers money is being used and the services that it provides. The Ministry’s support and administrative staff working in the press office are an integral part of the team, helping with daily operations and the smooth running of the area.
Departmental Pay
Agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have not submitted any bids for efficiency savings to be used for pay improvements in 2009 pay offers. Efficiency savings were removed from budgets before funding was allocated to MoJ agencies and NDPBs. Individual budget managers are required to live within their funding allocation.
Harassment: Fines
(2) how many people were fined for offences of intentionally harassing or scaring people in each year since 2003.
The number of persons issued with a fine at all courts for the offences of using threatening words or behaviour likely to cause alarm, harassment or distress and intentionally harassing or scaring people in England and Wales for the years 2003-07 (latest available) is shown in table 1.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one 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.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Under the penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme, the police can issue a fixed penalty notice of £80 for the offence of ‘Using words, conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress’ (S5 of the POA 1986). The number of PNDs issued in England and Wales for the years 2004-07 (latest available) can be viewed in table 2. PNDs are not available for offences committed under section 4A.
The PND was made available to all 43 forces in England and Wales from April 2004.
PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Fine Statute Offence description 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Public Order Act 1986 Sec 4A as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec.31(l)(b),(4) Racially Aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress 97 94 91 87 134 Public Order Act 1986 Sec 4A as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec.31(1)(b),(4) Religiously aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress 0 4 0 2 1 Public Order Act 1986 Sec 4A as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec.31(1)(b),(4) Racially or religiously aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress 15 24 21 22 34 Public Order Act 1986 Sec 5 Harassment, alarm or distress 9,932 10,296 9,972 10,235 10,832 Public Order Act 1986 Sec 5 as amended by Crime and Disorder Act Sec.31(1)(b),(5) Racially Aggravated Harassment, alarm or distress 551 642 724 866 970 Public Order Act 1986 S.5 as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.31(1) (c) and 5 Religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress 6 6 5 14 18 1 The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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 it 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. 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 courts and police forces. 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: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice.
Table 2: Number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders aged 16 and over for the offence ‘Causing harassment, alarm and distress’ in England and Wales, 2004-071,2Number200428,790200564,007200682,235 200777,8271 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. 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.2 The penalty notice for disorder scheme commenced in 2004.Source:Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice
National Probation Service for England and Wales: Secondment
(2) what his policy is on the secondment of Probation Service staff to the Prison Service;
(3) under what circumstances a prison establishment can opt out of arrangements to second Probation Service staff to prisons;
(4) what the average length of a Probation Service secondment to a prison was in the latest period for which figures are available;
(5) from which budget the salaries of Probation Service staff seconded to work in prisons in England and Wales are drawn;
(6) whether he plans to review the deployment of Probation Service staff to prisons in England and Wales.
Within the Ministry of Justice, prison and probation services in England and Wales have been brought together under the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), an executive agency. It is the agency's responsibility to ensure that the two services operate together to provide the most effective outcomes for offender management, to reduce crime and improve public protection. Each region now has its own Director of Offender Management (DOM), responsible for the operation of both services, and it has been an essential component of the restructuring arrangements that probation service staff continue to operate in prison establishments and to be seconded to NOMS headquarters (including to DOMS' offices).
In particular, throughout the regional restructuring, there has been a clear recognition of the benefits in bringing together skills, competencies and experience from all parts of the new agency. Probation staff were selected for the posts generated by the restructure through established secondment arrangements. It is not possible for probation staff to apply for permanent positions in the civil service other than through open competition where the post is advertised externally. Probation staff are employees of probation areas and secondment arrangements ensure that an appropriate level of integration takes place.
Probation staff work in prisons in the public and private sector under service level agreements (SLA) between the governor or director of each establishment and the chief officer of the local probation area. It is ultimately for the Director of Offender Management to commission the level of service that he or she considers to be appropriate within the region and to determine budget allocation. The budget for probation services provided within prisons is part of the prisons overall budget and the amount is designated by the governor of the prison.
Information on the average length of deployment for probation staff to prison establishments is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. In respect of NOMS HQ, the current requirement of the Civil Service Commission is for secondments to be limited to a maximum of two years. This is currently being reviewed as the future structures with NOMS are developed.
Offences against Children: Sentencing
The available data are shown in the following table. The data show the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for child neglect and sexual abuse of children in the last year for which figures are available. The term “child abuse” has no specific recognised definition but includes a range of sexual and physical offences against children, such as it describes harm caused to a child arising from physical, sexual abuse or neglect caused by a parent, guardian, carer, or stranger. A number of other offences such as offences against the person including physical assault may frequently be used by the police to charge offenders but where the age of the victim is not known. This data are based on the principal offence. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence it is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.
Number of children Sexual abuse of children1 1,199 Child neglect2 99 Child abuse3 1,298 1 Includes the following offences: Sexual assault of a male child aged under 13 Rape, attempted rape of a male or female aged under 13 or under 16 Sexual assault of a female child aged under 13 Sexual activity with a male or female child aged under 13 Sexual activity with a male or female aged under 16 Familial sexual offences of a male or female child aged under 13 Abuse of children aged under 18 through prostitution and pornography Abuse of trust sexual offences against a child aged under 18 Meeting a male or female aged under 16 following sexual grooming. 2 Causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person. Cruelty or neglect of children. Abandoning children under 2 years. 3 The term child abuse has no specific definition, in this answer it refers to the offences included in sexual abuse of children and child neglect. Notes: 1. The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. 2. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force on 1 May 2004. 3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.
Probation
The total case load of offenders supervised by the probation service in London as at 31 December in each of the last four years (the latest figures available) is shown in the table.
Number 2005 41,665 2006 41,338 2007 41,998 2008 43,811
The 2008 figures are provisional and were published on 30 April 2009 in the Ministry of Justice statistics bulletin “Probation statistics quarterly brief October to December 2008, England and Wales”. Copies can be found in the Libraries of both Houses and may be accessed via the Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/probationquarterly.htm
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.
