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Racial Abuse

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of racial abuse were recorded in (a) each police authority and (b) each constituency in the past five years. [121720]

17 May 2000 : Column: 170W

Mr. Charles Clarke: Information on the number of racist incidents recorded by the police is published annually by the Home Office in "Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System" for each police force area. Information is not collected centrally by constituency.

It is not possible to identify which of these incidents could be described as racial abuse.

Racially Motivated Crime

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) charged and (b) convicted of racially motivated crimes in each of the past five years (i) in England and (ii) in Wales. [121726]

Mr. Charles Clarke: No information is collected centrally on the number of persons charged or on the number convicted of a racially motivated offence.

Information is available on those cautioned or convicted of any offence identified as racially aggravated by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The statistics currently available cover the period October 1998 to September 1999 (December 1999 for the Crown court) in England and Wales. These show that 326 persons were cautioned by the police, 486 persons convicted at magistrates courts and 84 at the Crown court.

Humberside Police

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued in the Humberside police area. [121935]

Mr. Charles Clarke: As I stated in my reply to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins) on 21 February 2000, Official Report, column 824W, records of the numbers of anti-social behaviour orders applied for are not currently held centrally. We are not aware of any issued in the Humberside police area since the relevant provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force in April last year.

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the disbanding of Humberside police's Drug Squad. [121934]

Mr. Charles Clarke: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of the Humberside police. Inquiries have established, however, that there are no plans to disband the force's Drugs Squad.

Penalty Clauses

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the contracts entered into with private sector companies for the provision of goods or services since May 1997 where penalty clauses were triggered for non-performance; and if he will make a statement. [122025]

Mr. Straw: It is not my Department's policy to include penalty clauses in contracts. However, available details about contracts my Department has entered into with private sector companies for the provision of goods or services since May 1997 where financial compensation or damages were triggered for non-performance are given in the table.

17 May 2000 : Column: 171W

Company	Contract
Rebound ECD	Provision of Secure Training Centre
Medomsley Training Services Ltd.	Provision of Secure Training Centre
Premier Monitoring Services Ltd.	Provision of Electronic Monitoring Services
Premier Monitoring Services Ltd.	Provision of Electronic Monitoring Services
GSSC of Europe Ltd.	Provision of Electronic Monitoring Services
Securicor Custodial Services Ltd.	Provision of Electronic Monitoring Services
NPT Framework Agreement	Siemens

Crime Fighting Fund

Mr. Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to accelerate police recruitment under the Crime Fighting Fund; and if he will make a statement. [122564]

Mr. Straw: I announced in the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Burgon) on 9 February 2000, Official Report, column 172W, that all 43 forces in England and Wales had successfully bid for a share of the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) 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. These were to be phased on the basis of 1,000 recruits this year (2000-01), 2,000 in 2001-02 and 2,000 in 2002-03. I also gave details of the number of police officers each force had been allocated.

Since then, and as a result of the funding decisions outlined by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget, I was able to announce in my reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 27 March 2000, Official Report, columns 1-3W, that part of the £91 million provided in the Budget for modernising the police service in England and Wales would be used to accelerate the CFF with a view to delivering the 5,000 recruits within the first two years of the scheme.

I have consulted the police service and police authority representatives and I am now pleased to announce that forces will be able to recruit up to a maximum of 3,000 new recruits in year one of the scheme (2000-01), rather than 1,000 as announced in February, and the remaining 2,000 in year two (2001-02). Tripling the number which can be recruited during the current financial year will cost about £24 million above and beyond the £35 million which has already been provided for the current allocation. Further decisions on funding for the police service for 2001-04 will be announced as part of the Spending Review 2000 in the summer.

The table shows the revised distribution of officers allocated to each force under the accelerated scheme.

My officials have today written to each chief constable and each police authority to explain the funding arrangements under the scheme. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library.

The funding for each force will be determined once each force has provided a profile of their planned recruitment during the first year. This will help ensure that funding can be maintained for forces to recruit up to the maximum in year one. Forces are also being given the opportunity, by prior agreement, to revise their

17 May 2000 : Column: 172W

CFF allocations if they are experiencing difficulty in recruitment by deferring part of their allocation to year two and those who are able to, to accelerate some of their year two allocation into year one. No force will be able to exceed its overall total CFF allocation and any increase may be limited by the total CFF budget for year one.

Revised share of 5,000 recruits

	2000-01	2001-02
Forces	Year 1	Year 2	Total
Avon and Somerset	67	34	101
Bedfordshire	28	27	55
Cambridgeshire	37	5	42
Cheshire	47	39	86
City of London	8	0	8
Cleveland	20	8	28
Cumbria	25	15	40
Derbyshire	49	52	101
Devon and Cornwall	77	61	138
Dorset	29	17	46
Durham	36	15	51
Dyfed-Powys	25	25	50
Essex	70	33	103
Gloucestershire	29	23	52
Greater Manchester	186	192	378
Gwent	31	12	43
Hampshire	82	51	133
Hertfordshire	40	5	45
Humberside	47	27	74
Kent	82	64	146
Lancashire	75	51	126
Leicestershire	46	37	83
Lincolnshire	29	12	41
Merseyside	105	96	201
Metropolitan	663	450	1,113
Norfolk	35	31	66
North Wales	34	28	62
North Yorkshire	20	5	25
Northamptonshire	32	21	53
Northumbria	85	51	136
Nottinghamshire	52	35	87
South Wales	59	9	68
South Yorkshire	67	34	101
Staffordshire	49	34	83
Suffolk	31	14	45
Surrey	46	32	78
Sussex	69	43	112
Thames Valley	111	89	200
Warwickshire	21	9	30
West Mercia	50	39	89
West Midlands	173	137	310
West Yorkshire	107	24	131
Wiltshire	26	14	40
Total	3,000	2,000	5,000

Metropolitan Police Vehicles

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average daily number of Metropolitan police vehicles off the road for repairs in each month of this year; and if he will make a statement. [122362]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that the average daily number of vehicles off the road for repairs in each month of this year was as follows: January--532; February--427; March--405; and April--864.

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Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles the Metropolitan police had in (a) March 1997 and (b) March 2000. [122363]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that in March 1997 there were 4,160 vehicles; in March 2000 there were 3,991.

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