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Police Constables
14. Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the number of police constables. [5520]
Mr. Straw: Under legislation passed by the Conservative Government in 1994, it is for individual chief constables and police authorities to determine the number of constables and other officers in each force, having regard to the resources available to them. This means, as my predecessor found to his cost, that the Home Office has no direct control over police numbers in any force outside London.
We are working with the police to relieve them of unnecessary bureaucratic burdens to allow chief officers to put more police officers back on the beat; that includes implementation of many measures to cut down delays and inefficiencies in the criminal justice system and a major reform of the Crown Prosecution Service, which has been widely welcomed by the police.
Mr. Hawkins:
I am sure that the Home Secretary will have been told by those who participated in the focus groups held by the Minister without Portfolio that the public certainly want to see more police officers on the beat. I am grateful to him for paying tribute to his predecessor, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), on his success in introducing a great deal more civilianisation in the back office so that more police officers could go back
Mr. Straw:
Yes, I made that clear in a speech to the Association of Chief Police Officers last week. The one thing that we do not need focus groups for is to discover that what the public hate more than anything else are political parties that make promises and then break them. In the 1992 election, the Conservatives promised an extra 1,000 police officers on the beat by 1997. What happened? There were 469 fewer police officers over that period.
Fiona Mactaggart:
While my right hon. Friend may not have powers to determine the number of police constables on the beat, will he encourage police forces to organise their manpower so as to ensure that more police constables are available on foot or bicycle rather than being stuck away from the public? Seven people at my advice surgery on Saturday were concerned about disorder, crime and the unavailability of police constables in our local area.
Mr. Straw:
The need to raise the status of general patrolling in police forces is very important and is being addressed by both the Audit Commission and Her Majesty's chief inspectorate of constabulary. I entirely understand my hon. Friend's point, but the public want not only a police officer on the beat on general patrol but a fast response by the police in motor cars in an emergency. Chief officers have a difficult challenge in balancing those competing claims.
Dr. Mawhinney:
Accepting the Home Secretary's comment about the responsibility of chief constables, how many more police officers would he like to see by 2002?
Mr. Straw:
I should like to see more police officers on the beat, but I do not intend to make the mistake made by the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues during the Conservative Administration, when they made promises and then broke them. We intend to make promises and keep them.
15. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to give reasons for the refusal of an application for British citizenship. [5521]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
As I explained in reply to a question from my hon. Friend on 21 May at column 77, we are reviewing our practice with regard to giving reasons for decisions on applications for British citizenship.
Mr. Prentice:
I find that encouraging. To help my hon. Friend with his deliberations, may I remind him of the terrible injustice that has been done to Mohammed Al Fayed, who has been in this country for 30 years, has no criminal record and was refused citizenship by the previous Administration out of political spite without being given reasons? Is it not a terrible paradox that the
Mr. O'Brien:
Those matters are currently before the Judicial Committee in another place. It would be wrong for me to delve too far into the issues until the Committee has had the opportunity to give its view on the way in which justice was delivered, or not, in this particular case.
Mr. Sayeed:
If Mr. Al Fayed has been offering inducements to Members of Parliament to act improperly, does the Minister think him a fit and proper person to receive Britain citizenship?
Mr. O'Brien:
These are all issues which, in due course, may have to be taken into consideration if an application is made by Mr. Al Fayed subsequent to the House of Lords judgment. Until those matters are before us, it is better that Ministers do not reach judgments before they are obliged to in such circumstances.
16. Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to regulate immigration advisers. [5522]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
As my hon. Friend will know, we have a manifesto commitment to control unscrupulous immigration advisers. We are examining the options for delivering on this commitment and fully intend to do so. We shall issue a consultation paper as soon as possible.
Mr. Vaz:
I welcome the Minister's commitment to dealing with the abuse that exists in this area of policy. Will he give the House an assurance that where a constituent has been given false, inaccurate or misleading advice by an immigration adviser and has then acted in good faith as a result of that advice, the Minister will show sympathy to that constituent and will not sign any removal or deportation notices?
Mr. O'Brien:
Each case must be assessed on its merits. When cases are examined, all the circumstances that should be taken into account are taken into account.
Mr. Malins:
The Minister may be aware that four years ago, I founded the Immigration Advisory Service and was its first chairman of trustees. Is he further aware that the IAS is at the forefront of calls to set up a register of immigration advisers? Is he also aware that until such a register is set up thousands of innocent people in this country, generally from poor backgrounds, will be disadvantaged and cheated by unscrupulous people? I urge the Minister to bring the matter forward.
Mr. O'Brien:
The hon. Gentleman has a good record on raising such issues, for which I commend him. I also commend the IAS on the way in which it has brought the issues into public forums. I regret, however, that the previous Government failed to act on these matters. We intend to act to stop the exploitation of vulnerable people by so-called advisers who are often incompetent,
Mr. Grant:
Is my hon. Friend aware that in my constituency we have begun the process of scrutinising not only bogus immigration advisers but bogus immigration solicitors because quite a few of them know nothing about immigration law? Will my hon. Friend look at the papers, particularly the questionnaire worked on by my office, the Immigration Law Practitioners Association and the Law Society? He will see that they are following good practice, which could be adopted nationally.
Mr. O'Brien:
I commend my hon. Friend for his work in that respect. He has set an example that all Members of Parliament would benefit from observing. I have read the papers that he has submitted to me at the Home Office. Other Members should consider his method of setting out the means by which he is able to vet advisers locally and to advise his constituents on how to deal with them. We should also circulate the questionnaire that he has developed to other hon. Members, and we are considering doing so. As part of our consultation, we shall be looking at some of the proposals that my hon. Friend has suggested.
Mr. Richard Allan:
Does the Minister agree that he could reduce the market for unscrupulous immigration advisers by following the advice sent to him recently by the new Labour-run Sheffield city council and repealing the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, which it describes as a contemptible act of racism?
Mr. O'Brien:
We are examining the way in which the latest Act of Parliament on the subject operates. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware, we made a number of manifesto commitments relating to that legislation. We are hoping to implement those manifesto commitments as soon as possible. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the legislation contained a number of faults; we are examining them and I hope that we can deal with them in the near future.
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