Probation Officers: Manpower
The following table shows the number of trained probation staff in each of the last five years:
20031 20041 20051 20061 20071,2 Probation officers3 6,271.45 6,584.94 6,894.36 7,209.45 7,119.53 Trainee probation officers 1,818.20 1,774.20 1,386.70 1,134.09 1,138.00 Probation service officers4 5,386.00 5,623.90 6,235.20 6,502.71 6,221.77 1 Figures taken as at 31 December each year. 2 Figures for 2007 will shortly be published on the Probation Service Intranet and Internet sites. 3 Includes; senior probation officers, senior practitioners, probation officers and practice development assessors. 4 Includes; probation services officers and treatment managers.
Young Offender Institutions: Injuries
The annual numbers of recorded self-harm incidents for each of current, single-function young offender institution for each of the last five years is given in table 1.
The National Offender Management Service has a broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This encompasses a wide spectrum of prison and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures. ACCT is the prisoner-centred flexible care-planning system introduced across the prisons estate in partnership with the Department of Health during 2005-07
Most self-harm is not directly life threatening, but nevertheless can be extremely distressing for all those concerned. A prisoner-focused care planning system for those at risk, (ACCT), has helped prisons manage self-harm. There are no easy answers to preventing self harming behaviour but we remain committed to finding ways to manage it.
Incidents Prison 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Ashfield 239 172 224 142 106 Aylesbury 83 116 346 265 265 Brinsford 23 73 102 86 87 Castington 89 92 106 68 64 Cookham Wood 163 197 144 216 55 Deerbolt 59 104 131 99 138 Feltham 161 144 126 221 210 Glen Parva 217 232 149 249 231 Hindley 46 156 71 41 81 Huntercombe 73 69 67 86 95 Lancaster Farms 15 92 153 21 5 Northallerton 60 16 35 30 37 Portland 119 110 161 174 80 Reading 39 60 45 38 24 Rochester 58 18 50 47 99 Stoke Heath 250 192 217 227 325 Thorn Cross 3 1 3 4 3 Warren Hill 21 14 18 13 80 Werrington 13 30 24 12 52 Wetherby 60 .67 34 12 34
The information requested on the number of injuries caused by use of restraints is not held centrally in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. A Use of Force Report Form is completed by each member of staff involved in its use, to explain the circumstances in which force was used. Establishments are required to examine this information on a regular basis to determine if there any particular problems in relation to use of force or any resulting injuries. To obtain information on the number of injuries sustained during use of restraint would require contacting each young offender establishment and asking them to analyse their forms for every single use of force for the past five years.
The number of assault incidents for each current, single-function young offender institution for each of the last five years is given in table 2.
The information is subject to important qualifications. The NOMS Incident Reporting System processes high volumes of data which are constantly being updated. The numbers provide a good indication of overall numbers but should not be interpreted as absolute. Rises or falls in reported numbers from one year to the next are not a good indicator of an underlying trend for a particular prison. Additionally there have been improvements in reporting over the years, and this is reflected in the tables.
Assault data are complex and the numbers need to be interpreted with caution. Information recorded as assault incidents may involve one or many prisoners as some assault incidents may involve more than one assailant or more than one victim. Additionally in a proportion of incidents only the victim is known.
Reducing violence in prisons is a priority for Ministers, NOMS and the Prison Officers Association and they are collectively committed to working towards a zero tolerance approach to prison violence. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and since mid 2007 this has been applied to the public and contracted out estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety.
Assault incidents Prison 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Ashfield 395 680 761 753 748 Aylesbury 28 96 100 93 120 Brinsford 360 364 197 204 352 Castington 443 412 406 431 462 Cookham Wood 13 5 5 7 20 Deerbolt 234 199 174 194 222 Feltham 751 698 596 544 648 Glen Parva 273 300 387 422 510 Hindley 78 149 407 548 550 Huntercombe 96 110 217 306 426 Lancaster Farms 213 484 428 397 347 Northallerton 110 118 91 108 106 Portland 166 194 170 234 193 Reading 41 93 72 54 37 Rochester 120 102 113 80 173 Stoke Heath 280 498 578 606 561 Thorn Cross 8 21 148 85 45 Warren Hill 183 291 314 371 383 Werrington 123 160 168 154 228 Wetherby 492 568 465 393 432
Young Offender Institutions: Suicide
Any death in prison custody is a tragic event. The Government, Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service, (NOMS) is committed to learning from such events and reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison custody. NOMS has a broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self harm management strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This encompasses a wide spectrum of Prison and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures. ACCT is the prisoner-centred flexible care-planning system introduced across the prisons estate in partnership with the Department of Health during 2005-07.
The National Offender Management Service holds two groups of offender within its young offender estate. These are young people (15 to 17-year-olds) and young adults (18 to 20-year-olds). Under-15s are not held in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs).
The following table details the numbers of self-inflicted deaths in YOIs in each of the last five years, by age as requested.
Age 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Lancaster Farms 15 — — — 1 — Lancaster Farms 16 — 1 — — — Hindley 17 — 1 — — — Aylesbury 18 — — — — 1 Portland 18 1 — — — — Reading 18 — 3 — 1 — Stoke Heath 18 — 1 — — — Brinsford 19 — 1 — 1 — Glen Parva 19 — 2 — 1 — Reading 19 1 — — — — Rochester 19 1 — — — — Total — 3 9 0 4 1
It is not possible to give the percentages that these deaths represent, for each age, in each establishment and for each year. Young people and young adults account for some 2.6 per cent. and 10.5 per cent. of all prisoners respectively. The 17 deaths detailed above constitute 0.2 per cent. of under-21s.
