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Parish Special Constables

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parish special constables are now in place, and in which counties or police areas; how many he expects to be in place by 30 June 1996; and if he will make a statement. [9710]

Mr. Maclean: The parish special constable initiative has been extended to include urban areas and the volunteers involved are now known nationally as neighbourhood special constables. Neighbourhood special constables spend the majority of their time on duty on foot patrol either alone or as part of a policing team within an agreed neighbourhood or geographic area more limited than that in which other special constabulary colleagues are deployed. According to police force returns 1,595 special constables in England and Wales are neighbourhood specials. A breakdown of the numbers by police force areas is recorded in the table.

It is for chief officers to recruit or designate volunteers as neighbourhood special constables, and a forecast for 30 June 1996 cannot be provided. Our initial target for forces of 1,000 neighbourhood special constables by the end of 1995 has been met and we believe that the target of 3,000 by the end of 1996 will also be achieved.

	Number
Avon and Somerset	0
Bedfordshire	3
Cambridgeshire	7
Cheshire	7
City of London	0
Cleveland	0
Cumbria	0
Derbyshire	40
Devon and Cornwall	0
Dorset	0
Durham	10
Dyfed/Powys	217
Essex	9
Gloucestershire	0
Greater Manchester	0
Gwent	9
Hampshire	262
Hertfordshire	82
Humberside	0
Kent	81
Lancashire	1
Leicestershire	26
Lincolnshire	47
Merseyside	0
Metropolitan	143
Norfolk	324
Northamptonshire	0
Northumbria	5
North Wales	0
North Yorkshire	6
Nottinghamshire	0
South Wales	1
South Yorkshire	8
Staffordshire	0
Suffolk	18
Surrey	7
Sussex	1
Thames Valley	7
Warwickshire	106
West Mercia	148
West Midlands	7
West Yorkshire	9
Wiltshire	4
Total	1,595

18 Jan 1996 : Column: 709

Mr. Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what difficulties (a) he has experienced or (b) have been reported to him, regarding the development of a network of parish special constables; and if he will make a statement. [9711]

Mr. Maclean: Last September, the Home Office published the results of research into the parish constables initiative, with particular attention given to four schemes at Ironville, Derbyshire; Pembury in Kent; Sleights in North Yorkshire; and Yetminster in Dorset. A copy of the report entitled "The Parish Special Constables Scheme" has been placed in the Library. This was a close look at the initiative in its early days and the study identified a number of important issues; such as the importance of selecting the right person for the job, consultation with local people, and good links with the regular police.

When the initiative was subsumed by that of the neighbourhood special constable in autumn 1994, a proportion of the public mistakenly believed that neighbourhood constables were to be regular officers. This has been addressed by the inclusion of "special" in their title and recent advertising. In addition, some police forces have been slow to identify any of their specials as neighbourhood special constables even though they may perform the neighbourhood special role. This has caused some difficulty in recording accurately the number of specials who undertake neighbourhood specials' duties.

Internet

Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on any proposed meeting with Internet service providers to discuss current laws and regulations concerning the use of the Internet. [9680]

Mr. Sackville: The interdepartmental group on obscenity is currently considering the issue of pornographic material disseminated via computer networks, such as the Internet, and it has arranged a meeting with the Internet service providers in the United Kingdom to discuss the possible measures which can be taken to control access to such material.

18 Jan 1996 : Column: 710

The general issue of regulation of the Internet and other computer networks is a matter for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.

Police Houses

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police houses have been sold since 1990; what is his estimate of (a) the number and (b) the proportion of these sales in rural areas and villages; and if he will make a statement on future plans and expected trends in sales; [9712]

(2) what representations he has had about the sale of police houses in rural areas and the consequences of such sales for the number of resident police constables; and if he will make a statement. [9713]

Mr. Maclean: Information about sales over the period specified is not readily available. Figures published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy indicate that the number of police houses in England and Wales fell by 3,282 between 1 April 1990 and 1 April 1995. Estimates of numbers and proportions of sales in rural areas and villages could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by making inquiries of each police force. We will continue to encourage the police to dispose of surplus housing in the interests of efficiency and value for money, but these are budgetary and operational matters for local decision.

