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HOME DEPARTMENT
Parliamentary Questions
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to questions (a) 38783, (b) 38780, (c) 38781 and (d) 38778 tabled in relation to the incident of the Yarl's Wood Removal Centre. [44091]
Angela Eagle: I replied to the questions to which the hon. Member refers on the following dates:
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Police Absence
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes he plans to the regulations to manage attendance in the police service. [44028]
Mr. Denham: On 9 May 2002, the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) agreed a package of reforms to police pay and conditions of service. The PNB is the statutory negotiating body for police pay and conditions throughout the United Kingdom.
As part of a package of reforms, the Police Advisory Board in England and Wales will, during 2002, come to an arrangement through amendments to Police Efficiency Regulations where the aim is to secure improvement in attendance, with sanctions (including the possibility of dismissal) where that fails. The arrangement will include an appropriate appeals mechanism.
It is for Scottish Ministers to make changes to regulations governing conditions of service in Scottish police forces. Scotland has its own Police Advisory Board.
The changes to regulations form part of a range of measures to improve and modernise police pay and conditions of service. The package agreed on 9 May 2002 will provide a modernised pay structure rewarding those at the sharp end and reducing reliance on overtime. In so doing, it both underpins the rest of the police reform programme and demonstrates the Government's commitment to invest in the police service to achieve the reforms needed and to give it the support and flexibility it requires to deliver a first-class service to the public.
Police Protection Services
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the ring-fenced allowance is for the officers involved in diplomatic protection, surveillance, undercover and kidnap work. [44026]
Mr. Denham: On 9 May 2002, the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) agreed a package of reforms to police pay and conditions of service. The PNB is the statutory negotiating body for police pay and conditions throughout the United Kingdom.
The possibility of a ring-fenced allowance for officers involved in diplomatic protection, surveillance, undercover and kidnap work was an idea considered during the negotiations in the PNB when it was proposed to reduce premium rates of pay. Officers in those four areas would have been hardest hit from reductions in premium rates of pay, and, because the nature of their work requires them to stay on duty for long periods at a time, a ring-fenced allowance would have been one means
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of protecting their earnings. The Agreement reached on 9 May 2002 does not include any reductions to premium rates of pay, so there is no need for a ring-fenced allowance.
The Agreement included a scheme to manage down overtime in the service. There will be a service-wide target of a 15 per cent reduction in the overtime bill over the three years from 2003–04. There will be local targets, taking account of force strength and effective management action already taken to manage down the overtime bill.
Child Disappearance
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what authorities are informed with regard to the disappearance of a child within the UK. [51646]
Mr. Denham: At present, all missing person cases reported to the police should be submitted to the Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB) if the individual has been missing for 14 days or longer.
The Home Office is currently working with key stakeholders within the area of missing persons, which includes the police and the National Missing Persons Helpline, in order to develop and implement measures to increase co-operation and information sharing between Government departments, and statutory and non-statutory agencies. A bid to the Invest to Save Budget (ISB), to put in place a new system for handling missing person cases, has been successful. This work is being taken forward by the Cross-Departmental Group on missing persons which is chaired by the Home Office.
Arranged Marriages
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action has been taken to remove from Britain the 24 men who married Sylvia Evans and Gwendoline Sharpe. [53468]
Angela Eagle [holding answer 30 April 2002]: We are actively looking into the cases of all the men who married either Sylvia Evans or Gwendoline Sharpe. These cases are being investigated and where it is appropriate removal action will be taken.
Police Funding
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the funding available per 1,000 population for Cambridgeshire police authority, broken down into its constituent parts of (a) Home Office police grant, (b) revenue support grant, (c) national non-domestic rates, (d) Crime Fighting Fund allocations and (e) rural policing fund grants for (i) 2000– 2001, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03. [52543]
Mr. Denham: The information is set out in the table.
| Police grant | National non domestic rates | Revenue support grant | Crime Fighting fund | Rural Policing grant | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| 2000–01 | 55,134 | 23,544 | 12,877 | 530 | 794 | 92,878 |
| 2001–02 | 56,440 | 22,970 | 14,314 | 1,836 | 1,552 | 97,111 |
| 2002–03(29) | 56,342 | 25,089 | 11,971 | 2,642 | 1,553 | 97,597 |
(29)Figures for 2001–02 are not directly comparable with 2002–03 owing to the changes in funding for the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service in 2002–03. The comparable adjusted total figure for 2001–02 is £94,660.
Source for population data:
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Police statistics [Estimates]. Population at June 2000 for 2000–01 and June 2001 for 2001–02 and 2002–03.
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Young People
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what subjects and on which dates his Department has recently consulted organisations representing young people; and if he will list such organisations. [52499]
Mr. Denham: This information is not held centrally in the manner requested and could be secured only at disproportionate cost.
The Department is committed to the new core principles for the involvement of children and young people which was published in November 2001. The Department will shortly be publishing an action plan setting out for the first time how it will implement these principles to extend the participation of children and young people in the design, provision and evaluation of policies and services that affect them.
Millennium Stadium (Policing)
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to take account of the cost to the South Wales Police of additional policing resulting from national events at the Millennium Stadium. [51284]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 29 April 2002]: The Chief Constable (Sir Anthony Burden QPM) requested additional financial assistance for 2002–03 along similar lines to his request last year for a special grant for the extra cost of policing major football events at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. My right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary (Mr. Blunkett) informed the Chief Constable on 8 May 2002 that he would make a special grant payment of £300,000 as a contribution towards the extra costs the force expect to incur for major football finals in 2002–03. A similar grant of £300,000 was made to the South Wales Police in 2001–02.
Police Occupational Health Service
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to develop an occupational health service for the police. [56908]
Mr. Denham: An occupational health strategy for the police service has been developed as part of the police reform programme and it is currently subject to consultation with the staff associations and other representative bodies. The strategy will aim to reduce sickness absence rates and ill health retirements through improved sickness management and occupational health services.
The Home Office will be spending £4 million during 2002–03 to assist forces in improving the quality of their occupational health provision.
Police Training
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations he makes into
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the background of people coming to the UK on official and reciprocal police training programmes in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [57297]
Mr. Denham: All visitors to the United Kingdom are subject to immigration checks. No special investigations are made into the background of overseas students accepted on to UK national police training programmes. Such students are normally sponsored either by the UK Government or by the government of the student's country. There are also security checks that apply to overseas visitors being given access to official premises, including police training colleges.
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