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11 Jun 2007 : Column 894W—continued


Genetics: Databases

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals' records are held on the National DNA Database, broken down by (a) age, (b) ethnicity and (c) the police force which provided the profile. [139976]

John Reid: Tables showing the information requested will be placed in the Library. These show the number of profiles on the database as at 31 January 2007 broken down by gender, police force, age when the profile was taken, and ethnic appearance, as recorded by the officer taking the DNA sample. Some people arrested by a force live in the area of another force—the force
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shown is the one which took the profile. The number of profiles is 13.7 per cent. higher than the number of individuals because of duplicate records. There were 37,476 profiles on the database where the gender was not recorded, and these have not been included in the figures.

Immigration Controls: Luton Airport

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from London Luton Airport on the number of HM Immigration Service staff at London Luton Airport. [140636]

Mr. Byrne: A letter was received from the Managing Director of London Luton Airport Operations Limited on 30 April 2007 making representations about the level of border control staff at London Luton.

Immigration: Detention Centres

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued to (a) HM Prison Service and (b) private sector contractors on recommended staff/detainee ratios in immigration removal centres. [136974]

Mr. Byrne: The Border and Immigration Agency does not provide guidance on staff detainee ratios to HM Prison Service as they have vast experience in operating custodial environments.

The Border and Immigration Agency does not provide guidance on staff/detainee ratios to private sector organisations. Staffing levels are none the less a key area of evaluation during the competitive tender process for the operation of removal centres. All contractors are required to provide a safe environment at all times for detainees, staff and visitors.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to answer the letter dated 23 April 2007 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Qaisar Ilyas. [141076]

John Reid: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 5 June 2007.

Naturalisation: English Language

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for naturalisation as a British citizen were (a) delayed and (b) refused because of concerns about the veracity of the evidence supplied by the applicants on his or her knowledge of English in the last period for which figures are available. [121153]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.


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Police: Community Support Officers

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to promote public awareness of the difference between police officers and police community support officers. [140198]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 4 June 2007]: The Home Office has focused on raising public awareness of the new role of police community support officers (PCSOs) and neighbourhood policing teams, which are now being implemented across England and Wales. A successful national PCSO recruitment campaign in 2006 was designed not only to encourage applications but also to help explain the role of a PCSO. This campaign included television and radio adverts, poster campaigns and national and local press advertising.

In addition, a six-part documentary series followed the work of PCSOs in Lancashire and the Thames Valley. The series ran between October and December 2006 on ITV (England) and achieved an average audience of 2.3 million rising to 3 million. All of this activity has raised the profile of PCSOs and the neighbourhood policing teams in which they serve. It has also supported the police service in their drive to increase PCSO numbers to 16,000 across England and Wales.

Neighbourhood policing teams will consist of police sergeants, constables and PCSOs, and may also comprise special constables, wardens, neighbourhood managers, housing managers, youth workers and other community partners, depending on the needs and priorities of the community that the team serves. In promoting neighbourhood policing teams the Home Office and the police service has celebrated the diverse and complementary nature of the various ranks and roles within these teams which join together to provide a visible and accessible service to the communities they serve.

Police: Manpower

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police liaison officers there are in England and Wales, broken down by police force area. [140776]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally in the police personnel statistics.

Police: Pensions

Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average contribution from gross pay was by individual police officers towards pension funds in the latest period for which figures are available. [140886]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally. Police officers contribute either 11 per cent. or 9.5 per cent. of their pensionable pay depending on whether they are members of the Police Pension Scheme 1987 or the Police Pension Scheme 2006 respectively.

Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the average lump sum pension payment was to (a) female and (b) male
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police officers in the latest period for which figures are available; [140887]

(2) what methodology and calculations are used to work out the lump sum pension payment for (a) female and (b) male police officers. [140888]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested about the average size of a pension lump sum is not held centrally. Under the Police Pension Scheme 1987 a lump sum is not paid out automatically but only where the officer chooses to convert (commute) part of his or her pension into a lump sum. The size of a lump sum depends on the officer’s pensionable pay, his or her length of pensionable service, the proportion of pension that the officer chooses to commute, and the commutation factor to be applied to the surrendered portion of pension in order to convert it into a lump sum.

The Police Pensions Regulations 1987 require that the lump sum be determined as the actuarial equivalent of the surrendered portion of the pension at the date of retirement, calculated from tables prepared by the Government Actuary. The commutation factors used for the 1987 Scheme are graduated according to the age and gender of the officer concerned in order to reflect the fact that, on average, women live longer than men and younger people have a longer remaining life expectancy than older people. Pension scheme actuarial factors are exempted from the legal requirements for sex and age equality.

Police: Telephone Services

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2007, Official Report, column 1420W, on police telephone services, when he expects the target times for answering (a) emergency and (b) non-emergency calls under the National Call Handling Standards to be (i) collated nationally and (ii) implemented by all police forces. [138780]

John Reid [holding answer 23 May 2007]: Data relating to emergency (999) calls are being collated by the Home Office for the first time this year. Data will be gathered on a quarterly basis as part of an Annual Data Requirement. At present, there are no plans to collate at a national level data relating to non-emergency calls.

The National Call Handling Standards were agreed by ACPO in November 2006. An implementation review is being undertaken by the National Policing Improvement Agency with a target completion date of November 2007.

Prisoners: Females

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women (a) are being held in UK prisons and (b) were being held in each year since 2000. [141412]

Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.

Figures showing the numbers of female prisoners in all prison establishments in England and Wales between 2000 and 2006, as at 30 June each year, and for April 2007, can be found in the following table.


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Number

2000

3,355

2001

3,713

2002

4,394

2003

4,595

2004

4,452

2005

4,514

2006

4,463

2007 (April)

4,502


The figures between 2000 and 2005 were taken from table 8.1 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library. The figures for June 2006 and for April 2007 were taken from the published Population in Custody monthly tables.

The Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Prison Service are able to give the figures for prison establishments in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible data entry and processing errors.

Terrorism Act 2000

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007, Official Report, column 92W, on the Terrorism Act 2000, how many people were awaiting trial under terrorism legislation during the period 1 January to 1 April 2007. [140546]

John Reid [holding answer 4 June 2007]: Statistics for this period are not yet available. However, as soon as they are finalised they will be placed on the Home Office website.

As stated in a previous answer of 8 May 2007, there were 98 individuals at or awaiting trial for terrorist offences as of 31 December 2006.

Terrorism: Hotline

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed to handle calls to the anti-terrorism hotline; what the total cost of their annual salaries is expected to be in 2007-08; and what the annual cost is of the salary of the head of the anti-terrorism hotline. [139595]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 4 June 2007]: The total number of people employed to handle calls on the anti-terrorism hotline is not fixed.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Counter Terrorism Command has a dedicated team of 16, led by a detective sergeant. This team provides a 24/7 communications capability and are responsible for initial receipt of all communications including the anti-terrorism hotline. It is not possible to establish what proportion of time is spent solely on the hotline.

The annual budget for this team is £472,446 and the salary for the team manager is drawn from within this amount.


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