| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 May 2006 : Column 1029W—continued
Community Support Officers
Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been introduced in (a) Kingston-upon-Hull North constituency, (b) the Kingston-upon-Hull division and (c) Humberside since the scheme began; and what assessment he has made of the impact of community support officers on crime and antisocial behaviour. [69769]
Mr. Byrne: Information on the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) at basic command unit level is collected annually. At the end of June 2005 the Kingston-upon-Hull division had six police community support officers and the Humberside police had 20 PCSOs on 30 September 2005. The deployment of PCSOs within the Hull division is a matter for the divisional commander. Data is not collected below divisional level.
“A National Evaluation of Community Support Officers”—Research Study No. 297, was published on 25 January. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library. PCSOs have been well received by the public. They are helping to restore respect in local communities by providing reassurance and tackling antisocial behaviour and low level crime.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers there are in the Avon and Somerset police force. [70235]
Mr. Byrne: On 30 September 2005, there were 146 police community support officers (full-time equivalents) in Avon and Somerset.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers have been employed in (a) Gwent, (b) South Wales, (c) Dyfed Powys and (d) North Wales police forces since 1997. [71369]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested on community support officers is only available from March 2003 onwards and is provided in the following table.
| The number of community support officers (fte)( 1) employed in each of the Welsh police force areas in 2003, 2004 and 2005 | ||||
| March 2003 | March 2004 | March 2005 | September 2005 | |
| (1) This table contains full-time equivalent (including those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave) figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding there may be apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of constituent items in this and other similar tables. |
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 21 February 2006 from the hon. Member for Walsall, North regarding a constituent, HO ref: B1077614 and B1057074 and M13862/5. [68789]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 8 May 2006]: I wrote to my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North on 10 May 2006
Criminal Records Bureau
Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people applying for positions within residential care and nursinghomes in (a) Kingston upon Hull, North, (b) the Humberside police area and (c) England are awaiting clearance from the Criminal Records Bureau. [69772]
Mr. Byrne: The information sought by my hon. Friend is not available. The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is unable to provide information on Disclosure applications based on specific employment sectors and geographical areas.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to how many people the Criminal Records Bureau has not given clearance since it was established. [69952]
Joan Ryan: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) does not give clearance to work in a particular job or occupation. Neither does it make the decision on the suitability of applicants to undertake work following the issue of disclosures; this is solely a matter for the employer or licensing authority.
The latest available figure shows that the CRB has issued 8,990,597 disclosures since its launch in 2002 and up to 31 March 2006.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an individual (a) with multiple employment with children or vulnerable adults and (b) who engages with children or vulnerable adults in a number of different vocational fields is required to undergo more than one Criminal Records Bureau check. [70262]
Joan Ryan: The disclosure process may include a check against section 142 of the Education Act 2002, the Protection of Children Act and Protection of Vulnerable Adults (PoCA and PoVA) lists. Legislation governing these lists, as set by the Department for Education and Skills and Department of Health, requires fresh checks of the lists for certain positions involving work with children and vulnerable adults, regardless of any previous existing checks. In such circumstances, employers must obtain a new CRB check regardless of any existing disclosures that an individual may hold.
The overriding consideration must always be the safety of those whom the disclosure service is designed to protect and the employer, using a full range of pre-recruitment checks, is ultimately best placed to assess whether a new disclosure is required for a specific position, bearing in mind their legal and other responsibilities.
Departmental Child Care Facilities
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nursery and crèche places are provided for people working in his Department; what charges are made for the provision of such services; and what other facilities are provided for the children of employees of his Department. [67361]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office provides childcare support as part of a range of worklife balance benefits for staff and in order to promote diversity and equality of opportunity for all staff.
As part of the provision, a limited number of subsidised workplace nursery and play scheme places are provided for staff in London, Croydon and on Merseyside. The following table sets out the nurseries and play schemes used, the cost to staff and the total annual cost of the subsidy provided by the Department.
In addition the Home Office runs a Childcare Voucher salary sacrifice scheme. The scheme was introduced in June 2005 for Home Office staff with pilots being run for staff in the Prison Service and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The scheme provides more choice and flexibility for staff than the existing workplace nursery and playscheme provision and with the roll out to all Home Office, IND and Prison Service staff completed in April 2006 it provides more equitable support for staff in all areas of the Department.
Currently, 102 Home Office staff and 173 Prison Service staff use the salary sacrifice scheme.
Identity and Passport Service staff have access to a Childcare Voucher salary plus scheme, which provides them with vouchers to the value of £20 per week for pre- school children age 0-4 and £15 per week for after school and holiday care for children aged 5-12. Additionally-staff are able to use the salary sacrifice scheme to enable them to obtain the maximum benefit from the tax and national insurance exemption.
Some 130 IPS staff currently benefit from the salary plus scheme, with 21 staff using the salary sacrifice scheme. The total cost to IPS in the last financial year was £110,500.
| Workplace nursery places | Location | Number of places available | Number of places in use | Cost to staff of a full time nursery place (£) | Cost to the Home Office—total annual subsidy( 1) (£) |
Departmental Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) women and (b) men are employed in the Department; what the average pay was for (i) women and (ii) men in the Department in (A) 1997 and (B) 2006; what women's average pay is as a percentage of men’s average pay; and how many (1) women and (2) men the Department employed in each of the last five years, broken down by grade. [67776]
Mr. Byrne: The data requested is too detailed to be provided in answer format so I have arranged for the information to be placed in the Library.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent staff are being transferred from his Department to the new Department for Communities and Local Government. [70715]
Mr. Byrne: The number of full-time equivalent staff being transferred is being negotiated between the two Departments concerned. Machinery of Government changes on this scale are a serious matter and require careful planning. Once the negotiations are complete and the figures known, I will place the information requested into the House Library.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of his private office staff are (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled. [68970]
Mr. Byrne: The percentage of private office staff that are (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled are shown in the following Table:
| Percentage at 31 March 2006 | ||||
| Home Office including Immigration and Nationality Directorate (excluding agencies) | HM Prison Service | Identity and Passport Service | Total | |
| Note: Overall average totals are weighted by size of organisation. |
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the staff in his Department are (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled, broken down by grade. [68971]
Mr. Byrne: The percentage of staff that are (a) male, (b) female, (c) disabled in the Home Office are broken down by grade in the following table.
| Percentage at 31 March 2006 | ||||
| Home Office including Immigration and Nationality Directorate | HM Prison Service | Identity and Passport Service | Total | |
| Note: Overall average totals are weighted by size of organisation. |
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Respect Unit will be transferred from his Department to the new Department for Communities and Local Government. [70714]
Mr. Byrne: The Respect Task Force has a cross-departmental remit which reflects the Government’s determination to ensure that all government departments are working effectively to tackle antisocial behaviour and its causes. The Task Force is based at the Home Office and there are no plans to transfer the team to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |