---

Police (National Insurance)

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by how much he estimates he would have to increase his Department's grant to the West Mercia Constabulary from April 2003 to meet the costs of the increased national insurance employers' contributions due from that month. [61281]

Mr. Denham: In common with other public sector employers, police authorities will be expected to meet any additional National Insurance employer's contributions within funding available to them from 2003–04.

Speed Enforcement

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average (a) number and (b) proportion of each police force was employed in speed enforcement on roads in the last five years. [70409]

19 Jul 2002 : Column 676W

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Information in the form requested is not collected. Data is however collected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) for the number of officers who are deployed to all traffic duties. The table shows the number of police officers, as at 31 March, for each year from 1998 to 2001 who were deployed to traffic duties in each force in England and Wales and what proportion this was of the strength of each force. Figures for 2002 are not yet available.

The basis on which HMIC classify police service staff changed in the year 1999–2000 so the figures for 31 March 2000 and 31 March 2001 are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. Some officers counted as deployed to traffic duties in earlier years may, from 1999–2000 onward, have been recorded as deployed to duties relating to traffic wardens.

Traffic Officers 1997/98 to 2000–01

	1997–98		1998–99		1999–2000		2000–01
FORCES	Traffic	per cent of strength	Traffic	per cent of strength	Traffic	per cent of strength	Traffic	per cent of total strength
England and Wales	7,951	6.40	7,806	6.30	7,522	6.20	7,238	5.90
Avon and Somerset	211	7.10	207	6.90	200	6.80	211	7.10
Bedfordshire	89	8.20	79	7.60	73	7.10	69	6.70
Cambridgeshire	91	7.00	96	7.50	93	7.50	86	6.60
Cheshire	204	10.00	205	9.90	196	9.70	187	9.30
City of London	32	3.40	24	3.10	22	3.00	24	3.40
Cleveland	82	5.50	67	4.70	68	4.80	63	4.50
Cumbria	117	10.00	117	10.40	119	11.00	111	10.60
Derbyshire	139	7.80	147	8.40	139	7.80	136	7.50
Devon and Cornwall	215	7.30	212	7.30	215	7.60	202	6.90
Dorset	93	7.10	77	6.00	83	6.30	86	6.40
Durham	115	7.60	117	7.50	116	7.40	113	7.10
Dyfed-Powys	89	8.90	97	9.50	93	8.90	83	7.90
Essex	268	9.20	259	9.00	245	8.70	249	8.60
Gloucestershire	83	7.50	82	7.40	68	6.10	69	5.90
Greater Manchester	429	6.20	434	6.40	433	6.40	423	6.10
Gwent	93	7.50	88	7.10	90	7.10	89	7.00
Hampshire	261	7.50	278	8.00	251	7.30	240	7.00
Hertfordshire	157	9.00	158	9.20	155	8.80	168	8.70
Humberside	165	8.20	149	7.50	155	8.00	145	7.60
Kent	149	4.60	119	3.70	103	3.20	104	3.10
Lancashire	422	13.00	225	6.90	220	6.90	217	6.70
Leicestershire	85	4.30	86	4.30	87	4.40	95	4.70
Lincolnshire	95	8.00	95	8.30	93	8.30	88	7.30
Merseyside	197	4.70	200	4.70	185	4.50	130	3.20
Metropolitan Police	823	3.20	782	3.00	824	3.20	686	2.80
Norfolk	111	7.80	107	7.70	109	7.90	113	8.00
North Wales	143	10.20	236	17.00	134	9.60	146	10.10
North Yorkshire	127	9.30	128	9.60	96	7.50	129	9.90
Northamptonshire	97	8.30	87	7.60	52	4.70	52	4.50
Northumbria	164	4.40	162	4.20	158	4.20	158	4.10
Nottinghamshire	177	7.60	182	8.20	167	7.60	175	7.90
South Wales	155	5.20	220	7.40	224	7.70	238	7.70
South Yorkshire	197	6.20	197	6.20	196	6.20	206	6.40
Staffordshire	204	8.90	208	9.30	188	8.70	35	1.60
Suffolk	68	5.70	74	6.20	70	6.10	63	5.60
Surrey	176	10.90	177	10.60	173	9.70	197	9.50
Sussex	206	6.90	197	6.90	191	6.80	190	6.60
Thames Valley	272	7.20	265	7.10	251	6.70	251	6.80
Warwickshire	102	11.00	106	11.70	102	11.30	96	10.40
West Mercia	239	11.90	238	11.70	278	14.70	322	16.50
West Midlands	412	5.80	405	5.50	394	5.50	380	5.10
West Yorkshire	307	6.00	331	6.60	323	6.70	326	6.80
Wiltshire	96	8.30	90	7.80	93	8.30	91	8.10

19 Jul 2002 : Column 677W

Deaths in Custody

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) deaths in custody have occurred, (b) public inquiries into deaths in custody have taken place and (c) convictions of police officers secured as a result of cases arising out of deaths in custody, in each year since 1990; [69838] (2) what procedures the police are required to follow when investigating a death in custody; and if he will place a copy of his guidance in the Library; [69839] (3) how many independent inquiries into deaths in custody his Department has participated in each year since 1990. [70092]

Mr. Denham: The Home Office publishes annual statistics of deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police. The figures for each year since 1990 are shown in the table. Statistics for 2001–02 are currently being finalised.

Year	Total number of deaths
1990	61
1991	60
1992	48
1993	31
1994	39
1995–96*	50
1996–97	57
1997–98	69
1998–99	67
1999–2000	70
2000–01	53

There have been no public inquiries into deaths in police custody in any year since 1990. Statistics on the number of police officers who have been convicted as a result of cases arising out of deaths in police custody are not collected centrally.

The Home Office have not participated in any independent inquiries into deaths in police custody in any year since 1990.

The procedures relating to the investigation of a death in police custody are contained in sections 70–76 of the Police Act 1996. Where such a death occurs the police are required to refer the investigation to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) for supervision. It is the responsibility of the PCA supervising Member to approve the appointment of the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), either from the force where the death occurred or from another force, and to agree the terms of reference for the SIO covering the parameters of the investigation. The PCA recently published their supervision manual which sets out the Authority's approach to supervision and the standards its supervising members will apply.

19 Jul 2002 : Column 678W

Investigatory Branch CIB 3

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of perjury at hearings of bail applications have been made against officers from CIB 3 during the last four years. [69325]

Mr. John Denham: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that the Metropolitan Police Service complaints and discipline system indicates that there have been seven allegations in respect of perjury and irregularities in evidence against officers from the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Metropolitan Police Service's Directorate of Professional Standards (formerly CIB3) in all types of courts during the last four years.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Yates

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations have been carried out into a complaint of perjury by Detective Chief Superintendent John Yates at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court on 18 January 1999. [69330]

19 Jul 2002 : Column 679W

Mr. Denham: I am informed by the Commissioner of the Metropolis that no investigations were carried out into complaints of perjury by Detective Chief Superintendent John Yates at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court on 19 (not 18) January 1999. Two complaints were made by a convicted police officer and his father. After considering the complaints under the Police Act 1996, the Police (Discipline) Regulations 1985 and as a criminal allegation, the Metropolitan Police Service decided that there were insufficient grounds to appoint an investigating officer.

Litigation

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have defended in (i) industrial tribunals and (ii) the courts in each year since 1997; how many were concluded in their favour; and what the total cost to his Department of litigation was in each year. [41111]

Mr. Blunkett: I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave him on 11 July 2002, Official Report, column 1198W.

---