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Best Value (Police)
30. Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the implementation of best value in police forces. [142673]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: Police authorities' first annual policing/best value performance plans were published on 31 March 2000. These set out their programmes of best value reviews for the next five years and the targets they have set for reducing domestic burglary, vehicle crime and, for major cities, robbery.
The results of police authorities' first year reviews, and their progress towards achieving these targets, will be published in their annual policing/best value performance plans on 31 March 2001.
Representation of the People Act
31. Mr. Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what responses he has received to the regulations made under the Representation of the People Act 2000; and when he plans to bring them into force. [142674]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We have received responses from some 38 councils, individuals and organisations and these are now being considered. I intend to lay the draft regulations before Parliament early in the new year to come into force on 16 February 2001.
Police Resources (North Yorkshire)
32. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on resourcing of the police of North Yorkshire. [142675]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I received no recent representations on resourcing for the police in North Yorkshire. Under the provisional police funding settlement for 2001-02, North Yorkshire Police Authority will receive central Government funding support of £84 million, an increase of 5.4 per cent. over 2000-01. North Yorkshire also will receive additional funding of £801,000, on present estimates, for the crime fighting fund, £3,205,000 for the airwave communications system, and £2,013,806 for rural policing.
CS Gas
34. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents involving the use of CS sprays by police officers in the last 18 months have resulted in formal complaints; how many complaints were upheld; and if he will make a statement. [142677]
Mr. Charles Clarke: In the 18-month period from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2000, 459 incidents involving the use of CS spray by police officers were referred to the Police Complaints Authority. Some of the incidents will have taken place before 1 April 1999. In the same period, 48 complaints concerning the use of CS spray were upheld
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances have been recorded in the last 12 months of CS spray being used by police officers in an inappropriate way. [143919]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information is not recorded in the format requested.
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In the 18-month period from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2000, 459 complaints involving the use of CS spray by police officers were referred to the Police Complaints Authority. Some of the incidents will have taken place before 1 April 1999.
In this period, 48 complaints concerning the use of CS spray (10.46 per cent.) were upheld.
Prison Deaths
35. Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what review his Department has conducted of deaths in prison during the last 12 months. [142678]
Mr. Boateng: Sadly, the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison in England and Wales has risen in recent years, to 91 in 1999. The figure for 2000 is 82, representing a small but welcome reduction.
Licensing Laws
36. Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made with preparing legislation to reform licensing laws in England and Wales. [142679]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is presently considering the responses we have received to the White Paper. He hopes to announce his final decisions on the way forward very soon. In addition, work is progressing on the detail of the policy in preparation for a Bill, which we hope to introduce as soon as parliamentary time permits.
Burglary
37. Mr. Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of household burglary. [142680]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We are committed to reducing domestic burglary by 25 per cent. by March 2005.
Under the reducing burglary initiative, part of our crime reduction programme, 231 local anti-burglary projects, covering over 1.3 million households, have been approved so far at a total cost of around f21 million. It is expected that the Initiative will soon be funding projects in high crime areas containing a total of over 2 million households and that it will prevent at least 15,000 offences by March 2002 and 25,000 in the longer term. Just as importantly, the lessons that we learn from the Initiative about what works and is most cost-effective in which particular circumstances, will help other crime and disorder partnerships to design their own anti-burglary strategies.
Up to £12 million has also been made available to provide home security improvements for low-income pensioners living in high crime areas in England and Wales.
We are also putting in place a wide variety of other measures to help reduce burglary:
- driving up the performance of crime and disorder partnerships including through development programmes, the new regional crime reduction directors, toolkits, and the crime reduction website;
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other parts of the crime reduction programme such as the CCTV and targeted policing initiatives and "Designing out crime" will also have an impact;
- better ways of dealing with offenders or those at risk of offending, including tougher sentencing for repeat burglars.
We are taking forward ideas to combat bogus callers through the distraction burglary task force, and two distraction burglary projects have also been funded under the reducing burglary initiative.
All police authorities have been required to set targets for domestic burglary reduction under the best value regime.
And we have also set ambitious targets for tackling drugs misuse, which is strongly connected to property crime, and have launched a number of related initiatives, including new drug treatment and testing orders and arrest referral schemes.
British Transport Police
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) operational and (b) target strength of the British Transport Police is in (i) London south Region, (ii) all London regions and (iii) the north-west. [144134]
Mr. Hill: I have been asked to reply.
The operational and target strength for the British Transport Police (BTP) in these regions is set out in the table.
| Number of Police Officers (all ranks) | ||
|---|---|---|
| BTP Area | Operational (current) strength | Target strength (set 1 April 2000) |
| London South Region | 303 | 302.6 |
| All London Regions | 1,017 | 1,044 |
| North West Region | 269 | 273.1 |
Handguns
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals in each of the last three years have been (a) arrested for and (b) convicted of wounding with a legally held handgun. [144575]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Arrests data held centrally and information collected on the Home Office court proceedings database do not identify the type of weapon used for violent offences.
Information taken from the data collection "Recorded crime in which firearms were reported to have been used or misappropriated" show that in 1999-2000 there were a total of 352 notifiable offences recorded by the police in which a handgun had been reported to have caused an injury (whether fired, used as a blunt instrument or in a threat). Figures for 1998-99 and 1997-98 are 239 and 317 respectively. The totals for injuries include fatalities. Information is not available as to whether the handgun was legally held or not.
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Litter Bins (Security)
Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has issued on the security implications of the provision of litter bins at (a) railway stations and (b) other public places. [144006]
Mr. Straw: The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is responsible for security measures at railway stations. The police provide advice on measures to improve security in other public places. Such protective security measures have been devised and are maintained to counter the current terrorist threat, to the extent that as the threat diminishes, so too will the need for restrictive security measures.
The Home Office (Police Scientific and Development Branch) has published a standard for the production of safe and affordable litter bins which has been circulated to the industry. A copy has been placed in the Library.
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