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INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE) BILL [MONEY]

Queen's recommendation having been signified—

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 53 (1)(a) (Money resolutions and ways and means resolutions in connection with bills),

That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Industrial Development (Financial Assistance) Bill, it is expedient to authorise any increase in sums paid out of money provided by Parliament attributable to provisions of the Act—


(a) increasing the sum of £1,900 million specified in section 8(5) of the Industrial Development Act 1982 to £3,700 million, and


(b) increasing the sum of £200 million so specified to £600 million.—[Gillian Merron.]

Question agreed to.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): With permission, I shall put together the motions relating to European Community documents.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DOCUMENTS

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 119(9)(European Standing Committees),

Improving Safety at Sea

That this House takes note of European Union Documents No. 15301/02, Commission Communication on improving safety at sea, and No. 5111/03, draft Regulation on the accelerated phasing in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers; and supports the Government's continuing commitment to working within the European Union and the International Maritime Organisation to that end.

Combating Corruption in the Private Sector

That this House takes note of European Union Document No. 12249/2/02, on Combating Corruption in the Private Sector; considers it to be an acceptable replacement for the Joint Action on Corruption in the Private Sector of 22 December 1998; and supports the Government's efforts to secure agreement to this Framework Decision.—[Gillian Merron.]

Question agreed to.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: With permission, I shall put together the motions relating to delegated legislation.

DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6)(Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation),

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Northern Ireland

That the draft Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, which was laid before this House on 20th January, be approved.

Libraries

That the draft Public Lending Right (Increase of Limit) Order 2003, which was laid before this House on 28th January, be approved.—[Gillian Merron.]

Question agreed to.

DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Ordered,

That the following Statutory Instruments be referred to Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation: the Education (Determination of Admission Arrangements) (Amendment) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2896), the Education (School Information) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2897), the Education (Variation of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2898), the Education (Admissions Appeals Arrangements) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2899), the Education (Admission Forums) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2900), the Education (Objection to Admission Arrangements) (Amendment) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2901), the Education (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (Primary Schools) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2903), the Education (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (Secondary Schools) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2904) and the Education (Modification of Provisions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations (S.I., 2002, No. 2953).—[Gillian Merron.]

PETITION

Wiltshire Probation Service

7.58 pm

Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire): I have the honour of presenting a petition on behalf of 5,775 of my constituents from the towns of Chippenham, Malmesbury, Wootton Bassett, Corsham, and the villages in between, who are—not unreasonably—concerned about the proposal by Wiltshire probation service to site a probation office next door to the Ivy Lane primary school. My constituents are very concerned about the consequences of doing so.

The petition states:

The Petition of The Friends of Ivy Lane School, Chippenham


Declares that proposals by Wiltshire Probation Service to use an office building immediately adjacent to Ivy Lane Primary School are not in keeping with their statutory duty to protect the public.


The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons prevents Wiltshire Probation Service from using the Ivy Road site immediately adjacent to Ivy Lane Primary School.


And the Petitioners remain, etc.

To lie upon the Table.

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Law and Order (Hertfordshire)

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Gillian Merron.]

7.59 pm

Mr. James Clappison (Hertsmere): There are few, if any, subjects more important to my constituents and the residents of Hertfordshire, and many other parts of the country, than the maintenance of law and order. I am pleased to have this opportunity to express what I perceive to be my constituents' serious and growing concern on the issue, which is also felt in many other parts of Hertfordshire.

I wish to make it clear that in my remarks I make no criticism of the Hertfordshire police force or the Hertfordshire police authority. They do a good job in often difficult circumstances and I pay tribute to the way in which senior officers are prepared to respond to the concerns of the community. I recognise the strenuous efforts that they have made to tackle the difficult problem of recruitment and retention of police officers in Hertfordshire, and I pay tribute to the dedication of individual police officers of all ranks in the area. I make no criticism of the Hertfordshire force: indeed, I look for more support for it. I am sure that the force and my constituents would welcome such support.

According to the most recent figures supplied to me in a written answer on 12 February, the total crime figure for Hertfordshire is rising. Total crime has risen in the two years for which like-for-like comparisons can be made, after taking into account boundary changes and revised counting rules. There have been particularly worrying increases in offences of robbery and burglary, the second of which I still regard as a serious offence, whatever others may feel.

While crime has gone up in Hertfordshire, the thin blue line has been stretched thinner. Ministers seem to be unaware of the true picture of the number of police in Hertfordshire. In the recent debate on police funding, the Minister for Policing, Crime Reduction and Community Safety, who will reply to this debate, told us that Hertfordshire Members should acknowledge that

"in March 1997 there were 1,759 police officers in Hertfordshire, whereas in March last year there were 1,825—so the policies introduced by the Government have led to an increase in the number of police officers in Hertfordshire."—[Official Report, 5 February 2003; Vol. 399, c. 308.]

That statement unfortunately overlooks the fact that in April 2000 the area served by the Hertfordshire constabulary grew by a fifth when areas formerly policed by the Metropolitan force, including the whole of my Hertsmere constituency and other places, were added to Hertfordshire. Since then, the picture for police numbers in Hertfordshire in general, and for Hertsmere in particular, has not been as rosy as Ministers apparently believe, although I stress that that is no fault of the Hertfordshire force.

According to another parliamentary answer that I received on 5 February, the police strength of the Hertfordshire force stood at 1,954 on 31 January 2001. According to that same answer, the figure had gone down to 1,825 by March 2002. That was the figure given by the Minister in the debate to which I referred earlier, and was lower than that for a year earlier. Since then, there has been some recovery. According to figures

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supplied by the Hertfordshire police force, police strength stood at 1,946 at the end of last month. Although that is an improvement on the figure given by the Minister, it is still lower than the figure two years ago and must also be set against the substantially increased responsibilities of the Hertfordshire force.

As I pointed out, the position for Hertsmere appears to be starker still. The figures supplied by the Hertfordshire force show that in Hertsmere the thin blue line is being stretched very thin indeed. Two years ago, Hertsmere was policed by 36 officers from the Hertfordshire force and 97 officers on secondment from the Metropolitan force while the transfer was taking effect. Two years ago, Hertsmere was policed by a total of 133 officers. One year ago, the total number of officers serving Hertsmere was 116. Today, I am told that the total number of officers is 108—all from the Hertfordshire force—down from 133, which is a reduction of almost 20 per cent.

Mr. Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford): I share my hon. Friend's concern about the overall loss. Is he aware that in Bishop's Stortford in my constituency there is a parallel problem? Many officers have been drawn across to serve the new area and the result, on which he may want to comment, is that in Bishop's Stortford—a town of 31,000 people—the average shift on a Friday evening can be as few as seven officers.

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