| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
HOME DEPARTMENT
Young Offenders
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 March 1998, Official Report, column 391, to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe), for how long the review of the secure estate for juveniles has been in progress; and what is his current estimate of when the review will be published. [38579]
Mr. Michael: An initial review of juvenile secure accommodation has been undertaken as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. The review began in September and was completed at the end of March. The Government are now considering the outcome of the review and expect to make a statement shortly. My right hon. Friend has made clear the Government's intention of bringing coherence to the secure estate while achieving greater flexibility and effectiveness in the use of the secure estate and this will require a good deal of detailed work. Our plans were set out in the White Paper "No More Excuses--A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales", (Cm 3809, November 1997).
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the provision of secure accommodation for young offenders. [38532]
Mr. Michael: Juveniles who are held in custody on remand or sentenced can be placed in secure accommodation provided by the local authority or by central Government in Prison Service facilities, Secure Training Centres or in the Youth Treatment Centre.
The Government have undertaken an initial review of secure accommodation for juveniles as part of their Comprehensive Spending Review. This looked at the whole range of secure accommodation for children and young people. The Government are now considering the outcome of the review and expect to make a statement shortly.
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 635
My right hon. Friend has made clear the Government's intention of bringing coherence to the secure estate, while achieving greater flexibility and effectiveness in the use of the secure estate and this will require a good deal of detailed work. Our plans were set out in the White Paper "No More Excuses--A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales", (Cm 3809, November 1997).
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the Home Office circulars issued to (a) police forces, (b) police authorities and (c) the Association of Chief Police officers, in each of the last three years. [38662]
Mr. Michael:
Home Office circulars are issued directly by the Home Office, not by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Guidance issued by ACPO is a matter for them. Circulars to the police were issued by the Home Office in 1995, 1996 and 1997 and copies of each have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish Dr. Simon Holdaway's Home Office-funded report on why ethnic minority police officers were resigning prematurely; [39169]
Mr. Michael
[holding answer 20 April 1998]: The report by Dr. Simon Holdaway and Dr. Anne-Marie Barron was published independently last year by Macmillan Press Limited under the title "Resigners? The experience of Black and Asian Officers".
The decision that the report would not be published by the Home Office was taken in 1993. Its findings will be borne in mind. We are well aware of the need to ensure the retention of police officers from ethnic minorities and considerable work is being undertaken in the Home Office to understand the issues involved and to develop guidance for the police service in England and Wales.
The recent thematic report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is particularly helpful and chief police officers have been asked to consider how best to respond to its findings as a matter of urgency.
Mr. John Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to appoint to the two vacant posts of Commissioner at the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales. [39663]
Mr. George Howarth:
I am very pleased to announce that I have appointed Professor Kenneth George to serve as a Commissioner to fill one post and that my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Wales, has appointed Mrs. Susan Smith as a Commissioner to fill the other. Both appointments are effective until 31 December 2001.
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 636
Mr. Grant:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has obtained supporting the statement by the Director General of the Prison Service, broadcast on "Newsnight" on 25 March, concerning the relative likelihood of persons of Afro-Caribbean origins and persons of other ethnic origins suffering from positional asphyxia; and if he will publish this evidence. [39664]
Mr. Straw:
An internal Prison Service report dated February 1996 identified a range of medical factors that would be likely to place an individual at greater risk of sudden death when being physically restrained and therefore liable to suffer from positional asphyxia. These include sickle cell disorders which more frequently occur in persons originating from regions of Africa or the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and India. This is a difficult area with differing expert views. The Prison Service will be commissioning further research into these important issues.
I am placing a copy of the report in the Library. Since the report had not originally been intended for publication, sections which identify personal information about specific individuals have been removed.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the report of the New South Wales Attorney General's Department into the homosexual panic defence; and if he will make a statement. [39216]
Mr. Michael:
The Attorney General's Department of New South Wales issued a discussion paper in August 1996 entitled a "Review of the 'Homosexual Advance Defence'". The paper reviews recent cases in New South Wales and discusses the use of the defence where it is pleaded as part of a defence of self defence or provocation. It did not recommend any legislative changes in New South Wales, but suggested some changes in the model directions for judges, and greater education within the criminal justice system and the wider community. I understand a final report will be published in due course, and I await that with interest.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list those police services in England which monitor and record incidents of homophobic crime; [39204]
(3) if he will list by police authority and by category of offence, the types of offences reported or recorded as homophobic crime; [39213]
(4) if he will list, by police authority, the number of homophobic incidents recorded in each of the last five years. [39205]
Mr. Michael:
From the information collected centrally, it is not possible to determine offences or incidents of homophobic crime which, like a number of other identifiable categories such as domestic violence or
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 637
violence between neighbours, cut across different categories of offence depending on the seriousness of the event or the nature of the evidence. Whilst the Home Office collects statistics on the number of recorded offences of, for example, violence against the person, indecent assault on a male, indecency between males and rape of a male, there is no way of identifying which offences within any offence type had a homophobic element. This makes it impossible to give a proper estimate concerning under-reporting.
In 1996, the Association of Chief Police Officers published a set of Good Practice Guidelines for Dealing with Homophobic Incidents. This included a definition of what should be regarded as a homophobic incident: "Any incident which appears to either the victim, investigating officer or any other person to be motivated by homophobia, that is, animosity towards lesbians and gay men". The guidelines also recommended that police forces should record and monitor such incidents.
A literature review has been conducted for the interdepartmental working group on vulnerable and intimidated witnesses; part of the report examined literature on hate crimes against sexual minorities. This report is being considered by Ministers.
There have been a few surveys published. For example, in a survey of gay men carried out in Lewisham as part of the Lewisham Safer Cities project in 1992, the vast majority reported experience of verbal abuse (81 per cent.) and approaching half reported being physically attacked. Property offences were less commonly reported.
Stonewall, the pressure group which campaigns for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, has also carried out a nation-wide survey. Key findings included:
Both studies found repeat victimisation was common. They provide useful information, although it must be acknowledged that they may not provide a representative sample.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to increase the confidence of homosexual people in reporting crimes against them to the police. [39207]
Mr. Michael:
The reluctance of homosexual people to report crimes committed against them was one of the issues raised in the report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's thematic inspection into police community and race relations published last October. The report recommended that forces should establish policies and strategies for the policing of incidents and crimes against the gay community, acknowledging their vulnerability as a minority group, and establish systems and practices to deal effectively with homophobic attacks including monitoring arrangements. Her Majesty's Inspectorate will be looking at what forces have done to implement the report during their programme of force inspections.
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 638
(2) if he will implement the conclusions of the Home Office-funded report on the racialisation of the British police. [39171]
(2) what estimate he has made of the under-reporting of homophobic crime; [39206]
three quarters reported experiencing verbal abuse on at least one occasion;
over a third of men and a quarter of women reported experiencing violence in the last five years because of their sexuality;
some groups, such as black, Asian, disabled and young respondents had greater risk of victimisation.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |