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Police (Human Rights)

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the impact on his policy of Article 3 of the European Convention on his policy concerning Human Rights on the use by police officers of handcuffs. [114376]

Mr. Charles Clarke: We believe that the use of handcuffs by the police, in accordance with the relevant provisions of domestic law and the applicable Home Office guidelines, is compatible with the convention.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the impact of Article 6 of the ECHR on his policy relating to actions against the police for negligence in the investigation and suppression of crime. [114378]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government's view on this matter is set out in a letter sent from the Home Office to all police forces and police authorities on 4 March 1999, a copy of which is in the Library. That letter advises that, on the basis of the interpretation of Article 6 adopted by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Osman v. United Kingdom, police forces should exercise considerable caution before applying to have claims for negligence struck out on the basis of public policy immunity.

Metropolitan Police Service

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was (a) the recruitment intake target for and (b) the actual number of joiners to the Metropolitan

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Police Service on the intake start dates, (i) 2 May 1999, (ii) 6 June 1999, (iii) 11 July 1999, (iv) 15 August 1999, (v) 19 September 1999, (vi) 24 October 1999, (vii) 28 November 1999 and (viii) 4 January 1999; and what are the latest intake start dates for which figures are available. [114375]

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

	Intake start date	(a) Recruitment intake target	(b) Actual number of joiners
(i)	2 May 1999	130	145
(ii)	6 June 1999	130	86
(iii)	11 July 1999	130	90
(iv)	15 August 1999	130	110
(v)	19 September 1999	130	103
(vi)	24 October 1999	130	87
(vii)	28 November 1999	130	94
(viii)	4 January 2000	130	101
	7 February 2000	130	57

Note:

The provisional intake targets are outlined at the beginning of each financial year. This takes into account anticipated wastage and the desire to maintain officer numbers. The 1999-2000 recruitment target was 1,300 officers (i.e. 130 per intake).

The Commissioner tells me that a final intake for 1999-2000 is planned to start on 13 March with 75 recruits.

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Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers left the Metropolitan Police Service in (a) the first and (b) the second year of service in (i) 1996, (ii) 1997, (iii) 1998 and (iv) 1999. [114374]

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

		(a) Officers leaving in the first year of service	(b) Officers leaving in the second year of service
(i)	1996	45	28
(ii)	1997	50	29
(iii)	1998	128	30
(iv)	1999	152	30

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were (a) the police establishment numbers and (b) the actual police numbers in the London Borough of Southwark, on 1 April in each year from 1980. [113823]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The practice of setting establishment numbers for police forces in England and Wales ended in 1994-95. The Commissioner of Police

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of the Metropolis tells me that information about police establishment numbers at borough level is not available, nor is information about actual police numbers in the years 1980-89. Actual police numbers as at 31 December in each year from 1990 are in the table:

Year	Strength
31 December 1990	902
31 December 1991	886
31 December 1992	816.65
31 December 1993	849.78
31 December 1994	871.47
31 December 1995	902.86
31 December 1996	878.16
31 December 1997	860.51
31 December 1998	876.43
31 December 1999	851.8

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the revenue cost of (a) Rotherhithe, (b) Tower Bridge, (c) Southwark, (d) Walworth, (e) Camberwell, (f) Peckham and (g) East Dulwich police stations in each year for the years 1990-1991 to 1999-2000. [113822]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District tells me that the information requested for the financial year 1994-95 is not held centrally. Figures for 1994-95 onwards are in the table:

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	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000(20)
Camberwell	80,902	133,860	83,907	153,123	73,096	27,604
Walworth	347,834	167,662	201,727	174,155	177,345	109,987
Peckham	225,157	324,641	278,532	315,916	264,646	112,740
Rotherhithe	178,522	409,652	63,455	48,877	89,139	28,548
Southwark	392,504	248,290	269,820	245,814	215,681	57,935
Tower Bridge	153,141	218,268	76,731	76,161	51,713	19,602
East Dulwich	144,413	107,658	129,629	185,580	156,632	71,904

(20) Expenditure only up to November 1999

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Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of capital works to (a) Rotherhithe, (b) Tower Bridge, (c) Southwark, (d) Walworth, (e) Camberwell, (f) Peckham and (g) East Dulwich police stations, in each year from 1990-91 to 1999-2000. [113821]

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Mr. Charles Clarke: The Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District tells me that the information requested is not available for the financial year 1990-91. Figures for 1991-92 to 1999-2000 are shown in the table.

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Police station capital expenditure 1990-91 to 1999-2000

Year	Camberwell	Walworth	Peckham	Rotherhithe	Southwark	Tower Bridge	East Dulwich
1991-92	--	61,000	--	--	--	--	--
1992-93	10,000	2,400,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
1993-94	--	2,052,000	--	--	--	4,701	7,147
1994-95	--	6,192	715	3,744	138,021	16,625	730
1995-96	1,600	15,295	50,005	1,637	29,934	1,541	--
1996-97	--	--	4,991	--	--	--	1,287
1997-98	9,325	--	15,274	600	41,489	--	3,582
1998-99	--	61,000	2,496	96	1,116,975	--	--
1999-2000	307,000	--	--	--	1,513,161	--	--

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Press Office

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications there have been for positions on the new Home Office Press Office news team. [113824]

Mr. Straw: The Government Communications and Information Service Development Centre received a total of 108 applications to date.

