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Identity Parades
6. Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley): What plans he has to stop accused persons from changing their appearance prior to an identity parade. [116790]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Charles Clarke): Effective identity parades always depend to some extent on the co-operation of suspects. The Government do not believe that legal powers to prevent them from changing their appearance before a parade would be workable, but if they do so between the taking of a photograph at the time of arrest or after charge and any attempt to hold an identification parade, that may be given in evidence if their case comes to trial. The police may then consider whether an identification can be made by other means. Group identification, use of video film and confrontation are methods specifically provided for in the code of practice on identification procedures.
Mrs. Cryer: I thank my hon. Friend for his constructive comments. May I draw his attention to the case of my young constituent Gemma, who was indecently assaulted last November? Due to the suspect changing his appearance, plus the use of woolly hats and a two-month delay, when she eventually got to the identity parade, she was unable to pick him out. Perhaps we could make greater use of photographs or videos on arrest to protect the likes of Gemma, so that further women and girls do not have to experience such a distressing and unresolved situation.
Mr. Clarke: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important matter. I have been briefed on the case of Gemma, her constituent. I pay tribute to the campaign work that has been done by Gemma's mother to highlight the issue of suspects changing their appearance prior to identity parades. She assembled a petition and there has been press coverage of this important matter. I emphasise that the code of practice governing identification procedures is under review, so an opportunity is provided to reconsider the detailed rules. A particular issue in the review is how the police should react where the suspect dresses in such a way as to disguise a distinguishing feature, as in the ways mentioned by my hon. Friend.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): I appreciate that there is a real problem of a suspect changing his appearance at an identity parade. Will the Minister support my move to bring English law in line with Scots law, where a trial must be brought within 110 days of the accused being charged, for the simple reason that witnesses tend to forget appearance, even down to the colour of a woolly hat, as the hon. Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer) mentioned?
Mr. Clarke: The hon. Lady raises a fair point for debate. I can confirm that we are considering ways of meeting that point. It is the case that identification parades in particular are made less reliable the more time passes between the event and the parade.
Drug Treatment (Offenders)
7. Jackie Ballard (Taunton): If he will make a statement on the availability of drug treatment facilities for offenders. [116791]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng): A key element of the Government's crime reduction strategy is to get drug misusing offenders into treatment and thereby reduce drug-related crime.
Initiatives in hand include piloting the drug treatment and testing order and development of arrest referral.
Jackie Ballard: I thank the Minister for that response. I am sure that he will be aware of the recent report of Viscountess Runciman of Doxford and the comments within it that it is important that diversion via the criminal justice system does not distort the use of current drug treatment services or the allocation of future resources at the expense of the majority of problem drug users who do not commit crime or who, with effective treatment, could be prevented from committing crime in future. In the light of those comments, what targets will the right hon. Gentleman be setting for the maximum time that anyone, offender or not, should have to wait for drug treatment?
Mr. Boateng: We will not be setting targets, but we will be working closely with the Department of Health, with a view to recruiting about 300 drug workers to complement the existing facilities. There is, as the hon. Lady has identified, a capacity issue. By April 2001, we have a target of 685 drug workers to be recruited and trained. We believe that that will ensure that the concerns that Viscountess Runciman expressed are not realised.
Mr. Martin Linton (Battersea): Does my right hon. Friend agree that the drug treatment programmes will be more successful if a significant number of the drug workers are recruited from outside agencies that have built up expertise, mainly by using former addicts, who have far more credibility in the eyes of prisoners?
Mr. Boateng: We know from experience in the prison service that the voluntary sector, including the use of people who have hands-on, day-to-day experience of having to cope with drug problems in their own life, can make a real and appreciable difference to the success rate in turning people around from drugs.
Pilot projects in relation to work between the probation service, the police and drug addicts have used the voluntary sector. That has proved extremely successful, reducing average drug expenditure from £400 a week to £70, with a corresponding decrease in reliance on crime. That is good news, and the voluntary sector has a vital role to play.
Mr. Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden): Does the Minister accept that many drug addicts finance their habit by crime? Yet in many areas where addicts wish to break the habit and go on a methadone withdrawal programme, they face a waiting list. They are told to go away and
continue financing the habit, and return in a few months. How does the hon. Gentleman reconcile his rather complacent answer with this extraordinary situation?
