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5 Feb 2004 : Column 1036W—continued

Crime Statistics

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means he has achieved reductions in (a) burglary, (b) vehicle crime and (c) violent crime since 1997. [150127]

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Ms Blears: We have instituted a large number of measures to reduce crime, many of which are listed in the Crime Reduction Strategy that we published in 1999. Some will have had an impact on a wide range of crimes, others are aimed specifically at burglary, vehicle crime and violent crime.

There are too many to list all in this reply, but examples include:

The activities of police forces and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership to tackle local crime problems—for instance through making homes more secure, using local authority warden to warn car owners who leave valuables in their vehicles of the risks involved and tackling city centre hooliganism.

Working with all parts of the criminal justice systems to improve procedures and the effectiveness of sentencing.

The work of the Youth Justice Board and Youth Offending Teams.

Our anti-drug strategy including the work of the Drugs Actions Teams.

Increasing police numbers to a record 136,386.

Promoting partnership working—not just at a local level but also with a range of stakeholders such as other government departments, motor manufacturers and dealers, the insurance industry, local authorities, universities and student bodies and leading commercial brands.

Requiring crime reduction targets to be set, and instituting new methods of monitoring, managing and improving performance at local and national levels. In addition to measures such as the Police Reform Act and the Police Standards Unit we have been promoting problem-oriented and intelligence-led policing which tackle the problems and their causes in a more pro-active way.

Introducing new legislation and other powers such as minimum sentences for third time convictions for burglary; strengthening the law on rape; increasing the powers of courts to impose restraining orders in domestic violence cases; and regulation of the motor salvage industry.

There is still more that we can do and, for example:

We are starting some new work on reducing the market for stolen goods—i.e. making the disposal of stolen property more difficult, riskier and less profitable.

The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit will be publishing an alcohol harm reduction strategy for England which will set out how to address the problems associated with alcohol misuse.

We are further improving vehicle registration procedures and working more closely with local authorities suffering the highest levels of crime and voluntary and community groups to get across vehicle crime prevention messages.

The Crime Reduction Delivery Board is finalising its prolific offenders strategy.

There are a number of other drivers of crime including social, economic and demographic factors and these will have contributed to the trends in crime in recent years.

Guns

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward legislation on the (a) sale, (b) promotion and (c) dissemination of (i) equipment and (ii) instructions for the re-conversion of guns that have previously been de-activated. [153098]

Caroline Flint: Component parts which can be used to re-activate firearms are already controlled in the same way as an actual firearm. Reamers, drills and other

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engineering tools are used for a variety of purposes and their sale is not restricted. It is already an offence, with a maximum sentence of seven years, to convert a de-activated firearm or to conspire to do so. Where the weapon converted is a prohibited firearm, anybody convicted of possessing such a weapon is liable to the new minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 10 years.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend legislation relating to the (a) sale and (b) ownership of deactivated guns. [153100]

Caroline Flint: We have no plans at present to legislate in relation to the sale and ownership of de-activated weapons but we will be looking at this issue as part of the comprehensive review of current firearms legislation. We will be publishing a consultation paper shortly.

Hutton Report

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the premature disclosure of the Hutton Report. [152600]

Mr. Leslie: I have been asked to reply.

Following the disclosure of some of the conclusions contained in Lord Hutton's "Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. David Kelly CMG" before its publication on 28 January, Lord Hutton set up his own investigation into the handling of all copies of the report prior to its publication.

Ministerial Security Costs

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of provision of security cover for ex-Ministers was in each of the last five years; and what the highest cost relating to any one ex-Minister since his or her retirement was. [152192]

Mr. Blunkett: We seek to ensure the most effective and efficient protective security arrangements for public figures in the light of the changing threat from terrorism and other continuing risks. It is not our policy to comment on the details of protection arrangements for individuals, as to do so could compromise their security.

An exercise has obviously been conducted in rearranging the particular level of threat to those no longer in post and arrangements have been made where this is judged to be appropriate based on the security threat to the individual concerned.

