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21 Mar 2003 : Column 969W—continued
Immigration Appeals
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals made from outside the UK were successful in each of the last three years for (a) asylum, (b) tourist visas, (c) work permits and (d) British citizenship. [102445]
Beverley Hughes: Under provisions of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 which came into force on 7 November 2002, a claimant whose asylum or human rights claim has been refused and certified as "clearly unfounded" may not appeal that refusal until they are outside the United Kingdom. No such appeals had been lodged as at end December 2002 (the latest date for which data are available). However, for the small number of such cases for which appeals have since been received and determined, none has been successful.
Prior to 7 November, no asylum applicants were required to appeal from outside the United Kingdom.
There is no statutory right of appeal against a refusal to grant tourist visas or British nationality.
The number of successful non-statutory appeals made outside the United Kingdom for work permits in each of the last three years is as follows: 753 in 2000; 937 in 2001; and 2,123 in 2002. The issue of a work permit does not guarantee the issue of a visa and/or entry to the United Kingdom.
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Ministerial Travel
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list internal flights made by Ministers in his Department in 2002, including in each case the (a) cost, (b) departure location and (c) destination; and of these how many were (i) first class, (ii) business class and (iii) economy class. [103584]
Mr. Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W.
I also refer to the answer provided to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) on 11 March 2003, Official Report, column 207W.
Detailed information for all Ministers in respect of United Kingdom travel is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are in the Library.
On-the-spot Fines
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the on-the-spot fines pilot project in North Wales. [103398]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: North Wales is one of five police forces piloting penalty notices for disorder in four police force areas. The pilot in North Wales commenced on 2 September in its central division. Up to 5 January 100 penalty notices had been issued with 53 paid and only one request for a court hearing. 23 penalty notices were within the 21 day payment period with no recorded outcome. North Wales police have welcomed this new option for dealing with low-level disorderly offending and are now extending the pilot forcewide.
Police
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 24 February, ref 97598, what the role of his Department is in determining policy and guidelines relating to the deployment of police forces. [100063]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Under the Police Act 1996, a police force is under the control and direction of its chief officer. Operational decisions, including the deployment of officers, are a matter for the chief officer of police.
The Police Reform Act 2002 provides for the publication of an annual National Policing Plan which sets out the Home Secretary's strategic priorities for the police service and the targets and indicators by which police performance will be measured. Chief officers and police authorities are then required to have regard to the National Policing Plan when preparing their own three-year strategic plan.
From time to time the Home Secretary may also issue regulations requiring all forces to adopt particular procedures and practices in the interests of promoting efficiency and effectiveness. The Home Secretary may for the same reasons issue codes of practice on any function of chief officers and to which a chief officer shall have regard. The Home Secretary may issue guidance to the
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police on specific aspects of policing. Codes of practice are drafted by Centrex (the Central Police Training and Development Authority) after consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities. The Home Secretary shall also seek the advice of Centrex (who will again consult) in drafting regulations.
The Home Secretary may also direct that an action plan be drawn up where inadequate performance is identified by Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary in a force or part of a force.
The National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) has been established within Centrex specifically to advance the professional capacity of the police. It will develop and disseminate knowledge to improve effective policing practice and will focus on priority issues affecting public confidence and risk, including those required by the Home Secretary for incorporation into regulations and codes of practice.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has withdrawn from the National Assembly for Wales police provision to fund centrally managed initiatives. [102762]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: A number of specific grants and central initiatives are financed from the overall provisions for police grant and for revenue support grant from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and from the Welsh Assembly Government. The share contributed by the National Assembly for 2003–04 is £21.26 million. It is based on the Welsh police authorities' share of Total Assumed Spending for police authorities in England and Wales.
Welsh police authorities will receive £355 million in general grant in 2003–04, an increase of 3.6 per cent. over the provision for 2002–03. In addition, they are expected to receive in specific grants sums at least equivalent to the National Assembly contribution.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers have been recruited by each police authority in England and Wales, in the last year for which figures are available. [103394]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Police forces were first invited to bid for funds for Community Support Officers (CSOs) on 31 July 2002. 27 forces made successful bids. The table sets out the numbers of CSOs recruited up to 17 March in 26 of these forces. Avon and Somerset have not, as yet, employed any CSOs although they hope to have 12 in place shortly.
We are on course to meet our target of 1,200 CSOs recruited by the end of March. A new round of bidding has commenced and we hope to announce allocations in May 2003.
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Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will encourage rail operating companies to extend the free travel on trains available to regular police officers to members of the Special Constabulary. [99643]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Special Constabulary has a vital role to play in reducing crime and providing reassurance to the public. We welcome any contribution that the rail operating companies, and the wider business community, can make to support the work of the Special Constabulary.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has (a) to alter and (b) to withdraw the subsistence allowance for special constables; [99648]
- (2) what the rates of payments made to special constables are for (a) boot allowance and (b) subsistence allowance; when these figures were introduced; and what plans he has to increase them. [99649]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Revised allowances for special constables were set out in Home Office Circular No. 64/89, payable with effect from 11 September 1989.