Under-18s are also held in secure training centres and secure children’s homes. There have been two self-inflicted deaths in Secure Training Centres and Secure Children’s Homes, both involving 14-year-old boys. One was the death of Adam Rickwood in Hassockfield STC in August 2004 and the other was the death of Wayne Cann at Hillside Secure Children’s Home in January 1998.
STCs and SCHs have stringent screening processes in place to assess young people’s risk of suicide and self-harm (SASH) taking into account vulnerability, safeguarding and risk assessments. Young people are assessed upon admission and regularly thereafter by the relevant staff as part of their review process. Providers have robust systems to record young people’s risk assessments and follow operational policies for managing those who are at risk of self-harm. Establishments regularly provide data to the Youth Justice Board (YJB) on all incidents of self-harm, and this information is regularly reviewed as part of the YJB’s quality assurance monitoring arrangements. Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards also play a key role in working together with establishments in helping address the safeguarding needs of all young people in secure settings.
Young Offenders: Sentencing
The available information is found in the following table. Data for 2008 will not be available until “Sentencing Statistics 2008” is published later in the year.
Age Percentage given community sentences 10 91.5 11 92.4 12 88.7 13 87.7 14 82.9 15 79.1 16 72.2 17 64.3 18 34.7 19 29.9 1 This includes all indictable offences not included in the violence against the person offence type. Summary offences have not been included as they are not categorised into violent or non-violent offences. Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 2. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice
The table shows the percentage of persons aged 10 to 19 sentenced to a community sentence for non-violent indictable offences in 2007. The definition of non-violent offences are all those not included in the offences type, ‘Violence Against the Person’. These data are presented on the principal offence basis. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.
Home Department
Asylum: Northern Ireland
I have written to the hon. Member.
Borders: Personal Records
The gross cost of the e-Borders Programme to the Government is £1.2 billion, of which the cost of the 10 year contract is £750 million.
Cannabis
Data are collected centrally and at police force level on offences related to cannabis production, although no data are collected centrally which relate to the number of raids on cannabis factories. It is, therefore, not possible to provide a response to this question.
However, in 2007-08, in recognition of inconsistencies in definitions of the term ‘cannabis factory’ across police forces, a single definition was agreed and a baseline set for the number of operations against such enterprises. The agreed definition was any premises, whether commercial or residential, where the premises, or part therein, has been adapted to such an extent that normal usage would be inhibited and usually present within the premises, or part therein, are items solely concerned for the production of cannabis, i.e.
Hydroponics system
High intensity lighting
Ventilation/extractor fans
Any other affiliated equipment, and/or
Electricity meter bypassed (abstraction of electricity).
The total number of premises meeting this definition recorded in 2007-08 was 3,033. Results by police force are set out in the table. More recent data are not yet available and, as 2007-08 was the baseline year, it is not possible to provide data at a national level for the last three years.
Number Avon and Somerset 207 Bedfordshire 17 BTP 8 Cambridgeshire 112 Central Scotland 1 Cheshire 21 Cleveland 43 Cumbria 11 Derbyshire 53 Devon and Cornwall 19 Dorset 28 Dumfries and Galloway 0 Durham 7 Dyfed-Powys 41 Essex 68 Fife 1 Gloucestershire 4 GMP 227 Grampian 9 Gwent 42 Hampshire 37 Hertfordshire 70 Humberside 18 Kent 73 Lancashire 123 Leicestershire 75 Lincolnshire 49 Lothian and Borders 4 Merseyside 118 Met 289 Norfolk 44 North Wales 31 North Yorkshire 11 Northamptonshire 27 Northern Constabulary 0 Northumbria 38 Nottinghamshire 55 PSNI 4 South Wales 73 South Yorkshire 54 Staffordshire 51 Strathclyde 30 Suffolk 22 Surrey 12 Sussex 37 Tayside 7 Thames Valley 110 Warwickshire 48 West Mercia 18 West Midlands 203 West Yorkshire 368 Wiltshire 14
Crime: Alcoholic Drinks
Information showing the number of offenders cautioned for alcohol related offences in Kent Police Force Area, 2006-07 (latest available), broken down by quarter, can be viewed in the table. Information held centrally on the Court Proceedings Database from which the data has been derived does not include information on constituencies; therefore data for Ashford constituency are not available.
The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
The information requested on arrests is not collected 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 robbery.
The alcohol related offences presented in the table are not notifiable offences and do not form part of the arrests collection. Additionally, data on arrests for the offence of ‘Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs' cannot be separately identified from the arrests for ‘violence against the person' reported to the Home Office.
