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Departmental Vehicles
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of vehicles used by his Department and its agencies fuelled by (a) petrol, (b) diesel and (c) liquid petroleum gas; and what plans he has to increase the rate of conversion of those vehicles to liquid petroleum gas. [98205]
Mr. Straw: The Home Department currently operates a total of 1,171 vehicles. The majority of these, 759, belong to the Prison Service Agency. There are 272 petrol engine vehicles and 899 diesel engine vehicles. There are no liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) powered vehicles in the fleet as yet as there is a logistical difficulty in opting for LPG powered vehicles in view of the limited number of supply points available for a fleet of vehicles spread throughout England and Wales.
However, the Prison Service has adopted a policy that up to 70 per cent. of vehicles replaced in the financial year 2000 will be powered by either dual fuel petrol/LPG engines, or the latest high pressure direct injection diesel engines with particulate filters where available. The Home Office is planning to go out to consultation to adopt a similar policy by the end of the current year.
Deaths in Custody
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has responded to the petition about deaths in custody from families of the deceased; and if he will make a statement. [98150]
Mr. Straw:
I met representatives of the United Families and Friends Campaign, the authors of the petition, on 26 April this year and my officials have subsequently been in correspondence with them. I am considering the petition and will respond shortly.
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Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what discussions he and his staff have had with Northumbria Police about present procedures for supervising discharged offenders, following the conviction of Dominic McKilligan; [98132]
(3) what plans he has to impose a statutory obligation on social services departments and hospital authorities to consult statutory care agencies and the police authorities before discharging anyone from their care who may pose a known risk to the general public; [98129]
(4) if he intends to require an inter-agency risk assessment prior to release of anyone convicted of indecency with children under Schedule 1 to the Sexual Offences Act. [98130]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Protection of the public is a primary duty of the criminal justice agencies. The Government have put in place arrangements to enable risk assessment to be carried out on an inter-agency basis prior to the release of dangerous offenders, including those convicted of indecency with children. There are strong inter-agency liaison arrangements in Northumbria and throughout the country, in which the police play a major part. This work is overseen by a Steering Group on Dangerous Offenders, which includes representatives from all criminal justice agencies at very senior level. There is a support group within the Home Office, including seconded police and probation staff, which supports the Steering Group and helps local agencies with individual cases.
These Questions all arise out of the case of Dominic McKilligan, currently in custody for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old boy in 1998. A review of the work of all the agencies involved with the care and supervision of Dominic McKilligan is currently being undertaken in line with the Department of Health guidance contained in "Working Together Under the Children Act 1989--A Guide to Arrangements for Inter-Agency Co-operation for the Protection of Children from Abuse". Once it is completed the agencies concerned will consider what lessons can be drawn from this tragedy and what action is required.
The issue of judicial discretion in relation to the registration requirement in the Sex Offenders Act 1997 is one of a number of areas currently being reviewed by the Home Office. Once the review is completed, we shall then need to consider whether, and if so what, changes are necessary to improve the effectiveness of the Act.
Mr. Flight:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many police authority areas have police used spot fines powers to deter dangerous cycling; and if he will make a statement. [98345]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The police do not have the powers to issue fixed penalty notices for the offence of dangerous cycling. In order to assist the police to deal with inconsiderate cycling on the pavement, we
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introduced from 1 August 1999 a fixed penalty for the offence of cycling on the pavement. The fixed penalty is not an on the spot fine: payment is not required on the spot and the person receiving it can challenge its issue in court.
Information about how many police forces have issued fixed penalty notices for cycling on the pavement is not yet available. Each police force has been asked to monitor the fixed penalty provisions which came into force on 1 August 1999, but the details are not likely to be available until early in the new year.
Mr. Gardiner:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has undertaken into the Canadian police campaign of zero tolerance of domestic violence and its suitability for the United Kingdom. [98288]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Earlier this year, the Home Office published "Domestic Violence Matters: an evaluation of a development project". This reported on a pilot domestic violence project in Islington, adapted from a scheme in London, Ontario. The project sought to establish a civilian crisis intervention service working with the police, promote a law enforcement response, and develop inter-agency links to encourage consistent and co-ordinated action. The report discusses current Canadian law enforcement policy in respect of domestic violence.
