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1 Jul 2003 : Column 248W—continued
Fingerprint Identification System
Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Livescan terminals used to access the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System are deployed, broken down by police authority. [121118]
Ms Blears: A total of 176 Livescan units are deployed among police forces in England and Wales. Broken down by police authority, they are as follows:
(7) These units are on trial.
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Graffiti
Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the statutory undertakers about graffiti on their street furniture or other property; and if he will make a statement. [118086]
Ms Blears: We recognise the real problem of graffiti on street furniture, which my hon. Friend has done much to highlight. That is why we consulted on options in this area in our 2002 document on public space, "Living Places". A number of owners of street furniture responded to this consultation.The Government are considering the results of the consultation exercise and will decide what further action to take. Officials from the Home Office and Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) also met with British Telecom recently to discuss the challenges in this area.
At report stage of the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, we also introduced new powers for local authorities to clean graffiti from street furniture.
Health Care (Prisons)
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence is collected centrally to benchmark (a) health outcomes and (b) healthcare provision in the prison population against the population at large. [121343]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office and Department of Health collect a range of performance monitoring data on health services for prisoners, covering both physical and mental health care activity. These data focus primarily on availability of and access to services, and do not at present provide a basis for benchmarking health outcomes. They are subject to ongoing refinement to facilitate more systematic comparisons with services available to the population at large.
The Government also commissioned the "Toolkit for Health Care Needs Assessment in Prisons" (University of Birmingham 2000), which provides a summary of research information on the health status of people in prison, including comparisons with the wider population.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been put in place to ensure that prisoners receive prompt thrombolysis. [121344]
Paul Goggins: Prisons and their local Primary Care Trusts are working in partnership to secure the best possible health outcomes for prisoners. They will be taking full account of the review of the Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework thrombolysis targets to ensure that prisoners who suffer heart attacks are treated as promptly as possible.
1 Jul 2003 : Column 250W
Internet Paedophile Offences
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) other law enforcement personnel are employed on a full-time basis to investigate online paedophile offences. [121956]
Paul Goggins: Investigations which are believed to involve paedophile activity or images, whether committed on or off line, are normally investigated by paedophile units, child protection or investigation teams. The allocation of officers to these units is a matter for individual chief officers, and information as to the staffing of these units is not held centrally.
Jamaicans (Visitor Visas)
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Jamaicans were (a) given and (b) refused visitor visas to the United Kingdom in (i) the last month for which figures are available and (ii) the same month in 2002; and if he will make a statement. [121850]
Beverley Hughes: I am afraid the information requested on grants and refusals of visitor visas to Jamaican nationals is not available.
Visitor visas for Jamaican nationals were not issued until January 2003 when the visa regime was introduced. Prior to that, however, some Jamaican nationals chose to apply for entry clearance for temporary purposes to aid passage through the immigration control.
The published information relates to grants and refusals of entry clearance for temporary purposes, which includes visitors and others seeking temporary admission to the UK. The latest published information on grants and refusals of entry clearance (including visas), for settlement and temporary purposes, relates to 2000. Data for 2001 and 2002 will be published in November 2003 in the Home Office publication, "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002", which will be available in the Library.
Decisions made on applications for entry clearance are recorded according to where the application is made rather than by the nationality of the applicant. The published information therefore relates to the number of applications made in Jamaica. It is not possible to identify separately Jamaican nationals applying for entry clearance, either in Jamaica or elsewhere in the world.
Mr. Rustam Artskanov
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will intervene in the case of Mr. Rustam Artskanov, a constituent, to enable him to remain living in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [122357]
Beverley Hughes: I am not aware of any factors at present that would justify allowing Mr. Artskanov to remain in the United Kingdom.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will discuss with President Putin the case of Mr. Rustam Artskanov and seek a guarantee of his safe passage to his home in Chechnya. [122359]
1 Jul 2003 : Column 251W
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 30 June 2003]: We will not be raising Mr. Artskanov's case with President Putin.
