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16 Jan 2003 : Column 761W—continued

Police Communication Systems

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what health study his Department proposes to undertake into the Airwave Police Communication System; and if he will make a statement; [89603]

(2) how many police forces use the Airwave Communication System; what representations he has received about the system; and if he will make a statement. [89604]

Mr. Denham: We have taken advice from experts and consider that Airwave is safe. The Stewart report recommended that a precautionary approach should be taken on mobile phones and health. The Home Office is, therefore, setting up a health-monitoring programme for Airwave users in the police service, inconsultation with police organisations, epidemiologists and occupational health experts. Tenders are currently under consideration.

When a force moves to Airwave, the roll out is phased, starting from the point at which forces achieve a ready for service (RFS) date. Once that date has been achieved, the move from the existing system to Airwave begins within the force. Generally, that move takes place over a period of time with the forces migrating, typically, one division at a time.

Currently, there are seven forces in various stages of migration to Airwave: Lancashire, Greater Manchester Police, West Mercia, Suffolk, Leicestershire, North Yorkshire and Northumbria. West Mercia has just become the first force to become fully live with Airwave.

Representations have been received from a range of groups, including the Police Federation, Mast Sanity, Association of National Park Authorities, residents associations and individuals. Topics have included health and safety, mast placement and potential interference with other equipment.

16 Jan 2003 : Column 762W

Police Funding (Dorset)

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will meet representatives of the Dorset Police Authority and hon. Members representing Dorset to discuss the provisional funding settlement in Dorset police in 2003–04. [90755]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 14 January 2003]: We announced the provisional police funding settlement on 5 December. The consultation period for representations ended on 14 January. All representations received by then will be taken into account before the announcement of the final funding settlement on 5 February. I would be very happy to meet members of the Authority and hon. Members, as I have other hon. Members from other areas, but I must respect the closing date for representations on the allocation for next year.

Police Response Times

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the average response time to grade 1 incidents by the Avon and Somerset Constabulary in (a) rural areas and (b) urban areas; and if he will make a statement. [89696]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 14 January 2003]: The most recent figures available are those given in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) annual report, published on 9 December 2002. These show that the response times for attending incidents in (a) rural areas were 85.3 per cent. within 20 minutes and (b) in urban areas 83.9 per cent. within 1 5 minutes.

Prisoners (Dependent Children)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) female and (b) male prisoners were parents of dependent children in each of the last four years. [89123]

Hilary Benn: There is no routinely collected data on the number of prisoners who have dependent children. However, a Home Office study of a large sample of imprisoned mothers and children, published in 1997, found that 60 per cent. of female prisoners had dependent children under the age of 18. Another

16 Jan 2003 : Column 763W

smaller, but more recent, study of women prisoners and their work in custody, published in 2000, found broadly similar results (out of a sample of 567 sentenced women, 66 per cent. had dependent children under the age of 18).

Directly equivalent information for male prisoners is not available. However, the 1991 England and Wales prison survey showed that 32 per cent. of male prisoners had dependent children who had been living with them just before they were imprisoned; the corresponding figure for female prisoners was 47 per cent.

16 Jan 2003 : Column 764W

Road Accidents

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many road traffic accidents there were in (a) the latest available year and (b) each of the preceding five years, broken down by police force area. [90722]

Mr. Jamieson: The following table shows the number of road traffic accidents involving personal injury for the latest year and each of the preceding five years, by police force area:

