§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards meeting the public service agreement target for the long run rate of growth of crime. [17310]
§ Mr. DenhamThere is no Public Service Agreement (PSA) target on the long run rate of growth in crime as such. The PSA targets for crime set by Spending Review 2000 and progress on them are
To reduce vehicle crime by 30 per cent. by 2004. Recorded vehicle crime fell by nine per cent. in the 12 months to March 2001.813WTo reduce burglary by 25 per cent., no local authority having a domestic burglary rate more than three times the national average by 2005. Recorded Domestic Burglary fell by nine per cent. in the 12 months to March 2001.To reduce robbery in our principal cities by 14 per cent. by 2005—while recorded robbery rose by 13 per cent. in the 12 months to March 2001, these rates of increase were much slower than those recorded in the previous 12 months. The British Crime Survey, a more accurate measure of crime, shows that violent crime is actually falling overall (down 19 per cent. between 1999–2000).
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for drug action teams to name comprehensive programmes involving lifeskills in schools, the youth service, further education and the community. [17151]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe Home Department does not have a public service agreement (PSA) target for drug action teams to name comprehensive programmes involving lifeskills in schools, the youth service, further education and the community. The PSA relating to young people is to reduce the proportion of people under the age of 25 reporting the use of Class A drugs by 25 per cent. by 2005 and 50 per cent. by 2008.
However, the Government do believe that drug, alcohol and tobacco education is best delivered within a framework of personal, social and health education (PSHE). Good personal social and health education and citizenship education, when well delivered in schools, provides a vital foundation for the personal development of young people and prepares them for adult life. It can help to give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active and responsible citizens. Currently 93 per cent. of secondary schools and 75 per cent. of primaries now have a drug education policy compared with 86 per cent. of secondary schools and 61 per cent. of primaries in 1997. The target for 2002 is for all secondary schools and 80 per cent. of primaries to have effective programmes in place.
The role of Drug Action Teams (DATs) in this process is measured via the Young Peoples Substance Misuse Plans. These plans will help to integrate drug service provision with other existing children's services. The first of these plans will be submitted in March 2002. By 2004, in every DAT area there will be substance misuse education and information for all young people and their families; advice and support targeted at vulnerable groups; early identification of need; and tailored support to all who need it.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the public service agreement target of a reduction of 3 per cent. in the proportion of arrestees testing positive for(a) heroin, (b) cocaine and (c) crack. [17050]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthWe are in the process of reviewing progress against all drugs strategy targets.
The 2002 drugs strategy target, as set out in the United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator's Second National Plan, to achieve a reduction in the proportion of arrestees 814W testing positive for Class A drugs, was taken forward in the Spending Review 2000 Service Delivery Agreement commitment to
achieve a reduction of three percentage points in the proportion of arrestees testing positive for heroin and/or cocaine and/or crack from the 1999–2000 half baseline".The target is not to achieve separate reductions for individual drugs. It is one of several measures contributing towards delivery of the public service agreement target to reduce levels of repeat offending among drug misusing offenders by 25 per cent. by 2005 and by 50 per cent. by 2008.
The New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme provides estimates of the proportion of arrestees testing positive for each of a number of illicit drugs, including opiates/heroin and cocaine/crack. On the basis of data collected in eight sites in 1999–2000, we estimate that, 29 per cent. of arrestees testing positive for these drugs should be reduced to 26 per cent. by 2001–02, when the same eight sites are revisited. Data for 2001–02, are currently being collected. The findings will be available in the autumn of 2002.
Source:Bennett, T, Holloway, K and Williams, T (2001) "Drug Use and Offending: summary results from the first year of the NEW-ADAM Research Programme", Research Findings 148.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for the seizure of class A drugs. [17060]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe targets set to achieve the public service agreement to increase the proportion of class A drugs targeted on the United Kingdom which is seized are 4.5 metric tonnes of heroin and 7.0 metric tonnes of cocaine by March 2002. From April 2000 to the end of September 2001, one tonne of heroin and 2.3 tonnes of cocaine had been seized.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the Public Service Agreement target for increasing the amount of assets(a) identified from drug traffickers and (b) secured. [17074]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe public service agreement target was to increase the amount of assets identified from drug traffickers and secured by one third over a three year period. The target is measured in terms of receipts from the enforcement of confiscation orders in drug trafficking cases. The baseline was receipts of £9.5 million during the 1997–98 financial year. The milestone objectives that were set were receipts of £10.4 million in year one (1998–99), £11.5 million in year two (1999–2000) and £12.6 million in year three (2000–01).
