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Wormwood Scrubs
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will make an announcement on the future of HMP Wormwood Scrubs; and if he will make a statement. [108080]
Mr. Straw:
Following the publication of the Chief Inspector of Prisons report on Wormwood Scrubs in June I asked him to undertake a six month follow-up inspection to check on progress. The Chief Inspector is expected to commence this follow-up inspection shortly. I will make an announcement after I have received the Chief Inspector's report and given due consideration to his recommendations.
3 Feb 2000 : Column: 700W
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people residing in the UK have been investigated for war crimes; and if he will make a statement. [108082]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
376 individuals were investigated by the former War Crimes Unit at New Scotland Yard after the introduction of the War Crimes Act 1991. In addition, one person (Konrad Kalejs) temporarily present in the country was investigated by the Metropolitan police earlier this year. I am not aware of any other such investigations.
Mr. Greenway:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to introduce the provisions of the Representation of the People Bill relating to the rolling electoral register. [107918]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
I would like to bring this change into force in time for the next annual registration canvass in the autumn, together with those relating to the sale of the register and other registration changes. But the timetable will depend on the progress of the Representation of the People Bill through Parliament; agreement on the content of the subsequent regulations and their precise drafting; and parliamentary approval of those regulations under the affirmative resolution procedures.
Mr. Beggs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current waiting time for case workers to commence to process applications for British citizenship. [108108]
Mrs. Roche:
The average waiting time for applications decided in December 1999 was 19 months.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters he has received since 1 May 1997 on (a) constituency matters and (b) other matters of Government policy from each of those Members of the House who have not taken the Oath of Allegiance. [108408]
Mr. Straw:
Correspondence between Members and Departments is treated in confidence unless the Member concerned chooses to make such issues public. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested.
Mr. Hope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made on consultation with regard to implementation of the provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 relating to (a) civil penalty, (b) flexibility and passenger information, (c) facilities to be provided by port operators and (d) charging for additional immigration services. [108705]
Mrs. Roche:
Constructive and detailed discussions are proceeding with representative organisations. As part of that process, consultation papers relating to each of these provisions have been circulated to those representatives and others in the industry. I have placed copies of the documents in the Library.
3 Feb 2000 : Column: 701W
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to place the announcement of twice-yearly police officer number figures for England and Wales on a regular timescale; if the latest figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [108081]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
There are no plans to announce changes to police numbers within a specific timescale. The figures are published as soon as all police forces have submitted the relevant information and it has been validated. Police numbers as at 30 September 1999 will be issued shortly.
Mr. Ashdown:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extra police officers there will be in Somerset in each of the next three years as a result of his recent statement of intent to increase national police officer numbers by 5,000; and if he will make a statement. [107796]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
We are currently assessing the bids which all forces have made under the recruitment scheme of the Crime Fighting Fund to determine whether they meet the criteria laid down in the bidding guidelines which were issued to forces and a copy placed in the Library on 2 December 1999. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will be announcing the results shortly.
Mr. Ashdown:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the (a) establishment and (b) actual available officer numbers for (i) each English police force and (ii) each Avon and Somerset divisional force for the latest period for which statistics are available; and if he will make a statement. [107841]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
It is for chief constables to determine the number of officers in each force, within the resources available. The latest available information on the number of officers in each English police force is set out in the table.
(12) Full-time equivalents
3 Feb 2000 : Column: 702W
| Force division | Authorised strength | Actual strength for 30 September 1999 |
|---|---|---|
| Central Bristol | 348 | 341 |
| South Bristol | 243 | 238 |
| North Bristol | 247 | 245 |
| South Gloucestershire | 253 | 254 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 209 | 209 |
| East Somerset | 238 | 239 |
| West Somerset | 282 | 280 |
| North Somerset | 197 | 196 |
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total number of police officers in England and Wales on 31 January. [108292]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information on police numbers is collected twice a year (March and September). Police strength figures as at 31 March 1999 were 126,096; figures as at 30 September will be published shortly.
Police Officers (Sick Leave)
Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are on long-term sick leave in (a) each English police force and (b) each Avon and Somerset divisional force for the latest period for which such statistics are available; if he will restate these figures to show them as a proportion of total establishment officer strength in each case; and if he will make a statement. [107842]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information about the number of police officers on long-term sick leave is not held centrally. The table shows: the total number of police days lost in 1998-99 due to long-term sick leave for all forces in England and Wales; and the percentage of working days in that year lost as a result of long-term sick leave.
The same information is not held centrally for each division of Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
3 Feb 2000 : Column: 703W
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