Mr. Boateng: The answer is not complacent. We have recognised the need to recruit more drug workers and we are doing so. The right hon. Gentleman should reflect on the experience of his time in office and compare it to what we are doing now. This Government have made available an extra £217 million to tackle the deficit in treatment, and that is money that would never have been provided had he been returned to office at the general election.
Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West): Has the Minister seen the comment made by a spokesman for RAPT--the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust--that while the number of people in prison who suffer from alcohol dependency or whose crimes involve alcohol misuse greatly outnumbers those dependent on illegal drugs, the amount spent on illegal drug misuse in prisons is some £70 million but virtually nothing is spent on alcohol offenders? Why is that?
Mr. Boateng: It is certainly not true to say that nothing is spent. Not as much is spent on alcohol abuse as is spent on drug abuse, but we recognise that the two are increasingly linked. It is important that we have in place the treatment facilities that deal with both where appropriate, and that is what we seek to do.
Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath): Does the Minister recognise that his policies of letting out more than 2,000 convicted drug dealers and more than200 international drug traffickers are putting ever more strain on drug treatment facilities? Was not his and the Prime Minister's slogan "Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime" just another bogus slogan?
Mr. Boateng: No, because the figures to which the hon. Gentleman refers disguise the fact that the home detention curfew scheme has had a success rate of more than 90 per cent. He and his party supported the proposal on the Home Affairs Committee and his party did not vote against it when it had the opportunity to do so in the House. The scheme is working and it is about better protecting the public, which we intend to continue.
Police Time
8. Charlotte Atkins (Staffordshire, Moorlands): What recent discussions he has had with chief constables about increasing the amount of police officers' time spent on front-line operations against crime and disorder. [116792]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Charles Clarke): I most recently discussed those matters with chief constables at the Association of Chief Police Officers spring seminar on Thursday. The introduction of best value into the police service and the recycling of efficiency savings into front line policing should allow more police officer time to be spent on reducing crime. Information technology systems being delivered under the national strategy for police information systems and new
radio technology being provided as part of the public safety radio communications project will also do much to free officers from administrative burdens.
Charlotte Atkins: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I am sure that he is aware that Staffordshire police authority spends 18.3 per cent. of its net expenditure on pensions, which is 50 per cent. above the national average. Since our meeting in March, has he had time to consider ways in which Staffordshire might be able to overcome that historic funding problem? Unlike the hon. Member for Lichfield (Mr. Fabricant), I welcome the early recruitment of extra police officers for Staffordshire.
Mr. Clarke: I first pay tribute to the work being done by my hon. Friend in campaigning for proper resourcing for policing in Staffordshire and, in particular, addressing the problem with pensions to which she refers. The increasing size of the pensions component within the funding formula nationally went up from 13.2 per cent. in 1998-99 to 14.5 per cent. in 1999-2000. As she says, Staffordshire's 18.3 per cent. is among the highest of the proportions being taken out. As my hon. Friend knows from our meeting, we are actively considering the possibility of having a uniform system across all forces, so the same proportion would be taken out. That would involve serious managerial issues, as I know she understands, but we are actively considering the best way to achieve that. I hope that we will be able to advance proposals for consideration before too long.
Mr. James Clappison (Hertsmere): Will the Minister give all necessary support to the Hertfordshire police force in its new responsibilities for policing boroughs such as Hertsmere, which were formerly part of the Metropolitan force's area? Is the Minister aware that up to 1 April, there was a perceived lack of any front line police operations--or any other form of visible policing--in Hertsmere, with a total increase in crime of 11 per cent., an increase in violent crime of 51 per cent. and a drop in the clear-up rate of 27 per cent? Is that not an unsatisfactory state of affairs that needs to be put right, and does it not make a mockery of loud claims from Ministers to be better protecting the public?
Mr. Clarke: I certainly can agree to give all support to the forces concerned. I have discussed the matter with the Hertfordshire constabulary and with the Metropolitan police, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will acknowledge the efforts of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to bring about the changes that are being made, which were in response to representations from Members of Parliament with constituencies in the home counties.
An Audit Commission report in 1998-99 found that the national average for police officer time spent in public was 52 per cent. The highest figure was in north Yorkshire, at 73 per cent., and the lowest was in Derbyshire, at 40 per cent. We need to achieve much higher and more uniform levels across the country. That is why we are implementing changes such as are taking place in Hertsmere, and why we are making the changes that I mentioned earlier.
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