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4 Apr 2005 : Column 1130W—continued
Police Funding
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated to police funding in each year since 2001. [201270]
Ms Blears: Government grant to support policing in England and Wales since 2001 is set out in the table.
(29)Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and National Assembly for Wales.
(30)Revenue Support Grant (RSG) includes SSA Reduction Grant and Central Support Protection grant. RSG and NNDR for the City of London police is provided in respect of all its functions.
(31)Specific grants since 2000–01 for targeted programmes.
(32)Capital grants include Home Office police capital grant, supplementary credit approvals, Air Support, Premises Improvement Fund, Airwave capital and C3i. The figures included substantial capital for Airwave in 2001–02 (£74.3 million), 2002–03 (£101.2 million) and 2002–03 (£5.9 million). Totals up to 2001–02 include an element for major capital schemes allocated under the Priority Planning List (PPL) scheme.
(33)The grant figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 are not directly comparable, owing to changes from 2002–03 in the method of funding the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service.
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1131W
Prisons (Contestability Test)
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will visit prison personnel at HM Prisons (a) Swaleside, (b) Elmley and (c) Standford Hill to discuss the contestability test; [224063]
(2) at which other prisons contestability tests will be conducted following those at HM Prisons Swaleside, Elmley and Standford Hill; and what implications for terms of employment of prison staff the contestability test has. [224064]
Paul Goggins: I hope to have the opportunity to visit staff at the three prisons on the Isle of Sheppey in the near future.
We are announcing one competition relating to prisons at this time. No decision has yet been taken about the future programme. If the public sector Prison Service is successful in its bid for running prisons on the Isle of Sheppey, there will be no changes to terms of employment of prison staff as a result of the competition. Should the public sector Prison Service be unsuccessful in its bid for running prisons on the Isle of Sheppey, then management of the undertaking" will transfer to the private sector bidder.
All staff will form part of the undertaking" and will therefore transfer to the new employers under the protection of TUPE (Transfer of Undertaking; Protection of Employment Act). TUPE provides that staff will transfer on such existing terms and conditions as those provided by the previous employer and thereafter changes in such terms and conditions will be negotiated directly between the new employer and the employees/recognised trade union as appropriate.
Pension arrangements for such staff have to be broadly comparable" and within guidelines established by the Cabinet Office entitled Fair Deal on Pensions".
Additionally, the recent establishment of the Code of Practice on Two-Tier Workforce, agreed by both the TUC and CBI, now makes provision that any new staff joining the transferred undertaking after the date of transfer must be employed on comparable terms and conditions as the existing workforce, hence creating a level playing" field in terms of competition between bidders.
Private Mario Clarke
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2005, Official Report, columns 847–48W, on Private Mario Clarke, when a Home Office large murder inquiry system opened on the death of Private Mario Clarke; how many (a) officer hours were expended and (b) statements were taken (i) up to 31 January 2003 and (ii) in each month since January 2003; how many lines of inquiry were being pursued in relation to the death of Private Mario Clarke on 26 December 2003; and on what date a closing report was recorded. [215701]
Ms Blears:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis reports that up to 31 January 2003 a total of
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1132W
76 statements were taken. In each month since 31 January 2003, the following number of statements have been taken.
| 2003 | Number |
|---|---|
| February | 3 |
| March | 4 |
| April | 7 |
| May | 2 |
| July | 7 |
| September | 1 |
Up to December 2003 there had been six main lines of inquiry.
This is still an ongoing inquiry and as such no closing report has been completed.
The Met have indicated that information requested regarding the expansion of officer hours can be provided only at disproportionate expense to the Metropolitan Police Service.
Sex Abuse (Historical Cases)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what types of investigations other than historical sex abuse police use (a) trawling and (b) dip-sampling. [207457]
Ms Blears: The use of operational techniques in police investigations is an operational matter for the police. The Association of Chief Police Officers have advised that dip-sampling", also referred to as trawling", is rarely used during the course of police investigations. The use of dip-sampling" is invariably limited to investigations involving allegations of historical sex abuse in care or residential homes, where the police need to identify any corroborating evidence relating to the allegations under investigation.
Sikhs
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will revise the Statutory Code of Practice to ensure that all public bodies recognise and monitor Sikhs for the purposes of the Race Relations Act 2000. [221660]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 15 March 2005]: Ihave no current plans to revise the current Statutory Code of Practice on the duty to promote race equality under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. The Statutory Code encourages public authorities to use the same ethnic classification system as the one used in the2001 census, but it does provide public authorities with a degree of flexibility to add extra ethnic categories to fit their particular circumstances, providing these fit in with the census categories. This approach ensures consistency, allowing comparisons to be made over time and across different areas.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last reviewed the list of Sikh organisations included in the list of groups proscribed in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [222550]
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1133W
Ms Blears: The list of proscribed organisations is keptunder regular review as a matter of policy, the Government do not comment on whether particular organisations are being considered for proscription or de-proscription under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Such decisions are only taken after the most careful consideration and on the basis of the best possible security advice.
Special Constables/CSOs (Leicester)
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) special constables and (b) community support officers there were in Leicester in each year since 2001. [222774]
Ms Blears: The following information has been provided by the chief constable of Leicestershire (Matt Baggott).
The table sets out the number of special constables deployed in the central area basic command unit which includes the City of Leicester from 2001.
| As at 31 March | Special constable numbers |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 27 |
| 2002 | 19 |
| 2003 | 17 |
| 2004 | 23 |
| 2005 (18 March) | 33 |
Source:
Leicestershire Constabulary
CSO were allocated to the central area basic command unit (BCU) for the first time during 2004–05. On 18 March 2004 the BCU had 22 CSOs.
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