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Total 2006 20 37 28 31 116 2007 36 23 37 28 124 1 Includes offences under the: Licensing Act 1872 s.12; Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985ss.1(2)(3)(4) and 1A(2)(3)(4), 2(1)(2), 5B(2)(3), 5C(3)(4), 5D(2)(3), 6(2); Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 s. 1; Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 ss.12,17, 25(3)(a)(b), 25(4)(5), 32; Criminal Justice Act 1967 s.91; Licensing Act 1964 ss. 5C(5), 6, 6, 19, 28(3), 34, 36, 39(1)(2)(3)(4), 45, 48, 51(4), 53, 59(1)(a)(b), 71(4), 72, 84, 85(2), 89, 155(1)(a), 157(1)(a)(b), 157(1)(b), 159, 160,(1)(a)(b), 161(1)(2), 162,163,164(1)(2), 165,166(1)(a)(b), 167, 168A, 168(1)(2), 169A, 169B, 169C(1)(2)(3), 169E(1), 169F, 169G, 170,171A(1), 172, 172A, 173, 174, 175,176, 177,178, 179A(6), 179B(5)(6), 179E(8), 179H(2), 181A(1)(2)(3), 183(1)(2)(3), 184,185,186,187(3)(4), 188,193(7) Sch.8 Appendix C s. 6, Appendix D; Licensing (Young Persons) Act 2000 s.1; Licensing Act 2003 ss. 33, 40, 41,46,49, 56, 57, 59, 82, 83, 93, 94, 96,108,109,123,127,128, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140,141, 142, 143,144, 145, 146, 147,147A, 148,149(1)(3)(4)(7(a)(b), 150(1)(2), 151,152, 153, 156, 157, 158, 160,161,165,168, 179,197, Sch.8 paras 1 and 22; Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 ss. 11, 27; Road Traffic Act 1991 s. 3; Late Night Refreshment Houses Act 1969 ss. 7(2), 8, 9(1)(4), 10; Town Police Clauses Act 1847 ss. 35, 61; London Hackney Carriage Act 1843 s.28; Merchant Shipping Act 1995 s.101(1)(a)(b), (4) and (5); Licensing Act 1902 ss.2. 6(2)(a)(b); Similar provisions in Local Acts; Road Traffic Act ss.4(1)(2) s.5(1)(a)(b), s.6(4), s.7(6); Road Traffic Act 1988 ss. 3A, 7A as added by Police Reform Act 2002 s.56, Transport and Works Act 1992 S.31A as added by Police Reform Act 2002 s.52; Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 s.3 [Sch. Para. 2, 3(a)(b), 4(1)(2)(3), 5, 6, 7, 8(2), 9(2)]; Licensing Act 1988 s. 17,18; Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994, s. 19; Children and Young Persons Act 1933 s. 5; Criminal Justice Act 1996 s. 6. 2 The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. 3 From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. 4 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 police forces. 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: Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Evidence and Analysis Unit
Crime: Cambridgeshire
The available information is given in the table. Recorded crime data are not specifically available at constituency level.
A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to suggestions in the two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term ‘violent crime’ is no longer used in connection with the recorded crime statistics and we now provide figures for violence against the person.
Number of offences Area and year Burglary1 Violence against the person Vehicle crime2 Cambridgeshire 2003-04 10,257 13,663 12,034 2004-05 8,501 13,358 10,219 2005-06 8,217 10,158 9,255 2006-07 8,821 10,421 9,715 2007-08 7,533 10,296 9,126 Peterborough 2003-04 3,656 5,133 5,180 2004-05 2,973 5,165 4,658 2005-06 2,861 4,156 4,182 2006-07 3,046 4,017 4,372 2007-08 2,420 3,847 3,645 1 Includes burglary in a dwelling and other burglary. 2 Includes theft of or from a vehicle and interfering with a motor vehicle.
Cycling
The Home Office is planning to introduce —during the current financial year—the ‘Cycle2Work’ tax efficient bicycle loan scheme across its estates.
Under the scheme rules the Home Office and its agencies cannot state from the outset that the cycles will be made available for purchase at the end of the 12 month hire period.
Departmental Data Protection
Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
Depending upon the circumstances, a range of sanctions are available including disciplinary or administrative action, and in extreme or persistent cases, termination of employment/services and, if appropriate, criminal proceedings.
Compliance arrangements comprise a system of self-assessment, accreditation, assurance reporting, audit and review.
Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
The Home Office is compliant with the security policies contained in the Government Security Policy Framework including those for information security and assurance.
Depending upon the circumstances, a range of sanctions is available including disciplinary or administrative action, and in extreme or persistent cases, termination of employment/services and, if appropriate, criminal proceedings.
Departmental Energy
The Department is committed to the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) targets which include a reduction in absolute carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency per m2 and action to apply the Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) to all of its own new build and major refurbishment projects.
Data on energy efficiency expenditure are not currently recorded separately, as implementation of these measures is generally carried out as part of wider design or refurbishment programmes. Overall progress against the SOGE targets is assessed by the Sustainable Development Commission for inclusion in their annual SDiG publication.
Recent examples of expenditure on energy efficiency include the installation of energy efficient lamps, and the upgrading of thermostatic controls to improve efficiency in certain buildings on the UK Border Agency (UKBA) estate in Croydon. Furthermore our newest office building, Vulcan House, a UKBA property, has a range of measures integrated into the design and construction to optimise energy efficiency including setting the orientation to mitigate the effects of solar gain, building fabric insulation and a thermally efficient envelope including a vegetation roof that acts as a thermal barrier in both winter and summer.
The Department has recently signed up to the Carbon Trust Management Programme which will assist us in identifying low and no-cost measures as well as further investment opportunities to improve efficiency on our estate. This programme is supported by a staff awareness campaign. We shall also be monitoring the effectiveness of the programme.
The permanent secretary, David Normington, has overall responsibility for the Department’s sustainable development policy, including energy efficiency. Each year the Home Secretary signs off the Department’s energy data for return to the Buildings Research Establishment.
Departmental Food
A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased.
Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. The proportion of domestically produced food procured by the Home Office has gone up from 68 per cent. in 2006-07 to 70 per cent. in 2007-08. We expect to publish a third report at the end of 2009.
Departmental Procurement
The Home Department has invested significantly in its people, with the creation of a professional Shared Service Centre and Procurement Centre of Excellence complemented by the creation of new processes and easy to use payment system.
A firm focus has been applied by the Procurement Centre of Excellence in the area of prompt payment. This focus has resulted in the Department exceeding the 90 per cent. target on three occasions in the fiscal year 2008-09 and able to meet the Prime Minister’s target of paying all small, medium enterprises within 10 days, announced in October 2008.
The Department has been working closely with colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) reporting on both our legislative obligations of 30 days as well as the 10 day PM’s commitment for SMEs for correctly presented compliant invoices.
