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Police Misconduct

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the policy of police authorities in England and Wales is on suspending a police officer against whom serious allegations of misconduct have been made by a member of the public pending inquiries into the allegations; and if he will make a statement; [189100]

(2) the policy is of police authorities in England and Wales when serious allegations of misconduct have been made against serving police officers by a member of the public as to whether such an officer is suspended from duty pending enquiries into the allegations that have been made; and if he will make a statement. [187608]

Ms Blears: Under the terms of the Police Reform Act 2002, the chief officer of a force is solely responsible for recording complaints about all officers complained against, up to and including the rank of Chief Superintendent, including special constables, and all police staff. The police authority for the force is solely responsible for recording complaints against all officers above the rank of Chief Superintendent including the chief officer.

Regulations 4 and 5 of the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2004 define the circumstances in which an officer may be suspended. The decision to suspend officers up to and including the rank of Chief Superintendent is taken by the chief officer of the force; for officers ranked higher than Chief Superintendent the decision lies with the police authority.

Home Office guidance states that the decision to suspend should be taken only when the presence of an officer on duty may be detrimental to criminal or disciplinary investigations or proceedings, or when it is in the public interest to do so. This will normally apply only in cases where the complaint or allegation is of a serious nature likely to result in disciplinary or criminal conviction, and an officer is likely to be dismissed, required to resign or demoted. Where the decision to suspend is based on the necessity of maintaining public confidence, an officer must be informed in writing of the specific factors relevant to this decision.

Suspensions are subject to review by the suspending authority at least monthly, to determine whether the conditions that required the suspension still apply. A police authority may also consult with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for professional advice on the suspension of a senior officer. A police authority must obtain approval from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) before suspending a senior officer, except in urgent cases, where approval must be obtained within 24 hours of the suspension beginning.

Press Officers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many press officers are employed in his Department. [187160]

 
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Fiona Mactaggart: The Department currently employs 39 Press Officers. (Press Officers within the Home Office are employed at the Information Officer (IO) and Senior Information Officer (SIO) grades.)

Last year, the Press Office news desk answered 60,039 calls, issued 583 press notices and held 29 media briefings.

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assets have been recovered under the terms of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; and how these proceeds have been disbursed since the Act came into force, broken down by region. [189466]

Caroline Flint: In 2002–03, the last year for which full data are available, a record amount of criminal assets was recovered, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and earlier legislation, totalling £47 million.

Receipts from recovered criminal assets are allocated to a range of initiatives. The Recovered Assets Incentive Fund was set up last financial year to incentivise asset recovery by asset recovery agencies, including law enforcement and prosecuting authorities. £15.5 million a year for three years has been allocated to the Fund. These sums have been fully committed over the three year period to projects, agreed by the Association of Chief Police Officers and others, that will increase the confiscation of criminal assets.

Of £46.5 million that will be available under the Fund over three years, up to £12 million a year has been allocated to set up four new multi-agency Regional Asset Recovery Teams (RARTs) to disrupt organised crime groups, confiscate more criminal assets and to tackle money laundering. A successful pilot in the West Midlands has been rolled out to the North West, North East, Wales and London. The teams comprise staff from the police, National Crime Squad, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, National Criminal Intelligence Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Assets Recovery Agency and the Inland Revenue.

An additional seven million a year for three years has been made available separately from the Recovered Assets Incentive Fund for community based projects. Last year four million of the total available was allocated to the Adventure Capital Fund to regenerate communities across England. The remaining three million was allocated to regional government offices, of which £1.5 million funded anti-gun crime initiatives and £1.5 million funded capacity building in crime and disorder reduction partnerships, seven million available this year, three million has been committed to funding a community justice centre pilot scheme in Liverpool; two million to fund support services for victims of crime in England and Wales; and two million to fund new and existing projects to tackle gun crime in England and Wales.

A new police incentivisation scheme introduced this year will enable police forces in England and Wales, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to receive a share of the criminal assets they recover locally, in the following year. Separate arrangements exist in Scotland. The scheme has the full support of the Association of Chief Police Officers in England and Wales. Police
 
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forces will benefit by receiving a third of all the recovered assets above £40 million in 2004–05, increasing to half for 2005–06. There will be no restrictions on how the police should spend this money so there may be scope in the future for them to devote some of the funds to community-based projects aimed at crime reduction.

For 2006–07 onwards, we are working up a new incentive scheme under which all agencies involved in asset recovery will, where possible, be able to get back 50 per cent. of the assets they recover.

Public Relations/Marketing

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by his Department on public relations and marketing consultants in each of the last three years. [189297]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office has appointed public relations agencies to support a number of campaigns over the last three years, but has not made use of independent PR consultants over this period.

The Home Office has made occasional use of external marketing consultants to help develop marketing strategies which contribute to the delivery of departmental business objectives.

Spending over the last three years was.

	£000
2001/02	Nil
2002/03	Nil
2003/04	260,000

Special Constables

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to offer financial rewards to special constables. [188424]

Ms Blears: As some Police Forces felt that the payment of an allowance to Special Constables might be beneficial, we introduced The Special Constables (Amendment) Regulations 2002, which came into effect on 10 January 2003. This allows police authorities to submit proposals, recommended by the Chief Constable, for locally funded allowance schemes. Proposals require the Secretary of State's approval. Police Authorities may secure funds from outside sources to help run these schemes.

Four schemes have been approved so far. These are in Cumbria (Workington), West Midlands (H2 Operational Command Unit), Thames Valley (Thames Forest area) and Humberside (forcewide).

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will secure the removal of the special constable crest from the epaulettes of police uniforms in order to counter perceptions that special constables are inferior to those employed permanently. [188425]

Ms Blears: It is for chief officers to decide what, if any, means of identification should be present on the uniforms of their force's special constables. Forces
 
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adopt a wide range of means of identifying their special constables, with some using the special constable crest on epaulettes and some not.

Home Office advice when asked has been that decisions on how to identify specials in a particular force should be properly evaluated, and include an assessment of any risks to their safety.

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