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17 Oral Answers
26 OCTOBER 2009
Oral Answers
18
Mr. Hanson: As will happen, there are occasions
when people complete their sentences and are released
back into the community. It is our job to ensure that we
manage those individuals safely in the community. The
hon. Gentleman will know that the probation services
across the country, along with our colleagues in the
Home Office, are determined to manage that risk effectively.
We are doing so, and we have put in extra resources to
manage it—in the prisons and the probation service—
through the National Offender Management Service
and the Home Office. Unfortunately, however, people
do sometimes complete their sentences.
Topical Questions
T1. [295150] Mr. David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate)
(Con): If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department
(Alan Johnson): The Home Office puts public protection
at the heart of its work to counter terrorism, cut crime,
provide effective policing, secure our borders and protect
personal identity.
Mr. Burrowes: Will the Home Secretary assure my
constituent, Gary McKinnon, who has attracted
considerable public interest, that he is carefully considering
the compelling new medical evidence on the impact of
the extradition proceedings on my constituent’s Asperger’s
syndrome? Will he in any event defer the execution of
the extradition order until after the Home Affairs Select
Committee inquiry on 10 November?
Alan Johnson: I have invited the hon. Gentleman to
come and see me about this, because Gary McKinnon is
his constituent. As he knows, we have stopped the clock
ticking in regard to the representation to the European
Court because new medical evidence has been provided.
It is important that I stress that there are two issues on
which Gary McKinnon’s legal advisers have argued.
The first is that the Director of Public Prosecutions
should have tried him in this country rather than in
America. The High Court dismissed that in July and
would not allow the matter to go to a judicial review. In
the words of the most senior judge in the country, it
would be
“manifestly unsatisfactory in the extreme”
for him to be tried anywhere other than in the United
Kingdom. That is finished.
On the second issue, in respect of Mr. McKinnon’s
human rights, of course I have to ensure that his article 3
human rights are being respected, and it is the new
medical evidence that I will be looking at very carefully.
I can assure the hon. Gentleman and his constituent
that I will look at it very carefully before making my
decision.
T2. [295151] Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South)
(Lab): As we are coming up to fireworks night, will my
right hon. Friend tell us what he is doing to protect the
public from firework abuses, particularly in relation to
the issuing of antisocial behaviour orders?
Alan Johnson: I believe that the legislation introduced
by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport some
years ago on the back of a Labour private Member’s
Bill has had an extraordinary effect. In fact, the personal
experience of my constituents—and, indeed, my own
personal experience—suggests that the problems that
used to be associated with fireworks weeks and sometimes
months before firework day have gone down to a very
small number. My hon. Friend is right to suggest that
antisocial behaviour legislation can be used in this
respect, however. The powers are there to be used, and
all my experience tells me that they are being used very
effectively.
T3. [295152] Mr. Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con): The
incidence of retail crime has reached record levels
during this recession and attacks on cash and valuables
in transit crews have doubled since 1997. What is the
Home Secretary doing to reduce this threat?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the
Home Department (Mr. Alan Campbell): The reality is
that the numbers fluctuate, but I take the hon. Gentleman’s
point, which is that this is a very serious issue. That is
why we are working with the industry, the trade unions
and the police to do everything we can to tackle the
problem of cash-in and vehicle crime. We are working
to design out crime to make it more difficult for people
to break into the vans and to ensure that banks are
better equipped to deal with any incidents. We are
working hard to resolve traffic problems, particularly
around parking—leaving the vans parked away from
the places they are delivering to. We are also working
with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to make sure
that the sentencing fits the crime.
T4. [295153] Harry Cohen (Leyton and Wanstead)
(Lab): Although I support the Government’s legacy
programme, cases are being taken out of sequence,
dealing with families first. This will result in an onerous
burden on local authorities and the Benefits Agency.
How will the Government mitigate this problem? Will
they move back to taking cases in sequence, and will
they allow people to work ahead of their decision?
The Minister for Borders and Immigration (Mr. Phil
Woolas): It is a very difficult balance. We have consulted
the House and are grateful for the help of the Home
Affairs Select Committee. We have criteria for the order
in which we should deal with cases. I would ask my hon.
Friend to bear in mind the fact that until 2007 just
under a fifth of claims were duplicate claims from
across the EU, and there is significant duplication, as
the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) said, in
the 40,000 cases across migration and asylum. I have an
open mind on the criteria, however.
T7. [295157] Mr. Adam Holloway (Gravesham) (Con):
In Gravesham, antisocial behaviour orders really are
taken as a badge of honour by some kids. The Minister
has already spoken about the problem of the breaching
of ASBOs, so should there not be some really
meaningful sanction against those kids who do breach
them?
Alan Johnson: First, I do not accept the premise that
an ASBO is a badge of honour. This phrase came from
a Youth Justice Board study into a tiny number—124—of
cases and has never been supported by any other evidence.
If the hon. Gentleman spoke to the police, who are the