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6 Mar 2007 : Column 1915W—continued
Offensive Weapons
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the knives seized in the knife amnesty held in 2006 have been successfully disposed of. [124373]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office provided guidance to the police on the disposal of knives following the amnesty, as follows:
“Those items surrendered should be destroyed in accordance with local force procedures. In considering destruction options forces should judge how to maximise the media opportunity presented and ensure that any possibility of weapons being re-circulated is removed.”
It is a matter for the police to ensure the safe disposal of the items surrendered during the knife amnesty, which totalled almost 90,000 in England and Wales.
Offensive Weapons: Durham
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many knives were handed in to police stations during 2006 in (a) County Durham and (b) Easington constituency. [124897]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office conducted a knife amnesty from 24 May to the end of June 2006. Data from the amnesty were collected at police force level. Durham police reported that 1,062 items were handed in.
We do not hold data centrally on items handed in other than during the amnesty period.
Police Patrols
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of their time on average police officers spent (a) completing paperwork and (b) on patrol in each of the last five years. [111551]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 26 January 2007]: Figures for this year and previous years are set out in the tables.
Time spent on patrol is defined as time visible to the public and available to respond. As soon as an officer on patrol responds to an incident, or carries out any other activity, this ceases to be counted as time on patrol. The measure of time on patrol is therefore not an indicator of total frontline police presence. At the end of March 2006, 63.1 per cent. of police officer time was spent on frontline duties, as measured by the frontline policing measure.
Policing necessarily requires accurate recording, for example to ensure accountability and guard against abuse of powers, to prepare case files, or to take witness statements. Non-incident paperwork includes that relating to complaints, truancy sweeps, community policing activities, line management activities, and inquiries that do not progress to incident status.
| Table A: All Officers | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| Year( 1) | Time spent on incident- related paperwork | Time spent on non incident- related paperwork | Total time spent on paperwork | Time spent on patrol( 2) | Frontline Policing Measure( 3) |
| (1) Data were not collected before 2003. The information is taken from activity analysis, which is collected by all forces over a two-week period in each year and provides a snapshot of how officers are deployed. (2) Includes officers on foot/car/beat patrol, CID and traffic officers. (3 )Data were not collected before 2003. | |||||
| Table B: Patrol Officers | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Year( 1) | Time spent on incident-related paperwork | Time spent on non incident-related paperwork | Total time spent on paperwork | Time spent on patrol |
| (1) Data were not collected before 2003. The information is taken from activity analysis, which is collected by all forces over a two-week period in each year and provides a snapshot of how officers are deployed. | ||||
Police: Armed Forces
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the establishment of combined police stations for civilian police, Ministry of Defence police and Royal Military police. [123401]
Mr. McNulty: We have not had discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence about establishing combined police stations for civilian police, the Ministry of Defence police and the Royal Military police.
Police: Cheshire
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by Cheshire police in each year since 1997. [125798]
Mr. McNulty: The available data are given in the following table.
Police: Cumbria
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of proposals to reduce the numbers of police officers in Cumbria. [120295]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 19 February 2007]: It is a matter for the chief constable in consultation with the police authority to determine the number of police officers that are employed by the Cumbria constabulary.
Police: Manpower
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in each force in England and Wales as at December 2006, broken down by rank. [124053]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 28 February 2007]: Data as at December 2006 are not yet available. The most recent published police strength data by rank and police force relates to 31 March 2006 and was published in Table 4 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Police Service Strength in England and Wales (HOSB 13/06). A copy of the table follows.
In addition, this bulletin is available in the Library of the House and can be downloaded from:
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1306.pdf
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