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Police Forces

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police force members there were in (a) Avon and Somerset police force, (b) the south-west region and (c) England and Wales in each year from 1997 to 2001. [52694]

Mr. Denham: The requested information is given in the table:

Full-time equivalents

	Avon and Somerset	South-west region	England and Wales(32)
31 March 1997	2,989	9,425	127,158
31 March 1998	2,976	9,508	126,814
31 March 1999	2,999	9,420	126,096
31 March 2000	2,934	9,313	124,170
31 March 2001	2,994	9,576	125,682
30 September 2001	3,040	9,693	127,231

⁽³²⁾ The England and Wales totals include secondments to the National Crime Squad (NCS), the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), Central Services and Inter-Force Units

Justice and Home Affairs Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held in Brussels on 22 April; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement. [53111]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I represented the United Kingdom at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 25 and 26 April 2002 in Luxembourg.

A points;

The A points were approved as in document PTS A 19 (a copy of which has been placed in the Library).

Proposal for a Council Directive laying down minimum standards for the reception of applicants for asylum in member states;

A general approach was reached on the draft Directive, subject to consideration of two Parliamentary Scrutiny reserves (the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and the European Parliament's opinion.

Illegal immigration and trafficking of human beings by sea;

The Council agreed conclusions on action to combat illegal immigration and human trafficking by sea, in particular the need for migration issues to be integrated into the European Union's relations with countries of origin and transit.

Proposal for a Council Decision adopting an action program for administrative co-operation in the fields of external borders, visas, asylum and immigration;

Political agreement was reached on the Council Decision establishing the ARGO programme to fund projects to facilitate co-operation and training in these fields.

Operation on evaluation of the risk in the European Union Airports. Information point;

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The Presidency reported on the risk evaluation exercise which was undertaken on 3,4 and 5 April to detect illegal immigrants at airports within the European Union.

Meeting of the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) with the participation of the heads of the external border control services (11 April 2002). Information point;

The Presidency reported on a meeting of the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) with border control chiefs which discussed the priority areas of the Comprehensive Action Plan to combat illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings.

Meeting on Co-operation with the United States of America in the field of Asylum, migration and frontiers (12 April 2002). Information point;

The Presidency reported on a meeting between the SCIFA and United States experts to discuss border control and migration management following 11 September.

Amendments to the Europol Convention—Europol's participation in joint investigation teams and Europol's right to ask member states to initiate investigations in specific cases;

The Council reached a general approach on proposals to amend the Europol Convention. These will provide for Europol's participation in joint investigation teams in a support capacity and Europol's right to ask Member States to initiate investigations in specific cases. The Council will now consider how to implement the amendments.

Proposal for a Council Decision concerning security in connection with football matches with an international dimension;

A Council Decision was adopted creating a network of experts intended to improve co-ordination and the exchange of information in relation to football disorder.

Draft Council conclusions on the fight against racism and xenophobia;

The Council agreed conclusions calling for action against racially motivated violence, in particular, reinforced police co-operation, the approximation of criminal law and the role of the European Monitoring Centre on racism and xenophobia. The Commission was also invited to submit proposals to raise public awareness.

Request for a negotiation mandate for the Presidency with the United States of America, on judicial co-operation in criminal matters on the basis of Articles 38 and 24 TEU;

The Council authorised the Presidency to open negotiations with the United States on behalf of the European Union for an agreement on co-operation in mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and extradition. I will write separately to the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee regarding those negotiations.

Draft Council conclusions on the approach to apply regarding approximation of penalties;

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The Council agreed conclusions on the use of penalty ranges as a means of approximating criminal penalties for common offences. I will write separately to the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee with the details of the methodology to be applied.

Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography;

The Framework Decision was remitted for further consideration of the penalties for these offences and of an Italian reservation on the proposed exemption from criminal liability in cases involving persons over the age of sexual consent.

Any other business;

Italy gave an update on the feasibility study into the creation of a European Border Guard which would be presented to a Ministerial Conference in Rome on 30 May 2002. Germany proposed an initiative for an European Union fund to assist the victims of terrorism. The Council also had exchanges of views on the treatment of Palestinian asylum seekers and on the negotiation mandates for agreements with Switzerland concerning their participation in the Schengen and Dublin Conventions. The Presidency reported on the outcome of the European Union/Mediterranean conference which took place in Spain on 22–23 April 2002.

Meeting with Russian Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs in the margins of the Council;

Justice and Interior Ministers met with their counterparts from Russia in the margins of the Council to discuss action to combat organised crime and the management of migration and borders. A joint Declaration establishing a network of contact points to facilitate the exchange of information on organised crime was adopted.

Community Wardens

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the powers of arrest given to community wardens under the Police Reform Bill. [53141]

Mr. Denham: Community support officers and members of community safety accreditation schemes, as contained in Chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Police Reform Bill, will not have powers of arrest. It is the Government's belief that, where appropriate, the chief officer of police should be able to give community support officers the power to detain someone for up to 30 minutes, pending the arrival of a constable, and, as a last resort, to use reasonable force to enforce this.

The Government would also like to allow the chief officer of police and the person's employer, to give members of community safety accreditation schemes, (which could include warden schemes) the power of detention, but without the use of reasonable force.

The provisions which would have made the power of detention available in this way were removed in another place. We have already stated our intention to re-introduce these provisions during consideration of the Bill in this House. The provisions in Chapter 1 of Part 4 are enabling, not prescriptive. It will be for each chief officer of police to decide whether and how to use community support

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officers and community safety accreditation schemes to combat crime and disorder and increase public reassurance.

Families of Murder Victims

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the procedure is for distribution of homicide information packs by family liaison police officers to families of murder victims. [53263]

(2) how many homicide information packs were handed out by family liaison police officers in the last year. [53262]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 29 April 2002]: The exact figures as to how many of the Home Office pack "Information for Families of Homicide Victims" are handed out by police family liaison officers (FLOs) are not available.

In cases of homicide, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) family liaison strategy states that FLOs should provide the pack to one or more family members at as early a stage as possible in order for bereaved people to establish some control over their access to the information. The FLO's own knowledge of the criminal justice system and coroners' processes should be used as appropriate to suggest to a family member that they may look at the pack or part of it, on their own, with another family member, with the FLO, or with Victim Support, as issues arise for them. Furthermore, the obligation of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in explaining any decisions made in accordance with its Victim's Charter should be explained and, where appropriate, a meeting facilitated.

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