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Immigration Advisers
31. Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in curbing unscrupulous immigration advisers. [108265]
Mrs. Roche:
Part V of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 makes provision for a scheme to regulate immigration advisers and service providers. Under the scheme the provision of immigration advice or services will be prohibited unless a person is registered with the Immigration Services Commissioner, authorised to practise by a designated professional body or exempt under the terms of the scheme.
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We are currently in the process of appointing the Immigration Services Commissioner who will lead the body to administer the scheme. Our aim is to have the regulatory body established and ready to receive applications for registration and exemption by 2 October 2000, with a view to full roll-out of the scheme by April 2001.
32. Mr. Lilley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to take to help return to their homes those refugees from Kosovo granted exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom during the conflict. [108266]
Mrs. Roche:
All the evacuees under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Humanitarian Evacuation Programme (HEP) were given 12 months' exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom. We have made it clear that there will not be a general extension of leave for those granted exceptional leave under the Kosovan concession.
Kosovans are expected to make arrangements to return to Kosovo once their current leave to remain expires.
The voluntary return programme for Kosovans from the United Kingdom began on 26 July 1999 and is open to those who arrived under the HEP and as independent arrivals. The Government are also running an Explore and Prepare (E and P) scheme to enable heads of households and community leaders with exceptional leave here to return to Kosovo to make advance preparations for the permanent return of their families. To date 1,570 Kosovans have returned under these programmes (1,388 permanent returnees and 182 E and P returns ).
We have provided funds to the Refugee Council to publish a regular newsletter to keep Kosovans informed about the situation in Kosovo and have funded a voluntary returns office to provide help and information.
35. Mr. Fraser:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the annual cost of employing a police constable; and if he will make a statement. [108269]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
As at 19 March 1999, the annual cost of a police constable serving in a provincial force, based on average salary for the rank, is £35,081, inclusive of Earnings-Related National Insurance Contribution, notional pension costs and housing allowance.
An officer serving in London will additionally receive London Allowance of £1,011 and London Weighting of £1,662.
36. Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the efforts made by police forces to stamp out racism. [108270]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
"Race and the Criminal Justice System 1999" published on 9 December 1999 gives a comprehensive picture of how people from minority
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ethnic backgrounds fare under the criminal justice system, including the police service. The key findings for 1998-99 include a substantial increase by 66 per cent. of the number of racist incidents recorded by the police; against a history of under-recording of racist incidents this appears to reflect improved recording practices by the police and the higher priority the service is giving to its response to racist crime. Black people were, on average, six times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by the police. The Department has set in hand a wide-ranging programme of research to help broaden understanding of these powers and how their use can be improved. The report found under-representation of ethnic minorities in the police service as in other parts of the criminal justice system. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has set targets for forces on recruitment, retention and progression of ethnic minority officers and has published a 25 point action plan to help forces meet them.
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary's report of the inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary directed should be carried out in response to recommendation 4 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, was published on 10 January. The inspectors found significant progress within the MPS in their response to the community and race relations issues raised in the Inquiry's report, and while there were still areas to be addressed there were grounds for confidence that there would be significant improvements when the inspectors return in 12 months' time.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary undertook during the debate on the report of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry last March that I would publish an annual report on progress of the implementation of the Action Plan I published in response to the Inquiry's report; my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will publish the first such report shortly.
38. Mr. Casale:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in developing local partnerships against crime in London. [108272]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Partnerships were set up in all the London boroughs and the City of London, making 33 in all, as part of the work under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which places a statutory requirement on the boroughs to produce a joint strategy to reduce crime and disorder. The detail of these and the way in which they are being taken forward varies to some extent but they all actively engaged in the work against crime and disorder.
40. Mr. Brady:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to increase the total number of police officers in England and Wales. [108274]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Burgon), on 9 February 2000, Official Report, columns 172-74W.
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Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to limit trial by jury. [108242]
Mr. Straw:
We have already announced our intention to introduce in this House, as soon as possible, a Bill which will give the courts the power to determine which either-way cases should be tried in the Crown Court.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the numbers of police officers in the Metropolitan police force. [108249]
Mr. Straw:
It is for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to determine overall police numbers within the resources available.
The strength of the Metropolitan Police fell by 2,060 officers between 1992 and 1998 under budgets set by the previous Administration. Numbers fell by a net 209 between March 1998 and September 1999.
We announced on 9 February that the Metropolitan Police has been allocated funds from the Crime Fighting Fund for 2000-01 which will enable them to recruit and train 1,113 officers over and above the levels planned for financial years 2000-03. This includes 242 officers in the next financial year and the Commissioner tells me that in the light of this, he hopes to maintain police officer numbers at a constant level through 2000-01.
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Mr. Healey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the impact of local initiatives to reduce domestic burglaries and improve home security. [108256]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Reducing Burglary Initiative, a major component of the Crime Reduction Programme, is expected to prevent 15,000 burglaries by 2002 and 25,000 burglaries in the longer term.
In addition, the scheme to provide improved security to low-income pensioners should prevent 2,500 burglaries and, just as importantly, will reduce the fear of crime.
Mr. Hope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what crime reduction targets police authorities will be expected to set over the next five years under the Best Value regime. [110301]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
All police authorities and police forces have been told that statutory guidance under the Best Value regime (Section 5(7) of the Local Government Act 1999) will indicate that specific targets should be set by all police authorities for domestic burglary and for vehicle crime. In addition, five forces are being asked to set a target for robbery.
The table shows the five-year targets for each force area, based on our latest information. It will be for each police authority to decide what targets should finally be set and published.
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(19) Contains areas affected by boundary changes from 1 April 2000
(20) Subject to verification
(21) Based on projected recorded crime from April 1999-March 2000
(22) Figure refers to street crime
(23) National figures subject to verification against police authorities' Best Value performance plans
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