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Sri Lanka

Sir John Gorst: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures his Department is taking to prevent human rights abuses against Tamils in Sri Lanka. [3516]

Dr. Liam Fox: We believe that the Sri Lankan Government have made genuine efforts to improve their human rights record, which was very poor under the previous Government. Reports of abuses cause us great concern. We have raised our concern with the Sri Lankan Government on a number of occasions, most recently during the visit by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and by me, and stressed the importance of ensuring that violators are prosecuted.

Non-co-operation Policy

Mr. Robin Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the measures from which the Government withheld agreement in the Council of Ministers under their policy of non-co-operation which have not yet been agreed. [3672]

Mr. David Davis: As a consequence of the policy of non-co-operation announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 May, the UK did not sign the EC convention on insolvency proceedings. The deadline for signatures passed on 23 May.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Traffic Police (South Yorkshire)

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been dedicated to traffic division operations in each of the past five years in the South Yorkshire police force; and what percentage this is of the total South Yorkshire police force. [2674]

Mr. Maclean: The information is as follows:

	Police strength: traffic operational	Percentage of total police strength
1991	205	6.84
1992	189	6.30
1993	169	5.61
1994	182	5.99
1995	189	6.14

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 119

Crime Statistics

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list by year for each of the last five years, and by sex, the number of persons successfully convicted under section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988; [2721]

(2) how many (a) men and (b) women have been successfully convicted under (i) section 1 and (ii) section 139 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 in each of the last five years. [2722]

Mr. Maclean: The information is given in the table.

Number of persons convicted at all courts for offences involving carrying weapons by sex 1991 to 1995England and Wales

Offence description/sex	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Carrying article with blade or point in a public place (Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 139)
Males	1,671	1,778	1,783	2,424	2,469
Females	66	70	69	78	90
Carrying of offensive weapons(1) without lawful authority or reasonable excuse in a public place (Prevention of Crime Act 1953, section 1)
Males	3,785	3,490	3,028	3,186	3,063
Females	122	116	90	109	127

(1)May include a small number of offences involving truncheons etcetera.

Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes ended in a court conviction in each police force area of England and Wales in (a) 1993, (b) 1994 and (c) 1995. [2232]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 11 November 1996]: Information available centrally on the number of offenders found guilty is published annually in "Criminal Statistics England and Wales", supplementary tables, volume 3. Tables S3.2(A) and S3.4(A) refer to that subject.

Copies of the publication are available in the Library.

Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes ended in a caution in each police force area of England and Wales in (a) 1993, (b) 1994 and (c) 1995. [2233]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 11 November 1996]: Information available centrally on the number of offenders cautioned is published annually in "Criminal Statistics England and Wales", supplementary tables, volume 3. Table S3.6(A) refers to that subject.

Copies of the publication are available in the Library.

Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were cleared up by the police in each police force area of England and Wales in (a) 1993, (b) 1994 and (c) 1995. [2234]

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 120

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 11 November 1996]: The information requested is given in the following table.

Notifiable offences cleared up(2) by police force area

Police force area	1993	1994	1995
Avon and Somerset	29,769	34,226	35,008
Bedfordshire	12,110	11,377	11,142
Cambridgeshire	16,375	15,019	12,626
Cheshire	19,875	22,049	22,329
Cleveland	19,758	14,429	18,180
Cumbria	15,677	14,657	15,639
Derbyshire	18,278	17,891	16,434
Devon and Cornwall	30,534	29,257	27,771
Dorset	17,073	16,373	14,765
Durham	18,663	19,041	16,113
Essex	35,991	37,691	31,404
Gloucestershire	12,134	14,493	14,928
Greater Manchester	116,938	105,157	71,314
Hampshire	37,223	36,905	36,552
Hertfordshire	12,039	13,044	15,270
Humberside	22,399	23,291	24,347
Kent	40,163	43,338	40,348
Lancashire	41,211	36,356	37,607
Leicestershire	27,391	28,817	26,924
Lincolnshire	18,755	15,062	17,878
London, City of	1,225	1,406	1,325
Merseyside	54,101	45,328	40,998
Metropolitan Police	146,342	175,105	187,671
Norfolk	17,664	18,936	15,758
Northamptonshire	16,294	17,595	15,948
Northumbria	38,227	40,340	39,034
North Yorkshire	16,816	14,542	13,816
Nottinghamshire	44,789	40,708	33,897
South Yorkshire	30,247	36,669	35,589
Staffordshire	28,602	28,496	29,179
Suffolk	15,571	13,603	12,831
Surrey	10,604	14,119	13,649
Sussex	25,391	24,991	29,297
Thames Valley	40,948	41,174	41,210
Warwickshire	9,665	10,202	9,725
West Mercia	23,035	23,957	21,971
West Midlands	86,809	77,531	75,279
West Yorkshire	54,073	58,167	59,012
Wiltshire	14,395	13,433	11,455
Dyfed-Powys	11,518	10,501	10,147
Gwent	17,411	17,699	16,093
North Wales	16,899	16,416	13,336
South Wales	45,173	36,975	43,076
England and Wales	1,328,155	1,326,366	1,276,875