Illegal Drugs

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish estimates of the quantity of illegal drugs consumed in the United Kingdom by type of drug in the last five years. [114223]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is not available. Some exploratory research on sizing the drugs market was carried out by the Office for National

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Statistics in 1998 as part of a broader European-wide project on estimating the contribution of illegal activities to national budgets. Further research has been commissioned by the Home Office to measure the size of the United Kingdom drugs market, to help support the Government's Drugs Strategy. This project should provide better information on drugs consumption. An initial report is due to be made to the Home Office by July.

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) cautions there were for people accused of possessing drugs by (i) class of drug and (ii) police authority, in the most recent year for which figures are available. [114222]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Information on the number of prosecutions made and cautions given for illegal possession of drugs in 1998 in England and Wales, by class of drug and police force area, is given in the table.

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Number of persons prosecuted and cautioned for illegal possession of drugs, by class of drug and police force area, England and Wales 1998

	Class A			Class B			Class C
Police force	Prosecutions	Cautions	Total	Prosecutions	Cautions	Total	Prosecutions	Cautions	Total
England
Avon and Somerset	652	152	804	814	880	1,694	23	6	29
Bedfordshire	132	24	156	603	347	950	8	0	8
Cambridgeshire	240	27	267	580	579	1,159	21	3	24
Cheshire	661	36	697	1,328	760	2,088	34	4	38
Cleveland	354	64	418	451	614	1,065	40	7	47
Cumbria	223	100	323	673	481	1,154	14	2	16
Derbyshire	205	34	239	605	615	1,220	44	4	48
Devon and Cornwall	331	94	425	1,555	1,264	2,819	28	8	36
Dorset	217	1	218	605	289	894	12	2	14
Durham	115	3	118	409	45	454	22	0	22
Essex	309	66	375	1,167	977	2,144	17	1	18
Gloucestershire	189	77	266	427	773	1,200	3	2	5
Greater Manchester	995	291	1,286	2,485	2,620	5,105	93	4	97
Hampshire	363	28	391	2,080	1,089	3,169	27	2	29
Hertfordshire	159	46	205	654	487	1,141	7	1	8
Humberside	221	20	241	730	478	1,208	80	5	85
Kent	230	36	266	1,727	1,168	2,895	28	6	34
Lancashire	742	133	875	2,320	1,618	3,938	71	5	76
Leicestershire	203	9	212	896	511	1,407	11	0	11
Lincolnshire	139	8	147	796	378	1,174	18	2	20
Merseyside	787	198	985	2,953	2,030	4,983	21	71	92
Metropolitan Police(21)	3,966	1,378	5,344	10,506	15,899	26,405	83	48	131
Norfolk	227	11	238	831	439	1,270	13	0	13
Northamptonshire	157	17	174	418	535	953	4	0	4
Northumbria	357	92	449	1,990	2,100	4,090	106	22	128
North Yorkshire	321	35	356	810	406	1,216	28	5	33
Nottinghamshire	513	15	528	1,357	564	1,921	34	3	37
South Yorkshire	1,079	206	1,285	1,646	730	2,376	53	6	59
Staffordshire	613	8	621	967	711	1,678	29	4	33
Suffolk	135	45	180	631	632	1,263	9	8	17
Surrey	108	21	129	575	655	1,230	10	1	11
Sussex	305	72	377	967	842	1,809	19	6	25
Thames Valley	569	33	602	1,758	493	2,251	23	0	23
Warwickshire	72	14	86	307	357	664	4	0	4
West Mercia	295	114	409	743	1,234	1,977	7	4	11
West Midlands	1,064	202	1,266	3,683	3,002	6,685	44	7	51
West Yorkshire	2,519	288	2,807	3,618	1,289	4,907	63	4	67
Wiltshire	124	20	144	413	351	764	2	0	2
Total	19,891	4,018	23,909	55,078	48,242	103,320	1,153	253	1,406
Wales
Dyfed-Powys	252	47	299	1,256	1,025	2,281	61	4	65
Gwent	444	25	469	817	1,165	1,982	15	6	21
North Wales	229	53	282	1,002	785	1,787	10	7	17
South Wales	252	42	294	2,355	1,198	3,553	74	6	80
Total	1,177	167	1,344	5,430	4,173	9,603	160	23	183

(21) Including City of London

Note:

As a person may be prosecuted or cautioned for more than one class of drug, columns for different classes of drug cannot be added together to produce sub-totals or totals

Source:

Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate

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