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9 Sept 2004 : Column 1348W—continued

Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many road vehicles are operated by the Department and its agencies; how many personal injury accidents involving road vehicles operated by the Department have occurred within each of the last five years; and what the Department's policy is for managing work-related road safety. [185922]

Paul Goggins: There are currently 1,370 road vehicles operated by the Department and its agencies. The fleet listing by Department is as follows:
Number
Prison Service910
Forensic Science84
Police47
Immigration287
Main HO27
NASS15

Information on personal injury claims lodged by staff in the Home Office and its agencies is not collated centrally, but is held by individual Departments/agencies. However, the number of third-party personal injury claims against the Department within each of the last five years is as follows:
Number
19997
20006
20015
20027
20034

To date in 2004 one third-party personal injury claim has been lodged against the Department.

Following changes in legislation in December 2003, the Department issued policy guidance on the use of hand held and hands free mobile telephones. The Home Office is reviewing the instructions and advice held in the Transport Manual to cover all aspects of the management of work-related road safety.

Until that work has been completed, general guidance derived from benchmark codes issued by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the Highway Code and the fleet industry continues to be provided on request.

Distraction Burglary

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of distraction burglary against adults over the age of 60 were reported in each year since 1997. [186615]

Ms Blears: With effect from 1 April 2003, distraction burglary became a sub-category of "burglary dwelling" under the Home Office counting rules. Prior to that, data on the number of distraction burglaries recorded by the police were not routinely collected. However, data were collected from ad hoc surveys undertaken in 1998–99 and 2001 to 2003, which were reported in the
 
9 Sept 2004 : Column 1349W
 
reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for the Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane ) on 23 June 2004, Official Report, column 1415W.

We plan to publish the figures for 2003–04 in October this year. Data broken down by the age of victim are not available.

Drug-related Crime

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the costs of drug-related crime in each year since 1997. [186555]

Caroline Flint: Estimates of the costs of drug-related crime are not available annually. However, a recent study published by the Home Office provides estimates of the total economic and social costs of Class A drug use and puts these in the range of £10.1 billion to £17.4 billion for the year 2000. These costs include the costs of drug-related crime, which are estimated to fall in the range £8.8 billion to £15.8 billion. The costs of drug-related crime include victim costs and those accruing to courts, prisons and other parts of the criminal justice system.

Firearms

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the numbers of illegal (a) guns and (b) gun certificates that were used in legal ownership in each of the last 10 years. [185909]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 22 July 2004]: Details of the legal status of firearms used in recorded crimes, and the illegal use of firearm certificates, are not available.

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) rifles and (b) shotguns that have never been legally held have been used in recorded crimes since January 2000; [186123]

(2) how many (a) rifles and (b) shotguns that were once legally held but which have been (i) stolen and (ii) mislaid have been used in recorded crime since January 2000; [186124]

(3) how many legally held (a) rifles and (b) shotguns have been used in recorded crimes since January 2000. [186125]

Caroline Flint: Details of the legal status of firearms used in recorded crimes are not available.

Football Banning Orders

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many banning orders were issued as a result of Euro 2004; [183785]

(2) how many England supporters were (a) arrested, (b) arrested and charged and (c) arrested, charged and issued with banning orders with regard to Euro 2004; [183786]

(3) what the total cost was of the UK police operations for Euro 2004; and what costs have been covered by the Portuguese authorities. [183787]


 
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Caroline Flint: As of 2 August 2004, the courts have imposed football banning orders on 38 individuals as a result of Euro 2004. Of these, 35 orders have been imposed as a result of individuals being intercepted by the police en-route to Portugal on the basis of evidence of previous involvement in violence or disorder, while three orders have been imposed on the basis of violence and disorder during the tournament. In addition, 48 individuals are currently subject to unresolved banning order proceedings as a result of being intercepted en-route to the tournament and eight individuals are subject to proceedings prompted by conviction of offences of violence and disorder in Portugal. The police may commence further proceedings in the light of evidence received from the Portuguese authorities. Updated information will be included in a detailed report on Euro 2004 to be submitted to Parliament in September.

Race Hate Crime

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported incidents of race hate crimes there have been against (a) people with learning difficulties, (b) people with disabilities, (c) gays, lesbians and bisexuals and (d) transsexuals there have been in (i) St. Helens and (ii) England and Wales, broken down by region, in each year since 1997; and what percentage (A) were brought to court and (B) resulted in a successful prosecution in each case. [186909]

Ms Blears: This information is not collected centrally.

Police

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent by the Metropolitan police on rental vehicles in each month since September 2003. [187063]

Ms Blears: I understand from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police that expenditure has been as follows:
£000
September 2003668
October 2003965
November 2003798
December 2003603
January 2004890
February 2004998
March 20041,143
April 2004877
May 2004697
June 20041,026
July 20041,108

The monthly figures include both local (for borough operational command units) and corporate hire (covering centrally hired vehicles for special events).

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional funding he will make available to Devon and Cornwall police to (a) enforce the Government's Alcohol Strategy and (b) continue funding police community support officers. [183749]


 
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Ms Blears: On 7 July 2004 the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (APCO) announced that police in England and Wales would be working with their partners in a fresh drive to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder. The enforcement campaign takes forward one of the recommendations contained in the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England that was published on 15 March 2004. Plymouth and Cornwall and Isle of Scilly (Newquay) police Basic Command Units (BCUs) from the Devon and Cornwall police force are taking part in the campaign. BCUs can apply to the Police Standards Unit in the Home Office for funding to assist them in undertaking enforcement activity during the campaign. Provisionally £2,500 has been allocated to Devon and Cornwall police force to fund enforcement activity in Newquay.

As part of the Spending Review 2004 the Government made a commitment to recruit 20,000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) by 2008 and forces will be eligible for funding to help them meet this target. As yet it is too early to say how the additional funding for CSOs will be allocated. However, a new Neighbourhood Policing Fund will be provided to develop local policing teams across England and Wales.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in 2003–04 of policing in (a) Havering and (b) London. [186910]

Ms Blears: The Metropolitan Police Service's (MRS) net budget requirement in 2003–04 was £2,207.8 million and the net budget for the City of London was £67.2 million. Distribution of resources within the MPS is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Resources are allocated directly to borough operational command units using the Service's resource allocation formula. In addition, borough units are able to call upon all-London Units (such as dog sections, Territorial Support Group, Traffic and Air Support Units) when operational priorities dictate.

The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis informs me that the budget for the Havering Borough Operational Command Unit in 2003–04 was £17.3 million. This reflects direct operational costs. The cost of specialist units, non-operational support units and all-London units providing service to Havering was additional and could only be calculated at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by Suffolk police in each year since 1 April 1997. [187189]

Ms Blears: On 31 May 2004 Suffolk constabulary had 1,293 police officers, 113 more than in March 1997. The table shows strength for each year since March 1997.
Suffolk constabulary—strength: March 1997 to May 2004

As at 31 MarchPolice numbers(3)
19971,180
19981,186
19991,190
20001,145
20011,133
20021,203
20031,253
2004 (31 May)1,293


(3) 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. Data collected by RDS for 31 March 2004 will be published shortly.



 
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Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what central Government funding was available for CCTV in each of the last seven years for the Suffolk Police constabulary area. [187193]

Ms Blears: Since 2000 the Home Office has provided £960,936 to Suffolk for Close Circuit Television (CCTV) schemes, through the Crime reduction Programme's CCTV initiative.

This breaks down as:


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