(2) Excludes criminal damage £20 and under.

Police

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on (a) the terms of reference of his Department's review of the area cost adjustment as applied to the police service, (b) the alternative methods of measuring the local costs of policing which are being considered to replace the area cost adjustment, (c) the nature of the proposed regional salary premium for the police service and (d) the date on which the outcome of this review will be published. [2896]

Mr. Maclean: We have commissioned no such review, but the review of the area cost adjustment commissioned by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration considered the adjustment as it affects all local authority services including the police. The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, my hon. Friend the Member

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 121

for Croydon, Central (Sir P. Beresford), announced the publication of the report of the review on 12 July, column 350, and a copy has been placed in the Library.

The report proposed that all local authority services should receive a regional pay premium to reflect the difference in average wages in different parts of the country. The police and local authority associations are being consulted about the recommendations. No further alternatives to the present adjustment for the police are currently being considered, although work continues on methods of taking into account any extra costs associated with the policing of sparsely and densely populated areas.

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff were employed by each police authority in England and Wales; and what was each police authority's annual expenditure on the salaries and other employment costs of (i) police officers and (ii) civilian staff in the latest year for which figures are available. [2897]

Mr. Maclean: The latest available information on police and civilian staff numbers relates to those in post at 31 March 1996. The latest available data on police expenditure on salaries and other employment costs cover the financial year 1994-95. The information is set out in the tables.

Table 1: Full-time equivalent police officers and civilian staff as at 31 March 1996England and Wales

Police force	Police officers	Civilian staff
Avon and Somerset	2,981.0	1,213.2
Bedfordshire	1,127.7	472.2
Cambridgeshire	1,238.1	529.7
Cheshire	1,997.9	689.5
City of London	869.5	324.0
Cleveland	1,420.3	553.3
Cumbria	1,115.0	407.8
Derbyshire	1,763.1	655.5
Devon and Cornwall	2,898.9	1,120.9
Dorset	1,263.0	620.5
Durham	1,401.0	530.5
Dyfed-Powys	991.0	309.5
Essex	2,884.3	1,130.0
Gloucestershire	1,132.7	415.0
Greater Manchester	6,938.0	2,748.9
Gwent	1,043.5	377.5
Hampshire	3,347.1	1,323.0
Hertfordshire	1,712.0	753.7
Humberside	2,041.0	682.7
Kent	3,120.1	1,140.9
Lancashire	3,171.0	1,349.0
Leicestershire	1,908.3	667.0
Lincolnshire	1,144.6	441.8
Merseyside	4,411.0	1,560.0
Metropolitan Police	27,343.0	14,371.5
Norfolk	1,401.0	529.2
Northamptonshire	1,152.5	511.0
Northumbria	3,668.3	1,318.8
North Wales	1,377.5	512.0
North Yorkshire	1,324.4	520.1
Nottinghamshire	2,317.7	979.1
South Wales	3,027.0	1,286.5
South Yorkshire	3,073.1	1,418.0
Staffordshire	2,208.8	753.5
Suffolk	1,137.8	485.2
Surrey	1,643.8	754.0
Sussex	3,073.5	1,131.5
Thames Valley	3,674.0	1,738.0
Warwickshire	979.0	376.1
West Mercia	2,016.8	963.7
West Midlands	7,145.1	2,780.0
West Yorkshire	5,142.0	2,036.5
Wiltshire	1,218.5	452.6
Total all forces	124,843.7	52,933.2

