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28 Jan 2003 : Column 751W—continued
Crime
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will define total crime for the purposes of the allocation of drug and crime reduction funding for 2003–04 to police basic command units. [93353]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 27 January 2003]: The national recorded crime statistics for burglary, robbery and theft of and from vehicles, were used for determining the 30 Basic Command Units (BCUs) with the highest levels of acquisitive crime. Although recorded crime statistics do not differentiate between drug and non-drug related crime, these types of crimes are the ones mostly closely associated with drug use.
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Crime Reduction
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his written answer of 16 December 2002, Official Report, column 624W, when he plans to place the findings of the exercise on crime and disorder reduction partnerships and their implications for nuisance and noise associated with fireworks in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [91856]
Mr. Denham: As I indicated to my hon. Friend on 16 December 2002, Official Report, column 624W, the monitoring exercise he refers to was set up to monitor incidents relating to the improper use of fireworks between 23 October and 15 January. We are currently gathering and analysing the responses received. Once this process has been completed a copy of our findings will be placed in the Library.
Criminal Cases Review Commission
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions have been overturned by the Court of Appeal following a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission since March 1997. [92309]
Hilary Benn: The Court of Appeal has quashed 60 convictions obtained in England and Wales following references by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases, where the conviction has been overturned by the Court of Appeal following a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, had previously been investigated by his Department prior to March 1997. [92310]
Hilary Benn: Departmental records indicate that 36 cases, where the Court of Appeal has quashed a conviction obtained in England and Wales following references by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, had previously been the subject of applications to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary for a referral. I am unable to say how many of these 36 cases were investigated prior to their transfer to the Commission, as this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases the Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred to the Court of Appeal since March 1997. [92311]
Hilary Benn: The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred 173 cases to the Court of Appeal. (This figure includes referrals of convictions or sentences or both, but excludes referrals to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland or to Crown Courts.)
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission since March 1997. [92312]
Hilary Benn: There have been 5,520 applications from England, Wales and Northern Ireland to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. This figure includes
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requests for case reviews of both summary and indictable convictions and of sentence only. At least three quarters of the applications received prove to be ineligible for a case review (usually because of a failure to exhaust the normal appeals process).
Drink-driving
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many custodial sentences
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were given for drink-driving offences in the last three years, broken down by police authority; [91567]
- (2) how many drink-driving convictions in England and Wales there have been in the last three years, broken down by police authority. [91569]
Hilary Benn: Information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database on convictions and custodial sentences for drink-driving offences by police force area 1998 to 2000 is shown in the table. Data for 2001 will be available in February.
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Force area | Findings of guilt | Immediate custody(10) | Findings of guilt | Immediate custody(10) | Findings of guilt | Immediate custody(10) |
| Avon and Somerset | 2,566 | 157 | 2,728 | 165 | 2,462 | 152 |
| Bedfordshire | 1,060 | 96 | 869 | 87 | 797 | 89 |
