---

Islamic Radicals (Extradition)

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since May 1997 requests for extradition of Islamic radicals based in the United Kingdom have been turned down; and if he will make a statement. [14830]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: None.

Police Resignations

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many resignations there were from the police force in the year to March (a) 1997 and (b) 2001 due to (i) medical and (ii) other reasons. [9724]

16 Nov 2001 : Column: 964W

Mr. Denham [holding answer 24 October 2001]: The information requested is in the table provided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

	Medical retirements		Other reasons
Forces	1996–97	2000–01	1996–97	2000–01
England and Wales	2,012	1,209	3,340	4,244
Avon and Somerset	66	42	113	89
Bedfordshire	15	18	35	33
Cambridgeshire	20	11	39	55
Cheshire	19	22	45	57
City of London	7	9	30	29
Cleveland	22	9	25	41
Cumbria	18	24	40	37
Derbyshire	39	12	32	39
Devon and Cornwall	21	15	106	116
Dorset	11	12	52	54
Durham	23	8	25	41
Dyfed-Powys	12	14	19	33
Essex	29	34	72	106
Gloucestershire	11	7	45	43
Greater Manchester	207	110	152	189
Gwent	28	16	26	34
Hampshire	21	17	111	167
Hertfordshire	10	13	64	99
Humberside	19	20	47	98
Kent	15	29	108	124
Lancashire	36	30	70	99
Leicestershire	29	28	44	50
Lincolnshire	11	4	42	49
Merseyside	167	47	73	109
Metropolitan police	457	225	623	917
Norfolk	15	10	65	49
North Wales	33	31	27	44
North Yorkshire	39	37	22	30
Northamptonshire	14	8	23	38
Northumbria	85	28	78	100
Nottinghamshire	34	16	43	71
South Wales	43	76	92	69
South Yorkshire	33	30	61	99
Staffordshire	47	9	54	56
Suffolk	22	14	40	50
Surrey	24	18	56	74
Sussex	42	16	143	134
Thames Valley	55	20	94	165
Warwickshire	10	15	21	31
West Mercia	39	28	54	68
West Midlands	96	29	228	252
West Yorkshire	57	44	136	161
Wiltshire	11	5	65	46

Domestic Violence

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, by police authority, the number of reported incidents of domestic violence for each of the last three years for which figures are available. [10213]

Mr. Denham: Details of the numbers of domestic violence incidents recorded by police forces, obtained from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Annual Statistical Return, are given in the table. The definition of domestic violence incidents used for the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 figures is as follows:

Any violence between current or former partners in an intimate relationship, wherever and whenever the violence occurs. The violence may include physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse.

16 Nov 2001 : Column: 965W

The figures for 1998–99 used the following definition:

Any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases, the relationship will be between partners, married, cohabiting or otherwise; or ex-partners.

The figures for 1998–99 are therefore not directly comparable with those for 1999–2000 and 2000–01.

Domestic violence incidents

	Financial years
Forces	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Avon and Somerset	4,791	9,973	9,210
Bedfordshire	4,923	5,474	5,616
Cambridgeshire	1,113	2,558	2,959
Cheshire	9,503	7,271	7,393
City of London	83	n/a	22
Cleveland	4,818	3,980	4,540
Cumbria	3,268	3,140	3,294
Derbyshire	12,585	9,872	n/a
Devon and Cornwall	3,453	3,611	2,957
Dorset	2,116	2,306	2,361
Durham	1,930	4,679	5,446
Dyfed-Powys	2,106	2,184	1,670
Essex	10,850	10,841	9,936
Gloucestershire	1,421	6,248	6,061
Greater Manchester	56,203	46,330	51,448
Gwent	4,250	4,603	3,150
Hampshire	3,128	3,856	10,513
Hertfordshire	6,363	6,373	6,228
Humberside	1,148	7,787	6,356
Kent	9,605	8,997	8,926
Lancashire	6,778	8,560	17,392
Leicestershire	7,246	5,631	3,320
Lincolnshire	1,519	738	278
Merseyside	20,612	19,801	16,663
Metropolitan police	41,531	77,099	91,154
Norfolk	4,973	5,567	5,811
Northamptonshire	2,620	4,422	2,843
Northumbria	14,442	10,336	11,898
North Wales	4,305	2,763	3,436
North Yorkshire	4,024	5,327	3,554
Nottinghamshire	3,803	3,799	4,054
South Wales	7,252	7,609	7,507
South Yorkshire	12,209	2,177	n/a
Staffordshire	n/a	9,482	10,868
Suffolk	1,962	495	2,307
Surrey	1,653	3,234	5,026
Sussex	8,174	9,300	10,083
Thames Valley	10,885	10,221	5,887
Warwickshire	2,500	2,687	3,360
West Mercia	n/a	1,866	6,383
West Midlands	20,362	25,225	31,328
West Yorkshire	23,658	26,271	18,604
Wiltshire	7,563	5,977	5,485
England and Wales	351,728	398,670	415,327

n/a = not available

Alcohol (Young People)

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he had with the police prior to the amendment of the Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 to the effect that only alcohol in unsealed containers may now be seized; and if he will make a statement. [12092]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 2 November 2001]: Section 29 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 amends section 1 of the Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 and increases the power of police in respect of under-age drinkers because it now

16 Nov 2001 : Column: 966W

allows them to confiscate alcohol, and alcohol containers which have been opened, from under-age drinkers in public places.

The 1997 Act was deliberately amended by the 2001 Act to ensure consistency between new police powers to confiscate alcohol (but not sealed alcohol containers) from any person in a public place designated for the purpose by the relevant local authority, and the measures contained within the 1997 Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act.

Prior to the Act discussions on the provisions were held with representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers and individual forces who had included confiscation powers within the model byelaw on banning drinking in public places.

Cemeteries

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is with regard to the provision of new cemeteries. [13488]

Beverley Hughes: Burial facilities are currently provided by local organisations, including burial authorities, religious bodies and private companies, in response to local demand. Whether these arrangements need to be reinforced is a matter we intend to consider over the next year. As a first step, we propose shortly to seek information on existing burial space availability.

Illegal Drugs

Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the relationship between the street price and purity of (a) cocaine and (b) heroin in the last 10 years. [9464]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 22 October 2001]: Information on mean purity of seizures is available from April 1997 to March 2001 and this together with average street prices over the same period is set out in the table.

	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Heroin purity (percentage)	35.3	38.2	43.6	49.7
Price per gram (£)(10)	74	74	65	70
Cocaine purity (percentage)	52.3	55.9	60.2	53.5
Price per gram (£)(10)	71	77	75	65

⁽¹⁰⁾ in December

Police Numbers (Essex)

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) actual and (b) funded police officers there are in the county of Essex for the latest available date; and what were the same figures on 1 May 1997. [9734]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 26 October 2001]: The information for funded officers and the most recent strength data has been provided by the chief constable of Essex. The 1997 strength figures relate to 31 March 1997 as the Home Office collects police strength data in March and September for each year. The information is in the table.

16 Nov 2001 : Column: 967W

Essex police

	31 March 1997	1 October 2001
Funded police officers	2,944	3,031
Actual police strength	2,961	2,974
Funded civilian support staff	1,425	1,747
Actual civilian staff strength	1,199	1,586

Notes:

1. Figures are full-time equivalents

2. The funded posts reflect budget provision by the police authority

---