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25 July 2006 : Column 1334W—continued
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his assessment is of the costs and benefits of (a) no change, (b) a federated structure, (c) a single strategic force and (d) other strategic co-working arrangements for police force restructuring in Wales. [82367]
Mr. McNulty: The business case for the amalgamation of the four Welsh police forces, which was sent to Welsh police forces and police authorities with the then Home Secretary's notice of intention to merge on 3 March 2006, contained details of all the options that had been considered and HMIC's assessment of them.
The notice of intention to merge was withdrawn on 13 July.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future use of (a) Willesden Green and (b) Harlesden police station. [87490]
Mr. McNulty:
Questions about the use of the Metropolitan police estate are for the Metropolitan Police Authority and for the Commissioner. However I am informed by the Metropolitan police that these stations are considered to be beyond their viable lives and may be considered for disposal. MPS have confirmed that no Metropolitan police station will
close unless a suitable replacement in the general location has been provided. Full local consultation will take place. The long-term accommodation strategy for the Brent area includes enhanced custody centre facilities, a patrol base and safer neighbourhood bases.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults per head of population there were on (a) police officers and (b) police community support officers in each constabulary in 2005-06. [88963]
Mr. McNulty: Assaults on police community support officers are not recorded separately by the Home Office. They are recorded under the more general category of common assault if no injury results. If injury is involved they are recorded under the appropriate section of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
Statistics of assaults on a constable by police force area for 2005-06 are given in the table.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Point of Order on 12 July 2006, Official Report, column 1393, on police force mergers, if he will clarify the implications for the proposed abolition of West Mercia Constabulary and the creation of a regional West Midlands force. [85899]
Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, made it clear in the House on 19 June and again on 12 July that he did not intend to proceed with enforced police force mergers. The notice of intention to merge which was issued to West Mercia by the then Home Secretary on 3 March has been withdrawn.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what undertakings he has given to chief constables and police authorities on central Government funding for police force amalgamations. [74594]
John Reid: The Government gave undertakings to meet 100 per cent. of reasonable set up revenue and capital costs of restructuring, net of reasonable savings.
As I said on 19 June, I do not, however, intend to proceed with enforced amalgamations. We will work with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities, as well as HMIC, to improve protective services, preserve neighbourhood policing and increase efficiencies through use of shared services.
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) street wardens there were in Hackney and Stoke Newington in (i) 1997 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available. [85291]
Mr. McNulty: Information on police officers is not collected at constituency level.
Information has been collected centrally by Operational Command Unit since March 2003. The most recent figures are as at 31 March 2005, showing that Hackney had 789 full-time equivalent police officers. The deployment of police officers to OCUs and other specialist units in the Metropolitan Police is an operational matter for the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis.
The Department for Communities and Local Government have collected information on street wardens sine 2001, and state that there are currently 30 wardens operating in Hackney.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) resignations and (b) retirements of police officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary there have been in each year since 1997. [85993]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is given in the following table.
| Full-time equivalent( 1) Police Officer resignations and retirements in Cambridgeshire (1997-2005) | ||
| As at 31 March: | Voluntary resignations( 2) | Retirements( 3) |
| (1 )Prior to 2003, FTE figures excluded those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. These figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Voluntary resignations does not include those who are dismissed and required to resign. (3) Retirements includes normal retirements and medical retirements. | ||
Prison Service Accounts
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the maximum amount deposited (a) in each prison establishment and (b) by foreign national inmates is in prison service accounts; and if he will make a statement. [87803]
Mr. Sutcliffe: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Prison/Court Escort Service
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on prison and court escort services in each of the last five years. [85398]
John Reid: Details of expenditure on inter-prison transfer and court escort services are set out in the following table:
| Cost (£ million) | |
Prisons
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list prisons he has visited since he took up his post; and if he will make a statement. [32677]
John Reid: The Home Secretary visited Wandsworth prison on 28 June 2006. His predecessor visited Brixton prison on 22 November 2005.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have absconded from each open prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many abscondees from each prison were foreign nationals. [85127]
John Reid: There have been 4,307 absconds from open prisons in England and Wales since one April 2001. A break down by establishment is given in the following table by financial year. Information on the number of abscondees who were foreign nationals could be obtained only by examination of individual records at a disproportionate cost.
| Prisoners who have absconded from open prisons in England and Wales 2001-02 to 2005-06 | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
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