Injury accidents by police force area: GB 1996–2001Accidents

Police force area	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Metropolitan Police	40,405	40,715	40,010	40,007	37,708	36,328
Cumbria	1,911	2,090	2,010	2,049	1,901	1,823
Lancashire	6,301	6,407	6,148	5,719	5,501	5,920
Merseyside	6,593	6,658	6,767	6,829	6,835	5,783
Greater Manchester	11,932	12,026	12,093	11,683	12,011	11,249
Cheshire	4,644	4,786	4,919	4,713	4,669	4,523
Northumbria	4,751	4,980	4,858	4,739	4,862	4,746
Durham	2,020	2,055	2,052	1,837	1,934	1,862
North Yorkshire	3,274	3,315	3,278	3,325	3,141	3,142
West Yorkshire	9,090	9,501	9,870	9,526	9,200	8,740
South Yorkshire	4,737	4,689	4,831	4,934	4,877	5,038
Humberside	3,742	3,659	3,612	3,367	3,456	3,408
Cleveland	1,919	1,880	1,790	1,647	1,571	1,532
West Midlands	9,203	9,787	9,766	9,978	10,640	10,462
Staffordshire	4,941	4,915	4,537	4,587	4,688	4,563
West Mercia	4,257	4,391	4,269	4,256	3,789	3,846
Warwickshire	2,395	2,477	2,307	2,278	2,274	2,244
Derbyshire	3,569	3,824	3,831	3,860	3,733	3,681
Nottinghamshire	4,288	4,262	4,348	4,044	4,288	4,103
Lincolnshire	2,548	2,683	2,733	2,626	2,565	2,612
Leicestershire	3,632	3,686	3,854	3,723	3,821	3,764
Northamptonshire	2,086	2,210	2,221	2,299	2,156	1,945
Cambridgeshire	3,426	3,492	3,411	3,161	3,486	3,503
Norfolk	2,644	2,703	2,778	2,769	2,645	2,789
Suffolk	2,141	2,224	2,251	2,298	2,312	2,356
Bedfordshire	2,225	2,198	2,168	2,000	2,035	1,983
Hertfordshire	3,977	4,097	4,132	3,995	4,704	4,518
Essex	6,228	6,439	6,435	6,455	6,985	6,773
Thames Valley	8,234	8,797	8,553	8,622	8,659	8,356
Hampshire	7,752	7,656	7,333	7,187	7,323	6,934
Surrey	4,464	4,338	4,323	4,284	4,647	5,153
Kent	6,263	5,881	5,855	5,780	6,086	6,297
Sussex	6,284	6,034	6,199	6,175	5,974	5,674
City of London	476	461	448	470	417	423
Devon and Cornwall	6,031	6,025	5,830	5,785	5,673	5,976
Avon and Somerset	4,557	4,833	5,393	5,607	5,280	5,286
Gloucestershire	1,876	1,858	1,937	2,078	1,945	2,074
Wiltshire	2,323	2,490	2,392	2,359	2, 393	2,480
Dorset	2,710	2,887	2,843	2,800	2,897	2,950
North Wales	2,621	2,802	2,781	2,766	2,656	2,501
Gwent	1,658	1,662	1,722	1,749	1,626	1,464
South Wales	4,347	4,098	3,840	3,698	3,598	3,799
Dyfed-Powys	1,662	1,688	1,683	1,680	1,669	1,735
Northern	884	891	948	909	802	814
Grampian	1,448	1,521	1,408	1,234	1,219	1,129
Tayside	—	1,282	1,258	1,248	1,175	1,207
Fife	744	806	731	710	784	734
Lothian and Borders	3,487	3,456	3,549	3,188	3,293	3,200
Central	749	870	800	735	672	636
Strathclyde	7,042	7,381	7,362	6,905	6,731	6,521
Dumfries and Galloway	392	421	456	375	423	435
Great Britain	236,193	240,287	238,923	235,048	233,729	229,014

16 Jan 2003 : Column 765W

Sangatte

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his negotiations with the French Government to close the Sangatte camp. [90610]

Beverley Hughes: Following my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's statement on 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 611W, I can add that the Red Cross centre at Sangatte was emptied by 14 December 2002 and is now being dismantled by its owners, Eurotunnel.

Statutory Instruments

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many statutory instruments have been issued by his Department in each calendar year since 1979. [89851]

Hilary Benn: Details of the statutory instruments (SIs) made by Home Office Ministers each calendar year since 1979 are as follows:

Year	Number of SIs made	Year	Number of SIs made
1979	143	1991	155
1980	150	1992	118
1981	119	1993	99
1982	104	1994	92
1983	112	1995	106
1984	84	1996	110
1985	138	1997	172
1986	134	1998	133
1987	134	1999	108
1988	116	2000	146
1989	114	2001	133
1990	130	2002	129

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