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Police Records
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the practice of enforced subject access to police records for purposes which are not related to employment; and if he will make a statement. [65964]
Mr. Boateng:
It is difficult to know, in any particular case, whether a subject access application has been "enforced" but in the opinion of the police, the majority
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of enforced subject access applications are made for employment purposes. We have not undertaken any further research into this practice.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizens of Slovenia are currently being detained in the UK as illegal immigrants; and what were the equivalent figures for each of the last three years. [65736]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Andy King:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will legislate to ensure that all greyhound tracks are required to subscribe to a national registration scheme. [65877]
Mr. George Howarth:
We have no plans for such legislation.
Mr. Andy King:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will implement a betting levy on greyhound races to be used in establishing a national monitoring authority to supervise races in respect of animal welfare issues. [65876]
Mr. George Howarth:
We have no plans to legislate for a levy on greyhound betting.
Mr. O'Hara:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British citizens entitled to vote in British elections currently live overseas. [66098]
Mr. George Howarth:
The number of British citizens included as overseas electors in the current register published in February 1998 was 17,315. The Office for National Statistics will publish figures for the new register, which comes into force on 16 February 1999, by the end of April.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by each police authority area how many breathalysed drivers were deemed to have exceeded the legal limit between Christmas and the New Year in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [65873]
Mr. Boateng:
Figures collected by the Home Office do not enable the Christmas and New Year period to be separately identified. The Association of Chief Police Officers, however, has collected figures on the number of positives tests of drivers who had been involved in collisions dealt with by the police during the Christmas Drink Drive campaign for the last two years, and these are in Table 1. Comparable figures for 1996-97 are not available.
The Home Office does, however, collect and publish figures for the month of December, and they are given on Table 2. Figures for 1998 are not yet available, but will be published in the spring.
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| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | |
|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 30 | 35 |
| Bedfordshire | 13 | 3 |
| Cambridgeshire | 17 | 12 |
| Cheshire | 30 | 19 |
| Cleveland | 4 | 9 |
| Cumbria | 11 | 7 |
| Derbyshire | 17 | 15 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 43 | 49 |
| Dorset | 8 | 8 |
| Durham | 15 | 9 |
| Essex | 20 | 27 |
| Gloucestershire | 15 | 7 |
| Greater Manchester | 63 | 50 |
| Hampshire | 66 | 55 |
| Hertfordshire | 20 | 10 |
| Humberside | 37 | 24 |
| Kent | 33 | 38 |
| Lancashire | 34 | 31 |
| Leicestershire | 12 | 19 |
| Lincolnshire | 16 | 10 |
| London, City of | -- | 2 |
| Merseyside | 23 | 14 |
| Metropolitan Police | 247 | 161 |
| Norfolk | 16 | 12 |
| Northamptonshire | 12 | 14 |
| Northumbria | 47 | 12 |
| North Yorkshire | 16 | 17 |
| Nottinghamshire | 23 | 26 |
| South Yorkshire | 25 | 11 |
| Staffordshire | 20 | 15 |
| Suffolk | 11 | 10 |
| Surrey | 21 | 24 |
| Sussex | 41 | 31 |
| Thames Valley | 60 | 49 |
| Warwickshire | 9 | 15 |
| West Mercia | 46 | 34 |
| West Midlands | 69 | 59 |
| West Yorkshire | 64 | 53 |
| Wiltshire | 27 | 20 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 16 | 10 |
| Gwent | 12 | 36 |
| North Wales | 43 | 6 |
| South Wales | 28 | 13 |
| Total | 1,380 | 1,081 |
Source:
Association of Chief Police Officers
Source:
Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate
19 Jan 1999 : Column: 415
Probation Officer Statistics
Mr. Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many probation officers are currently in training; [65764]
- (2) what assessment he has made of the prospects for a national shortage of qualified probation officers based on current projections of annual turnover, natural wastage and numbers in training; [65786]
(3) how many probation officers were in training in each year from 1990 to the latest year for which figures are available. [65765]
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Mr. George Howarth: There are at present 274 trainee probation officers. A work force planning study is currently being undertaken, and this will provide national data on the number of new probation officers needed over the next five years.
Under the previous training scheme for probation officers, the Home Office sponsored students on Diploma in Social Work courses. The numbers of students starting sponsored courses from 1990 to 1995 was:
The scheme ended with the 1995 students. It should, however, be noted that research indicated that only about 60 per cent. of those sponsored went on to become probation officers.
Mr. Stunell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many compensation claims have been made to each police force in England for firearms reloading presses indicating the number (a) approved and (b) paid; [65775]
Mr. Boateng:
Payments have been made in respect of 578 reloading presses surrendered under Option B of the compensation scheme to police forces in England. Lee and RCBS presses are not included within this total as these types of press must be claimed under Option C of the compensation scheme. I regret to say that information is not at present available on the numbers and types of press surrendered and paid under this Option.
Mr. Gareth Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the extra costs to police forces in England and Wales of policing millennium celebrations; and what plans he has to provide additional resources to meet those costs. [65883]
Mr. Boateng:
The police service have estimated that the costs of policing millennium celebrations across England and Wales on 31 December 1999 could be around £12 million out of total available expenditure of over £7 billion.
The Government's spending plans for the police announced last July, and re-stated in a reply my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Ms Blears) on 2 December 1998, Official Report, columns 194-97, will allow Total Standard Spending on the police in England and Wales to increase by £186 million next year, a 2.7 per cent. increase over 1998-99. Police authorities will be able to increase their spending power by achieving the 2 per cent. efficiency target which has been set and re-investing the savings in front-line policing. There is also some scope for increased
19 Jan 1999 : Column: 417
spending from council tax. However, the Government expect police authorities to set budgets that are responsible, prudent and reasonable and which do not impose an excessive increase in council tax.
1990: 336
1991: 434
1992: 451
1993: 470
1994: 305
1995: 300.
(2) how many claims for compensation have been received to date for (a) Lee Progressive and (b) RCBS Firearms reloading presses; and how many have been (i) approved and (ii) paid. [65776]
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