| Cambridgeshire | 1,060 | 62 | 941 | 43 | 793 | 41 |
| Cheshire | 1,903 | 119 | 1,827 | 133 | 1,652 | 122 |
| Cleveland | 870 | 63 | 811 | 57 | 777 | 56 |
| Cumbria | 856 | 51 | 871 | 37 | 806 | 50 |
| Derbyshire | 1,547 | 202 | 1,463 | 181 | 1,417 | 126 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 2,265 | 127 | 2,277 | 112 | 2,199 | 104 |
| Dorset | 1,186 | 88 | 1,120 | 96 | 1,115 | 84 |
| Durham | 1,035 | 53 | 1,137 | 81 | 1,124 | 76 |
| Essex | 2,438 | 233 | 2,528 | 261 | 2,462 | 237 |
| Gloucestershire | 985 | 36 | 889 | 51 | 804 | 37 |
| Gt Manchester | 4,715 | 453 | 4,850 | 464 | 4,801 | 428 |
| Hampshire | 3,597 | 231 | 3,725 | 213 | 3,472 | 244 |
| Hertfordshire | 1,672 | 91 | 1,679 | 90 | 1,552 | 98 |
| Humberside | 1,358 | 87 | 1,323 | 97 | 1,371 | 128 |
| Kent | 2,627 | 155 | 2,633 | 133 | 2,592 | 134 |
| Lancashire | 2,945 | 178 | 3,010 | 184 | 2,584 | 163 |
| Leicestershire | 1,485 | 140 | 1,624 | 188 | 1,531 | 152 |
| Lincolnshire | 979 | 36 | 941 | 44 | 816 | 48 |
| London, City of | 301 | 9 | 236 | 5 | 162 | 4 |
| Merseyside | 2,451 | 326 | 2,137 | 296 | 2,128 | 286 |
| Met Police | 13,889 | 1,050 | 12,414 | 838 | 11,801 | 891 |
| Norfolk | 1,118 | 43 | 1,010 | 64 | 935 | 45 |
| Northamptonshire | 1,062 | 73 | 1,058 | 91 | 782 | 90 |
| Northumbria | 2,457 | 194 | 2,463 | 229 | 2,621 | 215 |
| North Yorkshire | 1,205 | 77 | 1,124 | 60 | 1,073 | 67 |
| Nottinghamshire | 1,804 | 247 | 1,802 | 262 | 1,722 | 210 |
| South Yorkshire | 2,002 | 178 | 1,927 | 149 | 2,122 | 170 |
| Staffordshire(11) | 1,955 | 140 | 1,711 | 143 | (12)— | (12)— |
| Suffolk | 1,042 | 60 | 1,089 | 71 | 902 | 74 |
| Surrey | 1,328 | 58 | 1,417 | 47 | 1,539 | 61 |
| Sussex | 2,113 | 113 | 2,224 | 120 | 2,112 | 136 |
| Thames Valley | 3,896 | 195 | 3,725 | 216 | 3,496 | 212 |
| Warwickshire | 784 | 53 | 856 | 38 | 786 | 42 |
| West Mercia | 1,794 | 97 | 1,747 | 114 | 1,631 | 101 |
| West Midlands | 5,582 | 532 | 4,775 | 532 | 4,559 | 451 |
| West Yorkshire | 3,669 | 329 | 3,597 | 358 | 3,375 | 287 |
| Wiltshire | 1,108 | 39 | 1,009 | 45 | 930 | 28 |
| Total England | 86,709 | 6,471 | 83,567 | 6,395 | 80,671 | 6,076 |
| Dyfed Powys | 995 | 38 | 944 | 48 | 858 | 45 |
| Gwent | 1,203 | 84 | 1,079 | 78 | 1,211 | 99 |
| North Wales | 1,306 | 95 | 1,248 | 94 | 1,332 | 92 |
| South Wales | 2,903 | 239 | 2,526 | 282 | 2,757 | 255 |
| Total Wales | 6,407 | 456 | 5,797 | 502 | 6,158 | 491 |
| Total England and Wales | 93,116 | 6,927 | 89,364 | 6,897 | 86,829 | 6,567 |
(10) Immediate custody includes sentences of Secure Training Order, Detention and Training Order Young Offenders Institution, and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.
(11) 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.
(12) Not available.
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Drug Dependency (Prisoners)
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he proposes to improve the quality and coverage of prison-based drug treatment programmes. [92114]
Hilary Benn: A framework is already in place to address the wide-ranging needs of drug-misusing prisoners and includes:
- detoxification in all local and remand prisons;
Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare (CARATs) in all prisons;
60 intensive treatment programmes;
voluntary drug testing available in all prisons.
- minimum standards for clinical services for substance misusers and for CARATs;
independent accreditation of treatment programmes by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel (formerly the Joint Accreditation Panel)—with the aim of having all programmes accredited by March 2004;
separate auditing is also conducted by the Standards Audit Unit, in accordance with PSO 0200—Performance Standards Manual.
The Government's 2002 Spending Review made provision for significant, additional funding for action on drugs misuse. In particular, investment in aftercare and throughcare will help ensure the gains made whilst prisoners are in custody are not lost on their release. Provision has also been made to boost treatment in prisons.
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners in the United Kingdom who would benefit from a programme of treatment for drugs dependency. [92118]
Hilary Benn: Records of the number of prisoners who would benefit from a programme of treatment are not kept centrally. Data from the Office for National Statistics show that around 80 per cent. of prisoners had used drugs at some point before coming into prison, with 54 per cent. reporting drug dependency in the year prior to custody.