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 122

Table 2: Police service: expenditure on salaries and other employment costs

1994-95 outturn (£000s)	Total police pay-related expenditure(3)	Total civilian pay-related expenditure(4)
Police forces in England and Wales
Avon and Somerset	85,316,111	19,139,213
Bedfordshire	33,140,685	7,457,656
Cambridgeshire	36,242,935	8,128,967
Cheshire	56,217,819	9,355,671
City of London	30,983,908	6,956,611
Cleveland	40,931,816	7,694,758
Cumbria	32,637,506	6,964,780
Derbyshire	54,267,941	10,016,527
Devon and Cornwall	83,887,086	18,029,887
Dorset	37,305,970	9,733,193
Durham	39,142,692	6,965,621
Dyfed-Powys	27,216,557	4,905,418
Essex	91,146,416	17,906,359
Gloucestershire	34,703,509	6,529,384
Greater Manchester	209,642,777	38,231,708
Gwent	29,576,743	4,701,197
Hampshire	100,624,081	17,244,553
Hertfordshire	48,478,580	11,264,686
Humberside	60,229,954	9,932,736
Kent	94,163,173	18,715,546
Lancashire	90,848,818	14,541,103
Leicestershire	51,620,858	11,245,407
Lincolnshire	36,042,507	7,356,684
Merseyside	138,009,293	22,924,164
Metropolitan Police(5)	886,003,000	267,568,000
Norfolk	42,573,312	8,607,065
North Wales	38,981,949	7,397,179
North Yorkshire	37,809,131	6,627,382
Northamptonshire	35,768,521	7,667,025
Northumbria	106,112,247	19,801,523
Nottinghamshire	65,261,970	14,184,376
South Wales	88,142,297	17,359,348
South Yorkshire	88,151,669	15,922,784
Staffordshire	62,084,101	9,766,539
Suffolk	36,198,568	7,689,433
Surrey	49,062,078	12,485,234
Sussex	86,111,850	18,072,982
Thames Valley	117,103,908	27,034,246
Warwickshire	31,345,249	5,557,639
West Mercia	60,839,289	12,408,662
West Midlands	201,413,195	41,182,039
West Yorkshire	143,186,706	28,458,413
Wiltshire	36,557,487	6,243,494

Source:

Home Office 1994-95 revenue expenditure grant claim forms.

Notes:

(3) Police pay and related expenditure comprises police salaries, overtime, national insurance, allowances and expenses.

(4) Civilian pay and related expenditure comprises salaries, overtime, national insurance and employers' pension contributions.

(5) Expenditure data were taken from the Metropolitan police budget and precept report 1996-97.

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what adjustment was made in (a) percentage

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 123

and (b) cash terms to the budget of each police authority in England and Wales in 1996-97 as a result of the area cost adjustment. [2895]

Mr. Maclean: The area cost adjustment is applied to the share of police principal grant and standard spending assessment allocated to individual forces. The following table shows how the allocations in 1996-97 would have varied if area cost adjustment had not been applied, and there had been no change in the total amount allocated.

Effect of removing area cost adjustment factor

		Police principal grant and SSA
	With ACA	Without ACA	Percentage
	£ million	£ million	change
Avon and Somerset	153	160	4.4
Bedfordshire	57	57	-0.2
Cambridgeshire	66	69	4.5
Cheshire	98	102	4.5
City of London	53	36	-32.2
Cleveland	73	76	4.5
Cumbria	57	59	4.4
Derbyshire	92	96	4.5
Devon and Cornwall	152	159	4.4
Dorset	64	67	4.5
Durham	71	74	4.4
Dyfed-Powys	48	50	4.5
Essex	150	147	-2.3
Gloucestershire	58	61	4.6
Greater Manchester	340	356	4.5
Gwent	62	65	4.5
Hampshire	174	174	-0.2
Hertfordshire	89	84	-5.4
Humberside	102	107	4.5
Kent	163	161	-1.0
Lancashire	162	169	4.5
Leicestershire	94	98	4.5
Lincolnshire	58	60	4.4
Merseyside	217	227	4.5
Metropolitan Police(6)	1,551	1,416	-8.7
Norfolk	75	79	4.5
North Wales	69	72	4.5
North Yorkshire	69	72	4.4
Northamptonshire	58	61	4.5
Northumbria	186	195	4.5
Nottinghamshire	114	119	4.5
South Wales	149	156	4.4
South Yorkshire	154	160	4.5
Staffordshire	108	113	4.4
Suffolk	61	64	4.4
Surrey	81	76	-6.3
Sussex	150	149	-0.6
Thames Valley	200	197	-1.9
Warwickshire	49	51	4.5
West Mercia	103	107	4.5
West Midlands	340	356	4.6
West Yorkshire	258	270	4.5
Wiltshire	60	63	4.8
Total	6,487	6,487	0.0

(6) Including a special payment of £130 million to cover national and capital city functions.

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