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Police Numbers
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police there (a) were on 1 January and (b) will be on 1 January 2003 in (i) England and Wales and (ii) North Yorkshire. [34010]
Mr. Denham: Police numbers are collected twice a year in March and September. There were 127,231 officers in England and Wales on 30 September 2001. The Home Secretary has set a target for overall police strength in England and Wales to reach 130,000 by the spring of 2003.
North Yorkshire police had 1,390 officers on 30 September 2001. I understand from the chief constable that on 1 January the force had 1,391 officers and that the projected strength for North Yorkshire police for March 2003 is 1,425 officers.
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in post in Leicestershire Police Authority in (a) each year between 1996–97 and (b) the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [34762]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is set out in the table.
14 Feb 2002 : Column 623W
| Year(43) | Police officers | Civilian support staff |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1,908 | 667 |
| 1997 | 1,949 | 755 |
| 1998 | 1,983 | 774 |
| 1999 | 1,993 | 802 |
| 2000 | 1,993 | 805 |
| 2001 | 2,033 | 806 |
(43) As at 31 March
Leicestershire Constabulary had a record number of officers at the end of September 2001, at 2,062.
Metropolitan Police Accommodation
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many units of police accommodation were (a) sold, (b) put up for sale and (c) withdrawn from sale in each of the last 10 years by the Metropolitan police. [34443]
Mr. Denham: I understand from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner that the information requested is readily available for the last five years only. This is shown in the table.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Quarters | |||||
| Sold | 77 | 138 | 265 | 151 | 110 |
| For Sale | 387 | 535 | 583 | 360 | 149 |
| Withdrawn | 56 | 219 | 141 | 139 | 3 |
| Section Houses | |||||
| Sold | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| For Sale | 3 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| Withdrawn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Operational Estate | |||||
| Sold | 7 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 2 |
| For Sale | 39 | 47 | 36 | 38 | 29 |
| Withdrawn | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Notes:
The figures record each occasion a property has been offered for sale or withdrawn from the market. Properties that remained on the market for a year or more will appear in more than one annual total of properties for sale. The operational estate refers to buildings not tracts of land.
Police Salaries
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 4 February 2002, Official Report, column 686W, in what format the information was available. [34646]
Mr. Denham: There are separate national salary scales for each rank in the police service. How much police officers earn depends on their rank, their length of service in the rank and whether they are entitled to premium rates of pay and to allowances in addition to basic salary.
The Home Office does not hold data on housing costs either by force area or by region.
Golden Jubilee
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will meet additional policing costs arising from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. [34660]
14 Feb 2002 : Column 624W
Mr. Denham: Where it can be demonstrated there are exceptional additional costs which could not be met from within existing budgets, it is open to forces to apply for a special grant.
Criminal Records Bureau
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if a volunteer who receives expenses will be eligible for exemption from charging for disclosure certificates from the Criminal Records Bureau; [34517]
- (2) what the definition is of a volunteer in the exemptions from charging for disclosure certificates from the Criminal Records Bureau. [34516]
Mr. Denham: Under the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002, which were laid before Parliament on 7 February 2002, higher-level disclosures will be issued free of charge to a volunteer, which is defined in the regulations as
- "a person engaged in an activity which involves spending time, unpaid (except for travel and other approved out-of-pocket expenses), doing something which aims to benefit some third party other than or in addition to a close relative".
Youth Inclusion
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the areas in London where youth inclusion projects will be operational by March; and what resources will be allocated to each. [35244]
Mr. Denham: The Youth Justice Board managed Youth Inclusion Programme has a total of 70 projects in operation across the country. The programme has been at full operational capacity since March 2001. Of these, 13 are operating in London.
Each project receives annually £75,000 from local partnerships and £75,000 from the Youth Justice Board.
The areas in London where Youth Inclusion projects are operational are listed in the table:
| Neighbourhood | Area |
|---|---|
| Gascoigne and Barking Roding Valley | Barking and Dagenham |
| Church End estate | Brent |
| Castlehaven | Camden |
| Page estate | Greenwich |
| Woodbury Down | Hackney |
| North Fulham neighbourhood | Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Tottenham and Wood Green | Haringey |
| Holloway and Tollington | Islington |
| Dalgarno | Kensington and Chelsea |
| Clapham Park estate | Lambeth |
| Forest Gate | Newham |
| Lawson, Rockingham, Heygate and Draper estates | Southwark |
| Alton estate | Wandsworth |
14 Feb 2002 : Column 625W
Arrests and Detentions
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested and detained in police custody in England and Wales in 1999. [34853R]
Beverley Hughes: In the financial year 1999–2000 an estimated 1,277,900 persons were arrested for notifiable offences within England and Wales.
Prisons
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prison budget for England and Wales has been in each of the last 10 years. [35326]
Beverley Hughes: The table sets out the total net cash expenditure (current and capital) for the Prison Service for the 10 financial years 1991–92 to 2000–01.
The budget for 2001–02 is in resource accounting and budgeting terms. The present voted provision, as set out in the Home Office's Winter Supplementary Estimate, includes net Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) funding of £1,739.6 million (including £114.9 million funding from the Youth Justice Board for juvenile places and £46 million from the Department for Education and Skills for prisoners' education costs other than for juveniles); net Capital DEL funding of £218.8 million (including £61.8 million non-cash funding for the capitalisation of Dovegate prison under the Private Finance Initiative; £73.9 million funding for other spending outside of DEL; and £426.6 million net Annually Managed Expenditure (including £15.7 million funding from the Youth Justice Board).
| Financial year | Current | Capital | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | 887.7 | 453.8 | 1,341.5 |
| 1991–92 | 1,049.5 | 412.6 | 1,462.1 |
| 1992–93 | 1,138.4 | 331.9 | 1,470.3 |
| 1993–94 | 1,223.7 | 285.1 | 1,508.8 |
| 1994–95 | 1,279.6 | 318.3 | 1,597.9 |
| 1995–96 | 1,336.7 | 330.2 | 1,666.9 |
| 1996–97 | 1,388.5 | 220.1 | 1,608.6 |
| 1997–98 | 1,462.9 | 277.9 | 1,740.8 |
| 1998–99 | 1,611.7 | 200.4 | 1,812.1 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,696.8 | 149.6 | 1,846.4 |
| 2000–01 | 1,659.5 | 135.2 | 1,794.7 |
Notes:
The decrease in capital expenditure from 1996–97 follows the completion of a programme for major capital works. In recent years new prisons have been provided through Private Finance Initiative funding.
In 200–01 payments of £123.8 million for juvenile places were made by the Youth Justice Board with a resultant decrease in the net operating costs of the Prison Service.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with officials of the Prison Officers Association; and what issues were discussed. [35325]
Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I met most recently with representatives of the Prison Officers Association (POA) on Thursday 7 February 2002 to discuss the recommendations of the Prison Service Pay Review Body and the Government's response to it.
14 Feb 2002 : Column 626W
The Home Secretary explained that, while the 6 per cent. recommended was not affordable in full from 1 January 2002 without severe implications for Prison Service regimes, he had none the less wanted to respond to the recommendations positively in a way that recognised the value of the staff in the remit group.
To this end, he had implemented the awards in full within the period covered by the recommendations. In staging the 6 per cent, he had front-loaded the first stage from 1 January 2002 to ensure an immediate pay rise commensurate with that awarded to other public sector groups for the year. In addition, prison officers would receive the further 2.5 per cent. in January 2003. Finally the locality payments for officers in London and south-east, the areas most hard pressed by recruitment and retention problems, would increase by the full 6 per cent. from 1 January 2002.
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