A framework is in place to address the wide-ranging needs of drug-misusing prisoners and includes:
- detoxification in all local and remand prisons;
Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare (CARATs) in all prisons;
60 intensive treatment programmes;
voluntary drug testing available in all prisons.
- minimum standards for clinical services for substance misusers and for CARATs;
independent accreditation of treatment programmes by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel (formerly the Joint Accreditation Panel)—with the aim of having all programmes accredited by March 2004;
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separate auditing is also conducted by the Standards Audit Unit, in accordance with PSO 0200—Performance Standards Manual.
The Government's 2002 Spending Review made provision for significant, additional funding for action on drugs misuse. In particular, investment in aftercare and throughcare will help ensure the gains made while prisoners are in custody are not lost on their release. Provision has also been made to boost treatment in prisons.
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the routes by which drugs enter prisons; and what proportion enter through external visits. [92121]
Hilary Benn: By definition drug smuggling is a covert activity which is extremely difficult to quantify and will vary between prisons. The main identified routes by which attempts are made to smuggle drugs into prisons include:
- social visits;
- mail;
- perimeter breach; and
- reception
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many places on drug treatment programmes are available to prisoners in (a) England and (b) Kent. [92101]
Hilary Benn: The Prison Service has in place a comprehensive framework to address the needs of drug-misusing prisoners.
Delivery targets are given in the table.
| Intervention | All prisons' targets (by March 2004) | Kent targets (2002–03) |
|---|---|---|
| CARATs(13) | 25,000 | 1,000 |
| Detoxification | 27,000 | 210 |
| Rehabilitation programmes and TCs(14) | 5,700 | 406 |
| VDT compacts(15) | 28,000 | 2,234 |
(13) Counselling assessment referral advice through care.
(14) Therapeutic communities.
(15) Voluntary drug testing.
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he intends to take to ensure that arrestees who test positive for drugs are directed into treatment programmes. [92112]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In the areas in England and Wales where the provisions for drug testing persons in police detention are currently being implemented, it is part of the drug testing procedure that those who test positive for a specified Class A drug are given specific opportunity to see an arrest referral worker, with a view to assessment of their drug misuse and referral to appropriate treatment.
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Measures being introduced as part of the Government's new comprehensive programme of criminal justice interventions to get drug misusers into treatment include the enhancement of existing arrest referral schemes and the expansion and extension of the drug testing arrangements under which the police can test persons, after charge, for specified Class A drugs. We are also taking forward in the Criminal Justice Bill the proposal to pilot a presumption against bail for those who refuse to be assessed as to their dependency on, or propensity to misuse, specified Class A drugs, or who then refuse to undergo relevant follow-up action recommended.
The programme will be backed up by improvements in treatment capacity and local delivery.
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners in Kent tested positive for drugs in each of the past five years. [92113]
Hilary Benn: The proportion of prisoners who tested positive under random mandatory drug testing (MDT) in Kent prisons is given in the table.
| Percentage positive | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 13.6 |
| 1998–99 | 11.9 |
| 1999–2000 | 9.8 |
| 2000–01 | 8.8 |
| 2001–02 | 9.4 |
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he proposes to address the availability of drugs in prisons. [92120]
Hilary Benn: A range of measures is in place to reduce the availability of drugs in prisons. Elements include:
- passive and active drug dogs;
a range of fixed and low-level furniture in visits areas;
closed circuit television in visits areas;
measures to deal with visitors who smuggle drugs into prisons;
mandatory drug testing; and
agreed searching policies.
Hilary Benn: The numbers of prisoners engaging in some form of drugs treatment during 2001–02 are given in the table.
| Intervention | All prisons (England and Wales) | Kent prisons |
|---|---|---|
| CARATs(16) | 39,279 initial assessments | 1,697 |
| Detoxification | 40,865 entrants | 616 |
| Rehabilitation programmes and therapeutic communities | 4,691 entrants | 539 |
| Voluntary drug testing compacts | 27,041 compacts signed | 2,432 |
(16) Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare services.
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