Police Recruitment

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on (a) the recruitment of police officers, (b) the recruitment of graduates to work as police officers and (c) the Accelerated Promotion scheme for graduate police officers. [152473]

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Ms Blears: From 1 April 1997 till 31 March 2003 the following number of officers have been recruited:

	Number of officers
1997–98	6,543
1998–99	5,391
1999–2000	4,535
2000–01	7,415
2001–02	10,215
2002–03	13,126

We now have record police numbers of 136,386 as at 31 August 2003.

We do not currently collate the number of graduates recruited into the police service centrally and cannot therefore say how many graduates have been recruited. However, we have reason to believe that the Police Service continues to be an attractive career option for graduates. Since April 2003 we have been rolling out a new police assessment centre. So far 4,244 candidates have gone through this of which just under 25 per cent. were graduates or post graduates. The Accelerated Promotion Scheme for Graduates was replaced in April 2002 by the High Potential Development (HPD) scheme which recruits both graduates and non graduates, externally and from within forces, with the potential to reach at least superintendent rank and ensures that they are equipped with the necessary skills to become highly effective in middle management, command and leadership roles. The scheme provides a structured yet flexible career framework which can lead to the most senior positions in the police service. A high proportion of graduates are recruited onto the scheme which is actively marketed via university careers fairs, other graduate events and targeted marketing in graduate publications and literature placed in universities. Latest statistics show that 50 (67 per cent.) of those successful in gaining a place on the scheme are graduates on application.

Police Statistics (Wales)

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests, (b) people charged, (c) cautions issued and (d) convictions there were in Wales, broken down by (i) police force, (ii) constituency and (iii) local authority area in each year since 1997. [151732]

Ms Blears: The available information, relating to persons arrested in Wales, by police force area, is contained in Table A. It is limited to arrests for notifiable offences and relates to the financial years, 1999–2000 to 2002–03.

The number of persons cautioned, proceeded against at the magistrates courts (numbers of persons charged are not held centrally) and found guilty at all courts for all offences, in Wales, by police force area, 1997 to 2002 is contained in Table B.

Statistics on cautions and court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the Autumn.

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Table A: Persons arrested for notifiable offences recorded by the police, by police force area, Wales, 1999–2000 to 2002–03

Police force area	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Dyfed-Powys	14,057	13,036	12,217	13,219
Gwent	27,829	24,642	20,757	14,753
North Wales	12,653	14,843	14,928	17,214
South Wales	n/a	34,838	36,295	37,216
Wales	(24)88,300	87,359	84,197	82,402

⁽²⁴⁾ Estimated.

n/a = not available

Table B: Number of persons cautioned, proceeded against at the magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for all offences, by police force area, Wales 1997 to 2002⁽²⁵⁾

Year/policeforce area	Cautioned	Proceeded against	Found guilty
1997
Dyfed-Powys	3,109	18,538	13,464
Gwent	5,329	27,038	21,128
North Wales	3,074	22,051	16,372
South Wales	6,868	59,389	42,613
Total	18,380	127,016	93,577
1998
Dyfed-Powys	3,452	18,839	14,066
Gwent	5,780	29,648	23,712
North Wales	3,544	21,515	16,829
South Wales	6,339	63,457	45,429
Total	19,115	133,459	100,036
1999
Dyfed-Powys	3,313	18,790	13,695
Gwent	5,502	29,053	23,271
North Wales	3,619	20,617	16,053
South Wales	5,852	57,881	41,658
Total	18,286	126,341	94,677
2000
Dyfed-Powys	3,185	18,186	13,241
Gwent	4,529	27,365	21,406
North Wales	3,124	21,446	17,649
South Wales	5,399	57,478	41,649
Total	16,237	124,475	93,302
2001
Dyfed-Powys	3,495	16,374	11,908
Gwent	4,258	26,158	20,131
North Wales	3,120	21,199	16,398
South Wales	4,826	53,042	37,720
Total	15,699	116,773	86,157
2002
Dyfed-Powys	3,761	17,572	12,796
Gwent	3,803	25,523	20,218
North Wales	3,558	25,166	19,471
South Wales	3,680	57,282	40,513
Total	14,802	125,543	92,998

⁽²⁵⁾ These data are on the principal offence basis

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