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20 Jun 2006 : Column 1843W—continued
David Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet and (ii) using official telephones to access premium rate
telephone numbers in each of the last five years. [77431]
Mr. McNulty: The requested information is not collected centrally.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the consultation on the merger of the four existing forces in the West Midlands will cost (a) his Department and (b) (i) each individual police force and (ii) each local authority involved. [77682]
Mr. McNulty: The statutory four month period in which objections can be raised under Sections 32 and 33 of the Police Act 1996 is part of normal Home Office business and, as such, imposes no additional costs. The costs, if any, that police forces and police authorities choose to incur is a matter for the bodies concerned.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations have been closed in villages and towns with a population smaller than 10,000 inhabitants in each year since 1997. [78201]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answers of 7 June 2006, Official Report, columns 741-42W, on the police, whether his strategic objectives in relation to West Mercia police differ from those of his predecessor. [78390]
Mr. McNulty: As my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, made clear during the course of Home Office oral questions on 19 June, he believes that the creation of strategic police forces will bring benefits both in improving protective services and safeguarding dedicated local policing. However, he also made it clear that he wants to engage in further discussion with police forces and police authorities on how best to move to strategic police forces.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will withdraw the guidance to police forces contained in Annex C of his Department’s circular 46/2004; [77964]
(2) if he will amend the guidance to police forces on reviewing injury pensions so that injured officers who were in receipt of such a pension prior to the introduction of the current guidance will not have their pension reviewed earlier than their state retirement age; [77965]
(3) what assessment he has made of the effect of new legislation on age discrimination on the existing guidance to police forces on injury pensions contained in Annex C of Home Office Circular 46/2004. [77966]
Mr. McNulty:
We have no plans to change the guidance in Annex C in HOC 46/2004, which was issued to provide for a fairer and more consistent framework within which police authorities review the injury pensions they are paying. Police authorities have a statutory responsibility to consider at suitable intervals whether the pensioner’s loss of earning
capacity has altered. The relevant provision is now set out in regulation 37 of the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, but the legal obligation has been in place since before 1987, when the previous regulations were made. A wider policy review of the injury award system is planned.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the creation of larger police constabularies on response times; and if he will make a statement. [67102]
Mr. McNulty: While no assessment has been made of the effect of the creation of larger police forces on response times, we believe that strategic forces will have greater capability and capacity to deliver effective protective services, response policing and neighbourhood policing for all their communities. Targets on response times are set and monitored locally. It is an operational matter for the chief constable of each area to decide how he or she wishes to deploy the available resources to best serve their communities.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed merger between Lancashire and Cheshire police authorities on policing in Lancashire. [76013]
Mr. McNulty: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's assessment revealed that the most effective option for improving policing for the communities of both Lancashire and Cumbria is for these force areas to amalgamate. This will preserve and embed neighbourhood policing and protect people better against serious crime and terrorism. Both Lancashire and Cumbria police authorities voted in favour of amalgamation.
Pornographic Material
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider introducing legislation to reduce the amount of (a) pornographic materials in circulation and (b) bad language, pornography and violence on television; and if he will make a statement. [78967]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is as follows.
(a) Legislation, including the Obscene Publications Act 1959, the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981, the Video Recordings Act 1984 and the Communications Act 2003 already exist to protect people against illegal and harmful sexual material. The Government are also currently considering the responses they have received to their Consultation on the Possession of Extreme Pornographic Material which contains proposals to make illegal the simple possession of a limited range of extreme pornographic material.
(b) Decisions on broadcast programme standards are a matter for Ofcom, the BBC and S4C to determine independently of Government, according to the provisions of the Broadcasting and Communications Acts.
Prison Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times in the last 12 months the London Area Manager of the Prison Service, or his representative, has attended multi-agency public protection arrangements strategic management boards within his area. [78088]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Four meetings of the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) strategic management boards were held in the last 12 months and a representative of the Area Manager attended all these meetings. The Prison Service is part of the MAPPA “Responsible Authority” with the Police and Probation and a protocol exists between the agencies which has been signed by the Area Manager. This requires the Area Manager to ensure consistent representation at strategic management board. The main responsibilities of the Prison Service and the Area Manager are to ensure that operational functions work consistently in prisons. This is monitored through assurance visits to each prison by the Area Manager's representative.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed in the Prison Service Race and Equality Advisory Group; and if he will make a statement. [78130]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service Race Equality Action Group employs 26 staff.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of the Tasker investigation commissioned by the Prison Service London area office; and if he will make a statement. [78186]
Mr. Sutcliffe: This information will be calculated once the investigation is complete.
Prisons
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prison inmates are involved in training courses; how many were on training courses five years ago; and if he will make a statement. [77248]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 13 June 2006]: Data in the specific format requested are not available.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mobile telephones have been found in each prison in the possession of inmates in each of the last seven years; and if he will make a statement. [77485]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service does not separately record incidents of mobile telephones found in the possession of prisoners and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times illegal drugs have been found in each prison in each of the last seven years, broken down by (a) type and (b) quantity of drug; and if he will make a statement. [77486]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service does not hold data on drugs finds broken down by type of drug and quantity. Centrally available information records any drug-related find and includes items associated with drug taking.
Individual prisons will have information on the type and quantity of drugs found and use this information in developing a local drug strategy for combating drug abuse.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what forecast he has made of the prison population on 30 June. [78146]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The latest prison population projections are published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/05 “Updated and Revised Prison Population Projections, 2005-2011, England and Wales”.
Private Security Industry Act
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when application procedures for each type of licence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 were opened. [77000]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 19 June 2006]: The information requested is in the following table.
| Sector | Open for business | Offence date |
Railway/Underground Crime
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes have been reported at each mainline railway station in each of the last five years. [76398]
Derek Twigg: I have been asked to reply.
The number of crimes reported at each mainline railway station—namely those stations in Great Britain managed by Network Rail—and recorded by the British Transport police (BTP) in each financial year since 2001-02 is given in the following table.
| Notifiable offences | |||||
| Mainline railway station | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
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