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1 Sept 2004 : Column 865W—continued
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question tabled by the hon. Member for Batley and Spen on 19 April, reference 167051, on police sickness reduction schemes. [184799]
Ms Blears: I replied to my hon. Friend on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 223W.
Passport Checks
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what comparative studies he has conducted as to the time taken for (a) EU and (b) non-EU passengers to complete immigration formalities in the airports of EU capital cities. [185395]
Mr. Browne: No comparative studies have been undertaken on the time taken for EU and non-EU passengers to complete immigration formalities in the airports of EU capital cities.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he sets service standards that the Immigration Service should seek to process foreign nationals (a) more slowly, (b) more quickly or (c) at the same speed as those arriving at Heathrow from other EU countries. [185396]
Mr. Browne: The UK Immigration Service is committed to clearing bona fide passengers with minimal delay, and has set standards for passenger processing times, which comply with international standards previously adopted. These standards are embedded in the UK Immigration Service's annual business objectives, and are kept under regular review.
90 per cent. of non-EEA passengers in 30 minutes and all such passengers within 45 minutes
EEA passengers with minimal delay.
Passports (Over-75s)
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will implement his proposal announced on 19 May to make passports available free of charge for people over the age of 75 years. [184433]
Mr. Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas) on 23 June 2004, Official Report, column 1421W.
Police
Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has
1 Sept 2004 : Column 866W
received about the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 removing the exemption for police officers from jury service. [181755]
Ms Blears: We have had a number of recent discussions with police representatives in relation to the new jury service provisions which were introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 2003. We will be working with the police to provide appropriate guidance to police officers and civilian police staff who are called upon for jury service.
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage change there has been in the number of police officers in each year since 1997 in (a) Leicester, (b) Leicestershire and (c) England. [186261]
Ms Blears: Information on the strength for the Leicestershire Constabulary and for England for each year since 1997 is set out in Table 1. 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 and is set out in Table 2.
Leicestershire Constabulary restructured its BCUs in 2002–03 resulting in a reduction from five to four BCUs by 31 March 2003. Table 2 therefore sets out strength for each BCU. Overall BCU strength increased between March 2002 and March 2003 by 1.2 per cent. (from 1,555 to 1,574 officers). BCU numbers for March 2004 will be published later in the year. The deployment of officers to BCUs is a matter for the Chief Constable (Matthew Baggott) and within each BCU deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.
(61) Source for 1997 to March 2003 is the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS). May 2004 was collected separately outside of the normal data collection arrangements and has not been subject to the same validation as RDS data. All figures are full-time equivalents.
1 Sept 2004 : Column 867W
| Basic Command Unit | March 2002 | March 2003 |
|---|---|---|
| Central | 325.7 | 415 |
| East | 305.5 | 399 |
| North | 279.4 | 354 |
| South | 291.8 | — |
| West | 352.5 | 406 |
Note:
All figures are full-time equivalents.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to the police on the definition of conducting a search of premises immediately after a suspect has emerged, in relation to section 32 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. [186224]
Ms Blears: None apart from paragraph 4.2 of Code B of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), Codes of Practice. Paragraph 6 of Code B covers general considerations on searches.
Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes there have been in police numbers in (a) the Harwich constituency, (b) Tendring district and (c) Essex since 1997. [184995]
Ms Blears: The table sets out police strength in Essex since March 1997. Information on the number of officers within Basic Command Units has only been collected from March 2002. It is not possible to identify the number of officers at constituency level. The deployment of officers to Divisions is a matter for the Chief Constable (David Stevens) and within the D (Tendring) Division deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.
| Officer strength | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essex police(62) | D (Tendering) Division | |
| 31 March 1997 | 2,961 | — |
| 31 March 1998 | 2,928 | — |
| 31 March 1999 | 2,891 | — |
| 31 March 2000 | 2,806 | — |
| 31 March 2001 | 2,887 | — |
| 31 March 2002 | 2,946 | 178.2 |
| 31 March 2003 | 3,007 | 169 |
| 31 May 2004 | 3,130 | Not available(63) |
(62) Source for 1997 to March 2003 is the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS). May 2004 was collected separately outside of the normal data collection arrangements and has not been subject to the same validation as RDS data.
(63) Basic Command Unit data for 31 March 2004 will be published later in the year.
1 Sept 2004 : Column 868W
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there are in (a) the Thames Valley Police Force and (b) Oxfordshire; and how many there were in (i) 2001 and (ii) 1997. [186002]
Ms Blears [holding answer 22 July 2004]: The latest published police service strength figures are contained in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 11/03 and are for the year ending 31 March 2003. Figures for March 2004 will be published later this year.
The number of Special Constables in Thames Valley Police Force for the years requested are as follows:
| As at 31 March | Number |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 369 |
| 2001 | 418 |
| 1997 | 656 |
There are no separate statistics published for the number of Special Constables in Oxfordshire, which area forms part of the Thames Valley Police Force. Deployment of Specials within the Force area is a matter for the Chief Officer.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many measures are to be reported by the police under the 2004–05 Statutory Performance Indicators for policing; and how many were to be reported under (a) the 2003–04 Police Best Value Performance Indicator and (b) the Best Value Performance Indicator applicable to police authorities in previous years. [184898]
Ms Blears [holding answer 19 July 2004]: Statutory Performance Indicators (SPIs) for 2004–05 were set by Statutory Instrument 2004/644 under the Local Government Act 1999. In previous years the 1999 Act was used to set "Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs)".
Individual SPIs and BVPIs are based on one or more "component measures". The number of SPIs for 2004–05, plus the number of BVPIs set in previous years, is listed as follows together with an estimate of the number of component measures:
In 2004–05 there were 13 indicators comprised of 36 measures;
In 2003–04 there were 19 indicators comprised of 44 measures;
In 2002–03 there were 21 indicators comprised of 48 measures;
In 2001–02 there were 32 indicators comprised of 47 measures.
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