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Police Manpower
12. Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers to discuss police manpower. [80961]
Kate Hoey: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary meets the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers regularly both at the Home Office and at police events when a range of issues are discussed, including police resources.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in (a) England and (b) Wales he expects to be in post at the end of the current financial year. [80959]
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Kate Hoey:
The number of police officers in each force is entirely a matter for local determination on the basis of available resources and spending priorities. In 1999-2000, police authority budgets in England and Wales will increase on average by 3.1 per cent. over last year. These increases, along with the 2 per cent. efficiency improvement targets that have been set, should be sufficient to maintain existing levels of service.
23. Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on conditions in young offender institutions in England and Wales. [80974]
Mr. George Howarth:
Conditions in young offender institutions in England and Wales vary greatly between, and even within, some establishments. Some are of a high standard while others are in need of considerable improvement. The Government have demonstrated their commitment to improve conditions by, for example, the provision of an additional £51 million over three years for the under-18 estate and its regimes, and through the inclusion of 12 young offender institutions in the welfare-to-work initiative.
24. Dr. Julian Lewis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the cost to voluntary organisations of obtaining access to criminal records of applicants to work with young people. [80975]
Mr. Boateng:
We have received representations on this issue from a number of voluntary organisations. We considered very carefully whether there was any way in
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which free checks could be provided for volunteers. Whilst we acknowledge the very valuable contribution volunteers make, we have concluded that it will not be practicable to provide any free checks from the Criminal Records Bureau for volunteers or for any other groups. We realise that this is unwelcome news, but providing free checks would prove an unsustainable burden on the public purse and may increase demand for certificates from the Bureau to an uncontrollable extent. In addition, we do not consider it would be fair to allow volunteers to have free certificates when there are other equally deserving groups such as school leavers, the unemployed and disabled people. The level of fees for certificates from the Bureau will be kept to the minimum necessary to recoup costs.
26. Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect on equal opportunities and racial equality at work of his proposal to make employers liable for the immigration status of their employees. [80977]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
There have been reports that some employers may be adopting discriminatory practices when seeking to secure a defence under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. The Government share the concern of the Commission for Racial Equality and others at the substance of the reports, whilst recognising that such action may not be directly attributable to section 8.
Proposals at Clause 13 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, currently before Parliament, are designed to strengthen the safeguards against possible discriminatory practices. They re-emphasise to employers their statutory duty to avoid racial discrimination in their recruitment practices when seeking to secure the statutory defence.
27. Mr. Colvin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the additional costs which will have to be borne by the Scout movement as a result of his proposal to establish and fund a criminal records bureau for England and Wales. [80978]
Mr. Boateng:
I have not made an estimate of any additional costs which might accrue to the Scout movement as a result of checks which may be carried out with the Criminal Records Bureau. I understand that the Scout Association has estimated that additional costs of £750,000 per year will accrue to them, but I have no knowledge of the basis on which they have reached this estimate.
28. Mr. David Heath:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to reform the Probation Service. [80979]
Kate Hoey:
Following a public consultation, we have decided to create a new, unified Probation Service for England and Wales, comprising 42 local operational areas that will match the police force area boundaries. The new Service will include the following key elements:
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29. Mr. Day:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to implement the recommendations of the Neill committee on the conduct of referendum campaigns. [80980]
Mr. Straw:
We intend to publish our response to the Committee's report in the form of a draft Bill before the Summer Recess; and we hope to have new arrangements in place by the time of the next general election.
30. Mr. Bennett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to encourage the use of community-oriented sentences. [80981]
Mr. Boateng:
Community sentences have a role to play in preventing crime and tackling offending behaviour. They are a crucial part of the Government's sentencing strategy.
We are developing a portfolio of supervision programmes evidentially proven to be effective, which can be implemented nationwide, and, jointly with the Prison Service, systems for accrediting programmes and assessing offenders' risks and needs.
It is important that community penalties are rigorously enforced. We have therefore issued further guidance to probation services and will look to tighten enforcement requirements in Probation Service National Standards, which are currently being reviewed.
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31. Mr. Barnes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement concerning the reform of electoral registration procedures and practices. [80982]
Mr. Straw:
Electoral registration procedures, including encouragement of registration, public access to the register, and a proposed new system of rolling registration, are being considered by my Working Party on Electoral Procedures. The Working Party will present its final report later this year.
32. Mr. Illsley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for amending liquor licensing hours on 31 December 1999; and if he will make a statement. [80983]
Mr. George Howarth:
A proposed order was laid on 13 April. If approved by Parliament, this will extend normal licensing hours overnight each New Year's Eve until normal opening time on each New Year's Day, beginning with the millennium. There would be no requirement on operators to open at any particular time; it would be for them to judge whether or not to stay open and for how long.
The day-to-day running and management of the service in each area will be, as now, in the hands of chief probation officers, but they will be employed and appointed by the Home Office; and
led by a Director;
Some elements of these proposals require primary legislation which will be introduced when Parliamentary time permits. With the Lord Chancellor and the Secretaries of State for Health and for Wales, I have also been considering the future organisation of court welfare services, including work that is currently undertaken by the probation services for the family courts. We expect to announce decisions on the way forward shortly.
A local Probation Board will supervise the work of the service in each area within the national framework;
The Chairman of each Board will be appointed and paid by the Home Office, and the appointment of individual members of Boards will be approved by the Home Office;
Chief Probation Officers will be members of these Boards;
The Boards will have a more strategic role and a more diverse composition, and will be more representative of the wider criminal justice system and the wider community;
The Boards will employ, as probation committees do now, the remainder of the probation service staff.
There will be a light regional touch, which the Prison Service is also planning to reflect in its future management structure, enabling that Service to match groups of police force areas;
The new Probation Service will be entirely funded by central Government, ending the current arrangements whereby local authorities make a contribution of 20 per cent.;
The Home Secretary of the day will take full responsibility for the performance of the service and be accountable to Parliament for it; and
The Home Secretary of the day will take greater powers to direct necessary outcomes and standards of service delivery.
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