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National Mobile Phone Register

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how the National Mobile Phone Register is being advertised; and if he will make a statement; [21967]

(2) how many mobile telephones have been registered on the National Mobile Phone Register; and if he will make a statement. [21969]

Hazel Blears: The National Mobile Phone Register was launched in January 2005. At the time of the official launch there were already around 12 million items on the register.

By July 2005 there were 13,589,970 items on the register. (Items are regularly weeded out onto an archived database which consists of an additional million items.) It is estimated that, on average, 61,000 items are registered per week. At this stage around 20 per cent. of all handsets in the UK are registered. The National Mobile Phone Register is a product of our ongoing partnership work with the police and the mobile phone industry to tackle mobile phone theft. It is a valuable law enforcement tool, functioning as a key source of information for investigating allegations of mobile phone related crime. Members of the public can play their part and register their phones—for free—on www.immobilise.com. By registering they can protect their phones, increase their chances of getting them back if they are lost or stolen and help the police tackle mobile phone theft.

In terms of advertising the register, we are supporting the mobile phone industry and the police in their work to encourage registration through the Immobilise publicity campaign.

Notting Hill Carnival

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Metropolitan police have made of how many people attended the 2005 Notting Hill Carnival. [22949]

Paul Goggins: The Metropolitan Police Service estimate that 250,000 people attended the Notting Hill Carnival on Sunday 28 August, and 500,000 on Monday 29 August.

People Trafficking

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether West Midlands police have received specialised training in dealing with trafficking and trafficked women as specified in the Home Office toolkit. [22223]

Hazel Blears: The toolkit on trafficking of people provides generic information and practical advice to help front-line police, immigration officers and other professionals and agencies to identify promptly and accurately those who may be victims of trafficking and to deal with them appropriately. The toolkit is divided into easily accessible sections, not all of which will be relevant to all agencies, and is intended as an additional resource to support local operations. The type and level of training on human trafficking provided to police officers is a matter for individual police services.
 
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Police

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much time police officers in Gravesham spent (a) on paper work and (b) on the beat in the last period for which figures are available. [20090]

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally by the Home Office. The Frontline Policing Measure for 2004–05 was published on 27 October 2005 and indicated that officers in Kent spent 67.6 per cent. of their time on front-line duties.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total level of (a) revenue and (b) capital balances held at the end of the last financial year was for each police authority; and what percentage of gross income this represented for each police force. [23936]

Hazel Blears: Estimates of revenue reserves and provisions at the end of the financial year 2004–05 are set out in the table. Details of capital reserves could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Police authority	Total estimated reserves/provisions at 31 March 2005 (£000)	Estimated gross revenue expenditure 2004–05(33)(£000)	Reserves/provisions as percentage of gross revenue expenditure
Avon and Somerset 6,741		245,500	2.7
Bedfordshire	13,151	91,958	14.3
Cambridgeshire	9,083	116,444	7.8
Cheshire	11,114	159,289	7.0
City of London	1,340	81,704	1.6
Cleveland	7,622	117,790	6.5
Cumbria	7,076	94,090	7.5
Derbyshire	22,141	154,422	14.3
Devon and Cornwall 21,464		252,428	8.5
Dorset	16,712	109,992	15.2
Durham	12,034	115,586	10.4
Dyfed-Powys	10,636	84,477	12.6
Essex	32,844	252,838	13.0
Gloucestershire	3,669	97,873	3.7
Greater Manchester 39,850		532,778	7.5
Gwent	24,742	105,213	23.5
Hampshire	20,677	281,104	7.4
Hertfordshire	13,197	164,946	8.0
Humberside	17,975	168,518	10.7
Kent	22,818	281,424	8.1
Lancashire	21,549	251,052	8.6
Leicestershire	8,151	153,821	5.3
Lincolnshire	7,336	95,626	7.7
Merseyside	21,906	327,552	6.7
Metropolitan	186,275	2,800,978	6.7
Norfolk	11,411	139,793	8.2
Northamptonshire	11,489	108,998	10.5
Northumbria	80,947	282,290	28.7
North Wales	7,987	123,126	6.5
North Yorkshire	24,381	129,503	18.8
Nottinghamshire	18,170	172,974	10.5
South Wales	20,861	239,097	8.7
South Yorkshire	28,764	234,252	12.3
Staffordshire	9,646	173,691	5.6
Suffolk	10,758	105,524	10.2
Surrey	14,203	172,058	8.3
Sussex	26,057	257,669	10.1
Thames Valley	25,155	343,246	7.3
Warwickshire	n/a	81,984	n/a
West Mercia	11,451	182,128	6.3
West Midlands	57,630	506,240	11.4
West Yorkshire	26,735	407,692	6.6
Wiltshire	7,133	96,617	7.4

⁽³³⁾ Gross expenditure will be met partly from income (e.g. sales, fees, specific grants) and any use of balances and reserves. Revenue expenditure net of income is funded from Home Office Police Grant, RSG/NNDR and council tax precept.
Source:
Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA): Police Service Statistics—Estimates 2004–05.




 
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Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list awards for bravery for police officers the receipt of which his Department has approved. [22400]

Hazel Blears: Police officers who perform acts of bravery may be nominated for a Queen's Award for Gallantry. There are four levels of award as listed in the table.

The George Cross is the highest level of recognition and is only awarded for acts of the greatest heroism in circumstances of extreme danger or conspicuous courage. The award is frequently awarded posthumously.

The George Medal is granted for gallantry of an extremely high order, where the act was one of great bravery.

The Queen's Gallantry Medal is awarded for gallantry of a high order, where the act was one of exemplary bravery.

The Queen's Commendation for Bravery is granted for an act of gallantry not up to the standards described above, but which entails a risk to life and which deserved national recognition.

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the manning level of police officers in Hertfordshire was in 2004–05; and what the manning level will be in 2006–07. [22746]

Hazel Blears: At the end of March 2005 Hertfordshire constabulary had 2,104 full-time equivalent police officers, an increase of 18 in 2004–05. Future staffing levels are a matter for the Hertfordshire police authority arid will be determined by the budget the authority sets for the force in future years.

Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he relied upon in making his decision on the creation of police forces with a minimum of 4,000 police officers in terms of (a) function and (b) financing. [23500]

Hazel Blears: The case for restructuring the police service in England and Wales to ensure that all forces have the capacity and resilience to deliver protective services to national standards was set out in HM inspectorate of constabulary's report 'Closing the Gap', published in September 2005. The report is available on HMIC's website at http://inspectorates.homeoffice. gov.uk/hmic/docs/docs/closinggap.pdf.

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