| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Asylum Seekers (Iraqi Nationals)
18. Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applications have been lodged by Iraqi nationals since 1 May 1997; and how many of those applications have been approved. [116804]
Mrs. Roche: The number of asylum applications lodged by Iraqi nationals since the beginning of May 1997 to the end of December 1999 was 3,870. There were a total of 1,680 decisions made; of which 740 were grants of asylum and 735 were grants of exceptional leave to remain.
Anti-social Behaviour Orders
19. Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress in the use by local authorities of anti-social behaviour orders. [116805]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I understand that about 35 orders are currently in force and a number of local authorities, in consultation with the police, are actively considering applications for further orders. Where orders have been
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 67W
made they have generally been found to be effective and I would encourage both local authorities and the police to make full use of the orders in appropriate cases.
21. Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what encouragement he is giving to local partnerships to use the orders made available under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. [116807]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We have in place a full programme of support to partnerships in using the orders made available under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. In the case of anti-social behaviour orders, for example, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has established an action group under the chairmanship of Lord Warner to identify what additional help needs to be given to the police and local authorities. The group is producing a model protocol for applying for an order and has arranged a series of seminars around the country to spread best practice.
Prisoners (Early Release)
22. Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure the greater involvement of victims and their families in the assessment process of prisoners for early release on parole. [116809]
Mr. Boateng: We have announced a comprehensive review of the parole and lifer review processes. The review will consider how victims and their families are currently involved in these processes and whether improvements mights be made.
Victim support and other interest groups will be consulted as part of the review.
CCTV
23. Mr. Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the impact on crime levels of CCTV in small towns; and if he will make a statement. [116810]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Police operational experience and a number of research studies reveal that Closed Circuit Television has considerable crime reduction and detection success in small towns and elsewhere, particularly when used as part of a wider crime strategy.
Demand under the first round of the £153 million CCTV Initiative demonstrates that crime and disorder partnerships regard CCTV as a valuable asset: we have already invested around £60 million over 320 schemes in England and Wales, including small towns and rural areas.
I announced the second round of the Initiative on 31 March. Around £90 million remains available for allocation, and increased emphasis will be given to proposals from rural areas and community shopping centres where crime and the fear of crime are having a significant adverse effect on local people.
Sentencing (Young Offenders)
24. Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the speeding up of sentencing for persistent young offenders. [116811]
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 68W
Liz Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the speeding up of sentencing for persistent young offenders. [116806]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We are making continued progress towards achieving our pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders. Alongside the measures to reduce delay introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, work is being taken forward with local areas to ensure the effective fast tracking of persistent young offenders in both youth and Crown Courts.
Firearms Licences
26. Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the obtaining of firearms licences by foreign nationals. [116813]
Mr. Charles Clarke: All applicants for firearm certificates must satisfy the chief officer of police that they have "good reason" to possess the firearms in question and that they are fit to be entrusted to do so without danger to public safety or to the peace. Since 1998, applicants must supply the police with details of two referees to the application. Referees must have known the applicant personally for at least two years. The Association of Chief Police Officers have recently reinforced the need to carry out background checks through Interpol in relation to all foreign applicants and those who have been resident overseas.
Truancy
27. Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what help he proposes to give schools and local authorities in combating truancy. [116814]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Truancy is a major contributor to youth offending and can in itself have a devastating impact on a child's prospects for later life. That is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education has allocated extra resources through the Social Inclusion Pupil Support Grant Programme, worth some £500 million over three years, to help reduce levels of unauthorised absence and exclusion.
Secondly, we are introducing, as part of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill, an increase in penalty on parents for failing to ensure that a child attends school regularly.
And, thirdly, we are considering actively whether we can encourage the type of scheme which is active in York, for example, where police, education welfare officers, and social services officers, work together as a team, to pick up children who are truant on the streets and bring them back into education.
Police Forces (Non-territorial)
28. Mr. David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reform the governance of non-territorial police forces. [116815]
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 69W
Mr. Charles Clarke: The then Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton, North and Bellshill (Dr. Reid) announced in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Mr. Shaw) on 31 July 1998, Official Report, columns 637-38W, our intention to seek to establish, when a suitable legislative opportunity arises, an independent national police authority for the British Transport Police.
Prisons (Health Care)
29. Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on improving the standard of health care in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [116817]
Mr. Boateng: Pilot health needs assessment projects have started in 12 prisons. All prisons and local health authorities have been asked by March 2001 jointly to assess prisoners' health needs and to identify appropriate services to meet them and effective ways of delivery. Implementation of improvements through individual prison health plans is scheduled to begin from April 2001.
Farm and Neighbourhood Watch Schemes
30. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he plans to take to support farm and neighbourhood watch schemes. [116818]
Mr. Charles Clarke: A partnership approach between local communities and the police is the most effective means of tackling crime in rural areas. Neighbourhood and farm watch schemes are excellent examples of this partnership approach in action and we take every opportunity to encourage their establishment. Watch schemes have a valuable role to play in the local crime and disorder reduction partnerships established by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
CS Spray
31. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of indiscriminate use of CS spray have been the subject of police disciplinary proceedings. [116819]
Mr. Charles Clarke: For the period October 1998 to October 1999, 135 complaints of inappropriate use of CS spray were received by the Police Complaints Authority, 10 per cent. of which led to some form of disciplinary action. Two cases resulted in formal disciplinary charges.
Minimum Sentences
33. Mr. Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to bring forward legislation to increase the number of mandatory minimum sentences for persistent offenders. [116821]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government have no plans to bring forward legislation for this purpose.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what agreement has been reached between EU member states in respect of EU-wide minimum prison sentences; in respect of what criminal offences; and if he will make a statement. [118077]
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 70W
Mr. Boateng [holding answer 7 April 2000]: Article 31(e) of the Treaty on European Union, as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam, provides that common action on judicial co-operation in criminal matters shall include
- "progressively adopting measures establishing minimum rules relating to the constituent elements of criminal acts and to penalties in the fields of organised crime, terrorism and illicit drug trafficking".
- "efforts to agree on common definitions, incriminations and sanctions should be focused in the first instance on a limited number of sectors of particular relevance, such as financial crime (money laundering, corruption, euro counterfeiting), drugs trafficking, trafficking in human beings, particularly exploitation of women, sexual exploitation of children, high tech crime and environmental crime" (paragraph 48).
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which criminal offences in England and Wales are punishable by the imposition of a minimum determinate prison sentence for the first or second offence, indicating the minimum in each case. [118074]
Mr. Boateng [holding answer 7 April 2000]: There are no criminal offences that attract an automatic minimum determinate prison sentence for either a first or second offence by a given offender.
Section 2 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 provides for those who are convicted of a second serious sexual or violent offence to be sentenced to life imprisonment (an indeterminate sentence).
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |