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27 Nov 2006 : Column 404W—continued


27 Nov 2006 : Column 405W

Mr. McNulty: The available data for the total number of police officers in Gloucestershire and England are given in the tables. The closest available data to cover officers on the streets and in neighbourhood teams are in terms of officers primarily employed within the function foot/car/beat patrol. These data for Gloucestershire and England are also given in the tables.

Police officer strength in Gloucestershire as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2006 (FTE)( 1)
1997 2006

Foot/Car/Beat Patrol(2)

(4)n/a

456

Total strength(3)

1,133

1,303

(1) Full-Time Equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
(2) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables.
(3) Overall force totals including those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The data in the function breakdown is from unpublished sources and therefore totals may not match totals found in the published data.
(4) Data for 1996-97 are not available.

Police officer strength in England as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2006 (FTE)( 1)
1997 2006

Foot/Car/Beat Patrol(2)

(4)n/a

55,291

Total strength(3)

118,453

133,925

(1.)Full-Time Equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
(2) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables.
(3) Overall force totals including those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The data in the function breakdown is from unpublished sources and therefore totals may not match totals found in the published data.
(4) Data for 1996-97 are not available.

Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances police cells in West Yorkshire would be used to house prisoners to relieve prison overcrowding. [100968]

Mr. Sutcliffe: In the event of increasing prisoner population pressures in the West Yorkshire area, West Yorkshire police would be asked whether accommodation was available for use under Operation Safeguard to relieve prison overcrowding.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many investigations into officers’ conduct were undertaken at (a) HMP Wymott and (b) HMP Garth in each of the last three years; [101923]

(2) what the average number of investigations into prison officers’ conduct per prison in England and Wales was in each of the last three years. [101924]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The average number of investigations registered into the conduct of officers, which include Senior Officer and Principal Officer, for all prisons in England and Wales is set out in the following table:


27 Nov 2006 : Column 406W
The average number of investigations registered into the conduct of officers
As at 17 November to 16 November each year: Wymott Garth Average England and Wales( 1)

2003-04

13

3

12

2004-05

12

4

12

2005-06

9

8

10

(1 )To nearest whole number

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects of the work-life balance arrangements for prison officers. [101928]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service has had a work-life balance policy in place since April 2003. This policy is open to all staff regardless of grade or rank, their working location or their status as parents.

This policy has not been assessed since its implementation, although the Prison Service staff survey tracks perceptions about work-life balance issues.

Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations against prison staff have been made by prisoners since the offence of making a false and malicious allegation was abolished; and how many such allegations have been upheld in this period. [102372]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Details on allegations against staff by prisoners are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Rape Claims

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what strategy he has for dealing with false rape claims. [101662]

Mr. Coaker: Allegations of rape are a matter for the police to investigate in accordance with their internal guidance. Each case must be treated on its own individual merits and investigated thoroughly. It is then for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide whether or not to charge and then prosecute if the case fulfils both the evidential and public interest test as set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

There is no evidence to suggest that rates of false allegations for rape are especially high, but where there is evidence that a complaint is false, the police and CPS should consider whether the person who made the allegation should be charged with wasting police time or perverting the course of justice.

Road Safety

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions were made of drivers using mobile phones while driving in the most recent period for which figures are available, broken down by police authority area. [102452]


27 Nov 2006 : Column 407W

Mr. McNulty: Available information taken from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the year 2004 (latest available) is given in the table. As the majority of ‘use of hand-held mobile phone while driving’ offences are dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty notice these are also included.

2005 data will be available in 2007.


27 Nov 2006 : Column 408W
Fixed penalty notices issued and total court proceedings for the offence of use of hand-held mobile phone while driving( 1) by police force area, England and Wales, 2004
Number of offences
Police force area Fixed penalty notices issued Total court proceedings( 2) Total dealt with

Avon and Somerset

1,902

19

1,921

Bedfordshire

579

5

584

Cambridgeshire

219

7

226

Cheshire

2,689

2

2,691

Cleveland

1,066

4

1,070

Cumbria

528

24

552

Derbyshire

978

17

995

Devon and Cornwall

796

19

815

Dorset

521

(3)

521

Durham

504

1

505

Essex

2,431

28

2,459

Gloucestershire

632

1

633

Greater Manchester

8,166

73

8,239

Hampshire

2,032

18

2,050

Hertfordshire

2,526

6

2,532

Humberside

381

4

385

Kent

1,707

(3)

1,707

Lancashire

1,719

17

1,736

Leicestershire

759

12

771

Lincolnshire

1,529

9

1,538

London, City of

137

7

144

Merseyside

1,836

22

1,858

Metropolitan Police

13,581

203

13,784

Norfolk

887

20

907

Northamptonshire

297

(3)

297

Northumbria

1,271

32

1,303

North Yorkshire

720

18

738

Nottinghamshire

653

8

661

South Yorkshire

1,978

12

1,990

Staffordshire

264

11

275

Suffolk

978

7

985

Surrey

2,213

9

2,222

Sussex

546

1

547

Thames Valley

3,716

24

3,740

Warwickshire

621

7

628

West Mercia

2,200

17

2,217

West Midlands

3,864

61

3,925

West Yorkshire

2,368

11

2,379

Wiltshire

700

21

721

Dyfed Powys

363

13

376

Gwent

517

(3)

517

North Wales

999

3

1,002

South Wales

1,603

16

1,619

England and Wales

73,976

789

74,765

(1) Offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, Regulations 110 (1), 110 (2) and 110 (3).
(2) Includes cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.
(3) Nil prosecutions.
Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

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