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Departmental Policies (Hemsworth and Wakefield)
Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly to the locations as possible, the effects of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997 on (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) Wakefield district. [153003]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 1999-2000, is available in the Library. The next report will be published shortly. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published. "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000" and "Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000" can be found in
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the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by Basic Command Unit and Crime and Disorder Partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested although set out are examples relating to the (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) Wakefield district constituency or the immediate locality:
West Yorkshire police in partnership with Wakefield Metropolitan district council, were awarded around £12,000 under Round Two of the Reducing Burglary Initiative for a scheme covering City Estate, Wakefield.
West Yorkshire police were awarded £488,000 under the Targeted Policing Initiative to roll-out across the force the lessons they have learned from a project run in Killingbeck (Leeds) on tackling domestic violence, and to apply those lessons to other forms of hate crime including racist and homophobic incidents. The project involves a graded response that includes working with both victims and offenders.
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV):
Wakefield District Community Safety Partnership were awarded £274,000 for the Castleford CCTV Initiative under Round One of the Crime Reduction Programme's CCTV Initiative. The project covers Castleford town centre, and aims to combat vehicle crime, shoplifting and criminal damage.
Wakefield District Community Safety Partnership have submitted two bids, to a total capital of £542,000 under the second round of the CCTV Initiative. Both bids are currently under consideration.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) Wakefield district to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
- 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established;
- racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;
- the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000;
- good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.
Citizenship
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will assess the desirability of amending the British Nationality Act 1981 to ensure that those born outside the United Kingdom to contract supplemented officers working overseas are eligible for full British citizenship. [153386]
Mrs. Roche: I have no reason to question the present arrangements.
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Police (North-west)
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has introduced to increase the recruitment of police officers in Greater Manchester; what the cost of these measures was; and what evaluation has been made of their success. [152809]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 9 March 2001]: The Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) will enable police forces to recruit 9,000 additional officers over and above the number previously planned in the three years to 2002-03. Under the CFF, Greater Manchester police have been allocated a total of 588 extra recruits.
According to the latest information provided by Greater Manchester police, the force now expects to recruit 147 CFF recruits this financial year. CFF grant payments made to Greater Manchester police so far this financial year total £1,388,171. CFF grant payments to forces are paid on the basis of anticipated recruitment of CFF officers. Variations in actual recruitment may affect total amounts due to individual forces, any overpayment may be reclaimed or offset against future payments.
The CFF is successfully helping Greater Manchester police to recruit officers over and above the force's previous plans.
To help forces meet their recruitment targets, the first ever National Recruitment Campaign was launched on 30 August. To 4 March 2001 over 121,000 responses had been received to the campaign advertisements. These had generated over 25,500 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to forces, 1,598 of which had been passed to Greater Manchester police. The total expected campaign spend in 2000-01 is £6.98 million excluding value added tax. The costs of the campaign cannot be broken down by individual police force as media for the campaign have been bought nationally.
The campaign has been very successful in generating inquiries and Expressions of Interest. Responsibility for processing EOIs rests with forces. Forces are being asked to report on the outcome of the EOIs with a view to assessing the effectiveness of the campaign.
For an indication of the expected impact of these measures and of the force's local recruitment activity on force strength, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to her on 9 March 2001, Official Report, column 387W.
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the Metropolitan police had previously served as police officers in the north-west region in each year since 1990. [152812]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 9 March 2001]: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that it is not possible to provide the information for each year since 1990. I am told, however, that a survey of serving officers indicates that there are currently 100 officers in the Metropolitan police who previously served as officers in a force in the north-west region of England.
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Animal Experiments
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on what grounds exemptions are granted for the use of dogs from non-designated breeders to be used in licensed procedures; [153272]
- (2) what steps are taken to ensure that animal experiments by commercial pet food companies comply with section 5(4) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; [153275]
(3) how many exemptions were granted in (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000 under section 10(3)(a) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; [153270]
(4) if he will make a statement on how his Department monitors the conditions in which dogs are bred and reared in non-designated breeding establishments. [153273]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 12 March 2001]: Dogs are primarily used in pharmaceutical research and development, or in pharmaceutical safety and efficacy evaluations. They are also used, when no other species is suitable, in the evaluation of cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory problems in humans. Such work contributes to advances in human healthcare. Dogs are also used in the development of veterinary medicines and techniques.
The work undertaken by commercial pet food companies is for the purpose of ensuring that food products for pets are safe, effective and nutritionally complete. Most of the procedures conducted are so mild as to not require licensed authority. The procedures which come under licence are very mild. There are pet re-homing schemes in place for animals once tests have been completed.
Under the terms of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 dogs and cats can be used only where animals of no other species are suitable. Together with primates and horses, the overall use of these species represented less than 1 per cent. of the total animals used in scientific procedures in 1999.
The numbers of exemptions under section 10(3)(a), allowing the use of dogs and cats bred or obtained from non-designated breeding establishments in the last three years are:
- 1998: 7
- 1999: 7
- 2000: 40
To comply with section 5(4) of the Act, any application to use protected animals in research must be subjected to a detailed cost/benefit assessment by Home Office inspectors. The likely adverse effects on the animals concerned must be weighed against the benefit likely to accrue as a result of the proposed programme of work. Such an assessment is applied to applications made by commercial pet food companies, as to any other. Information about the cost benefit assessment is set out in the paper by the chief inspector published as part of the Animal Procedures Committee annual report for 1997.
There is no authority under the 1986 Act to monitor conditions in non-designated breeding establishments.
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