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Macpherson Inquiry

Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of conducting the Macpherson inquiry; and what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing its recommendations. [108218]

Mr. Straw: The final costs of the inquiry have yet to be determined as there are outstanding bills for settlement in terms of legal fees. However, the costs incurred to date are as follows:

Pay and allowances	£
Inquiry Team, Advisers and civil servants	667,000
Accommodation and Associated Costs	710,000
Legal Representation and Treasury Solicitors Costs	2,084,000
Miscellaneous Running Costs	777,000

This provides a total cost to date of £4.238 million. I explained in the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Mr. Efford) on 23 July 1999, Official Report, column 729W, the Metropolitan police service are, in accordance with section 49(5) of the Police Act 1996, meeting the full costs of setting up and establishing the inquiry, together with all costs which directly accrued from Part 1 of the inquiry relating to the police investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. These costs amount to £3.1 million to date of the total costs. The costs of Part 2 of the inquiry, on the future handling of racially motivated crime, will be met by the Home Office as the findings were of more general application.

Arrangements had been made to reimburse the costs arising from the need of 18 families and individuals to be moved by Greenwich Council or to sell their houses as a result of the inquiry's error in publishing Appendix 11 of the inquiry's report in full. The final amount is not yet known but is likely to be about £350,000, which is significantly less than the estimate given in that earlier reply.

I made it clear in the Action Plan I published in March 1999 in response to the inquiry's report that the changes required by the inquiry will work only if they are systemic and implemented within the mainstream of the police service at every level. We have recognised the need for proper investment in the police service to help achieve

7 Feb 2000 : Column: 46W

that, which is why we are investing an extra £1.24 billion in policing over three years following the comprehensive spending review. Several of the changes called for by the report, including some of the most far-reaching, require further study or piloting before they can be implemented on a national basis. It is not, therefore, possible at present to give an overall figure for the costs of implementing the report's recommendations.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of dealing with asylum seeking was in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99; and what the budgeted and estimated figures are for (i) 1999-2000 and (ii) 2000-01 respectively. [108159]

Mrs. Roche: Figures and estimates are available for the cost of providing support to asylum seekers and the cost of operating the immigration and nationality directorate, which includes dealing with asylum seekers.

In 1997-98, the total cost of operating the immigration and nationality directorate was £215 million. A further £375 million was provided for supporting asylum seekers by the Department of Social Security and the Department of Health. In 1998-99, the total cost of operating the immigration and nationality directorate was £209 million. A further £470 million was provided by the Department of Social Security and the Department of Health for the support of asylum seekers.

Responsibility for the budget for supporting asylum seekers transferred to the Home Office from April 1999. It is anticipated that the total cost of operating the immigration and nationality directorate and supporting asylum seekers for the financial year 1999-2000 will be in the region of around £800 million. Estimating costs for 2000-01 is subject to a large number of variables such as the level of new asylum applications, the speed of processing claims and the resources directed at processing cases and other work. Those estimates are currently under review.

Police Funding

Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to increase the funding for police constabularies broken down by each constabulary in England and Wales. [108286]

Mr. Charles Clarke: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Campbell), on 27 January 2000, Official Report, columns 241-42W, the funding allocations for police authorities in England for 2000-01. Allocations for 2000-01 for each police authority in England and Wales are set out in the table.

Funding for police authorities will increase by £202 million to a total of £7,415.3 million in 2000-01. In addition, the Government are making available £35 million in 2000-01 as part of the crime fighting fund to recruit 5,000 police officers over and above the number forces would otherwise have recruited over the three years from April 2000. Additional funding will be available in the following two years. All forces will receive a share.

7 Feb 2000 : Column: 47W

£ million

Police authority	1999-2000 allocation(11)	2000-2001 allocation(11)
English Shire forces
Avon and Somerset	168.4	173.7
Bedfordshire	61.4	64.1
Cambridgeshire	74.8	77.2
Cheshire	109.0	111.9
Cleveland	81.7	84.7
Cumbria	60.1	62.2
Derbyshire	102.1	105.4
Devon and Cornwall	174.3	178.9
Dorset	70.1	72.4
Durham	81.3	83.9
Essex	163.0	174.8
Gloucestershire	62.4	63.5
Hampshire	194.5	202.7
Hertfordshire	100.0	117.2
Humberside	113.0	116.9
Kent	183.1	191.2
Lancashire	178.2	185.3
Leicestershire	102.3	105.6
Linconshire	63.4	65.4
Norfolk	83.4	86.5
North Yorkshire	77.6	79.7
Northamptonshire	65.3	67.7
Nottinghamshire	126.3	130.0
Staffordshire	113.0	116.8
Suffolk	68.6	70.9
Surrey	91.9	112.8
Sussex	166.4	172.4
Thames Valley	224.6	231.7
Warwickshire	52.2	54.3
West Mercia	113.0	117.2
Wiltshire	64.9	66.7
English Metropolitan forces
Greater Manchester	375.7	386.1
Merseyside	236.3	242.3
Northumbria	213.0	218.4
South Yorkshire	171.3	177.2
West Midlands	380.6	392.7
West Yorkshire	286.3	297.1
London forces
Metropolitan police(12)(1)	1,743.9	1,731.2
City of London(13)	55.4	56.4
English Total	6,852.8	7,045.1
Welsh forces
Dyfed-Powys	51.7	53.2
Gwent	69.7	71.9
North Wales	75.5	77.5
South Wales	163.8	167.6
Welsh Total	360.8	370.2
Total	7,213.6	7,415.3

(11) Rounded to the nearest £100,000. The Allocation is the sum of: Police Grant, Transitional Grant, Police SSA, Capital Finance SSA, SSA Reduction Grant and Central Support Protection Grant.

(12) Figure for the Metropolitan Police does not include funding allocated to the Receiver under the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services SSA for school crossing patrols, Magistrates' Courts and the Probation Service. It does include its Special Payment.

(13) Figure for the City includes Police SSA. Grant and SSA Reduction Grant, but excludes other SSAs (eg Capital Financing) and Central Support Protection Grant. These are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions.

(14) These authorities will be affected by the changes to police force boundaries around London on 1 April 2000. To provide comparison, indicative 1999-2000 totals for these authorities as on the new boundaries are Essex: £169.8 million, Hertfordshire: £114.3 million, Surrey: £113.6 million and Metropolitan Police: £1,701.9 million.

7 Feb 2000 : Column: 48W

Mike Tyson

Ms Jenny Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will break down the costs of policing related to Mike Tyson's visit to (a) London and (b) Manchester, indicating the sources from which the costs were met. [108379]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police forces inform me that manpower costs of policing the visit of Mike Tyson were met within current resources. The Metropolitan police estimate net additional costs of approximately £9,700 for Mr. Tyson's visit to Brixton. Greater Manchester police charged costs of £21,713 in respect of policing the boxing match and venue to the event organisers, Manchester Evening News Arena.

Travel Documents

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set a target date for clearing the outstanding travel document applications made between January and August 1999. [108210]

Mrs. Roche: We are aiming to clear this backlog by the end of August this year.

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