The outcomes for years one and two were £10.5 million in 1998–99 and £9.3 million for 1999–2000. The outcome for 2000–01 is not yet available.
The Government have set a target of doubling amounts recovered from drug traffickers and other serious criminals by 2004. The baseline for this is receipts from confiscation and cash forfeiture orders of £29.4 million that were secured in 1999–2000. The Government's objective is to increase this to receipts of £60 million in 815W the financial year 2004–05. This is to be achieved through the Asset Recovery Strategy, which I shall be publishing shortly, and the Proceeds of Crime Bill.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for the rate of positive results from mandatory random drug tests. [17066]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe percentage of prisoners testing positive for random mandatory drug testing has reduced year by year from 18.3 per cent. in 1998–99, to reach 12.4 per cent. in 2000–01. The figure for the financial year 2001–02 to date is 11.6 per cent.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on progress towards the 2002 target for the number of(a) face-to-face arrest referral schemes and (b) arrestees referred to and entering treatment programmes; [17054]
(2) if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target on the operation by police services of face-to-face referral schemes covering all custody suites. [17051]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe 2002 drugs strategy target, as set out in the United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator's First and Second National Plans, that all police services operate face-to-face arrest referral schemes covering all custody suites, was taken forward in the Spending Review 2000 Service Delivery Agreement commitment to make proactive arrest referral schemes available for all custody suites by 31 March 2002. This is one of several measures contributing towards delivery of the public service agreement (PSA) target to reduce levels of repeat offending among drug misusing offenders by 25 per cent. by 2005 and by 50 per cent. by 2008. As at the end of March 2001, 41 police forces were operating arrest referral schemes, with 330 arrest referral workers covering 86 per cent. of custody suites across England and Wales. The recently published Home Office Arrest Referral Statistical Update for the period October 2000 to March 2001 shows that arrest referral workers held 21,329 interviews in that period involving 19,190 individuals, 56 per cent. of whom were referred to a specialist treatment service. Of those referred to drug treatment, preliminary analyses based upon a sample of regions, suggest 15–25 per cent. make a treatment demand. This figure is provisional and subject to further validation.
We are currently reviewing progress against all the drugs strategy targets as part of the work for the 2002 Spending Review.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the public service agreement target for the number of offenders dealt with for supply offences in respect of Class A drugs. [17049]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe number of persons dealt with in Great Britain for supply offences (possession with intent to supply unlawfully, unlawful supply, and import/export) involving Class A drugs rose from 8,101 in 1998 to 9,517 in 1999. This represents an increase of 17.5 per cent., against a target set of 10 per cent. Data are not yet available for 2000.
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§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for increasing ethnic minority representation in the Home Office and its services. [16927]
§ Angela EagleIn July 1999 the Home Secretary set recruitment targets for the Home Office and its agencies (Police, Prison, Probation and Fire services1). Most of the targets have to be met by 2009. All service areas showed progress from April 2000 to March 2001. The percentage of minority ethnic staff in the core Home Office and Immigration and Nationality Directorate in London and Croydon has risen from 24 per cent. in 2000 to 28.2 per cent. this year, against a target of 25 per cent. set for 2009. The Police, Prison and Fire services are all working towards a target of 7 per cent. minority ethnic staff by 2009. So far they have progressed as follows: (2000 figures in brackets): Police 3.1 per cent. (3 per cent.), Prison 3.7 per cent. (3.2 per cent.), Fire 1.6 per cent. (1.6 per cent.). The Probation Service has increased the percentage of minority ethnic staff in the organisation from 9.3 per cent. to 9.8 per cent. since 2000. Its target for 2009 is 8.3 per cent.
The Home Office and its services are working to achieve equal retention rates for white and minority ethnic staff. There is still work to be done, however and some key initiatives are being developed, for example exit interviews, support networks for minority ethnic staff and comprehensive diversity awareness training for management and staff.
The Home Secretary's progression targets are expressed in different ways for the different services. Essentially they require that, by 2009, the percentage of minority ethnic staff in each grade is the same as for white staff. For example, the percentage of Senior Probation Officers who are from minority ethnic groups rose from 5.6 per cent. to 8.0 per cent. last year. The first minority ethnic Chief Officer in the Probation Service was appointed.
