| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
20 Dec 2005 : Column 2900W—continued
Passports
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of passport photographs were rejected for not meeting the required standards in the last year for which figures are available. [35391]
Andy Burnham: The United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) have not retained detailed data on the reasons for rejection of applications in the past. As such, it is not possible to answer this question for the full year as requested. UKPS have manually kept photo rejection data from 12 September 2005. For the period of 18 September 2005 to 4 December 2005, UKPS rejected 12.5 per cent. of applications due to passport photograph standards.
Prior to the implementation of the new photographic standards, data is not available.
People Trafficking
David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the Government have not yet ratified the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. [33412]
Paul Goggins: The Government have not yet taken a final decision on whether to sign the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. Whilst we support the aims of the Convention, there are provisions which present concerns for the UK and which remain under active consideration.
The Government have in place a multi-faceted strategy to tackle trafficking in human beings. We are determined that the measures we take both protect the victims of trafficking and bring the criminals responsible for this serious organised crime to justice.
Police
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what sanctions exist for misuse of confidential information relating to activities of the police by (a) elected local representatives and (b) police authority members, their advisers or employees. [26107]
Hazel Blears: Local authorities and police authorities are required to adopt a Code of Conduct that sets out rules governing the behaviour of their members, including the disclosure of confidential information. The Standards Board for England can consider any written allegations it receives that claim a member has breached that Code. Police authority employees or advisors are not covered by this Code. Police authority employees have an employment contract that sets out the action that may be taken for misuse of confidential information. Inappropriate use of information by police authority advisers is deemed to be a 'breach of trust' by the police authority. Authorities have a range of processes for dealing with inappropriate use of information, but no central established procedures.
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the occasions (a) before and (b) after 26 October on which (i) the chief constable and (ii) other senior police officers of the Surrey constabulary contacted hon. Members representing constituencies in Surrey about the Terrorism Bill; and what form that contact took. [34201]
20 Dec 2005 : Column 2901W
Mr. Charles Clarke: This is a matter for the chief constable of Surrey.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the pilot scheme on hand-held computers for police officers on the beat to be completed; and if he will make a statement. [34495]
Hazel Blears: The Police Information Technology Organisation is currently working with a small number of forces on trialling the use of hand-held computers. The trials are expected to be completed by mid 2006 and the results will be circulated to all forces.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been allocated to the London borough of Barnet in each year since 1997. [36470]
Hazel Blears: The information for Barnet borough Operational Command Unit is set out in the following table. Data on strength at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level has only been collected since 2002. Deployment of police resources to Barnet is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
| As at 31 March | Number of officers(32) |
|---|---|
| 2002(33) | 514 |
| 2003(34) | 522 |
| 2004 | 541 |
| 2005 | 561 |
(32) Full-time equivalent numbers.
(33) Data collected by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
(34) From 2003 collected by Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which police authorities have agreed joint protocols with local authorities in their areas for management of cases of children reported missing from home or care; [36473]
(2) which police authorities use (a) computerised and (b) paper-based recording and case management systems for reports of children missing from home or care; [36474]
(3) what information is centrally recorded on the number of children and young people reported missing to the police; for how long such information is held; and for what purposes it is used; [36476]
(4) which police authorities meet the missing person case management recording and investigation standards published by the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2005. [36477]
Hazel Blears: Information on protocols with local authorities and police forces meeting the relevant Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) standards is not centrally held. A Centrex implementation team is assisting police forces to achieve compliance with the ACPO standards with a target date of April 2006. Police forces with IT systems for handling missing persons reports are set out in the following list.
Information on missing persons reported to the police is held centrally on the police national computer (PNC)—name, date of birth, sex, description, date when
20 Dec 2005 : Column 2902W
person went missing, date reported to the police, circumstances of the disappearance and force reference number—and in the Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB)—full descriptive information relating to missing person and circumstances of disappearance, investigative considerations, person making the report and next of kin. All unresolved cases are held indefinitely.
Reporting to the PNC permits forces in the UK to identify a person reported missing and to respond appropriately. PNMPB records permit comparison of missing person reports and notification to police forces or Interpol. The PNMPB also prepares quarterly statistics including missing males/females under fourteen years of age, between fourteen and seventeen and aged eighteen and over.
The best information to hand at the present time relating to IT systems in forces shows that the following have such systems:-
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in (a) Southend, (b) Essex, (c) Hertfordshire, (d) Greater London and (e) England and Wales use bicycles while patrolling; and what the figures were in (i) 1992, (ii) 1996, (iii) 1997, (iv) 1998, (v) 2001 and (vi) 2004. [37540]
Hazel Blears: This information is not collected.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are serving in (a) Essex and (b) England and Wales; what these figures represent per head of the population in each case; and how many police officers were serving in (i) Essex and (ii) England and Wales in 1997. [35451]
Hazel Blears:
The number of police officers serving in Essex as at 31 March 2005, was 3,230 full-time equivalent (FTE), this constitutes 198 officers per 100,000 population. The number of police officers serving in England and Wales as at 31 March 2005 was 142,795 (FTE), this constitutes 270 officers per 100,000 population.
20 Dec 2005 : Column 2903W
As at 31 March 1997, there were 2,961 (FTE) police officers serving in Essex, this constitutes 196 officers per 100,000 population. The number of police officers serving in England and Wales as at 31 March 1997 was 127,158 (FTE), this constitutes 244 officers per 100,000 population.
Following boundary changes with the Metropolitan police on 1 April 2000, parts of the Met area and resources were transferred to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |