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6 May 2004 : Column 1698W—continued
Madrid Bombing
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received requests from (a) Spain and (b) Morocco for the extradition of persons in connection with the Madrid train bombing; and if he will make a statement. [167172]
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Caroline Flint: Before an arrest has been made, it is long-standing Home Office policy and practice not to confirm or deny whether any extradition requests for certain individuals have been made to, or received by, the UK for obvious reasons.
Ministerial Meetings
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the Lord Chief Justice. [169887]
Mr. Blunkett: I have regular bilateral meetings with the Lord Chief Justice.
National Identity Register
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information that pertains to public services for which the devolved administrations have responsibility he plans will be held by the National Identity Register. [171294]
Mr. Browne: The information which may be held in the National Identity Register is specified in Clause 1 and Schedule 1 of the draft Identity Cards Bill which was published on 26 April. The Register's function is to verify identity and residential status and it therefore has no need to hold information which is specific to a particular public service.
NCIS
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget of the National Criminal Intelligence Service was in each of the last five years. [166460]
Paul Goggins: The information is as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 47.5 |
| 2001–02 | 49.5 |
| 2002–03 | 68.5 |
| 2003–04 | 72.2 |
| 2004–05 | 83.3 |
The year-on-year position may not be directly comparable because the figures shown exclude cost of capital and depreciation charges that were introduced in 2002–03 under Resource Accounting and Budgeting. In addition, the figures shown also exclude funding for specific projects. It should also be noted that during 2002–03, the funding of the National Criminal Intelligence Service changed from police levy funding to core Home Office grant under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
Policing/Crime Statistics
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in full-time police officers in Oldham, West and Royton has been since 1997. [170953]
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Ms Blears: Information on strength at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level is collected annually and reflects the position at the end of March. Information on BCU strength is only available from 2002.
Oldham, West and Royton are part of the Oldham BCU. Between March 2002 and March 2003 police strength for the Oldham BCU increased by 3.5 per cent. (from 423 to 438). The deployment of officers to BCUs is a matter for the Chief Constable (Michael Todd) and within the Oldham BCU deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in (a) overall recorded crime, (b) recorded violent crime, (c) burglaries and (d) vehicle thefts in Preston has been since 1997. [169694]
Ms Blears: The information requested is not available centrally.
Preston is a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area. Data at CDRP level has only been published from 1999–2000 onwards. Detailed statistics at CDRP level are available for 2002–03 on the new Home Office website: http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk.
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in full-time police officers in Preston has been since 1997. [169698]
Ms Blears : Information on strength at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level is collected annually and reflects the position at the end of March. Information on BCU strength is only available from 2002.
Preston is part of Lancashire Constabulary's Central BCU. Between March 2002 and March 2003 police strength for the Central BCU increased by 1.1 per cent. (from 381.4 to 385.7). The deployment of officers to BCUs is a matter for the Chief Constable (Paul Stephenson) and within the Central BCU deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed in Wigan in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [169334]
Ms Blears: Information on strength at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level is collected annually and reflects the position at the end of March. Information on BCU strength is only available from 2002.
In March 2002 there were 442.5 officers and in March 2003 there were 473.0 full time equivalent officers employed in the Wigan Basic Command Unit. The deployment of officers to BCUs is a matter for the Chief Constable (Michael Todd) and within the Wigan BCU deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage change in (a) overall recorded crime, (b) recorded violent crime, (c) burglaries and (d) thefts in Wigan there has been since 1997. [169335]
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Ms Blears: The information requested is not available centrally. Wigan is a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area. Data at CDRP level have only been published from 1999–2000 onwards. Detailed statistics at CDRP level are available for 2002–03 on the new Home Office website: http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community safety officers are allocated by Greater Manchester Police to Wigan 'L' Division. [169340]
Ms Blears: As of 1 April 2004 there were 32 community safety officers working in the Wigan 'L' Division of Greater Manchester Police.
Prisons
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how value for money will be shown to have been achieved if in-house bids for the running of
6 May 2004 : Column 1702W
existing establishments are not permitted under the current performance testing programme in the Prison Service. [168398]
Paul Goggins: The public sector are given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to provide a value for money service in their proposals for improvement. Only if they failed to do so, or if they subsequently failed to deliver the necessary improvements, would the management of the prison be put to tender to the private sector only. As is the case in all competitions for the management of prisons, the bid which offered the best combination of cost and quality of service would be selected.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost was to the Prison Service for each prison constructed under the Private Finance Initiative in each year of operation. [167360]
Paul Goggins: The requested information, extrapolated from Prison Service Annual Reports and Accounts, is shown in the table for the years up to 2002–03. The final outturn for 2004–05 will be available shortly.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altcourse | (6)— | 29,962,583 | 33,113,688 | 35,036,594 | 35,261,148 | 32,154,593 |
| Ashfield | — | — | (6)— | 15,834,762 | 14,426,845 | 9,820,999 |
| Dovegate | — | — | — | — | (6)— | 24,511,442 |
| Forest Bank | — | — | (6)— | 22,480,153 | 22,040,504 | 20,821,813 |
| Lowdham Grange | (6)— | 15,942,120 | 15,450,822 | 15,975,509 | 14,893,288 | 13,159,649 |
| Parc | (6)— | 27,888,480 | 29,766,258 | 31,676,362 | 32,386,551 | 31,322,995 |
| Rye Hill | — | — | — | (6)— | 15,344,851 | 14,103,266 |
(6) Represent the year in which the prison opened. Part years are excluded from the accounts.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the construction costs were for each prison built under the Private Finance Initiative. [167361]
Paul Goggins: The construction costs for each prison built under the Private Finance Initiative, derived from the original financial model on which payment to the contractor is based, are:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Altcourse | 68 |
| Ashfield | 26 |
| Dovegate | 64 |
| Forest Bank | 45 |
| Lowdham Grange | 25 |
| Parc | 47 |
| Rye Hill | 37 |
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the saving that has been made by the Prison Service through building prisons through the Private Finance Initiative compared to alternative methods of financing such construction; and if he will make a statement. [167362]
Paul Goggins: Savings achieved through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in respect of prisons are calculated on the basis of comparing the total cost of the contract, including construction, finance and operating costs, against the public sector comparator. On that basis, the PFI process has delivered savings in the range of 10 per cent. to 15 per cent. compared with conventional procurement.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the most recent assessment was made of the cost of a privately built, publicly run prison; what the outcome was; and if he will make a statement. [167364]
Paul Goggins: The latest assessments of a privately built, publicly run prison were the public sector comparators (PSCs) used in evaluating the bids for the contracts for Bonzefield and Peterborough prisons. The PSC for Bronzefield was 11 per cent. higher and the PSC for Peterborough 8.2 per cent. higher than the Net Present Values of the winning bids.
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