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Rifles

9. Mr. David Rendel (Newbury) (LD): What restrictions there are on the firing of rifles in the open countryside. [191198]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Caroline Flint): It is an offence under section 19 of the Firearms Act 1968 for a person to have a firearm in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. It is also an offence, subject to an exemption under the Act, for a person to possess a firearm without a current certificate.

Under section 27(2) of the Firearms Act 1968, it is for the police to determine when issuing a firearms certificate what conditions should be applied. New shooters in particular are restricted to shooting on land deemed suitable by the chief officer of police for the area concerned. In all cases, the certificate holder must have permission from the landowner or occupier.

Mr. Rendel: Given that the use of rifles in the open countryside for shooting foxes is likely to increase after the ban on hunting is introduced, what further steps does the Minister intend to take to ensure that those involved in lamping are properly trained and competent to use rifles in those conditions properly, safely and effectively?

Caroline Flint: For anybody to have certain firearms, they have to be certificated, and local police decide the conditions on the basis of guidelines. The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about access to open countryside and, as he will be aware, while the Firearms Act 1968 makes it an offence for a person to have a firearm in a public place, the Government believe that that does not prevent landowners and their invited guests from carrying out legitimate activities such as organised shoots and pest control on land to which there is a right of access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The Countryside Agency has issued guidance to land managers on practical ways to manage
 
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public access, but action must be taken against those who break the law in circumstances such as those that he described, and they must be charged for doing so.

Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire) (Con): If the Government's Bill on fox hunting gets through, will the use of rifles in the countryside increase or decrease?

Caroline Flint: Rifles are used in the countryside for a variety of activities, including target shooting and sports, which we support, and the running of land for farming and other pursuits. Of course, rifles have been used and will continue to be used for vermin control and the control of foxes. I cannot say how much that will increase, but such activities should be carried out in safety and in accordance with certification and licensing. We have just had a consultation on firearms legislation to which there were more than 4,000 replies. I look forward to seeing what they might say about certification, training and other issues of public safety.

Police Numbers

10. Mr. Paul Goodman (Wycombe) (Con): What recent representations he has received about police numbers; and if he will make a statement. [191199]

The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears): The Government have responded to the concerns of all hon. Members and their constituents by providing record police numbers. There are now nearly 140,000 police officers, an achievement of historic proportions and a record that we will continue to protect.

Mr. Goodman: Our local police force in the High Wycombe and Marlow area has lost 18 officers to other forces in the past year, including 15 to the Met, where the starting salary is £6,000 higher. What does the Minister propose to do to stop that drift of officers from areas such as ours with very high housing costs to the Met and other better-paid forces?

Ms Blears: The hon. Gentleman failed to mention that Thames Valley police has 339 more officers than it did when this Government came to power. That said, I recognise the issues about retention and housing costs, and I am delighted to say that the Government have introduced a £2,000 a year allowance for officers in such circumstances. We have also introduced the key worker housing scheme, which has assisted 175 people in the hon. Gentleman's area. This year, Thames Valley police received £4.7 million more than the sum granted by the formula. Given the key worker housing, the extra police officers and the extra grant, Thames Valley is doing significantly better under this Government than it ever did under the Conservative party.

Mr. James Plaskitt (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab): Just four years ago, we had 899 officers in Warwickshire; now the figure is 1,011, which is a record. That increase was both necessary and welcome, but does my hon. Friend agree that the issue is not only police numbers, but deployment and procedural reforms? Such changes were just as beneficial as the increase in numbers in Warwickshire.
 
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Ms Blears: I am delighted to agree with my hon. Friend. I am sure that all hon. Members welcome increased police numbers, but the issue is not only police numbers, but what the police do. He knows that we have funded, to the tune of £13 million, a range of work force modernisation pilots up and down the country, including in his area. Increasingly, civilian staff carry out functions such as custody, detention, investigation and escorting, freeing up more police officers to do front-line work. The public want to see the police out on the beat, patrolling and providing reassurance. We have also introduced nearly 4,000 community support officers, who are welcome in every community and who reassure the public.

Mr. Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield) (Con): Does the Minister accept that it was a mistake to allow special constables, who, unlike community support officers, have the power to arrest, to decline in number by more than 40 per cent. since 1997? Is it not extremely important to boost that vital area of policing, which reassures the public and is particularly cost-effective?

Ms Blears: I am delighted to welcome the hon. Gentleman to his new Front-Bench position and look forward to many robust and lively debates on policing. It is interesting that he seeks to highlight the contribution of specials, who do a fantastic job policing our communities. Is that because he is reluctant to discuss police officers? Police numbers fell by 1,100 under the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), whereas the figure has increased by 12,500 under this Government. Many special constables have been recruited into the full-time force, where they have been well supported, and we are delighted to welcome them to the police. We have a big programme to increase the number of specials over forthcoming years.

Mr. Peter Pike (Burnley) (Lab): Is not the key factor not the increased police numbers—to which the Minister referred and which are welcome—community safety officers or neighbourhood wardens, but seeing increased numbers on the streets, which gives the public confidence and stops a mindless minority from destroying the lives of the majority? The situation has been reversed since the previous Government were in office.

Ms Blears: My hon. Friend is right. I am sure that, like me and other hon. Members, he has seen the impact of increased police numbers, community support officers and our big push on tackling antisocial behaviour. The Together campaign has brought together local authorities and the police, and a record number—nearly 2,500—of antisocial behaviour orders have been issued. We are tackling, not tolerating, antisocial behaviour and constituents up and down the country are breathing a sigh of relief that someone is at long last taking notice of the issues that concern them. We are making a difference on the front line by reducing not only crime, but antisocial behaviour, which blights far too many people's lives.
 
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Animal Rights Terrorism

11. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD): If he will make a statement on animal rights terrorism. [191200]

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Blunkett): In July, we set out in the paper, "Animal Welfare—Human Rights: protecting people from animal rights extremists", additional measures that we intend to take and on which we want to legislate this winter. All hon. Members will join me in condemning the bestial extremists who desecrated a grave in Staffordshire 10 days ago and in sending our sympathy to the family. Our licensing laws in that area are the strongest in the world, but now we must take the strongest action to ensure that people can go about their business of increasing our safety and enhancing our health without their being intimidated.

Dr. Cable: Will these additional measures provide sufficient reassurance to an elderly couple in my constituency, the Halls, about whom I wrote to the Home Secretary 18 months ago, who continue to be terrorised by having acid thrown over their car, for example, despite having disposed of their Huntingdon shares some time ago? In particular, will the measures enable the police to close the SHAC—Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty—website, which specifically targets victims' homes?

Mr. Blunkett: The new legislation will aim specifically to protect people such as the hon. Gentleman's constituents. We are amending the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, enhancing what used to be called the rattening laws in relation to attacks on people's homes, and ensuring that the police presence for those most affected can be stepped up. We now have a taskforce, under an assistant chief constable, which will prioritise and target resources, and we will ensure that it does its job properly. If the hon. Gentleman's constituents continue to feel harassed and intimidated, I ask him to get directly in touch with me again.

David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire) (Lab/Co-op): There is an animal-breeding establishment between the villages of Belton and Osgathorpe in my constituency, and we have seen activities by some protesters that would come within the remit of the question. Does the Home Secretary believe that the time will eventually come when it will be necessary to tackle animal rights terrorism through a single piece of legislation that strikes a balance between protecting those who legitimately try to persuade and coming down very heavily on those who use intimidation in a criminal and violent way?

Mr. Blunkett: New legislation is required, as well as increasing the use of available powers and ensuring that the tactical co-ordination unit does its job better. The real issue for the coming Session, although obviously I cannot announce the Queen's Speech before she does—[Interruption.] I do my best to write my bit of it. We need to ensure that the proposed legislation gets on to the statute book as speedily as possible; if I can use a vehicle that has already been agreed, that would be the most sensible way of proceeding.
 
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Mr. Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon) (Con): How many more scientists, research workers and their suppliers will feel afraid to drive home from work, sit up at night awake with scared children waiting for their cars to be fire-bombed and their houses daubed, have their neighbours harassed and, now, have their dead relatives dug up from graveyards? That will continue until such time as the Government stop shilly-shallying about and get on with protecting the British research industry and its workers, which they have consistently failed to do.

Mr. Blunkett: I do not mind our being taken to task when we are not doing anything, but that is a bit rich given that we have put a very large sum of money, including £3 million over the past three years for the Cambridgeshire constabulary, into dealing with the problem. In addition, we have set up the new co-ordinated tactical force, agreed to legislate this Session, increased arrests and charges from 109 to 179 last year and ensured that the police are aware that every right-thinking person wants us to get hold of these extremists and protect their victims. The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), who has been doing a first-class job with me on this issue, has met those in the industry and victims, all of whom know that we are responding to and acting on their requirements, which we will continue to do.

Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con): I am grateful to the Home Secretary for mentioning the desecration of the grave in Yoxall in my constituency. Is he aware, however, that that is just the culmination of more than five years of intimidation of not only the Hall family, who breed guinea pigs in my constituency for medical research, but other villagers in Newchurch and Yoxall and people who supply the Hall family with everything from newspapers to groceries? Is the Home Secretary convinced that the legislation that he outlined will put an end to this intimidation once and for all?

Mr. Blunkett: With the very positive way in which the hon. Gentleman, alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean), has been dealing with this issue, I believe that it will. It has already cost the taxpayer an additional £250,000 for Staffordshire to be able to police the guinea pig farm. It has been, as has correctly been spelled out, a nightmare for everyone involved and for the local community, trying to help one another. I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for the dedication with which he has engaged with Ministers on the issue, and I believe that if we work together we can get this right.

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