The second annual report on targets was published on 14 November and is available in the Library.
1 The Fire Service is no longer under the remit of the Home Office following the post General Election machinery of Government changes. Responsibility now rests with the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for the reduction of sexual offences. [16913]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThere is no specific public service agreement to reduce sexual offences, but police figures show that the number of recorded sexual offences fell by 1.3 per cent. to 37,000 in 2000–01.
The Government have made it clear that they are committed to the reduction of all violent crime, including sexual offences, as a high priority. We have taken action to strengthen legislation for the protection of the vulnerable, in particular children, against sex offenders and to provide better management of sex offenders in the community and better information to the public on this. We have also conducted major reviews of sex offences 817W and the registration requirements in the Sex Offenders Act 1997 with a view to further strengthening of the legislation.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for reducing the conviction rate of children and young people; [17070]
(2) if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for reducing offending by juveniles. [17048]
§ Mr. DenhamThe relevant public service agreement target is to reduce the rate of reconviction of all young offenders by 5 per cent. against the predicted rate by 2004. The first rates are expected in spring 2002. They will cover juveniles reprimanded, warned or convicted in July 2000, shortly after most of the new youth justice interventions had been brought into operation across England and Wales.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress towards the public service agreement target for the support of police trials for drug recognition training and field impairment testing in respect of drug driving. [17052]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthSuccessful trials of drug recognition techniques and field impairment testing were undertaken in 1999, following which a police training
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Black/Asian officer strength by rank (as at 31 March 2001) Number ACPO rank Superintendents Chief Inspectors Inspectors Sergeants Constables Police force Black Asian Black Asian Black Asian Black Asian Black Asian Black Asian Avon and Somerset — — — — — — — — 3 1 16 6 Bedfordshire — — 1 — — — — — 3 3 17 11 Cambridgeshire — — — — — — — — 3 — 9 5 Cheshire — — — — — — — — — 1 2 1 City of London — — — — — — 1 — — 1 7 4 Cleveland — — — — — — — 1 — 1 1 11 Cumbria — — — — — — — 1 — 1 — 1 Derbyshire — — — — — 1 — 4 2 4 7 18 Devon and Cornwall — — — — — — — — — — 4 2 Dorset — — — — — — — — 1 — 1 — Durham — — — — — — — — — — 4 5 Dyfed-Powys — — — — — — — — — — 2 3 Essex — — — — 1 — 1 1 2 1 8 3 Gloucestershire — — — — — — — — — — 3 6 Greater Manchester — — — — — — — 5 7 7 56 51 Gwent — — — — — — — — 1 — 4 1 Hampshire — — — — — — — — 1 2 11 16 Hertfordshire — — — — 1 — — 2 2 1 5 10 Humberside — — — — — — — — 1 — 2 3 Kent — — — — — — — 1 2 — 8 17 Lancashire — — — — — — — — 1 4 10 23 Leicestershire — — 1 — 1 — 1 1 1 8 24 34 Lincolnshire — — — — — — — — 2 1 3 3 Merseyside — — — — — — — — 1 — 35 9 Metropolitan police — — 2 — 2 — 7 6 46 23 382 186 Norfolk — — — — — — — — — — 4 2 Northamptonshire — — — — 1 — — 1 1 2 16 4 Northumbria — — — — — — — — — 4 7 7 North Wales — — — — — — — — — 2 1 — North Yorkshire — — — — — 1 — — — 1 1 2 Nottinghamshire — — — 2 1 — 1 1 2 — 18 32 South Wales — — — 1 — — — 2 — 1 16 8 South Yorkshire — — — — — — 2 — 4 5 26 34 Staffordshire — — — — — — — — 3 1 15 6 Suffolk — — — — — — — — — — 8 5 Surrey — — — — — — — — 2 2 11 9 Sussex — — — — — 1 1 — — 1 7 2 programme was launched last year. We understand from the Association of Chief Police Officers that 32 forces have now trained officers in these techniques.
While there is no specific target in respect of drug recognition techniques and field impairment testing, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions supports developments in this area through continuing research to monitor the use of these techniques.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for reducing the level of disorder. [17053]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Government have introduced a range of measures to help tackle the problems of disorder and anti-social behaviour, such as the Anti-Social Behaviour Order, and we are encouraged by the increasing use of these by the police and local authorities. A public service agreement target for the reduction of disorder and anti-social behaviour will be set in April.