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Police Funding
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the estimated proportion of police funding which will be allocated to police pension costs in each of the next four years; what is the estimated annual increase in real terms for police funding under the comprehensive spending review after pension costs are taken into account; and if he will make a statement; [133179]
- (2) if he will list each initiative since 1997 under the (a) Capital Modernisation Fund, (b) Crime Reduction Fund and (c) the Crime Fighting Fund including (i) the current amount budgeted in each year to date, (ii) the initial amount budgeted in each year to date and (iii) the total expended in each financial year of the initiative date; and if he will make a statement. [133183]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 27 July 2000]: In the time available it has not been possible to complete the answers to these questions. I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my reply in the Library.
Passports
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the numbers of staff required by the Travel Document Section to prevent the backlog of applications increasing. [133218]
Mr. Boateng: Since autumn 1999 the number of staff in the Travel Document Section has increased from 20 to more than 90, which is nearly at full complement. Once the present backlog has been eliminated, and in the absence of any unforeseen circumstances, present staff levels should prevent an increase in the backlog of applications.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to registration officers regarding checks on the passports of persons intending to marry; if the registration officers are explicitly instructed not to check that any visas in passports are valid; what guidance has been issued to registration officers who discover that a visa has expired; and if he will make a statement. [131324]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 18 July 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Lidington, dated 28 July 2000:
- As Registrar General I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the checking of passports of persons intending to marry. (131324).
- I have not issued any guidance to registration officers regrading checks on passports or the validity of visas in passports of persons intending to marry, nor on any action to follow the discovery of an expired visa.
28 Jul 2000 : Column: 1154W
- Registration officers should request documentation showing use and spellings of names and detail of age, marital status and nationality in order to verify that the particulars to be entered in the notice of marriage are accurate. A variety of documents may be produced, including a passport.
- The fact that someone has overstayed their permitted stay in the UK is not a lawful impediment to marriage.
Road Safety
Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 July 2000, Official Report, column 323W, on road safety, (1) how many fixed penalty fines were imposed on people cycling on pavements in the period 1 August 1999 to the latest available date in each division of the Essex Police Authority; [133360]
- (2) how many fixed penalty fines were imposed on people cycling on pavements in the period 1 January to the latest date for which figures are available; [133358]
(3) if he will list the four police authorities which had not issued a fixed penalty fine for people cycling on pavements since it was introduced on 1 August 1999; and what fines have been imposed since 1 January in those police areas. [133359]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Bedfordshire and Gwent are the only two police forces known not to have issued fixed penalty notices to people cycling on pavements during the period 1 August to 31 December 1999.
The four police forces mentioned in my answer of 20 July 2000, Official Report, column 323W, for which information was not currently available were Cambridgeshire, Essex, Humberside and West Yorkshire. Data have now been received from Humberside (which shows that 19 fixed penalty notices were issued for cycling on the pavement in the period August to December 1999) and from Essex (76 such notices). Information by individual police divisions within Essex is not available.
No request has yet been made to police forces to provide similar information for 2000.
Police (Devon and Cornwall)
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the planned number of new police officers is in (a) the UK and (b) England for each of the next three years; and what the total number was in Devon and Cornwall in each of the last three years. [130700]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I am responsible for policing in England and Wales. I cannot therefore provide projections on a UK wide basis.
The projections we have for future years were set out in my reply to the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr. Paterson) on 24 July 2000, Official Report, columns 756-57W.
Police numbers for the Devon and Cornwall constabulary for the last three years are set out as follows:
| Year | Police numbers |
|---|---|
| 31 March 1998 | 2,962 |
| 31 March 1999 | 2,887 |
| 31 March 2000 | 2,841 |
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Firearms
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to respond to the second report of Session 1999-2000 from the Home Affairs Committee on controls over firearms (HC 95). [130327]
Mr. Charles Clarke [pursuant to his reply, 24 July 2000, c. 449W]: The Home Affairs Committee Report raises a number of complex issues which the Government are carefully considering with a view to publishing a response by way of a Command Paper over the summer.
Central Services
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of planned spending on Home Office Central Services in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2002-03 and (d) 2003-04. [133402]
Mr. Straw: Planned spending on Home Office Central Services in 2000-01 is £98 million. I shall be considering the spending review settlement over the summer and making detailed plans for future years in due course.
Europol
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) purposes, (b) duties, (c) location and (d) personnel of the Europol National Unit; and what is the proposed Europol budget for 2001. [132663]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The purposes and duties of member states' Europol National Units are set out in Article 4 of the Europol Convention. The United Kingdom's Europol National Unit is situated within the International Division of the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) at their Headquarters in London. The personnel of the Europol National Unit, 12 staff in total, are all NCIS employees.
The Europol budget for 2001, agreed by the Council of the European Union is 35,391,300 euro. The United Kingdom will contribute 5,134,443 euro.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply of 11 July 2000, Official Report, columns 518-19W, concerning Europol, what the membership is of the Europol Working Group; how often it meets and who provides its Secretariat; and who represents the interests of the United Kingdom Government on this Group. [132662]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Europol Working Group comprises from all the European Union member states the Commission and Europol. The Working Group meets periodically at the invitation of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Since 1 July 1999, the date that Europol officially took up its duties, the Group has met five times, twice under each of the Finnish and Portuguese Presidencies and once so far under the French Presidency. The secretariat of the group is provided by the General Secretariat of the Council. The Home Office, in consultation with other departments and agencies, represents the interests of the United Kingdom at the Working Group meetings.
28 Jul 2000 : Column: 1156W
Crime (Colchester)
Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on changes in the level of reported crime in Colchester in each of the last five years. [133555]
Mr. Boateng: The latest available data for notifiable offences recorded by the police in Colchester division over the last five years are given in the table.
| Number of crimes recorded | Percentage of change compared to the previous year | |
|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 9,708 | -- |
| 1996-97 | 9,217 | -5 |
| 1997-98 | 8,260 | -10 |
| 1998-99(1) | 7,931 | -4 |
| 1998-99(1) | 9,076 | -- |
| 1999-2000 | 9,355 | 3 |
(1) Old rules.
(1) New rules.
Notes:
The rules for recording crimes changed in April 1998 which led to a large increase in the number recorded. Essex collected data based on the old rules and the new rules in 1998-99.
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