The Department’s (Home Office HQ and UKBA) performance of paying compliant invoices since the PM’s announcement within 10 days is shown in the following table. The information shown for the Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service are for all invoices received and paid as separate figures for SMEs are not retained:
HO Headquarters and UKBA CRB IPS Month SMEs, compliant invoices paid within 10 days SMEs, percentage of invoices paid within 10 days Number paid within 10 days Percentage paid within 10 days Number paid within 10 days Percentage paid within 10 days January 2009 856 100 50 45 1,119 39 February 2009 1,001 100 79 41 1,111 37 March 2009 1,081 99.99 61 26 1,913 51
Until October 2008 the Home Department and its Executive Agencies were required to monitor and publish payment performance against a 30 day payment target.
The first full month of formal recording against the 10 day target was November 2008 and therefore information about payment performance within 10 days is not available prior to this date.
DNA: Databases
(2) which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have access to the information contained in his Department’s ONSET database;
(3) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the ONSET database in predicting levels of future criminal activity;
(4) what rights of access an individual has to their personal information held on the ONSET database;
(5) how many people have had personal information held on his Department’s ONSET database removed in each year since its inception;
(6) for how long personal information held on his Department’s ONSET database is retained; and what criteria apply for its earlier deletion from the database;
(7) what his most recent estimate is of the average annual cost of the operation of his Department’s ONSET database; and how much has been spent on the ONSET database since the commencement of the project.
I have been asked to reply.
ONSET is a set of assessment and referral tools designed by the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, for use by local authorities’ youth offending teams to support their work to prevent crime. ONSET identifies whether a child or young person would benefit from an early intervention in order to help prevent antisocial behaviour and offending.
ONSET also helps to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention by determining the risk factors that should be reduced and the protective factors that should be enhanced in any given case based on the individual’s assessment. In 2008-09, youth offending teams reported to the Youth Justice Board that 15,752 children and young people had an ONSET assessment.
The profiles generated by ONSET are stored on the electronic and paper record systems used by local authorities. These systems can be accessed only by the multi-agency staff working for youth offending teams, such as health workers, police officers, social workers, probation officers and housing officers. Access to and sharing of such information is subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. The Youth Justice Board has issued guidance to youth offending teams on compliance with the Act and on effective record keeping and information sharing practice. Children, young people and their parents can have access to the information on request. The guidance also advises on the periods for which certain data should be retained. The length of time ONSET data might be retained will depend on local authorities’ own data retention policies and on issues such as whether the young person goes on to offend, the nature of the offence and the disposal applied.
Entry Clearances
The number of UK visa applications refused in India and Sri Lanka in each of the calendar years 2006-08 is shown in the following table, together with the number of appeals received and appeals allowed. The same information is shown in the table for Zimbabwe, but this is based on applications made globally by Zimbabwe nationals rather than just those lodged in Zimbabwe as those data are not available.
We are unable to readily separate applications where a decision has been revoked following receipt of an appeal from those where a decision has been revoked following an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal determination. This information could be provided only by checking individual applications and therefore at disproportionate cost.
2006 2007 2008 India Visas refused 77,291 81,234 78,458 Appeals received 22,164 26,421 33,511 Appeals allowed 11,696 13,181 12,740 Sri Lanka Visas refused 8,434 8,231 7,875 Appeals received 1,467 954 1,046 Appeals allowed 1,184 671 547 Zimbabwe Visas refused 7,660 6,463 6,433 Appeals received 2,463 2,697 2,577 Appeals allowed 741 1,186 1,110 Note: These data are unpublished and should be treated as provisional. Source: Central Reference System
On 23 February the Home Secretary asked the Migration Advisory Committee what further changes to the criteria for Tier 1 there should be in 2010-11, given the changing economic circumstances. The Committee are due to report back to the Government in October. There are no plans to amend the Tier 1 points criteria before that time.
However, this is not to say that overseas doctors are unable to work in the UK. It is open for them to do so through Tier 2. Where they are a postgraduate doctor who has studied in the UK the UK Border Agency will, exceptionally, allow the NHS and others to recruit graduates of UK medical schools from overseas under Tier 2 of the points based system without first testing the resident labour market. This concession, which we will apply to the current round of recruitment, will allow these doctors open access to jobs in the UK's health sector, allowing them to continue their careers here.
As of 31 May 2009, 7,279 overseas visa applications under Tier 1 (general) of the points based system had been refused. There is no right of appeal on immigration grounds against decisions to refuse visa applications under the points based system, including Tier 1.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
[holding answer 19 June 2009]: During the last 12 months the average time taken to decide an application for extension of leave for an overseas student was 44 days.
Immigration
[holding answer 29 June 2009]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 27 April 2009 with the latest position on the case of G1082747 and this remains the position.
Immigration: Bicester
The leader of Cherwell district council wrote to the chief executive of the UK Border Agency on 18 May to highlight his council’s hope that we would proceed with the site at Bullingdon as a first preference. The chief executive replied on 28 May explaining that as we had secured planning permission for a centre at both Bullingdon and Bedford, we are considering which site to develop first, and that a decision will be announced in the autumn.
Immigration: Zimbabwe
[holding answer 29 June 2009]: The Office for National Statistics collects data on nationality from the Annual Population Survey which covers residents of the UK. For the 12 month period from October 2007 to September 2008, I understand that it is estimated that the number of people with Zimbabwean nationality resident in England was 63,000. The margin of error around this estimate is +/-11,000. These are the latest estimates available.
Information relating to the number of Zimbabwean nationals who have applied for residency in England in the last 12 months is not held centrally by UKBA.
Serious Organised Crime Agency
The total number of permanent staff recruited by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each of the last three financial years was:
Number (a) 2006-07 144 (b) 2007-08 107 (c) 2008-09 107
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Pay
The Serious Organised Crime Agency was established on 1 April 2006. Only staff at grades equivalent to the senior civil service are contractually entitled to be considered for bonus payments. The payments made relate to performance during the previous financial year and the total figures for all such payments were:
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Board Members 10,000 2,000 20,000 Deputy Directors 0 35,000 158,358
Wildlife: Crime
I have been asked to reply.
