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Recycling

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of documentation used by his Department is (a) made from recycled paper and (b) collected for recycling. [111602]

Mr. Straw: Records on the volume of documentation or the percentage of paper recycled in my department are not kept. Trials are being undertaken into various types of recycled paper to establish the practicalities of committing to a policy that stipulates the use of recycled paper. All offices in my department's Central London headquarters buildings have green bins for recycled paper and most of the key buildings across the estate have paper recycling schemes. The department will shortly be undertaking pilot waste minimisation schemes in three different buildings on the estate with the aim of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

The Prison Service has recently set up a Service wide waste management project. The project will identify areas where wastage can be reduced and will address the efficient and effective disposal of prison waste and the recycling of usable waste. Recyclable materials, such as paper will be reprocessed.

Metropolitan Police

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian employees were employed in the Kingston Division of the Metropolitan Police in each of the years 1992 to 2000; and if he will make a statement. [111305]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is in the following table, provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis :

Kingston Police Division

Year	Police officers	Civilian staff
1992	403	61
1993	375.4	63
1994	395.7	66
1995	373	85
1996	393.3	97
1997	362	87
1998	335	83
1999	313	78
2000	323	73.5

Note:

Figures reflect the position at 31 January of each year.

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police station front offices closed to the public in (a) the Kingston Division and (b) the Metropolitan Police area in each of the years 1992 to 2000; and if he will make a statement. [111306]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Police informs me that following a review of demand and after consultation with the community, one police station front counter was closed in the Kingston Division in each of the years 1995, 1998 and 1999. There was no such closure in any other year from 1992. Details of police station front counter closures for the entire Metropolitan Police District are not recorded centrally,

28 Feb 2000 : Column: 117W

and cannot readily be obtained from local records because of the extensive reorganisation of territorial commands in the period concerned.

Special Constables

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many special constables were recruited by each of the police forces in England and Wales between 30 September 1998 and 30 September 1999; [111474]

(2) how many special constables left each of the police forces in England and Wales between 30 September 1998 and 30 September 1999. [111472]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The numbers of special constables who were recruited to and left each of the police force special constabularies in England and Wales between 1 October 1998 and 30 September 1999 is set out in the table.

Force	Recruited	Left the special constabulary
Avon and Somerset	50	152
Bedfordshire	14	40
Cambridgeshire	62	62
Cheshire	18	51
City of London	16	19
Cleveland	33	32
Cumbria	20	36
Derbyshire	30	82
Devon and Cornwall	162	136
Dorset	46	45
Durham	47	30
Dyfed-Powys	28	41
Essex	67	118
Gloucestershire	18	33
Greater Manchester	82	151
Gwent	13	18
Hampshire	176	203
Hertfordshire	34	63
Humberside	125	54
Kent	119	200
Lancashire	47	87
Leicestershire	18	66
Lincolnshire	31	42
Merseyside	105	13
Metropolitan police	(27)--	73
Norfolk	55	88
Northamptonshire	22	66
Northumbria	68	79
North Wales	29	86
North Yorkshire	16	104
Nottinghamshire	38	74
South Wales	43	54
South Yorkshire	56	101
Staffordshire	20	82
Suffolk	103	93
Surrey	21	41
Sussex	47	90
Thames Valley	65	101
Warwickshire	20	95
West Mercia	84	33
West Midlands	119	175
West Yorkshire	137	149
Wiltshire	37	28
Total	2,341	3,386

(27) The number of special constables recruited to the Metropolitan police during the period is not yet available

Source:

Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, Home Office

28 Feb 2000 : Column: 118W

DNA Database

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the national DNA database in identifying offenders. [111483]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Since it began operating in April 1995, the National DNA Database, operated by the Forensic Science Service on behalf of the police, has proved a highly effective intelligence tool in the fight against crime.

The Database identifies possible suspects of a crime through matching DNA from unsolved crime scene stains with DNA profiles of convicted or suspected people held on the Database. The average match rate is more than 40 per cent. and approximately 500 matches are reported each week to the police for investigation.

PR and Marketing Consultants

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the (a) reasons for and (b) cost of the use of public relations and marketing consultants by his Department since 1997. [111510]

Mr. Straw: Public relations and marketing consultants are used only where new knowledge and experience is needed which adds value to the Home Office's activities and where the expertise is not available in house or from another source. Cost for the period since 1997 is £111,919.00.

Police Station Closures

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations have closed to the public in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999 (i) in each police force area save the Metropolitan Police area and (ii) in the Metropolitan Police area. [111449]

Mr. Charles Clarke: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Decisions on the siting and need for police stations are matters for the Chief Officer's operational judgment within the resources available.

Rural Policing

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will take into account the recommendations resulting from his Department's research into the cost of policing in rural areas in deciding the police funding formula for 2001-02; [111515]

(2) what plans he has to implement the recommendations resulting from his Department's research into the cost of policing in rural areas. [111451]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The findings of the independent research report on policing sparsely populated rural areas were considered by a Home Office chaired Working Group, which included representatives of the police service, police authorities and local authorities, last summer. There was no single view within the Working Group on the conclusions of the report. There was general agreement that a sparsity factor had been detected, but less agreement about how to include it appropriately in the police funding formula.

28 Feb 2000 : Column: 119W

We have also taken into consideration the need for stability in the police funding system to enable police authorities to plan ahead. In the July 1998 White Paper, "Modern Local Government--In Touch With the People", my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said that we would not expect to make fresh changes to the method of calculation of Standard Spending Assessments (SSA) while a fundamental review of the local government grant distribution system is being conducted. This applies equally to the method of police grant distribution, as a common formula is used for distribution of police grant and SSA.

In the light of these factors we have not made any changes to the method of police grant distribution for 2000-01. The Government do not intend to make substantive changes to the funding formula during the more general review of the local government grant distribution system that is being taken forward in consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities.

Rural police forces will continue to benefit from the existing 'sparsity' element of the funding formula. This element allocates 0.5 per cent. of the available funding (about £35 million) on a judgmental basis.

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