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20 Jun 2007 : Column 1963W—continued

Passports: Biometrics

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the (a) capital costs and (b) running costs of the National Identity scheme he estimates will be required in order to implement the biometric passport scheme to cover all ports of entry into the UK. [135830]


20 Jun 2007 : Column 1964W

John Reid: The estimated cost of introducing passports and ID cards over the next 10 years was published in the Identity Cards scheme costs report which was laid before Parliament on 10 May 2007. However, it was not possible to provide a separate figure for the cost of implementing biometric passports from that of the National Identity scheme as a whole, as many of the costs are applicable to both identity cards and passports.

The Identity Cards scheme costs report also excluded any costs falling to other organisations using passports or ID cards to verify identity. Nevertheless, the Border and Immigration Agency already has equipment in place at the major ports to read facial image biometric e-passports.

Police: Equal Opportunities

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2007, Official Report, column 1334W, on the police: equal opportunities, whether the Minister for Security, Counter Terrorism and Police plans to attend the meeting of the Women in Police Steering Group on 28 June 2007; and if he will place in the Library copies of the minutes of the meeting. [143265]

Mr. McNulty: The next meeting of the Women In Policing Steering Group will now take place on 25 July 2007 rather than on 28 June 2007. The Minister for Security, Counter Terrorism and Police plans to attend the meeting. As the purpose of the Group is to advise the Minister on policy matters it is therefore not normal practice for the minutes of its meetings to be placed in the public domain.

Police: Health

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department issues to police authorities on fitness testing of (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers and (c) special constables. [143253]

Mr. McNulty: Responsibility for the physical fitness of serving police officers, police community support officers and special constables is the responsibility of the chief officer of each force.

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers passed bleep and push and pull tests as part of the police entry fitness tests in the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [143255]

Mr. McNulty: All serving police officers passed the endurance (‘bleep’) test and the dynamic strength (‘push and pull’) tests, as police applicants who fail cannot be appointed police officers.

The most recent figures available are for the 2005-06 period and are shown in the following table:


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Fail Pass

Endurance

263

7,512

Pull

263

9,529

Push

226

7,478

Note:
The table provides the figures for 38 forces and does not include data for the forces listed as follows as this has not been made available to the Department.
Cheshire
Cleveland
Devon and Cornwall
Dorset, Gloucestershire
Merseyside and West Midlands

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the merits of regular fitness testing for police officers during their police careers; and if he will make a statement. [143256]

Mr. McNulty: A working group of the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales (PAB EW) was recently set up to look at developing national fitness standards for specialist police roles such as firearms officers and dog handlers. This will lead to regular national testing for officers in these roles.

Following the completion of this work on standards and testing for specialist roles, the PAB EW working group will consider regular testing for patrol officers.

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings he has held with (a) Ministers and (b) police staff associations on the physical fitness of police officers. [143266]

Mr. McNulty: The health and safety of police officers, including their physical fitness, is currently the responsibility of the chief officer of each force. Therefore, the development and implementation of initiatives relating to the physical fitness of serving police officers is also a force responsibility. The Police Advisory Board of England and Wales, which advises Ministers and has formal representation from the staff associations, is considering these issues and will in due course provide advice to Ministers.

Police: Road Traffic

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces have a dedicated roads policing division; how many officers there are in each such division; and what percentage each figure represents of the force’s total number of officers. [142958]

Mr. Coaker: Force organisation and deployment of resources are matters for individual chief officers of police. Information is therefore not available in the form requested. Information on the number of officers in each force whose main function is traffic and the percentage this represents of the force’s total number of officers is in the table as follows.


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Police officers whose main function is Traffic( 1) (FTE)( 2) by police force area as at 31 March 2006
31 March 2006 Percentage of officers whose main function is Traffic from total strength

Avon and Somerset

215

6.2

Bedfordshire

81

6.6

Cambridgeshire

99

6.8

Cheshire

85

3.9

Cleveland

61

3.6

Cumbria

111

8.7

Derbyshire

119

5.7

Devon and Cornwall

215

6.1

Dorset

81

5.4

Durham

105

6.1

Dyfed Powys

143

12.0

Essex

243

7.3

Gloucestershire

73

5.6

Greater Manchester

342

4.2

Gwent

102

7.0

Hampshire

240

6.3

Hertfordshire

149

6.9

Humberside

181

8.1

Kent

116

3.2

Lancashire

197

5.4

Leicestershire

77

3.4

Lincolnshire

102

8.2

London, City of

24

2.7

Merseyside

138

3.2

Metropolitan Police

603

1.9

Norfolk

112

7.1

Northamptonshire

63

4.7

Northumbria

167

4.1

North Wales

81

5.0

North Yorkshire

97

5.9

Nottinghamshire

134

5.3

South Wales

243

7.3

South Yorkshire

141

4.3

Staffordshire

28

1.2

Suffolk

80

6.1

Surrey

99

5.1

Sussex

160

5.1

Thames Valley

236

5.5

Warwickshire

97

9.3

West Mercia

116

4.9

West Midlands

401

4.9

West Yorkshire

343

6.0

Wiltshire

13

1.1

(1) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The traffic function includes staff who are predominantly employed on motorcycles or in patrol vehicles for the policing of traffic and motorway related duties. This does not include officers employed in accident investigation, vehicle examination and radar duties.
(2) This and other tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. Includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

20 Jun 2007 : Column 1967W

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2007, Official Report, column 148W, on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, if he will place the review of the Act in the Library. [137119]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 14 May 2007]: Subject to redaction of information which, if disclosed, would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, I will arrange for a copy of the report of the review to be placed in the Library.

Security Measures

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2007, Official Report, columns 618-20W, on security measures, what plans he has to proscribe Hizb-ut Tahrir and organisations related to it. [144391]

Mr. McNulty: It is normal Home Office policy not to comment on groups which may or may not be added to the list of proscribed organisations.

Terrorism: Human Rights

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the operation of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the Government's ability to detain or deport terrorist suspects; and if he will make a statement. [135598]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 3 May 2007]: As my right. hon. Friend the Prime Minister advised the Member for Stratford-upon-Avon (Mr. Maples) on 2 May, the
20 Jun 2007 : Column 1968W
Human Rights Act 1998 does not affect our ability to detain or to deport. The Human Rights Act simply incorporated our pre-existing international obligations into domestic law.

Detention has to be consistent with Articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the European Convention on Human Rights). In deporting someone from the United Kingdom, we have to have regard to our obligations under Article 3 of the ECHR as defined in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Government are seeking to secure a modification of the current case law through its intervention in two cases currently before the Court.


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