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Police

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost was of employing a police constable for a year in (a) a provincial police force and (b) London in the last 12 months. [32735]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 4 February 2002]: The pay related and notional pensions costs are set out in the table.

£

	London forces		Provincial
	Constable (a)	Constable (b)	Constable (a)	Constable (b)
Salary from September 2001 scales	19,842	25,095	19,842	25,095
London weighting	1,773	1,773	0	0
London Allowance	4,338	1,011	0	0
Housing/rent allowance	0	5,864	0	3,648
Earning Related National Insurance Contributions (ERNIC)	1,845	2,606	1,303	2,080
Notional pension costs (30 per cent. of salary)	5,953	7,529	5,953	7,529
Free travel	120	120	0	0
South East Allowance	0	0	(24)—	0
Total	33,871	43,998	27,098	38,352

⁽²⁴⁾ Figures do not include the South East Allowance paid since 1 April 2001 to officers appointed on or after 1 September 1994 who are not in receipt of a housing allowance. The allowance, including national insurance contributions, is £2,180 for officers in Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey and £1,090 for officers in Beds, Hants and Sussex.

Notes:

1. (a) new recruit (b) Constable: average cost, including rent allowance, after eight years service.

2. On commencing service, a constable's pay from 1 September 2001 was £17,733. The direct pay element for new police recruits increases after successful completion of 31 weeks' initial training to £19,842. The latter figure is included in (a) above.

3. The figures for the Metropolitan police and City of London police include London weighting and London Allowance and the cost of free travel.

19 Mar 2002 : Column 287W

Police Authority Funding

Mr. Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will commit money that has been made available for providing civilians with conferred police powers in a manner that recognises the imbalance in funding between different police authorities. [37905]

Mr. Denham: No financial provision for operational work is made in advance of statutory approval. Police grant funding mechanisms take into account the relative needs of different police authorities.

Police Pensions

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the impact on police forces of the payment of pensions to retired officers out of operational budgets; and what plans he has to change the present arrangements. [41688]

Mr. Denham: During the consultation period for the 2002–03 funding settlement that was announced on 30 January 2002, seven police authorities referred to pensions in their letters of representation. We are aware of police authorities' concern over the increasing burden of the funding of pensions. We have increased revenue funding from 12.9 per cent. in 1997–98 to 14.5 per cent. since 1999–2000. It will remain at this level in 2002–03.

As we made clear in our recently published White Paper "Policing a New Century: A Blueprint for Reform", we are also aware of the need of police authorities and chief officers for a system which brings greater clarity about pensions obligations on individual police forces. The Home Office and Treasury are reviewing the options for a revised system of funding which would bring this about.

Metropolitan Police

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the approved number of officers in the Metropolitan police force is; and when that level was last reviewed. [39972]

19 Mar 2002 : Column 288W

Mr. Denham: The number of police officers in the Metropolitan Police service is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police Authority within the budget set by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The budget set by the GLA for 2002–03 provides for an increase in Metropolitan police strength of 1,000 officers.

Mr. Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which (a) members of the Metropolitan Police Authority, (b) business associates of those members and (c) companies in which such members have an interest have been in paid employment by the Metropolitan police service. [42740]

Mr. Denham: I am advised by the Clerk to the Metropolitan Police Authority that the Register of Members' Interests for members of the Metropolitan Police Authority is a public document available for inspection through the Clerk to the Authority.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has set improvement targets for individual Metropolitan police basic command units; and if he will make a statement. [41612]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 8 March 2002]: The Government have required all police authorities, including the Metropolitan Police Authority, to set targets for reductions in domestic burglary, vehicle crime and, in our major cities, robbery. Targets at basic command unit level are not set centrally.

The Police Standards Unit will monitor performance at basic command unit level in all forces and will work with basic command units to improve performance where appropriate.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis about the level of crime in London; and if he will make a statement. [41616]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 8 March 2002]: I have regular bilateral meetings with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis where current issues about the policing of London are discussed.

19 Mar 2002 : Column 289W

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what targets he has set for the decrease in street robberies in the Metropolitan police force area. [41611]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 8 March 2002]: The Metropolitan Police Service's target is to reduce street crime (covering robbery and theft from the person, irrespective of location) by 15 per cent. by March 2005 from a baseline of 1999–2000.

19 Mar 2002 : Column 290W

Special Constables

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were, broken down by (a) police force and (b) local authority area, in each year since 1997. [42370]

Mr. Denham: The number of serving special constables in each police force area from September 1997 to September 2001 are set out in the table. Data showing the number of specials per local authority is not held centrally.

Police force	September 1997	September 1998	September 1999	September 2000	September 2001
Avon and Somerset	629	584	482	416	391
Bedfordshire	186	175	148	134	119
Cambridgeshire	336	308	293	214	197
Cheshire	491	416	358	307	233
Cleveland	157	136	108	122	98
Cumbria	184	210	193	167	125
Derbyshire	414	355	303	286	263
Devon and Cornwall	1,079	916	908	836	780
Dorset	325	303	287	278	258
Durham	178	159	169	155	146
Essex	641	590	528	478	413
Gloucestershire	287	245	221	197	153
Greater Manchester	657	567	498	408	355
Hampshire	681	747	720	541	444
Hertfordshire	306	267	232	214	177
Humberside	348	289	263	198	207
Kent	588	565	484	416	366
Lancashire	500	465	397	362	325
Leicestershire	402	350	303	202	155
Lincolnshire	273	233	218	179	160
London, City of	84	69	66	46	34
Merseyside	407	463	467	452	507
Metropolitan police	1,528	1,214	1,173	754	753
Norfolk	346	351	317	270	240
Northamptonshire	314	262	210	195	184
Northumbria	480	352	356	323	276
North Yorkshire	337	302	245	189	186
Nottinghamshire	597	530	405	411	281
South Yorkshire	295	266	236	193	189
Staffordshire	643	558	460	461	395
Suffolk	300	402	420	376	322
Surrey	231	226	205	168	176
Sussex	465	415	377	317	301
Thames Valley	694	587	514	463	377
Warwickshire	379	323	260	260	208
West Mercia	558	499	512	443	364
West Midlands	949	784	697	662	604
West Yorkshire	604	590	572	452	371
Wiltshire	150	176	182	172	160
Dyfed Powys	241	237	237	193	174
Gwent	149	114	110	131	148
North Wales	388	336	262	233	203
South Wales	362	360	331	254	250

Note:

Figures provided by Research, Development and Statistics

The Government are committed to increasing the size of the special constabulary and are working on a number of options designed to achieve this. These include improvements to the recruitment, training, conditions, management and deployment of specials—focusing their role on intelligence-led, high visibility patrolling and local crime reduction initiatives.

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