| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
19 Mar 2007 : Column 670W—continued
Metropolitan Police: Finance
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding per head of the population in London the Metropolitan police force received for (a) local, (b) regional and (c) national policing purposes in each of the last five years. [127303]
Mr. McNulty: The Police Grant Settlement 2007-08 is based on the police funding formula which provides an assessment of the relative need of each police force in England and Wales. This assessment is based on the social characteristics of each police authority, including its population, which are considered to affect the level of demand for police services in the community. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) also receives a range of specific grants to reflect its local and national responsibilities.
The MPS continues to receive an annual special payment as part of its police grant, in recognition of its unique capital city and national functions.
Details for the last five years are set out in the table.
| Metropolitan Police Service funding 2003-04 to 2007-08 | |||
| £ million | |||
| General grant | Specific grants | Total | |
| Notes: 1. Prior to 2006-07 pensions and security arrangements were included within General Grant. General Grant figure for 2005-06 has been adjusted to allow direct comparison with 2006-07. 2. The MPS continues to receive an annual special payment as part of its police grant in recognition of its unique capital city and national functions. This was £192 million in 2007-08. | |||
Police: Criminal Investigation
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of police officers were subject to criminal investigation in the last year for which figures are available. [121909]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office does not collect the information requested.
Police: Culture and Recruitment
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department provides guidance to police forces on the suitability of recruits who follow cultural practices which require them not to shake hands with certain members of the public or otherwise behave in a way which makes it difficult for them fully to engage with members of the public; and if he will make a statement. [111610]
Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has issued no guidance on this issue.
Police: Freedom of Information
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Freedom of Information requests to each police authority in England and Wales have not received a statutory response within 21 days. [127348]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 13 March 2007]: It is for each individual relevant public authority to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Police: Gloucestershire
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fully qualified police officers are on duty in the South Gloucestershire district on a typical Friday evening. [127695]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 15 March 2007]: The deployment of police officers to the basic command units of Avon and Somerset constabulary is an operational matter for the chief constable.
Police: Interpreters
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the Metropolitan Police Service's budget was spent on interpretation services for suspects in the most recent year for which figures are available. [125224]
Mr. McNulty: The expenditure on interpretation services is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of interpreters' fees upon police resources; and if he will make a statement. [125628]
Mr. McNulty: The information for all police forces in England and Wales is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The expenditure on interpreters is a matter for the chief officer of each constabulary.
Police: Lancashire
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by Lancashire police each year since 1997. [127460]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 14 March 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on 9 March 2007, Official Report, column 2170.
Police: Modernisation
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of his meeting on 5 March with police forces from England and Wales on the development of the Work Force Modernisation Project. [127916]
Mr. McNulty: A number of police forces and authorities expressing an interest in the workforce modernisation programme were present at the meeting. They were asked to provide confirmation of their commitment to become a demonstrator site by 16 March 2007. Once these are collated the programme team, under the authority of the Association of Chief Police Officers with the Association of Police Authorities and the Home Office, will consider each application and inform the successful forces.
Police: Pensions
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of the potential annual cost of extending the survivor benefits of the new Police Pension Scheme to the spouses and civil partners of officers who died whilst on duty and who are in the old Police Pension Scheme; [127708]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of (a) spouses and (b) civil partners of police officers who have died while on duty who would lose their survivor benefits under the Police Pension Scheme were they to remarry or cohabit. [127726]
Mr. McNulty: Under the provisions for police injury benefits, which are not dependent on pension scheme membership, a special or augmented pension of up to half the officer's pensionable pay is payable to a surviving spouse or civil partner where the officer dies as a result of an injury received without their own default in the execution of their duty as a constable. Under the Police Pension Scheme 1987 (old scheme) an ordinary pension of up to one third the officer's pensionable pay is payable to a surviving spouse or civil partner where the officer dies in service, whether or not they were on duty at the time.
