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21 Feb 2005 : Column 87W—continued

Graffiti

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have
 
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been against people found doing graffiti in each of the last five years in (a) Essex and (b) Southend. [215932]

Paul Goggins: It is not possible to distinguish offences of graffiti from other types of criminal damage in the Home Office figures for court proceedings as the circumstances of individual offences are not collected centrally.

Police

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in (a) the Metropolitan police, (b) the UK Atomic Energy Authority constabulary and (c) the British Transport police in each year since 1994; and what projections there are for numbers of officers in the force in future years. [214291]

Ms Blears: Information on police numbers in the Metropolitan Police Service is set out in the table. Police officer numbers for the UK Atomic Energy Authority constabulary (UKAEAC) and the British Transport police (BTP) has been provided by my right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Transport.
Metropolitan police, British Transport police and the Civil Nuclear constabulary— police officer strength since 1994

	Officer strength
As at 31 March	Metropolitan police	British Transport police	UK Atomic Energy Authority constabulary
1994	27,699	2,155	490
1995	27,480	2,147	476
1996	27,343	2,166	471
1997	26,677	2,132	459
1998	26,094	2,095	496
1999	26,073	(24)2,113	501
2000	25,485	2,091	503
2001	24,878	2,109	506
2002	26,223	2,123	534
2003	27,984	2,176	558
2004	29,735	2,267	575
2004 (31 August) 30,021		Not available	(25)528

⁽²⁴⁾BTP figures for 1999 to 2002 inclusive are for actual officers. Figures for 1994 to 1999 and from 2003 onwards are full-time equivalent. BTP police numbers from 2003 has been collected by Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate as part of police strength statistics for England and Wales.
⁽²⁵⁾UKAEAC as at 1 February 2005.

Following boundary changes on 1 April 2000 with Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey, the Metropolitan police district was reduced in size and some resources were transferred to the other three forces. Metropolitan Police Service strength data prior to April 2000 is therefore not comparable with later information.

The Home Secretary has not set projections of police strength for future years for England and Wales, or for individual forces. I understand that neither the Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry and Transport have set targets for police strength for the UKAEAC or the BTP. The number of police officers in any force is a matter for the Chief Officer of Police and the Police Authority, subject to the available budget provision.
 
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Speed Cameras

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total amount of revenue from speed cameras was in the area policed by the Lancashire Constabulary in the last year for which figures are available. [215255]

Ms Blears: Information on the total revenue from offences detected by speed camera is not collected centrally, but an estimate can be made from the number of fines and fixed penalties and is given in the table for 2002 (latest available).

2003 data will be available shortly.
Fixed penalty and court proceedings data for speeding offences detected by cameras⁽²⁶⁾ in the Lancashire police force area, 2002.

		Fixed penalties		Court proceedings(27)
	Number of tickets(28)	Estimated revenue (£)(29)	Number of fines	Total amount of fine(£)	Average fine (£)
2002	88,700	5,322,000	1,700	110,400	66

⁽²⁶⁾Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and The Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.
⁽²⁷⁾Includes cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.
⁽²⁸⁾Paid i.e. no further action.
⁽²⁹⁾'Estimate' based on £60 penalty charge.

Student Visa Extensions

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the impact of the proposals to increase visa charges on the number of international students studying in the UK. [214050]

Mr. Browne: Following on from the Home Office consultation document 'Review of Charges for Immigration Applications', I am introducing new fees
 
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for a range of immigration applications. On 7 February I published a summary and analysis of the consultation responses, the supporting Regulatory Impact Assessments and an analysis of the likely impact of the new charges on international student numbers. These documents are available on the Home Office website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

International students bring significant economic and social benefits to the UK. In recognition of this, students seeking to vary or extend their conditions of stay in the UK will be charged a reduced fee for postal applications. Our analysis, which is set out in the published Regulatory Impact Assessment, indicates that at the level proposed, the postal charges were unlikely to have a significant impact on the UK's ability to attract and retain international students. However, in order to ensure that remaining to study in the UK remains a competitive option, we have decided that charges should be at a lower rate of £250 for the standard postal service. The higher, premium fee is an optional service which students can take advantage of if they so choose.

Visa Applications

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications made in the UK prior to 1 August 2003 remain to be dealt with; how many personnel are dealing with the applications; and when he expects the applications to be processed and a decision made. [211002]

Mr. Browne: Some 500 applications for further leave to remain predating 1 August 2003 are currently awaiting decision in General Group 2, which is part of the Managed Migration Directorate.

The equivalent of 7.3 caseworkers are allocated full-time to this work with a further nine working part-time. The work is dealt with in priority order.
 
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WORK AND PENSIONS

Advertising Costs

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the projected expenditure of his Department for advertising and publicity is for the year 2004–05, broken down by campaign; and what the projected total expenditure on advertising and publicity is for the following three years. [213507]

Jane Kennedy: The following table details the estimated total expenditure on advertising and publicity in 2004–05:
£

2004–05 campaign	Advertising expenditure	Total publicity expenditure
Future pensioners/Informed Choice	—	854,400
State Second Pension	—	84,200
State Pension Deferral	200,000	300,000
Pensioners Guide	—	1,000,000
Pension Credit	4,023,810	6,500,000
The Pension Service	—	559,000
Direct Payment Information Campaign	8,808,000	9,500,000
Direct Payment roadshow	—	3,000,000
Fraud	6,450,000	7,150,000
New Deal	—	1,650,000
Jobcentre Plus employer marketing	443,000	1,300,000
Jobcentre Plus Awareness	—	275,740
Age Positive	—	600,000
DDA Awareness	1,122,000	2,000,000
Council Tax Benefit	661,640	850,000
Winter Fuel Payments	514,910	815,000
Totals	22,223,360	36,354,140

Decisions have not yet been made on future expenditure for 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08.
Notes:
1.All costs exclude VAT.
2.All figures have been rounded
3.Advertising costs are total media costs excluding all production costs
4.Information campaigns costing under £250,000 and details of highly localised publicity activity by the Department's customer-facing businesses have generally not been included as a disproportionate cost would be incurred in compiling these figures.




 
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