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20 Dec 2005 : Column 2903W—continued

Police Basic Command Units

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police basic command units there were in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [36146]

Hazel Blears: The available information is shown in the following table. Data on the number of Basic Command Units (BCUs) has only been collected since March 2002. The number of BCUs in each force is an operational matter for the chief constable.
Number of basic command units in England and Wales 2002 to 2005

	Number
2002(35)	284
2003(36)	274
2004	272
2005	254

⁽³⁵⁾ Data collected by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
⁽³⁶⁾ From 2003 collected by Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.

Police Force Mergers

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the costs associated with merging police forces. [30421]

Hazel Blears: I am aware that there will be initial upfront costs associated with developing strategic police forces. I have requested that as part of developing their proposals forces and authorities undertake a cost benefit analysis of the options that have been identified as suitable for progression. This will included estimates surrounding 'set up' costs. We will be in a better position to assess up front costs once final options have been submitted in December.

Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC) report has shown that although there will be upfront costs associated with developing strategic forces, there will be greater savings made through economies of scale resulting from restructuring.

Predictive Diallers

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls were made from call centres in his Department in 2004–05 using predictive diallers; how many such calls resulted in contact being made with the recipient without a Government agent available to talk to them; and what assessment he has made of the likely impact of Ofcom's policy on silent calls on the use of predictive diallers in departmental call centres. [28173]

 
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Mr. Charles Clarke: None; the Department does not utilise predictive diallers in its call centres.

Private Members' Bills

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those Private Members' Bills introduced (a) under Standing Order No 14(6), (b) Standing Order No 23 and (c) Standing Order No 57 which were (i) supported and (ii) opposed by his Department in each Session since 1997–98. [36216]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested in not collected by the Department and providing it would incur disproportionate costs.

Proceeds of Crime Act

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the basis of apportionment was in 2004–05 for the incentivisation fund for recoveries under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. [37679]

Paul Goggins: As agreed with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), under the police incentivisation scheme the police service would receive one-third of the total assets recovered over and above £40 million in 2004–05, increasing to one half in 2005–06. The Government are spending more than the first £40 million to support existing spending commitments in the asset recovery field. It was also agreed with ACPO that incentive payments would be based on the performance of each force in 2004–05 in the recovery of criminal assets. The amount allocated to each force was determined by its percentage contribution to the total value of cash forfeitures and confiscation orders obtained by the police service in 2004–05.

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) searches were carried out and (b) cash seizures were made in each of the last three years by (i) police officers and (ii) Customs officers exercising their powers under Part 5, chapter 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; and how much cash was seized in each case. [37755]

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of searches carried out by police and Customs officers is not held centrally. Information on the total number and value of cash seizures by (i) police officers and (ii) Customs officers in each of the last three years is set out in the following table.
Cash detention orders

	HMR and C		Police
	Volume	Value (£)	Volume	Value (£)
2003–04	403	19,351,537.19	128	5,259,997.52
2004–05	664	20,221,726.93	521	14,257,952.36
2005–06	256	13,731,475.77	458	14,065,604.45

Rape Units

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces in England and Wales have specialist rape units. [37341]

 
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Paul Goggins: In the stock take of implementation of the Rape Action Plan 2002 carried out in September 2005, four police forces reported that they had specialist rape units staffed by Sexual Offence Liaison Officers.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulatory impact assessments have been published in relation to legislation sponsored by his Department in each year since 1995; and if he will make a statement. [34321]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 998W, which gives details of regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) from August 2001 to June 2005. The number of RIAs published before August 2001 was as follows:
RIA Table

	Number of RIAs
1997 (July to December)	(37)6
1998	11
1999	13
2000	16
2001 (January to July)	4
Total	50

⁽³⁷⁾ Compliance cost assessments

Road Safety

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 November, Official Report, column 852–3W, on road safety, why figures on numbers of road traffic police officers are unavailable for years before 2003. [31352]

Paul Goggins: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) held data prior to 2002–03 on their Matrix database. However, following a software upgrade, this data was corrupted. It was unclear how long it would be before it was restored, so we provided the information that was currently available in order to meet the PQ deadline. This information is now available from 1999–2000 and is given in the following table.
Police officers whose main function is Traffic⁽³⁸⁾, total for England and Wales, 2000–02

As at 31 March each year	Full-time equivalent(39)
2000	7,525
2001	7,238
2002	7,005

⁽³⁸⁾ Staff with multiple responsibilities(or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function.
⁽³⁹⁾ Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to allow persons guilty of an offence under section 14(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, in lieu of a fine, to attend a driving safety course paid for by the offender that includes instruction on the benefits of wearing seat belts; and if he will make a statement. [38032]

 
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Paul Goggins: The Government are keen to use education as part of a penalty where it is appropriate. Rehabilitation courses for persons convicted of drink driving have been available nationally since 2000 and have proved successful. On this basis, we propose through the Road Safety Bill, currently under consideration in another place, to provide the courts with powers to refer people convicted of speeding and careless driving offences to retraining courses with the incentive of a reduction in disqualification or penalty points. There are no plans to extend the scope to non- endorsable offences including seat belt offences.

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