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8 Jul 2003 : Column 723W—continued
Passports
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what compensation was paid by the Post Office to the UK Passport Service for passports lost in the post in each of the last five years; [123510]
- (2) what guidance is issued to post offices to ensure the secure handling of passports en route from UK Passport Service offices to applicants; [123511]
(3) what action he is taking to minimise the risk of passports being stolen in the post; [123512]
(4) how many passports were reported lost in transit by private postal and courier companies in each of the last five years. [123513]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 4 July 2003]: In early 2003 the UK Passport Service (UKPS) completed a "Review of Alternative Delivery Mechanisms" in the wake of continuing problems with passports being reported as lost in the post and the concern that these lost passports might subsequently be used for the purposes of identity fraud. As a result of this review UKPS have determined that in future all valid UK passports will be delivered by secure delivery to the customers home address. A tender exercise is currently under way to select a suitable supplier and UKPS expect to announce a chosen supplier in August. Implementation is currently planned for early 2004.
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The UK Passport Service rarely use private postal and courier companies as the bulk of passports are delivered to customers by Royal Mail Group. Private couriers are occasionally used in 'emergency situations', however there have been no reported instances of any passports lost by such couriers.
For each passport reported lost in the post UKPS receive compensation of £26.00 from Royal Mail Group. Between 1999 and 2002 there were 11,733 passports reported lost in the post and compensation has therefore totalled £305,058.
There is no specific guidance provided to Post Office Ltd. with regard to the secure delivery of passports to customers. UKPS do however regularly meet with Royal Mail Group to discuss security arrangements within the postal system and measures have been put in place to anonomise envelopes and maximise the secure transmission of passports from UKPS sites to customers.
Police
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there are per head of population in each of the basic command units that make up the Avon and Somerset constabulary area. [123583]
Ms Blears: The information in the table is based on police strength in the Basic Command Units at 31 March 2002, as set out in the reply of 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 589W, by my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes).
| Basic Command Unit | Police officers per 100,000 population(5) |
|---|---|
| Bath and North East Somerset | 134.5 |
| Central Bristol | 348.9 |
| North Bristol | 184.4 |
| North Somerset | 107.4 |
| Somerset East | 99.9 |
| Somerset West | 121.1 |
| South Bristol | 188.8 |
| South Gloucester | 107.6 |
(5) Population figures are from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are the latest available for mid-year 2001
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in the London borough of Barnet in 1997; and how many there are now. [123891]
Ms Blears: Information has not been collected on a regular basis about the number of officers deployed to Basic Command Units within force areas. The deployment of resources between the London boroughs and other specialist operational and support units of the Metropolitan Police Service is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Sir John Stevens QPM).
I would however refer my hon. Friend to the reply of 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 589W, by my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) to the hon. Member for Southwark,
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North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), setting out police strength for each Basic Command Unit for each force in England and Wales as at 31 March 2002.
Current London borough division boundaries were introduced in 2000 following changes to Metropolitan Police District boundaries with Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey on 1 April 2000. Barnet Division did not exist in its current form in 1997 and was affected by the boundary changes with Hertfordshire in 2000. Realistic comparisons of borough strength cannot therefore be made.
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes his Department has made to police disciplinary procedures in the last five years; and what representations he has received from chief constables on reforming police disciplinary procedures. [122881]
Ms Blears: The current misconduct regulations were introduced on 1 April 1999. These are the Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999 and the Police (Conduct) (Senior Officers) Regulations 1999, which replaced the existing Police (Discipline) Regulations 1985 and the Police (Discipline) (Senior Officers) Regulations 1985. The new Regulations represent a change in emphasis from a discipline code of specific offences to a code of conduct against which an officer's behaviour can be assessed to see whether or not it matches up to the standards expected of a police officer.
Regulations and Guidance on police misconduct procedures are kept under review by the Police Personnel Procedures (PPP) Working Group, which was set up by, and is a sub-group of, the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales. All police interests are represented on the PPP Working Group, which includes a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers. Since the current misconduct regulations were introduced in April 1999 the following amendments have been made:
- The Greater London Authority Act 1999 (Consequential Amendments) (Police) Order 2000 (SI 2000/1549) removed references to the Assistant Commissioner from the Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999 and amended the Police (Conduct) (Senior Officers) Regulations 1999 consequential on the fact that the Home Secretary ceased to be the police authority for the Metropolitan Police.
The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (Consequential Amendments) (Police Ranks) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3888) inserted in the Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999 various references to chief superintendents, consequential on section 125 of the 2001 Act, and inserted in the Police (Conduct) (Senior Officers) Regulations 1999 a reference to a deputy chief constable, consequential on section 123 of the 2001 Act. Regulation 5(4) amended regulation 18(3) of the Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999 to provide that at a disciplinary hearing, the two officers who assist the presiding officer need not come from the same force as the officer concerned.
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Ms Blears: The information requested is set out in the table.
| Isle of Man Constabulary(6) | England(7) | Wales(7) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police Officers | 322.3 | 240.2 | 244.2 |
| Civilian Support Staff | 65.5 | 109.8 | 105.5 |
| Total Police Service Personnel | 387.9 | 350.0 | 349.7 |
(6) Information provided by the Isle of Man Constabulary via the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
(7) England and Wales figures, based on police strength at 31 March 2002 and Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-year 2001 population figures. Police strength for England and Wales excludes police officers seconded to National Crime Squad (NCS), National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) and central services such as Centrex.
Prisoner Re-offending
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what targets he has set for prisoner re-offending rates. [124034]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 7 July 2003]: The Home Office Public Service Agreement (published in the White Paper '2002 Spending Review, Public Service Agreements 2003–2006' (Cm 5571, July 2002) set a target to reduce re-offending by five per cent for young offenders and for adults sentenced to imprisonment or sentenced to community sentences. Progress against this target is measured using reconviction rates, as set out in the 'SR2002 Public Service Agreement Technical Notes' (presented to Parliament in March 2003).
Progress against the proceeding Public Service Agreement Target 10, set in 2000, was reported in Home Office Online Report 16/02.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prisoner re-offending rates were in each of the last five years. [124036]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 7 July 2003]: Two-year 'un-adjusted' reconviction rates for prisoners discharged from custody are available for 1994 to 1998. These were 56 per cent. in 1994, 58 per cent. in 1995, 57 per cent. in 1996, 58 per cent. in 1997 and 59 per cent. in 1998. These rates are published in 'Prison Statistics-England and Wales 2001'.
Reconviction rates for offenders discharged from custody have also been published according to the requirements of the Governments Public Service Agreement (PSA) 10 target. These are adjusted to take out convictions for offences committed prior to discharge, giving a reconviction rate of 55.3 per cent. for the first quarter of 1999. The equivalent figures for the first quarter of 1997 and 1998 are 56.8 per cent. and 55.7 per cent. respectively.
Neither set of rates indicate trends in rates over time, as they make no allowance for changes in the characteristics and criminal histories of offenders given custodial sentences. To do this a predicted rate is used. Comparisons between the actual and predicted reconviction rates for 1999 show that the actual rate was 1.9 per cent. lower than predicted, equating to 3.3 per cent. fewer offenders reconvicted, as set out in the Home Office On Line Report 16/02.
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Reconviction rates for more recent periods are not yet available.
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