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Borough By-elections
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the holding of a borough by-election on the same day as the county council election and general election; and if he will make a statement. [157869]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: None. Under existing legislation there is nothing to prevent a borough by-election from being held on the same day where the polls for the ordinary elections for county councils and a general election are being taken together. In that event, discretion on whether or not that casual election should also be combined with the other elections rests with the returning officers concerned.
Police Numbers
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cause was of each revision to the statistics on police numbers for 31 March 2000 published in November 2000; and what the impact of each revision was on the difference between total police numbers for 31 March 2000 published in (a) November 2000 and (b) the final figures published on 15 January 2001. [157121]
Mr. Charles Clarke: No police strength figures were published in November 2000. The figures for 31 March first appeared in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 'Police Service Personnel England and Wales as at 31 March 2000' published on 30 August 2000. A correction to the 31 March 2000 figures was made in the next police strength Bulletin (concerned with figures for 30 September 2000), which was first published on 14 December 2000. This correction was made because it was discovered there had been some double counting of the number of secondments to central services. This originated from the National Criminal Intelligence Service return being completed incorrectly. The overall police strength figures were revised downwards by 248 from 124,418 to 124,170.
The figures for 30 September 2000 which were published on 14 December 2000 were subsequently revised, and the Bulletin re-issued on 16 January 2001. There were no differences between the police figures for 31 March 2000 in these two Bulletins. The revisions made in the 16 January 2001 publication related to the figures for 30 September. There were two changes. First, the overall police strength figures were revised upwards by 451 officers because of undercounting by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The number of officers seconded to Hertfordshire, Essex and Surrey had been deducted twice from the total number of officers.
Secondly, the MPS figure on minority ethnic officers on 30 September was corrected from 1,227 to 1,013 because the higher figure had included in the minority ethnic group some 214 officers classified as 'White Irish' or 'Other White'.
A further revision to the 30 September 2000 figures was made in the written answer given on 22 March 2001, Official Report, column 324W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesham (Mr. Pond) which concerned police strength numbers on 31 January 2001. This was due to a correction from Northumbria police who reduced their total number of officers by 67 from 3,885 to 3,818.
Police Costs
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of employing police officers as a percentage of the total force budget for each police force in England for each year since 1990. [156174]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is set out in the table which has been placed in the Library.
Illegal Trafficking (Prostitution)
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests and (b) successful prosecutions there have been of individuals suspected of illegal trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution in the last 12 months. [157525]
Mr. Charles Clarke: It is not possible to identify persons in the Home Office's Court Proceedings Database who are arrested or prosecuted for offences connected with illegal trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution.
The available information relates to persons proceeded against and those convicted of certain offences of procuration as follows:
| Proceeded against | Convicted | |
|---|---|---|
| Procuring female for immoral purposes, or using drugs to obtain or facilitate sexual intercourse (Sexual Offences Act 1956, sections 2, 3, 4, 22 and 23) | 5 | 1 |
| Detention of female in brothel or other premises (ibid, sections 24) | -- | -- |
| Living on earnings of prostitution or exercising control over prostitute (ibid, sections 30 and 31) | 48 | 37 |
Information for 2000 is not yet available.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported from the United Kingdom due to their involvement in the illegal importation of women and girls from abroad for the purpose of sexual exploitation or prostitution in the last 12 months. [157526]
Mrs. Roche: The Immigration Service does not routinely receive statistics on prosecutions for non- immigration criminal offences, such as the involvement in the illegal importation of women and girls from abroad for the purpose of sexual exploitation or prostitution, therefore no correlation of these offences and the deportation of offenders can be made.
Voluntary Search and Rescue
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support his Department gives to local voluntary search and rescue organisations. [157439]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Local voluntary search and rescue organisations benefit from the support which the Home Office gives to the search and rescue community at the national level.
The Home Office (HO) provides technical advice on radio communications and spectrum matters to the National Controlling Committee which meets under the auspices of Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The committee, among other activities, vets applications by local voluntary search and rescue organisations to use dedicated HO frequencies.
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It is anticipated that the work of this committee and HO support will be transferred during April 2001 to the United Kingdom Search and Rescue (SAR) Communications Working Group under the newly formed UK SAR Strategic Committee.
Wrongful Convictions
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in providing support for people who have been wrongfully convicted. [157445]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office has set up a working party to look at what might be needed, in terms of advice and counselling, needed by those released after successful appeal against conviction. A report has been prepared by a consultant and recommendations will go to Ministers by the summer.
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been released on grounds of wrongful conviction in the past five years. [157446]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Provisional figures relating to prisoners whose appeal was upheld on release and who were discharged on appeal for the past five years are shown in the table.
Provisional figures for this year from 1 January to 28 February, inclusive, show that of the 13,587 final discharges so far, 58 had their appeal upheld on release and 25 were discharged on appeal.
| Year | Appeal upheld on release | Discharged on appeal |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 222 | 218 |
| 1997 | 231 | 251 |
| 1998 | 404 | 287 |
| 1999 | 473 | 282 |
| 2000 | 405 | 220 |
| Total | 1,735 | 1,258 |
Racism
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints in relation to allegations of racism (a) were made, (b) were investigated by the police, (c) resulted in prosecutions and (d) resulted in successful prosecutions in (i) 1999 and (ii) 2000. [156076]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 29 March 2001]: Information recorded centrally shows that the number of racist incidents recorded by the police throughout England and Wales for the financial year 1998-99 was 23,049 and for 1999-2000 was 47,814. These are incidents recorded either under the Association of Chief Police Officers' definition of a racist incident
- "any incident in which it appears to the reporting or investigating officer that the complaint involves an element of racial motivation, or any incident which includes an allegation of racial motivation made by any person"
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-
which applied until February 1999 or under the new simplified definition of a racist incident proposed by the Lawrence Inquiry, adopted at that time ("any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person"). Incidents included here are therefore wider than the normal definition of a crime in the Crime Statistics and include low level harassment.
In terms of figures relating to investigations by police of these offences and any details regarding prosecutions relating to racist incidents, data are unavailable.
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