Information on the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Deer Act 1991, Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulation 1997, and the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, in England and Wales from 1998 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
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.
Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Found guilty 1998 70 1999 70 2000 64 2001 96 2002 64 2003 63 2004 96 2005 66 2006 130 2007 56 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 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 courts and police forces. 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 Includes the following Statutes: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Deer Act 1991 Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulation 1997 Conservation of Seals Act 1970 4 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Burma: Ethnic Groups
(2) what discussions he has had at the United Nations on the Burmese offensive against the Karen ethnic group.
We are deeply concerned about the situation in Karen State and reports of renewed fighting between the Karen National Union and the Democratic Karen Buddhist army, who are supported by the Burmese army. Attacks carried out by the Burmese army and their Karen client organisations on civilians in Karen State have been particularly intense over the past two years. We hope to highlight our concerns in a UN Security Council discussion on the protection of civilians in armed conflict on 26 June 2009.
We have repeatedly called for a halt to such offensives and have urged both the military regime and the Karen National Union to intensify their efforts to find a peaceful settlement that will bring about a permanent end to the conflict. Most recently at meetings between our ambassador and Burmese Ministers on 18 and 19 June 2009. In response to the recent upsurge in violence and reports of large numbers of civilians fleeing over the Thai border, the Czech presidency of the EU, with our strong support, issued a statement on 11 June 2009 calling for an end to the hostilities. It expressed particular concern about the humanitarian impact of the ongoing conflict. We fully support this call and our embassy in Rangoon continues to monitor the situation closely.
Colombia
The key economic criteria for the EU’s free-trade agreement partners should be market potential (economic size and growth) and the level of protection against EU export interests (tariffs and non-tariff barriers). This was set out in the 2006 Global Europe Paper. The UK is working within the EU to ensure that any free trade agreement with the Andean countries takes account of the EU stance on human rights in Colombia in this context.
The UK remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Colombia. The UK is working within the EU to ensure that any free trade agreement with Colombia includes a link to a human rights clause as an essential element.
Delara Darabi
We were appalled to learn of the execution of Delara Darabi on 1 May 2009 for a crime she had allegedly committed at the age of 17. The EU, with strong UK support, issued a declaration on 2 May 2009 condemning her execution and urging the Iranian authorities to eliminate the death penalty for juveniles from its penal code.
In a press release issued on 7 May 2009 my predecessor, now the Minister for Armed Forces my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), echoed these sentiments and expressed our deep sorrow at the news. My hon. Friend also summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to condemn Ms Darabi’s execution and the continued practice of executing juvenile offenders. He expressed concern at Iran’s continued disregard for international human rights law; and reminded Iran of their freely undertaken obligations.
Iran is signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which unequivocally prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by those under the age of 18.
Departmental Billing
No payments of interest for late payment of commercial debts were made by Foreign and Commonwealth Office non-departmental public bodies in the last three years.
Departmental Contracts
The following list gives the companies with which the contracts teams in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and FCO Services have entered into new contracts during financial year 2008-09. It does not include contracts that were entered into prior to or after this period by these teams, or placed by others in the FCO in the UK during this period. This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Adhunik Vatanukool;
AES Electrical Systems;
Alchemist Partnership Limited;
ALCIS Ltd.;
Alfaplan Gradenje;
Ambrose HR Ltd.;
Asbestos Removals Logistics Ltd.;
ATG Access Ltd.;
Avail Consulting;
Balticare;
Bramble.cc Ltd.;
Bright Horizons Family solutions;
Building Services Group Ltd.;
Business Objects (UK) Limited;
Bymaro;
Cambridge Econometrics;
Capita Group PLC;
Certes Computing Ltd.;
Coffey International Development Ltd.;
Cogent Electrical Services Ltd.;
Computacenter;
Concerto Consulting;
Controlled Building Services Ltd.;
Coombs Consulting Ltd.;
Corporate Value Associates;
CP Recoveries;
Cranfield University;
Crown Agents;
Data Capture Solutions;
DGSI;
Disposal Services Authority;
Dytecna Limited;
Ebla Translations;
Elan;
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP;
Fugro Middle East;
G4S Security Services (UK) Limited;
Gardaworld;
Gilbert Ash Fit-Out;
Gleeds (QS);
Gleeds Building Surveying;
GMW Architects;
GP Supplies Limited;
GTZ;
Haig Consulting Ltd.;
Hanover Aviation Consultants Ltd.;
Hay Group Management Limited;
Heathrow Airport Limited;
Hoare Lea;
HOK International;
Intuity Consulting Ltd.;
Jedi Systems Consulting Ltd.;
Jordan + Bateman;
Kellogg Brown and Root Limited;
Knight Frank;
KPMG LLP;
LA International;
Mayfair Building Services;
MCI UK Ltd.;
Methods Consulting;
Minimal Risk Consultancy Ltd.;
Morson Human Resources Ltd.;
Morson International;
Mott MacDonald;
NSSL;
ODEC Ltd.;
Olive Group;
ORC International;
Orostream International Contracts Ltd.;
Ove Arup;
Oxford Policy Management Ltd.;
PA Consulting Group;
Parity;
Pemco Co. Ltd.;
Pepco Energy Services;
PMR Products Ltd.;
Projected Consulting Ltd.;
Purcon Ltd.;
QA Ltd.;
Ridge and Partners;
RN Golds Associates;
RPS Health Safety;
SMA Ltd.;
South Midlands Communication;
Spire Business Support Ltd.;
Thales UK Ltd.;
The Carbon Trust;
TMP (UK) Ltd.;
Toffco SDN BHD;
TPS Consult;
Tribal Consulting;
UCT Ltd.;
Venn Group Ltd.;
Veredus;
Windell Ltd.;
Zeal Interiors.
Departmental Opinion Polls
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office survey of Partners Across Government 2009 has just been completed and the report is currently being finalised. Once the final report is available a copy will be placed in the Library.
