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Immigration

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.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

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.

Police Officer Recruitment

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.

Forces tell us that, without the additional resources from the fund, they are planning to recruit a total of 12,478 police officers (new recruits to the service) in the three years commencing in April 2000. Their estimates reflect the decisions they and their police authorities have made about the way in which they will use the resources available to them next year, and the assumptions they have made about funding and budget levels in the two following years which have yet to be settled. The money from the Crime Fighting Fund will be used to recruit 5,000 officers over and above the number forces plan to recruit over the three-year period.

Crime Fighting Fund: Recruits

		Allocation				Year 1 costs (£)
Forces	3 Year total bid	2000-01 Year 1	2001-02 Year 2	2002-03 Year 3	Total	Total to force	Training (5)	Total Year 1
Avon and Somerset	165	20	40	41	101	510,000	140,000	650,000
Bedfordshire	102	11	22	22	55	280,500	77,000	357,500
Cambridgeshire	69	16	14	12	42	408,000	112,000	520,000
Cheshire	115	17	34	35	86	433,500	119,000	552,500
City of London	16	8	0	0	8	225,040	56,000	281,040
Cleveland	57	5	23	0	28	127,500	35,000	162,500
Cumbria	60	8	16	16	40	204,000	56,000	260,000
Derbyshire	250	20	40	41	101	510,000	140,000	650,000
Devon and Cornwall	200	28	55	55	138	714,000	196,000	910,000
Dorset	90	9	18	19	46	229,500	63,000	292,500
Durham	60	13	18	20	51	331,500	91,000	422,500
Dyfed Powys	100	10	20	20	50	255,000	70,000	325,000
Essex	124	23	40	40	103	586,500	161,000	747,500
Gloucestershire	70	12	20	20	52	306,000	84,000	390,000
Greater Manchester	1,000	78	145	155	378	1,989,000	546,000	2,535,000
Gwent	65	12	20	11	43	306,000	84,000	390,000
Hampshire	150	27	53	53	133	688,500	189,000	877,500
Hertfordshire	48	13	16	16	45	331,500	91,000	422,500
Humberside	251	15	29	30	74	382,500	105,000	487,500
Kent	180	30	58	58	146	765,000	210,000	975,000
Lancashire	152	25	51	50	126	637,500	175,000	812,500
Leicestershire	150	17	26	40	83	433,500	119,000	552,500
Lincolnshire	50	11	20	10	41	280,500	77,000	357,500
Merseyside	360	40	80	81	201	1,020,000	280,000	1,300,000
Metropolitan Police	1,800	242	424	447	1,113	6,807,460	1,694,000	8,501,460
Norfolk	90	11	30	25	66	280,500	77,000	357,500
North Wales	75	12	25	25	62	306,000	84,000	390,000
North Yorkshire	39	5	20	0	25	127,500	35,000	162,500
Northamptonshire	105	14	25	14	53	357,000	98,000	455,000
Northumbria	172	27	57	52	136	688,500	189,000	877,500
Nottinghamshire	120	17	35	35	87	433,500	119,000	552,500
South Wales	90	14	27	27	68	357,000	98,000	455,000
South Yorkshire	150	20	40	41	101	510,000	140,000	650,000
Staffordshire	102	17	33	33	83	433,500	119,000	552,500
Suffolk	73	11	24	10	45	280,500	77,000	357,500
Surrey	120	18	30	30	78	459,000	126,000	585,000
Sussex	135	22	45	45	112	561,000	154,000	715,000
Thames Valley	379	40	80	80	200	1,020,000	280,000	1,300,000
Warwickshire	68	6	24	0	30	153,000	42,000	195,000
West Mercia	108	18	35	36	89	459,000	126,000	585,000
West Midlands	480	64	120	126	310	1,632,000	448,000	2,080,000
West Yorkshire	180	26	52	53	131	663,000	182,000	845,000
Wiltshire	50	8	16	16	40	204,000	56,000	260,000
Total	8,220	1,060	2,000	1,940	5,000	27,687,500	7,420,000	35,107,500

(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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Police Statistics

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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Police numbers--change between March 1999 and September 1999

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.

Total police service personnel--1990-99

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

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