The Circular set the boot allowance at an annual rate of £30, payable in arrears. A refreshment allowance for a special constable incurring expenditure to obtain a meal was set at the same rate as that approved for payment to regular constables under Regulation 58 of the Police Regulations 1987, as amended.
We are currently reviewing Home Office Circular No. 64/89.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of police resources is allocated to traffic policing (a) in the UK and (b) broken down by region; [102860]
- (2) how many dedicated traffic police officers there have been in each year since 1991, broken down by region and nation; and what percentage of the total number of police officers these figures represent, broken down by region and nation; [102861]
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(3) what recent discussions he has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers regarding the number of dedicated traffic police officers; and if he will make a statement. [102859]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following tables give the readily available information in respect of England and Wales. This covers the three years since 1999, in which year the definition of 'traffic officer' used by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary changed. The definition is now
"staff who are predominantly employed on motor-cycles or in patrol vehicles for the policing of traffic and motorway related duties". This definition excludes those engaged in accident investigation, vehicle examination or radar duties. Policing in Scotland and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland respectively.
The importance of roads policing is recognised in the National Policing Plan. This sets out that forces and local authorities should include in their local policing plans targeted and intelligence-led strategies for reducing deaths and injuries on the roads and achieving a safe environment for all road users.
Officials are in regular contact with the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Road Policing Business Area and his colleagues.
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21 Mar 2003 : Column 975W
| Number of police officers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region and nation | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | |
| Cleveland | 1,421 | 1,424 | 1,461 | |
| Durham | 1,558 | 1,595 | 1,616 | |
| Northumbria | 3,788 | 3,857 | 3,929 | |
| North East Region Total | 6,767 | 6,876 | 7,006 | |
| Cheshire | 2,011 | 2,011 | 2,059 | |
| Cumbria | 1,084 | 1,048 | 1,100 | |
| Greater Manchester | 6,795 | 6,910 | 7,217 | |
| Lancashire | 3,221 | 3,255 | 3,304 | |
| Merseyside | 4,085 | 4,081 | 4,125 | |
| North West Region Total | 17,196 | 17,305 | 17,805 | |
| Humberside | 1,932 | 1,911 | 2,050 | |
| North Yorkshire | 1,284 | 1,312 | 1,406 | |
| South Yorkshire | 3,153 | 3,175 | 3,199 | |
| West Yorkshire | 4,823 | 4,815 | 4,889 | |
| Yorkshire and Humberside Total | 11,192 | 11,213 | 11,544 | |
| Derbyshire | 1,777 | 1,823 | 1,848 | |
| Leicestershire | 1,993 | 2,033 | 2,059 | |
| Lincolnshire | 1,115 | 1,202 | 1,198 | |
| Northamptonshire | 1,118 | 1,159 | 1,214 | |
| Nottinghamshire | 2,224 | 2,276 | 2,330 | |
| East Midland Region Total | 8,227 | 8,493 | 8,649 | |
| Staffordshire | 2,170 | 2,120 | 2,133 | |
| Warwickshire | 900 | 925 | 969 | |
| West Mercia | 1,890 | 1,951 | 2,018 | |
| West Midlands | 7,215 | 7,420 | 7,594 | |
| West Midlands Region Total | 12,175 | 12,416 | 12,714 | |
| Bedfordshire | 1,028 | 1,034 | 1,066 | |
| Cambridgeshire | 1,238 | 1,296 | 1,362 | |
| Essex | 2,806 | 2,894 | 2,943 | |
| Hertfordshire | 1,767 | 1,922 | 1,830 | |
| Norfolk | 1,381 | 1,419 | 1,468 | |
| Suffolk | 1,146 | 1,133 | 1,203 | |
| East of England Region Total | 9,366 | 9,698 | 9,872 | |
| City of London | 736 | 703 | 763 | |
| Metropolitan Police | 25,462 | 24,935 | 26,191 | |
| London Region Total | 26,198 | 25,638 | 26,954 | |
| Hampshire | 3,419 | 3,435 | 3,480 | |
| Kent | 3,204 | 3,318 | 3,355 | |
| Surrey | 1,785 | 2,066 | 1,992 | |
| Thames valley | 3,741 | 3,706 | 3,762 | |
| South East Region Total | 12,149 | 12,525 | 12,589 | |
| Avon and Somerset | 2,934 | 2,994 | 3,096 | |
| Devon and Cornwall | 2,841 | 2,934 | 3,053 | |
| Dorset | 1,306 | 1,364 | 1,381 | |
| Gloucestershire | 1,114 | 1,170 | 1,181 | |
| Wiltshire | 1,118 | 1,120 | 1,157 | |
| South West Region Total | 9,313 | 9,582 | 9,868 | |
| England Total | 112,583 | 113,746 | 117,001 | |
| Dyfed-Powys | 1,045 | 1,057 | 1,133 | |
| Gwent | 1,264 | 1,274 | 1,333 | |
| North Wales | 1,383 | 1,444 | 1,502 | |
| South Wales | 2,962 | 3,108 | 3,179 | |
| Wales | 6,654 | 6,883 | 7,147 | |
| Wales Total | 6,654 | 6,883 | 7,147 | |
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