Eritrea: Human Rights
Our ambassador to Eritrea regularly discusses the human rights situation with her EU counterparts in Asmara. The chief reason for these discussions is to raise human rights issues with the Government of Eritrea as part of the Article 8 Political Dialogue.
In furtherance of the EU's desire to discuss human rights with the Government of Eritrea, the EU Heads of Mission produced a human rights report at the end of January. Since initial discussions earlier this year the Government of Eritrea has twice refused to have human rights included on the Article 8 Political Dialogue agenda for discussion. However, when the EU Heads of Mission last met with the Government of Eritrea on 23 June 2009, we were encouraged by the Government of Eritrea proposing human rights form part of the agenda at the next Article 8 Political Dialogue meeting, scheduled for September.
On 18 September 2008 the UK took part in the European Parliament Human Rights Committee discussion on how to address the growing human rights crisis in Eritrea. At this meeting various non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, presented their human rights concerns to the Eritrean ambassador to Belgium and EU representatives.
My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown raised human rights with the Eritrean ambassador at the end of last year. In February 2009 Lord Malloch-Brown also took part in a debate in the House of Lords, which focused on the human rights situation in Eritrea.
We continue to be concerned about reports of human rights abuses in Eritrea. A huge obstacle to making any factual assessment of the human rights situation in Eritrea is that the Eritrean police and security services are not willing to engage with our embassy on human rights abuses. This makes following up or corroborating reports of any abuses very difficult.
The UK raises human rights issues with the Eritrean Government both in Asmara and with the Eritrean ambassador to London on a regular basis, highlighting the amount of public and parliamentary interest we receive. My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown raised human rights with the Eritrean ambassador at the end of last year.
We also discuss human rights as part of the EU via the Article 8 Political Dialogue. EU Heads of Mission produced a human rights report at the end of January to discuss with the Government of Eritrea. Since initial discussions earlier this year the government of Eritrea has twice refused to have human rights included on the Article 8 Political Dialogue agenda for discussion. However, when the EU Heads of Mission last met with the Government of Eritrea on 23 June 2009, we were encouraged by the Government of Eritrea proposing human rights form part of the agenda at the next Article 8 Political Dialogue meeting, scheduled for September.
We will continue to seek to engage the government of Eritrea on human rights issues at both EU and bilateral levels.
G8: Meetings
In 2010 Canada will host the G8 summit for Heads of Government in Huntsville, on 25-27 June 2010. Dates for Canada's G8 Foreign Minister meeting have not yet been publicly announced.
France holds the G8 presidency in 2011, but has not yet announced the dates for a Heads of Government summit or Foreign Ministers Meeting.
Iran: Demonstrations
[holding answer 26 June 2009]: The UK regularly raises concerns about human rights in Iran, most recently at the 11th session of the UN Council of Human Rights which took place from 2-18 June 2009.
The UK has strongly supported statements by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and a joint statement under five UN Special Procedures. These statements voiced grave concern about the use of excessive police force, arbitrary arrests and killings in the Islamic Republic of Iran and urged the Iranian Government to refrain from using excessive force and to fully guarantee freedom of expression and assembly throughout the country.
The next session of the Human Rights Council is scheduled to take place from 7-25 September 2009, and the UK will continue to monitor the situation in Iran closely and raise concerns as appropriate.
Iran: Politics and Government
The political situation in Iran was discussed by EU Foreign Ministers, including my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, at the most recent European Union General Affairs and External Relations Council on 15-16 June 2009. The Council conclusions expressed strong concern about the violence and use of force against the protesters.
The June European Council released a declaration on 19 June 2009 which also expressed concern about the Iranian authorities' reaction to post-election demonstrations and called on the Iranian authorities to investigate allegations of irregularities in the elections.
We continue to keep in close touch with our European partners on the issue.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang by telephone since the Iranian elections. They agreed that the international community should follow the situation in Iran closely.
On 22 June 2009 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Travel Advice was revised to recommend against all but essential travel to Iran. Consequently we withdrew the dependents of our staff.
We do not believe that it is necessary to advise British citizens to leave Iran. However, we will continue to monitor the situation closely.
We are investigating reports of the arrest of British nationals in Iran and have called on the Iranian authorities to allow consular access.
Israel: Prisoners
The administrative detention and treatment of Palestinian prisoners, especially Palestinian teenagers, in Israeli Prison Service facilities is a serious concern.
We have called on the Israeli Government to take immediate action to ensure all cases are reviewed by a court in accordance with fair procedures, and that their rights, particularly the rights to a fair trial and family visitation, are upheld. We made our concerns clear during Israel's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the Human Rights Council in December 2008 and also in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's 2008 Human Rights Report. We will continue to raise this with Israeli officials.
North Korea: Diplomatic Service
There are four British diplomatic staff at our embassy in Pyongyang. Six North Korean nationals also work there, under local arrangements by the host Government for the provision of interpreting and maintenance services.
Nuclear Weapons
Work on the Road to 2010 Plan is progressing well and it remains our intention that it will be published this summer.
Nuclear Weapons: Arms Control
The Road to 2010 plan is a cross-departmental effort that is co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office. As outlined in my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's speech at Lancaster House on 17 March 2009, the plan will set out proposals in the following areas:
The safe expansion of Civil Nuclear in the UK and globally;
Fissile Material Security and Nuclear Counter-Terrorism;
Disarmament and non-proliferation; and,
The role and development of the International Atomic Energy Agency and other international institutions.
Sudan: Elections
We regularly discuss support to elections with the National Elections Commission (NEC), the body charged by the Sudanese Government with delivering elections. The NEC has not yet finalised the budget for elections, which we expect will include allocations of funding for non-government organisations.