The Home Office has also published this year "Arresting Evidence: domestic violence and repeat victimisation" and "Policing Domestic Violence: effective organisational structures". The publications named are all available on the Home Office website www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
As part of the Crime Reduction Programme's component dealing with domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, reviews have been carried out of what is known from relevant research of different aspects of domestic violence and of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different interventions. Policing was amongst the areas covered.
Mr. Hawkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Consumers Association concerning the effect on social exclusion of commercial use of the electoral register. [98171]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Consumers Association wrote to my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, on 21 October about the recommendation of the Working Party on Electoral Procedures that electors should be given a choice over whether their personal details should be included in the version of the electoral register which is available for sale.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value is of London weighting for (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff in
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the Metropolitan Police; what the rates were in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [98173]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District tells me that London weighting for police and civil staff in the Metropolitan Police over the last five years is as follows:
(2) if he intends to give trial judges the power to extend the registration systems of the Sexual Offences Acts to convicted offenders whose offences contain a strong sexual motivation; [98131]
| Civil staff | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Police officers | Inner | Intermediate | Outer |
| 1994 | 1,398 | 1,776 | 1,015 | 736 |
| 1995 | 1,440 | 1,776 | 1,015 | 736 |
| 1996 | 1,491 | 1,776 | 1,015 | 736 |
| 1997 | 1,542 | 1,776 | 1,015 | 736 |
| 1998 | 1,605 | 1,776 | 1,015 | 736 |
| 1999 | 1,662 | 1,850 | 1,056 | 766 |
| (27)1,622 | (27)828 | (27)538 | ||
(27) With effect from 1 August 1999, as part of the 1999 pay settlement, £228 of London Weighting for Civil Staff has been consolidated into basic pay.
Police Recruitment
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total numbers of (a) applications and (b) recruits were in each police force in each of the last three years; what the ratio was of applications to recruits per force in each year; and if he will make a statement. [98174]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The following tables show the number of applications to join the police service received by each force in each of the last three years, the numbers of appointments on probation (the most accurate assessment we have of the numbers of new recruits to the police service) for each force in the same periods and the ratio of applications to new appointments on probation.
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| Forces | Police formal applications | Police appointments on probation | Ratio applications/ appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 1,367 | 90 | 15 |
| Bedfordshire | 503 | 34 | 15 |
| Cambridgeshire | 421 | 35 | 12 |
| Cheshire | 1,075 | 89 | 12 |
| City of London | 135 | 15 | 9 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cumbria | 280 | 23 | 12 |
| Derbyshire | 591 | 43 | 14 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 590 | 54 | 11 |
| Dorset | 300 | 35 | 9 |
| Durham | 775 | 87 | 9 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 1,085 | 32 | 34 |
| Essex | 687 | 88 | 8 |
| Gloucestershire | 377 | 61 | 6 |
| Greater Manchester | 2,178 | 217 | 10 |
| Gwent | 601 | 53 | 11 |
| Hampshire | 744 | 116 | 6 |
| Hertfordshire | 653 | 67 | 10 |
| Humberside | 795 | 36 | 22 |
| Kent | 829 | 236 | 4 |
| Lancashire | 97 | 64 | 2 |
| Leicestershire | 582 | 85 | 7 |
| Lincolnshire | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Merseyside | 1,406 | 133 | 11 |
| Metropolitan Police | 6,222 | 1,586 | 4 |
| Norfolk | 312 | 19 | 16 |
| North Wales | 543 | 62 | 9 |
| North Yorkshire | 15 | 17 | 1 |
| Northamptonshire | 259 | 25 | 10 |
| Northumbria | 1,781 | 234 | 8 |
| Nottinghamshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Wales | 1,902 | 165 | 12 |
| South Yorkshire | 745 | 84 | 9 |
| Staffordshire | 124 | 17 | 7 |
| Suffolk | 0 | 60 | 0 |
| Surrey | 594 | 124 | 5 |
| Sussex | 1,087 | 92 | 12 |
| Thames Valley | 579 | 144 | 4 |
| Warwickshire | 917 | 33 | 28 |
| West Mercia | 695 | 83 | 8 |
| West Midlands | 4,023 | 467 | 9 |
| West Yorkshire | 96 | 14 | 7 |
| Wiltshire | 130 | 36 | 4 |
| England and Wales total | 36,095 | 4,961 | 7 |
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