Passports
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 5 June 2003, Official Report, column 946W, on passports, how may special file section staff have been employed in each regional office in each of the last five years. [121597]
Beverley Hughes: The figures for staff in post within United Kingdom Passport Service Special Files Departments in each of the last five years are given in the table:
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Durham(8) | n/a | n/a | 6 | 6.5 | 10.5 |
| Glasgow | 5.25 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 |
| Liverpool | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| London | 8 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 16 |
| Newport | 7 | 7 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 8 |
| Peterborough | 3 | 3.48 | 5.02 | 6.02 | 12.65 |
(8) The Durham Passport Office opened in April 2000
Police Discipline
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to change the police disciplinary regulations; and if he will make a statement. [121093]
Ms Blears: We are reviewing the two existing sets of misconduct regulations—set out in the Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999 and the Police (Conduct) (Senior Officers) Regulations 1999, in order to remove unnecessary differences between them.
In addition, we will be introducing changes to the regulations provided for in section 36 of the Police Reform Act 2002. In summary these will:
- (a) enable the Independent Police Complaints Commission to participate in disciplinary proceedings;
(b) allow other persons to participate in, or be present at, disciplinary proceedings; and
(c) change the current caution in order to permit a disciplinary hearing to draw adverse inferences from a police officer's failure to mention a fact when questioned about an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct.
Police Firearms Training
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers completed firearms training in each police force area in each of the last three years. [120914]
Ms Blears: Training in use of firearms takes place in individual force training establishments. Each officer receives regular training dependent on their role, in order to maintain authority from their force to carry weapons.
No figures are held centrally about numbers of officers who undergo such training.
1 Jul 2003 : Column 252W
However, the following table gives the numbers of authorised firearms officers in each force, during the last three years for which figures are available, all of whom undergo training more frequently than annually.
| 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 6,262 | 6,064 | 5,776 |
| Avon and Somerset | 150 | 135 | 116 |
| Bedfordshire | 46 | 45 | 48 |
| Cambridgeshire | 77 | 73 | 56 |
| Cheshire | 75 | 74 | 81 |
| Cleveland | 80 | 75 | 85 |
| City of London | 73 | 74 | 73 |
| Cumbria | 98 | 94 | 92 |
| Derbyshire | 77 | 81 | 80 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 119 | 100 | 108 |
| Dorset | 66 | 67 | 57 |
| Durham | 101 | 101 | 86 |
| Essex | 228 | 195 | 180 |
| Gloucestershire | 77 | 72 | 71 |
| Greater Manchester | 218 | 240 | 219 |
| Hampshire | 111 | 100 | 87 |
| Hertfordshire | 52 | 44 | 46 |
| Humberside | 97 | 102 | 96 |
| Kent | 136 | 136 | 113 |
| Lancashire | 143 | 132 | 138 |
| Leicestershire | 90 | 85 | 69 |
| Lincolnshire | 78 | 80 | 91 |
| Merseyside | 96 | 103 | 78 |
| Metropolitan | 1,977 | 1,940 | 1,805 |
| Norfolk | 110 | 114 | 104 |
| Northamptonshire | 75 | 77 | 51 |
| Northumbria | 114 | 109 | 125 |
| North Yorkshire | 59 | 66 | 66 |
| Nottinghamshire | 116 | 137 | 136 |
| South Yorkshire | 100 | 98 | 92 |
| Staffordshire | 81 | 67 | 71 |
| Suffolk | 98 | 90 | 90 |
| Surrey | 71 | 72 | 62 |
| Sussex | 131 | 118 | 120 |
| Thames Valley | 187 | 185 | 156 |
| Warwickshire | 54 | 45 | 50 |
| West Mercia | 129 | 130 | 125 |
| West Midlands | 93 | 83 | 111 |
| West Yorkshire | 110 | 117 | 116 |
| Wiltshire | 89 | 71 | 71 |
| Dyfed Powys | 65 | 61 | 77 |
| Gwent | 68 | 66 | 57 |
| North Wales | 92 | 67 | 83 |
| South Wales | 155 | 143 | 138 |
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