We receive from time to time representations, most recently from my hon. Friend, about the operational implications of the sale of police houses in rural areas. The deployment of officers within forces is a matter for chief constables but the most effective use of resources within a particular area can often be achieved by deploying officers from a central command point.

Police Response Times

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) recommendations and (b) requirements exist for police response times in rural areas; and what percentage of calls do not meet these response times. [9715]

Mr. Maclean: One of the Audit Commission's citizens charter police performance indicators requires the setting of target times for incidents which require an immediate response. The setting of these targets is a local matter, and some forces choose to set separate targets for rural areas. The latest targets, and performance against them, are published in the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary 1994-95, a copy of which is in the Library.

Car Dealers

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to increase the penalties for car dealers who repeatedly sell cars in a dangerous condition. [9867]

18 Jan 1996 : Column: 711

Mr. Maclean: The maximum penalty for an offence of selling or offering to sell an unroadworthy vehicle is a fine of £5,000. We have no plans to increase this penalty at present.

Libya (Extradition)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to initiate an extradition treaty with Libya. [8168]

Mr. Kirkhope: The Government have no plans to do so.

Football Clubs (Arrests)

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made inside London Premiership and Football League clubs in each of the last three complete seasons and season 1995-96 to date. [8915]

Mr. Maclean: According to records held by the National Criminal Intelligence Service football unit, the numbers of arrests inside London Premiership and League clubs in the relevant seasons are as follows:

1992-93: 245
1993-94: 244
1994-95: 334
1995-96: 155 (to date).

Scott Inquiry

Mr. Robin Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has (a) read or received and (b) authorised civil servants or any other persons to collate or receive copies of draft sections of Sir Richard Scott's report circulated by Sir Richard Scott to Government Ministers, civil servants and other persons. [10209]

Mr. Howard: No.

Mr. Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of salaries since 1992 paid to persons in his Department employed on a part-time or full-time basis in any connection in relation to the Scott inquiry. [10210]

Mr. Howard: There are no officials in my Department wholly employed on matters relating to the Scott inquiry. Some officials are involved on an occasional basis as part of their normal duties; the direct salary cost is unquantifiable.

Thames Valley Police

Mr. Tim Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the budget set by the Thames Valley police both in cash and in real terms, and the number of police officers and civilians employed by the Thames Valley police in each of the last 16 years. [9293]

18 Jan 1996 : Column: 712

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 17 January 1996]: The information requested is in the tables:

Year	Number of police officers employed by Thames Valley police	Number of civilians employed by Thames Valley police
31 March 1980	2,802	984
31 March 1981	3,093	1,016
31 March 1982	3,098	1,023
31 March 1983	3,123	1,054
31 March 1984	3,176	1,083
31 March 1985	3,259	1,104
31 March 1986	3,297	1,188
31 March 1987	3,421	1,161
31 March 1988	3,490	1,182
31 March 1989	3,600	1,187
31 March 1990	3,659	1,267
31 March 1991	3,714	1,359
31 March 1992	3,772	1,423
31 March 1993	3,840	1,478
31 March 1994	3,908	1,522
31 March 1995	3,854	1,706

£ million

Year	Thames Valley police budget in cash terms(12)	Thames Valley police budget in real terms(13)
1980--81	40.06	84.60
1981-82	48.50	93.40
1982-83	55.33	99.47
1983-84	60.58	104.08
1984-85	66.83	109.32
1985-86	72.43	112.32
1986-87	82.15	123.66
1987-88	91.72	131.09
1988-89	100.69	134.89
1989-90	112.56	140.95
1990-91	131.16	152.05
1991-92	147.14	160.55
1992-93	161.54	169.37
1993-94	180.96	184.35
1994-95	(14)189.68	189.68
1995-96	194.41	189.21
1996-97	(15)203.70	192.94

(12) Original budgets voted by the police authority (this information has been provided by the Thames Valley Police Authority). Until 1993-94 the authority's original budgets were prepared at a November price base (i.e. November 1992 for the 1993-94 estimates). From 1994-95 onwards the authority's original budgets were produced at outturn prices.

(13) Calculated at 1994-95 prices using Treasury GDP deflators.

(14) Notional budget used for capping purposes in the first year of the new funding arrangements (1995-96).

(15) Proposed total spending power available to Thames Valley Police Authority for 1996-97.

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