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21 May 2003 : Column 868W—continued

E-Government Projects

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by project the consultancies his Department and its non-departmental public bodies have used on e-government projects since 1 January 2001. [114185]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 16 May 2003]: The information required is not readily available and to provide a full answer would incur disproportionate cost.

21 May 2003 : Column 869W

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the target is for efficiency savings in 2003–04 expressed (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's expenditure limit. [114125]

Mr. Blunkett: The Home Office's target for efficiency savings is to realise by the end of 2005–06 improvements in value for money which are equivalent to at least 3 per cent. of its expenditure in 2002–03, excluding grants to the police. As explained in the published technical notes to the Home Office targets which are available on the Home Office website. Efficiency gains are one particular type of value for money improvement and no separate target has been set for them. The value for money improvements which must be achieved by 2005–06 to meet the target is £210 million.

Illegal Immigrants

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of those currently charged with criminal offences in the United Kingdom are in the country illegally. [89433]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 14 January 2003]: Information on the number of persons charged is not collected centrally within England and Wales.

Information held centrally on the number of persons arrested for notifiable offences within England and Wales does not identify either the nationality or the immigration status of the arrestee.

Where a person subject to immigration control who has been arrested in connection with a minor offence is found to be present in the United Kingdom without leave and can be removed immediately, our normal policy would be to remove them rather than to institute criminal proceedings.

Data for persons charged with criminal offences within Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively.

Mental Health

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of his staff have taken sick leave due to mental health problems in the last year; [111983]

(2) how many sick days were lost over the last year by his Department through staff mental health problems. [111997]

Mr. Blunkett: 16,757 working days were lost in the Home Office due to sickness absence caused by mental health problems in the calendar year 2002.

Also in that year, 445 Home Office staff took sick leave due to mental health problems under the definitions supplied by the Cabinet Office. The figure represents 2.69 per cent of those staff who were absent through illness in 2002.

21 May 2003 : Column 870W

A wide-ranging review of sickness absence and ill health retirement is due to report shortly.

These figures exclude the Prison Service and the United Kingdom Passport Service).

Mersey Tunnels

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the assessment by his Department's officials of reports of investigations following the deaths of Darren Franey and Scott Veach to be completed. [114197]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Consideration of the investigation report in regards to the effective policing of Mersey Tunnels is currently in progress.

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has established terms of reference for work to be taken forward by Home Office and Department of Transport officials regarding Mersey Tunnels policing. [114509]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Home Office officials are working closely with colleagues from the Department of Transport with the objective of ensuring that the best arrangements for the safe and effective policing of the Mersey Tunnels are in place.

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the views of (a) Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, (b) the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police and (c) the Chief Executive of Merseytravel regarding the policing of the Mersey tunnels. [114196]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have already received the views of Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police. The Chief Executive of Merseytravel has indicated that he will not respond until the conclusion of the Judicial Review proceedings that Merseytravel have commenced.

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the relationship between the Mersey Tunnels Police and the Police Complaints Authority, with special reference to section 78 of the Police Act 1996. [114123]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There is no relationship between Mersey Tunnels Police and the Police Complaints Authority by virtue of Section 78 of the Police Act 1996 nor any similar agreement outside of that legislation.

Special Constables

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables have been in place in each English police force in each year since 1996. [114307]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The data requested, as at March 1996–2002, are set out in the table.

Since March 1998, information on the strength of special constabularies for each police force has been published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletins on police strength in England and Wales, copies of which are available in the Library.

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Special constable strength in England by police force area

	March
Police force	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Avon and Somerset	688	759	621	547	459	400	364
Bedfordshire	189	182	186	154	151	115	118
Cambridgeshire	275	303	320	310	274	218	207
Cheshire	274	475	459	407	350	290	191
Cleveland	195	160	164	126	128	93	85
Cumbria	201	189	198	204	176	156	102
Derbyshire	413	428	380	317	282	275	260
Devon and Cornwall	1,102	1,148	1,024	918	870	796	689
Dorset	254	289	315	305	298	267	253
Durham	187	184	144	159	157	146	134
Essex	608	634	638	544	483	445	381
Gloucestershire	330	297	276	233	206	183	154
Greater Manchester	746	685	598	523	457	367	338
Hampshire	564	621	698	760	615	454	444
Hertfordshire	315	297	306	238	216	198	206
Humberside	391	340	324	269	246	212	207
Kent	555	589	592	526	436	392	327
Lancashire	553	483	489	449	382	360	363
Leicestershire	360	415	406	316	247	162	143
Lincolnshire	299	271	260	216	195	166	155
City of London	77	86	76	64	56	43	36
Merseyside	333	401	419	458	476	541	468
Metropolitan police	1,850	1,714	1,282	1138	758	774	680
Norfolk	319	402	337	336	285	259	244
Northamptonshire	289	316	288	230	199	188	177
Northumbria	471	533	400	342	332	300	256
North Yorkshire	360	362	358	276	217	182	185
Nottinghamshire	537	620	558	461	411	335	341
South Yorkshire	381	308	281	246	205	188	206
Staffordshire	702	685	595	468	482	402	384
Suffolk	407	379	397	420	391	349	308
Surrey	260	297	235	224	175	149	187
Sussex	511	472	442	393	352	306	306
Thames Valley	744	656	609	569	472	418	356
Warwickshire	340	381	345	261	260	221	209
West Mercia	613	582	512	515	476	399	339
West Midlands	897	945	889	731	680	617	598
West Yorkshire	709	690	589	559	484	415	349
Wiltshire	233	154	149	184	173	152	147
Total all forces in England	18,532	18,732	17,159	15,396	13,512	11,933	10,897

Source:

Figures provided by Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate.

GHB

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will review the legislation regarding the sale, production and possession of gamma hydroxy butyrate; and if he will make a statement. [114540]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Both Houses have recently approved an Order which will bring 4-Hydroxy-n-butyric acid, otherwise known as gammahyrdoxy-butrate or GHB, within the controls of Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as a Class C drug. The provisions will come into effect on 1 July. From that date it will be a criminal offence to possess GHB unlawfully, and this will attract a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.

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