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Mr. Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he has made to ensure that immigration officers exercising the new powers of search, entry and seizure in Part VII of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will have regard to the codes of practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. [109669]
Mrs. Roche:
The new powers of entry, search and seizure will come into force on 14 February 2000. In accordance with section 145 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, a Direction has been made which will ensure that immigration officers exercising these powers, and their existing powers of arrest under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971, must have regard to the relevant
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provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice. A copy of the Direction is being placed in the Library. It is also being sent to members of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) User Panel and will be made available more widely via the IND website.
The use of the new powers will be restricted initially to a team of immigration officers involved in a joint pilot scheme with the Metropolitan police. This pilot scheme will enable the powers to be tested in the operational arena before more widespread use of the powers is considered.
Ms Ward:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on changes in the membership of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Complaints Audit Committee. [109671]
Mrs. Roche:
Ms Ros Gardner has been appointed as a new Member of the Complaints Audit Committee to replace Janet Whitaker, who resigned on being made a Life Peer. Ms Gardner runs a consultancy specialising in customer care and complaint handling. She was formerly Manager of the Customer Services Department of Marks and Spencer and was a member of the Cabinet Office's Citizens Charter Complaints Task Force.
Mr. Burgon:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the results of police forces' bids for funding from the Crime Fighting Fund to recruit police officers. [109672]
Mr. Straw:
All 43 police forces in England and Wales bid for a share of the Crime Fighting Fund to recruit 5,000 police officers over and above the number they had otherwise planned to recruit over the next three years commencing April 2000.
The total number of officers which forces bid for came to 8,220. As all forces meet the gateway criteria set out in the Bidding Guidelines, I have, in allocating funding for the 5,000 officers between forces, taken into account the information which they provided in support of their bids.
The table shows the number of police recruits each force has bid for, the number they have been allocated in each year of the scheme and in total, and the funding each will receive in year one of the scheme.
The numbers of officers in years two and three are provisional at this stage. They are dependent on forces meeting the continuation criteria for benefiting from the Fund in those years.
(5) The £7,000 per recruit to forces other than the Metropolitan Police Service for training will be paid to National Police Training
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9 Feb 2000 : Column: 173W
Mr. Ivan Henderson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of police officers in each police force area in England and Wales, and in total, for the latest available date; and, if he will list the total number of (a) police officers and (b) civilian support staff in England and Wales for each year from 1990. [109673]
Mr. Straw:
The information is set out in the tables. At the end of September 1999, the total number of police officers in England and Wales was 125,464. The number of officers in the 43 forces (excluding officers seconded to the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and central service) was 123,050. At the end of September 1999 there were 53,254 civilian support staff in the police service.
I have also accepted the recommendations of a Working Group chaired by Her Majesty's Inspector of
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Constabulary and including representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities on the re-classification of police service personnel. The Working Group recommended that greater recognition should be given to the important contribution that civilian support staff make to operational policing. Civilian staff now account for 30 per cent. of total police service personnel.
From March 2000, police service staff will be categorised within three bands as (a) operational, (b) operational support, or (c) organisational support. The new information, to be collected annually by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, will provide a more accurate reflection of the deployment of all police service personnel.
We shall continue to publish information on police officer numbers in the usual way.
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Force | Strength as at 30 September 1999 | Change since 31 March 1999 |
---|---|---|
Avon and Somerset | 2,988.7 | -11 |
Bedfordshire | 1,048.4 | +7 |
Cambridgeshire | 1,272.2 | -2 |
Cheshire | 2,043.6 | -27 |
City of London | 744.6 | -33 |
Cleveland | 1,372.6 | -43 |
Cumbria | 1,092.9 | -33 |
Derbyshire | 1,763.6 | +5 |
Devon and Cornwall | 2,861.1 | -26 |
Dorset | 1,276.1 | -3 |
Durham | 1,554.6 | -13 |
Dyfed-Powys | 1,048.6 | +22 |
Essex | 2,834.7 | -56 |
Gloucestershire | 1,098 | -6 |
Greater Manchester | 6,810.3 | No change |
Gwent | 1,261.3 | +14 |
Hampshire | 3,410.8 | -63 |
Hertfordshire | 1,760 | +36 |
Humberside | 1,926.2 | -48 |
Kent | 3,256.7 | +56 |
Lancashire | 3,221.4 | -23 |
Leicestershire | 1,997.5 | +4 |
Lincolnshire | 1,110.8 | -29 |
Merseyside | 4,070.8 | -140 |
Metropolitan police | 25,884.5 | -188 |
Norfolk | 1,381.5 | No change |
Northamptonshire | 1,130 | -7 |
Northumbria | 3,800.1 | -40 |
North Wales | 1,399 | +8 |
North Yorkshire | 1,293.7 | -43 |
Nottinghamshire | 2,227 | +2 |
South Wales | 2,983 | +2 |
South Yorkshire | 3,165 | -3 |
Staffordshire | 2,206 | -32 |
Suffolk | 1,160 | -30 |
Surrey | 1,721.1 | +59 |
Sussex | 2,909.3 | +63 |
Thames Valley | 3,749.5 | +1 |
Warwickshire | 915.7 | +8 |
West Mercia | 1,979.4 | -45 |
West Midlands | 7,296.4 | -24 |
West Yorkshire | 4,873 | -109 |
Wiltshire | 1,150.2 | -1 |
Force total strength | 123,050 | -791 |
Seconded police officers | 2,414 | +159 |
Total police service strength | 125,464 | -632 |
(6) Includes officers seconded to NCS, NCIS and central service such as National Police Training.
Year | Total police officers | Total civilian support staff |
---|---|---|
31 March 1990 | 126,777 | 44,525 |
31 March 1991 | 127,495 | 46,373 |
31 March 1992 | 127,627 | 47,320 |
31 March 1993 | 128,290 | 49,503 |
31 March 1994 | 127,897 | 50,229 |
31 March 1995 | 127,222 | 51,096 |
31 March 1996 | 126,901 | 52,933 |
31 March 1997 | 127,158 | 53,011 |
31 March 1998 | 126,814 | 52,974 |
31 March 1999 | 126,096 | 53,031 |
30 September 1999 | 125,464 | 53,254 |
9 Feb 2000 : Column: 176W
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