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3 Feb 2004 : Column 803W—continued

National Criminal Intelligence Service

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of corruption received by the National Criminal Intelligence Service have resulted in NCIS reporting these allegations to authorities in a foreign jurisdiction. [151381]

Caroline Flint: There are currently nine entries on the Register of reported allegations. On one occasion National Criminal Intelligence Service has, on behalf of a UK police force, made an enquiry in a foreign jurisdiction relating to one of these allegations.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Criminal Intelligence Service (a) has provided and (b) is intending to produce a problem profile of the offence of bribery of a foreign public official. [151382]

3 Feb 2004 : Column 804W

Caroline Flint: The National Criminal Intelligence Service has not provided a problem profile on the specific subject of bribery of foreign public officials, although the issue of corruption is discussed in a number of the wider assessments. There are no current plans for a specific assessment on this topic.

Police (North Wales)

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last received a report on policing in North Wales from the Chief Constable of North Wales police. [150468]

Ms Blears: The Chief Constable of North Wales incorporated his annual report for 2002–03 into the North Wales police "Policing Our Communities 2003–2004" publication which was sent to my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary in July 2003. This document can be found at www.north-wales.police.uk.

3 Feb 2004 : Column 805W

Police (Cumbria)

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Cumbria Police's local policing teams initiative. [151876]

Ms Blears: In February 2003, the Chief Constable of Cumbria, Michael Baxter, introduced, with the agreement of the police authority, a four-year programme to establish local policing teams in response to demand from the local community. Early signs are encouraging. Those community constables already in place are providing reassurance to the public and helping to develop longer-term strategies to improve people's quality of life in Cumbria.

Police (Early Retirement)

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of police officers in each police force has been given early retirement in each of the last four years. [151601]

Ms Blears: Figures relating to the number of police ill-health retirements in forces between 1999–2000 and 2002–03 are given in the table. For greater consistency police ill-health retirements are now measured in terms of the number of retirements per 1,000 force strength.

		1999–2000			2000–01
Force	Police medical retirements	Medical retirements per 1,000 officers	Police medical retirements	Medical retirements per 1,000 officers
Avon and Somerset	40	13.6	42	14.0
Bedfordshire	18	17.5	18	17.4
Cambridgeshire	10	8.1	11	8.5
Cheshire	17	8.5	22	10.9
City of London	11	14.9	9	12.6
Cleveland	15	10.6	9	6.3
Cumbria	20	18.5	24	22.9
Derbyshire	12	6.8	12	6.6
Devon and Cornwall	20	7.0	15	5.0
Dorset	10	7.7	12	8.9
Durham	8	5.1	8	5.0
Dyfed-Powys	12	11.5	14	13.2
Essex	51	18.2	34	11.6
Gloucestershire	8	7.2	7	6.0
Greater Manchester	132	19.4	110	16.0
Gwent	25	19.8	16	12.6
Hampshire	20	5.8	17	4.9
Hertfordshire	10	5.7	13	6.8
Humberside	11	5.9	20	10.5
Kent	18	5.6	29	8.7
Lancashire	17	5.3	30	9.2
Leicestershire	22	11.0	28	13.6
Lincolnshire	10	9.0	4	3.3
Merseyside	45	11.0	47	11.5
Metropolitan Police	289	11.4	225	9.0
Norfolk	12	8.7	10	7.0
Northamptonshire	5	4.5	8	6.9
Northumbria	43	11.4	28	7.3
North Wales	15	10.8	31	21.5
North Yorkshire	25	19.5	37	28.2
Nottinghamshire	21	9.4	16	7.0
South Wales	52	17.6	76	24.4
South Yorkshire	24	7.6	30	9.4
Staffordshire	3	1.4	9	4.2
Suffolk	15	13.1	14	12.4
Surrey	14	7.8	18	8.7
Sussex	16	5.7	16	5.6
Thames Valley	19	5.1	20	5.4
Warwickshire	9	10.0	15	16.2
West Mercia	27	14.3	28	14.4
West Midlands	28	3.9	29	3.9
West Yorkshire	45	9.3	44	9.1
Wiltshire	8	7.2	5	4.5
Total	1,232	10.1	1,209	9.8

