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Human Rights Legislation

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what monitoring has been done to ascertain the effect of human rights legislation on the efficiency of police investigations into criminal activity; and if he will make a statement. [29747]

Mr. Denham: The Home Office has neither commissioned nor undertaken any such monitoring.

Crime Detection

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate was for crimes in each police force in England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [30169]

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Mr. Denham: The latest available information on detection rates for total crime in police force areas, for the year ended March 2001, has been published in table 2.10 of The Stationery Office publication XCriminal Statistics England and Wales 2000", and is given below.

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Overall detection rate for recorded crime by police force areaEngland and Wales 2000–01

Police force area	Overall Detection Rate
Avon and Somerset	22
Bedfordshire	27
Cambridgeshire	24
Cheshire	30
Cleveland	21
Cumbria	34
Derbyshire	26
Devon and Cornwall	34
Dorset	25
Durham	34
Essex	26
Gloucestershire	31
Greater Manchester	22
Hampshire	29
Hertfordshire	24
Humberside	21
Kent	28
Lancashire	27
Leicestershire	28
Lincolnshire	25
London, City of	27
Merseyside	28
Metropolitan Police	15
Norfolk	26
Northamptonshire	33
Northumbria	31
North Yorkshire	30
Nottinghamshire	20
South Yorkshire	25
Staffordshire	23
Suffolk	35
Surrey	28
Sussex	23
Thames Valley	22
Warwickshire	22
West Mercia	27
West Midlands	28
West Yorkshire	23
Wiltshire	30
Dyfed-Powys	63
Gwent	57
North Wales	31
South Wales	32
England and Wales	24

Immigration Service Personnel

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Immigration Service personnel have been disciplined over their treatment of visa applicants since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [31226]

Angela Eagle: Accurate centralised records of disciplinary action taken against members of staff in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been held only since 1998. From that date, a total of 77 members of staff working within the United Kingdom Immigration Service have had disciplinary action taken against them, for various types of misconduct. One Immigration officer has been issued with a formal written reprimand after the inappropriate treatment of a visa applicant and inappropriate behaviour towards others.

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Police Authorities (Efficiency Savings)

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and which police authorities have met the Government target of 2 per cent. efficiency savings each year in the last three financial years. [32542]

Mr. Denham: According to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), all 43 police forces in England and Wales achieved at least 2 per cent. efficiency savings in 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Under the public service agreement, forces are required to use efficiency gains for the benefit of front line policing.

Copies of the relevant HMIC reports are in the Library.

Raves

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the discussions between his Department and the Association of Chief Police Officers regarding the issue of illegal rave gatherings on private property. [33186]

Mr. Denham: As a result of recent and justified public concerns about this problem, we are discussing the issue of illegal raves with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to determine how existing legislation can be used more effectively and whether any legislative changes are required.

Association of Chief Police Officers

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers.[29786]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 4 February 2002]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary last met Sir David Phillips, the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), on 12 February 2002. This was the latest in an ongoing programme of monthly bi-lateral meetings between the Home Secretary and the ACPO President.

Porton Down

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of the Wiltshire Constabulary investigation into allegations of past criminal activity at DSTL Porton Down; and if he will make a statement. [36309]

Mr. Denham: The Chief Constable informs me that the cost to Wiltshire Constabulary to the end of January 2002 was ÿ1.62 million.

A special grant in relation to the additional policing costs of the Porton Down investigation was made by the Home Office to Wiltshire Constabulary in August 2000 for ÿ870,000.

Police Sick Leave

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State (1) for the Home Department what the average number of days

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sickness absence per year was for (a) police officers and (b) support staff in the Cheshire Constabulary in each of the past five years; [36508]

(2) what the average number of days sickness absence was in each of the past five years for police officers in (a) Cheshire and (b) other forces in the North West. [36507]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 25 February 2002]: The average number of days' sickness absence per police officer is shown in the table:

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Police Force	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Cheshire	13	14	13	12	14
Cumbria	9	10	10	12	13
Greater Manchester	15	15	14	14	15
Lancashire	12	11	12	12	13
Merseyside	19	12	11	12	13

The average number of days' sickness absence per member of Cheshire Constabulary's support staff was:

1996–97: 16

1997–98: 16

1998–99: 16

1999–2000: 14

2000–01: 16

Victim Support

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when criminals in prison who are victims of a crime are informed of the criminal injuries compensation scheme; what the eligibility criteria are which are used by the CICS to determine if an application is acceptable; how many (a) ex-prisoners and (b) prisoners who have been victims of serious crime have received compensation from the CICS in each of the last five years; how much compensation such people have received; and what the basis was of each award. [37075]

Mr. Keith Bradley: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme provides compensation to victims of violent crime. Victims of non-violent crime must look elsewhere for compensation or redress.

Legal services officers in each prison establishment are able to provide information to prisoners about the scheme and how to apply for compensation if they have been the victim of a violent crime.

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The eligibility criteria are set out in the scheme itself, and the accompanying XGuide to Applicants" explains how applications are assessed against them. The scheme includes a provision enabling awards to be reduced or withheld on account of the applicant's record of criminal convictions.

The scheme is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). They have no means of determining whether an applicant is an Xex-prisoner". Their only means of identifying current prisoners is by a computer search of applicants' addresses for the words XHer Majesty's (HM) Prison", and then excluding those who are prison officers. In the last five years the following awards have been made to those so identified as prisoners.

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1996–97: ÿ5,000, ÿ3,120, ÿ3,750.
1997–98: ÿ1,260, ÿ1,350*, ÿ1,000*, ÿ5,000.
1998–99: ÿ500, ÿ500, ÿ1,000.
1999–2000: ÿ3,500, ÿ500, ÿ5,375, ÿ1,000, ÿ8,700
2000–01: ÿ375.

All but two of these awards (starred) were reduced awards. Thirty-seven applications remain outstanding.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether criminals in prison who are victims of crime receive the support of the witness service at the Crown Court. [37072]

Beverley Hughes: The Witness Service, at both the Crown Court and magistrates' courts, is provided through the organisation Victim Support, whose grant from the Home Office in 2001–02 is ÿ25 million.

Victim Support advise that the Witness Service does offer support to those in custody at court buildings where they are appearing as witnesses in a trial, but not if they are appearing as defendants. Those supported may fall into one of the following categories: they are serving a sentence and the alleged crime took place in prison: they are on remand; or they have been brought in on a bench warrant.

Where witness support is to be offered, the visit must be cleared with the police and prosecuting authority. Visits can only be made in the presence of one of those authorities for legal reasons.

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