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Asylum Seekers

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers there were in (a) Hull and (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire in each month in the last two quarters for which figures are available; how long each application took to process; and how many applications were successful. [116771]

Beverley Hughes: The information is not available in the form requested.

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The availability of information on the location of asylum seekers in the UK is currently linked to the support the asylum seeker receives. Asylum seekers in the UK either receive support from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), local authorities or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), or are supporting themselves.

Information on outstanding asylum cases, initial decision outcomes and asylum case processing times relating to persons in particular areas of the UK is unavailable as are statistics regarding the location of asylum seekers not in receipt of support.

NASS does not disperse asylum seekers to any areas in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The following table shows the number of asylum seekers (including dependants) accommodated by NASS and receiving subsistence only support in Hull as at the end of each quarter since June 2002 ¹ :

As at end of quarter	Number of asylum seekers (including dependants) supported in NASS accommodation in Hull	Number of asylum seekers (including dependants) receiving subsistence only support in Hull(22)
June 2002	995	(23)—
September 2002	995	(23)—
December 2002	1,010	35
March 2003	940	50

⁽²¹⁾ Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. These figures exclude cases where support has been ceased.

⁽²²⁾ Figures on the location of cases receiving subsistence only support only became available below regional level from December 2002.

⁽²³⁾ Figures for subsistence only cases by Local Authority are only available from December 2002.

From grant claims sent to the Home Office by local authorities, as at the end of March 2003, there were the following additional number ⁴ of asylum seekers being supported by the local authorities in Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire: (Asylum seekers are not necessarily resident in the Local Authority that supports them due to the voluntary dispersal programme which operated prior to NASS).

Local Authority	Number of singles supported as at end March 2003	Number of families supported as at end of March 2003
East Riding	5	0
Hull	20	5

Statistics on the number of asylum seekers supported by NASS in each region are available on the Home Office's Immigration and Asylum Statistics website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

⁴ Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. These figures exclude cases where support has been ceased.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether accusations of domestic violence to the police about the behaviour of an asylum seeker are taken into consideration by Ministers when considering deportation. [117925]

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Beverley Hughes: Before a person can be removed or deported full account is taken of all known relevant factors. These include any criminal convictions, and the individual's personal history including his or her character and conduct.

Drugs

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Class A drugs supplied to the UK market he estimates were intercepted in each six month period since January 2000. [117917]

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.

Work is under way to improve estimates of the total supply of Class A drugs to the UK but law enforcement agencies are currently working on the basis that in 2001–02, they took out an estimated 10 per cent. of heroin and 21 per cent. of cocaine supply to the UK. Information for other periods and other Class A drugs is not available.

Community Sentences

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) offenders, (b) adult offenders, (c) young male offenders and (d) female offenders who completed community sentences in the most recent year for which figures are available were reconvicted for a standard list offence within two years. [116006]

Paul Goggins: There is no available information on reconviction rates for offenders completing community sentences.

Of all offenders commencing community penalties in the first quarter of 1999, 44.3 per cent. were reconvicted within two years. This was a 3.1 per cent. fall from the expected rate based on first quarter 1997. These figures have been adjusted to exclude breaches and convictions after the start of the community sentence where the offence had been committed before the community sentence started.

More detailed figures are available only in respect of offenders who started community sentences in 1995. Of those offenders, (a) 56 per cent. of all offenders (b) 51 per cent. of all adult offenders (c) 73 per cent. of young male offenders ¹ and (d) 42 per cent. of all female offenders had been reconvicted within two years. These figures have not been adjusted.

¹ Young offenders are defined here as those aged under 21 years at the date of commencement of the order.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a response to his letter of 14 May 2003 regarding a constituent. [118586]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 10 June 2003]: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 11 June 2003 and will reply more fully once current investigations into his constituent's concerns are completed.

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Crime (Merseyside)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the crime trends on Merseyside since 1995; which criminal activity has declined most in Merseyside since 1995; and what estimate he has made of the reasons for that decline; [116472]

(2) what the total number of crimes recorded per head of population was in Merseyside in each year since 2000. [116474]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Information on the total number of recorded crimes per 100,000 of the population is given in the table.

Number of recorded crimes per 100,000 population: Merseyside

	Number of offences
1999–2000	10,513
2000–01	10,174
2001–02	10,755

⁽²⁴⁾ Numbers will be affected by the size of the resident population relative to the transient or visiting populations and may therefore over-represent the number of crimes relative to the real population of potential victims.

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There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which had a tendency to increase the number of offences counted. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date, and figures calculated from them, willtherefore not be directly comparable.

The table contains recorded crime figures for the number of offences recorded and the number of offences per 1,000 population for the nine main offence groups. Despite the change in counting rules the figures show that the offence group with the biggest decline in the number of offences recorded per 1,000 population from 1995 to 2001–02 is Theft and Handling. This group includes vehicle crime offences. The offence group with the largest percentage decrease is burglary.

Recorded crimes by offence group—Merseyside⁽²⁵⁾

	1995		1996		1997
Offence group	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population
Violence against the person	8,098	5.6	8,236	5.8	8,083	5.7
Sexual Offences	937	0.7	891	0.6	906	0.6
Robbery	2,768	1.9	2,985	2.1	2,141	1.5
Burglary	34,497	24.0	29,437	20.6	26,266	18.5
Theft and Handling	74,797	52.1	71,393	50.0	58,520	41.2
Fraud and Forgery	4,259	3.0	4,288	3.0	4,269	3.0
Criminal Damage	25,855	18.0	26,907	18.9	23,677	16.7
Drug Offences(27)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Other Offences	2,174	1.5	1,819	1.3	2,117	1.5
Total	153,385	106.9	145,956	102.3	125,979	88.7

	1998–99(26)				2000–01		2001–02
Offence group	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population	Offences recorded	Offences per 1,000 population
Violence against the person	12,208	8.6	14,639	10.4	15,855	11.3	16,030	11.4
Sexual Offences	1,019	0.7	935	0.7	982	0.7	1,018	0.7
Robbery	2,484	1.8	2,663	1.9	2,405	1.7	3,155	2.3
Burglary	26,498	18.8	25,638	18.2	23,938	17.1	25,478	18.2
Theft and Handling	59,044	41.8	62,230	44.2	57,844	41.2	59,698	42.5
Fraud and Forgery	4,884	3.5	4,794	3.4	5,021	3.6	5,380	3.8
Criminal Damage	27,465	19.4	30,822	21.9	30,593	21.8	33,899	24.2
Drug Offences(27)	5,620	4.0	4,838	3.4	4,421	3.2	4,390	3.1
Other Offences	1,652	1.2	1,613	1.1	1,748	1.3	1,886	1.3
Total	140,874	99.7	148,172	105.1	142,807	101.7	150,934	107.6

⁽²⁵⁾ Crime statistics were collected on a calendar year basis up to 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter.

⁽²⁶⁾ The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date, and figures calculated from them, may therefore not be directly comparable.

⁽²⁷⁾ Prior to April 1998, the only drug offences recorded were 'Trafficking in controlled drugs', which were recorded within the Other Offences Group. After this date, the Home Office Counting Rules were revised and expanded to include the further drug offences of 'Possession of controlled drugs' and 'Other drug offences'.

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