3 Feb 2004 : Column 806W

	2001–02		2002–03
Force	Police medical retirements	Medical retirements per 1,000 officers	Police medical retirements	Medical retirements per 1,000 officers
Avon and Somerset	42	13.6	34	10.8
Bedfordshire	8	7.5	7	6.3
Cambridgeshire	10	7.0	8	5.8
Cheshire	22	10.7	25	11.9
City of London	8	10.0	4	4.9
Cleveland	21	14.4	11	7.6
Cumbria	7	6.4	7	6.1
Derbyshire	9	4.9	12	6.0
Devon and Cornwall	19	6.1	9	2.9
Dorset	10	7.0	3	2.1
Durham	15	9.2	11	6.9
Dyfed-Powys	13	11.5	11	9.5
Essex	32	10.8	21	7.1
Gloucestershire	10	8.5	13	10.5
Greater Manchester	57	7.8	33	4.5
Gwent	24	18.0	22	16.3
Hampshire	19	5.3	11	3.0
Hertfordshire	8	4.1	7	3.4
Humberside	11	5.4	10	4.7
Kent	38	11.3	21	6.0
Lancashire	39	11.8	22	6.4
Leicestershire	7	3.4	9	4.2
Lincolnshire	3	2.5	10	8.1
Merseyside	58	14.1	51	12.4
Metropolitan Police	219	8.4	150	5.3
Norfolk	16	10.9	13	8.6
Northamptonshire	6	4.9	3	2.5
Northumbria	33	8.4	21	5.2
North Wales	20	13.3	14	9.0
North Yorkshire	16	11.4	9	6.2
Nottinghamshire	14	6.0	16	6.3
South Wales	50	15.8	33	10.1
South Yorkshire	30	9.4	17	5.3
Staffordshire	24	11.3	22	9.7
Suffolk	13	10.8	12	9.8
Surrey	24	11.9	12	6.2
Sussex	16	5.5	9	3.0
Thames Valley	17	4.4	29	7.4
Warwickshire	7	7.2	8	8.0
West Mercia	28	13.9	20	8.8
West Midlands	30	4.0	21	2.7
West Yorkshire	61	12.5	23	4.0
Wiltshire	3	2.6	15	12.8
Total	1,114	8.8	821	6.2

Police Patrols

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued in relation to (a) police officers and (b) community support officers patrolling in groups of two or more; and if he will place copies in the Library. [151415]

Ms Blears: Issues relating to patrol, whether carried out by officers or Community Support Officers are operational matters and as such the responsibility of Chief Officers.

I understand that the Assistant Chief Police Officers are considering the issue of advice to Chief Officers on risk assessment in relation to patrol.

Police Pensions

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former police officers are receiving pensions from each police force; and what the annual cost will be in 2003–04. [151602]

Ms Blears: Specific information relating to each police force about the number of former police officers with pensions is not held centrally. The total number of

3 Feb 2004 : Column 807W

police pensions in payment (including ill-health retirees and dependants) at 1 April 2003 was 106,739. The most recent estimate is that about three-quarters of these pensions in payment will be to former officers. The estimated total number of police pensions in payment at 31 March 2004 is 109,502.

The annual cost of police pensions in 2003–04 has not yet been determined. However, in total, forces in England and Wales estimate that their police pension bill for 2003–04 will be £1,234,675,000. As stated in the National Policing Plan 2002, we are exploring the options for a revised system of funding which would bring greater clarity about pensions obligations on individual police authorities.

Police Recruitment

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on each phase of the "Could You?" police recruitment campaign to date; and how many officers have been recruited as a direct result. [151417]

Ms Blears: The first phase of the Police "Could You?" recruitment campaign ran for three years from 2000 to March 2003 and cost just under £16 million. This was the first national police recruitment campaign and it was launched against a background of police numbers which had been steadily falling for years. The campaign was executed on TV, cinema, press, radio and on-line. We cannot say how many police officers were recruited as a direct result of the campaign. While advertising is an important factor in encouraging potential applicants to apply, it is not the only factor. However, we know that interest in the police service rose during and after the campaign and the numbers of police recruits went up after a prolonged period of decline. Three years later we now have record numbers of police officers.

The current recruitment campaign will run from November 2003 to March 2004. The campaign is targeted at women and minority ethnic people who are currently under-represented in the police service. It is also aimed at increasing the number of Special Constables. The campaign will cost just under £5.8 million in total. It includes TV, radio and press advertising and on-line advertising. It also includes production of a recruitment brochure and a recruitment video, PR support for four pilot forces, enhancement of the police recruitment website, and call handling facilities.

It will not be possible to say how many people were recruited as a direct result of the campaign. However, we will be tracking the level of interest in the police service generated by the campaign through the website and call centre. We will also be tracking the visibility of our advertisements, public perception of them, and attitudes towards the attractiveness of a police career through regular surveys.

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