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Asylum Seekers

23. Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to ensure that asylum seekers are able to work while awaiting determinations by the Home Office. [636]

Angela Eagle: Under the terms of the employment concession, adult asylum seekers can apply for permission to work if their application has been outstanding for longer than six months without a decision being made on it. There are no immediate plans to alter the way the concession operates.

24. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of applications for asylum have been refused since July 2000; and what percentage of those refused have (a) been deported and (b) otherwise left the country. [637]

Angela Eagle: 80 per cent. of initial decisions made since July 2000 were to refuse asylum and exceptional leave to remain.

There were over 8,900 asylum removals in the 12 months ending March 2001. It is not possible to identify how many of those removals related to initial decisions since July 2000, nor how many former asylum seekers leave the country without notifying the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND).

26. Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the outcome of the review of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers. [639]

Angela Eagle: We are considering the evidence and will announce our conclusions in due course.

2 Jul 2001 : Column: 55W

Visible Policing

25. Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will visit a police station in Castle Point to discuss visible policing. [638]

Mr. Denham: I am keen to visit as many police forces as I can to hear the views of the police service and to see the work being done to reduce crime and to provide public reassurance. Although I do not currently have plans to visit Essex, I am always interested in discussing ways of making police officers more visible and accessible to the communities they serve.

Young Offenders (Secure Accommodation)

28. Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on plans for the provision of secure accommodation for young offenders in Wales. [641]

Beverley Hughes: The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales commissions and purchases secure accommodation for remanded and sentenced young people. The Board aims to increase secure accommodation for male and female juvenile offenders in Wales, as part of its wider strategy to provide 400 more secure training centre places for England and Wales as a whole. A number of Welsh sites have been looked at but none has yet been selected for development.

County Police Forces

29. Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on maintaining the identity of county police forces. [642]

Mr. Denham: We have no present plans to change the procedures in the Police Act 1996 for the alteration of police areas.

We will consider on their merits any proposals from police authorities for amalgamations which might lead to more effective policing.

We will continue to encourage Chief Officers and police authorities to take advantage of opportunities for collaboration between forces where this will help deliver best value.

Police Recruitment

30. Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the level of police recruitment. [643]

Mr. Denham: Following the introduction of the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) in April 2000, there has already been a significant rise in police recruitment. Forces recruited 7,415 officers during the year to 31 March 2001, 64 per cent. more than the previous year.

About 2,800 recruits were funded by the CFF in 2000–01. Forces will be able to recruit about 3,200 CFF officers this year and a further 3,000 in 2002–03.

Given forces' recruitment plans and projections of wastage, we expect police strength to reach at least 128,000 officers by March 2002 and record numbers by March 2003.

2 Jul 2001 : Column: 56W

To help forces meet their recruitment targets the first National Recruitment Campaign was launched in August 2000.

By 1 May 2001, the campaign had generated over 147,000 responses and over 30,000 expressions of interest had been forwarded to police forces. A further phase of the campaign is planned for the end of the summer.

Bids covering a number of police force areas have proceeded to Stage Two of the bidding round of the Government's Starter Home Initiative under which £250 million will be made available over the next three years to help key workers purchase homes.

We are reviewing entry requirements for the Police Service to ensure consistency across forces and a good supply of quality candidates.

Police Morale

31. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to improve police morale. [645]

Mr. Denham: There is no established direct method of measuring the level of morale in the police service.

As part of the process of police reform the Government are determined to tackle those elements of police officers' working lives that can create frustration and detract from their ability to do their jobs in the way that they would wish.

We are determined to reduce the burden of unnecessary bureaucracy.

We are investing in technological support to help increase the effectiveness of the police in fighting crime and to ensure that officers are able to spend as much of their time as possible on the front line.

An ambitious programme of work in police training has begun to raise professional standards for officers and support staff, and to achieve greater consistency nationally.

We have turned a round the decline in police numbers that started under the last Government. Substantial Government investment in the police service is now delivering the positive results that we promised when the Crime Fighting Fund was launched in September 1999 and commenced in April 2000.

Police numbers rose in the 12 months to March 2001 by 1,349 officers to 125,519—an increase of 1.1 per cent. This is the largest single annual increase in police numbers since 1988–89.

We expect that within the lifetime of this Parliament police strength will reach 130,000 officers.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the level of police morale in England and Wales. [152]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 25 June 2001]: There is no established direct method of measuring the level of morale in the police service.

As part of the process of police reform the Government are determined to tackle those elements of police officers' working lives that can create frustration and detract from their ability to do their jobs in the way that they would wish.

2 Jul 2001 : Column: 57W

We are determined to reduce the burden of unnecessary bureaucracy.

We are investing in technological support to help increase the effectiveness of the police in fighting crime and to ensure that officers are able to spend as much of their time as possible on the front line.

An ambitious programme of work in police training has begun to raise professional standards for officers and support staff, and to achieve greater consistency nationally.

We have turned around the decline in police numbers that started under the last Government. Substantial Government investment in the police service is now delivering the positive results that we promised when the Crime Fighting Fund was launched in September 1999 and commenced in April 2000.

Police numbers rose in the 12 months to March 2001 by 1,349 officers to 125,519—an increase of 1.1 per cent. This is the largest single annual increase in police numbers since 1988–89.

We intend that police numbers overall should continue to rise. We expect that within the lifetime of this Parliament police strength will reach 130,000 officers.

Police Complaints System

33. Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reform the police complaints system. [647]

Mr. Denham: We will bring forward legislation in this Session, which will include provisions to establish a new police complaints system to replace the current system. The new system will mean a new body, the independent Police Complaints Commission, will replace the Police Complaints Authority. The Government published their plans for a new system in a framework document on 18 December last year, copies of which can be found in the Library.

Private Security Industry

Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to begin the registration of private security industry staff as outlined in the Private Security Act 2001. [618]

Mr. Denham: The Private Security Industry Act 2001 provides for the establishment of a Security Industry Authority which will have responsibility for licensing individuals employed in designated sectors of the security industry; and approving companies.

We aim to establish the authority as soon as possible. Once established, the authority will draw up its licensing criteria and institute a rolling programme of licensing. The relevant provisions of the Act will come into force by means of commencement orders when the authority is ready to begin its licensing operations.

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