Police pensions and police injury benefits are administrated locally by the police authority for the force concerned and details of the number of surviving spouses and civil partners of officers who died while on duty and of the cost of their pensions are not held centrally. However, it is estimated that in the region of 400 surviving spouses are in receipt of a special or augmented pension in the UK. About half of this number are in respect of police officers who died in Northern Ireland. No separate estimate has been made of the number of surviving civil partners in receipt of such a pension but the estimate given for spouses can still be taken to include civil partners in view of the relatively short time since the start of civil partnerships.
The Government Actuary's Department has estimated that the capitalised extra cost of making these pensions life-long to be between £10 million and £20 million. This estimate is indicative only since it is subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty. The capital cost would manifest itself in additional cash expenditure over a period of decades peaking in 10 to 20 years' time. This cost only relates to survivor pensions currently in payment. There would also be additional costs relating to pensions to spouses and civil partners of police officers who die in the future as result of an injury received in the execution of their duty. The cost does not include the reinstatement of any pension that has already ceased on remarriage, formation of a civil partnership or cohabitation, or the backdating of any such restored pension.
The Government Actuary's Department has also estimated the capitalised extra cost of making all survivor pensions life-long where they are payable upon an officer's death in service (i.e. ordinary pensions as well as special and augmented pensions) to be between £50 million to £100 million.
Police: Recruitment
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the ability of police forces to recruit Criminal Investigation Department officers. [127349]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 13 March 2007]: Recruitment of police officers to Criminal Investigation Departments is a matter for the chief constables of individual police forces.
Prisoners: Females
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to ensure that communication is maintained between female prisoners and their families who live (a) in the UK and (b) overseas. [127917]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There is a statutory entitlement to social visits and correspondence. Social visitors who are United Kingdom residents may qualify for financial assistance. Contact may also be maintained by telephone. Foreign nationals or those with close family abroad who have not received a social visit within the preceding month may also receive a five minute telephone call at public expense. Family contact for all prisoners, in particular women with children, is supported by local arrangements.
Prisoners: Telephones
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors determine the price of international telephone calls charged to prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [127918]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Negotiations between the Home Office and the prisoner telephone contractors, which are commercially in confidence, determine the price of international telephone calls charged to prisoners.
Prisons: Islam
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what vetting procedures prison imams undergo prior to employment; and whether they have been revised since 2001. [127951]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Imams are subject to the same checks as those for all chaplains and include checks on: identity; proof of address; entitlement to work in the UK; criminal record check; references; qualifications, endorsement from the relevant faith adviser and national security vetting. Security vetting procedures are kept under review and a number of enhancements have been made since 2001.
Prisons: Religion
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities are offered to non-Christian worshippers in HM prisons; and what the costs of these facilities were in each of the last five years. [127562]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service policy is to enable those prisoners who wish, to practise their religion. The Prison Service Performance Standard on Religion (No. 51) and the Prison Service Order on Religion (4550) sets out the more detailed policy and includes specific information on the provision necessary for the practice of the main world faiths, including Islam. Copies of Prison Service orders are kept in the House Library and both Prison Service orders and performance standards are also published on the Prison Service website (www.hmprisons.gov.uk). The requested information on costs is not available.
Road Traffic Control: Eastern Region
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) traffic enforcement officers, (b) traffic wardens and (c) council parking attendants were operating in (i) Suffolk, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) Cambridgeshire, (iv) Essex, (v) Hertfordshire, (vi) Norfolk, (vii) St. Edmundsbury borough council area and (viii) Mid Suffolk district council area in each year since 1997. [128016]
Mr. McNulty: Data for the numbers of traffic wardens and traffic enforcement officers are not centrally collected at the district or borough level, however data for the numbers of traffic wardens and for the numbers of officers whose primary function is traffic are collected at force level and are given in the tables. There has over the years been a transfer of responsibility for traffic wardens from the police to local authorities.
Data on the number of council parking attendants are not collected centrally.
| Traffic warden strength as at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006 (FTE)( 1) | ||||||||||
| 31 March | ||||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| (1) Full-time equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures up to 31 March 2002 exclude staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The figures for 31 March 2003 onwards include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. | ||||||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |