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24 Jan 2006 : Column 2029W—continued
Naturalisation Helpline
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time was for calls to the 0845 0105200 helpline for inquiries on naturalisation to be answered in the last period for which figures are available; and how many unanswered calls there were in that period. [38143]
Mr. McNulty: The average waiting time for November 2005 was four minutes 25 seconds. The volume of unanswered calls in November 2005 was 109,560 from a total of 141,552 calls offered. A review of staffing levels at the Nationality helpdesk has been conducted to assess what the required level of staffing needed is to meet the demand for the service. It is intended to increase the number of call handlers progressively in the period up to summer 2006 to twice the current level.
Neighbours from Hell Website
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many e-mail messages (a) from people living in Gravesend and (b) in total have been received by his Department since the Prime Minister urged readers of The Sun to shop yobs to the Home Office via the neighboursfromhell@thesun.co.uk e-mail address. [43271]
Hazel Blears: Encouraging members of the public to report antisocial behaviour is an important part of the Government's overall strategy to tackle and not tolerate the problem.
At the time of answering, The Sun had forwarded to the Home Office 91 responses to their campaign: none of these have come from people identifying themselves as having come from Gravesend.
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Parenting Orders
Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting orders have been made in (a) Derbyshire and (b) Amber Valley. [42940]
Fiona Mactaggart: Since April 2000, the Youth Justice Board has collected the number of parenting orders relating to offending or antisocial behaviour and this is collected by youth offending team areas. 47 of these parenting orders were made in the Derbyshire youth offending team area between 1 April 2000 and September 2005 (the latest data which is currently available).
Since September 2004, the Department for Education and Skills has collected data regarding parenting orders in cases of non-attendance and exclusions from school and this collected by local authority area. Six of these parenting orders were made in the Derbyshire local authority area between September 2004 and 31 July 2005 (the latest data which is currently available). Neither of these sets of data is collected at the sub-Derbyshire level and information cannot therefore be provided for Amber Valley.
Passports
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 378W, on passports, if the Department will also allow the hand of a parent who is holding a baby to appear in a photograph without invalidating it. [43880]
Andy Burnham: If a baby is being supported by a parent when photographed, the hands of the parent must not be visible above the shoulders of the baby. This is to ensure that the passport issuing system does not capture the supporting hand as part of the subject's face. It is recommended that the services of a photographic studio are used when obtaining passport photographs for very young infants.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 378W, on passports, whether the notice added to the UK Passport Service website on photograph standards was published on 22 November 2005 as referred to in the answer or on 21 December as referred to on the UKPS website. [43882]
Andy Burnham: The UKPS website was updated on 22 November to reflect the revised policy adopted after consideration of feedback following the introduction of new photo standards in September 2005. Changes are made to the website as the need arises, and on 21 December a further change was made to advise customers that the digital enhancement of photographs was not recommended. The date on the web page reflects this latter change. The website has been amended to make the timing of these changes clearer.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of forged passports in use in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available. [44114]
Andy Burnham:
Although by the very nature of the problem it is impossible to quantify the number of forged passports circulating within the UK, it is a
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concern I take very seriously. Our response is led by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's National Document Fraud Unit (NDFU), which is recognised at home and abroad as the leader in its field.
NDFU conducts full forgery detection training for Immigration Nationality Directorate (IND) staff. As a result, in 2004 a total of 8,285 fraudulent documents were detected at UK ports of entry, an increase of 4 per cent. over 2003. Croydon NDFU detected 1,044 fraudulent documents, an increase of 25 per cent.
Our experience in IND, confirmed by agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), shows that abuse of identity documents is increasing, assisted by the spread of computer technology. To combat such abuse NDFU provides forgery detection training to other organisations including the police, Customs and Excise, DWP etc, as well as to the private sector, aiding detection of falsified documents within the UK, and hindering the adoption of false identities.
Police
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidential base there is for the figures of 4,000 officers and 6,000 staff as the minimum size of a police force. [30505]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 21 November 2005]: The analysis in HMIC's report suggested that there was an optimum size of force, below which it would be hard in the longer term to sustain the required investment in protective service .
There is a clear and statistically significant pattern suggesting that size is a major factor in determining whether a force can attain the requisite performance on the protective services but also insulate against underperformance in other areas HMIC's conclusion was that forces with more than 4,000 officers and 6,000 staff gave the citizen the greatest chance of receiving comprehensive policing services at all levels.
A copy of the paper has been placed on to the police reform website http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/police-reform/Force-restructuring?view=Standard and in the Library. I wrote to all Members of Parliament on 16 December 2005 updating them on the police force structures review, and including a copy of the 4,000 officer strength threshold for police forces.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average response time to an emergency call to the police in Staffordshire was in each year since 1997. [42102]
Hazel Blears: Data on time taken to respond to emergency calls is not collected centrally. This is essentially an operational matter for the chief constable and this query could therefore be directed to Staffordshire police.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines apply to a police officer with a family interest in a legal case continuing to serve in the local geographical area in which the alleged offence took place. [44397]
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Hazel Blears: There are no national or statutory guidelines governing the placement of police officers. The deployment of resources within the Essex Police area is an operational matter for which the chief constable has sole responsibility.
Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the determining factors are in deciding whether to call a public inquiry following a death in police custody. [42680]
Hazel Blears: In some cases, an inquiry can be required by law. In other cases the Secretary of State has a discretion and where there are issues likely to affect the whole of a police force then an inquiry may be an appropriate way of dealing with it. Where, in a specific case, it appears that there has been sufficient investigation of the incident then it is likely that the view will be taken that a further inquiry is unlikely to provide further evidence or to be proportionate.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the police force restructuring proposals on the crime detection rate (a) during the restructuring and (b) immediately afterwards for each constabulary in England and Wales. [35296]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 5 December 2005]: The Government's Spending Review 2004 public service agreements set a target to improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.25 million by 2007–08. Within this target, we are committed to bringing about an increase in the sanction detections rate to 25 per cent. over the same period. We remain committed to delivering that improvement and any objectives beyond this period will arise out of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the chief constable of Kent about police restructuring since the publication of Closing the Gap by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. [37593]
Hazel Blears: The Home Secretary received a business case on police restructuring from the chief constable of Kent, Mr. Fuller, and the chair of the Kent Police Authority, Mrs. Barnes on 23 December 2005.
The Home Secretary has not had any discussions about the restructuring process with the chief constable of Kent. However Mr. Giffard, chief constable of Staffordshire and programme director of the restructuring process, met with the chief constable of Kent and the chair of the Kent Police Authority in London on 15 November. They have also spoken by telephone and in person on a number of occasions. In addition to this there has been regular contact between the Kent project team working on restructuring and the Home Office Review Unit supporting the process.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the salary is of the Police National Bureaucracy Adviser; and if he will make a statement. [42633]
Hazel Blears:
The salary of the National Bureaucracy Adviser is £81,555 which is the first increment for an Assistant Chief Constable from Essex police.
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Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where the office of the Police National Bureacracy Adviser is; and if he will make a statement. [42636]
Hazel Blears: The National Bureaucracy Adviser is based notionally at the Home Office at 2 Marsham Street. However, she spends most of her time visiting forces to spread good practice; challenge, where necessary, existing practices; and drive force-led reductions in bureaucracy.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of serving police officers in Northamptonshire are grade one qualified emergency response drivers. [42526]
Hazel Blears: Information on the number of officers who are grade one qualified emergency response drivers is not collected centrally
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been spent on policing per head of population in (a) Essex and (b) the Metropolitan police area of London, broken down by police division, in each year since 1995. [14125]
Hazel Blears: Information on force expenditure at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level is not held centrally. Total force gross revenue expenditure per head of population is set out in the table. Essex receives its fair share of available resources. This year it is receiving £167.0 million in general grants, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£6.1 million) over last year. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, Essex would have received £13.6 million less. The local distribution of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable and the Police Authority to determine in the light of operational priorities.
(20) Actual expenditure figures for 1995–96 were not available for Essex from CIPFA. CIPFA 1995–96 estimates have therefore been used.
(21) As of April 2000, the Metropolitan police force was reduced in size by a transfer of responsibility for policing some areas to the surrounding forces, including Essex. These changes need to be borne in mind when comparing figures before and after April 2000.
Source of expenditure information:
CIPFA—Police Statistics (Actuals 1995–96 to 2003–04, Estimates 2004–05).
Source for resident population figures:
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as used in the calculation of the police funding settlements.
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