We are also in close contact with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which oversees basket funds provided by donors to support elections. We want significant funds to be made available for civic education—the bulk of these activities would be implemented by non-government organisations—and we have emphasised this to UNDP.
Sudan: Peace Negotiations
The UK strongly supports the African Union/UN political process for Darfur led by Joint Chief Mediator Bassole and welcomes also Qatar's important contribution. We have committed £1 million to support the process.
We welcomed the signing in Doha on 17 February 2009 of an initial agreement by the Government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). We have urged the parties to fully implement the commitments they made. We support the mediators' intention to engage other Darfur leaders and also civil society in further discussions.
The UK Special Representative for Sudan, together with his P5 and EU counterparts, reaffirmed their support for the Darfur political process in a meeting in Qatar on 27 May 2009. They jointly urged the Government of Sudan and JEM to show flexibility, stressed the need for input from all sectors of Darfuri society, and reiterated calls for all parties to urgently accept the invitation extended by the mediators.
We continue to maintain contact with the government of Sudan and other parties to the conflict to urge them to take concrete steps to find a just and lasting solution to the problems of Darfur.
Terrorism: Compensation
I have been asked to reply as the Minister for Humanitarian Assistance.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority does not maintain records for the nationalities of those to whom it makes criminal injuries compensation awards. However, the numbers of awards made under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) to overseas residents who were victims of terrorism in the UK, and the total value of these awards, for the years 1997-98 to 2008-09 are detailed in the following table:
Number of awards made under the CICS to individuals with addresses outside the UK Total value of awards (£) 1997-98 0 0 1998-99 0 0 1999-2000 0 0 2000-01 1 2,713 2001-02 1 3,225 2002-03 0 0 2003-04 0 0 2004-05 0 0 2005-06 6 44,001 2006-07 11 79,807 2007-08 16 185,266 2008-09 3 539,491
An EU Council Directive of 29 April 2004 requires EU member states to provide fair and appropriate compensation to victims of intentional crime committed in a member state. Many countries outside the EU also offer compensation to foreign nationals who are victims of terrorism in their countries. Where other governments have compensation schemes, we help signpost them to families if an offer of compensation has not been immediately forthcoming from the country in which the incident took place.
For countries that do not have compensation schemes, we encourage governments to pay compensation to British victims of overseas terrorism. The issue of compensation schemes has been raised with a number of countries, with the aim of more governments around the world compensating victims of terrorism, as the Government does if there is a terrorist incident in the UK.
Since the Exceptional Assistance Measures were announced to Parliament in June 2008, they have been activated for two incidents affecting British nationals who have been victims of terrorism overseas: to assist the families of those affected by the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, and more recently to cover the costs of repatriating the bodies of two British nationals who were kidnapped in Iraq in 2007. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided assistance to the six families affected by these two incidents. The current figure for the Mumbai attacks stands at £7,592 and at £20,000 for the Iraq kidnap repatriation costs.
Western Sahara: Fisheries
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans at present to seek the inclusion of a reference to the territory of Western Sahara in any future EU fisheries agreement with Morocco.
Future negotiations on the expiry of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) will take into account any changes in the situation of Western Sahara that may occur before the FPA's expiry in 2011.
Culture, Media and Sport
Cultural Heritage: Theft
[holding answer 30 June 2009]: English Heritage are preparing a draft implementation plan for how they will respond to the recommendations of the Nighthawking Survey. They expect this to be ready shortly and will work with partners in the historic environment sector to implement it in the following months.
Digital Switchover: Finance
The Digital Britain report makes a number of recommendations that will involve public expenditure. Estimates of the cost of implementing them, where available, are set out here. Some proposals are subject to further consultation and discussion with stakeholders that will have a bearing on the final cost. These estimates do not include public sector staff or administration costs, or areas where further work is planned but no policy decision has yet been taken.
As outlined in the report, the main sources of funding proposed besides general taxation are a new 50 pence per month levy on fixed copper lines, the underspend on the Digital Television Switchover Help Scheme (subject to further consultation with the BBC Trust), and a contained contestable element of the TV Licence Fee from 2013 onwards, on which a public consultation was launched on 30 June.
Cost estimates
Universal Access to Broadband: estimated cost £200 million, based on current estimates of the Digital Switchover Help Scheme underspend. Other public sector organisations including the devolved authorities and regional development agencies may also contribute over the life of the project.
The National Plan for Digital Participation: up to £12 million.
Next Generation Access Broadband Networks Final Third project: to be funded by a centrally held Next Generation Fund raised through a proposed 50p per month levy on fixed copper lines, expected to raise £150-£175 million per year. A further £150,000 is to be made available to help establish an Independent Networks Cooperative Association.
Research: the Technology Strategy Board has committed to fund a £10 million digital test beds programme, and a £30 million digital innovation programme.
Support for SMEs: up to £23 million over next three years will be spent on pilot business support interventions for SMEs to assist them to exploit advanced ICT to transform their business processes.
Cost estimates not yet available
Mobile spectrum refarming: the Government have agreed to meet the costs incurred by broadcasters and Programme Making and Special Events users as a result of spectrum reallocation. Discussions are being held with Ofcom, the PMSE community and broadcasters to determine the level of costs involved and on what basis, and how, costs will be met.
Independently Funded News Consortia: the extent of public funding necessary will depend on the scope of IFNCs and the funding model adopted. Both will be among the issues tested by the planned pilots.
English Heritage: Finance
English Heritage advises that its total expenditure on the conservation, maintenance, capital development and operational management of its property portfolio in 2008-09 was £64.4 million. Earned income was £41.2 million. The following table shows expenditure for site maintenance, property related publicity and staffing of properties as a proportion of that income:
Expenditure (£ million) Expenditure as a proportion of earned income (percentage) Property maintenance 11.9 29 Property related publicity 3.3 8 Property based staff 16.3 39
The remainder of earned income derived goes towards funding areas including education, outreach and non-site based staff.