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12 Nov 2009 : Column 958W—continued
Passports
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to designate passports under the Identity Cards Act 2006. [298070]
Alan Johnson: The exact timetable for future legislation has yet to be decided, but it is intended that the existing provisions of the Identity Cards Act 2006 will be amended by further primary legislation so that, from 2012, when fingerprint biometric passports are introduced, every adult who decides to apply for a British Passport will have the choice of being issued with a fingerprint biometric passport, a fingerprint biometric identity card or both documents-all on a voluntary basis.
Police: Administration
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the levels of administrative burden upon police forces. [295108]
Mr. Hanson: Since the Policing Green Paper in 2008 the Government have taken significant steps to reduce administrative burdens. The new single top down target to increase public confidence has given frontline officers more scope to exercise their professional discretion-helping them to do the job the public expect of them, with less time taken up on administration.
The review undertaken by the permanent secretary to the Home Office of the data requirements placed on the police service by the Home Office is on track to deliver a 50 per cent. reduction by March 2010. It included scrapping Activity Based Costing, freeing up the equivalent of approximately 150 extra officers and staff. In addition we have scrapped the lengthy stop and account form and are supporting forces to introduce more proportionate crime recording processes.
Jan Berry's forthcoming report as the independent reducing bureaucracy advocate will make recommendations on the next steps for Government and police forces and authorities in reducing the administrative burden.
In the spirit of reducing bureaucracy, the Government have no plans to survey forces further.
Police: East Midlands
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were per head of population in each police force area in the East Midlands in (a) 1997 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available. [299162]
Mr. Hanson: It has not been possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Police: Internet
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on the development of the website maps.police.uk; what the budget for the website is for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; and how many staff are employed to maintain the website. [296362]
Mr. Hanson: The total cost of development was £230,700.
There is an annual cost of £50,000 per year for 2009-10 and 2010-11 which covers web-hosting, maintenance and minor development work.
There are no members of staff solely dedicated to maintain this system in either the National Policing Improvement Agency or police forces. The maintenance of this system is incorporated in day to day operations.
Police: Norfolk
Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on policing in Norfolk in (a) 1997 and (b) the most recent 12 months for which figures are available. [298960]
Mr. Hanson: It has not been possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Norfolk constabulary in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. [299021]
Mr. Hanson: It has not been possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Police: North Yorkshire
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police and (b) police community support officers there were in North Yorkshire in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2009. [299786]
Mr. Hanson: It has not been possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Public Order Offences: Members
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any hon. Members have details about them recorded on the National Public Order Intelligence Unit database. [296765]
Mr. Hanson: The Police Service does not disclose details of entries on intelligence databases except where a formal Subject Access Request is made under the Data Protection Act.
Radicalism
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk to public safety posed by (a) violent extremism, (b) extremism perpetrated in the name of Islam, (c) extremism perpetrated in the name of neo-Nazi and fascist causes and (d) extremism claimed by others; and if he will make a statement. [293390]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 15 October 2009]: As set out in CONTEST, our counter-terrorism strategy published in March this year, the most significant threat we currently face to national security is international terrorism from Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda inspired groups.
Prevent, our long term strategy to stop people becoming or supporting violent extremists is part of our response to this threat. More information on Prevent can be found at:
Alongside this work, the Government will continue to take action against any groups or individuals who promote or incite violence. The Government will also continue to challenge views which fall short of supporting violence and are within the law, but which reject and undermine our shared values and jeopardise community cohesion.
Shoplifting: Arrests
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests and (b) subsequent convictions for offences of shoplifting there have been in each of the last five years. [300075]
Mr. Alan Campbell: It has not been possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Shoplifting: Cambridgeshire
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders received a police caution for shoplifting in each of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary basic command units in each year since 1997. [299926]
Mr. Alan Campbell: It has not been possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Shotgun Passes
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British visitor's (a) firearms and (b) shotgun passes were issued in (i) England and Wales and (ii) Scotland in each of the last 10 years; and how many prosecutions for breach of conditions of issue of each type of pass were brought in each of those years. [297966]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information relating to visitor permit applications granted for individuals and groups in England and Wales is published in an annual Home Office Statistical Bulletin, the latest of which can be found online at:
Relevant data for the period 1998 to 2005-06 (inclusive) and 2007-08 are reproduced in the following table. Due to the transition from in-force data collection systems to the National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS), data for 2006-07 are not available centrally.
No prosecutions at magistrates courts in England and Wales for "Failing to comply with conditions under a visitor's permit" under section 17(10) (b) of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 have been reported to the Ministry of Justice between 1998 and 2007. Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
Information with regard to Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government.
| Visitors' permits: Applications granted for individuals and groups, firearms and shotguns, England and Wales, 1998 to 2007-08 | ||
| Number (rounded) | ||
| On behalf of | Group applications | |
| (1) Figures for 2006-07 are not available due to the transition from in-force data collection systems to the National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS). (2) Denotes figures not available. Source: Firearm Certificates in England and Wales 2007-08 (HOSB 05/09, Table 9). | ||
Telephone Services
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's policy is on call charge rates for hon. Members for use of a telephone hotline on behalf of their constituents; and if he will make a statement. [292832]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office does not have a specific policy on call charges for hon. Members for use of and telephone helpline on behalf of constituents.
To minimise the cost of calls made to Home Office hotlines wherever possible, we align our telephony services to the guidance and rules set out by Ofcom.
We also work closely with the Central Office of Information (COI) which is the Government's centre of excellence for marketing and communications to ensure our telephone services are in line with industry standards and are aligned to the quality and service standards of other Government Departments.
Terrorism: Internet
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK-based websites have been closed down under the provisions of section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006 because they contained extremist material inciting terrorism. [298067]
Alan Johnson: I will write to the hon. Member.
UK Border Agency
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of UK Border Agency staff have financial objectives as part of their performance management reviews; and if he will make a statement. [294417]
Alan Johnson: The Home Office has a competency framework that sets out the skills needed for different types of job. The core competency framework consists of five core competencies one of which is financial management. Performance against the competency framework, including financial management where relevant, is assessed in appraisal of annual performance, applications for posts and promotion where relevant. The setting of individual objectives in performance management reviews is a matter for individual line managers and it is not possible for this reason to state the percentage of staff with financial objectives except at disproportionate costs.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency projects do not have (a)a signed-off business case and (b) an end date; and what the total budget is of such projects. [294419]
Alan Johnson: UKBA has 12 areas of activity it treats as programmes and projects within its corporate portfolio that currently support the UKBA business plan, change programme and wider Home Office initiatives.
Out of the 12 programmes and projects, two do not yet have a signed-off business case. The two projects are in the process of developing their business cases and are due to go through financial and other approval processes in early 2010.
All 12 programmes and projects have a planned end date.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which 50 parliamentary constituencies the UK Border Agency received the highest number of enquiries regarding migration cases that are (a) legacy cases, (b) non-legacy cases and (c) out-of-country visa applications ranked from highest to lowest in each of the last four years. [299112]
Mr. Woolas: It has not been possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many raids were conducted in each region by UK Border Agency officials in 2008. [299225]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 10 November 2009]: It has not been possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff left (a) the UK Border Agency in 2008 and (b) its predecessors in each of the four preceeding years through (i) resignation, (ii) retirement, (iii) termination and (iv) redundancy. [299227]
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